'Which kind of love do I truly want?'
Hei Xiaohu looked at the silk ribbon in his hand.
His thoughts drifted, and memories from his childhood surfaced.
That figure that haunted his midnight dreams, flashing before his eyes, reappeared once more.
"Xiaohu, let's not get involved in the bloody storms of the martial world. Let's be ordinary people, okay?"
Bai Li, his mother… a woman completely different from his father.
She was gentle, kind, like a pure lily, standing serenely on Black Tiger Cliff.
But Hei Xiaohu was different.
He inherited the bloodline of the Demon Cult's Leader.
Gifted with extraordinary talent, Hei Xiaohu was burdened with high expectations from his father since childhood.
Train, kill, train again, kill again.
Constant tempering, constant conflict, caused Hei Xiaohu's gaze to gradually become lost.
Did he really want to train?
Did he really want to become the overlord of the martial world?
Questioning himself time and again, doubting himself repeatedly.
Finally, on a rainy night, Hei Xiaohu listened to his mother's words.
That gentle woman, detached from the world.
"Take this medicine. It will slow the progress of your power. Even your father won't be able to tell."
"If you take it long-term, your power will slowly fade. Then, you can stay away from the conflicts of the martial world and become an ordinary person."
Bai Li gently handed a dose of medicine to Hei Xiaohu.
Back then, Hei Xiaohu didn't understand what this meant.
He tried hard to play the role of the filial son.
He didn't want to disappoint his father, nor did he want to sadden his mother.
So, he drank it.
Day after day.
The once peerlessly skilled Young Master Hei Xiaohu became a good-for-nothing that everyone could bully.
Cousins, male and female.
Those who used to be respectful and fearful of him
Now all looked down their noses at him, arrogant and domineering.
When Heixin Hu was in the stronghold, they at least maintained a surface-level friendliness, dealing with him hypocritically.
But when Heixin Hu went out to battle, the fangs of his own blood relatives were bared menacingly.
"Hei Xiaohu, as long as you live for one more day, I can never succeed your father's position and become the Demon Cult's Leader."
"Don't blame anyone but yourself for being useless, for listening to that weak woman's words and crippling your own power."
The cousin's name was Chai Feng.
He bared his fangs, laughing sinisterly.
Chai, Lang, Hu, Bao… with Chai at the head, skilled at observing people's hearts and stirring up trouble.
He knew that Bai Li, who is born into a scholarly family, had never wanted her son to practice martial arts or be involved in the Demon Cult.
Hei Xiaohu living a safe and happy life was Bai Li's greatest wish.
So, exploiting this weakness, he secretly met with Bai Li and gave her the medicine that suppressed martial arts training.
"As long as the Young Master's progress worsens day by day, even if Heixin Hu is strict, there's nothing he can do."
"Then, the Young Master can naturally stay away from the Demon Cult's conflicts. Whether he wants to play the qin, paint, or live in seclusion is up to him."
The naive Lady Bai Li never imagined there was a conspiracy behind this.
She painstakingly persuaded Hei Xiaohu until he finally took the medicine.
She thought this way, he could slowly lose his power and retire from the martial world.
Who would have thought that in the end, it became the final straw that the mastermind used to push Hei Xiaohu to his death.
"Ridiculous! So ridiculous!"
Chai Feng laughed wildly, his laughter extremely distorted.
"Think about it, Hei Xiaohu. You were considered a genius, exceptionally talented, yet you were timid and submissive, living your whole life in the shadows of others."
"Heixin Hu told you to train, so you practiced day and night, just to please him and earn a paltry word of praise."
"Lady Bai Li told you to cripple your power, so you drank the medicine without hesitation, just to see a trace of a relieved expression on that weak and incompetent woman's face."
"Someone like you probably has no thoughts of your own, even at the brink of life and death."
"Your whole life has been lived for others!"
Chai Feng's words were like a loud bell,
Deafening, echoing in Hei Xiaohu's heart.
Yes.
He had no opinions of his own, no sense of self, no choices whatsoever.
From the moment he was born, he constantly put on one mask after another to please others.
Before his father, he was the exceptionally talented martial arts prodigy, the Young Master of the Demon Cult.
Before his mother, he was the refined and elegant scholar, the graceful young master.
Before his younger brothers, he was the reliable older brother.
Before his elders, he was the sensible junior.
Without a self, there was no pain.
So even now, with a blade at his throat, he felt no desire to roar, to rage.
'Let it end.'
Hei Xiaohu closed his eyes.
Silently.
He was prepared to welcome death.
Swish…
A blade flashed, blood splattered.
Hei Xiaohu frowned slightly.
The expected pain did not come.
'Was I already dead?'
'Or...'
A pure white figure came into view.
It was his mother.
"Xiaohu... it's... it's Mom's fault... Mom shouldn't have..."
That gentle figure, that pure figure, was coughing up blood continuously, wearing an apologetic expression.
"Mom shouldn't have... arbitrarily decided your life... whether it's ordinary... or dominant... follow your own heart... walk your own path..."