Prologue: The Beginning of Grief and Longing
The sky was gloomy as it cried along with the raging scream of thunder. The Qing Shan Sect was completely ruined. What's left to surround the once lively sect now was none other than debris of collapsed buildings. The mountains that were not meant to be seen from the ground before now were completely visible.
The ground where Damu Lan was standing at that moment was filled with a sea of blood. He was covered in wounds. His long white colored hair was stained with blood. In front of him stood none other than the devil who caused the massacre, the culprit of such an apocalypse, covered in a mixture of his own blood and that of the countless residents he had murdered.
Damu Lan raised his sword and pointed it down at the devil who was sitting as he leaned against a shattered piece of buildings, in defeat.
The devil slowly lifted his gaze and saw that it was none other than his former comrade, Damu Lan, who had pointed the sword towards him in a fit of rage.
Despite this realization, the devil paid it no more heed and instead, sighed wearily as he nodded towards the ground. He knew that he was losing his breath rapidly and his body was riddled with the injuries that Damu Lan had gifted him. With the last remaining vestiges of his strength, he forced himself to speak, knowing that his time was running out. Despite his ability to live forever, his body struggled to recover from the injuries inflicted by Damu Lan's sword energy, which had a lingering effect on his healing abilities.
"Damu Lan…you've been chasing me since last night. It's almost dawn now. Are you not tired?" Asked the devil as he let out a huff.
But Damu Lan gave no reply. His eyes were still filled with disgust from the mere sight of the devil.
"Come on. Now that you know the truth, you won't even show me some mercy? Aren't I your subordinate too?" He continued.
"Price to pay for murder is death." This time Damu Lan gave a strict reply with an indifferent manner that was still a stranger to the devil. Why not? They had a very close companionship in the sect despite having different personalities. They were two of a kind that were reliable on their own yet dependent on one another. But where did it all go wrong?
"You killed our master, you killed…The Sect Leader…you killed the innocents…" Damu Lan clenched his teeth as he tightened the grip on his sword. The devil's eyebrows raised slightly at the mention of 'master' and replied with an oblivious tone of voice, "He was never my master."
Damu Lan was enraged but the words that he wanted to spit onto the devil had long melted like snow in summer. When the silence gave in, the devil asked again.
"Am I still your friend, Damu Lan?"
At that point. The expression on the devil's face was no longer visible to Damu Lan.
"You were never my friend. You merely posing as one to uncover our sect's weaknesses. You are a traitor, the ruler of The The Grim City, Bai Chang!"
As he heard Damu Lan screamed his lungs out, the devil's brows furrowed further. "You won't even take my sincerity this whole time as a meaning now?"
Damu Lan stood there with his heart heavy with emotion. All of his emotions were tangled about, not sure which to express. So he said nothing in response.
The devil, Bai Chang, exhaled sharply, his breath catching in a huff, before he uttered, "You know what? I actually prefer it when you call me Mo Yun. Just like you always have."
The words pierced through Damu Lan like a jagged dagger, his heart sinking with bitter disappointment. He knew there was no use in questioning. Bai Chang had always been one to shift into multiple guises. It was no wonder nobody knew how he truly looked like. He was a devil whose thirst for blood knew no bounds. A merciless predator, deceiving the common people before ultimately snuffing out their lives.
The shattered remains of Damu Lan's trust echoed through his core as he made do with the harsh truth that his dearest friend, Mo Yun, had been none other than Bai Chang all along.
An expression of bitterness etched across Damu Lan's face, an expression so acutely unfamiliar that none had witnessed in their entire existence. His gaze fell downward, his hand instinctively adjusting the grip on his sword. He took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts, before finally allowing his voice to resound.
His voice carried a mix of sorrow and defiance as he declared, "You're not Mo Yun. Mo Yun is but another mask you created. And the real Mo Yun…isn't you."
As Bai Chang absorbed Damu Lan's retort, a sneering chuckle escaped his lips, casting a palpable offense. Moments passed, and Bai Chang's smirk slowly faded into a more serious look.
"Nobody knew my original form since I've been shifting and disguising myself one after another during my killing spree," he added, "but the one you see on a daily basis— the one you are seeing right now, is the one I was born with."
"I only… shifted myself to be of the same age as you when we were together."
Damu Lan's eyes widened in sheer disbelief, unable to fully comprehend the words spilled forth from the depths of his being. But, before he could even gather his thoughts to make sense of it all, Bai Chang pressed on, resuming his speech.
