"Wake up!" Ming Ye said as he threw Cheng Sheng to the floor. His expression livid and his eyes are bloodshot as he glared at Cheng Sheng. Then, he bent down to strangle Cheng Sheng. The irritation in his heart isn't letting up. He felt agitated, and so his hold on Cheng Sheng's neck tightened even more. 

The pain from hitting his head against the floor made Cheng Sheng's consciousness return. However, only for him to feel faint again when Ming Ye strangled him as he raised him in the air. "Ow… ugh!" he cried when he felt the familiar suffocation and pain in his neck. His face reddened from asphyxiation, and his body was bathed in sweat. 

He raised his hands to hit Ming Ye, trying to remove Ming Ye's hand on his neck. He flailed his legs, trying to kick Ming Ye. His feet had kicked Ming Ye, but only softly since he felt his body gradually lessening strength. 

"Cheng Sheng… don't you dare play tricks on me!" Ming Ye said as he glared at him, his pupils are deep red. Not only is he a demonic cultivator, but he is even a very strong one! 

How can they not notice him before? This question baffled the Youxiwang Sect and the Chen Clan elders before they died when Ming Ye sent the demonic cultivators to slaughter them. They were all caught off-guard, and only a few have escaped, including Chen Fu and Chen Mie whom the Youxiwang Sect and the Chen Clan have guarded with all their life to let them escape. They haven't gone to Xinfaxian Sect. No one has seen them where they escaped, and so their life or death is unknown. Like Chen Jing and Wu Fan, whom everyone knew have gone to Wu Ran, yet no one knew where it is, thus they cannot find them. 

"Keh!" Cheng Sheng coughed after Ming Ye finally released him and he fell to the floor. "Where are my brother, senior Wu and my da shixiong?" he asked as he let out a few gasps while he catches his breath. 

"Don't worry about them. I won't kill them." Ming Ye said as he coldly looked at Cheng Sheng coughing as he held his bruised neck while lying on the cold floor. "Tell me how will you resurrect Luo Shi?" he asked. This is the crux of the matter. 

Cheng Sheng fell silent for a moment before he choked his laughter. 

"What's so funny?" Ming Ye asked. 

"Elder Ming… that time when we searched for former sect leader Wu… it was elder Luo you meant you have pure feelings for?" Cheng Sheng said before he grunted in pain when Ming Ye kicked him. He hissed in pain when he felt his leg terribly ached. Ming Ye had crushed his leg! 

"Don't stall for time." Ming Ye coldly said as he pulled Cheng Sheng's hair and dragged him outside Luo Shi's door. Ming Ye stopped before the door and he slowly knocked. 

"Hypocrite." Cheng Sheng muttered when he saw Ming Ye's action. Then, he gritted his teeth in pain when Ming Ye pulled his hair harder after he opened the door and thrown him to the foot of Luo Shi's bed. "Ugh." He grunted when his back hit the hard floor. He felt it'll leave a bruise, but he doesn't hope for anything when he has decided to go to Youxiwang Sect. 

"Resurrect him." Ming Ye told him, his eyes are a few degrees colder. 

Cheng Sheng's lips were pressed into a thin line as he silently bore the pain and took his time sit up on the floor. Then, he leaned on the foot of the bed to borrow strength as he sat and spoke to Ming Ye. "You're that assured I can resurrect a person?" he asked and sneered. 

"You're so full of tricks." Ming Ye simply answered. 

Cheng Sheng felt exasperation. "I may be an alchemist, but I'm not a necromancer." He said. "You're overestimating me." He told him. 

"Resurrect Luo Shi, or I'll kill your friends." Ming Ye said as if he didn't hear Cheng Sheng's words. "You have three days. At the end of each day, I'll kill one of them. You choose who I'll kill first." He told him before he walked towards the door. "One life, in exchange of five." He said. 

These five lives, the three are Fei Yin, Chen Han and Wu Yuan while the other two are the missing Chen Jing and Wu Fan. 

