Silence enveloped Angin Beku Village. The only sounds were the crackling of Grandfather Chen's hut as it burned and the gentle fluttering of Ye Yan's red fan.
Uncle Li, with Ye Yan sitting on his back, turned pale. His body trembled not only because of Ye Yan's weight, but also out of sheer fear. The other villagers, who had been enveloped in illusion, now stood stiff as statues, their eyes staring blankly ahead.
Beside them, a sparrow—Ye Mu—slowly lifted its head from the ground. Its body was still trembling, but its panicked chirping subsided, replaced by confusion as it looked at Grandpa Chen.
"Grandpa Chen...?" Ye Mu whispered through soft chirps, his voice filled with indescribable sadness.
Ye Yan paid no attention to Ye Mu. His focus was on the figure of Grandpa Chen, who lay limp on the ground, outside the circle of the crowd.
Upon hearing his name called, Grandpa Chen slowly rose. His old, hunched body swayed, but gradually, the trembling subsided. His eyes, which had previously been clear and kind, now emitted a cold and dangerous purple light.
"I underestimated you," Grandpa Chen's voice was now deeper and more authoritative, a far cry from its previous hoarseness and weakness.
Ye Yan chuckled, shrugging indifferently. "Arrogance always blinds."
"But there is one thing I don't understand. How could you sense it?" asked Grandpa Chen.
Ye Yan's eyes narrowed, his chin lifted slightly—his gaze drifted away in disgust before finally returning to the man. "When you touched my hand that morning, I knew you were probing my soul. You must have been suspicious, how could a stupid kid have such a sharp gaze."
"...," Grandpa Chen fell silent. "The attack you launched yesterday..."
"Yes, the Cold Star Flower confirmed my suspicions," Ye Yan replied.
"And your arrogance gave you the courage to watch me," he continued, his tone cold and slightly irritated.
His red fan folded, he looked down at the old man. "I admit you're quite clever, using that Flower to create an illusion."
"The Cold Star Flower is the base ingredient for low-grade Intelligence Enhancement Pills in the Nine Heavens Realm," explained Ye Yan, his voice cold again. "Its main function is to cleanse the meridians and calm the mind. However, the side effect of consuming it directly is that it increases spiritual sensitivity at the point of blockage."
Ye Yan pointed to his own forehead. "You thought I knew nothing because I was 'The Fool'. But once I consumed the Flower, my soul's sensitivity to the energy around it increased dramatically. The illusion you created, which used the remaining energy of the flower, felt like a big red flag to me."
"I saw faint contractions in the air when I left the village," Ye Yan hissed. "It wasn't a sign of disaster, it was the Flower Mist Illusion Formation. That formation requires the Cold Star Flower as its core."
Grandfather Chen's jaw tightened, holding back his anger that was about to explode. He took a breath, forcing himself to calm down. "That's right, but the Formation can only be destroyed by damaging the core."
"You mean this?" Ye Yan sneered, shaking the broken branch. His gaze was full of contempt.
He let his left hand support his cheek. "Now it's my turn to ask, why are you doing all this?"
What was so special about this stupid bird? Ye Yan didn't understand why anyone would bother hurting a mentally disabled child.
A smirk appeared on his lips, clearly looking down on Ye Yan. "It seems you're not aware of what body you've entered."
"That body," he added, pointing at Ye Yan. "A monster that cannot die."
"Have you ever seen someone fall off a cliff—die—but come back to life as if nothing happened?! With wounds that heal in no time?" There was a mad obsession in his voice. "Over the past 10 years, I've killed the owner of that body hundreds of times."
Ye Yan raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. But in the corner of his eye, he saw the sparrow trembling. "You killed him in the forest too?"
"Of course! I used an illusion to lure him in and set up a soul-binding formation," he replied enthusiastically.
No wonder its soul was so weak. A thin smile hung on Ye Yan's lips, but the coldness in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Grandpa Chen's body trembled, his voice shrill with anger as he said, "I... I should have gotten that body! That immortal body belongs to me!"
"Too bad," said Ye Yan, rising and approaching Old Man Chen. "In the end, you're still a stupid rat."
Old Man Chen did not reply. His wrinkled body suddenly faded into a purple shadow, darting towards Ye Yan. Energy claws slashed through the air, forming thin cracks in the surrounding space.
Ye Yan stood motionless, as if the attack were merely a passing breeze. Just before the claws touched his skin, the red fan in Ye Yan's hand opened with a soft snap. With a single light flick, the purple energy shattered like dust.
"Impatient," Ye Yan murmured flatly.
Grandfather Chen landed, his face turning fierce. "That body is mine!"
Another shadow leaped from behind him, an illusion doubling his steps, attempting to trap Ye Yan from two directions. The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly from the pressure of energy.
Ye Yan raised one hand, as if ordering them both to be quiet.
A thin red energy enveloped his fingers—barely visible, but enough to make the air around him vibrate slightly.
The two illusions stopped simultaneously. Small cracks appeared on the surface of the shadows, before finally exploding in a burst of light.
"Basic illusions," Ye Yan commented, his tone flat. "You really have no shame."
Grandfather Chen roared, his purple aura peaking, emitting pressure that cracked the ground. The energy surged like a small storm. But just before it reached Ye Yan, an invisible force flowed from the red fan.
Ye Yan flicked it once—lightly, elegantly, as if merely brushing dust from the air.
But the energy storm shattered completely in an instant, evaporating without a trace.
Grandfather Chen's eyes widened. "Y-you… Who are you really…?"
Ye Yan lowered his head slightly, looking down at the man with disgust. "Someone who boasts about killing a child hundreds of times has no right to know who I am."
A moment later, Ye Yan vanished from his spot. The red wind swept through the air.
Grandpa Chen only had time to turn his body before his heart felt like it had stopped.
Ye Yan was already standing behind him.
Ye Yan's finger touched the spot between his spine.
"This is for the stupid body you tortured."
A light pressure—very light—but a soft crackling sound could be heard. A purple aura burst out of Grandpa Chen's body, then faded like a candle blown out by the wind.
The man's body fell to his knees before collapsing to the ground, empty and soulless.
Ye Yan calmly closed his red fan. "You were too noisy."
A second later, Ye Yan coughed up a mouthful of blood. His face immediately paled, and the world seemed to spin.
Damn it! I was too reckless, using all my Qi to kill him. Darkness engulfed him, and Ye Yan's body collapsed to the ground. Vaguely, he heard Ye Mu's panicked screams mixed with sobs.
"Noisy," he muttered before fainting.