A middle-aged man draped in a green Taoist robe, wearing a black Taoist crown, his face bearing traces of hardship yet still unable to conceal his handsome features.
His hands were clasped behind his back, his expression complex as he looked at the white-haired woman on the bed, then shifted his gaze to Little Huang beside the bed, his eyes suddenly sharpening.
As for the corpses on the floor, he paid them no mind at all.
At that moment, a grey-robed elder with white hair darted out from behind the middle-aged Taoist, rushing straight towards the corpse of Liu Qiao on the ground.
“My son!”
“You died so tragically!”
The elder knelt on the ground, clutching Liu Qiao’s cold body, weeping bitterly.
The atmosphere in the room grew oppressively heavy, with only the elder’s cries breaking the silence, while Little Huang stared nervously at the middle-aged Taoist in front of him.
From his mother’s earlier words, he understood that this man was the culprit behind his mother’s downfall, none other than Dao Yuan.
At this moment, he could not discern Dao Yuan’s cultivation level.
Dao Yuan, silent, gazed at the white-haired woman on the bed, his complex expression gradually turning cold.
After a moment, the elder’s cries subsided slightly, and he laid down the body in his arms, gritting his teeth, “Qiao’er, rest assured, your father will avenge you!”
With that, the elder stood up, his gaze fierce as he looked at Little Huang and his mother, shouting angrily, “You mother and son have such venomous hearts!”
“My son only came to collect a debt, and you killed him here, do you have any shred of humanity left?”
“Old fool, don’t spout nonsense!”
“What kind of person your son was, who in the town below the mountain doesn’t know?”
Little Huang, enraged by these words, sneered, “I’m not afraid to tell you, I was the one who killed your son, if you have the guts, come at me, at worst, I’ll send your whole family to reunite!”
“You…!”
The elder was choked with anger, his breathing quickening, and then he bowed to Dao Yuan beside him, “Senior, my son died so tragically, he was your disciple, I beg you to uphold justice, eliminate this demon, and restore true peace to Taiping Town!”
“Your son lacked skill and died, so be it!
But rest assured, Liu Qiao was my disciple, though only for a few days, this matter ultimately stems from me, and I will naturally uphold justice!”
Dao Yuan spoke calmly, causing the elder to falter, a flash of anger in his eyes, but he immediately bowed his head, “Then, thank you, Senior!”
With that, the elder stepped back to the doorway, his gaze coldly fixed on the three in the room.
“Junior Sister, after all these years, how did you end up like this?”
Dao Yuan spoke softly, a faint smile appearing on his face, glancing at the wary Little Huang, grinning, “This little fellow with demonic aura, you haven’t introduced him to your Senior Brother yet?”
“Dao Yuan, spare me your false kindness!”
“Was Master’s death related to you?!”
On the bed, Hong Yue, pale-faced, stared intently at Dao Yuan.
“Oh, you mean that old thing?”
“Indeed, I killed him, he was half in the grave, yet he kept hiding and withholding, refusing to pass down the inheritance, wasn’t that going to let our lineage’s alchemy tradition die out?
Such treasonous behaviour would probably make our ancestors leap out of their coffins in rage.
So, as his Senior Brother, I took matters into my own hands, made that old thing hand over the goods, and everything was settled, wasn’t it?
But that old fool was too stubborn, refusing to yield even in death, so, as his disciple, I had no choice but to help him along.”
Dao Yuan spoke expressionlessly, his tone flat, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as if discussing something trivial and unrelated to him.
“You… how could you!”
Hong Yue, hearing this, was furious, her face flushed with anger, shouting, “Dao Yuan, how dare you betray and destroy our Master!”
“Junior Sister, after all these years, not only have you aged and lost your charm, but your temper has worsened too.”
Dao Yuan shook his head, stepping towards the bed, sneering, “As for betraying and destroying our Master? You’re wrong, I, Dao Yuan, never truly took him as my Master, so how could I betray him!”
“What?!”
Hong Yue’s pupils shrank in shock.
“Do you think that old thing was some kind of saint?”
“When I was young, I was the heir of a sword-cultivating family, but that old thief coveted my family’s method of nurturing sword pellets, saying it could be used for his alchemy furnace to achieve great success in his alchemy path, so he sought to obtain our method.
But that method was my Bai family’s generational inheritance, the core of our sword-controlling path, how could it be easily passed to others?
After repeated rejections, that old thief turned to evil thoughts, ultimately poisoning my entire family of one hundred and twenty-eight people!
I was young then, protected by an array, so I escaped the poison.
But the old thief still wouldn’t give up, wanting to kill me too, until a red-robed female senior intervened, forcing him to restrain his killing intent.
In the end, seeing my youth, perhaps thinking I was too young to remember much, and with my single golden spirit root, he kept me by his side to test his alchemy furnace techniques, so he spared me.
But he never truly took me as his disciple!”
Dao Yuan paused his steps, his face gradually twisting, roaring at Hong Yue, “Do you think such a thief deserved to be my, Bai Daoyuan’s, Master?
Didn’t he deserve to die?!”
“And do you know I waited twenty years for this day?!”
“I only wanted to take back what belongs to my Bai family, and give that old thief the punishment he deserved, nothing more!”
“Was I wrong?!”
Hong Yue was stunned, tears gradually sliding down her face, hearing such a story for the first time, finding it hard to believe.
In her memory, her Master was not a bloodthirsty person.
“You’re… you’re lying!”
“Master was humble and principled, how could he be such a murderous person?!”
Hong Yue gritted her teeth, unwilling to believe this.
“Humble?
Principled?
Hahaha… Junior Sister, to think you reached the Foundation Establishment stage, yet you can’t even see through the most basic human nature?
In this dog-eat-dog world of cultivation, whose hands are clean?
Whose hands haven’t been stained with blood?
Even you, Hong Yue, dare you claim to be absolutely virtuous?!
No, you don’t! Because there isn’t a single good person in the entire cultivation world!
Of course, maybe there were, but those so-called good people are long buried in the dirt!”
Bai Daoyuan laughed wildly, mocking his own tragic fate, and Hong Yue’s ignorance, then sneered viciously, “Oh, right, I almost forgot, you’ve already been defiled by that damned dog demon, so naturally, your mind isn’t clear.
That half-demon bastard beside you must be the spawn of you and that dog demon, right?”
“Back then, your Senior Brother loved you so much, yet you betrayed me too!”
“Damn it!”
“All of you deserve to die!”
Bai Daoyuan grew more agitated, his eyes seemingly turning red, stepping forward with incredible speed, appearing directly in front of Little Huang.
“You little bastard shouldn’t even exist in this world!”
“Since Junior Sister can’t do it, I’ll take care of it for her!”
Bai Daoyuan grinned ferociously, reaching out to grab Little Huang.
But at the critical moment, Little Huang turned into a blur and vanished, causing Bai Daoyuan to grasp at nothing.
“Body technique, Seven Stars Dragon Step?!”
Bai Daoyuan froze, his face darkening as he recognised Little Huang’s technique.
But as he moved to pursue, a silver light shot towards him!
