The Law Enforcement Hall of the Shangqing Sect was far from being damp and dark. Unlike an ordinary mortal dungeon, the daylight from outside poured fully through the windows, though a layer of pale golden barrier isolated each room, and an even more massive exterior barrier reinforced the entire perimeter of the Law Enforcement Hall. Under these layers of seals, no one could ever escape.
The bright light streaming through the window spilled into one of the compartments, where pristine white spirit feathers gleamed with silver light in the sunshine, looking like pearls scattered all over the floor and converging into a pool.
A human figure was curled up on the ground. White robes were soiled with blood, and the striped welts left by whips were crusted over with dried blood, presenting a shocking and horrifying sight. Crimson blood wrapped around his body, making the exposed patches of already snow white skin appear even more devoid of color. Like a shattered porcelain doll discarded on the floor, his ink black hair was scattered messily, some strands stuck to the congealed blood. Even in such a battered state, he exuded a sense of fragile, tragic beauty that stirred deep pity.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the barrier. A few people walked up to the entrance, the leader holding a whip crackling with concentrated spiritual energy. Reaching out, he deactivated the compartment barrier, and the group barged in, frowning as they looked at the person on the ground.
“Senior Brother Yu, is he going to die?”
Yu Ting, the supervisor of the Law Enforcement Hall, shook his head. “How could he? I know how to pull my punches. But to think this once in a century humanoid beast would actually sneak into the Shangqing Sect on its own and even attempt to assassinate the Sect Master! How out of his mind can he be?”
“I heard the Sect Master brought him back himself and even made an exception to take him in as a personal disciple. That beast must have been plotting this for a long time!”
“Ah, what a pity. This humanoid beast is genuinely stunning. That face is enough to make even a man’s heart skip a beat. No wonder that Demon Lord uses humanoid beasts for dual cultivation; who could pass up something so pleasing to the eye and beneficial to one’s cultivation?”
“Senior Brother Yu, anyway, this beast tried to assassinate the Sect Master so he’s definitely not getting out of here alive. Why don’t we use him for dual cultivation first?”
Yu Ting tightened his grip on the whip, hesitating. “After all, he is the Sect Master’s personal disciple. If we do this, what if the Sect Master investigates later?”
“How could he? A mere beast, leaving aside the fact that he tried to assassinate the Sect Master, even if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be allowed to remain a personal disciple anyway. There’s no telling how he’ll be dealt with later; maybe he’ll be tossed into the Beast-Refining Array just like all the other beasts. Besides, even if someone asks, we can just cripple his tongue so he can’t speak, and break his hands and legs. Who will he be able to tell by then?”
“A beast, who cares? Even if he’s a humanoid beast, isn’t this always the end result? Dual cultivation with anyone is still dual cultivation, let’s just enjoy ourselves first!”
“Exactly, exactly! If anyone is to blame, he should blame himself for disguising himself as a human to sneak into the Shangqing Sect and trying to assassinate the Sect Master. He deserves the worst!”
Yu Ting glanced down at the figure on the ground. The slender waist and long legs faintly visible beneath the torn robes, combined with the tail protruding from behind that looked breathtakingly beautiful, made him want to grab hold and watch the person forced to beg for mercy.
With a hardened jaw, he nodded, raised his hand to close the barrier, and made sure not a single sound could escape outside. “Let’s do it together.”
Jiang Youbai was jolted awake by those voices. Countless sounds swarmed around his ears, clinging to him like a recurring nightmare.
“You are actually a humanoid beast!”
“You disguised yourself as a human, sneaked into the Shangqing Sect, and tried to assassinate the Sect Master!”
“You collaborated with outsiders and betrayed the Shangqing Sect. As expected, those not of our kind have different hearts!”
“Just a beast, who cares?”
“No wonder he targeted the junior martial brother everywhere. He was just jealous that the junior martial brother was born with divine bones!”
“Cripple his tongue, break his hands and legs, and see who he tells or who even bothers to listen to him anymore.”
