Di Ying Upon the Snow

Shen Er said indifferently, "In the end, you are still just a sword. You do not understand the human heart."

Yue Nu's heart shook. She recalled many years ago, on that cold, water-like moonlit night, when she saved the five-year-old Shen Xingchuan. What had she been thinking then? When that child followed her onto the path of cultivation, calling her "Immortal Sister," had she ever truly cared? A muddled, ignorant sword—when Shen Xingchuan truly died, when his body was possessed by another, when the battle at Huigui Woods broke out, had she ever felt any emotion?

Looking back now, as she watched Shen Xingchuan standing atop the clouds, did she view him as her master, the Defiled Ghost King, or her enemy? Shen Xingchuan had lied to her, saying she lost her memories due to demonic madness. He kept his distance, repelling her for decades as if it were a single day...

Shen Er asked, "Is there truly not a shred of affection between you and Xiao Ying?"

Yue Nu lowered her head. She remembered the words she had spoken to Xiao Ying—that Shen Xingchuan did not like her, did not need her. Everything had a reason, and Xiao Ying had promised to help her find the truth... Now, the truth lay bare before her eyes, yet Di Ying had been infected with demonic qi...

Shen Er fell silent. His words were merely meant to shake Yue Nu's resolve. He did not trust her and was fully prepared for her attempt to exorcise the demon. With one arm cradling Di Ying, his other hand was hidden inside his sleeve, ready for battle. He was calculating how to restrain this sword—a sword carrying the obsession of demonic madness, meant to purge filth and slay evil, born to crush them.

Yue Nu lowered her eyes. After a long silence, she spoke, "I do not understand you humans." She continued, "Perhaps because I will never understand you, Master... the Defiled Ghost King... Shen Xingchuan never paid me any mind. Now, I do not even know if I should kill him... What should I do?"

Shen Er was taken aback. "You are asking me?" Right now, he was only concerned with saving Di Ying; how could he have the peace of mind to care about a sword?

Yue Nu quietly shook her head and reached out to touch Di Ying. Shen Er raised his hand to stop her. His gaze was gentle yet cold. Yue Nu, who normally could not read others, stared at him in quiet contemplation.

Yue Nu asked, "Do you and Di Ying share some sort of covenant? Just as Shen Xingchuan and Shen Yushu share the Life-Binding Covenant, meaning he cannot let Shen Yushu die... can you also not let Di Ying die?"

Shen Er replied softly, "No."

Yue Nu was stunned for a moment. She abandoned her thoughts and simply stared at Di Ying. Having once fallen into demonic madness to purge filth, she was perhaps the only one in this world who had ever interacted with demonic spirits. She had once sacrificed herself to keep the demonic qi sealed within Huigui Woods; she could certainly do it again. But Shen Er wanted to save Di Ying. Could Di Ying overcome the demonic qi? Perhaps she could. Back then, the Defiled Ghost King had used underhanded methods to cast off the demonic qi that was consuming him and enter the mortal realm in a different guise. If so, Xiao Ying might be able to do the same.

Yue Nu made up her mind and said to Shen Er, "Go and wake Xiao Ying. She once knew Gui Gu; perhaps because she understood her, she will have some defense against Gui Gu's tricks. I will stay here to buy you time and suppress Xiao Ying's heart meridians to prevent the demonic qi from spreading further... Time is running out. If you fail, I will still kill her."

Shen Er replied gently, "Thank you for your help."

Before entering Di Ying's sea of consciousness, he issued an order to the defiled ghouls in the forest: If his aura completely vanished, it meant he had failed. At that moment, the defiled ghouls were to attack together and kill Yue Nu, absolutely not allowing her to harm Di Ying.

A human soul was filled with all kinds of memories. Gui Gu could devour and distort memories. When Shen Er entered Di Ying's sea of consciousness, he discovered that most of her memories were being consumed... Di Ying seemed to know this as well, and her consciousness had fled into a chaotic region of memories. Despite the rampaging demonic qi, this pocket of memories still wrapped around her consciousness, hiding deep within. This cluster of memories was like a water bubble, floating and dodging within her sea of consciousness, evading both the demonic qi and the touch of others. Shen Er was surprised; this memory fragment seemed unusual, as ordinary memories would not "dodge" so nimbly.

Shen Er pursued it relentlessly. He quickly locked onto this fragment of consciousness. Immediately after, the world spun, and his vision went dark as he was swallowed by that murky bubble of memory.

*Drip, drop. Drip, drop.*

Shen Er woke up, smelling the dampness in the air, the scent of soil enveloping him. He heard the patter of falling rain. Remaining vigilant, he opened his eyes... He was stunned, his eyes narrowing slightly, his eyelashes trembling. Nearby, a stub of a candle that was about to burn out sat on a low cabinet. This was a ruined, dark little room, filled with cobwebs and dust. The walls were broken, and the smell of dust mingled with rainwater. The sound of rain dripping from the eaves made the space feel suffocatingly oppressive.

