Yu Chaoluo was imprisoned after returning to the Nuan Yan Pavilion.

Sure enough, he escaped on his own. After the Nuan Yan Pavilion heard that two of Xi Lin's disciples had suddenly perished, they were scared shitless. They suspected this matter was probably related to Yu Chaoluo. 

Yu Chaoluo didn't say a word about those things after he returned, and the Qing Ze Sect never found out who killed their disciples. Thus, the matter could only be closed.

Still, Yu Chaoluo's Shifu scolded him bitterly, saying that he was too focused on himself to care about the greater picture and almost rekindled the war between the two realms. 

Then he was punished with three months of confinement and sent to the Su Qing Building to copy the Sect's precepts and regulations. 

The Su Qing Building was the place where the Nuan Yan Pavilion disciplined its disciples. 

This building was located in the most remote corner of the Sect's territory and terribly barren. 

There were no decorations inside, only a small table and a futon on the third floor. The wooden floors were in disrepair after all these years, creaking when you walk on it. 

Yu Chaoluo knelt on the futon and copied the rules. Sometimes, he set down his pen and stared off into the distance.

Three months was just probation. The Nuan Yan Pavilion would still be keeping a close eye on him. They would only let him out if they were sure he would behave. If he refused to comply even now, the confinement time would probably be extended indefinitely. 

The windows were open in the cold building. The wind blew in slowly from the window, swaying the curtains slightly and causing them to hit the window frame irregularly. 

It was more than two weeks before someone came to visit Yu Chaoluo after he was locked up here. Someone Chi Muyao knew—Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable. 

Yu Chaoluo's imprisonment was just a moment for him and Xi Huai. The images flew by until Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable appeared and the time in the internal demon illusionary realm resumed normal flow. 

Yu Chaoluo smiled after seeing Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable. "Only you would come to see me, Yu Yuan."

That was Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable's real name. 

The common way to address a Nascent Soul stage cultivator in the cultivation world was their Dao title plus the honorific 'Heavenly Venerable'. Only close friends would address them by name.

Yu Yuan asked rhetorically, "What made you think I wasn't locked up here too?" 

"I doubt you would cause trouble with your reluctance to get involved in the affairs of others and your ever patient nature." 

Yu Yuan sat across from Yu Chaoluo with his head down. "I spoke on your behalf..." 

It obviously didn't matter. 

Yu Chaoluo suddenly smiled warmly. "Sorry for the trouble. It must have been very hard to defend me, right?" 

"Why now? You would've been able to enter seclusion and break through to the Nascent Soul stage soon. You had also planned to hold the grand ceremony afterwards. Now...you will probably be plagued by internal demons. Your excellent aptitude is gone too..." Yu Yuan said with pity. 

"Is there ever a time for something like this?" 

"I just don't understand how the Sect can handle it this way. If the person he has his eye on was Si Ruyu, I would—"

"The two of you already had the grand ceremony. Nothing would've happened." 

"What are you going to do now?" Yu Yuan asked. 

"I don't know." 

"..." Yu Yuan also lowered his head in silence.

Yu Chaoluo had to comfort him instead, "I know you don't know how to comfort people, and there's nothing you can do about this matter. Don't ruin your relationship with the other Sect members on my behalf. My matter was well hidden so I will still have a measure of respect after they let me out." 

Yu Yuan could only take out Yu Chaoluo’s Hundred Treasure Jade and set it on the low table. He also took out some pills as well as talismans, all of which he had refined himself. "Take these. I'll help take care of your disciples." 

"En, thank you." 

Only after Yu Yuan had left did Su You suddenly appear.

Actually, Chi Muyao knew that Su You has also been watching the building these days. Otherwise it didn't make sense for the internal demon illusionary realm to show this place. 

Su You sat by Yu Chaoluo's side and picked up the pills on the table for a look. Yu Chaoluo snatched them back.

