Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

The wind in the northern wilderness always carries a rusty smell.

Here, vegetation is sparse and rocks are jagged; only the most ferocious monsters roam in such a barren place.

A rhinoceros covered in black scales crashed into a boulder, letting out a dying howl.

Its massive body collapsed with a crash, kicking up a cloud of murky dust.

Bai Yin stood beside the corpse.

He was shirtless, his once-muscular physique now covered with old and new scars.

Rainwater streamed down his pale hair, mingling with the scalding blood of the demon beast, leaving glaring red streaks on his pale skin.

He held the broken knife in his hand.

The blade was already worn down and full of nicks.

This is the knife I used to slice fish for Su Xiaojiu back in Yunmengze, but now it has become a murder weapon that takes lives.

Bai Yin did not immediately retrieve the priceless beast core.

He just hung his head and gasped for breath.

His chest heaved violently, each breath aggravating the hidden wounds in his lungs, bringing a piercing pain.

It's okay if it hurts.

Only when it hurts will those chaotic images in my mind stop for a while.

Just a moment ago, the rhinoceros's claws grazed his neck, nearly severing his throat.

He didn't dodge. Even as the claws were about to strike, he met them head-on, taking the blow with his shoulder and gaining the chance to sever the beast's head with a single strike.

Only a madman would do something like this, risking his life for another.

But he's a madman now.

Bai Yin raised his hand and wiped the blood from his face.

Those eyes, which were once crystal clear and only shone when looking at Su Xiaojiu, were now murky, bloodshot, and filled with a chilling stillness.

He bent down and tore open the tough abdominal flesh of the rhinoceros with his bare hands.

The stench of blood was overwhelming.

He searched through the flesh and blood expressionlessly, his fingertips touching the warm inner core.

This is a two-thousand-year-old earth-type demon core. If it were placed in the market, it would be enough to cause several sects to fight tooth and nail.

Bai Yin dug it out, didn't even glance at it, and casually tossed it into the tattered cloth bag at his waist. The bag was bulging with the spoils of his hunting over the past few days.

He has no shortage of spirit stones or magical treasures.

He just can't stop.

Once we stopped, it was too quiet around us.

The silence frightened him.

As soon as I close my eyes, the scene from Yunmengze that day will flash before my eyes.

The arrogant gaze of Emperor Shitian, the roar of the warships, and the resolute back view of Su Xiaojiu as she turned around.

"Little White, wait for me."

These words were like a red-hot iron, burning his heart day and night.

Bai Yin gripped the broken knife tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, making a cracking sound.

He hates.

He hated Indra, hated the Heavenly Demon Dynasty, and hated his own incompetence even more.

If he had become a demon saint that day, if he had not been holding this broken sword, but a divine weapon capable of shattering the heavens, who would have dared to take someone away from him?

"ah--!"

Bai Yin suddenly raised his head and roared at the gray sky.

The sound didn't sound like a human voice; it sounded more like the mournful cry of a wounded wild beast in dire straits.

The roar was deafening, causing the surrounding rocks to fall in a rustling sound.

After the roar, there was an even longer silence.

Bai Yin sat dejectedly in the mud.

He spread out his left hand.

The little fox mark drawn with cinnabar is still in my palm.

That was drawn by Su Xiaojiu before she left.

Although the palm lines were covered with dried bloodstains after several days of fighting, the little fox was still bright red and eye-catching.

Bai Yin carefully rubbed the mark with his fingertips.

His movements were incredibly gentle, a stark contrast to the ruthless killer he had been just moments before.

This was his only thought.

It was also the only proof that he was certain Su Xiaojiu was still alive.

As long as the mark remains, as long as the cinnabar is still red, his Xiao Jiu will still be waiting for him somewhere.

"I'm not in pain."

Bai Yin whispered to the little fox in his palm.

His voice was hoarse, with a hint of ingratiation, as if afraid of frightening the person in his palm.

"It really doesn't hurt. This little injury is nothing. Back in Xizhou, even when my intestines came out, I just stuffed them back in and kept fighting."

He tugged at the corners of his mouth, trying to force a smile, but the movement aggravated the wound on his face, making his expression somewhat ferocious.

"I will become stronger."

"Xiao Jiu, trust me. I'll storm up there, tear down that damn palace, and twist off that Emperor Shitian's head so you can use it as a football."

The rain is getting heavier.

The cold rain lashed against him, washing away his gruesome wounds.

Bai Yin, however, felt hot all over.

The Geng Metal White Tiger bloodline within his body was boiling and roaring.

That long-suppressed bloodlust was slowly consuming his remaining rationality.

When Su Xiaojiu was around, he hid this energy and tried his best to act like a docile big cat, afraid of scaring her.

No need to install it now.

