Chapter 28
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Chapter 28: Title
"Could you… let me go… I’ve never killed innocent people. I only… wanted them to pay the price they deserved…" Perhaps overwhelmed by the deadly formation’s pressure, Yin Huai’s face flushed crimson as she gazed up with tearful eyes, evoking in Ye Qingshang an illusion of encountering an ethereal fairy.
*How vile!*
Ye Qingshang inwardly cursed. Yin Huai truly lived up to her title as an ancient primordial beast, still capable of weaving enchantments under the formation’s suppression. Even she had nearly been deceived.
With great effort, she freed one hand, gathered spiritual power, and slit her fingertip. Blood soaked into Qianyu’s blade tip, causing the sword to blaze with light and strengthening the barrier above them.
Many disciples snapped awake at this sight. Realizing what had transpired, they nearly cursed aloud. "You treacherous Yin Huai! How dare you bewitch us? Truly, demons are cunning beyond measure! Did you truly believe we’d spare you? Never!"
Seeing her enchantment fail completely, a flicker of resentment crossed Yin Huai’s eyes. Clutching her chest, she coughed, blood trailing from her lips. "I merely wished to survive—is that wrong? You ought to witness the true nature of Quan Village’s people! Are they worth your desperate efforts?"
"Silence!" Mu Huaiyun barked.
He intensified his spiritual power, the sudden strike hitting Yin Huai’s wound. Her face paled instantly, and she vomited blood.
"Heh… Don’t want to hear? I’ll speak regardless," she retorted, her stare at Mu Huaiyun turning wild-eyed.
"Five years ago, Quan Village produced the imperial exam’s top scholar. His success brought honor to his family, catching the eye of the royal city’s third princess, who made him her consort. A joyous tale—were it not for his existing wife, which barred him from the title. To avoid imperial wrath, Quan Village conspired with him to torture his wife to death!"
"You think them simple, honest folk? They’re nothing but beasts in human skin! That poor wife—pregnant when she died—two lives extinguished…"
Yin Huai infused her words with demonic power, forcing the tale upon her listeners. Her mournful voice, amplified and echoing, stirred Qiao Zhu’s sympathy. "The wife you speak of—was she…?"
"Me," Yin Huai answered.
"I knew Gu Lang in his youth. For him, I abandoned my demonic form and sealed my powers, wishing only to live as a mortal by his side for a lifetime. But his newfound success, the wealth and status—it corrupted him."
"He cast aside his devoted wife for the third princess. And Quan Village, fearing punishment for deceiving the emperor, helped him murder me!"
"Can you fathom having your heart carved out by your beloved? Can you grasp the despair of losing your child? Had my child lived, they’d be laughing in my arms like any ordinary child…"
"But they died—died with me! It’s all their fault! I only sought their lives in payment for mine and my child’s! Is that not just? Who gave you the right to interfere?!"
Her voice grew increasingly frenzied, piercing the barrier and clouding minds. Some faltered, hands trembling as they lowered slightly, dimming sections of the formation.
Ye Qingshang watched Yin Huai intently, a pang of sympathy stirring. In her past life, less vigilant, she’d never glimpsed Yin Huai’s true form, learning only later of the ten sects’ joint effort to eliminate her.
She hadn’t even known Yin Huai’s gender, let alone this blood-soaked past now laid bare.
The villagers had spoken only of Yin Huai’s vengeance—never its roots in such profound hatred!
"Stay focused!" Mu Huaiyun’s voice cut through the tension.
"Pity doesn’t absolve mass murder! Countless died in Quan Village—elderly, weak, women, children—did she spare any? What did they have to do with her suffering? Were they not innocent?!"
"Young master…" Qiao Zhu murmured.
Ye Qingshang added, "Your young master is right. If her past truly moves you, we might spare her life—confined eternally within Sparrow Prison Tower. But now? Show no mercy!"
As the formation strengthened, Yin Huai blinked her beautiful eyes and sighed.
"Such a heartrending tale… and you remain unmoved? So this is the famed iron heart of cultivators."
Gone was her earlier frailty. She rose gracefully, wiping the blood from her lips—a smear blooming like a demonic plum blossom on her fingertip.
Ye Qingshang’s heart lurched with foreboding.
Yin Huai’s lips curled. Her fingers clenched lightly—and the formation, sustained by a hundred cultivators’ power, crumbled like a collapsing mountain.
The backlash of spiritual power surged forward, striking Ye Qingshang and Mu Huaiyun, who stood at the front of the crowd, causing them to stagger back. Qianyu and Moon’s Shadow unleashed their spiritual power to protect their masters; the barrier expanded, preventing them from being seriously harmed.
“It was a good spiritual weapon, but it was unfortunate that its chosen master was so weak. If you all added up your ages, it still wouldn’t equal my years of cultivation. Hadn’t you thought about how to deal with me?”
“I merely used a little trick to lure you here, and you thought you could outsmart me? Oh, how naive you were, little ones.” She laughed, and as if recalling some painful memories, her smile twisted on her face.
Taking a breath, she placed a hand on her waist and glared fiercely at Mu Huaiyun. “It was all your father’s fault! But don’t worry; he wouldn’t be seeing you for long.”
Yin Huai gathered spiritual power in her free hand, the silver light seeming to spread out like five fingers, overwhelming the crowd.
Ye Qingshang knew she couldn’t avoid it and was about to unleash her ultimate move with Qianyu, when a figure in a white robe descended from the sky.
“Monster, do not act recklessly!”
“Master!” Ye Qingshang exclaimed.
“Father!” Mu Huaiyun shouted.
Along with Ning Jiwei came Mu Shezhi and several elders. Mu Shezhi and his group had also fallen into Yin Huai’s trap; while they had injured her, they had been led away by her doppelganger technique to a different location, failing to stop the chaos in Xingzhou.
As for Ning Jiwei, he rushed over as soon as he received Ye Qingshang’s message, using his teleportation technique several times along the way, leaving the remaining members of the Frostbite Sect far behind. Otherwise, given the distance between Frostbite Sect and Xingzhou, arriving on sword flight would have been impossible in time.
Ning Jiwei and the others blocked Yin Huai’s attack, but sensing the dire situation, she fled quickly, leaving only her lingering voice.
“I’ll remember you, brother.”
Mu Huaiyun and Ye Qingshang shivered in unison upon hearing those words.
