I Will Leave Before Dawn

Prologue: The beginning of grief and longing

The sky was gloomy as it cried along with the raging scream of thunder. The Qing Shan Sect was completely ruined. What's left to surround the once lively sect now was none other than debris of collapsed buildings. The mountains that were not meant to be seen from the ground before now were completely visible.

The ground where Damu Lan was standing at that moment was filled with a sea of blood. He was covered in wounds. His long white colored hair was stained with blood. In front of him stood none other than the devil who caused the massacre, the culprit of such an apocalypse, covered in a mixture of his own blood and that of the countless residents he had murdered.

Damu Lan raised his sword and pointed it down at the devil who was sitting as he leaned against a shattered piece of buildings, in defeat.

The devil slowly lifted his gaze to meet Damu Lan's, who had pointed the sword towards him in a fit of rage.

Despite this realization, the devil paid it no more heed and instead, sighed wearily as he nodded towards the ground. He knew that he was losing his breath rapidly and his body was riddled with the injuries that Damu Lan had gifted him. With the last remaining vestiges of his strength, he forced himself to speak, knowing that his time was running out. Despite his ability to live forever, his body struggled to recover from the injuries inflicted by Damu Lan's sword energy, which had a lingering effect on his healing abilities.

"Damu Lan...you've been chasing me since last night. It's almost dawn now. Are you not tired?" Asked the devil as he let out a huff.

But Damu Lan gave no reply. His eyes were still filled with disgust from the mere sight of the devil.

"Come on. Now that you know the truth, you won't even show me some mercy? Aren't I your subordinate too?" He continued.

"Price to pay for murder is death." This time Damu Lan gave a strict reply with an indifferent manner that was still a stranger to the devil. Why not? They had a very close companionship in the sect despite having different personalities. They were two of a kind that were reliable on their own yet dependent on one another. But where did it all go wrong?

"You killed our master, you killed...The Sect Leader...you killed the innocents..." Damu Lan clenched his teeth as he tightened the grip on his sword. The devil's eyebrows raised slightly at the mention of 'master' and replied with an oblivious tone of voice, "He was never my master."

Damu Lan was enraged but the words that he wanted to spit onto the devil had long melted like snow in summer. When the silence gave in, the devil asked again.

"Am I still your friend, Damu Lan?"

At that point. The expression on the devil's face was no longer visible to Damu Lan.

"You were never my friend. You merely posing as one to uncover our sect's weaknesses. You are a traitor, the ruler of The The Grim City, Bai Chang!"

As he heard Damu Lan screamed his lungs out, the devil's brows furrowed further. "You won't even take my sincerity this whole time as a meaning now?"

Damu Lan stood there with his heart heavy with emotion. All of his emotions were tangled about, not sure which to express. So he said nothing in response.

The devil, Bai Chang, exhaled sharply, his breath catching in a huff, before he uttered, "You know what? I actually prefer it when you call me Mo Yun. Just like you always have."

The words pierced through Damu Lan like a jagged dagger, his heart sinking with bitter disappointment. He knew there was no use in questioning. Bai Chang had always been one to shift into multiple guises. It was no wonder nobody knew how he truly looked like. He was a devil whose thirst for blood knew no bounds. A merciless predator, deceiving the common people before ultimately snuffing out their lives.