It could hardly be blamed on this disciple from a second-rate sect for being so inexperienced; even Master Jingyin, upon suddenly hearing the news, wondered whether there was something wrong with his ears.
He stared blankly. “What did you say? What Xuantian Tower?”
The disciple could well understand his sect leader’s state of mind at that moment. He hurriedly handed the visiting card to Master Jingyin and anxiously asked, “What should we do to receive these distinguished guests?”
A Law Sage! That was a Law Sage!
And Command Envoy Zhan, Guardian Zhong, Division Head He, all figures they had previously only ever heard about in legends! They could hardly afford to slight them, could they?
Master Jingyin looked at the visiting card in his hand.
At this point, Yan Chen and the others still did not know what sort of circumstances Ye Huaiyao was in within the Chensu Sect, nor did they know why he was alive or why he had not returned home for so many years. They merely assumed that he must have been rescued by someone from the Chensu Sect, and so their wording was exceedingly courteous.
In the visiting card, Yan Chen had also not explicitly mentioned that the Illustrious Sage was currently at the Chensu Sect. He merely said that he had long admired the Chensu Sect, and happened to be passing through on business, so he wished to visit the mountain and discuss martial arts and the Dao.
This would normally have been a perfectly ordinary exchange between sects, but the disparity in status between the two sides was simply too great, leaving Master Jingyin wondering whether he was dreaming.
What he had always dreamed of was finding a way for the Chensu Sect to curry favour and ingratiate itself with others, then use their influence to rise to prominence. An opportunity like this was truly one that came once in a thousand years.
Master Jingyin ought to have been delighted, but unfortunately, he still had this mess on his hands. With Yan Jin, an outsider, present, the case still had to be examined step by step. It really could not have come at a worse time.
After thinking for a moment, Master Jingyin said, “Go and explain this news to your Uncle Zhao and Uncle Hui. Tell them to go out and make preparations at once. Find out the distinguished guests’ preferences, and make absolutely certain that everything is taken care of!”
The disciple said, “Why not suspend the hearing…”
Master Jingyin said, “Foolish! Yan Jin and Young Master Yuan are both on the mountain. How can we let them know that the Law Sage is coming? Xuantian Tower has always been dissatisfied with Guiyuan Manor. If the two sides happen to come into conflict, we cannot afford to offend either of them!”
Only then did the disciple understand. It was common knowledge that Yuan Xian and Xuantian Tower were on bad terms, while Yan Jin was particularly jealous, and also deeply resentful of Yuan Xian because of Ji Lanying.
If this troublemaker found out that Yan Chen and the others were coming, she would inevitably reveal Yuan Xian’s whereabouts in front of the people from Xuantian Tower and provoke the two sides into fighting.
Therefore, in order not to alarm Yan Jin, Ye Huaiyao’s interrogation still had to proceed normally to its conclusion.
Master Jingyin glanced at the shadow of the sun on the ground and said anxiously, “I’ll send them away as quickly as possible. Go at once, and tell your two uncles that we have only half an hour!”
The disciple agreed and hurried off.
Once he had gone, Master Jingyin no longer had any inclination to determine who was right and who was wrong. As soon as he heard Ye Huaiyao accusing Yan Jin, he gave a loud shout. “Rubbish!”
He pointed at Ye Huaiyao and said, “No matter how you try to drag other matters into this, you have no evidence. In any case, the charge has been decided today, and no argument will be entertained. Guards, take him away for me—”
“Sect Leader, it is not without evidence!”
Ye Huaiyao raised his voice, forcibly interrupting Master Jingyin.
His expression was cold and solemn, yet there was no trace of panic or agitation in it. “The reason I am saying all this is because the Sect Leader asked me to produce evidence proving that killing Cheng Yuan was truly unavoidable. The witness is already here. It is Young Master Yan!”
Yan Jin was almost laughing with anger. “You still want me to be your witness?”
He really had to be out of his mind.
Ye Huaiyao said, “It has now been established that you were present when the two of us clashed, so you must have seen exactly what happened from beginning to end. When I entered the hall just now, I saw Young Master Yuan and Young Master Ji. If we asked Young Master Yuan to extract the images from Young Master Yan’s mind and take a look, would that not be the best evidence?”
This secret art of extracting another person’s memories was most highly developed in Xuantian Tower. Yuan Xian, as the Illustrious Sage’s prospective Dao companion, had also studied it alongside him. There was absolutely no possibility of falsifying it.
Ye Huaiyao was truly a master of strategy. He was skilled at reading people. Although he did not know what that disciple had just said to Master Jingyin, he could clearly see that the latter had become anxious after hearing it, looking as though he wanted to bring the case to a hasty conclusion.
This meant that some unexpected situation had arisen. It might not necessarily be a bad thing, but it was certainly something that could not be openly disclosed.
Master Jingyin was in a hurry, whereas Ye Huaiyao had another purpose and needed to buy time, so he proposed this idea.
