For three days and nights, they put up a tough fight that surprised everyone who joined the attack. The Snow Mountain Sect was like an impossible fortress to break into. Xue Ying had erected all possible defenses and made use of every manpower he had. Some lives were lost but they managed to hold out. The attacks finally stopped on the fourth day.
Xue Ying knew the attacks would begin again after both sides recharged. By now, their enemies are familiar with the layout of their sect and would soon discover the loopholes. And they couldn't stay in the mountains forever. They would soon run out of food and starve. But he did not want to concede defeat. Maybe, a miracle would happen…but what sort of miracle, he didn't know. Despite being strong, he was growing tired from the consecutive attacks.
At twilight, he finally caught some sleep after setting up another round of preparation works. He thought he was dreaming when he heard a familiar voice.
"Xue Ying, it's me."
But he wasn't dreaming. He opened his eyes and saw Lu Shen standing in front of him, alive. "Shh, I escaped. Don't let anyone know I'm here."
Xue Ying was in tears. Maybe this was the miracle he wanted. He wondered if there was any chance that his father might still be alive but Lu Shen told him he managed to escape death because he was out looking for food when they killed everyone. With his good friend back by his side, maybe things were turning for the better.
Lu Shen revealed that he did not return immediately after his father died because he wanted to look for reinforcements. He had secretly approached the sects who took a neutral stance in this attack. Some of them were willing to stand on their side but they needed time to make their way here. They could arrive as soon as tomorrow if there were no delays. Xue Ying's face lit up with hope, it seemed like there was a way out of this chaos they were in.
At dawn, Lu Shen rushed into his room and shouted that reinforcements were here. Xue Ying gave the command to open the door to welcome their miracle.
But the moments the doors opened, Xue Ying found the missing pieces to the puzzle. He knew why his father told him to flee. He knew who betrayed them. He knew how foolish he was to trust Lu Shen escaped simply because he was hunting for food.
"Well done, Lu Shen. I didn't know it was this easy to take over the Snow Mountain Sect." a man with a wicked smile entered the doors. It was Yuan Wei. Behind him, thousands of disciples from Blood Eagle Sect rushed in and destroyed the defenses they had set up, killing anyone who was in their way. The remaining survivors were shocked to see these "reinforcements" but it was too late to do anything.
"And thanks to you too, foolish Master of the Snow Mountain Sect." he looked at Xue Ying. "I heard they said you were destined for great things."
Gripping his sword, Xue Ying turned his gaze towards his trusted friend, "Lu Shen…"
Lu Shen walked over and took his position beside Yuan Wei.
"You only have your own foolishness to blame, talented Young Master."
Xue Ying figured out everything that happened but still, he did not know why Lu Shen betrayed them.
"I hated this place from the very beginning," Lu Shen started to tell him the truth. "The fire at the library wasn't an accident. You should've believed the elders and let them expel me."
"Your father thought he was very chivalrous by bringing me back to his sect. People praised him for saving an orphan but what kind of life did I have here? I was nothing more than a handyman. The elders said I wasn't carved out to learn martial arts but that wasn't the truth. They despised my lowly background. They said Snow Mountain Sect treated everyone equally but that was far from the truth. Only the 'privileged' gets to learn martial arts here. Even the son of a random rich man could come in here and learn a few skills. And me? I could only watch everyone practice and try to learn on my own." he continued.
"For sixteen years, I've had enough. But no one could leave these mountains unless they had permission or were…expelled. So I thought, why not set a grand fire to destroy those secret manuals you value so much before the elders would get mad and kick me out? But you had to foil my plan." Lu Shen continued.
"When you befriended me, I had a change of plans. Since I couldn't leave, I might as well make use of our "friendship". I never liked you from the moment I saw you. You were pathetic. The Young Master of the prestigious sect who never had any friends until he met me. What a joke. You grew up having everything but I had nothing. Why was my fate different from yours?"
"And thanks to your guidance, I was able to better my martial arts skills. Otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen me to go to Yan City. And I wouldn't have the chance to find my true Master, Yuan Wei. Those aspirations we talked about? Those were yours, not mine. I dislike your so-called 'prestigious sect'. See, you don't even have a single ally fighting by your side. Pathetic."
Xue Ying took every word in. The boy that he had wanted to befriend had grown up to become someone he did not know. He thought they were buddies but everything was one-sided. He was a sinner who about upon the destruction of his sect and the death of his father.
"Biting the hand that feeds you, ungrateful brat!" the elders and disciples of Snow Mountain Sect were throwing curses at him. Lu Shen killed them without the blink of an eye.
"LU SHEN!"
Xue Ying was charging toward him but disciples of the Blood Eagle Sect blocked his way.
"We could fight this out and you die. Or, you can hand us the key to the secret manuals and die. Why don't we make this easier?"
The secret manuals. His father must've known of Lu Shen's intentions and knew he would be back to destroy the sect. That was why he wanted him to flee so Lu Shen could never find him, so he would have time to see his true colors. He should've listened to the elders and run. But the only thing he can do now is fight.
That was the last day of the winter season. When the fight ended, it was spring. 359 souls could no longer see the flowers blossom again. Xue Ying lay in the snow, he had one last breath left. His visions were blurred but he knew that they were invading the sect, raiding the place he called home. He had led his loyal disciples to their death.
"This boy was destined for great things!"
Those words were ringing in his ears. His eyelids grew heavy and soon, darkness was all he saw.
"Oh wow, this video has finally ended. I almost dozed off." PandaHero yawned.
"Why can't we skip this…" Snowman yawned too.
"C'mon, the visual artists spent lots of time creating this video. At least you can show them your support by watching." Ask Knight replied. He actually enjoyed watching these videos that his teammates thought were a waste of time.
"So who build the coffins for them, I wonder…and why 359? Shouldn't it be 360 since Xue Ying needs one too I supposed," a very calculative MysticSlayer made some comments that nobody was interested in listening to.
"Chill, bro. This is just a game…maybe the disciples who fled returned and created the tomb for them. And it doesn't matter whether there are 359 or 360 coffins, what matters is we can finally fight the boss now!" PandaHero sounded more awake now.
The tomb had now transformed into a battleground. The coffins disappeared, all they need to do now is engage the boss and start the fight.