Chapter 63

#Redemption Through Slaughter.

Xie Zhuo had awakened!

At the same time, the ears atop his head and the tail behind him slowly dissolved into glowing motes of light, drifting away like fireflies on a summer night.

He had defeated the evil god within his body and seized back control of it. At the same time, his long growth phase finally came to an end…

The growth phase was merely a prelude for the Snow Wolf Clan. Once it ended, one’s true destiny would begin.

Thanks to the offerings he had received in the past, Xie Zhuo’s foundation far exceeded that of ordinary people. Perhaps it was because of this that he would one day, as a demon, lift the divine weapon—the Pangu Axe—and cleave through space and time again and again…

But right now, I had no time to rejoice over Xie Zhuo’s growth.

Before he regained his consciousness, the evil god had already injected his malevolent aura into every member of the Snow Wolf Clan.

Everyone had begun to change—some became tainted spirits, others turned into mindless, frenzied puppets. They began attacking their own kin!

Blood and flesh flew. Black aura churned.

The entire Frozen Forest had turned into a hellish purgatory.

Xie Zhuo clutched his head, clearly still dazed from the chaos. His consciousness hadn’t fully cleared. I saw a clansman, shrouded in black mist, pounce toward him!

I thought he had lost his mind and was about to attack Xie Zhuo—but instead, he simply trembled violently and clutched Xie Zhuo’s arm as if grasping the last straw of hope.

“Kill me!” he screamed, as if pouring all the cowardice, terror, and pain of these years into this single sentence that defied the curse of the evil god. “I don’t want this! Kill me!”

Xie Zhuo looked at him. His newly clear eyes took in the broken, pitiful face before him.

He froze in place, momentarily forgetting to act.

But it was that man’s cry—his scream of despair—that seemed to awaken the final shred of reason buried deep in the hearts of the other Snow Wolf Clan members.

“Kill me!”

“I won’t be the evil god’s puppet!”

“I don’t want to be controlled anymore!”

“Kill me!”

“Xie Zhuo!”

All those who could still control themselves shouted. Even those who had become tainted spirits shed tears of blood from the corners of their eyes.

As the last shout echoed—his name—Xie Zhuo drew the sword at that man’s side and stabbed it directly into his neck.

One clean strike. Swift and lethal.

Black malevolent energy gushed from his mouth along with blood.

Blood stained Xie Zhuo’s hands, and the dark aura brushed past his eyes. His hand gripping the sword hilt trembled; his knuckles, stark white against the blood.

I stood by and watched Xie Zhuo. I saw the tight press of his lips, the bulging veins on his forehead. I saw the man he pierced through mouth three silent words:

“Thank you…”

Perhaps this was the first time in his life he had been thanked.

Xie Zhuo pulled out the sword. Blood spurted forth as the man’s body turned into a mass of dark aura, which was instantly torn apart by the pure, cleansing breath of the Frozen Forest.

In an instant, a life was gone—leaving behind only a charred black smear. Even that stain was slowly being erased by the icy lake.

There was no time for sorrow. Xie Zhuo flicked his sword, flinging off the blood. With lips pressed and gaze firm, he stepped toward his clansmen.

Sword raised, blade fell. Blood shadow spun.

It was a slaughter. Few resisted—only a handful of tainted spirits, driven by the malevolent aura, rushed toward Xie Zhuo, only to be freed by his blade.

I saw so many people—so many, in their final moments, say to him—

“Thank you.”

Perhaps this was the gentlest day the Snow Wolf Clan had ever shown to Xie Zhuo in all these years.

Or maybe… the cruelest.

It felt like a massacre. But it also felt like a redemption.

A grief from the depths of my soul surged up.

I looked at Xie Zhuo, drenched in blood, without ears or tail—this Xie Zhuo, and the one who had married me—they were one and the same…

Looking at him like this filled me with unspeakable sorrow.

In a daze, I recalled the time I met Xie Xuanqing in the cave during the “Severing Fate” operation.

He had said to me: “I am of the Snow Wolf Clan.”

“As the rumors say, I wiped out my entire clan and killed those closest to me.”

“My past is full of shame.”

I closed my spiritual awareness. I couldn’t bear to watch anymore. I never expected the “rumors” and “shame” he spoke of… would be this cruel, this tragic.

He had been just a child once.

A child who wanted to grow summer flowers. A child who wanted to raise a puppy.