Beside him, a little girl was crouching with her back to him, her clothes tattered, her feet bare, and her hair disheveled. Her dry, tangled yellow hair reached her heels, and she looked to be only four or five years old, extremely frail. Shen Er intended to observe further, but the dust made him choke, letting out a dry cough. Hearing the sound, the little girl turned her head, her eyes shining with pleasant surprise. "You're awake?"

Shen Er stared in shock. The little girl was skin and bones, looking as though she would shatter at the slightest touch. Her ill-fitting dress was not enough to shield her from the wind and rain. In her hands, she held a green leaf containing a thick, foul-smelling liquid. Her face was gaunt, but her eyes were large and bright, looking at him with pure clarity. Those eyes held a clear smile.

That delicate face, those slightly parted lips... Shen Er blurted out, "Xiao Ying?!"

The little girl froze, stammering, "You... how do you know my name is Xiao Ying... Little Brother, do you know me?"

Shen Er stared at her blankly. This was not the real Di Ying, but the Di Ying sealed within her memories. A tiny Di Ying... Shen Er asked, "How old are you?"

The little girl held out her fingers to count for a long time, but she could not finish counting on her ten fingers. Shen Er heard her muttering and saw that her fingernails and the crevices of her fingers were caked with blood and mud... His heart felt as though it were pierced by a knife. He could not bear to see her like this and tried to force himself up to embrace her. But the movement agitated his wounds, and a heart-wrenching pain washed over him. Seeing his wounds bleed, the little girl panicked and rushed forward to cover his chest. "Don't move, you won't die."

Shen Er frowned slightly. He was all too familiar with being injured; even without looking, he knew the extent of his wounds. Though painful, they were not fatal. Yet this little girl thought he was about to die. Her eyes were brimming with tears. Seeing her tears, he suddenly felt flustered. Not daring to resist, he let her gently part his collar and apply the strange herbal medicine from the leaf onto his chest.

Shen Er looked down at his chest, his eyelashes trembling. This body was also very small. He stared at his own scarred, dusty, underdeveloped hands. These were the hands of a child. And most importantly, these were his own hands, not a body he had possessed. In this memory fragment, he truly existed.

Seeing that he did not speak, the little girl thought he was dying, and tears fell like rain. "When I found you, you were already like this... I didn't make you die... Can you please not sleep? Gui Gu said that if you sleep, you will never open your eyes again. That is death, and you won't be able to stand up or talk anymore." Her tears fell onto his palm. "Please live, okay?"

Shen Er looked at her and asked, "Are you... Di Ying?" His voice was that of a youth, clear as a mountain spring.

The little girl trembled as she wept, lifting her face. She was gaunt, her hair dry and brittle, completely different from her later radiant and lively self. She sobbed, "Do you really know me? Was it when I was a little priestess, and you came to the village for a divination, so you saw me? I'm sorry, I don't know how to divine... I must have calculated wrongly for you, I'm sorry." She trembled with fear. "Don't die... Gui Gu has gone elsewhere. I don't want you all to die, Little Brother..."

The youth suddenly stood up and held her tightly in his arms, his fingers trembling slightly. He said softly, "I will not die. Do not be afraid."

The little girl Di Ying knew nothing. Upon questioning her, Shen Er learned that she had once been a priestess in a village and was currently following a great demon named Gui Gu. Gui Gu had promised the humans she would not disturb them; she only hunted and killed minor demons for food, bringing Di Ying along with her. Di Ying was terrified; she always cried and refused Gui Gu's demands, but a child could not escape the clutches of a demon. She had lived in such terror for a whole year.

Whenever Gui Gu went hunting, she would follow crying, searching for food in graveyards or abandoned tombs. This time, Gui Gu was pursuing a minor demon and had abandoned Di Ying in a graveyard. While she was secretly eating sacrificial food, she discovered the youth barely breathing among the corpses. She was both curious and overjoyed to see a living person after so long. Using all her strength, she dragged the youth out of the graveyard, found this abandoned house to shelter from the rain, and used the corpse of a minor demon to make medicine for him. Tonight, when the youth opened his eyes, she was overjoyed. She snuggled into his arms, looking at him with deep attachment, fearing he would die.

Understanding Di Ying's experiences, Shen Er wanted to take her away. How could a human live long with a demon? Gui Gu must have tortured her brutally to make the future Di Ying so terrified. This was Di Ying's memory; the memory was real, but the illusion could be changed. Shen Er hoped to alter this painful memory before waking her up.