In doing so, he brought Yuan Xian into the matter, increasing the number of people involved, while at the same time putting Yan Jin and Master Jingyin in a difficult position.
After all, they were the ones who had repeatedly insisted that they wanted to investigate the truth and punish Ye Huaiyao. Now that a method had been provided, it would be difficult for them to refuse to cooperate.
The other elders and peak masters murmured amongst themselves, none of them willing to express an opinion lightly. Yan Jin glanced at Master Jingyin and, unusually, did not voice any objection.
Master Jingyin was just about to speak when he suddenly thought that, if Yuan Xian happened to be wandering around Mount Chensu, he might actually run into Yan Chen and the others. It would be safer to summon him here as a witness instead.
In any case, the Hall of Punishments was a long way from the guest reception area. There was no way the people from Xuantian Tower would come here, so the two sides would never meet.
Thus, Ye Huaiyao, Yan Jin, and Master Jingyin each had different aims, yet by a strange coincidence, all three arrived at the same conclusion.
So Master Jingyin gave a soft snort and said, “Very well.”
He personally rose to invite Yuan Xian.
As the young master of Guiyuan Manor, Yuan Xian’s status was extraordinary. Their Chensu Sect was no Xuantian Tower, and to secure his cooperation, it was only fitting that the sect leader himself make the journey.
As it happened, Yuan Xian had come up the mountain this time precisely to accompany Ji Lanying in finding Yan Jin. After hearing Master Jingyin explain the reason for the invitation, he agreed readily.
Before long, several people arrived in the main hall.
The few people currently gathered in the Hall of Punishments all had their own origins, and, by some quirk of fate, there were countless intricate connections between them. For them all to have gathered together under such circumstances was truly a rare and lively spectacle.
Yuan Xian had already heard Master Jingyin recount what had happened on the way there. Once he arrived, he deliberately looked at Ye Huaiyao and felt that he seemed somewhat more haggard than the last time they had met.
Yuan Xian had not been there earlier, so naturally he had not witnessed how Ye Huaiyao had displayed one ingenious stratagem after another and laid out his plans during the public hearing. He merely felt that a frail boy who had only just turned eighteen was being surrounded and interrogated by so many seniors, which was rather pitiful.
When Ye Huaiyao and Yan Jin had sparred in the Ghost Wind Forest before, Yuan Xian had been standing nearby. He knew perfectly well how overbearing Yan Jin could be, so he naturally assumed that the current situation must have been devised by Yan Jin.
His purpose was nothing more than to force the Chensu Sect into framing Ye Huaiyao, thereby taking revenge for having been defeated by him. It was simply too much bullying.
Yuan Xian drew a deep breath, suddenly feeling a pang of bitterness in his heart.
This ache did not come from the person before him, but from the person he saw through that face—his Dao companion who had already passed away.
He had not thought of the Illustrious Sage for a very long time. Eighteen years was not long for a cultivator, yet under his deliberate efforts to forget, it had become as distant as a dream from a former life.
Why did he refuse to think of him? Why did he insist on feigning indifference whenever he saw someone who resembled him? He told himself that this was indifference, but in truth, he was afraid.
Afraid of unconsciously falling in, unconsciously developing feelings. Afraid that he too would become like those fanatical believers who had lost all sense of self, humbly prostrating themselves before the Illustrious Sage merely for the sake of earning a smile or a glance from him.
To preserve his pride, Yuan Xian had resisted the Illustrious Sage’s forceful and dazzling presence, regarding every tender feeling he had developed for him as taboo. After all these years, even he himself had come to believe that this rejection was genuine.
But at this moment, the familiar face of the young man before him seemed to allow Yuan Xian to see an Illustrious Sage who had lost his halo, and all the affection that had been deliberately concealed and resisted for so many years came surging back.
Out of this rare tenderness, and because of that small resemblance, he decided to help the other man and uncover the truth.
Countless thoughts turned over in Yuan Xian’s mind, yet not the slightest trace appeared on his face. He merely shifted his gaze from Ye Huaiyao to Yan Jin, the corner of his lips curling into a faint, inscrutable smile. “Young Master Yan, then let us begin.”
Yan Jin snorted.
Yuan Xian did not care what attitude Yan Jin took. Once he made his move, the other party would not be able to resist, even if he was unwilling.
He formed a hand seal and took a step forward. Just then, Ji Lanying suddenly called softly, “Brother Yuan—”
Yuan Xian turned his head and saw that she looked as though she wanted to speak but could not, her eyes filled with anxiety and pleading.
Thinking that Ji Lanying still wanted to plead for Yan Jin, he shook his head.
Although he had once sworn to protect him, Yuan Xian did not want to shield everyone around Ji Lanying without principle, especially Yan Jin, who was arrogant and treated everyone with contempt. Yuan Xian had already tolerated him many times.
He glanced at Ye Huaiyao, then thought of that boy who had not yet become the Illustrious Sage, and remembered his first stirrings of love, his first happiness…
The dead were gone. He hoped that those who were still alive could live a little more easily.