"I admit it, Damu Lan. I walked the dark path. I chose the wrong path. But why do you think I became like this?"
The angle of Damu Lan's sword remained. He was listening.
"We have been together for a long time. Even if I lied to others, I've always been sincere with you. So why won't you think about it? Why did I become such a mess?" Bai Chang continued, as he put on a sincere smile.
"Speak."
"I no longer have the energy to…even if I have, will you even believe me now?"
A deafening silence filled the air as nobody spoke. Bai Chang observed the scene around him, taking in the aftermath of the massacre he had caused. Bodies were strewn across the ground. The devil couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at the sight before him. It was a testament to the power he held, the fear he could instill in even the strongest of beings.
Bai Chang closed his eyes, savoring the moment, relishing in the chaos and destruction he had caused. After a moment, his smile faltered, and his eyes reopened with a regretful glint.
"I loathe myself."
"I gave in to my evil spirit,"
"I intended for this to happen, but I wanted to at least…have you by my side,"
"Why me?!" Damu Lan shouted.
"Because you…"
"You were the only one…who made me feel like I mattered, like I had value. You showed me that there was still kindness and goodness in this world, even when everything else seemed dark and hopeless."
As he stood there, a flood of memories rushed through Damu Lan's mind. He was at a loss for words at first, struggling to make sense of the situation. But then he remembered the good times they had shared - the laughter, the exploits, the instances of true companionship. Even though Mo Yun's personality tended to differ slightly from Bai Chang, who was insane and mad, it was still a fact that the two were the same person, sharing the same body, mind and heart.
A bittersweet feeling settled in his chest as he thought back on those memories. He realized that things would never be the same between them, and that the bond they created had been broken. But even so, he couldn't help but feel grateful for the moments they had shared.
When the devil saw Damu Lan keeping his mouth shut, it followed with a different thought of his.
"If I were born in a normal household and raised by the same light as you, would we still be subordinate?"
Damu Lan's grit loosened. But the devil understood. So he smiled.
"Then, Damu Lan. You should be the one to correct my path."
"...Save me." He uttered under his breath. It was uncertain whether Damu Lan had heard it or not, but it wasn't significant to the devil.
The devil said again. The horns that were both visible on top of his head earlier started to scatter and turned into dust.
"You will…understand how much you mean to me."
When Damu Lan heard that, it felt like his world was tumbled and rotated upside down. He knew he had no choice but to take action. Tightening his grip on his sword, he prepared to swing it open. But, he also braced himself to hear what the devil was about to say when he saw him open his mouth and revealed a loose, unsettling smile.
"Looks like this time too…I will leave before dawn."
Damu Lan froze for a split second. Although he had heard those words before, they hit him with a fresh intensity as if he was hearing them for the first time. He looked at Bai Chang, his eyes brimming with repulsion. Yet, he mustered the tiniest ounce of empathy from the depths of his being. And in that moment finally he saw the devil for what he was: a shattered, helpless soul in need of redemption.
Nevertheless, a price to pay for murder is death.
And so, Damu Lan slashed the devil's head off the body. But when the head was slowly falling off the neck, Damu Lan quickly got the hold of it. For a moment, he just held it, staring into the lifeless eyes of the devil. The words exchanged between Damu Lan and the devil were meant only for them to hear. No one else would ever know what was said in that final moment they had shared together.
As the first rays of sunlight broke through the horizon, Damu Lan stood motionless, clutching the devil's severed head tightly in his hand. Even after dawn, Damu Lan remained in the same place.
They had once been brothers and companions, but now they stood as two opposing forces: one, the savior of the world, and the other, a ruthless villain.
The death of the devil brought about a transformation to the world. The skies cleared, and the once-dark clouds dissipated, giving way to a brilliant, sunny day.
"The devil is dead! Bai Chang is dead! The Grim City is destroyed! Glory to Damu Lan! Glory to the QingShan sect! We are free!"
In an instant, Damu Lan along with the sect became renowned throughout the cultivation world. But he wasn't pleased.
News had spread that the lord of The Grim City had died, The Grim City's residents had surrendered and that the QingShan sect had been reconstructed, now far more luxurious and magnificent than ever before.
However, a mystery lingered. While the body of Bai Chang was sent to the rest of The Grim City's residents, the whereabouts of his head remained unknown.