There was a flash, one blinding wave of green light that drowned out everything else. A scorching wind followed the light, entering his lungs with his breath. Fang Yau felt like he burned, his lungs were smouldering, and before long he would fade like ash on the wind. Just another unfortunate casualty caught up in someone else's fight. But before he could become just another number, the light faded.

Or rather, he was pulled away from the light. A brief moment of darkness followed by another bright light, this one pure white. And before he knew the how's and why's, he found himself standing in a pure white land without a single blemish, not a single building or piece of vegetation to break up the pristine white. But he hadn't arrived there alone, he also saw Yin Long's sisters and beast companion, the only ones missing were Xiao Yin Yu and Yin Long himself. Lan Yun was technically also missing... but he doubted that there was anything left of her to actually arrive here.

"Where is t... You."

Fang Yau's ears picked up Lang Huo's voice, she was turning her head to warily inspect the space around them. But her voice trailed off and hardened, her eyes narrowing as her gaze landed on the one stranger present in this white space. Silky black hair that hung down to his shoulders, piercing red eyes, a tall and slightly muscular frame topped off by a face that looked lightly wrinkled from weariness. The pale yellow robe covering his right arm was scorched, gone from the shoulder down, revealing a burnt arm that was still fuming. It was a man that Fang Yau didn't know, be it personally or from his clan's archives. But there was someone here who knew him, two of them in fact.

"Bai Xiang. Have you been stalking him ever since that day?"

Lang Huo was the one who spoke again, her lips contorted slightly. Of course she knew this man, of course she remembered him. Bai Xiang, the man who had spent a few years with his wife at their clan, supposedly repaying the debt that they owed their parents. It was they who gave her the cultivation technique she used, it was also they who gave Yin Long his name, as well as trained him until their parents passed away.

She couldn't trust him. He was the one who gave Yin Long two names, apparently certain that he would eventually leave the clan. He was the one who gave Lang Ru a pill that could bring back the dead, a pill to make a dragon soar. And now he had appeared here, right as disaster seemed to strike Yin Long. It was too suspicious, too strange. He couldn't be trusted.

"Not since that day, only since the day Starblood started to observe him with suspicion."

Bai Xiang's response came with a somewhat heavy exhale. He shook his burnt arm a few times before covering it with a bit of cloth, the fabric quickly staining. He didn't deny that he had been stalking Yin Long, Lang Huo's expression turning frosty. Lang Ru still wore a calm visage, but Fang Yau could see a certain chill hidden within her eyes, this family really was like peas in a pod.

"The pill. It serves as a tracking device?"

Lang Ru had thought about it quickly. Starblood had come for her and Lan Yun the moment the competition started, before Yin Long showed his brilliance to the public. So if Bai Xiang had started following him at that point then he needed a way to track Yin Long, he also needed a way to learn about those around him. And for that first point, she could think of a very simple explanation.

"Not a tracking device per se. It just so happens that it was made with a portion of my soul to make sure that the other side held up their end of the bargain when it needed to be used. Thanks to that I can feel his location with a good bit of accuracy, that's all."

Once again, Bai Xiang didn't deny the accusations. In fact, he was so straightforward that it made Lang Ru and Lang Huo a bit suspicious. They had barely ever seen him when they lived in the clan, Yin Long was the only one who could see them reliably. But the few times they spoke with Bai Xiang he had always been a bit more mysterious, he never really had much to say to them.

"What are you hoping to achieve, showing yourself here?"

A man with a goal, a man with a vision, that was how LAng Ru would describe Bai Xiang. But she didn't know the goal, and she didn't know how they, or more specifically, Yin Long, factored into that vision. He had been gone for so long, uninvolved for so long, what sort of plan had he cooked up that required him to show himself now? Once again, Bai Xiang didn't hide his thoughts. Or perhaps he did and was just lying to them, it was hard for the two sisters to tell which it was.

