Chapter 169
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Chapter 169: Live Courageously
In the hidden chamber, the middle-aged cultivator ensnared by the Heavenly Net for Exorcising Evil was utterly powerless to resist.
He curled up his body, as if this could somehow lessen his agony.
Yet, this effort was clearly futile. Gray mist continuously seeped from his body surface, which the Exorcising Net absorbed completely, causing his body to wither and shrink further.
The middle-aged cultivator’s screams quickly weakened, until he could only produce faint, guttural gasps.
He still clung to his last breath.
Wang Chen noticed that the Exorcising Net had ceased draining dark forces, as if it had fully extracted the energy from this corrupted cultivator.
Feeling a shift within him, he immediately retracted the Exorcising Net.
“Please, I beg you,” the barely conscious middle-aged cultivator suddenly regained clarity. His eyes, once clouded, now shone brightly, and even in his final moments, he regained his senses. “Spare my wife and daughter!”
He trembled uncontrollably, sustained only by a fleeting surge of lucidity.
His gaze towards Wang Chen was filled with desperate pleading.
Wang Chen nodded.
Though he had taken many lives, he had never harmed the innocent!
Thus, without needing to be asked, Wang Chen would not harm his wife and child.
“Thank you,” the middle-aged cultivator’s eyes gradually dimmed as he murmured, “Give… give me a swift end.”
Wang Chen formed a spell with his hand and thrust out a sword finger.
With a single Metal Finger Technique, he pierced through the man’s skull, ending his life instantly.
[Heavenly Merit +3]
[Heavenly Merit (Fate Alteration): 101]
Heavenly Merit had surpassed three digits, allowing him to allocate points to his root bone or comprehension!
Yet, Wang Chen felt little joy in his heart.
In the past few days, he had witnessed towns being overrun and countless loose cultivators losing their lives.
Certainly, many had deserved their fate.
But just as many innocent lives had been caught in the crossfire.
Wang Chen finally understood the harsh and perilous existence of these loose cultivators!
The path is merciless, and true fairness is but an illusion.
The only strength one can rely on is their own!
This epiphany further solidified Wang Chen’s heart of the path.
He closed the Cultivation Panel and summoned a Fire Crow to reduce the corpse to ashes.
“Dust to dust, earth to earth, and souls to Thick Earth…”
Silently reciting the Rebirth Incantation, Wang Chen collected the middle-aged cultivator’s ashes into an empty talisman bag.
After completing the rite, he returned to the room above.
The pale-faced female cultivator tightly held her daughter, her expression utterly dazed, as if her heart had turned to ash.
However, Wang Chen’s appearance instantly brought a glimmer of something called “hope” to her eyes.
Her cracked lips moved slightly as the pale-faced female cultivator cautiously asked, “Higher Steward…”
Wang Chen tossed the talisman bag to her.
The pale-faced female cultivator instinctively caught it, her face stiffening as she opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Her last hope had been shattered!
Though the newly widowed female cultivator seemed pitiful, Wang Chen felt little sympathy.
She clearly knew her husband’s condition but had clung to a sliver of hope, hiding secrets.
Unbeknownst to her, such actions only harmed herself and others.
A corrupted cultivator, if unable to expel the dark forces within, would eventually become a true Evil Spirit.
At that point, not only would her and her daughter’s lives be in danger, but the entire town could suffer as well!
“Mother, Mother!”
The little girl, terrified, clung to the pale-faced female cultivator’s clothing and cried out loudly.
Yet, the mother, who usually doted on her, showed no reaction!
The little girl seemed to understand something, suddenly releasing the pale-faced female cultivator and turning to charge at Wang Chen.
She swung her tiny fist at him.
“Bad person!”
But her strength was far too weak to harm Wang Chen, and instead, she bruised her own hand.
Oblivious to the pain, the little girl stubbornly continued her assault: “Bad person, bad person!”
Wang Chen shook his head, crouched down, and gently rubbed her head.
The little girl was momentarily stunned.
But in the next moment, a look of hatred flickered in her eyes, and she opened her mouth to fiercely bite Wang Chen’s wrist.
She nearly broke her own teeth in the process.
Wang Chen sighed and said to her earnestly, “If you hate someone and have no strength, then hide your hatred.
“If you want to kill someone but cannot defeat them, then sharpen your teeth.
“To take revenge, you must first have the courage to live!”
“Do you understand?”
The little girl stood there, stunned, and took a step back.
“Rong Rong!”
At that moment, the pale-faced female cultivator seemed to awaken from a dream and hurriedly embraced the little girl tightly in her arms.
She was extremely frightened and was about to kneel before Wang Chen, saying, “Higher Steward, Rong Rong is too young; she doesn’t understand…”
Wang Chen raised his hand to support her and handed her a storage bag, saying, “Concealing evil cultivators is a serious crime. You should be careful.”
This storage bag belonged to the middle-aged cultivator.
Wang Chen had taken it off before the cremation, so it was now being returned to its original owner.
The storage bag contained very little, clearly showing that this Family lived in great hardship.
Wang Chen not only did not take anything from it but instead added several hundred pounds of spiritual rice and beast jerky inside.
These were obtained from previous collections.
He believed this would be enough for the mother and daughter to eat for two or three years.
The pale-faced female cultivator became speechless and soon started crying while holding her daughter.
Wang Chen stood up and, as he was about to leave the room, instinctively glanced back.
He locked eyes with the little girl named “Rong Rong” at that moment!
Even many years later, Wang Chen never forgot the look in her eyes at this moment.
He turned and stepped out the door, slapping his hand against the wall outside.
He left the mark of the Yunyang Sect’s cloud patterns!
This indicated that this house had been checked and found to be without problems!
“What do you want?”
Just as Wang Chen was about to move on to check the next house, he heard a familiar voice coming from not far ahead.
He focused and saw a handsome boy from Sunset Peak surrounded by four or five loose cultivators!
Both sides were in a heated argument.
Although the loose cultivators dared not make a move, they wouldn’t allow the handsome boy to pass, hurling insults at him.
“Yunyang Sect should be reasonable!”
“If you want to check for evil cultivators, we will cooperate.”
“But you damaged my magical tool; you should compensate, right?”
“That’s right! You’re a disciple of a righteous sect; you can’t act unreasonable!”
“Exactly!”
The handsome boy was both anxious and angry, his face turning red. He wanted to argue but was being interrupted.
Wang Chen suspected that if this continued, he would suffer a heart attack on the spot.
He felt a bit frustrated, but since he saw it happening, he had no intention of standing by and watching.
He stepped forward, preparing to help the boy: “You all…”
Before Wang Chen could finish his sentence, a dazzling sword light suddenly flashed before his eyes.
In the next moment, heads began to fly, spraying blood into the air!
