The moment Wei opened the door, his pupils shrank to trembling black dots. His arms hung at his side.

The ribbon hung from the ceiling. His mother and father dangled from it, their bodies already stiff.

Wei couldn’t process the sight before him. Soon, Meihua would wake him from this bad dream. It was just taking her a while, that was all. He could wait a little longer for her.

He curled up on the ground, bringing his hands up to his face before he gagged, choking on air. Peijin was shouting something, desperately trying to lift him back up and block his view, but Wei couldn’t hear her anymore.

A shrill laughter split through the air as Wei laughed maniacally, cries occasionally breaking through. He laughed and cried—then he laughed, laughed, and laughed more.

“I… no, you… you can’t… wait… I… I… ha ha…”

Rambling incoherently, he brought his knees up into his chest, curling into a fetal position. Peijin must have been standing just before him, but he couldn’t even see her anymore. His vision had gone out, and in the end, he couldn’t even form a sentence.

“M-Mei…”

Suddenly, he sat up, and he could see Peijin nodding her small head, trying to coax him into standing up. But, he let out a loud scream before he smashed his head into the ground over and over.

Peijin’s hand cushioned his forehead—her hand and fingers had already been split apart from the earlier battles, and now, he was crushing her bones and tearing her skin with the force.

His hands then frantically smacked the ground until he found his sword, and he desperately tried to drive it through his chest, but a force pulled back and stopped him.

Wei should have known. His father was a bold, proud, traditional king who preached filial piety and always held his son under the most critical but love-driven standards.

His mom couldn’t bear to see the sight of her own son, who shared so many of her features, driven to complete despair—complete despair just to keep her safe.

Both had never known the discomfort of war or ever battled a crippling, agonizing disease. It was a miracle that they even survived for so long—and it was just as obviously done for Wei’s sake—but convinced they were only hurting him, they tried to relieve his burden.

None of them had realized that Wei needed them now more than ever. Bai, Gang, his mother, his father... none of them were burdens. They had kept him rooted through every crisis.

Wei let out pathetic wails like a dog kicked to the mud and beaten with a bat over and over and over again.

Another piercing headache burst through his head, and he grabbed onto his blood-caked hair and writhed on the ground, his screams silent.

“B-Bai,” he called out weakly, “D-did you have to go out and leave me like that?”

His voice trembled with each word before he dug his face into the dented marble ground below him. The blood from his forehead trickled down and stained his eyes red.

“Meihua, my mother and father are dead,” he mumbled, ruined.

No one was listening.

Peijin was kneeling in front of him, frantically typing what looked like essays on a keyboard, but he couldn’t process any of this before him. If he could, maybe he would’ve realized where he was.

He stood up and staggered forward, reaching out to support his weight on the wall, as he headed toward his parents.

He reached up to gently lower his parents' bodies to the ground, shutting their eyes which had been filled with blood and trying to straighten their heads despite their snapped collar bones and necks.

Suddenly, he watched with surprise as the dirty ribbon moved around like a newborn snake. Its movements were awkward, but it was undoubtedly shifting and waving on its own before it eventually flew out of Wei’s hands.

The ribbon had become its own spirit. After absorbing the chaotic, resentful, and malevolent energy from Wei’s entire family, it manifested into an autonomous spiritual weapon, just like Peijin’s sword.

“Wei-shushu, why do you wear this ribbon?”

“My younger brother gave it to me a few years ago on my birthday.”

Another memory flashed before his eyes and he winced, rubbing his brow. He was on a street near a pest control car.

“Where’s your brother?”

“We haven’t seen each other since I moved out for university. I’m sure he’s doing well. I’ll look for him soon.”

Where were all of these memories coming from? Waves and waves of more suffocating memories assaulted him, but the little white ribbon gently drifted over to him and nuzzled against his cheek.

It had just been born and was completely oblivious to the nature of its creation. It waited in front of him, looking for any sign of affection from Wei.

However, Wei couldn’t even spare it a glance as he gripped his head and roared, “Kill me! Just fucking kill me! Somebody, kill me, please!”