Su You suddenly sighed. "That guy just now isn't too bad looking—"

Suddenly angry, Yu Chaoluo grabbed Su You by the lapels. "Don't you touch him!" 

"He has mid Nascent Soul stage cultivation, so he's no easy mark." 

Only then did Yu Chaoluo let go of him. 

Su You reached for the rules that Yu Chaoluo had copied and exclaimed, "Nice handwriting."

"..." Yu Chaoluo didn't want to bother with him. 

Su You wrapped his arms around Yu Chaoluo's waist and whispered in his ear, "I can help you advance to the Nascent Soul stage."

"No need."

"If you become a Heavenly Venerable, you can also keep some distance from me."

"..." Yu Chaoluo seized Su You's hands and barked, "This is the Su Qing Building, the most elegant and quiet place in the Nuan Yan Pavilion! You can't...you, you..."

"Silence is good. Means no one will disturb us." 

Chi Muyao and Xi Huai hightailed it out of there. They took refuge downstairs before breathing a sigh of relief. 

Xi Huai kicked rocks out of boredom. 

Chi Muyao sealed his hearing too late and heard things he really didn't want to. 'Don't bite' made his cheeks flush for a moment. 

Was this an internal demon illusionary realm or a wet dream?!

Chi Muyao asked Xi Huai with his divine sense, "So Su You's target is Yu Chaoluo?" 

"En."

"When is it going to end..." 

"I don't know." 

"Are you going to be born soon?"

 "It's not so simple for Nascent Soul stage Heavenly Venerables to conceive a child. Rather than the normal ten month period, they have to start nourishing the child early on. That's why all their children have very good aptitude and are born with a lot of spiritual energy. There's still seven years to go before I'm born." 

"When did Yu Chaoluo die?"

"I don't know. I don't even know this person." 

That's right. He didn't.

No one knew that he was once the cultivation partner of Xi Huai's mother, and no one knew when he died. 

That said, few people even knew that Xi Huai's mother had once been a Nuan Yan Pavilion disciple. 

Cultivators that would have led splendid lives gone just like that.

Earlier, they were surprised to actually see Xi Lin's two deceased disciples in Su You's internal demon illusionary realm. 

Later, they were even more shocked to see a young Xi Huai here. 

Xi Huai was only four or five years old here. If you add on the previous seven years, it's been 12 years since Yu Chaoluo met Su You. 

Yu Chaoluo did not act out and behaved normally during this time, so the Nuan Yan Pavilion gradually put down its guard.

Since he calmed down, they began to tell him why they had to do what was done and compensated Yu Chaoluo with some pills and artefacts. They even bit the bullet and opened the Artefact Library once, allowing Yu Chaoluo to choose anything. 

Su You would still come to find Yu Chaoluo from time to time. He breezed through the Nuan Yan Pavilion's security to Yu Chaoluo's residence each time, later even remembering the names of some of his disciples.

Su You's high cultivation and erratic habit meant surprisingly enough, no one noticed his regular visits during this period of time. 

It wasn't clear what kind of relationship Su You and Yu Chaoluo had developed. They met from time to time, and Yu Chaoluo wasn't as resistant with Su You as he was at the beginning. 

They usually chatted a bit. Sometimes they busied themselves with their own things in the same cave residence, other times they were entwined for days and nights. 

That was, until they encountered Xi Huai, who had gone berserk.

That day, Yu Chaoluo took his disciples to pick medicinal herbs near the Demonic Faction's territory. These were high grade herbs guarded by spirit beasts, so he needed to take the lead. 

Yu Chaoluo had a steadfast way of doing things. Although he hadn't been able to reach the Nascent Soul stage, he wasn't lacking in strength. They successfully picked those herbs, but came across a huge blaze on the way back. 

This blaze was very strange. The sky seemed to be on fire as the fires spread rampantly.

Yu Chaoluo had a water spiritual root, so putting out fires naturally wasn't a problem. He decided to intervene and had his disciples leave first. 