Yuan Xian gathered his breath and circulated his energy, then pointed a finger at Yan Jin’s brow, intending to read his memories first and extract them afterwards.
He knew Yan Jin’s temperament. The moment he extended his finger, he had already prepared several layers of contingencies in case the other party refused to cooperate.
Everyone present had witnessed what happened earlier, when Ye Huaiyao pointed out that Yan Jin had also been present when Cheng Yuan died. He had been visibly both shocked and furious. Yet this time, when Yuan Xian made his move, Yan Jin offered not the slightest resistance, simply allowing Yuan Xian to enter his spiritual consciousness and view the events of that night within his memories.
Ye Huaiyao stood to one side, paying no attention to Yuan Xian. While no one was watching him, he quietly glanced out through the window, as though waiting for something.
Meanwhile, having read the memories, Yuan Xian finally understood what Cheng Yuan had meant by testing him in the Ghost Wind Forest.
Yan Jin had only gone over after Ye Huaiyao had revealed his identity to Cheng Yuan. Yuan Xian did not see the moment when Ye Huaiyao admitted that he was the Illustrious Sage, but he did see Cheng Yuan’s coercion and harassment of him.
Unlike Cheng Yuan, who had spent many years with Ye Huaiyao, Yuan Xian knew nothing about this young man who looked exactly like his Dao companion.
When Cheng Yuan had come to him and said those things, Yuan Xian had assumed that he was merely trying to test whether his feelings for the Illustrious Sage would transfer to this Chensu Sect disciple, and he had not taken it particularly seriously.
Until now, when a surge of anger rose from the depths of his heart, though not for Ye Huaiyao himself.
It was for the familiar shadow he saw in this person, for the one who should once have shared life and death with him and remained by his side for an entire lifetime.
The Illustrious Sage.
For several hundred years, although their relationship had never been particularly close, he had grown accustomed to being the “Illustrious Sage’s Dao companion”. Now, seeing this person who looked exactly like Ye Huaiyao subjected to such humiliation, how could he possibly remain unmoved?
Even Yuan Xian himself was astonished by the fury he felt. In that instant, he almost wished he could draw his sword and give the already dead Cheng Yuan a couple more blows.
A person like that deserved to die in the first place. Ye Huaiyao had been entirely justified in killing him!
And Yan Jin. He had actually stood by and watched, then looked for an opportunity to kick him while he was down. He was utterly despicable and shameless!
Driven by these emotions, Yuan Xian prepared to reveal the truth immediately and use his status to pressure the Chensu Sect into leaving Ye Huaiyao alone.
That was all he could do for this person.
But before he could put it into action, the scene before his eyes suddenly shifted, and Yan Jin’s gaze turned elsewhere.
Then Yuan Xian saw Ji Lanying’s face.
His heart jolted.
At that moment, Ji Lanying had been standing outside together with Yan Jin, and he had witnessed everything that had happened earlier.
So that was it!
Yuan Xian suddenly understood what Ji Lanying’s pleading cry of “Brother Yuan” had meant just now. It also explained why Yan Jin had been so willing to let him pry into his memories.
It was not only Yan Jin who had watched as Cheng Yuan schemed against Ye Huaiyao. Ji Lanying had been involved as well.
They were gambling on how much Yuan Xian cared about Ji Lanying. In order to avoid implicating Ji Lanying, Yuan Xian absolutely could not reveal what had happened.
For that brief moment, he did not know what he felt.
All along, in Yuan Xian’s eyes, Ji Lanying had been gentle-natured, yet chivalrous and kind. This often made him worry that Ji Lanying might be bullied by others, so he would unconsciously keep him in mind, taking on the role of protector at his side.
Or perhaps the environment in which he had grown up, surrounded by adulation and treated as the centre of attention, had made Yuan Xian more inclined to extend his lofty kindness and pity towards the weak, just as he did towards Ye Huaiyao now.
Yet at this very moment, he suddenly realised that Ji Lanying seemed to differ, to some extent, from the person he had imagined.
But back then… he was the one who had saved him, and Yuan Xian had sworn to treat him well.
Ji Lanying’s conduct in the Ghost Wind Forest had already been bad enough. If everyone present were to learn that he had also stood by and watched Cheng Yuan being killed, Ji Lanying’s situation would become even more difficult.
But Ye Huaiyao, Ye Huaiyao…
Yuan Xian’s emotions were complicated, and he found himself unable to decide.
Everyone around him was waiting. When they saw him take his hand away from Yan Jin’s forehead, yet neither offer an explanation nor allow them to view the memory, they gradually grew impatient. Master Jingyin was the most impatient of them all.
He had originally been exceedingly courteous towards Yuan Xian, but now that he knew Xuantian Tower was about to visit, his thoughts had long since flown elsewhere.
He only wanted the matter to end as quickly as possible, whatever the result, so that the hearing could be dismissed and Yuan Xian sent away.
