Ming kept glancing toward the girl he had just freed.
She sat curled up against the cave wall, arms wrapped around herself, her trembling shoulders revealing more pain than any wound.
Her eyes… they were the same as his once were — empty, hollow, filled with grief so deep it barely felt human.
A few steps away, Yunfei still stood alone, arms crossed, watching them all with an expression that was half-mocking, half-dead inside.
Just when Ming thought he was done speaking, Yunfei finally murmured,
"Why are you doing all this… for her?"
Ming turned his head slowly, studying him.
"And why aren't you eating?"
Yunfei didn't move.
"If you all eat first, then I'll eat.
What if you poisoned the meat?"
"Yunfei! What the hell are you saying!?" Shenyi snapped.
But Yunfei only smirked, cold and bitter.
Ming exhaled slowly.
"You're arrogant."
Yunfei tilted his chin up.
"No. Just honest.
I can tell just by looking at you…
You're helping that girl because you see your past in her."
The words stabbed deep.
For a moment, Death Qi flickered from Ming's skin, like black smoke ready to swallow the cave whole.
Before anything could happen, Jisoo raised a trembling hand.
"Ignore him, Ming," he whispered, voice weak.
"He talks like that because he's already dead inside.
He lost all hope long ago.
He just wants someone to finish him."
Ming forced himself to sit beside Jisoo again.
Hao sat across from them, still munching meat with a child's innocence—completely unaware of the tragedy around him.
Ming's chest tightened painfully.
He turned back to Jisoo.
"What happened to you?"
This time, the question wasn't sharp.
It was soft… understanding.
Jisoo closed his eyes.
And then he broke.
"My brother… Soho… was killed unjustly. "I still want to take revenge for him. I was sent here because I fought against the Murim Alliance… all just to avenge my brother."
His fists tightened until the knuckles turned white.
"And Hao… he was framed. Betrayed by the people he trusted the most."
Jisoo swallowed hard, forcing the words out.
"The trauma shattered him. He kept blaming himself… until his mind finally broke."
Ming slowly turned his eyes toward Hao.
The man was still sitting in the corner, humming quietly to himself, eating with the innocent joy of a child.
No hatred.
No awareness.
Just a broken shell of what he once was.
Jisoo continued:
"They crippled my meridians.
Destroyed my origin core.
Dragged Hao and me into the Red Line like trash."
His voice trembled, but he forced himself to continue.
"I fought the Murim Alliance… just to take revenge for my brother Soho.
That's why I ended up here."
His hands tightened into fists until the knuckles turned white.
"They betrayed Hao—the people he trusted the most.
That betrayal shattered his mind… turned him into what you see now."
Jisoo exhaled shakily and pointed toward Shenyi and Yunfei.
"Then… I found them.
Just three ordinary people trying to survive in hell itself."
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"They were starving.
Hiding in caves.
Running from monsters every day…"
His eyes softened.
"Yet somehow, still alive."
He looked down at the meat in his hands as if it were a treasure.
"So we stayed together.
Because dying alone is easy…"
He paused, eyes reflecting the firelight.
"But living — even a little — is harder."
The fire crackled softly, shadows crawling across the cave walls as the weight of his words settled into the silence.
Ming listened quietly as Jisoo finished his story — a tale of betrayal, loss, and humiliation so deep it could carve scars into a man's soul.
For a moment, Ming said nothing.
He looked at the once-proud general… now nothing more than a starved, thin, powerless human who couldn't even draw qi into his meridians.
A man who once commanded armies… reduced to this.
Ming slowly stood up and exhaled.
"I was going to kill you."
His words were blunt, cold, honest.
Everyone froze.
Jisoo lifted his head, a weak smile forming.
"I know. And honestly… maybe that would have been better."
Ming shook his head.
"But after hearing your story, I changed my mind."
Ming's voice was calm, almost too calm.
He looked straight at Jisoo and continued:
"With full conviction — become my subordinate.
I will help you take revenge."
Jisoo lowered his head, a bitter smile twisting on his lips.
"I'm happy… that you're offering me a chance," he said quietly.
"But I'm useless now.
I have no martial arts left.
My meridians are destroyed.
I have nothing to give you in exchange."
Ming replied with a faint smile, his voice calm but confident.
"Who said that if your meridians are destroyed, you can't learn martial arts?"
The entire cave fell silent.
Every single person turned toward Ming — Jisoo, Shenyi, Yunfei, even the Meiyun. Their eyes widened in disbelief.
All of them had been crippled before being thrown into the Red Line.
All of them had lost their meridians…
All of them had lost the ability to cultivate forever.
The idea of learning martial arts again wasn't just impossible — it was a dream they had buried long ago.
Jisoo's lips trembled.
"Ming… what are you saying? My meridians are completely destroyed. I can't cultivate anything."
Ming stepped forward, looking him straight in the eyes.
"That's what everyone believes," he said softly.
"But I don't follow everyone's rules."
Death Qi flickered faintly around him, casting shadows across the cave walls.
"As long as you have even one breath left… you can cultivate. You can fight. And you can take revenge."
His words struck like thunder.
Hope — fragile, trembling, but real — returned to their faces.