The door swung open, and as soon as he stepped inside, all eyes immediately fixated on his presence. Damu Lan shut the door behind him and seated himself beside Cang Ren. Across him sat Jin An, while on the other side of the table sat the sect leader, Huang ChenTao, with Zhang XiYi standing by his side.
Jin An unfolded his hand fan, using it to partially cover half of his face due to the awkwardness. The tense atmosphere alone was enough to depict that this gathering was no ordinary tea time.
Once Damu Lan settled himself, Huang ChenTao began, "Damu Lan, you must understand why I've summoned everyone here."
Damu Lan promptly stood up, slamming his hand on the table.
Startled, they all glanced at him as he replied, "I do not." Then he turned to leave.
"Damu Lan! How dare you behave like that!" Zhang XiYi shouted.
Damu Lan paused in his tracks. "I don't know what I don't know. And I don't wish to know what I don't know," he said.
Knowing him, Huang ChenTao managed a more direct approach and asked, "Damu Lan, you can't hide the fact that you know Yin Xuan, the lord of the The Grim City."
"Damu Lan. You're not going anywhere until you explain."
"..."
Damu Lan turned his head halfway, his body still standing tall by the door revealing only his side profile. He let out a sigh.
"Centuries ago, I received a letter from Lord Yin, Yin Xuan, inviting me to visit the secluded residents of The Grim City. That's how I met him."
"Exactly when, centuries ago, do you refer to?" Jin An interrupted, joining in the conversation.
"Five years after Mo Yun's death."
At that moment, Cang Ren's crossed arms began to relax. His movements paused momentarily and he gasped softly, as if he had just discovered the secret passage leading to the depths of his understanding.
"Your words are too brief. For what reason would he—" Zhang XiYi's words were cut short as Damu Lan interjected, "I won't disclose the main reason. But part of it was because he wanted to give me books."
"Damu Lan, right now, none of us can discern which part of your words are sincere."
"Believe me or not, it's your choice. Either way, it won't benefit me," Damu Lan retorted, his face turned towards the door.
"Understood. I won't press you to explain further, but I'm interested in the books you mentioned."
"They're just books. Tons of books. Such matters need not concern the sect leader. So Damu Lan kindly requests that the sect leader not involve himself in this," he said, then began to make his way towards the exit.
The room fell silent as everyone watched his departure. Huang ChenTao exchanged a brief glance with Zhang XiYi, silently conveying a mixture of curiosity and concern.
Cang Ren's mind wandered, and a fragment of his thoughts slipped out as he murmured, "Books…"
Zhang XiYi noticed his distraction and asked, "Something troubling you, Cang Ren?"
But Cang Ren hesitated, doubting his own thoughts. He shook his head, dismissing any peculiarity.
.
In his room, Damu Lan sat by his bed, in his usual night attire. He had yet to drink or spill any wine, but his face was rather flushed with red hue. It was not the flush of intoxication or frustration, but rather a weariness that weighed heavily on his mind.
Suddenly, a knock resounded on his door.
"Master," called Lu Ye.
Damu Lan promptly composed himself, beckoning him to enter.
Seeing his master that hadn't gotten drunk even though he usually was, especially at this hour was surprising enough.
"Master, anything on your mind?" Lu Ye asked, only for Damu Lan to merely shake his head in response.
The silence fell heavily into the room after as nobody talked. As such, it was a routine for them to simply spend time with each other's company before the break of dawn.
Lu Ye observed Damu Lan who was staring out at his opened window. He had heard of the gossip from his senior disciples back at the dormitory, so he was aware of what had occured at the Qing Shan Hall.
Eager to break the silence, Lu Ye asked as soon his thoughts gathered. "Master, what do you think of this…Bai Chang?"
However, the answer was not what he had anticipated. Damu Lan met him with an inscrutable expression and uttered a phrase with an indifferent tone.
"Do not speak of his name so casually." Damu lan said, signaling a solemn warning.
Lu Ye's eyes widened in realization as the pieces fell into place. He gasped. He now understood why Zhang XiYi had prohibited the mentioning of the name Bai Chang. It wasn't solely out of his hostility but also stemmed from a deep concern for Damu Lan's well-being.
