Chapter 1536 - 1533: Memories of the Past

Ye Qiu, who had been desperately hiding his true level, couldn't say another word. Hearing what he'd just said, Xiaohui cried for a while, then broke into a tearful smile.

Some time passed after that. One day, the five clan members, everyone except Qita, went out together to fight various enemies. Qita had finally scraped together enough funds and was negotiating with a seller to buy a building for the clan's headquarters, so he wasn't acting together with everyone else.

Even though the place they went to was a forest that had already been explored, there were still undeveloped areas left inside. Just as they were getting ready to leave, one member discovered something that looked like some kind of treasure.

At the time, Ye Qiu insisted on not opening it. They were close to the front lines, the monsters there were all very strong, and the members' trap-disarming skills were seriously worrying. But the only ones against opening it were Ye Qiu and Xiaohui. After a vote, the decision to open the chest was passed three to two.

Turns out it was the worst kind of trap among all traps—a warning alarm trap. The moment it was opened, a piercing alarm shriek rang out, and countless monsters poured in through every entrance of the forest. Everyone originally wanted to run for it immediately.

But they didn't expect it to be a double trap. That treasure turned into an inescapable space, and they couldn't get out.

The number of monsters was so overwhelming that there was no way to hold out, and the members fell into panic. I unleashed the moves I'd been hiding until then, hoping to carve out a bloody path, but the panicked members couldn't make it into the passage in time. The monsters mercilessly slaughtered them, dragging out their screams until the very end.

At the time, Ye Qiu was thinking that he had to at least save that girl, swinging his sword over and over.

But in the end, he was still too late. All he could see was Xiaohui desperately reaching out her hand to him for help, but the monsters' blades still mercilessly cut her down. As her body was dyed red, her eyes still held absolute belief that he would save her.

She believed in him so much, pinned all her hopes on Ye Qiu's help. All because of that baseless, flimsy promise of his, a promise that in the end really did turn into a lie.

Qita had prepared the keys to the new headquarters and was waiting for everyone to come back at the inn they'd always used as the clan base. When only Ye Qiu survived and returned to the inn, he told Qita what had happened. Qita listened without saying a word, and only after Ye Qiu finished did he ask, "Why are you the only one who came back alive?"

So Ye Qiu told him about his true strength.

Qita glanced at Ye Qiu with eyes like he was looking at some kind of monster, and only said one line.

"People like you have no right to join us at all."

Those words cut Ye Qiu apart like a sword of steel.

"…That guy… what happened to him… later…?" Fang Wushang asked when Ye Qiu stopped talking for a long time.

"He killed himself."

Sitting in the chair, Fang Wushang's body trembled.

"He jumped from the perimeter of the clan headquarters. I think… even at the very end he must've been cursing me… probably…"

He felt like his voice was about to fail him. The memories sealed deep in his heart were dragged out by this first confession, and the pain from back then awakened vividly again. Ye Qiu clenched his teeth hard. He wanted to reach out to Fang Wushang and seek salvation from her, but that voice in the depths of his heart shouting "You have no right…" made Ye Qiu only clench his fists tighter.

"I killed everyone. If I hadn't hidden my strength, they would've believed me when I said that trap was really dangerous. It was me… I killed Qita… and Xiaohui…"

Ye Qiu forced his eyes wide open and squeezed the words out through his clenched jaw.

Fang Wushang suddenly stood up, took two steps forward, and cupped Ye Qiu's face in both hands. Her beautiful face, wearing a peaceful smile, leaned close to his.

"I won't die."

Her voice sounded like a whisper, yet it was unnaturally clear. Ye Qiu's whole body, which had been stiff as a board, suddenly relaxed.

"Because, as for me… I'm the one who's going to protect you."

When she finished, Fang Wushang pulled my head into a tight hug against her chest. Ye Qiu felt a gentle, warm darkness enveloping him.

When he closed his eyes, he could see deep in his memories the members of the Moon Night Clan sitting on the inn's counter bathed in orange light, looking over at him.

There was no way he could ever be forgiven. Nor was there any chance to atone.

Even so, right now, in his memory, they all seemed to have faint smiles on their faces.

The next morning, Ye Qiu put on that eye-catching blue coat and headed out to the mission destination together with Fang Wushang.

Starting today, he would be working as a member of the Lantian Clan. That said, the original rule that battles were to be carried out in teams of five had been changed—thanks to Vice Clan Leader Fang Wushang exercising her special privilege—so it was fine to go in pairs. In practice, things weren't all that different from before.

Only, what was waiting for the two of them at clan headquarters was an unexpected order.

"Training?"

"That's right. Including me, four clan members will form a squad, enter the eastern side of the Mula Great Forest, and come out from the southern exit."

One of the four people who had sat in on the meeting with Long Yijian said this to Ye Qiu. He was a tall man with a head of messy, curly hair, and looked like the kind of person who fought with an axe.

"Hey, wait! Nan Haowei! Ye Qiu will be with me…"

Faced with Fang Wushang, who was doggedly arguing, that Nan Haowei raised one brow, then replied in a brash—no, downright rude—tone:

"Even if you're the Vice Clan Leader, you can't ignore discipline. For actual attack battle formations, sure, whatever. But at the very least, you've got to let me, the one in charge of leading the vanguard, assess his strength. Even if he calls himself a solo, we still don't know if he'll be any use."

"With… with Ye Qiu's strength, there's no way he'd cause trouble for someone like you…"

Ye Qiu stopped Fang Wushang, who was already on the verge of snapping, and spoke up.

"If you want to see it, then I'll let you see. I just don't want to waste time in a place like that forest. If we blitz straight through, it should be fine, right?"

The man called Nan Haowei pressed his lips together with an unhappy look, then finally tossed out, "Meet at the west gate of town in thirty minutes," and stomped away.

"What kind of attitude is that!"

Fang Wushang angrily kicked the iron pillar beside her with her boot.

"Sorry, Ye Qiu. If I'd known, I should've listened to you—we could've just gone off on our own and found a place to farm…"

"If we did that, the clan members would curse me to death."

Ye Qiu smiled and lightly placed his hand on Fang Wushang's head.

"Ugh, I thought we could be together the whole day… Then I'll just go with you guys too…"

"I'll be right back. Just wait here for a bit."

"Mm… Then you be careful, okay…"