The full moon's light, reflecting on the sea, was no longer a silvery white. Above the cliff, the moon was split into two colors: a blood-red left side and a milky-white right side. Its reflection on the water was the same, creating a terrifying illusion of a mirror. Li Xian and Luo Feng stood there, on the cliffside wet from the high tide, feeling a bone-chilling cold. Their blood dripped from unhealed wounds, mixing in the salty puddles at their feet. Li Xian’s blood was pitch black like ink, giving off a faint sulfuric smell. Luo Feng's blood was golden, emitting a faint glow like a firefly. The two colors swirled, refusing to fully merge, locked in an eternal conflict in the puddle.
Suddenly, from the dark depths of the sea, Mo Ling's voice echoed. It was hoarse and cold, as if coming from beyond the grave. "Your blood… it belongs to me!" The voice came not only from the sea but also from within them, as if he had planted the seeds of a curse inside them. Li Xian clutched his head, running his hands through his hair. "He knows. He's always known."
Luo Feng didn't flinch. He stared at the dark sea, his teeth chattering. "No. Now, this blood… is ours. This blood is our oath."
The twin jade pendants they wore around their necks pulsed, resonating with their heartbeats. The pulsation felt like war drums, no longer a compass. They looked at each other, Li Xian's eyes pitch black, Luo Feng's eyes emitting a golden glow. A silent understanding passed between them. This was no longer about running away. This was about reclaiming what had been stolen from them.
They began their journey. The path that stretched from the cliff to the Blue Sky Temple was no ordinary road. It was a path full of trials. First, they passed through the Suicide Forest. There, from the crooked branches of the trees, hung the bodies of the HYT traitors. Their faces were frozen in eternal expressions of terror, their robes torn to shreds. The wind blowing through the corpses created a horrifying whistle, as if their spirits were whispering warnings.
"Those who dare to betray will be punished," Luo Feng muttered.
"And those who choose to be silent will become victims," Li Xian replied. "That choice is no longer ours to make."
They arrived at the Bone Bridge. In the deep abyss, human ribs were arranged to form a bridge, each bone tied with a rope made of hair. Every step felt fragile, and the sound of bones cracking under their feet felt like a moan.
"This is not a bridge," Luo Feng said. "It's a warning."
"I don't care," Li Xian answered, his eyes sharp. "I will cross, even if every bone beneath me is the bone of my enemy."
Their final challenge was the Bloodfall at the entrance of the ritual cave. A thick red liquid flowed from the top of the cliff, giving off a pungent, foul smell, like old, decaying blood.
"This is blood," Li Xian said, touching it with his finger. "The blood of the ritual victims. The same blood."
Inside the cave, they found a stone altar. On it, a blank tombstone was carved with the inscription: "The Two Cursed."
Li Xian took out a small pouch containing scorched earth from Qianlong Village. Touching the earth felt like touching his parents' grave, a sharp yet familiar pain. Luo Feng took out a worn plastic sakura flower from his pocket, from the tree in Baiyun. Holding the flower felt like holding a dead memory, a beautiful memory that had been tainted. They also had Li Xian's first teardrop, which had now hardened into a crystal of blood. The crystal felt cold and heavy in his hand, holding all the sadness he had suppressed.
"Let's begin," Li Xian said, his voice calm but with absolute resolve. "Let's make this oath eternal."
They began the initial purification ritual.
Luo Feng stepped into the bloodfall. The thick liquid enveloped his body, but when it touched his skin, it turned clear, emitting a golden light. His whole body glowed golden, and the scars all over his body, the whip marks and tortures from his childhood, vanished. He felt a strength he had never felt before, a strength that protected, not destroyed. A new technique was revealed from within him: "Pure Light Shield."
Li Xian lit a bonfire from the Qianlong earth. At first, the fire was orange, but when he threw the blood crystal into it, the flame turned blue-black, giving off a piercing cold. The small horns on his forehead grew fully, curved, and his black eyes reflected the moon. He heard the whispering of the stone inside him, the same voice that appeared every time he used his dark energy.
"Kill him... Kill him, and take his golden power! You'll be invincible! You'll never feel pain again!"