Damu Lan rose from his bed and walked towards the table. He didn't spare Lu Ye any glance as he poured himself a cup of wine and drank it in quick motion.
Soon enough, the effects of the alcohol began to take hold, and Damu Lan's mind began to wander. He became increasingly inebriated, his thoughts muddled. Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for worsening his master's mood. In an attempt to make the situation right, Lu Ye turned into a raven and flew over to the table, perching nearby.
"Why are you like this now?" Damu Lan asked, hand still clutching the wine cup.
"You seemed to like it best when I'm in this form. So I hope it can cheer you up. I was wrong, I hope master will pardon my mistake."
Damu Lan, already loaded, simply patted Lu Ye's feathers, struggling to find the right words."You're.. truly..." His words trailed off, his brows furrowing further. Before long, his head slumped onto the table and succumbed to a deep sleep.
.
Damu Lan woke up, and a letter mysteriously appeared below his bed. There wasn't mistaking it, the letter bore the mark of the lord of The Grim City, Yin Xuan, inviting him for a visit. Damu Lan felt a mixture of both caution and confusion. What connection did he have with the lord of the The Grim City other than Bai Chang to offer such an invitation? Could this be a plot to seek revenge on behalf of Bai Chang? Damu Lan couldn't say for certain, but without informing anyone, he decided to set off for the secluded residence of the The Grim City.
The path led him far from the northern lands where The Grim City was first built, but it was equally distant from the southern regions. It appeared to be located somewhere in between the realms of nations.
As Damu Lan journeyed his way through the forest, he noticed the barren trees with no leaves, and a family of crows as its sole inhabitants. As he walked further, he encountered a spell barrier that was casted in order to cast away immortals. Even Damu Lan couldn't dispel such a formidable barrier.
"Lord Damu," a man greeted him, in the meantime dispelling the barrier, allowing him to enter. "Lord Yin awaits your arrival," He said with formality.
Damu Lan followed the man, who guided him towards the manor. It was a well-constructed structure, but an eerie aura permeated its surroundings, making it lifeless.
As he reached the final step of the staircase, Damu Lan was greeted by a figure cloaked in a hooded cloak, his face hidden by a faceless black mask. "I am pleased, Lord Damu. To think that you came alone," the figure spoke.
As soon as he saw Damu Lan not pleading for any reply, he turned and led Damu Lan elsewhere. "Please follow me."
They entered a room. Unlike the usual square design, the room they were currently in was round, with long curtains instead of doors. It bore resemblance to a grand hall at once, yet it wasn't.
Damu Lan was aware that he hadn't informed anyone about his visit to the city, so he remained on high alert. His hands never once strayed far from the hilt of the sword strapped at his back, sheathing it for an inch.
"Lord Damu need not be so cautious. Even though I am a conscious devil, thirsting for blood myself, Lord Damu must not be my enemy," the figure spoke again, lowering his hood, and slowly, his mask came undone, revealing a surprising sight.
"Yin Xuan, Lord Bai's servant and the current lord of the The Grim City, welcomes Lord Damu to the secluded residence of The Grim City."
Yin Xuan appeared to be in his thirties, his facial features and proportions balanced and pleasing to the eye. Instead of a piercing gaze, his eyes emanated a gentle and comforting aura. No one would have expected this man to be a conscious devil who consumed the blood of the living.
However, one thing that marred Yin Xuan's otherwise pleasing countenance was the presence of scars on his face. Unlike Cang Ren, Yin Xuan's scar was significantly larger, spanning across his face as if it had been inflicted by boiling water, leaving a disfiguring mark that seemed to melt away a significant portion of his face.
"You must be curious to know what happened to my face," Yin Xuan continued, smiling as he picked a few books out of the box placed beside the shelf. "To put it briefly, the lord whose mansion I served poured boiling water on me, abused my well-being, violated my wife and took the life of our unborn child."
Damu Lan understood that every devil carried no cheerful backstory. He struggled to find the right words to respond to Yin Xuan's tragic account, so he remained silent,
Yin Xuan added, "If it weren't for Lord Bai, who saved me from becoming an unconscious devil, I would've killed countless humans by now."
Damu Lan couldn't help but question, "It has been thousands of years. How can I be certain that you haven't caused immense harm?"