He asked, “Young Master Yuan, may I ask whether Young Master Yan’s memories can be extracted for us to see?”
Without needing to think any further, the balance in Yuan Xian’s heart ultimately tipped towards Ji Lanying.
He answered instinctively, “No.”
Afterwards, Yuan Xian could not help glancing at Ye Huaiyao, and happened to meet his gaze.
It seemed to contain a smile, a sigh, and something that looked almost like expectation.
Yuan Xian’s heart tightened.
Perhaps the timing had been too subtle. That single look seemed to have been branded directly into his chest, where it would go on to ache faintly during many midnight moments when he woke from dreams, impossible to erase. He looked away and said, “I apologise. I have not mastered this technique sufficiently, so I cannot allow everyone to see the scene as it happened. I could only see that Cheng Yuan was indeed the one who offended Young Hero Ye first, and that Young Hero Ye was forced to resist, resulting in the accidental killing.”
Peak Master Cheng endured the grief of losing his son and watched this group of people go back and forth, but at last he lost patience. Hearing that Yuan Xian still seemed to be speaking in Ye Huaiyao’s favour, he slammed his hand down hard on the table and rose to his feet.
He said furiously, “Whatever the circumstances, the fact remains that he killed someone! Master, please sacrifice this brat to the demon dragon and let it devour his soul, to repay my son’s life!”
They had no way of witnessing the truth with their own eyes, and words alone were not evidence. The claim that “Cheng Yuan offended first” seemed far too feeble as justification for killing him.
Yuan Xian was about to speak when Master Jingyin had already impatiently made his decision. “Since that is the case, then we shall do as Peak Master Cheng suggests. Guards, take Ye Huaiyao away!”
Ye Huaiyao said, “Very well. Such an outcome leaves me with nothing more to lose.”
He strode to the foremost row of memorial tablets in the Hall of Punishments and said, “Please allow this disciple to offer one final stick of incense to my late master.”
He took a stick of incense, bowed with it, then placed it before the memorial tablet and said loudly:
“Master, your disciple is now being persecuted, suffering injustice, with his life hanging by a thread. Though I have done everything I can to explain myself, the world is shrouded in darkness, the Sect Leader lacks virtue, and the elders preserve themselves without distinguishing right from wrong. My situation is truly wretched. They say that one should repay resentment with resentment and kindness with kindness. I will forever remain your disciple, but from this moment onwards, I am no longer a member of the Chensu Sect.”
He lifted his robes, bent down, and knelt, giving a clean, decisive kowtow before saying, “I hope, Master, that you understand my suffering and will not blame me!”
After the dispute in the hall just now, everyone had assumed that Ye Huaiyao would do everything in his power to clear himself of the charges. In the end, being alone and powerless, unable to withstand them, he would have no choice but to accept his fate. No one had expected him to say such a thing.
It was almost as though he had already foreseen how this great drama would end, yet had deliberately stood by and watched with cold eyes, simply to see whether the ending matched the script he had been given.
Even Master Jingyin was stunned for a moment. It was only when he saw Ye Huaiyao kneel and kowtow that he came to his senses and shouted, “What are you all standing around for? I told you to seize him!”
Two disciples immediately drew their swords and thrust them towards Ye Huaiyao’s back.
Ye Huaiyao was still kneeling on the ground. Seeing this, he planted one palm against the floor and sent his body flying diagonally upwards, his toes following through with a kick to each of their chests, sending both disciples flying.
Before he had even landed, another disciple came at him with a sword, slashing towards his knee.
Ye Huaiyao twisted in mid-air and landed, kicking up the hem of his robe and sweeping it out with one hand, catching the sword blade neatly within the fabric.
As the two sides pulled against one another, the disciple’s sword slipped from his hand, while a section of Ye Huaiyao’s robe was torn away with a sharp sound.
The piece of fabric fluttered through the air before drifting gently to the ground.
Ye Huaiyao slid backwards several steps, his embroidered robes billowing around him. He came to a composed halt and said calmly, “Severing my robes and breaking our ties.”
In the silence, the sound of someone involuntarily drawing a sharp breath became especially clear.
He had torn through both their dignity and their pretence. If Ye Huaiyao were not dealt with, the Chensu Sect would be utterly humiliated this time and find it difficult to maintain its standing.
Master Jingyin was just about to speak when he suddenly stumbled. The floor of the entire hall abruptly began to shake violently.
…No, not only the Hall of Punishments. The whole of Mount Chensu was shaking.
The tremors came in wave after wave, growing increasingly violent. Outside, fierce winds swept across the ground, sending broken stones flying into the air and pelting the outer walls with a loud clatter.
Everyone staggered and swayed, thrown into chaos. Master Jingyin had only just managed to ask, “What is happening?” when he suddenly realised what was going on. He turned and glared furiously at Ye Huaiyao, his eyes seemingly spitting fire. “It’s you!”
