"You are greedy!" The twins snapped at Haoyue.
"Yes, I am greedy—greedy for him! Xinzi aside, who can summon such an ugly side out of me? Do you think that I feel thrilled at the idea of slaying sisters that I love? I don't! I DON'T! But I can't stand it! You have to go away!" Shui Haoyue's eyes went bloodshot, and she raked her sword at the twins' necks.
But contrary to Haoyue's expectations, neither A'Zhi nor A'Zhu flinched under her sword. Better, they sneered at her, and as soon as the blade connected with the A'Zhi's neck, blinding seals flashed on the twins' bodies, not only shattering Haoyue's sword, but sending the Dongli state princess to crash into a nearby wall.
Her organs spiraled out of control, and she spurted blood.
At that time, Xinzi returned from his meeting with the great elders, ambling into the room with such a tyrannical and chilling aura that, even the Zhi-Zhu twins failed to recognize him. Haoyue's lips curled into a bitter smile, and with moist, red eyes, she faced Xinzi.
"You...were guarding against me?"
"Not you."
"Nonsense. Then why did you equip them with Retribution Seals when you didn't do the same for me?"
"I will always equip my beloved with all the tools that I can. Believe it or don't, it's irrelevant to me, but the only reason I haven't given you these seals is that I can't," Xinzi said with a frightening poise, making it impossible for the twins or Haoyue to see through his thoughts.
"To think that you could already inscribe seals on human flesh. Xinzi, I underestimated you. But I have no regret because I'd rather die than live in a world where I have to share you. Xinzi, only I love you truly. If they loved you the way I did, there's no way that they could bear seeing another woman's hands stroke your chest."
"You didn't have to. I gave you a choice and plenty of opportunities to back off. You refused to give up, but at the same time, you wouldn't compromise.
You tried to manipulate me, to make me think that you could compromise for me because deep down you know...that the women I love the most are those willing to compromise for my sake. Perhaps in your eyes, this is love." Here, Xinzi paused and tapped his storage ring, summoning two green pills that flew towards the twins' mouths. They opened without fear, gulping down Xinzi's pills.
"You made me lower my guard, hoping to use a moment of inattention to kill my beloved—all for the sake of that 'love.' I wouldn't be surprised if you planned to use my grief to drive a marriage.
Haoyue, what you don't realize is...I am a better alchemist than you, I just don't care to be one.
I am a better refiner than you, and still don't care to be one.
If I wanted to brew wine, it'd be the best under the heavens. If I wanted to cook, my meals could seduce the gods.
Anything you can be, I can be. Anything you can do, I can do. I don't...because to appreciate things to the fullest extent, you need to give yourself limits. Greed, Haoyue...needs limits as well. But yours has absolutely none. You turned me into the vector through which you released the obscenities hiding in your soul. I didn't create that ugly side, because others in your stead would have said:
'If it cannot just be me, then I do not want you.'" When his words reached this point, a hint of disappointment flashed through Xinzi's eyes.
"Never once have you considered these words, because in your mind, why give up on Xinzi when you can just get rid of all the others? That, Haoyue, is the mark of a monster."
"I am not...a monster!" Haoyue snapped at Xinzi's reasoning, refusing to accept that he'd reduced her love to an atrocity. Our monk didn't flinch, the princess' tears failing to cause a ripple on his face.
"You are. I am as well, so I can tell.
Haoyue, you do not understand my Word of Indulgence, my Creed of Liberation, or the thoughts behind my actions. Of me, you know very little. But I already know all there is to about you. We are not compatible. Get lost. Out of the Liberation Temple, out of the White Immortal Sect—the farther, the better."
Xinzi said and turned his back to Haoyue. In that instant, Haoyue was convinced that she'd never see Xinzi's eyes again, that she lost her last chance at having his face beam at her. Her heart refused to accept this, and something in her broke.
"Nooo! Kill me! I'd rather die than leave you! I'm not going anywhere, so you'll have to kill me!" Haoyue sank into madness, her nails dug into her palms, tearing off the flesh as warm blood dripped down her lips.
"I don't have to. You're dying anyway."
"W—what? What are you talking about?" Faced with these incomprehensible words, Shui Haoyue paused, her eyes narrowing at Xinzi.
"Your soul is the root of your talent, and that talent will also be the cause of your death. Haoyue, due to the manipulations of forces you have no knowledge of, you were born with an Extreme Yin Soul. That soul type doesn't belong to the traditional hierarchy and is more trouble than benefit.
As your cultivation increases, your Yang Qi plummets. Male or female, we all have yin and yang. Men have more yang, and women more yin, but there's always both. But in your case, with every minor cultivation boost, your Yang Qi decreases sharply, while your Yin Qi rises proportionally. The yin boost doesn't nurture your body, instead going straight to your soul.
You cannot detect the anomaly because it's not a typical biological problem, but as your cultivation increases, your lifespan decreases. At this rate, before you hit Pulse Condensation or turn 20, whichever comes first, you will die—with few being able to tell the cause of death," Xinzi said, and a dreary silence settled on the scene. To say nothing of Haoyue, even the Zhi-Zhu twins couldn't believe their ears—unable to accept that even as her body seemed full of life and youthful splendor, Shui Haoyue was only four years away from her death.
"Initially, I planned to find you a cure. But now...it's no longer necessary. Take this knowledge as a parting gift. Farewell," Xinzi said, and snapped his fingers, activating the Liberation Temple's formations. A surge of Spiritual Qi rolled out, wrapping Shui Haoyue.
"Xinzi, don't leave me! Don't abandon me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I will try! I will change! I don't care how long I have left! I don't want to live without you! Xinzi! XINZIIII!" Haoyue screamed in despair, but Xinzi didn't turn, flinch, or show the slightest desire to react.
The formation kicked Haoyue out, forbidding her from ever returning to the Liberation Temple.
Subsequently, Shui Haoyue sank into dementia, seeking refuge in the Nameless Sword Mountain. But though time enabled her to recover her lost sanity, her heart refused to give up on her memories with Xinzi—always clinging onto these words:
'Haoyue...Vast Moon...this name doesn't do you justice, because beloved, your beauty eclipses the moon at its brightest.'
