nycdaug Chapter 70: Forget It
Chapter 70: Forget It
Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Forget ItOver a decade ago, in Skyrim... yes, the very Skyrim now plunged into utter chaos. But Rome was not built in a day, and a glacier doesn’t freeze overnight; the Skyrim rebellion, too, had its deep roots among the people—those too poor to go on living.
"A bitter land breeds heroes who sing both of passion and tragedy," and Skyrim was no exception. As the northeastern governing region of Glorious, Skyrim’s people were fierce, warlike, and known for valuing death over life, keeping their word with unwavering honor, their ancestral faith ever strengthening their resolve. Naturally, such common folk were not easy to rule, and Skyrim’s history was always a lesson in compromise—sometimes Glorious sent men to brutally crush the region, sometimes the Skyrim natives governed and built peace. One way or another, it never knew true calm, but overall, things remained relatively stable.
But decades ago, Glorious abandoned its ’gentle’ policy toward Skyrim. Successive governors became hardliners, destroying the Skyrim people’s ancestral shrines and stoking conflict among local clans. Most significantly, using river diversion and hydraulic projects as a pretext, they forcibly relocated the populace.
In hindsight, Glorious’s strategy was not entirely flawed. Destroying shrines suppressed clan power, stoking local feuds weakened family houses, and forced migration spread the wealth—which was, after all, Skyrim had too many strong young men; wouldn’t sending them to help build other regions be ideal? Why keep them in this barren wasteland to fight and drink?
"But a plan can be perfect, reality is always cruel." With their ancestral temples ruined and expelled from their homes, the people’s longing for their homeland erupted; they would rather become wanderers than leave Skyrim. They turned to banditry and savagery, worsening public order, triggering even harsher crackdowns from Glorious’s central authority—a vicious cycle.
Natural disasters were simply the fuse; the true root of the warfare was decades of human calamity.
Over a decade ago, a boy with "Yin" in his name, in a village targeted by an Imperial Court relocation. It really had nothing to do with him or his family, but a few hot-blooded youths couldn’t swallow the injustice, rallied some others to confront—maybe even fight—the officials. In the end, they died, dragging the whole village down with them; the army slaughtered them all.
Sometimes you didn’t need to do anything wrong; "you didn’t even need to be seen." As long as you had the same label, "you’d be ravaged by fate."
The boy dragged out a bottom-feeder existence as a refugee for years, doing anything for a bite to eat, honing a killer’s skills with surgical precision. A passing assassin sensed his talent, bringing him into the organization.
"Black Robe House," Yin Yinyin said, "That’s not its real name; an Assassin Organization doesn’t need a name. Regular people won’t know us at all—only those who qualify and wish to hire us will ever get our price sheet... Usually, the intended target’s name and the fee are right on it."
"That said, most of us favor black clothes to hide our white hair and lurk in the dark, so I call us Black Robe House."
Leyu wanted to turn back and look at Yin Yinyin, but even that movement felt rusted and slow to him. "White... hair?"
"Exactly, all of us practice the Hidden Sword Technique," Yin Yinyin said, "You can reason this out easily. The Hidden Sword Technique is a forbidden battle technique with a terribly short life—if not for an organized legacy, how could it have survived to today? Even if someone kept it, it would be lost the moment their descendants tried it... Besides, the Glorious Imperial Court hunts white-haired people relentlessly; only an Assassin Organization would dare keep it."
"A little over a year ago, the organization received a very special order."
What made it special? Besides targeting Ding Yi, the powerful governor of Star Engraving County, it came with an extra requirement: Ding Yi must be killed under the guise of a Backlight Particle rebel, and the Backlight Particle identity must be widely accepted—ideally, the kill should happen by next autumn.
The target was too dangerous, the requirements too high, and there was a time limit. Nearly the whole organization rejected the order—except the boy who’d survived the chaos for years. He had re
"But if I want to return to White Night, I have to kill every witness. Only then can I control the story in Star Engraving. An Qian’s side—Lan Yan will see to that. My only task is you, Meteor."
Leyu’s expression grew terribly complex. He barely had strength to speak now, only frowning at Yin Yinyin.
Yet Yin Yinyin read his look. "You want to ask, why don’t I betray Lv Zhong and help White Night take Star Engraving, use that credit for the Saint’s Relic... Or why not tell White Night up front what I want, and let them help me?"
Leyu nodded.
"Yeah, why didn’t I?"
Yin Yinyin’s half-lit face broke into a gentle smile. "Actually, Lin Jinyao didn’t have to die—only, his fame was too great; if he lived, I’d never get to lead the city-capture plan. Lin Xue’en didn’t have to die either, only without a dead ’traitor,’ White Night’s headquarters wouldn’t dare back Star Engraving..."
"And you, too."
Yin Yinyin looked at Leyu, still smiling, even as tears streaked down his cheeks. "I didn’t want you to die either, which is why I had Lan Yan give you a train ticket, and I gave you one too—hoping you and your sister would go to Yanjing, and leave Star Engraving behind you."
"But when I saw you, why could I still kill you without a moment’s hesitation?"
Yin Yinyin’s mask finally broke, his lips twitching, body trembling, his grief so thick it felt suffocating. "Why?"
He drew a deep breath, letting it out in helpless resignation.
"The side of me you saw, full of rhetoric, devoted to White Night—’Yin Yinyin’—that was a mask."
"The side you never saw—a ruthless killer, willing to do anything for an Extreme Divine Weapon, instigating chaos, trusting only myself—’Yin’—was also a mask."
"Some masks, once worn too long, you can never take off."
"So, I wanted to serve White Night, but didn’t trust them to win me the Saint’s Relic. I longed to be brave and kind like you all, yet for my own ends I was ruthless and cold."
"My heart turned toward the light, but twisted as dust."
"The real me probably died that night thirteen years ago, hiding beneath my parents’ corpses, too afraid to move."
"All that lives now is a man with two faces... a double-faced man."
The night wind howled. Distant fires dimmed, the once-faint shouting now vanished altogether.
"It’s all over."
Yin Yinyin looked at Leyu, whose breath faded to a whisper. "You’ll die as well."
"I heard when the Soul Purification, Devil’s Sword drains your life, you don’t feel any pain... Do you?"
Leyu turned his head, glancing from the corner of his eye at Chen Fu’s corpse in the distance, and sighed softly. "Yes."
The body did not hurt.
But something else did.
"It hurt so much he almost wanted to just die."
"I wasn’t trying to make this sentimental, but... you’re the only one who ever knew everything I’ve been through... my friend."
Yin Yinyin’s face turned strange as he asked, "Will you forgive me?"
No sooner were the words spoken than Yin Yinyin broke down—his lips curled in a half-crazed grin as he shook his head, tears streaming, half-laughing, half-crying.
Leyu laughed too.
He summoned his last strength and whispered, "I won’t..."
"But..."
Before he could finish, Leyu felt his strength ebb away, his eyelids heavy as he slipped into darkness.
He had no idea how much time had passed.
Maybe an entire lifetime.
Maybe just an instant.
Leyu opened his eyes.
He saw Qian Yuliu, battered and broken, lying on the ground.
Outside, the full moon hung high, corpses strewn everywhere.
Leyu glanced down at the Soul Purification, Devil’s Sword in his hand. It was beautiful—the blood-red runes glowed, yet the blade stayed clean, and the life energy pulsing from within made Leyu feel full of vigor at every moment.
He parted his lips, as if to speak.
But in the slaughterhouse now, he was the only living soul left.
At last, Leyu could only sigh in helpless resignation.
"A thousand words and endless sorrow all vanished into that sigh."
"Forget it."
(End of Volume One)