Beastmaster of the Ages

The people around them laughed, save for Suishen Yue. He wasn’t in the center, but farther away. Once more, he felt his heart being rent asunder and bit his tongue so hard that it almost came off. He didn’t love Suishen Yao at all, but he had been relegated to the background as a side character for her and Tianming far too many times. The more lovey-dovey they were, the more he felt like a clown. Even his grandfather had abandoned him.

”Ten days! Ten days!” Once the marriage was finalized, there was no changing it.

”Suishen Yue, try to let it go. Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be.”

”That’s right. Not to mention, the old patriarch gave you the Kunlun Watcher.”

”Nobody will laugh at you over this. You’re the elder, so you should let it slide for the sake of Yaoyao’s happiness. That’s what a good big brother would do.”

Yet, Suishen Yue simply couldn’t bring himself to accept that. The only thing on his mind was becoming the ruler of Myriadpath Valley and the astralscape of order as a whole! But now Suishen Yao was out of his reach. Everyone cheered for the couple that finally formed after much hardship.

***

Suishen Yue returned to the Midsky Well and blankly explained everything that had happened to the man imprisoned within. Suishen Hongtian’s expression contorted as hatred seeped out of his body.

”Very well! That old man... he’s really done it this time. Even after so many years, he still isn’t willing to cut me any slack. Since he hates me so much, why’d he even bother siring me?!” His eerie laughter was tinged with ironic agony. ”It’s all my fault! Suishen Ranxing never gets punished, but I do! He kept saying that I was the older one and should bear it for my little brother.... And now, he’s even making my son pay for mistakes that weren’t his. How truly messed up....”

”Dad, what should I do?” Suishen Yue asked. He had obtained the item to ruin Suishen Yao, yet he wouldn’t even have a chance to use it. It was driving him insane.

Suishen Hongtian deeply sighed. ”There’s nothing to do. I’ve almost finished serving my term. Wait until I leave this place first.”

Suishen Yue nodded. ”What do you plan to do, Dad?”

”We’ll see. They’ll have a huge price to pay. That old man said that this was all for House Suishen’s sake... so I’ll plunge House Suishen to an irrecoverable depth!” His cruel, angry words made Suishen Yue’s blood turn cold.

***

There was a beautiful complex within Suishen Cave with walls that were decorated with carvings of impressive totems. It seemed like some kind of ancient shrine. Within it, a majestic-looking man looked out of the doorway with his sharp gaze. He was none other than Eminent Ranxing.

At that moment, white mist appeared behind him and a pair of snow-white arms wrapped around his neck. A white figure appeared from within the mist.

”Mister, are you avoiding me?” said a mischievous, girlish voice.

Eminent Ranxing held her hands in his own and smiled. ”You little pixie, what nonsense are you talking about? I couldn’t be happier that you’re here.”

”You’re happy, but I’m not. The entire House Yumo isn’t.”

”How’d I make you mad this time?” He picked her up in his arms and headed deeper into the hall.

Right as she was about to be kissed, the girl held her hand against his mouth. ”If you don’t properly explain it, I won’t ever come here again.”

”Fine. What do you want me to explain?”

”Li Tianming,” she said in a frosty voice.

Eminent Ranxing burst out laughing. ”Hahaha! House Yumo really doesn’t understand that much? It’s simple. Any talent that isn’t in Myriadpath Valley’s purview and used to our benefit is a potential threat. That’s why we brought him back, to keep him under our watchful eye. I’ve even been made a fool over the decision, don’t you know?”

”Since he’s already back, why don’t you just kill him outright? Why let him marry your daughter?”

”That kid has incredible public support. Killing him will apply a lot of pressure on House Suishen and ruin our reputation, so we can’t rush this. The only thing we can do is to raise the water’s temperature slowly to kill the frog without it realizing.”

”Then tell me. How do you plan to slowly cook him without ruining House Suishen’s reputation?”

”There’s many methods. The easiest that comes to mind is killing him when he commits a huge mistake.”

”What if he never errs?”

”We could just put him in a position where he will. There’ll be years and decades to deal with him, now that he’s back. When things quiet down a bit, I’ll set a trap for him that he’ll never be able to recover from. That way, nobody can complain if I kill him. They’ll never even think that the real reason we got him to come back was to kill him.”

”Decades is far too long. He might be a kid that won’t be able to grow to affect us in that time, but as long as he’s here, House Yumo won’t be sated.”

”If you guys can’t stand it, just send someone to assassinate him. In that case, the worst case is that we’ll have failed to protect him. There’ll still be pressure on us for our failure, but it won’t be as bad as outright inviting him back just to backstab him.”

”After we kill him, do we need to put up an act and fight for the public to see?”

”Of course! As long as we keep it all to an act and not actually kill anyone over it. As long as we know who our enemies and friends are, it’s all good. My little pixie, are you happy now that we’ve talked about it?”

”My happiness isn’t important. Eminent Diyan and the rest are the ones that really count. I’ll pass your message on to them, but whether they’ll believe it is another story.”

”I only care that you believe in me,” Eminent Ranxing said.

”Oh.... But wouldn’t you be sacrificing your daughter this way?”

”She disobeyed me and made a mistake. She shamed House Suishen. She’s only reaping what she sows.”

”Good! I never liked Yaoyao to begin with,” said the girl.

Eminent Ranxing smiled and brought her to his room.

”Mister, I’m not in the mood for it this time....” She struggled and got back on her own feet.

”Why?”

”My sister, brother-in-law, and their entire family are dead. Yumo Yuanni and Yumo Xue, too. House Yumo suffered a huge blow, while our enemy is still out there somewhere. All of Yumo Cave is still grieving nonstop. I feel their pain. I can’t....” Tears pitifully flowed from her eyes.