“Mm, it’s me.”
Ye Huaiyao pulled over a chair and sat down at his leisure, smiling as he said, “You don’t actually think I have been wasting my breath here, talking to all of you at such length because I genuinely expected someone to give me justice, do you? Do you think I am that naive?”
Firstly, I have told you all these things because I have done everything I could. I am repaying my late master’s kindness with the last of the respect I have for this place. Secondly…”
He crossed one leg over the other. “Naturally, I was buying time.”
Someone demanded, “What have you done?!”
The words had barely left his mouth when a deafening roar suddenly shook the heavens from somewhere in the distance outside the hall. Faintly, someone could be heard shouting, “Something terrible has happened! The Dragon-Prison Tower has collapsed!”
Everyone present was utterly shocked.
The Dragon-Prison Tower was, after all, the most dangerous place in the entire Chensu Sect. Locked within it was a malevolent dragon tainted by demonic energy, one that had long since lost its reason and existed solely to devour human souls.
Peak Master Cheng had just said that Ye Huaiyao should be sacrificed to this monster. It went without saying that, once it broke free of its restraints, all it could possibly do was destroy and slaughter.
The collapse of the Dragon-Prison Tower concerned the survival of the entire sect. It was no trivial matter!
Not only were the others present startled, even Ye Huaiyao was taken aback. He thought to himself, Surely not. This really wasn’t my doing.
He had indeed used certain methods, tampering in advance with several of the Chensu Sect’s protective mountain formations, intending to bring down a few mountain peaks and create some chaos, but he had never intended to go this far.
After all, Ye Huaiyao’s spiritual power had not yet fully recovered, and Cheng Yuan had poisoned him. With old wounds compounded by new ones, all the arrangements he had made had remained within the bounds of what he could control.
At that moment, no one in the hall could have imagined that the person responsible for this upheaval would be the young man who swept the floors and carried water, A-Nan.
Or, to give him another name, the Beicang Demon Lord, Rong Wang.
When the incident occurred, A-Nan had been dutifully sweeping the back mountain, completely unaware that he himself was actually a great figure.
Last time, for Ye Huaiyao’s sake, he had chased him all the way into the Ghost Wind Forest. Afterwards, Ye Huaiyao had arranged for someone to send him away in advance, so he had never received news of what happened afterwards, including Cheng Yuan’s death and everyone’s return to the mountain.
After all, such a scandal had to be dealt with discreetly.
Early that morning, as A-Nan swept the mountain path, he was thinking to himself about when Ye Huaiyao would return.
The thought that he would be able to see him again made his heart feel light, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
In an open space not far behind A-Nan, a group of children around his age were practising their martial arts.
They had a master to instruct them, and although they were young, their punches already carried considerable force and were executed with a fair amount of discipline.
A few years earlier, A-Nan would always stand at a distance, watching them eagerly and hoping to learn even one or two moves. Later, those children had started throwing stones at him. On one occasion, they had even told their instructor, who had reprimanded him, and after that he stopped watching.
But even if he did not actively provoke them, there was no guarantee that the children would not come and bully him.
A-Nan had just swept the fallen leaves clean from a stretch of path when he heard a rustling above his head. A large tree began to sway, and fallen leaves once again accumulated across the ground.
Naturally, the tree had not begun shaking of its own accord simply because it disliked him. A-Nan looked up and saw a child grinning as he withdrew the foot he had kicked against the trunk, staring at him provocatively.
A-Nan stared at him for a while. This time, however, he did not become angry. After a brief pause, he silently walked over and continued sweeping the fallen leaves clean, bit by bit.
Things were different now. He carried a precious secret in his heart.
It seemed that, with this secret to support him, even the malice of the entire world could be dissolved.
He did not care how other people treated him. All he needed was the warmth of that one person.
Although A-Nan had never learnt any martial arts, he was exceptionally ruthless when fighting, as though he did not care whether he lived or died.
The child who had provoked him earlier had initially been somewhat wary, but when he saw that A-Nan did not react, he became bored.
Relying on the fact that he had plenty of companions around him, he picked up another stone from the ground and hurled it at the unhealed wound on A-Nan’s forehead. A-Nan dodged, the stone missing him, and he stared at the other child with a pair of dark, sombre eyes.
The child laughed. “Oh, you’re angry? You’re usually so fierce when you fight. Why aren’t you fighting back this time?”
The others joined in the jeering. “His backer’s gone. He’s too scared now!”
“Exactly. Hey, you. Ye-shixiong killed Cheng-shixiong. My master said he’s going to be eaten by the demon dragon. Did you know that?”
A-Nan abruptly turned towards the direction of the voice. His gaze burned fiercely, as though two blazing flames were raging within his eyes. “What did you say?!”
His voice and expression were extraordinarily fierce and savage, frightening the speaker into taking a step backwards. The child muttered, “Why are you being so fierce? I only heard it from my master…”
Before he had finished speaking, A-Nan suddenly lunged forward and seized him by the throat, snarling, “What do you mean? Tell me exactly what happened! Where is he?!”
