The gigantic golden lion took them all the way to the north, passing several villages beneath the cloud and heading toward a snowy mountain range. This isolated corner of the mortal realm served as a repository for unwanted inhabitants, the world's refuse, too despised to kill yet unforgiven.
And in a crystal cave at the center of Mount Hundun, the most dangerous person who once turned the world upside down had been locked up for almost ten years.
As always, Shen Ruizhe chose to meet Mo Zhiyuan alone.
Zhang Xukai dropped him at the entrance of the mountain.
"I will be right back." Shen Ruizhe said the same sentence every week for the past ten years before heading inside, but for some reason, today, Zhang Xukai did not want to let him go alone.
"Shizun."
Zhang Xukai pulled at Shen Ruizhe's wrist. The grandmaster, not expecting the sudden pull, almost toppled backward in surprise.
"... What is it?" he asked as soon as he regained his balance.
"Shizun, why do you have to meet him every week?"
Mo Zhiyuan was a beast in a sheep's clothing. Putting aside all the lives lost during his reign and the evil schemes he concocted throughout the years, he had actually dared to lay a finger on his own shizun.
The one who taught him everything he knew about cultivation.
The one who protected him from a young age.
The one who took care of him like a son.
"He is a beast," Zhang Xukai mercilessly said. "He does not deserve Shizun's pity."
Not after the unspeakable crimes he committed against Shen Ruizhe.
Seeing his head disciple in such a cloudy disposition, Shen Ruizhe's heart softened. He grabbed the back of Zhang Xukai's neck, prompting the latter to look at him.
"You care deeply for this shizun. I will always be grateful for your affection."
Zhang Xukai opened his mouth to say something, but Shen Ruizhe gestured for him to keep quiet.
"Still, I do not want anyone to get involved in our business unnecessarily. Whether it's a mountain of debt or a river of grudges, it is still between him and me. Xukai, you should not overstep your boundaries."
The words were spoken in a gentle and amicable manner, but they hit Zhang Xukai's heart like a brutal hailstorm.
Ashamed, Zhang Xukai stammered like an uncouth youth, "I... I am sorry, Shizun. I didn't mean to offend you."
"You didn't."
Shen Ruizhe released Zhang Xukai's neck and flicked his sleeve casually.
"I will be right back," he repeated before he turned away from his head disciple.
Zhang Xukai gritted his teeth in resentment as he watched Shen Ruizhe's silhouette slowly disappear into the darkness of the tunnel.
It was quite a stretch from the entrance of the mountain to the center of the mountain. The path along the tunnel was dark, but the crystal cave itself was flooded with light.
Chained to the ground by thick iron chains as thick as a grown man's arm from his neck, wrists, ankles, and waist was the former Nightfall Emperor, Mo Zhiyuan.
His once regal appearance as the domineering tyrant had been reduced to one of an abandoned prisoner. His robes hung in tatters from his emaciated form, his rough skin covered in grime, and his hair was sticky with blood.
And yet, when Shen Ruizhe stepped into the cave, Mo Zhiyuan stared at him with his bright purple eyes, his spirit unbroken.
"Another week has passed," he said with a vicious sneer. "And here you are again."
Shen Ruizhe's lips pulled into an unreadable smile.
"Another week has passed," he agreed. "Have you come to regret anything?"
"Yes," Mo Zhiyuan said. "I regret ever looking up to you, calling you my shizun. It was the greatest mistake of my life."
Shen Ruizhe did not even blink in response. After being at the receiving end of Mo Zhiyuan's hatred for ten long years, such a cruel remark bounced off Shen Ruizhe easily without leaving a mark.
Shen Ruizhe let his gaze wander across the expansive stone wall of the crystal cave. Every inch was inscribed with Shen Ruizhe's handwriting as he copied the entire Cultivator's Code of Ethics onto the wall from the first day he set foot into this cave.
He took five long years to complete this masterpiece, but the ink he used faded after only five years.
When Mo Zhiyuan ridiculed him for his wasted effort, he decided to rewrite everything using his blood instead. The blood stayed, but the scripts failed to penetrate Mo Zhiyuan's heart and fanned his hatred instead.
And today, there was only one last section left to write.
When Shen Ruizhe began writing this last section, he could hear Mo Zhiyang's derisive scoff behind him.
"Grandmaster Shen, this peaceful time must be so boring to you that you find nothing better to do than this pointless writing exercise."
"Maybe," Shen Ruizhe said, but he did not stop. "At the very least, you won't forget all the characters I once taught you to read and write during your confinement here."
Mo Zhiyuan's eyes darkened. He glared at Shen Ruizhe's back, sending daggers his way, but the grandmaster did not even flinch.
"If you want to torture me, you should use blades and not words."
"I do not wish to torture you," Shen Ruizhe said with a soft sigh. "I merely want you to change your ways."
"Never," came the answer. "You should stop wasting your time and just kill me right now."
Shen Ruizhe's bloody finger stopped in the air, as if contemplating the suggestion. Sitting behind him on the ground, Mo Zhiyuan looked ecstatic. He was always happy if he could draw any kind of reaction out of this cold, unfeeling shizun of his.
"You can stab me where you once stabbed him," he taunted further. "Right there, at the center of my abdomen. You remember, right? I showed you the same spot many, many times."
Shen Ruizhe's left eye twitched from the reminder, but he refused to turn around and show Mo Zhiyuan the pain across his eyes.
Instead, he chose to keep quiet and continue writing.
"You should kill me while you can, Shen Ruizhe," Mo Zhiyuan glowered at his opponent's back. "Otherwise, you are going to regret it. I am getting stronger by the day. Once the hundred years are over, I am going to undo everything you worked so hard for these past ten years."
Calmly, after finishing the last stroke, Shen Ruizhe turned on his heel and gazed upon his wayward disciple.
"My greatest regret has always been you, Mo Zhiyuan."
Shen Ruizhe turned to leave, but Mo Zhiyuan's hatred-filled words entered his ear, and he stopped in his tracks.
"I am going to kill you," the prisoner said, his eyes flashing with malice. For a split second, Shen Ruizhe registered pain in the depths of Mo Zhiyuan's pupils. Then again, Mo Zhiyuan's pain was justified, considering his current predicament.
Shen Ruizhe, the person responsible for Mo Zhiyuan's dethronement and imprisonment, had the cheek to face his bitter opponent, wearing a smirk across his face.
"In that case, my life is yours to take."