“Father, Mother,” Ling Rong abruptly sat up from the ground, cold sweat dripping down his jawline onto the mottled green bricks of the Demon Locking Tower.
A self-mocking smile crept onto the corners of his mouth as Ling Rong curled his body inward.
Even though a hundred springs and autumns had passed, he would still wake up in terror on every night of the full moon, startled by the memory of the soaring flames.
He originally thought that by coming to the immortal sect to learn cultivation, he could obtain the protection of his older brother and avenge his family as soon as possible. But when he saw his brother again, his brother no longer remembered him.
Forget it, it was better to forget, that way, his brother would never know the truth about their entire family being wiped out.
After Ling Rong became a demon, the very first thing he did was kill the Human Emperor who had exterminated his clan. But what did he get in return?
Nothing but the detestation of ten thousand people.
Ling Rong smiled bitterly, hugging his trembling body tightly as his fingernails dug deeply into his palms.
Qing Gui was sleeping soundly nearby. Ling Rong tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep at all, but he forced himself to hold back his tears for fear of disturbing him.
Enduring from midnight until the hour of Mao, Ling Rong constantly forced his spirit to hold on, solely because he truly feared falling back into that terrifying nightmare.
Right at that moment, a sudden wave of spiritual energy fluctuated within the Demon Locking Tower, shattering the tranquility.
Ling Rong’s heart tightened instantly, and at almost the exact same moment, Qing Gui was also startled awake by this spiritual energy fluctuation.
Qing Gui stood up swiftly, shielding his master, Ling Rong, behind his own body without a single shred of hesitation. Clenching both hands, spiritual energy gathered rapidly within his palms as he stared at the surroundings with absolute vigilance.
In the blink of an eye, a flash of light appeared, and Wen Pinglan stood right in front of the two of them.
Ling Rong stood up instinctively and took a half-step back, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he called out, “Master, what, what have you come here for?”
“What, am I not allowed to come?” Wen Pinglan raised his eyebrows, his narrow phoenix eyes sweeping over Ling Rong’s pale face.
His hand, which was hidden behind his back, tightened slightly, as if the crack on the desk from last night was rubbing against his palm again with a painful sting.
“Don’t you dare think about touching my master again,” Qing Gui bellowed, shooting three streaks of white light from his fingertips.
Wen Pinglan flicked his sleeve lightly, and the white mist suddenly transformed into sharp swords, instantly piercing through the barrier of spiritual energy.
With a muffled groan, Qing Gui was thrown backward, crashing heavily against the wall. His entire body was immediately bound by chains formed from the white mist, rendering him unable to move.
“Qing Gui,” Ling Rong cried out anxiously.
“Qing Gui, considering that you stayed by my side for many years in the past, I will not hold this against you,” Wen Pinglan turned his gaze toward Ling Rong, his tone as cold as frost, “However, as for Ling Rong, I am going to take him to the Hall of Law Enforcement to make him receive his well-deserved punishment.”
“What did my master do wrong,” Qing Gui struggled within the chains, the rims of his eyes turning entirely red, “He only did it to-”
“This disciple willingly accepts the punishment,” Ling Rong interrupted Qing Gui’s words, stepping forward slowly.
“I only wonder, what kind of punishment does Master intend for this disciple to receive,”
“Naturally, the punishment of bone-extracting,” Wen Pinglan spoke every word like ice.
Watching Ling Rong’s body stiffen all of a sudden, a trace of inexplicable, stinging pain surged within his own heart, yet he still sneered, “If the demon bone is not removed, how can the fury of the immortal sects be appeased?”
Ling Rong only felt a wave of darkness rush before his eyes.
A hundred years ago, in order to save the heavily injured Wen Pinglan, he had already extracted his own immortal bone, and now his body was sustained solely by a single wisp of demonic energy.
If this matter were to be discovered.
Ling Rong suddenly fell to both knees, his long hair cascading down to conceal the panic at the bottom of his eyes, “No, this disciple does not want to suffer the bone-extracting punishment, Master, I beg you to spare this disciple,”
“Spare you?” Wen Pinglan took two steps forward, “When you destroyed my immortal meridians, did you ever think about sparing me?”
He reached out his hand to clutch Ling Rong’s chin, forcing the other to lock eyes with him, yet his fingertips trembled slightly the moment they brushed against those bloodshot eyes.
Qing Gui was so anxious that tears rolled around within his eyes.
His master’s immortal bone had long vanished, so how could there be any talk of an immortal bone transforming into a demon bone?
That bone-extracting punishment was cruel to the absolute extreme, requiring sharp blades to pierce through all the meridians of the entire body during execution.
