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"Why... why are you doing this? Do you really think I'd betray you?" Tie Zhu muttered, his voice hollow as his world crumbled around him.
All his love and loyalty had been cast aside like garbage.
"I was wrong! I won't do it again!" Xiao Mei sobbed from the ground, shrieking, "Tie Zhu-ge! Save me! I don't want to die!"
The Heifeng Zhai chieftain shook his head, voice tinged with bitter nostalgia. "Once, I had a childhood sweetheart. We were so innocent, so in love. We swore to marry and grow old together. I studied in secret, dreaming of the day I'd return in glory to take her as my bride."
"But I failed the imperial exam. I ended up a poor scholar scraping by as a private tutor."
"Our wedding was postponed. I told myself she just needed time. I still cared. I still asked about her… until one day, a servant told me the truth—she had already cozied up to the young master of the Su family."
"That's when I realized... she'd never looked back."
As he spoke, the man—once refined and handsome—was now twisted with hate. His eyes burned red as the pain came flooding back.
"I barged in on them—caught the two tangled together like animals."
He remembered it clearly: the Su family's young master ordered his guards to pin him down and watch... as they carried on in front of him.
That scene was seared into his soul—his beloved in another man's arms.
"And now, this is the woman you were willing to die for?"
He jabbed a finger at Tie Zhu's forehead, his voice scornful.
Tie Zhu stood frozen, like a puppet with its strings cut.
Suddenly, Xiao Mei's head was severed by a bandit's blade. Blood sprayed into the air.
The villagers stood paralyzed. Not a single soul dared move.
From a nearby hill, two figures silently watched the massacre unfold.
Hong Qianye crossed his arms, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Now this is a story. I'm enjoying it."
Ye Junlin, however, frowned. Something was off about this Heifeng Zhai chieftain. The man wasn't as simple as he appeared.
Just then, the chieftain dropped all pretenses.
"Enough reminiscing," he said coldly.
He raised two fingers toward Tie Zhu. The young man's eyes rolled back as he collapsed, unconscious.
"I gave my word—I won't kill him. But the rest of you?" The chieftain's smile turned cruel. "Heh…"
A violent aura erupted around him. His eyes glowed blood-red as he gazed down at the kneeling villagers.
"Back away! The boss is about to use his Divine Technique!" a bandit yelled.
The others fled in panic—they knew exactly what was coming.
Swish, swish, swish—
Dozens of blood-red tendrils burst from the chieftain's chest, slithering through the air like demonic serpents.
Men, women, and children shriveled one by one as their blood was siphoned into his body.
"Yes… just like that!" he howled, ecstatic. "Once I'm done here, I'll break through from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment!"
"Help! Please! Don't kill me!"
"Mommy!"
"Save us!"
"Monster! He's a monster!"
The valley echoed with screams.
"This is no random slaughter," Ye Junlin murmured, eyes sharp as blades. "The strange happenings in the Wei Kingdom... this is connected."
This Heifeng Zhai chieftain wasn't some mastermind. He was a pawn—used by someone else.
Hong Qianye's eyes narrowed. "This technique…"
His chest tightened. It looked all too familiar.
"It's just like something he used to wield," he whispered to himself.
"But… that man died two centuries ago. The major sects of the Central Region joined forces to eliminate him."
His expression darkened.
He remembered the twisted methods—the ruthless cultivation techniques. Once, they had stood as equals.
Ye Junlin caught the shift in his expression. "You recognize that technique?"
Hong Qianye quickly shook his head. "No."
Ye Junlin chuckled softly but said nothing more.
Swish.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished.
A moment later, he reappeared behind the chieftain, gently patting him on the shoulder.
"Brother," he said quietly. "Pain like yours has a cause… but killing the innocent? That's where you lost your way."
Startled, the chieftain spun around. "Who the hell are you?!"
Boom!
Ye Junlin struck with a palm.
Crack! Crack!
Bones shattered as the chieftain slammed into the ground, screaming in pain.
With the technique disrupted, the blood tendrils dispersed—and the surviving villagers collapsed in relief.
"Chief! Chief!" the remaining bandits panicked.
Their invincible leader had been crushed in seconds.
Ye Junlin knelt beside the broken man. "Where did you learn that Evil Technique?"
Chen Shouye's face twisted in bitterness. He knew he had no way out.
He confessed everything.
After catching his lover with the Su family heir, Chen's life was ruined. Stripped of everything, he fled and was eventually recruited by a mysterious group. They offered him power—and taught him a forbidden cultivation technique.
The only condition: cultivate by any means necessary.
Warped by revenge and thirst for strength, he began massacring innocents. Later, he became a bandit, returning to kill the couple who betrayed him.
"A shadowy organization…" Ye Junlin muttered.
"They spread demonic techniques, urging cultivators to kill for power..."
He glanced at Hong Qianye, who had just descended from the sky, his crimson robes billowing in the wind. "Thoughts, Xiao Hong?"
The villagers stared in awe.
He looked like a war god—cold, divine, and untouchable.
Hong Qianye kept his expression neutral, but his heart was pounding.
The way this organization operated… it was exactly like that man's system.
Could he still be alive?
"Master, this disciple knows nothing," he said softly.
Ye Junlin narrowed his eyes, but let it slide.
He placed a hand on Chen Shouye's forehead.
Soul Siphon.
"AHHH—!" Chen Shouye shrieked as his body convulsed violently.
Ye Junlin caught a glimpse: black-robed figures, a sinister figure teaching the technique… and then, darkness.
Bang.
He collapsed—dead.
"Let's go," Ye Junlin said calmly.
Snap!
Hong Qianye snapped his fingers.
Flames erupted from each bandit. Screams rang out as divine fire consumed them in seconds, leaving nothing but ash.
The villagers watched in stunned silence.
"You…" Ye Junlin raised a brow.
"Master, did I do something wrong?" Hong Qianye asked, feigning innocence. "Didn't they deserve to die?"
Ye Junlin coughed lightly. "Good job."
A flicker of pride danced in Hong Qianye's eyes.
It had been a while since he felt such satisfaction from a kill.
Suddenly—
"The immortal has vanquished evil and saved us all! Peach Blossom Village will never forget this kindness!" a villager cried out.
"Thank you, Immortal Fairy!"
The others bowed deeply in unison.
Fairy?!
Hong Qianye's brow twitched. His fingers curled—ready to turn them to dust.
But a large hand gently stopped him.
Ye Junlin grinned. "My dear disciple… planning to kill them too?"
For some reason, that smile annoyed him more than usual.
Hong Qianye fumed inside but kept his cool.
He forced an awkward smile. "Master, you misunderstand. I was just… waving goodbye."
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