Once A-Nan started fighting, he was terrifyingly vicious. Everyone around him was startled and rushed over to pull him away. A-Nan let the punches and kicks rain down upon him like drops of rain, stubbornly refusing to release the person in his grasp. When someone nearby saw that their companion was already rolling his eyes, they cried out in alarm:
“Let him go! I’ll tell you! Ye-shixiong really did kill Cheng-shixiong. I heard he admitted it himself a long time ago. He’s been taken to… ah, he’s been taken to the Hall of Punishments for execution!”
A-Nan felt his heart shake violently, and his face turned deathly pale.
For some reason, he seemed to recognise this despair, this terror that felt as though the entire world were about to collapse into ruin. It seeped drop by drop into his blood before surging outwards through every limb and bone.
Fragments of images seemed to surge into his mind, at once familiar and strange, but he had no time to think about them carefully.
His hand trembled slightly. He abruptly released the child whose throat he had nearly strangled to death, sprang to his feet, turned around, and ran.
Many of the disciples had been gathered together, only to be thrown into complete disarray by A-Nan. Seeing him about to leave, they were all unwilling to let him go. One of them grabbed A-Nan from behind and shouted, “You think you can just walk away after hitting someone… Ah!”
A-Nan snatched up a stone from the ground and smashed it into the other boy’s face, leaving him covered in blood. The others were so terrified by his ferocity that they stood there dumbfounded. A-Nan did not stop for even a moment. He was already racing towards the mountain.
He was frantic with worry, running with all his might, yet he still felt that he was far too slow.
He did not know what was happening to Ye Huaiyao, nor whether, if he hurried over now, he would still… make it in time.
And even if he did make it, what could he do?
He was simply too weak. What could someone like him possibly do?
Useless! What a completely useless piece of trash!
A-Nan caught his foot on a rock and crashed heavily to the ground.
He didn’t even let out a grunt. Using both hands and feet, he scrambled back up, casually wiping the blood from his scraped palm onto his trousers before trying to continue running.
At that moment, the ground suddenly began to shake violently.
With the earth moving like this, he could barely remain standing, let alone make his way up the mountain. For A-Nan, that realisation was devastating.
His eyes reddened, and instinctively, he reached out and grabbed the only stable wall beside him.
Behind this wall stood the Dragon-Prison Tower.
The Dragon-Prison Tower had long been permeated by dense demonic energy, but it had all been sealed away. Even when the occasional wisps managed to seep out, they were quickly dispersed by the abundant spiritual energy within the mountain and posed no real threat.
This time, however, the situation seemed different. The moment A-Nan pressed his hand against the wall, the scattered, feeble traces of demonic energy seemed to have found their master. They instantly converged, then surged into his body in one overwhelming rush!
In an instant, his mind went blank. Time rewound, memories overlapped, and the past unfolded before him.
“—What’s your name?”
“I can see you’ve had a hard life. How about I call you A-Nan?”
“Haha, your name sounds like a little dog’s. Wang—wang—!* Hey, if you don’t answer me, I’m really going to call you Wang Wang!”
(*TN: the Chinese equivalent of “woof—woof”.)
“Rong Wang, don’t tell me you don’t have any friends. Aren’t I one?”
“Beicang Demon Lord, I really do pity you. You’ve cherished him in your heart for nearly a thousand years, yet when you finally met him, you didn’t even dare look at him properly. Tell me, why put yourself through this?”
“Hey, kid, back for candy again? Tsk tsk, you eat my candy every day, yet you won’t even call me handsome.”
“Ye Huaiyao! Ye Huaiyao! Ye Huaiyao!”
“All these years, isn’t he the only one you’ve been longing for? If something happens to him, what else in this world is worth preserving?”
“Destroy this place! Just like you once did!”
In that brief moment, it was as though he had lived through an entire lifetime again. A-Nan suddenly raised his head. The seal imprisoning his memories finally shattered. After Ye Huaiyao, he too remembered everything.
He was the Beicang Demon Lord, Rong Wang.
After that battle all those years ago, both of them had suffered grievous injuries, though the consequences were different. Ye Huaiyao had lost a great deal of his cultivation, causing his age to regress directly to his adolescent years. Rong Wang, meanwhile, had simply been separated from his body and entered another cycle of reincarnation.
Had it not been for this fortuitous coincidence, when his mind was thrown into turmoil and his memories awakened by the stimulation of demonic energy, recovering those memories might have taken considerably more effort.
Demonic energy entering his body and causing his inner fire to surge would have been an extremely dangerous case of cultivation deviation for an ordinary person. But Rong Wang’s constitution was special. To him, it was extraordinarily comfortable.
It was as though this unrestrained, almost frenzied state had infused his entire being with a fresh vitality.
At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind: Ye Huaiyao absolutely could not come to harm.
