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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
“Are you sure that alone makes your plan foolproof?” To Ah Man’s surprise and joy, Gu Changge, who had disappeared for days now, appeared in her courtyard today.
He sat beneath an old tree with yellowing leaves. Light seemed to radiate from his black hair which was scattered over his crisp, plain-coloured robes. He looked like an otherworldly being as he toyed with the jade wine cup between his fingers.
Gu Changge glanced at Ah Man with a hint of amusement.
“I dare not say it’s a foolproof plan, but I am absolutely certain that I can kill my Master. Please rest assured, Senior.” Ah Man was a little startled. She did not quite get what Gu Changge meant by his comment, but she responded with confidence anyway.
Gu Changge chuckled and walked over to Ah Man.
“You’re very confident in yourself.” He shook his head.
Ah Man looked a little confused. [Did I overlook something?]
Gu Changge did not explain himself. He simply said, “In that case, carry out your plan. Don’t let me down.”
Ah Man had the feeling that Gu Changge picked up on something. Feeling less confident now, she could not help but mutter, “Did I overlook something, Senior?”
Gu Changge smirked and stared at her. “Since you know that your Grandfather is the one who caused the massacre of your settlement, why don’t you think about how he managed to get in touch with the Primeval Deity Sect?”
Ah Man stiffened. The moment she understood what he meant, she broke out in cold sweat.
She had indeed forgotten about that. It was careless negligence.
At first, she thought that as long as she did a clean job of killing her Master, the Sect would not be able to link his death back to her. She also thought no one would find out about it if she did not tell anyone.
Alas, she forgot that her Grandfather was able to secretly get in touch with the Primeval Deity Sect. The situation even involved the secret behind the disappearance of the Primeval Deity.
This proved that he was no ordinary person.
Perhaps, after the death of her Master, her Grandfather had used some kind of means to make her the target of the sect’s suspicion.
Her Grandfather was the one who was the greatest enemy she had to face now.
“Grandfather wanted to use the Primeval Deity Sect to wipe out the settlement, but why would he want to do that?” Ah Man could not figure out the reason for his actions. It made no sense to her.
“It wasn’t that he wanted to use the sect to wipe out your settlement. Instead, he wanted to use you.” Gu Changge’s gaze was tinged with pity. “Even after coming this far, are you still unable to see what’s happening?”
“Use me?” Ah Man’s brows were tightly furrowed. Anger flashed across her captivating face. “He wanted me to suffer the agony of guilt and remorse? He wanted me to know that the settlement was massacred because of me?”
She could not understand why her kind and benevolent Grandfather would do such a horrid and ruthless thing.
“It’s because you’re a born Demon. Your Grandfather simply wanted to see to it that you had no choice but to go down that path,” Gu Changge said.
“So, he did everything just to make me unleash the Demon inside of me?” Ah Man had a pained expression on her face.
The memories of her carefree days as a child flooded her mind. Slowly, they merged with the tragic future she saw in the visions.
“One must never overlook even the smallest of details. I thought you wouldn’t make such a mistake.”
Gu Changge shook his head lightly.
[I guess not everyone is capable of considering all possible factors, leaving no room for mistakes.] Nevertheless, Gu Changge attributed this mistake to Ah Man’s age. She was young and was still learning. Furthermore, the mistake she made was not a fatal one.
“What should I do, Senior…” Ah Man looked like she was in a lot of pain. Her eyes flashed with coldness and hostility. She looked like a ferocious beast that was about to burst through its cage.
“It’s good to be kind-hearted, but sometimes, you need to shower your kindness on yourself.” Gu Changge reached out and placed his hand on her head. His voice was calm and even. He glanced at Ah Man’s heart. Wisps of dark light were spewing out and swirling around like a mist that seemed to be cursed as it engulfed the remaining light.
“To still hold onto a glimmer of hope and wishful thinking about the good of others even after witnessing the future yourself. That’s not something you should be doing. Go to sleep. Everything will be fine once you wake up. Forget about the beauty of the past. Forget about those fleeting illusions.”
…
The next morning, the warm light of dawn came in through the window.
Ah Man’s eyelashes fluttered before she opened her eyes. She looked a little dazed. It was as if she had not woken from her dream.
“Did I fall asleep yesterday?” Ah Man murmured to herself. She did not know how she ended up in bed with a blanket over her.
The warm sunlight that was coming in through the window was a little too bright. She had to squint a little.
“What happened yesterday?” Her memory seemed a little hazy. All she remembered was that Gu Changge had told her a few things.
But she did not remember what he said in detail. She merely had a vague memory of fainting from a splitting headache and Gu Changge carrying her back to her room.
“Did Senior tuck me into bed?” Ah Man seemed to be in a reverie. Just then, she recalled something and brought out the white outer robe Gu Changge tossed to her back then.
“It’s the same scent as the one on the blanket. It’s Senior’s scent, one that makes me feel comforted.” Ah Man buried her head against the outer robe and murmured to herself.
Seven days later, just as Ah Man predicted, her Master was poisoned.
Moments after he swallowed the pill he made in excitement, he fell to the ground and began to bleed out of every single orifice. His eyes bulged out horrifically, making him look like a vicious ghost.
The veins beneath his skin looked like they were about to explode. He kept spitting out dark blood.
Ah Man stood outside and watched with an emotionless expression.
“How could this be! Why would something go wrong with the pill!?” The middle-aged man kept vomiting blood. His eyes were wide with disbelief.
He crawled across the ground with great difficulty. He wanted to search through the bottles on the side to find an antidote.
Just then, Ah Man walked in and stared down at him coldly.
The middle-aged man looked like a drowning person who was trying to clutch onto his last straw of hope. He let out a croaky roar.
“Ah Man… Hurry up and save me, Ah Man… Help me… Help me find the antidote…”
“Save you?” Ah Mans simply shook her head indifferently. Her reaction terrified the middle-aged man. She was completely unlike the docile and obedient disciple he used to know.
“I’ve already shown you enough mercy by not killing you myself. How I long to just run a sword through you and kill you right away, but you don’t deserve such an easy death. On the other hand, a slow and painful death like this could very well be the best way for you to die.”
Ah Man spoke softly. Her eyes remained emotionless.
“You… You…” The middle-aged man’s fear was tinged with horror. He instantly realised what was happening. He figured out how something went wrong with the pill he made.
Unfortunately, Ah Man had found out what he was going to do to her. He was a fool for not noticing it sooner.
“So… y-you knew all along.” His voice trembled as he roared. He was filled to the brim with regret.
However, his only regret was that he had somehow allowed Ah Man to figure out what his intentions were. He did not regret having poisoned the pills he gave her.
Meanwhile, Ah Man was no longer looking at him. She looked out instead and seemed to be waiting for something.
Gu Changge appeared. He looked at Ah Man calmly and asked, “Have you made your choice?”
Ah Man nodded. “I’ve made my choice. Since it’s destined to be, why should I waste my time worrying about these things?”
“Right from the start, I was never going to get the chance to turn the tides.” She had thought things through over the last few days. All manner of plans and strategies were meaningless when going up against absolute power.
She could get rid of her Master and overcome the threat that the Primeval Deity Sect posed. However, she could not avoid the fate of being manipulated by her Grandfather.
Everything had been destined from the start. She was merely a fish who was attempting to struggle against the tides in the river of fate.
Alas, no matter how hard she tried, she would be thrown back in to live out her destined fate.
All of a sudden, Gu Changge chuckled. He stroked her head and said gently, “That’s not true. Who said you don’t have the chance to turn the tides around? I came to this world to help you turn the tides.”
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