Li Xian raised his sword, looking at Luo Feng who was now sleeping soundly in the golden light. He saw an opportunity, a power he could take. His hand trembled. His brain was filled with whispers commanding him to kill. He could feel that power.
But, in a flash of memory, he saw an unforgettable scene. Not a massacre, but warmth. He saw Luo Feng laughing, hugging him when he cried.
The first, true cry, came from his eyes. His tear dripped into the blue-black fire, and the blood crystal he had thrown into it cracked. The demonic flame dimmed, returning to a regular bonfire.
"No," Li Xian murmured, dropping his sword. "I won't kill my brother."
They had a symbolic dinner. The food was served on a cold stone plate. Rice mixed with the ashes of their parents, each grain of rice feeling like sand on their tongues. A fish with jade eyes on the plate, as if those eyes were watching their every move. And a poisoned wine called "Sweet Death," which tasted like honey mixed with venom in their throats.
"I can choose to be a monster," Luo Feng said, looking at Li Xian. "Or I can choose to be a legend."
"Me?" Li Xian smiled bitterly, his eyes still radiating a dark glow. "I choose to be a nightmare for their nightmares."
"What if I can't choose?" Li Xian continued, his voice low. "What if my destiny is to be a monster?"
Luo Feng took a glass of the poisoned wine and drank it. "You're not alone. We are both monsters. But we will be better monsters."
They threw their plates at each other after eating, making the plates shatter into fragments. It was a sign of true friendship, a sign that they didn't care for worldly things.
Li Xian gave the broken horn from his fully grown horn to Luo Feng. "If one day you see me about to lose control, stab me with this. Remind me who I am."
Luo Feng gave him his younger sister's lock of hair that he kept in his pocket. "Take this. This is to remind you that there is something more than just revenge. There is something worth protecting."
Standing in front of the blank tombstone, the bleeding moon shone directly at them. They took the tombstone and began to carve the names of their enemies.
Mo Ling, Shang Hai Hei, 8 names of Hei Ye Ting elders.
Every name they carved felt like they were carving their own tombstones. After that, they cut their palms with a bone knife, and their blood dripped into the small river that flowed from the bloodfall.
"With the blood of Qianlong and Baiyun," Li Xian began, his voice thundering, echoing in the cave.
"With a rage older than the moon," Luo Feng continued, his voice calm yet full of conviction.
"We swear:" they said in unison, with burning determination.
"Destroy Hei Ye Ting to its roots!"
"Kill the traitors to their last descendant!"
"Or die with pride!"
As the oath was spoken, the bleeding full moon dripped into the river below them. Their blood, black and gold, merged, creating a permanent red river flowing from the cave. The tombstone lit up with the names of their enemies burning, as if the names were marked by destiny.
The oath changed them physically. The horns on Li Xian's forehead became a black, winding tattoo on his forehead. His shadow on the wall became a separate entity, moving at his will. A golden crystal was embedded in Luo Feng's chest, glowing faintly beneath his skin. He could now speak the language of animals, and he realized, his blood could heal wounds.
Suddenly, a giant projection of Shanghai Hei appeared in the sky, visible to everyone in the Blue Sky Temple.
"I will turn your oath into a curse! For every enemy that dies, one of your human qualities will be lost! You will become a monster, Li Xian! An empty shell controlled by revenge!"
Li Xian did not flinch. He threw the knife he had through the projection. In the distance, at the Blue Sky Temple, Shanghai Hei suddenly screamed in pain, clutching his injured eye. Li Xian felt the sharp touch of the knife in the distance.The river of blood they created became a path to the HYT headquarters. Sakura trees grew on the tombstone in 5 minutes, as a symbol of hope and new life. And a golden eagle and a black crow perched on their shoulders, symbolizing the fusion of their powers, light and darkness.
Dawn broke. Li Xian and Luo Feng stood at the end of the blood river, ready to part ways.
"If you hear news of my death," Li Xian said, "don't believe it. It's just a trick."
"If you see me become a monster," Luo Feng replied, "kill me."
They walked in opposite directions on the blood river. Their shadows merged in the middle of the river, forming a symbol of the destiny that bound them. The rising sun was blinding, obscuring the two different sets of bloody footprints, heading towards different hells.