Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Shen Yu was not completely insane; after his eyes were gouged out, he barely regained some of his senses.

The capital of Yue was breached, and the Yue emperor escaped through a secret passage. The Sheng Kingdom dispatched its shadow guards to pursue and kill him, and ordered all the guards and palace maids in the palace to be captured alive.

Shen Yu was blind. He groped along the wall and stumbled out in the chaos.

He remembered the road back to Chengyuan Mountain. If the roads outside hadn't changed much in the past seven years, Shen Yu could have found his way back by feeling.

He shouldn't have gone down the mountain, shouldn't have trusted Xuan Lin so easily, shouldn't have done so many wrong things... He wanted to go back.

Master… Shen Yu now only remembered the words his master left him before he left: if he had nowhere to go, he could go back. Chengyuan Mountain was where he grew up, and Shen Yu knew that his days were numbered, so he wanted to go back there for a while longer.

There is a pear tree in his yard, which he planted when he was a child. It should be more than ten meters tall now. If Shen Yu can make it back at the end of the month, he might still be able to touch the fallen pear petals on the ground.

It would be good to bury him there.

Shen Yu asked someone to give him a ride on the way. He passed through dense forests and crossed four or five mountain ranges before finally crossing the border of Yue Kingdom.

Chengyuan Mountain was outside the chaos of the world and was not under the jurisdiction of the Yue and Sheng kingdoms. Shen Yu walked uphill with his cane, and along the way he smelled the moist scent drifting down from Chengyuan Mountain.

It felt both unfamiliar and familiar, and slightly different from seven years ago.

Shen Yu returned to the place he had first seen. Nine thousand steps were piled up in front of him, with nothing above and a cold breeze blowing in.

Shen Yu's vision was completely black, and his breathing became erratic for a moment after sensing those presences. His whole body was as cold as iron, and he controlled his strength to step onto the first step.

"Get out."

A harsh voice came from above, sounding both suppressed and angry, mixed with an irresistible tone.

Shen Yu paused upon hearing this, tilted his head back, and vaguely felt that the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

"I told you to get out!"

A gust of wind came from above, and Shen Yu, unable to dodge in time, was struck to the ground by the person above. His cane broke in half, and the taste of blood rose in his throat.

He finally recognized the voice. Shen Yu's memory was in disarray; he traced it back through these overlapping fragmented images to the very beginning.

This is the voice of the photo studio owner.

"Senior brother..." Shen Yu got up from the ground, blood seeping from the white bandages around his eyes, and struggled to walk up the stone steps again. "I want to see Master."

Mo Qianyu looked at him coldly: "Master doesn't want to see you, get out."

Shen Yu seemed not to hear him. His lips remained closed as he continued walking forward: "My master didn't tell me, so what you said doesn't count."

Mo Qianyu grabbed his collar and threw him away. He suppressed his extreme hatred and gritted his teeth, saying, "Wen Lanyu, how dare you come back? Look at what Chengyuan Mountain has become! You've ruined our senior brothers and sisters like this, and now you still want to see Master? You have no right to see him!"

Shen Yu remained indifferent. He got up again, feeling the metallic taste in his throat growing stronger: "Get out of the way, I want to see my master."

Mo Qianyu's anger intensified as Shen Yu repeatedly attempted to climb the mountain. He blocked Shen Yu's path, completely obstructing his way up.

“No.” Mo Qianyu frowned, his tone still filled with hatred. “Chengyuan Mountain has already expelled you. You are not a disciple of our sect and are not allowed to enter.”

Shen Yu felt a dull ache in his head and a growing sense of unease in his chest. Without a word, he strode forward, pushed Mo Qianyu aside, and headed straight up the mountain.

"I need to see my master, please move aside."

"Wen Lanyu—" Mo Qianyu grabbed Shen Yu's arm, but Shen Yu didn't even look at her. He groped his way up quickly.

A ruthless glint appeared in Mo Qianyu's eyes. He forcefully pulled Shen Yu down, and a cold light flashed between them as they tugged at each other.

Shen Yu felt his left arm suddenly lose weight, and his arm went completely numb. A few seconds later, the pain suddenly erupted, drilling in from the severed arm and spreading outwards, directly attacking his nerves.

Shen Yu couldn't see his surroundings. He stood frozen in place, hearing a heavy thud as something fell to the ground beside him. His severed arm had fallen from the stone steps, leaving a trail of blood, and finally came to rest at his feet.

Mo Qianyu was also surprised that Shen Yu had no internal energy at all. Enraged, he drew his sword and severed one of Shen Yu's arms.

“Lan Yu…”

Before Shen Yu could recover, he touched the cut on his left arm with the tip of his right finger. The tiny needle pricks turned into large, dull pains that made him almost unable to stand.

He was completely blind and could not see what was happening, but he could feel that his palms were completely blank as they went down the wound.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!" Shen Yu suddenly lost control of his emotions for some reason. He had never been so hysterical even when he was imprisoned for seven years. Now, standing at the bottom of the nine thousand steps, he scrunched up his face, twisting it as if he was being tortured to the point of wishing he were dead by something.

"You! You! You're all lying to me! You're all trying to hurt me!" Shen Yu picked up his severed arm. Blood was seeping from the bandage around his eyes. He retreated while tightly covering his wound with his other hand.

Mo Qianyu seemed about to say something, but Shen Yu's expression suddenly changed. He threw out the powder he had used for self-defense, turned around, and fled into the dense forest behind him.

They're all lying to him...they all want to harm him!

For seven years, no one had saved him in Kunning Palace. Now that he is about to die, these people won't even let him enter the mountain gate!

What was it that he had so desperately held onto? What was the reason he fought so hard to survive? What did all the suffering he endured during those seven years amount to?!

Shen Yu ran wildly through the forest in an unknown direction, as if countless vengeful ghosts were chasing him. He ran until he was almost exhausted and could no longer turn back.

Shen Yu was suddenly tripped by a heavy rock in the woods. He fell to the ground and vomited a mouthful of blood as his chest trembled.

"Hahahaha..." Shen Yu lay on the ground and chuckled. His nose was full of the smell of blood, and he hugged his severed arm tightly as if it were a treasure.

"Lanyu..."

Shen Yu seemed to hear a sigh coming from afar. He lay motionless on the rugged forest path like a corpse, ignoring the sound.

The footsteps drew closer, as if someone was approaching. Shen Yu felt a hand lift him up from behind, giving him the strength to lean against that person's chest.

“Master…” Shen Yu blinked.

The old, wrinkled hand wiped away the blood from Shen Yu's mouth. Shen Yu leaned against him and smelled the sandalwood scent from long ago.

"Lanyu, I was wrong after all."

Shen Yu's mind was foggy, his internal organs were churning, and his remaining life force was being drained. He seemed unwilling to accept this, and upon hearing this, he could only open the two dark holes in his eyes, trying with difficulty to look up.