His vengeance was over, and he could have started a new life. But at this critical moment, Peng Xuan suddenly harmed his fellow disciples, betrayed the sect, and chose to live in hiding—why?
A surge of emotions made Luo Yingbai’s breathing gradually become rapid. He frowned, not wanting Wei Shou to notice.
Wei Shou softly said, “I initially wondered if he was following Ge Panming’s orders, but from Peng Xuan’s words, it doesn’t seem like it…”
Luo Yingbai stood up and patted Wei Shou’s shoulder: “Okay, let’s not overthink. Let’s go see him. I’ll ask him myself.”
The investigation team’s temporary interrogation location was set in the village committee office. When Luo Yingbai entered, Xia Xianning was sitting face-to-face with Peng Xuan, with a broken teacup on the floor. Gou Songze stood with his arms crossed, and the three had unpleasant expressions, clearly indicating an unproductive communication. As Luo Yingbai entered, both Xia Xianning and Peng Xuan looked over.
Peng Xuan moved his mouth, seemingly about to say something, but swallowed the words.
Xia Xianning stood up: “Your wounds aren’t healed. Why are you here?”
Luo Yingbai waved his hand: “Just some external injuries. It’s fine.”
He said, “Xianning, everyone please leave. I want to talk to him.”
Peng Xuan quickly said, “I have nothing to say. Kill me or torture me, I’m already captured. Why waste words?”
Gou Songze angrily said, “Peng Xuan, what the hell? You’re still so righteous? When you first came to Changliu Sect, you were dirtier than a street dog. If the master and senior brothers hadn’t taken you in and provided for you, could you have survived until now? You ungrateful bastard…”
Luo Yingbai: “Xiao Gou.”
Gou Songze paused. Luo Yingbai sighed tiredly and said, “Go out, be good.”
Xia Xianning pulled Gou Songze, and everyone left, leaving only Luo Yingbai and Peng Xuan in the room.
Peng Xuan laughed: “I’ve already said we have nothing to discuss. You insist on talking. Are you crazy?”
Luo Yingbai leaned on the table, staring at him.
No one could maintain a smile under such a cold stare. Peng Xuan’s expression stiffened, but he still forced a laughing tone: “I think we’ve long since…”
“Stop talking nonsense,” Luo Yingbai interrupted. “Give me a reason why you absolutely had to kill me. I want the truth.”
Peng Xuan feigned indifference: “What other reason could there be? I hate you. I’m jealous of you. I can’t stand you doing better than me, being high and mighty from birth. Satisfied?”
“Is that so?”
Luo Yingbai pulled at the corner of his mouth, standing up. Looking down at Peng Xuan, his eye sockets slightly reddened, he repeated: “Is that so?”
Peng Xuan looked up at him, and before he could even say “yes,” Luo Mingbai suddenly erupted, kicking the table in front of him to pieces, grabbing Peng Xuan’s collar and lifting him up. The chair behind Peng Xuan was knocked over with a loud clang.
The door opened, and Xia Xianning rushed in nervously.
Luo Mingbai paid him no attention, gripping Peng Xuan’s collar and shouting, “I told you earlier, I want to hear the truth! If you have a grudge, come at me. Why did you kill my mother? She was my mother!”
At such close range, Peng Xuan now realized he hadn’t been mistaken – Luo Mingbai’s eyes had indeed been red earlier, and now a tear was sliding down his right cheek.
Luo Mingbai’s emotions suddenly burst forth, completely uncontrollable. He screamed at Peng Xuan like a madman: “Say something! Say something! Say something!!”
Xia Xianning, who had initially wanted to stop him, froze at the scene and quietly closed the door.
Luo Mingbai’s chest heaved violently, his hand gripping Peng Xuan’s collar tighter: “At that time, I was completely defenseless. If you wanted to kill me, why didn’t you just end it cleanly? Why did you leave me with a breath of life?”
You let me wake up to hear that my junior brother had killed my mother, you made me lose two important people in an instant! Peng Xuan, why do you hate me so much? Do you dare to do something but not dare to say it? Huh?”
Peng Xuan, who had been looking down, suddenly looked up to meet Luo Mingbai’s gaze and coldly laughed: “Why? Yes, I want to know why too! I’m now completely ruined, wanting to kill you but unable to ultimately do it, not willing to die yet not wanting to live. I’ve been hiding my identity, drifting around like a rat in the sewers. What am I even doing?”
Luo Mingbai took a couple of rapid breaths and said, “What do you mean?”
Peng Xuan swatted his hand away, angrily saying, “My meaning is that as long as you’re alive, I can’t live long. Do you understand? Only by killing you can I survive! You say you treated me like a brother, but you never did. You’ll harm me in the future!”
He muttered, “If I had just dealt a final blow back then, you would have died for sure. Just that one strike, and I could have pretended to be seriously injured while protecting you, pushing all blame onto Ge Panming. No one would have known what I did! But now, I’ve been reborn and accomplished nothing!”
Luo Mingbai stared at him, his emotions clearly not yet settled, uncertain if he was even listening to Peng Xuan. The two remained frozen.
Xia Xianning strode forward, removing Luo Mingbai’s hand from Peng Xuan’s collar and throwing Peng Xuan onto a chair.
He gently patted Luo Mingbai’s back to help calm his emotions, then brought another chair and half-supported, half-pressed Luo Mingbai to sit down.
After calming down, Peng Xuan looked at Xia Xianning, who didn’t dodge or avoid his gaze, coldly staring back. In the past, such a look would have terrified every junior disciple, but this time, Peng Xuan slowly straightened his back.
He said, “I’ve died once before, or rather, I should have already died. Now I’m living a second life. I am… reborn.”
An unexpected statement that moved both Xia Xianning and Luo Mingbai. Xia Xianning immediately recalled Ge Panming’s previous words.
As Peng Xuan continued his narrative, Xia Xianning discovered significant differences.
Rebirth and traversing actually depend on a parallel space theory, which suggests that besides our own time-space, countless similar time-spaces exist in parallel, unable to intersect. Any changes in each time-space would generate different outcomes.
It’s like a pedestrian at a crossroads who could choose any direction, with each choice spawning more potential paths.
Luo Mingbai’s rebirth changed his own death, Jiang Yujia’s death, and later Xia Xianning’s suicide. The Peng Xuan they now faced was clearly reborn from another parallel space.
In that space, Luo Mingbai wasn’t attacked while reading; everyone lived peacefully. During Luo Mingbai’s second year of graduate school, when the senior and junior brothers went to rescue hostages, Peng Xuan died protecting Luo Mingbai from a monster’s attack.
Xia Xianning firmly said, “Impossible.”
He could never believe Luo Mingbai would sacrifice someone else to save himself—risking his own life to save others seemed more plausible.
Peng Xuan spoke casually, “Believe it or not. I’m telling you what I saw. Even if there’s a misunderstanding, I did die because of the senior brother. All I know is that if he died before that incident, I would have been safe.”
He paused and said, “Senior brother, you and I are so destined. When I was thirteen, I was first saved because of you. Later, I died because of you, and this time I escaped again because of something you once told me.”
Xia Xianning glanced at Luo Yingbai and told Peng Xuan, “Stop talking nonsense!”
Peng Xuan smiled, and when Luo Yingbai said, “I… I know how you were reborn. Did you jump into the Naihe River?” Peng Xuan stopped smiling. He looked up at Luo Yingbai and said, “So you really remember.”
