In the days that followed, Mo Fan displayed a terrifying learning ability that left Fang Ru utterly astonished.
Even she, hailed as a prodigy, could not match Mo Fan’s current, formidable capacity for learning.
Moreover, as time passed, Fang Ru found teaching increasingly challenging, gradually becoming captivated by Mo Fan’s poetry.
A month quickly arrived. Mo Fan took Fang Ru out of Pingyao Town to experience a taste of so-called freedom, before ultimately leaving her.
During that month, Fang Ru had been stirred by Mo Fan’s talents, so much so that she remained melancholic for a long time after his departure.
The only thing that brought her joy was the unexpected recovery of her hidden illness!
When she went to feed the fish again, she noticed one was missing from the pond: the carp she had once saved.
Mo Fan’s departure and the carp’s disappearance didn’t grieve Fang Ru for long before Pingyao Town faced a great migration.
Fang Ru didn’t know the reason for the migration. The officials who came to announce it said it was to avoid harm from a potential beast outbreak in the mountains.
The migration wasn’t mandatory. Though most townsfolk followed the officials south, the Fang family school remained, diligently teaching.
But the peace didn’t last. When demons invaded the town, Mr. Fang panicked and instructed Fang Ru and her brother to flee with the children.
Fang Ru vividly remembered that day: the entire town was slaughtered, and the two town guardians were killed at the guardian pillar.
To buy time for their escape, Mr. Fang charged at the demons.
A scholar with no fighting ability, he wielded a kitchen knife in desperation, only to lose his life without killing a single demon.
On the road afterward, Fang Ru and her brother fled tirelessly with the children, eventually joining a group of refugees also escaping.
These refugees, fleeing from all directions, were heading to the capital for shelter.
But the refugee group was a chaotic mix.
Fang Ru’s beauty soon drew the attention of bandits, who attempted to seize her. Fortunately, her brother Fang Lin appeared, and, with unknown courage and strength, beheaded the bandit leader with a kitchen knife.
Because of this, the siblings were shunned by the refugees. Taking the children, they left the group and continued their journey.
Later, they encountered more refugee groups, but Fang Lin, protecting his sister, fell on the road to the capital.
After weeping in despair, Fang Ru pressed on with the children.
This time, she was wiser, smearing her face with foul-smelling mud to avoid unwanted attention.
After an unknown time, when Fang Ru and the children reached the capital, they found it desolate and ravaged, overrun with demons.
Fang Ru and the children became easy prey, imprisoned in the eastern district.
Until Mo Fan appeared again…
“I thought I’d spend my life as a blood slave, trapped in the eastern district, waiting only for a demon’s gaping maw.
I never expected to see you here.
But you’re no longer the Mo Fan of Pingyao Town. You’re a demon who caused me to lose everything!”
On a mountain ridge, Fang Ru bit her lip, unable to meet Mo Fan’s eyes, her body trembling violently.
“I never said I wasn’t a demon.”
Mo Fan sighed, then continued, “Whether demon or human, aside from this different shell, we all have our own independent thoughts.
Not all demons are man-eating fiends. Even the Buddha allows demons to exist under him, so why can’t humans tolerate them?”
“I’m just an ordinary person, not a god, nor a Buddha!”
Fang Ru looked up at Mo Fan, her face full of sorrow. “Mo Fan, my father is dead! My brother is dead!
Now I’m alone in this world!
I hate you demons. You destroyed my family and shattered my country!”
Looking at Fang Ru, Mo Fan felt a pang of heartache, knowing full well what this woman had endured over the past two years.
Fang Ru fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed, her smile uglier than her tears.
With dishevelled hair, she looked at Mo Fan, tears in her eyes. “Why did you save me?
You know we stand on opposite sides now. Why save me!
Wouldn’t it have been better to let me die in the capital?!”
“Because we’re friends.”
Mo Fan took a deep breath, speaking solemnly.
“Friends?”
“Hahaha… you call me a friend?”
“But you’re a demon!!”
“My father and brother were killed by your kind!!”
Fang Ru burst into laughter, her voice filled with desolation, helplessness, and a trace of pain.
She had once admired Mo Fan greatly, even harboured faint hopes, but now those hopes were utterly shattered!
Mo Fan fell silent. After a moment, he sighed, “Humans have good and bad, and so do demons. Though I don’t claim to be a good demon, I have my own principles and convictions.
Friends are one of my principles.
And you, Fang Ru of the human race, you are my friend!”
Mo Fan looked at Fang Ru, his gaze resolute, and continued, “I know you’re conflicted and can’t hear me now, but you must think about your own convictions.
The southern frontier is now overrun by demons, a land of suffering with scarcely a patch of purity.
If you leave me, you’ll only die faster!
You may not fear death and can preserve your integrity, but what about the children?”
“What are you trying to say?!” Fang Ru frowned at Mo Fan.
“To be honest, I came to the southern frontier to find a great scholar to teach the demons under my command at Black Wind Mountain, to educate those not fully enlightened, to teach them manners, to know good from evil, and at least to understand what is good, what is evil, and what it means to hold fast!”
Mo Fan took a deep breath, turning to gaze at the distant, rolling mountains, and declared loudly, “I want to spark a grand reform among the demons!
To do my utmost to change the state of the demon race!”
“I know you hate demons, but do you understand why demons hate humans so deeply?
Everything has a cause and effect. What you see on the surface may not be the true source. Come back to the mountain with me, help me educate the myriad demons!
At the same time, I’ll show you the truest side of the demon race and let you understand the real reasons behind their havoc on human lands!”
At this, Mo Fan turned, looking earnestly at Fang Ru, and invited her again, “Fang Ru, as a friend, will you help me?!”
“I…”
Fang Ru opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.
Mo Fan didn’t press her, only watched her earnestly, his eyes clear.
“If you’re still the Mo Fan of old, Fang Ru is willing!”
Finally, Fang Ru sighed inwardly, and Mo Fan let out a breath of relief.
“Of course I’m still that Mo Fan, I was then, I am now, and I will be in the future!”
“Fang Ru, thank you for your help!”
