What???

Ye Hongling was utterly confused.

Up until now, she didn’t even know Nian Zhaoxi’s true identity, let alone understand the grudge between Nian Zhaoxi and the junior brother she kept mentioning.

Just as she was puzzling over it, she heard Nian Zhaoxi ask, “Do you know of the Path of Heavenly Secrets?”

“Yes!” Ye Hongling nodded. “The Path of Heavenly Secrets involves divination and fortune-telling—predicting fortunes and misfortunes, probing the past, and glimpsing the future. It is the most mysterious path outside of The Six Paths.”

“Then do you know why so few people cultivate the Path of Heavenly Secrets?” Nian Zhaoxi asked again.

“This…” Ye Hongling thought for a moment. “The Path of Heavenly Secrets requires recognition from the Heavenly Dao, and it is also the path most prone to incurring Heavenly Punishment. At best, one’s lifespan is exhausted; at worst…”

“Retribution clings to them. They live a life of loneliness and suffering, never attaining liberation for all eternity,” Nian Zhaoxi finished, shaking her head with a faint smile. “You must have heard that encountering a practitioner of the Path of Heavenly Secrets is inauspicious, right?”

Ye Hongling fell silent but eventually nodded.

The Path of Heavenly Secrets was the path most likely to entangle one in karma and incur Heavenly Punishment. Many renowned masters of this path had all met the same fate without exception—a tragic end. And it wasn’t just them; many practitioners were cursed with a solitary fate, harming those close to them before their own demise.

At least so far, no cultivator of the Path of Heavenly Secrets had ever been heard of enjoying a peaceful old age.

Suddenly, Ye Hongling realized something. She looked at Nian Zhaoxi in surprise.

Nian Zhaoxi nodded. “I am a Heavenly Secrets Master.”

This…

Ye Hongling was stunned and almost instinctively wanted to distance herself. It was a natural reaction, beyond her control.

Fortunately, Nian Zhaoxi didn’t seem to mind and continued on her own. “The Path of Heavenly Secrets is most taboo about revealing heavenly secrets. Once a secret is leaked, one becomes entangled in karma.”

“But if a Heavenly Secrets Master can truly keep their mouth shut, it won’t cause too much harm to those around them. However, very few Heavenly Secrets Masters can actually do this.”

Ye Hongling nodded; she understood the principle. As long as secrets weren’t revealed, Heavenly Punishment wouldn’t descend without reason, nor would it randomly affect those close to the practitioner.

But… while everyone understood the principle, very few could abide by it.

A simple example: if a Heavenly Secrets Master knew that moving forward would lead to disaster, and someone dear to them was about to proceed, who could adhere to the rules and simply watch as their loved one fell into the abyss?

“You must have always been cherished by your sect, right?” Nian Zhaoxi suddenly asked.

Ye Hongling found the question strange but nodded.

She was a key talent nurtured by Tiance Mansion and indeed received much care from her senior brothers and uncles. Although Tiance Mansion’s trials were exceptionally harsh and she had faced many dangers, truth be told, she had always been the most beloved little junior sister in the sect.

Nian Zhaoxi sighed and murmured softly to herself, “I was the senior sister of my sect, respected and adored. My junior sisters and brothers looked up to me as an idol and regarded me as an elder.”

“But…”

“After I stepped onto the Path of Heavenly Secrets, that respect and adoration gradually turned into isolation and estrangement.”

“At that time, I was only ten years old.”

Ye Hongling was stunned again. Although she hadn’t experienced any of this herself, she couldn’t help but feel heartache for Nian Zhaoxi.

For a child only ten years old—to go from being a beloved senior sister to someone ignored and avoided by everyone in the blink of an eye—one could imagine how cruel this must have been.

“Back then, everyone deliberately kept their distance from me. Over time, I became someone no one in the sect was willing to get close to.”

“But in truth, I wasn’t someone who enjoyed solitude. On the contrary, I loved the enthusiasm of my junior sisters and cared deeply for my master’s concern.”

“I feared being isolated; I feared the wary looks in everyone’s eyes; I feared becoming the loneliest person in the sect.”

“But all of this…”

“I couldn’t change it, nor could I change it.”

“Because when I stepped onto the Path of Heavenly Secrets, it was destined—this was my fate.”

Hearing this, Ye Hongling pursed her lips several times, wanting to offer words of comfort but ultimately holding back.

Because what Nian Zhaoxi said was true.

Encountering a practitioner of the Path of Heavenly Secrets is inauspicious.

