I could smell the blood on Qu Mo from a distance.

I didn't understand why Qu Mo's eyes held a hint of self-mockery and bitterness when he looked at me.

But Qu Mo didn't even give me a chance to speak before returning to his room.

I clearly heard the sound of someone collapsing inside. Qu Mo's serious injury was definitely not an act.

It was also true that Qu Mo didn't want me to approach him—he deliberately set up a killing array at the door.

Since Qu Mo wouldn't let me in, I left the wound medicine and food at the door, doing this every day.

Qu Mo didn't touch those things at first. Three days later, he took the wound medicine, and five days later, he finally ate the food.

Qu Mo and I maintained this tacit understanding. It wasn't until half a month later that Qu Mo came out of his room and went down the mountain alone.

When he returned, he brought back a bottle of wine and even prepared a few simple dishes. After setting up the wine and dishes, he called me over, poured me a cup of wine, and said, "Drink! After drinking this cup, our fate is over."

"I... you..." I thought for a long time and didn't know what to call him. Finally, I said, "Are you really my uncle?"

Qu Mo smiled, "Actually, you don't have to be so hung up on these things. It doesn't matter whether I am or not. It's fine if you just call me Qu Mo."

That day was the most Qu Mo had ever spoken to me: "To tell you the truth, when I first met you, I really wanted to kill you. Later, after I tentatively led you home, I suddenly changed my mind. I thought you were a good seed, and it would be a pity to kill you, so I made the master-disciple agreement with you."

"Now, I have nothing left to teach you. Putting you out in the martial world, you can be considered a first-class expert. It's time for me to take care of my own affairs. If you want to kill me, today is your last chance."

I held the wine glass and said, "Where did my dad go?"

I always felt that Qu Mo knew where my dad was.

Qu Mo smiled, "You'll have to find that out yourself. Whether you can meet him depends on fate and your own abilities."

I smiled, which meant Qu Mo was telling me that my dad wasn't dead.

Qu Mo and I were not enemies!

Qu Mo poured himself a cup of wine, "Back then, I had you toss the big coin yourself to determine life and death. Five years later, I have to let you choose again."

Qu Mo said in a deep voice, "This time, I'm letting you choose whether to help people or help ghosts?"

As I frowned slightly, Qu Mo spoke again, "Disciples from my lineage have two paths they can take: one specializes in helping people to slay ghosts, while the other helps ghosts kill people. It depends on what you choose."

I tentatively asked, "Which one did you choose?"

"I chose both, doing whatever I want." Qu Mo smiled, "Helping people or helping ghosts. It depends on my mood. Anyway, it's all business. Whose money isn't money?"

Qu Mo changed the subject, "However, you have to choose. You ate the Ghost King's Relic back then, which is equivalent to pushing yourself towards the underworld. So, you have to choose whether to be close to people or close to ghosts. You have to choose the path you'll take in the future."

I hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's leave it to fate!"

Qu Mo looked at me with a smile that wasn't a smile, "Back then, when I told you to leave it to fate, you didn't move. Now that you have abilities, why do you want to leave it to fate instead?"

I smiled, took out a big coin from my pocket, held the edge of the coin with my fingers, and flicked it into the air, "Let's just say I'm fulfilling your original idea!"

Neither Qu Mo nor I looked at the coin in the air until the copper coin landed on the table. Only then did we both look at the big coin on the table.

The back of the coin was facing up, and there was a faint blood glow in the coin hole.

Qu Mo couldn't help but gasp, "This doesn't count, let's do it again!"

As Qu Mo was about to grab the big coin, I reached out and grabbed his wrist, "Fate is fate, it can't be changed."

Qu Mo looked at me for a long time before sighing, "Your dad always wanted to change your fate. But you insist on pushing yourself towards your original fate. That time, heaven wouldn't let him change it, and this time, you don't want to change it yourself."

"The big coin you tossed not only points to the yin meridians, but also carries a blood glow. This is the path your dad least wanted you to take. Let's do it again!"

"Fate is already decided, why force it? I already said when I tossed the big coin that it's all up to fate."

A sorcerer asks heaven, with ghosts and gods as witnesses, and it cannot be changed. Qu Mo was about to grab the big coin, which meant he was going against heaven and would have to bear the karma for me. I wouldn't let him do that.

Qu Mo sighed, stood up, and said, "Come with me! Let's go pay respects to the ancestral master, enter the gate, and leave the mountain too."

That was the first time in five years that I followed behind Qu Mo.

He was old, he had aged in just five years. His back didn't have the uprightness of five years ago, and even carried a bit of sentimentality.

I would rather he walk as briskly as he did five years ago, so that at least we wouldn't have any concerns after we parted.

But he couldn't do it, and neither could I.

Qu Mo led me to a mountain cave with an altar set up in it, respectfully lit three incense sticks for Heibai Wuchang (Black and White Impermanence) on the altar, and said, "Ancestral Master is above, Qu Mo, the sixth-generation disciple of the Coffin Gate Yin-Yang lineage, brings the seventh-generation disciple Li Po to enter the gate, hoping for the Ancestral Master's protection."