Something deeply and utterly red seemed to have flashed by in the distance. Something so utterly sacred, divine, and holy.

Yet utterly filthy.

In the deep darkness of the void, thoughtless and mindless, he tried to catch the redness, his hand moved towards it. Yet, it was too far away.

Suddenly,

As if broken out of an ungodly cold pond, Han Li opened his eyes, breathing heavily, his heart pounding in adrenaline, his whole body hot and sweaty, he struggled to calm down.

"..Li," a worried voice came from the side.

He turned his blurry gaze and his eyes met hers, both sat frozen as their hearts thumped.

"Mo..Mom," Han Li muttered weakly.

"What happened, Xiao Li?" Panicking, Yue Li took his hands on hers and asked, her voice anxious.

Han Li tightly held it and tiredly fell on his back. On the distant horizon, he could see the ancient moon. That calmed him down a bit.

'What happened?'

'Did I not die?'

He could feel the warmth of his mother's hands, he could feel his heart pumping. The adrenaline, fear, and the pure unbelievability of the situation settled down as his heart's heavy pumping stilled.

Touching his neck, he could still slightly feel something sharp passing through it.

Chuckling in disbelief, he looked at his mom, there she was, her black hair floating in the wind, her gentle and rosy white face marred with no marks, and her black eyes worried.

Her white clan robes bathed in the gentle moonlight.

Han Li moved his other hand and took the woman that he so loved into his embrace, taking her by the collar and pulling her close to him.

She fell into his embrace and tried to get away, she wanted to know what was happening. She wanted to know why suddenly his eyes were so red instead of their usual clear black like hers.

She wanted to know why he had sweated so much so suddenly after checking the book.

But Han Li didn't let her out of his embrace and just kept her tightly hugged.

"Xiao Li," she muttered.

Han Li's eyes turned moist but he didn't let her leave his embrace, and muttered back, "Mother Yue..."

Yue Li's heart skipped a beat, that was something he used to call her when he was young but changed later on, she calmed down and stayed silently in his embrace.

Some time passed before she asked, "What happened, son?"

Han Li didn't reply.

He gave her a soft kiss on the side of her head and held her there. He could smell her unique scent, and he could feel his heart aching for more.

But he calmed down and loosened the hug slightly, yet, he didn't move his hands away from her waist.

There was no way he could leave her alone again.

And she didn't try to leave his hug either, even though Han Li often did affectionate gestures, it was extremely rare for him to be this direct in saying it. She would never say no to that!

She was just worried.

Shifting in Han Li's embrace, she brought her head up and looked into his eyes before asking for the third time, her voice still worried but calmer, "What happened Xiao Li?"

She was now resting on his chest and he was hugging her waist.

Han Li smiled looking into her eyes and said, "What, what happened? Nothing happened!"

Irritated but also relieved that he had no problem with eyesight, she asked, "Why did your eyes become so red?"

It still had that black tint but it also had a red part to it.

"Red?" startled, Han Li frowned.

Then, with his mother in his embrace, he calmly pondered everything. Silent.

Yue Li knew what his pondering face looked like, so she didn't disturb him either.

On the cold night of the 4th Month and In this small corner of the Sacred Lust Continent's Southern Lust City, atop his humble abode, Han Li's mind delved into the questions.

I had died... right?

Then... How am I alive?

The chirping of cicadas, the gentle rhythm of his mom's heartbeat against his chest, and the comforting coldness of the night all made him feel — Yes, I am truly alive.

Well and truly alive.

But how?

And this place and this current situation, didn't it happen 3 days ago?

'Why am I back in time?!' his heart thumped with nervousness.

This

was

three days ago!

His heart pounded against his mom's and he could only think of one thing, The [Demon Transformation Sutra].

A specific part mentioned in its details: 'one of the seven sacred eyes.'

Was that the reason why his eyes turned red?

He had heard of people in the distant lands who had blessed eyes that could do all sorts of wonders. And he had been startled when he first came to know his eyes were special.

But was it this special?

He had thought it only allowed him to see the Demonic Sutra. He was too wet behind the ears regarding people and cultivation.

'... If I could die and come back, won't everything be very...easy for me to achieve?'

No, there is no way such a ridiculous thing exists, there must be a catch.

He was young but he wasn't that stupid, if he could do whatever he wants, die, and then come back... how would Sacred Demon have died?

He should also have had this eye, right? 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸𝘦𝑏𝑛𝑜𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Especially since the Sacred Demon said 'one of the seven sacred eyes'. So, it must have been there before the demon died.

And.

It was most probably the eyes of the seven demons themselves.

So, I inherited my eyes from a past generation?

But then, he cleared his mind, and his eyes started to turn cold.

Whatever the case was, that merchant and Raven clan cultivator. They were a threat to his mom!

They need to die.

They had to be killed.