He thought this would not be difficult, but the next morning, as soon as the rain stopped and he suggested taking her away, Di Ying resisted violently. She urged him to leave, her eyes filled with terror. "Go quickly... I don't know you, Gui Gu will find me..."

Shen Er was patient. "You should not stay with her. She does not treat you well..."

Di Ying screamed, "No! Gui Gu loves me very much! You are a bad person!" Suddenly, she shuddered as if hearing some call, then rushed out of the house, running barefoot into the rain. "I'm coming..."

Shen Er chased after her, intending to cast a spell to stop her, but he was shocked to realize he could not use the magic of the Wuzhihui. His cultivation was severely suppressed. He examined his body and was astonished to find that he possessed the spiritual root and meridians of a human. In Di Ying's memory, he was truly a human. Because of his weak cultivation, he lost track of Di Ying.

While he was frustrated, he sensed someone approaching. He turned around vigilantly and saw a young man and a teenager. They looked at him with strange eyes—a mix of shock, disappointment, fear, and respect. The young man stepped forward, forcing a smile. "Little Ye Sha, you're still alive! I knew you wouldn't die so easily. This is only your first mission... if you died, it would be a waste of your 'Omni-Spiritual Root' and this supreme skeletal frame." His tone was filled with envy and malice.

Shen Er lowered his eyes. Ye Sha. So in this memory, his name was Ye Sha? Could Ye Sha be the true identity that Di Ying did not want to tell him?

Shen Er, or rather Ye Sha, followed the two back to a place called "Duan Dao." The memory-wiped Wuzhihui Shen Er wanted to find his memories and wake Di Ying up, so he decided to play the role of Ye Sha. Duan Dao was an assassin valley, specializing in training killers to handle the dark affairs of the cultivation world. There was no affection here, only slaughter. The Valley Master held the life plaques of the children; anyone who disobeyed would have their life plaque crushed. Among this batch of children, the Valley Master favored the "Double Night Youths" the most.

At this time, Li Bu was still young and had not been sent on missions; he only trained frantically, hoping for the day he could go out with his brother. Meanwhile, the ten-year-old Ye Sha had already begun his first mission, facing slaughter and the terror of others. He felt a slight thrill in holding the lives of others in his hands. His talent was too high; no matter how he was tortured, his cultivation progressed at lightning speed, making the other children both fearful and envious. Everyone knew that very few assassins survived, and Ye Sha's blade might very well stab his comrades, yet they had to rely on him during missions. Among the children, only "Ye Lang" Li Bu was not afraid of Ye Sha.

For half a year, Ye Sha continuously took on missions to search for Di Ying. Finally, on a day of heavy snow, he met her again. After slaughtering all the targets in a wooden cabin, he heard a sound behind the firewood. He swung his blade to clear it, revealing a trembling little girl. His blade was still dripping with blood, which fell onto her hair. Around them were corpses, with blood flowing like rivers. She had forgotten him, saying tremblingly, "My family is very powerful... if you kill me, she will find you to settle the score... I only hid here by accident..."

Ye Sha looked at her, then sat down and set his blade aside. He said coldly, "Open your eyes." Di Ying opened her eyes in fear, only to see the youth standing barefoot on the snow, looking at her with a strange, faint smile. "Abandoned by Gui Gu again, Xiao Ying? Half a year ago, that rainy night in the abandoned house, don't you remember?"

Di Ying was stunned, then cheered, "It's you, Little Brother! You're alive!"

She was no longer afraid of him. Ye Sha was also overjoyed to have finally found her. Gui Gu had abandoned her here again. Di Ying seemed to think that mortals died very easily, so she was always worried about him. Ye Sha was used to the life of a silent assassin, but when he met Di Ying, he had so much he wanted to say. Di Ying dragged him along, asking about all sorts of things. He carried her on his back as they walked through the mountains, and the two children stood by the frozen riverbank, taking in the scenery.

Under the sunset, Di Ying pointed at the wound on Ye Sha's wrist—a wound cursed by an opponent. She sighed, taking out a pale pink hair ribbon to bind it for him. She clumsily wrapped the ribbon around the youth's thin, dry wrist, then asked softly, "Little Brother, what is your name?"

Ye Sha replied coldly, "I have no name." Ye Sha was merely a title, and Shen Er was not his real name either.

Di Ying blinked, hesitatingly saying, "Then... let me name you... In the winter of heavy snow, the river runs dry, but the grass of next year will turn green again... You shall be called... Jiang... Xue... He... is that alright?"

Ye Sha suddenly raised his head, his heart shaking violently. A tremor from deep within his soul made his blood freeze and then boil. Snow drifted over the river, the world was silent, and all things were withered. The youth stared at her intently, his eyes deep and dark: Jiang Xuehe!