So why… why must he, here, redeem himself through slaughter?

I didn’t know how much time had passed. Day had turned to night, and even the moon had risen. The sound of blades slicing through flesh and bone finally ceased.

I opened my spiritual awareness and saw Xie Zhuo’s sword, its final point aimed at Xie Ling’s neck.

But the sword tip paused just before touching her throat.

Blood, still warm, dripped slowly onto Xie Ling’s neck.

Her eyes were clouded, the whites murky, but she seemed to retain a sliver of clarity: “Kill me. Then kill yourself,” she said calmly.

“Alright…”

Xie Zhuo responded just as calmly.

That calmness was the same as when he was a child, quietly following behind Xie Ling, not crying or making a fuss, walking with her back to her and Zhuyan’s home, then standing silently in his place for a long while before turning away alone.

Without hesitation, Xie Zhuo thrust the blade—but just as it was about to pierce her throat, Xie Ling shifted slightly back. Uneasy, she looked toward the distance.

“I hear his footsteps. He’s coming back.”

Xie Zhuo frowned slightly. I saw a black speck flicker at his brow, and a flash of dark mist passed.

“Spare Zhuyan,” Xie Ling glared at him. “No matter what happens, spare him.”

Xie Zhuo’s lips tightened.

In the distance, outside the Frozen Forest, Zhuyan’s voice rang out. He seemed to have sensed something, and his voice rapidly approached.

“Promise me!” Xie Ling pleaded through her tears. “For the life I gave you.”

Xie Zhuo’s fingers tightened on the hilt. As he delivered the final thrust, I heard him softly respond, “Alright…”

The sword pierced her throat. Xie Ling closed her eyes, turned into black malevolent mist, and was torn apart by the forest’s purifying aura.

“Mother!”

A cry echoed from outside the Frozen Forest.

Xie Zhuo didn’t even glance that way. He raised the sword to his own neck, ready to end his life—

When suddenly, Zhuyan lunged forward.

“Xie Zhuo! I want you dead!”

His hatred surged. A strange vortex of aura swirled around him. The malevolent energy that had been dispersed in the air was now, under the pull of that hatred, slowly gathering toward him.

It was Zhuyan’s hatred—pulling in the evil aura!

And that gathering force… it seemed to be affecting the evil god within Xie Zhuo’s body!

A flicker of flame sparked at the black speck between Xie Zhuo’s brows. His hand froze mid-swing. He gritted his teeth, struggling with all his might to drive the blade into his neck—but by then, Zhuyan had already reached him.

No one could have expected it! That black dot suddenly sparked a needle-like bolt of lightning, which, in the blink of an eye, shot straight into Zhulián’s forehead.

The black lightning that entered his forehead exploded into a surge of fiery energy. Both Xie Zhuo and Zhulián were blasted apart by the force.

Xie Zhuo, having just battled the Evil God’s spirit and slain his entire clan, seemed to have completely exhausted his spiritual energy. He crashed to the ground and didn’t rise for a long time.

On the other side, Zhulián lay sprawled on the ground, his entire body engulfed in black baleful energy. Clutching his head, he appeared to be in excruciating pain.

“No… kill… ah!” He was trapped in unbearable agony and chaos. Clearly, the Evil God had no intention of lingering here.

Perhaps, in the struggle for control over Xie Zhuo’s body just now, he had also suffered serious damage to his essence.

He began to manipulate Zhulián’s body, stumbling as he fled into the distance.

Xie Zhuo wanted to give chase, but his body had already reached its limit. Without the support of the baleful energy, the injuries he had sustained earlier began to resurface.

He lay on the ground, still gripping his sword tightly in his hand, unwilling to let it go.

In this first clash between Xie Zhuo and the Evil God, it was hard to say who had won or lost. For now, no one in the world yet knew how the Evil God had returned. And even if Xie Zhuo were to take his own life today, he likely still couldn’t completely destroy the Evil God.

I floated to the unconscious Xie Zhuo.

With my spirit form, I gently pressed against his blood-streaked cheek, silently, invisibly staying by his side.

I knew that from this moment on, his journey was only just beginning.

【Author’s Note:】

This marks the end of the Snow Wolf Tribe’s backstory!

The next chapter will begin the backstory of the Undying City!

That arc won’t be too long either—we’re getting closer and closer to the finale!