When he arrived near the sea of fire, he saw a familiar person — Yun Yimuo. 

His former cultivation partner.

At this moment, Yun Yimuo was fighting with the Hui coiled in the sky. Behind her was a child in dark red robes. 

It was a boy with a dragon horn on his forehead. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression scrunched up in hideous pain. He seemed to be in a berserk state. 

Yu Chaoluo paused, but he didn't hesitate to go forward to help.

"What happened?" He asked. 

Yun Yimuo was stunned after seeing him. Her eyes reddened for a moment, but she quickly recovered. "I brought him out to play, but the Hui seems to have sensed the distance from his father and suddenly had him go berserk so it could come out. The Hui intends to devour him." 

"It can harm its master?!" 

"That's right. The Hui didn't want the spirit contract in the first place, and now the contract has been half transferred to a child. I supposed it's been upset for a while, but I didn't expect it to act after so long." 

There were no warning signs at all. It only burst out when Yun Yimuo took Xi Huai out to play somewhere far away from Xi Lin in order to swallow Xi Huai. 

Little Xi Huai wasn't a master it acknowledged. 

Yun Yimuo was no ordinary cultivator, but she still struggled against the berserk Hui. She already had serious injuries and couldn't maintain this stalemate much longer. 

Knowing that the Hui was targeting the child, Yu Chaoluo picked him up and quickly left using a spell.

The Hui naturally didn't allow him to flee. It broke away from Yun Yimuo and pursued Yu Chaoluo.

If the Hui was normally described as half-assing it, then this was it at its most intent. It wanted to break free from the spirit contract and take revenge. 

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It must kill this child.

Yun Yimuo didn't come out alone, but unfortunately of the other two people she brought, one was seriously injured and the other had died. Only Yun Yimuo was left to struggle. 

Yun Yimuo has Nascent Soul stage cultivation, but Yu Chaoluo was only at peak Golden Core stage. 

He quickly fled with the child, weaving swiftly through the forest but unable to shake off the Hui. The Hui was like a tornado, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. 

When the Hui opened its gaping mouth to swallow the two of them whole, Yu Chaoluo stabbed it with his sword and struggled to not succumb. When the Hui spat out flames, he wrapped them both with water spells and protected the child with his body.

Unfortunately, the child in his arms was going berserk at the moment. Not only was he restless, he was also actively trying to break free and even biting his arm. 

Yu Chaoluo's water spells gradually dissipated. His enchanted vestments also gradually lost their defensive capabilities. He was being cooked alive. Finally, he could only deliver a palm strike and use the inertia to create distance from the Hui. 

Even though he managed to dodge this attack, Yu Chaoluo was still seriously injured. The damage from a contradicting element only made his injuries worse.

Even so, he was still trying to protect the child in his arms. He comforted, "Don't be afraid..."

Seemingly worried his blood covered appearance would scare the child, he used the Simple Washing Technique on himself.

He didn't want to meet Yun Yimuo's child under such wretched circumstances. 

Xi Huai stood on the sidelines, watching somewhat stiffly. It was a long time before he found his voice again, "He once...saved me?" 

Chi Muyao was also in shock. "En, it seems so."

"But I don't remember this at all."

"You were going berserk so it's normal you don't remember."

"He...why would he bother..." Xi Huai could only murmur.

He couldn't go so far as to say that Yu Chaoluo was a fool for saving him. If even he, the person being saved, said that, then how sad would Yu Chaoluo be? 

He just found it hard to watch. Yu Chaoluo was clearly not a match for the Hui, so why didn't he run away?

The cultivator's severe injuries made Xi Huai feel immense guilt. 

Especially since he was the child of...those two.

This time, Su You came too late. Yu Chaoluo was already dying, still clutching little Xi Huai in his arms.

Yun Yimuo arrived after him, still struggling to fight with the Hui. 