"I wasn't planning on showing myself if I could avoid it, it'd be fine if he just died on his own. But you guys had to get involved and ruin it. You cannot die here, you are crutches that he needs to remain sane, if not now then in the future. So I saved you before the doll blew you to pieces. But now things are annoyingly troublesome and he'll have to be on his own for a bit, let's consider it a good chance for him to grow with a clear goal, even if it is revenge."

He spoke with another exhale, this one a bit heavier and wearier. It really was annoying that they had to get involved, they should have just stayed away and acted as good emotional supports. From the sideline, separated, quietly, that way it would have been perfect. He spoke so plainly, with a tinge of annoyance in his voice, but the three people and one lion present caught onto what his desire had been.

"...Die? You came here to ensure that he died?"

Lang Huo's voice was low as she spoke, her pupils crackling as her hair flared. He wanted Yin Long to die, and worse yet, he wanted him to die all on his own. He'd already had one lonely burial, did this old teacher really want him to have another lonely burial in an unmarked grave? Bai Xiang obviously felt the change in their emotions, but quite frankly, it didn't matter much to him what they thought, that was why he spoke as he did.

"Not specifically. I was originally hoping that he wouldn't do anything too big and get discovered, it would have been fine if he just maintained his previous level of obscurity and low-key demeanour. But you messed that up royally, didn't you? You just had to push him right into the spotlight, just had to show him off for the world to see?"

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His gaze landed on Lang Huo, his brows creasing as he frowned. Yes, she had really messed things up. If it was just Starblood then it would have been doable, he could have taken care of it and things would stay the same. But she pushed him right into the spotlight and showed him to the world. Now the entire dominion knew about him and his Netherworld energy, now everyone in the Flood's faction knew about him. What a mess, what a royal mess. But it was already done, at this point, he could do nothing but sigh and act according to the situation.

"Ha~ah, forget it. I'll take you lot over to the Dawnstar Dominion, just stay there quietly, the Flood's people won't be able to spot you there and will just think that you died when the doll detonated."

Since things had already reached this stage then he could only take them away, it was a shame about the doll and the girlie that protected Yin Long, but there were limits to what he could do. These guys surviving would at least help drag Yin Long's mind back up in the future, at worst he could have someone secretly send him a message when he inevitably ended up in the Netherworld. But just as he was about to move his healthy arm, Lang Huo cursed at him.

"Are you kidding me? Fuck that, he's still struggling against Starblood, send me right back down to him!"

Send them away to another Dominion? After he admitted that he wanted Yin Long to just quietly die down there? Was he insane and actually thought that they would accept that. Her Qi started to flare as golden flames rose from her hair, but Bai Xiang shook his head at the sight, his words smothering her fire with a horrid chill.

"Ah, so eager to die, so quick to throw away your life for family. I swear, first it was your parents, then him, and now you guys, it must run in your blood."

Both of the sisters reacted to his words, ears and eyes perking up. Their parents, it was an incredibly sore and important subject to all three siblings. And now Bai Xiang had brought them up, and he had even subtly mentioned something all of them were suspicious of in the past.

"Our parents?"

Their parents died young. They were strong cultivators so their lifespan should have been a fair bit longer than what it ended up being. The way they rapidly aged was especially suspicious, it should only happen when they reached the very extreme end of their lifespan. And yet they aged and passed away well before their time, but they never found out why. But now, now there was someone who knew the truth.

"Yeah, they were quite like you are right now. Well, in their case it was more desperation to finally get a family. If it allowed them to get children then they were more than willing to give up over half of their remaining lifespan and all their cultivation talent. Well, what Yin Long did to them was unexpected, but they didn't stop him so it falls under the same category."

Again he spoke casually as if it barely had anything to do with him. The clan was told that it was a miracle, the whole world had been told that their family was afforded a miracle. Only Bai Xiang, his wife, and the Lang couple knew the truth. All Bai Xiang had to do was make a quiet offer, a gentle whisper of what they might get. The family they never could get, the offspring they always dreamed of. All they had to do was give him their future.