The mountain shook violently. Fierce winds rose, and shrill howls echoed among the countless peaks, resembling the cries of wronged souls and the wails of vengeful ghosts. Rong Wang raised his eyes toward the summit of Mount Chensu. Everything in his vision was dyed crimson.
He raised a hand. An overwhelming tide of demonic energy burst forth like waves surging upon the shore, so powerful that even the endlessly circling winds were brought to a halt.
Wherever the demonic energy passed, it was as though a harbinger of doom had descended. Plants withered, birds and beasts fled or died, and an entire stretch of spiritually fertile land was stripped of all life in an instant.
Then, amid a deafening roar, the Dragon-Prison Tower collapsed. A colossal black demonic dragon soared into the sky from within.
The dragon didn’t even have time to rejoice at its newfound freedom before the Demon Lord who had released it lightly flicked a finger.
With a casual wave of his hand, the demonic energy surrounding the dragon surged violently outward and was absorbed completely into Rong Wang’s body. Though the demonic dragon had long since lost all intelligence, its instinct to seek advantage and avoid danger remained.
Rong Wang’s body was thin and frail. The dragon could have crushed him with a single claw. Yet for some reason, it was filled with overwhelming terror. It thrashed desperately through the air, evading Rong Wang’s grasp and struggling to flee toward the mountain.
Rong Wang’s cultivation had not yet fully recovered. Seeing it escape, he made no effort to pursue it. He merely flicked a command talisman toward the dragon’s neck, then allowed it to charge wildly toward the area around the Hall of Punishments.
For the moment, letting this thing cause some chaos and divert the attention of those people from the Chensu Sect was a rather good idea.
After arranging this, Rong Wang lifted his forearm. His sleeve slipped down, revealing a golden, sword-shaped mark on the inside of his wrist, resembling a brand.
He covered the mark with the palm of his left hand and could feel that the skin beneath it was faintly warmer than the surrounding area.
That should have been the mark left behind when the Illustrious Sage and Yuan Xian formed their Dao companionship contract. The other mark was still on Ye Huaiyao. Yet for some inexplicable reason, it was Rong Wang and Ye Huaiyao who had ended up bound together by this marriage bond.
As long as the mark remained, it meant Ye Huaiyao was safe.
Rong Wang finally breathed a little easier. Before, he had possessed no memories. Now that everything had returned to him, however, merely thinking about meeting Ye Huaiyao again made his heart pound. He was actually even more nervous than before.
He pressed a hand firmly against his chest and felt the half of the sleeve Ye Huaiyao had used to bandage his wound still tucked there. Only then did he relax somewhat. He hurried onward toward the mountain.
One Ye Huaiyao was already difficult enough to deal with. Now, with Rong Wang unexpectedly joining the fray, an already muddy pool had been stirred into even greater chaos.
On the mountain, everyone was staggering about in confusion when suddenly they saw the enormous black dragon roaring toward them. It circled continuously through the air, occasionally diving down to attack, throwing the entire summit into chaos.
This development had been completely beyond Ye Huaiyao’s expectations. Seeing the main hall shaking violently under the demonic dragon’s attacks, with shattered stones raining down everywhere, he hurried forward and pulled his late master’s memorial tablet from its place.
“Forgive me.” He tucked the tablet into his arms and rushed out of the Hall of Punishments.
Everyone else was scrambling frantically toward the outside. Yet Ye Huaiyao noticed something strange. The demonic dragon was acting completely berserk, chasing after anyone it could find except him.
By now, Master Jingyin had no time whatsoever to investigate who was behind all this. He shouted, “Peak Masters, quickly form an array! We must join forces and stop this beast!”
The others knew perfectly well that they needed to do the same. But those whose cultivation was even slightly weaker could barely keep their feet beneath them, much less form an array.
Some people shielded their heads and faces while frantically looking around, shouting furiously, “Where’s that brat Ye Huaiyao? He got away!”
“It must have been his doing! If I catch that bastard, I’ll tear him limb from limb!”
“Enough! Is now really the time to talk? Do something!”
Clang—!
Amidst the chaos, a clear, ringing note suddenly sounded from somewhere high on the distant mountainside.
The sound instantly overwhelmed every scream and commotion. Everyone turned toward it.
A streak of white flashed through the sky, shooting straight toward the demonic dragon. Then purple light suddenly burst forth. Sword qi surged magnificently, sweeping away the overwhelming black demonic energy.
Once the thick black mist dispersed, the demonic dragon’s enormous body was exposed in midair, appearing even more terrifying than before. Under the intimidating sword light, its body suddenly froze. Then, it turned directly into dust. The fragments scattered like fine powder before disappearing completely into the raging wind.
From beginning to end, there had been only one sword strike.
Yet even that single strike had reached a realm countless swordsmen and cultivators could never hope to approach in their entire lifetimes.
The people of the Chensu Sect had never witnessed anything like it. They stood there dumbfounded, their hearts shaken.