Su You only needed a few blows to send the Hui back into the spirit contract on Xi Huai's body. 

This wasn't Su You's first time fighting the creature. Xi Lin needed the Hui to fight him to a draw. Now, after fighting alone for a while and being wounded by Yu Chaoluo and Yun Yimuo, the Hui knew it wasn't Su You's match and voluntarily de-summoned itself.

Su You walked toward Yu Chaoluo and looked down at his wretched state, then at the child in his arms. Just what emotions was he feeling at the moment? 

"You really are a fool." That was the only thing Su You said. 

Su You couldn't figure out this guy… 

Everyone said he was too cold-blooded, too cruel.

So he started enjoying proving to the world that there was no absolute force of good. That evil would sprout in anyone who has experienced despair. 

Since no one's a saint, who are you to say that I've gone too far?

But this person had to be the exception.

His initial impression of Yu Chaoluo was a good-looking guy he could toy with to relieve boredom.

He liked this kind of scenario where a person as pure as blank paper gradually descended into evil for the sake of revenge. He loved the process to death.

But every time he went to see this man, observing him, watching him change over the years...

Oh, he'd never changed. This guy was the same as he always was. The paper had obviously been splashed with ink, but pick it up, shake it off and what do you know, the ink comes right off. The paper was as white as ever. 

So he concluded that he was dealing with a fool. 

Yu Chaoluo ignored him. He struggled to open his arms. Only after confirming the child had fainted and was no longer berserk did he relax.

Yun Yimuo approached them. The first thing he did was to give her the child. 

Suddenly angry, Su You tugged at Yu Chaoluo's clothes and hissed, "Tell her! Tell her how you've been living all these years!"

Yu Chaoluo didn't say anything. He wanted to push Su You away but didn't have the strength anymore.

Su You said again, "Look at her, favoured by her cultivation partner and now occupied with protecting her child. And you? How could you save her child?!"

"Su You...stop it."

Su You didn't care. He turned on Yun Yimuo. "You know why I had to save him—" 

Obviously having nothing left, Yu Chaoluo somehow managed to grasp Su You's sleeve. "Please..."

The words trembled with a choked sob. Su You really did shut up.

But even if it wasn't said aloud, how could Yun Yimuo not understand his meaning?

She held her child and knelt down silently with tears in her eyes, wanting to kowtow to Yu Chaoluo. He stopped her.

"No need." His response remained the same, "If he treats you well, then it's fine. You're also a victim, aren't you?" 

"I'm sorry." That was all she could say.

"I never blamed you. Thank you for not blaming me for being unable to protect you."

Xi Huai was standing there the whole time, watching his mother leave with his younger self in her arms. He seemed lost in thought.

He finally understood why his mother became depressed after that. Perhaps this was the day guilt took hold of her. Rather than missing an old flame, it was her conscience eating her alive. 

The same guilt burned within him watching this. 

He finally understood why Su You said he also owed the person in the coffin three kowtows.

Maybe not kowtows, but he did owe him a thank you.

After Yun Yimuo left, Yu Chaoluo finally couldn't hold on and passed out. 

Su You stared at Yu Chaoluo for a long time, lost in thought.

Perhaps he was grieving that long held belief this man had shattered. 

Su You tried to hold Yu Chaoluo, but he found that Yu Chaoluo's body was as slippery as a fish. 

He was shocked. Probing Yu Chaoluo's body with spiritual energy, he found that Yu Chaoluo's spiritual energy was lashing out. He was hurt so badly that there would be aftereffects as grievous as advancement wounds.

For the first time, he panicked and poured spiritual energy into Yu Chaoluo's body while shouting his name, "Yu Chaoluo! Chaoluo! How did you get yourself into such a state? When did you try to brute force your way to the Nascent Soul stage?! Why didn't you tell me?? How could you bring disciples out with you when you're in this state and try to save others? Are you really a fool?!"