If his master were made to suffer such a horrific torture, with his current frail body, he could not withstand it at all, and he would definitely lose his life from the excruciating pain and severe trauma.
Qing Gui hurriedly said, “Master’s immortal bone was alread-”
Before his words could finish, a talisman flew out from Wen Pinglan’s sleeve, sealing his mouth.
“Noisy,” Wen Pinglan said, and following that, he drew close to Ling Rong, preparing to take him away.
Seeing this, the spiritual energy all around Qing Gui’s body surged frantically, attempting to break through those chains formed of white mist.
The chains emitted a sizzling sound, shaking violently under the impact of the spiritual energy.
Exerting the strength of his entire body, Qing Gui let out a furious roar, and the chains were actually snapped into several pieces by him.
Like a maddened beast, he launched a fierce attack toward Wen Pinglan, the spiritual energy in his palms transforming into sharp blades that thrust directly toward Wen Pinglan’s throat.
“Stubborn and incorrigible,” the veins on Wen Pinglan’s temples bulged, and he no longer cared about past sentiments, “Since you insist on seeking death, I will fulfill your wish.”
Immediately after, Wen Pinglan’s hands formed hand seals rapidly, and an incomparably powerful golden light shot out from his palms, heading straight to meet Qing Gui.
Seeing this, Ling Rong rushed frantically toward that golden light, which possessed enough power to split mountains and shatter rocks.
His roar shook the talismans of the Demon Locking Tower, making them rustle and fall, “Master, I beg you to stop, I am willing to accept the bone-extracting punishment,”
Before his words could fully land, Qing Gui had already thrown his body across like a gray eagle to block the path.
The green radiance formed by the spiritual energy around his body clashed violently with the golden light, and amid the booming sound, the scattering shards of spiritual energy plowed deep, bone-revealing wounds across his back.
“Qing Gui,” Ling Rong caught the body that was flying backward, and the skin his fingertips touched was rapidly turning cold.
Qing Gui coughed up blood, his faint, thread-like voice brushing past the ear mixed with the scent of blood, “Master, don’t cry,”
He trembled as he reached out to touch Ling Rong’s face, but just as his fingertips brushed against the other’s wet eye corners, his hand fell down powerlessly.
Wen Pinglan looked at the silhouette in Ling Rong’s arms that was gradually turning transparent, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed an inexplicable bitterness, yet he still forced himself to maintain composure, saying, “Ling Rong, this is the consequence of opposing me.”
Ling Rong hugged Qing Gui tightly, his scalding tears streaming out of his eyes uncontrollably as he cried out with a trembling voice, “Qing Gui, why, why on earth did you go to such lengths for me,”
Qing Gui’s face was as white as paper, a weak yet resolute smile hanging on the corners of his lips.
He opened his mouth with great effort, wanting to say something, but only blood could keep gushing from his throat, staining the garment on his chest into a patch of deep red.
Wen Pinglan watched this scene quietly, a mixed wave of complex emotions surging inexplicably within his heart, as if it were being tugged gently by something.
But he quickly suppressed this trace of abnormality and said, “Ling Rong, things having come to this, you no longer have any choice, accompany me obediently to the Hall of Law Enforcement to receive your punishment, and stop making these meaningless struggles.”
Ling Rong seemed not to hear Wen Pinglan’s words at all, only hugging Qing Gui with a death grip, his tears like a river that had burst its banks, unable to be stopped no matter what.
He wailed in grief, “Qing Gui, you cannot die, you cannot.”
Qing Gui moved his lips, using the very last shred of his strength to say, “Master, don’t cry, I only didn’t want, didn’t want you to die, you are the master I chose, how, how could I watch you go to your death with my own eyes,”
Ling Rong’s heart ached so much he could barely breathe.
He knew all too well that having taken this fatal strike from Wen Pinglan, Qing Gui’s chances of survival were infinitesimal.
Qing Gui was the sword spirit who had accompanied him for more than a hundred years.
Now, he had to watch him depart with his own eyes.
What he owed Qing Gui was truly far too much.
Subsequently, Qing Gui closed his eyes, his originally faint breath vanishing in an instant, and his body gradually transformed into a broken sword, dropping powerlessly into Ling Rong’s embrace.
Ling Rong looked at the broken sword in his hands, the color of his eyes turning more and more crimson in an instant, his sanity slipping away from his fingers like sand at this very moment.
The sword spirit Qing Gui was dead.
Qing Gui, who had accompanied him for more than a hundred years, was dead.
No!
All of a sudden, a powerful demonic power erupted from within Ling Rong’s body, catching Wen Pinglan somewhat off guard.
Ling Rong’s eyes were crimson, like a lunatic who had completely lost his sanity, “I am going to kill you all,”