Even Yan Jin and Ji Lanying were stunned into silence. Only Yuan Xian’s expression changed. He narrowed his eyes. That sword technique looked strangely familiar.
Everyone raised their heads and watched as the swordsman who had just delivered that devastating strike stepped through the air. His robes billowed in the wind as he descended gracefully, leading the group behind him toward the summit.
A disciple came rushing up from another direction. Before he had even reached them, his excited voice was already ringing out: “Master! The distinguished guests from Xuantian Tower have reached the halfway point of the mountain!”
Some of those present had not yet heard that Xuantian Tower was visiting. Having only just escaped the terrifying threat of the demonic dragon, they were once again stunned. “Xuantian Tower? Did I hear that correctly?”
“So that’s who they are! They’re people from Xuantian Tower. No wonder they could display such swordsmanship!”
“But… why would they come to the Chensu Sect?”
The moment Yuan Xian heard this, he suddenly remembered. “That’s right. Wasn’t the person who wielded that sword just now Lord Shaoyi, Yan Chen? But he never leaves Xuantian Tower. Why would he come here today…?”
He couldn’t help thinking of Ye Huaiyao. A certain thought flashed through his mind. His heart immediately began pounding like a drum.
He hadn’t never suspected Ye Huaiyao’s identity before. But Yuan Xian had once attempted to activate the Dao companionship contract between them. When he found that he could not establish any connection with Ye Huaiyao, he had abandoned the possibility that Ye Huaiyao was the Illustrious Sage. But now…
Master Jingyin couldn’t help rubbing his forehead. He felt that his fortunes had truly been terrible lately, he had never been this unlucky.
Just moments ago, he had been thinking that he would quickly settle the matter here, send Yuan Xian and the others away, and then properly entertain the distinguished guests from Xuantian Tower.
Instead, everything had become a complete disaster. Yuan Xian was still standing there. The summit was in ruins. The mess had actually been cleaned up by the guests. And Ye Huaiyao, the supposed culprit behind everything, had disappeared without a trace and was presumably causing trouble somewhere else. It was quite simply the worst possible situation.
Now that the guests had arrived, Master Jingyin was powerless to change anything. He quietly ordered the other disciples to stand properly and warned them not to panic or embarrass the sect. He then apologised to Yuan Xian and the other guests before forcing a bright smile onto his face and leading the members of the Chensu Sect forward to welcome them.
At this point, the people from Xuantian Tower still had no idea how Ye Huaiyao had been treated by the Chensu Sect. They had come onto someone else’s territory to search for a person, not to provoke a confrontation, so they observed proper etiquette. Once they reached the mountain, they stopped travelling by sword.
Even so, their urgency was difficult to conceal. Yan Chen’s steps were swift and hurried. Before Master Jingyin had even managed to walk very far to meet him, Yan Chen had already arrived.
Master Jingyin felt his hands trembling slightly. With a smile plastered across his face, he hurried forward, clasped his hands, bowed, and launched into a string of welcoming pleasantries.
As he spoke, his eyes secretly swept over the people from Xuantian Tower.
Every one of them was strikingly handsome, dressed in exquisite robes, their eyes bright and piercing. Although they were standing on a mountain that was still shaking violently, each moved with graceful ease and remained utterly composed. Clearly, they were all experts.
Looking at such a group, Master Jingyin felt increasingly embarrassed by the disciples behind him, who were stumbling about in disarray. He couldn’t help feeling a little sour as he thought that the Chensu Sect had once been the foremost sect in the cultivation world. It had once enjoyed such glory.
Unfortunately, that had been nearly a thousand years ago…
Master Jingyin also spotted a familiar face among the people from Xuantian Tower. It was his former sworn brother, Zhu Hongwei, who had since risen to the position of Deputy Administrator of Xuantian Tower.
Of course, in front of the Law Sage, the Command Envoy, and the various Division Heads, that title amounted to little more than being a steward responsible for arranging transportation. At this moment, Zhu Hongwei stood at the very back, smiling pleasantly and nodding at Master Jingyin.
—It seemed that Xuantian Tower’s visit this time was for something good.
With this hint from his old brother, Master Jingyin finally felt somewhat relieved, but Yan Chen had already lost patience.
No matter how calm his temperament normally was, this concerned Ye Huaiyao’s whereabouts. He was burning with anxiety. After patiently listening to Master Jingyin’s pleasantries for a short while, he finally interrupted him. “Master Jing, to be frank, our sect has come here this time to look for someone.”
Master Jingyin hurriedly replied, “May I ask whom the Law Sage is looking for? Is he somewhere on Mount Chensu? We would be more than happy to assist in the search.”
Yan Chen said, “Thank you for your trouble. He is a disciple of the Taixuan Peak of the Chensu Sect. His name…Ye Huaiyao.”
He was extremely tense, though not a trace of it showed on his face. His eyes, however, remained fixed unwaveringly on the man before him.
Author’s Note:
Our beloved Yao is about to become everyone’s favourite.