This saying was widely circulated—a mountain of prejudice that couldn’t be moved, explained away, or changed.

“Fortunately, I had a good junior brother,” Nian Zhaoxi said with a smile, her eyes filled with reminiscence. “That junior brother of mine was dearly loved within our sect—a well-behaved and sensible child.”

“But oddly enough, his only act of disobedience was ignoring his senior sister’s warnings and his master’s admonitions to actively seek me out and become close friends who shared everything.”

“When we were young, whenever he had free time, he would come to my cold and lonely pavilion to talk about his dreams or share interesting stories he had encountered.”

“He even took the initiative more than once to help me mend the isolation imposed by our junior sisters and master.”

“Even as he grew older and understood more about the world, he never changed.”

“He often went out on training journeys. But every time he returned, he would bring me small gifts and lie with me on the Star Terrace just like when we were children.”

“While accompanying me in stargazing, he would tell me about his adventures—the enemies he encountered, the friends he made, and all the interesting things that happened…”

As Nian Zhaoxi spoke, her eyes filled with tenderness.

Even Ye Hongling listened with delight. “Senior! Your junior brother sounds truly wonderful!”

“Yes… wonderful. He really was,” Nian Zhaoxi smiled faintly. “Those were… the happiest days of my life.”

“And then?”

“Then…” Nian Zhaoxi’s expression darkened. “Then… I failed him…”

“How so?”

“My junior brother went to a perilous place… and stayed there for many, many years—even longer than many people’s lifespans.”

The smile faded from Ye Hongling’s face as she vaguely guessed what Nian Zhaoxi had experienced.

Sure enough…

“With my junior brother gone… my closest person in the sect disappeared. And because he left… those junior sisters who had started to lower their guard and reconnect with me because of him… began distancing themselves from me once again.”

“Even though afterward I tried hard to prove my abilities… tried hard to contribute to our sect…”

“In the end… I still couldn’t move that mountain; I still couldn’t change the fate of a Heavenly Secrets Master.”

Ye Hongling frowned immediately. “How could they do that? You are their senior sister! Their fellow disciple!”

In response, Nian Zhaoxi only smiled—a complicated, bitter smile.

“What happened next? Senior… your junior brother must have returned eventually?” Ye Hongling couldn’t help but press further.

“He returned…”

“Then he…”

“…but after returning… he became another version of me.”

“…Huh?” Ye Hongling blinked in confusion.

“…In fact… after returning… he fared even worse than me,” Nian Zhaoxi said bitterly. “Something happened to him… due to certain reasons… he became another version of me… or rather… he became someone even less welcome than I was.”

What? Ye Hongling stared in disbelief.

According to what Nian Zhaoxi said earlier, her junior brother should have been well-liked! How could he end up being shunned and isolated instead?

But she was more interested in what followed.

“…What happened next? Senior! Your junior brother returned! And since neither of you were liked by others… shouldn’t you have been able to support each other through thick and thin?”

That would have been the best outcome—senior sister and junior brother supporting each other through hardships until they carved out their own path together—the kind of happy ending found in stories.

Only…

“…I…”

“…failed him,” Nian Zhaoxi said mournfully.

Ye Hongling didn’t understand.

Then she heard Nian Zhaoxi say bleakly, “After my junior brother returned… he faced many hardships… encountered many injustices… suffered countless instances of targeting and bullying…”

“…All along… I used my own seclusion for cultivation as an excuse… ignoring these problems… even pretending they didn’t exist…”

“…But…”

“…Although I cultivate the Path of Heavenly Secrets… although I distance myself from others… although I remain alone…”

“…I am someone who yearns for warmth deep down! How could I truly not know anything at all?!”

Wh-what?!?!

Ye Hongling widened her eyes abruptly, staring at the woman before her in shock.

Then she heard Nian Zhaoxi say sorrowfully, “…The one who wronged my junior brother…”

“…was me.”

“…The one who betrayed my junior brother…”

“…was also me.”

“…I am merely an ostrich hiding in darkness with its head buried in the sand!”

“…Faced with any problem—I pretended ignorance! Witnessing any injustice—I prayed inwardly that conflicts wouldn’t escalate while continuing not only to turn a blind eye but also…”

“…More than once hoping that like myself—my junior brother would endure more for the sake of the greater good!”

“…But the reality?”

Tears streamed down Nian Zhaoxi’s face as she choked out the words.

“…I…”

“…am truly… the real villain!”