If only this woman, this cursed, wicked woman could just help him break free from his endless pain and torture! It was suffocating, it was ruinous, and it was utterly unbearable; all of it had begun ever since she appeared, and Wei was certain that, if Peijin resided in his memories, he would never find peace.

Suddenly, loud thundering could be heard outside. Wei’s hearing was finally beginning to return, but he promptly tuned out Peijin’s pleading words. Driven to his feet, he rushed to the front door.

Then, it clicked. It wasn’t a rampage or anything of the sort. Instead, it was the sound of celebration and festivities.

People were beginning to break through Bai’s barrier, and all the civilians cheered and commemorated the destruction of Anyang. All the civilians joined in jubilation, cheering for Wei’s demise.

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They bore bright, thrilled smiles as they tore through the barriers and swarmed around Yang and Yue. Wei recognized it to be the exact same expression they wore on their face when Wei announced that he would save them from the Zhou army.

And it was the same expression they wore when they realized that, by stabbing through his heart, they would be spared from the demonic disease.

Why… Why did he have to witness such a sight?

Why did he have to see all of these people cheering and commemorating his downfall while the bodies of his poor mother and father lay by his feet?

“Ha ha ha… ha… ngh…”

Wei didn’t know if he should laugh or cry.

Suddenly he burst out giggling, holding onto his wounded stomach as he rolled around on his back, laughing until tears spilled down his face.

“I’m not going to let you off easy… no, not at all,” he mumbled to himself, staring straight at Peijin’s panicked face as he said so. “I’ll kill all of you. None of you deserve to live! Ha ha ha ha!”

It was hard enough to save a man who didn’t want to be saved by you.

“Do exactly as I say, because if you don’t, Wei will die at my hand.”

But, it was harder to save a man who thought you were preying on his downfall.

Wei’s face suddenly fell as he stared at Peijin, her image blurring with all of her past appearances in his memories as if they were flickering back and forth. For a moment, his face relaxed and his tears stopped flowing.

“Peijin?”

Finally, Peijin’s words could reach him.

“Wei,” Peijin cried out, immediately realizing that Wei had finally regained all his memories, “I’m so sorry, I’m so, so, so—”

His brows furrowed and his face fell into a frown. “You knew this was going to happen to me, didn’t you?”

Peijin’s eyes widened before she turned away. Mercilessly, Wei continued his judgment.

“You knew this was going to happen to me, but you didn’t say a thing? Were you always planning on killing me from the start?! Why did you ever approach me in the first scenario?

"How did you know what happened to me in my first life? Oh my god, it’s all coming back. It’s all… agh!"

He stumbled backward and gripped his head, staggering and stumbling but fighting to keep his balance. “You knew this would happen to me, but you let it happen! I thought… I thought you said you would…

“Where am I now? Was this my second chance? Peijin, did I mess it up? Did you mess it up?

“You knew what would happen from the very start! Ever since I first met you, you egged me on about why I wore the ribbon before laughing at my response! You knew what would happen!”

“W-Wei,” Peijin stammered, her expression full of guilt, “Let me explain. It’s really not like that. I…”

Wei tuned her out.

At this moment, Wei came up with a name for the white band gently flying around him lazily like a seal in water. Cancuo: “wretched mistake.”

But, despite giving the ribbon a cruel name, Wei gently lowered his head and extended his arm, allowing the band to wrap around it. With a small burst of spiritual energy, he quickly cleaned off all the blood on it before staring at it for a moment, his eyes a clear pool of sadness.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake violently, Peijin stumbling and grabbing onto the wall to keep herself standing. Wei immediately noticed her struggle but turned his back to her, sprinting to the front of the temple and peering outside.

Yue was using ‘Magician’s Hand’ to keep Yang hidden as he kept the civilians back with his bar, but suddenly, a massive, writhing tail smashed into her illusion and it shattered, causing Yue to cry out in pain.

A horrifically large, corrupted Daji had lumbered her way to the temple. Her fur was spotted with massive black spots, entire snakes pouring out of the gaping holes before burrowing in her abdomen.

