Chapter 125: Butterflies Flutter Through the Past, Memories Return to What Once Was

"While I do not share your perspective, I admire your tenacity. After all, such ambition to challenge the heavens is something I could never possess; I have long since resigned myself to fate, yet you seek to defy it. Perhaps different paths lead to different endings. I hope that one day, you may achieve what your heart desires."

At some point, Ye Wangchen had forgotten their circumstances and the factions they represented, treating Yu Shang simply as a friend. Perhaps it was because he saw in Yu Shang the very thing he longed for, yet dared not pursue.

"If the thoughts in your mind align with those in your heart, then I, too, hope you find that life soon. But if they do not, you should carefully consider whether what you are doing is right or wrong. Life is fleeting; do not leave yourself with regrets."

Yu Shang had long realized that Ye Wangchen was a kindred spirit, bound only by trivialities. If he could find the resolve to sever these entangling ties, he might return to the authentic self that had long since faded away.

"Enough. We have wasted enough time; we should return. If they grow suspicious and find you have been with me, there will be trouble if someone loses their temper." Ye Wangchen skillfully evaded Yu Shang’s profound words. It was not that he did not want to heed the advice, but that he dared not. There were too many people and events pressing down upon him like massive mountains; he could not destroy them, only endure the pain of bearing their weight. He could not hide, could not avoid, could not escape—he could only silently accept.

Seeing Ye Wangchen’s avoidance, Yu Shang pressed no further. Whatever the outcome, it was a choice made by the other. He had offered his counsel, and whether Ye Wangchen listened was no longer his concern. Yu Shang then cupped the injured butterfly in his hands and stepped forward, but before he could bypass the massive, overgrown tree, he felt an unprecedented agony in his hand.

It was a pain as if he were being torn apart by thousands of venomous insects, as if being corroded by toxic waters. The sensation surged from his palm to every corner of his body, making every rib and meridian ache with an intensity he had never known. He felt as if his blood were boiling and flowing in reverse, his heart being slowly drained until it withered into nothingness. In that moment, Yu Shang finally understood the meaning of a heart-rending, soul-shattering pain.

Ye Wangchen, walking ahead, sensed something amiss and turned back to find Yu Shang kneeling on one knee, clutching his chest with both hands. His expression was one of agony, his lips bitten until they bled. Ye Wangchen rushed over to help him up, only to be struck by the sight of a blemish appearing on the hand holding the butterfly—a wound that was rapidly expanding, threatening to rot the entire palm.

Yet the butterfly’s form grew more plump, its colors more vibrant and lustrous than when he had first seen it. Most unsettling were its sapphire eyes, which had turned a blood-red, looking all the more bewitching. Its wings fluttered slowly, the patterns upon them shimmering with a dim, eerie, and profound light.

"So this beast is the culprit! I wondered why a butterfly would rest upon a skeleton. Now I understand—it and those bones are birds of a feather!" Ye Wangchen reached out to grab it, but the butterfly’s wings were razor-sharp. At the slightest touch, they sliced his hand, drawing blood so deep it seemed he could see the bone.

"Do not waste your effort," Yu Shang gasped, his face deathly pale. "I have been channeling my inner energy to force it out, but its fangs are hooked deep into my bones. Unless it chooses to let go, I can only let it feed." He realized too late that one cannot afford compassion, not even for a small butterfly, or one will inevitably be the one to suffer.

Yu Shang had committed a great taboo by showing pity to an enemy, and he was now reaping the consequences. Yet, he wondered why he had been so uncharacteristically sympathetic. In the past, even if a living person lay before him, he would have walked away without a glance. He would never have cared for this creature so carefully, nor intended to bring it back to Yanlan Academy.

In truth, Yu Shang was not pitying the butterfly, but clinging to a memory. He remembered seeing this butterfly with a woman long ago. Its patterns and colors were so unique that anyone who saw it would never forget it. Seeing it again, he had been moved by a ghostly impulse to protect it, hoping to reclaim not just the butterfly, but the person who had once stood beside him watching it.

He had never imagined that the butterfly from his childhood would become a blood-sucking demon. He remembered how it used to appear during the spring and summer for many years, only to vanish into thin air during the autumn and winter. Then, one year, it simply stopped appearing.

He and that woman had mourned its loss, but as time passed, the memory faded. It was only when it bit him that the recollection returned. The butterfly had not died; it had come into the mortal realm. But why had such a beautiful creature become a hideous demon? It was heartbreaking.

"We cannot let it continue to drain your blood!" Ye Wangchen exclaimed, watching the wound spread. He regretted not destroying it along with the skeleton.

"Why have you become such a beast?" Yu Shang asked the butterfly, ignoring Ye Wangchen. "In my memory, you were a beloved spirit. Have you forgotten the boy and girl who played in the flowers with you in the Underworld years ago?"

The butterfly seemed to understand. It withdrew its fangs and flew before him. A woman’s voice reached their ears: "Who are you?" The words held not just confusion, but a profound astonishment and longing, as if she had encountered a long-lost friend.

"It is you! After all these years, we meet again. Is this fate?" The butterfly’s voice sounded as if it were weeping, filled with an inexplicable despair that pained Yu Shang.

"Wait, why does your voice sound like that skeleton's?" Ye Wangchen asked, stunned. Was the skeleton merely a decoy, and this butterfly the true threat?

"As you suspect, that was me," the butterfly replied, sensing his thoughts. "You destroyed my bone-shell, but my soul was not within it. You did not truly kill me." There was hostility in her voice, perhaps because of the destruction of her shell.

"You say that was your bone-shell? You had cultivated a human form, so why are you now reduced to this?" Yu Shang asked.

"I owe that to you and that girl," the butterfly replied, her voice filled with a hatred that choked the air. "Because you spoke carelessly of seeing me in the Underworld, my clan was hunted to extinction. You thought of me as a beautiful butterfly, but to those with evil intentions, I was the key to a treasure. They tracked me down, slaughtered my kind, and demanded I hand over a sacred object!"

She trembled with rage. "I refused, choosing to force my evolution into human form, but I was no match for them and was gravely wounded. I escaped, but my human form could not be sustained. In my dying moments, I reverted to this form to preserve my soul, but I lost the ability to ever become human again." The butterfly wept, bitter that fate had spared her life only to strip away her ability to seek revenge.