Mingzhu, on the brink of insanity, was subdued by Pei Che and taken back to the estate. By the time Pei Che remembered to search for Yun Guo's child, he was gone. Half a month later, the Pei family found the partially devoured remains of a child in the nearby woods and reported it.

"So, Grandfather assumed the child was dead."

That child, Pei Yan's half-brother, perhaps sent away by Yun Guo or having escaped on his own, hadn't been so lucky. He'd fled into the forest, only to meet his end at the jaws of wild wolves.

Who could have imagined that nineteen years later, he would stand before Pei Yan, seeking vengeance for the tragedy he'd witnessed?

"Telling me this changes nothing," Ye Chonglou said coldly. "Even if my mother and Pei Mingzhu were sworn sisters, even if Pei Mingzhu was also a victim, does that erase the murder of my mother?! I saw her kill her with my own eyes." Yao Ji, standing nearby, noticed the slight tremor in his hands.

"So much blood… it stained the ground red in an instant."

Ye Chonglou would never forget that scene. He'd fled in terror, somehow spared by Mingzhu. Clever even then, he'd avoided deserted areas, disguising himself as a beggar, making his way to Yanyang, where Lady Le Yin eventually found him and brought him back to Boundless Sea Pavilion.

He'd lived under an assumed name ever since, the burning embers of hatred never extinguished.

Knowing he couldn't defeat the master of the Heavenly Capital Estate with martial arts alone, he'd turned to poison. His mother, Yun Guo, had been a master of the art.

"You guessed who my mother was because of the Wen Du Jing (Poison Scripture), didn't you?"

"Indeed," Pei Yan replied calmly. The true author of the Wen Du Jing wasn't the so-called Evil Doctor, but Yun Guo. Not even Lady Le Yin knew this.

Yun Guo had planned to surprise her Shijie with the completed Wen Du Jing. Only Pei Mingzhu knew of its existence. But the Wen Du Jing never saw the light of day under Yun Guo's name. After her death, it fell into the hands of a rogue cultivator who, recognizing its value, studied it, proclaimed himself the Evil Doctor, and gained notoriety throughout the Jianghu.

As Yun Guo's son, Ye Chonglou knew the true origin of the Wen Du Jing. Retrieving it was simply reclaiming what was rightfully his.

"Hmph," Ye Chonglou sneered. "If Pei Mingzhu were still alive, I'd ask her if she deserved my mother's trust. Unfortunately, she died before my poison skills matured, or I would have taken my revenge personally. Since she's dead, the debt falls to her son. This Yulu Frost is a poison from the Wen Du Jing. Killing you with my mother's poison will allow her spirit to rest."

His words, laced with icy venom, resonated with Yao Ji, who understood his thirst for revenge, yet couldn't comprehend why Pei Yan should bear the burden of the previous generation's sins. Before she could speak, Pei Yan said, "Yulu Frost… truly a remarkable poison. I presume, Pavilion Master Ye, you also know the Wen Du Jing describes another poison, born from and countering Yulu Frost, called White Pear Blossom."

Ye Chonglou froze, then erupted in fury. "Did Pei Mingzhu tell you, or did you read the Wen Du Jing yourself? So, the all-knowing Young Master Pei didn't foresee his own downfall at the hands of the Wen Du Jing?"

"I'm but a mortal, how could I foresee everything?" Pei Yan remained unfazed by the taunts. "As for the Wen Du Jing, I experienced its power many years ago." He paused, then uttered the chilling truth: "My blindness… is due to White Pear Blossom."