Yin Xuan moved away from the shelf adorning the wall and approached the large round table positioned in the center of the room with the books. "Lord Damu took Lord Bai just for a mere lord. I believe that you know him best."
Yin Xuan flipped open a few pages of the book as he spoke. "Our malevolence pales in comparison to his. Lord Bai had always volunteered to take revenge on our behalf. For the past centuries, I had only drank the drying blood of freshly deceased corpses and flesh of bears and wolves."
A wry smile tugged at Yin Xuan's scarred face as he continued, "Human meat does not suit my taste, you see."
Damu Lan gradually unsheathed his sword, inch by inch, his frustration see-through in his furrowed brows. "What exactly is the purpose of telling me all of these?"
Without minding Damu Lan's words, Yin Xuan continued, "I was just a mere gardener serving that awful lord in search of money for my family, and yet he took everything from me, isn't he cruel?"
Although he was talking about the misfortune that occurred to him in the past, Yin Xuan's face remained smiling as he talked.
Yin Xuan placed an open book beside him and started flipping through another, as if he was searching for a significant page. "This world is far more corrupted than you can imagine, Lord Damu."
"Now that I've finished with my story, how about Lord Bai?" Yin Xuan prompted, not halting flipping of the pages while Damu Lan only watched.
Damu Lan's grip on his unsheathing sword tightened. His expression was enough to tell Yin Xuan that he was curious to know.
"Lord Damu," Yin Xuan called out. "What do you think of Mo Yun?"
Damu Lan only responded with a simple statement, "He was...a lively and brilliant person." It was the truth. During their time together, Bai Chang had never shown coldness or harshness towards him. Only when they were seperated would Bai Chang show his hostility to others.
"Do you know how the mortals and the residents view him as Bai Chang?" Yin Xuan asked, to which Damu Lan shook his head. How could he have known? They had been together for 25 years, yet he had never anticipated for Mo Yun to be Bai Chang.
"'It was 'fierce, cold and ruthless. His love to take the life of others goes to the grave unbound'." Yin Xuan recited.
After a brief pause. Yin Xuan continued again, "Never once people viewed him as lively and brilliant, Lord Damu. Even after a thousand years."
Damu Lan took a step back, struggling to comprehend Yin Xuan's words."What are you trying to say?"
After a moment, Yin Xuan gently tossed all the books he had flipped open in front of Damu Lan.
As Damu Lan took hold of the books, Yin Xuan spoke, "Lord Damu," his tone was filled with both sorrow and regret, "Lord Bai cherished you more than the world itself."
When Damu Lan read the content, his heart began to swell. He knew exactly whose handwriting in the books belonged to. Flipping through the pages, his patience dwindling, he devoured the words within. His eyes fixated on the word "Damu Lan..." on the page, followed by phrases, "That child, I shouldn't have taught him how to drink just because he's an adult now. He made such a mess when drunk, and I had to clean up after him. But well…it's fine, I'm willing to do that forever."
Turning to another page, he found the words "Damu Lan" once more, following with the phrase, "he is so clumsy, it almost makes me feel sorry for him."
And on yet another page, he saw his name once again, "Damu Lan," followed by the phrase, "I hope he will stop dismissing me when I want to be in his company for a little longer. I wish he would let me stay with him even after the sun rises. Then, the nightmares won't haunt me."
"Damu Lan, Damu Lan, Damu Lan"
The diaries, written 25 years after they first met, were filled with pages upon pages dedicated to Damu Lan. In contrast, the diaries from the 25 years prior to their meeting were lifeless, with blank, ripped and torn pages due to rage and madness.
Damu Lan's heart throbbed as he delved deeper into the rest of the books. Eventually, tears came pouring down like rain after a storm.
"Damu Lan,"
The voice woke him up. The shine of the sunlight was so bright. The dream from the past had occurred to him. He realized the tears that had trickled down on his cheeks. The cries from his dream were infectious to even be brought up upon the reality.
As Damu Lan looked about his surroundings, he noticed that his room had been cleaned and tidied. A blanket had been placed over him. After a while, he wiped the tears and held his weighing head in his hand, brows furrowing.
"Haha, truly..." he muttered to no one, his voice breaking, "don't act so similarly to him..."
"It will only make things harder for me."