Her eyes came to mimic that of a serpents, but they were blinking independently, as if fighting within her for control.

“Wei!” she roared, the sound of it grating and horrific, “I’ll fucking kill you!” As she spoke, pools of black blood poured out of her mouth; she choked on it when speaking, so constant black splatter erupted from her throat.

At once, the surrounding civilians let out mortified cries, a few of them running toward the temple in hopes of seeking shelter by Wei.

Daji slammed her tails on the ground. Her skin rippled and looked like scales before it was covered in fur then scales again; countless civilians shouted and dashed out from under her vicious attacks.

She lunged straight for Wei, but Peijin quickly intercepted, shoving Wei back and slicing through Daji’s decaying body with Zhige.

“Wei! Get out of here!” Peijin cried before Daji slammed her against a wall. Peijin let out a pained grunt before stumbling back onto her feet and leaping off the wall, slashing and stabbing at Daji.

But, despite her attempts, Daji’s eyes remained glued onto Wei as she lumbered toward him, roaring and screaming curses at him. Her long, black claws extended out for him yet before they could reach him, Peijin lept back in, struggling to clutch Zhige with her crushed hand.

She had torn off a part of her cultivation robes to tie the blade to her hand. Even though Zhige’s movements were restricted, it gave her more control.

“Wei!” Peijin exclaimed, “Don’t be an idiot! What are you standing there for?!”

Wei was as still as a statue, but it wasn’t because he was terrified or worried or in shock. Rather, it was because he had decided that none of this was worth it. No matter what, he couldn’t hide from the heavenly court, and his end would be the same as his first attempt.

He would be caught, tried, sentenced, and then have his memories wiped for the next two thousands years while held captive. Then, as his final punishment, he would be sent into the apocalypse as a meek disciple with nothing more than his white ribbon to accompany him.

That was his fate in his first try—and Peijin, the so-called god of fate and fortune, couldn’t change the outcome one bit.

It was difficult for a man who had spent his whole life serving to suddenly turn against those people. But, what could he do when they never spared him an ounce of compassion? The answer was nothing.

There was nothing left for Wei to do.

Peijin’s eyes widened with a flash of realization. “Wei! Wei, you don’t need to do anything for these people, but don’t do something you’ll regret!”

Daji smashed her tails against the walls of the temple, and half of it immediately crumpled from the force. Debris flew at Peijin and pinned her to the ground as she let out a pain cry, her injured arm crushed beneath large marble chunks.

As more and more people flooded into the temple, looking for any semblance of protection they could find before Wei, he whipped out his sword and, instead of attacking Daji, he darted toward the wall of civilians and cut the ground beneath their feet, dividing them.

“Y-Your Highness?!”

“What are you doing?!”

“He’s trying to kill us!”

Daji stood behind Wei for a moment before letting out a manic howl, cackling and crying out in complete joy. “Ha ha, you’ve finally crumbled, haven’t you?! Go on, slice through them next! Why stop there? They didn’t care as they stabbed you!”

“Wei!” Peijin let out an anguished cry, blue sparks all around her as she desperately updated her physical stats to try and escape from under the debris.

Yue and Yang, covered in blood, had arrived and were trying to shovel Peijin out of the marble, but dozens of civilians scrambled toward them, grabbing at their ankles and feet and slowing them down.

Daji darted forward and pinned Wei beneath her claws, holding him down as dozens and hundreds of civilians grabbed onto his robes and screamed and cried, begging for his help while Daji’s tales turned any attempting to run away into a bloody paste.

As more and more gripping onto Wei's arms, his legs, tugged at the ribbon, tore through his hair, he lifted his sword and charged it with overwhelming spiritual energy.

But, just before he could swing it down against the necks of those all around him, a glowing ball burst down from the sky, light erupting out from it.

Blue, pink, and white robes swirled in the air alongside red flowers that sprinkled down from the sky in a flurry of gold karmic sparks. A woman with long, waving brown hair and a pink sword flew straight at Daji, her waving sleeves billowing up her pale arms and revealing the black tattoo trailing up her arm, Chinese characters scribbled messily under it.

“The World.”