Chapter 1
When I woke up, my chest felt empty.
The Guardian's Mark has disappeared.
The stone treatment table was icy cold, and the incense from the Moon God Temple made me want to vomit. I propped myself up and found myself as weak as a piece of trash.
"My lord, you're finally awake." The maid, Ella, knelt by the bedside, her eyes filled with terror. "You were unconscious for three years… I thought you'd never wake up again."
Three years?
I touched the empty spot on my chest. The Guardian's Mark was the testament to the blood oath; its disappearance meant only one thing—
Where is Lina?
Ella's face paled even more: "Lady Tong...she was taken away by the Steel Claw Clan. Chad Xuan forced her to put her fingerprint on the blood oath to break the contract."
Can the blood oath be dissolved?
Impossible. Blood oaths are sacred; only death can break them. Unless—
"Show me the contract."
Ella handed me a piece of parchment, her hands trembling. It did indeed have Lina's handprint and her bloodstains on it. But I saw through it immediately.
This is a fake.
The blood oath must be broken by both parties simultaneously placing their seals, and it must be done on the night of a full moon. This contract only bears Lina's mark, and the bloodstain is the wrong color—true blood of a blood oath would glow silver under moonlight.
Why did she put her fingerprint on the document?
"Chad Hen threatened..." Ella's voice was barely audible, "that if Madam Tong didn't press the seal, he would kill you while you were unconscious."
idiot.
Did Chad really think a forged contract could break a sacred blood oath? He had no idea what the true meaning of a blood oath was.
There were indeed Lina's handprints and her bloodstains on it. But this contract was less of a 'break of the blood oath' and more of a 'declaration of the Guardian's death'—Chad used this declaration, along with a forged death certificate, to get Thales to declare the blood oath automatically invalid in the council.
"What did the Moon Goddess priestess say?"
"Priest Thales said you'll never wake up," Ella said, her head bowed. "He said that breaking the blood oath will cause the guardian to lose their will to live, and you should die on the seventh day. And..."
"And what?"
"The High Priest declared to the Council of Elders that the disappearance of the Guardian's Mark meant your death, and the blood oath was naturally dissolved. So... so they acknowledged the validity of that contract."
I see.
That old bastard Thales has been bribed. No wonder Chad gained the elders' approval so easily.
I tried to stand up, but my legs were as weak as noodles. The pain of the broken blood oath was more excruciating than a silver bullet piercing my chest; the heart-wrenching sensation made me wish I could faint again.
But I survived.
That foolish priest has no idea. I am no ordinary guardian; my bloodline is far more ancient than he imagines.
Where is Chad now?
"The territory of the Steel Claw Clan. He... he has already held a new blood oath ceremony with Lady Kiri."
A new blood oath?
No, that wasn't a blood oath. The Steelclaw Clan wasn't qualified to perform a true blood oath ceremony; they were just a bunch of savage raiders.
I forced myself to stand up despite the excruciating pain. Three years in a coma had caused my muscles to atrophy, but anger gave me strength.
"Prepare my clothes."
"My lord, your body—"
"Do as instructed."
Ella dared not say anything more and hurriedly went to prepare. I walked to the mirror in the temple and saw a stranger to myself.
His face was as pale as a corpse, his eyes were sunken, and a faint scar remained where the Guardian's mark should have been on his chest. But what shocked me most were his eyes—a glint of silver light flickered deep within his pupils.
This is not a characteristic that an ordinary guardian should have.
When Ella returned, I was already dressed. The black guardian robes made me look like a vengeful ghost.
"My lord, are you really going to the Steelclaw Clan?"
"I will take back what is rightfully mine."
"But Chad Shem is powerful, and you are now—"
"He's just a bastard."
My voice was colder than I had expected. The breaking of the blood oath had indeed cost me a lot, but it had also made me see some things more clearly.
Lina chose to yield. I can understand why she would rather betray her blood oath than not protect me. But what she didn't know was that a true blood oath cannot be broken by a forged contract.
The connection between us still exists, but it is obscured by fear and pain.
Just as I was about to leave, Ella suddenly said:
"My lord, there is one more thing... Madam Tong... she has given birth to your child."
My heart stopped for a second.
"child?"
"Yes, a boy. He's three years old now, and his name is Ethan Chen. Chad Sheen is raising him as his own son."
child.
I have a three-year-old son, and I have missed every day of his life.
The rage in his veins began to burn, and that ancient and wild power awakened deep within his blood.
"Tell the Moon Goddess Priest," I said, walking toward the temple gates, my voice filled with an unprecedented killing intent, "that the Guardian has returned."
The night wind swept through Silvermoon Valley, carrying the stench of the Steelclaw Clan's territory. I knew Lina was suffering there, and I knew my son was forced to call another man "father."
But what Chad, that fool, didn't know was that he had just awakened a real beast.
Blood oaths can be forged, and guardian marks can be erased, but bloodlines cannot be changed.
I stepped out of the temple, bathed in the silvery moonlight. Under its glow, the scar on my chest began to heat up, and an ancient and powerful force awakened within my veins.
I am not just a guardian. I am an older, more powerful being.
Chad Sheen will soon find out that he messed with the wrong person.