It was for the sake of that offer that he had approached them to begin with, why he had pretended to need their protection so that he had an excuse to return to the clan with them. And they didn't disappoint.

"...You're the reasons our parents passed away early."

Lang Ru did her best to maintain her calm visage, but her fingers were quivering. Their parents had tried and failed countless times to get children, they had all but given up in the end. But then they were blessed three times, like a miracle from the gods. And then they passed away before they got to truly enjoy those 'miracles'. Bai Xiang immediately rejected her accusations, his gaze sliding towards Lang Huo.

"No, that was Yin Long's fault, they should have lived at least two or three hundred more years even after birthing you guys. But he wanted you to live so he had to gather the life force to stabilize your soul. They were closest to him so the end result is obvious."

He had only taken over half of their remaining lifeforce, supplementing what was lacking with their cultivation talent. The children that were born would need their parents for a while after all, there was no telling when their lord would fully awaken after all. They had even prepared two separate hosts just to make sure that his soul wouldn't shatter its vessel. But then it all came crashing down, everything fell apart. And worst of all, he still didn't know exactly why, exactly what happened on that day. All he knew was the consequences.

"Alright, enough talking. Time for you guys to go, otherwise Starblood might suspect something."

He waved his good arm again to signal the end of the conversation, he had already shown them enough grace. Lang Huo didn't curse this time, her mouth dry as she stood there dumbfounded. He had wanted her to live? He had taken the lifeforce from their parents for her? Was that the truth or just a lie he said to silence her? She couldn't tell, her mind was a mess that refused to accept any single answer as the truth. So as space around them started to distort, she was unable to say a single thing. But fang Yau, while caught-off guard by everything, wasn't as involved as the sisters so he was able to ask the important question.

"Wait, one last question, just one. What are you hoping for Yin Long to do?"

Bai Xiang's gaze slid over to him when he raised his voice, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as those red eyes sank into him. There was a moment of silence from the opposite party, but he spoke up in the end, uttered his simple wish.

"I want him to live, and I want him to do so peacefully and quietly. He's already crushed the goal that we originally fought for and become his own person, it's not fair for us to dump our wishes on him. So he should just live and grow as he pleases, as peacefully and anonymous as possible. It's good for him to die here, he'll fade from the world and be forgotten. When he's strong enough to leave the Netherworld in a few hundred to a thousand years, all of these things will have already faded into history, he can go back to living obscurely and peacefully, away from Starblood and the others."

Their lord was gone, well and truly gone, all that remained was Yin Long. The goals they had, the desires they had, they couldn't throw them all onto him. Originally, that would just be the end of it, he would leave the clan and never meet the Lang family again. But... But he came to enjoy the time he spent there, the time he spent training that scarily talented kid that broke their lord. But as long as that kid was born through their plans, the others belonging to the Flood, or worse, the four generals, would never leave him alone. So he should just live quietly, peacefully, that was all he wanted.

The distortion of space grew worse around their group, Bai Xiang really was done with the talking. But his words allowed Lang Huo to snap out from her stupor, all because she wanted to refute him. She was confused because there were so many things she didn't know, so many things she wasn't sure to believe. But there was one thing she knew with perfect clarity, one thing she would always believe.

"No. No, you are wrong. I don't know about others, but I know him. My brother is magnificent, he's the greatest thing this world has ever born. He'll shine, no matter where he goes, no matter when. He'll shine, and he'll do so brighter than anyone else."

She had known it all along. Back when he was just a kid like her yet helped her train her swordsmanship, back when he publicly questioned the clan's elders and even beheaded one, back when he announced her wedding to the girl he probably once had a crush on. He was brilliant, a dragon among wolves. It was just that her elder sister had seen it far more clearly, that was why she helped him escape the shackles known as the Lang clan. Bai Xiang simply showed a very minute smile, shaking his head.

"I hope not, those connected to the four generals are far scarier than just a single Starblood. Let him be obscure, that way he can at least live peacefully."