"Or… is it six?" Ming Ye muttered before he left without waiting for Cheng Sheng's reply. Luo Shi, after all, is an elder of the Youxiwang Sect. Thus, if Cheng Sheng would resurrect him, it will be win for both sides. 

Luo Shi can return as one of the Youxiwang Sect elders, while also be the object of Ming Ye's affection. 

Cheng Sheng fell silent before he lowered his head and pulled his hair, disregarding the pain on his scalp from Ming Ye pulling his hair earlier. "Ha." He sighed as he curled up on the foot of Luo Shi's bed. "Elder Luo… why do you have to break this deadlock? The stalemate between you and him?" he asked as he turned to look at Luo Shi's corpse on top of the bed. The 'him' he is referring to is Ming Ye. 

Luo Shi lied properly in the middle of the bed. He has a peaceful expression on his face, as if he was just sleeping. Even his skin's complexion isn't morbidly pale as that of a corpse's. Instead, it is healthy pale, and also somewhat rosy. Who knows how Ming Ye preserved Luo Shi's corpse to this state, even better than Luo Shi's body when Luo Shi was still alive. 

If one would disregard the glaring wound on Luo Shi's chest, one wouldn't suspect Luo Shi was already dead and just treat him as if he was deeply asleep. Even Luo Shi's hair is silky and neatly combed, and his lips aren't chapped. Instead, they are full and plump. His fingernails are also of pinkish color. His clothes are also neat and clean, very tidily worn on his body. 

It can be seen that Ming Ye deeply loves him, as Ming Ye greatly took care of him. If one isn't just a demonic cultivator, and both retained their identities are sect elders, this tragedy that costed thousands of lives and destruction of their homes wouldn't happen. They could still have been happier, if one would confess to the other. 

But, it seems this tragedy is inevitable. Only one of them would live, and the other would tragically die. Both can't live in peace. Both can't have happiness, since the one that died made the one that lived heartbroken. His life after is more tragic than him, since he is bound to live his days ahead of him full of hatred, sadness, and regret. 

"Elder… Luo…" Cheng Sheng called as he grabbed the bedpost and used it to pull himself up before he dragged his injured leg and limped towards the side of Luo Shi's bed before he sat on the chair. He just can't crawl, okay? It'd be more humiliating than limping. "I know you could've avoided this tragedy. Could've unexposed elder Ming. Could've lived your days happily with him. So, why?" he asked as his eyes reddened and his tears fell as he reached his hand to touch Luo Shi's hands that were placed on his stomach. "Were it for the sect, for everyone to not be deceived by this beast in a sheep's clothing? Or, you, definitely, have known the truth since before, and unfolded it now since you are looking for some answer? Then – " he said as he closed his eyes and a light appeared from his hand, then covered Luo Shi's hands. " – can you tell me, have you found the answer?" he asked as his consciousness faded, and he became submerged in the memories that entered his mind. 

Darkness engulfed him before he opened his eyes, and he was almost blinded by the flash of white that greeted him. The sea of white before him and the gray sky above his head brought a biting cold on his skin. 

"*cough!" he heard a weak cough from his side. He turned and saw a small and sickly think child lying on the snow. His face is pale, but his cheeks are flushed because of the fever. 

"Hmph!" another child snorted and took the stale bread on the smaller child's hand. "Be grateful I'm not beating you up today because I'm starving! Careful not to meet me tomorrow, or else I'll beat you!" he told the other child and then left while gorging on the stale bread. 

"*cough!" from start to finish, the thin and small child never uttered a word and continued to weakly cough. However, he suddenly raised a hand and grabbed the other child's pant. 

"What?" the bigger child asked before his eyes widened when the smaller child pulled him. Because he was caught off-guard, he fell. And because everything was covered in snow, no one knew that there's a rock hidden under the snow. 

The child's head hit the rock when he fell, and when he hit the snow, the white snow was soaked in blood, like the spider lilies blooming. The smaller child beside him, unaware of the crime he unintentionally committed, his coughs gradually became weaker until it stopped. 

Everything returned to silence when the two child on the snow stopped breathing.