Since this world is unreasonable, and since the way of heaven bullies honest people, then let's fight our way out and find justice.

Not far away, a disheveled old Taoist priest sat on a huge rock.

The old Taoist priest carried a wine gourd in his hand, and his Taoist robe was so dirty that its original color was unrecognizable. He squinted at Bai Yin in the muddy water, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Foolish child."

The old Taoist priest sighed and tilted his head back to take a swig of wine.

The liquor dripped down his beard, wetting his clothes.

He had thought that this little tiger, having spent so much time in the gentle embrace of Yunmengze, would have become too soft-hearted and would be content with that for the rest of his life.

Unexpectedly, a love triangle threw this stubborn piece of iron into the furnace.

The hotter the fire and the harder the hammering, the harder the resulting steel will be.

The murderous aura emanating from Bai Yin now is ten times stronger than it was back in Xizhou.

It was a malevolent aura that had crawled out of a pile of corpses, its heart emptied, and only a stubborn obsession supporting it.

"Master."

Bai Yin didn't turn around; his voice was as cold as ice shards.

He knew the old Taoist priest was there.

For the past few days, the old Taoist priest had been following him at a distance, neither too close nor too far. He neither made a move nor spoke, just watching him go mad.

"Have you killed enough?"

The old Taoist priest shook his wine gourd, listening to the splashing sound of water inside.

"not enough."

Bai Yin stood up from the mud.

He tucked the broken knife back into his waistband, grabbed a handful of wet mud, and pressed it onto the deep, bone-revealing wound on his shoulder.

The mud stopped the bleeding, but it also hurt.

He didn't even frown.

"You've slaughtered every single monster within a hundred miles of this area." The old Taoist looked at the severed limbs scattered on the ground. "If you keep killing, you'll truly become a demon who only knows how to kill."

"What's wrong with being a demon?"

Bai Yin turned around.

Rainwater slid down his high, straight nose.

There was no reverence for teachers or elders in those eyes, only indifference.

"If becoming a demon can save her, then I will become a demon."

"If killing everyone in this world could bring her back, then I will kill everyone in this world."

The old Taoist priest fell silent.

He looked at his apprentice and suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

The little tiger who used to feel guilty for killing someone and who would giggle like an idiot while catching fish for his sweetheart is now dead.

He died on that rainy night in Yunmengze.

The one who is alive now is the future Demon Saint of the Western Continent, the White Tiger Ferocious Star destined to make the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths tremble.

"Your knife is broken."

The old Taoist pointed to the worn-out, tattered knife at Bai Yin's waist.

"If the knife breaks, you can sharpen it."

Bai Yin lowered his head and glanced at the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"If the heart is broken, it can never be mended."

The old Taoist priest jumped down from the boulder and dusted himself off.

"Let's go."

"Where to?"

"Go to the far west." The old Taoist hung his wine gourd at his waist, put his hands behind his back, and walked westward. "There is a Gengjin mine there, a remnant of an ancient battlefield. The malevolent energy there is a hundred times stronger than here."

Bai Yin stood still.

"What are you going there for?"

"Reforge your blade."

The old Taoist priest stopped and looked back at him.

"Your broken sword is only good for killing stupid rhinoceroses. It's far from enough to conquer the Nine Heavens Demon Court or break through the true dragon's protective barrier of Emperor Shitian."

"If you want to save people, going crazy won't work. You need to have the ability to make a hole in the sky."

Bai Yin's pupils contracted slightly.

He looked down at the little fox mark on his palm, wet with rainwater.

To poke a hole in the sky.

"it is good."

Bai Yin strode forward and followed.

His steps were heavy, each step leaving a deep footprint in the mud.

It's still raining.

The wind howled across the wasteland, like the wailing of countless wronged souls.

An old man and a young boy, one in front and one behind, disappeared into the vast rain.

All that remained were corpses scattered on the ground, and the stench of blood that could not be washed away no matter how hard you tried.

Bai Yin did not turn back.

He knew that from this day forward, Bai Yin, who would bask in the sun in Yunmengze and wait for Su Xiaojiu to pat his head, would be completely left in the past.

The road ahead is long and arduous, filled only with slaughter.

Until he could push open the door that was closing on her, until he could hold her in his arms again and tell her:

"Xiao Jiu, I've come to pick you up."

Su Mu Zhe: The Wasteland Forges Regret

The rain is drizzling, and the wind is chilly.

Broken blades and crimson stains, blood staining the desolate wasteland.

A cinnabar mark in the palm, a burning passion in the heart.

Old dreams are hard to rekindle; I weep alone in the west wind.

Hatred is hard to quell, affection is hard to sever.

A murderous aura soared to the heavens, vowing to tear the sky apart.

There will be no day or night after you go to the Yellow Springs.

I will not rescue the beauty, nor will I look at the moon in the sky.