“Senior Brother, save me.”
“But he is the Sect Master’s personal disciple.”
“Jiang Youbai, you are a traitor to the beasts!”
All the accusations receded like a receding tide, eventually materializing into a single person.
Shen Changchuan.
That person wore an aloof expression, carrying an unapproachable coldness as he pushed him off the cliff with a single palm strike.
The scene shifted instantly, turning into him gripping a spirit feather and piercing straight through Shen Changchuan’s chest.
Brilliant golden light swallowed everything whole. Past and present intertwined like a waking dream, overlapping so densely that he could no longer tell which part belonged to his past life and which to the present.
A wave of chilliness brushed against his chest, followed by a sharp burst of pain spreading across his body. Jiang Youbai shifted slightly as his senses slowly returned. Raising his gaze, he saw overlapping shadows of figures drawing close to him with leering grins, their hands reaching out to touch his robes.
A chilling flash crossed Jiang Youbai’s eyes, waking him up completely. Despite the intense pain wracking his body, he swept out with maximum speed to clear the surrounding people away.
The next second, a clinking sound echoed throughout the room. Jiang Youbai’s movement was abruptly blocked, his body stalling as he looked down and saw pitch black chains wrapped around his wrists. Spiritual energy surged through those chains, suppressing his demonic power so completely that he could not use it at all.
He stared at the chains on his wrists for a long moment before letting out a low chuckle.
The Binding Demon Rope.
Shen Changchuan had taught him one of the Immortal Alliance’s most crucial tools for dealing with beasts. Had he anticipated that he would be captured one day?
“He’s awake!”
“You killed the Sect Master, and you still want to run?”
“Don’t be afraid, with the Binding Demon Rope on him, he can’t use any demonic power!”
Jiang Youbai turned his head back to look at the few individuals before him, the corners of his lips slowly curving upward. “Everything you just said, I heard every single word of it.”
Seeing his expression, the men froze collectively. The beast showed not the slightest trace of fear or panic; instead, it smiled right back at them. That world subverting face wore a uniquely mesmerizing smile, yet not a single person present dared to harbor those evil thoughts from a moment ago anymore.
Even knowing that the humanoid beast before them could not use its demonic power, they still felt a deep, instinctive dread.
It took Yu Ting a moment to snap out of it. He picked up the whip he had set aside earlier, a disciplinary whip belonging to the Law Enforcement Hall, crackling with intense spiritual energy rather than being a personal artifact, capable of inflicting severe injuries with a single lash.
As the supervisor of the Law Enforcement Hall, Yu Ting had the authority to wield the disciplinary whip, and the whip marks already marring Jiang Youbai’s body were a gift from him.
Now gripping the disciplinary whip, he stared fixedly at Jiang Youbai. The whip lashed through the air with a sharp crack, instantly restoring Yu Ting’s confidence. “Beast, obediently take your punishment!”
The whip traced an arc in mid air, descending straight toward Jiang Youbai. With a cold gaze, Jiang Youbai raised his eyes. The next instant, the Binding Demon Rope binding him shattered and fell to the floor with a clatter, and right where the whip struck, Jiang Youbai had already vanished.
Panicking, Yu Ting hurriedly scanned his surroundings, only to hear Jiang Youbai’s voice whispering like a ghost right beside his ear: “Wanting to dual cultivate with me comes with a price.”
Scowling, Yu Ting shouted, “Stop playing ghost tricks and show yourself!”
Lashing his whip blindly in all directions, he found his efforts completely wasted.
Jiang Youbai let out a light, mocking chuckle laced with infinite derision. The next moment, he materialized right in front of Yu Ting. His eyes were stained with a crimson, bloody hue, alluring and beautiful like polished red rubies.
The moment Yu Ting locked eyes with him, his own vision was consumed by that wash of red. Following that, he slowly raised the disciplinary whip in his hand and lashed it mercilessly toward the other disciples standing nearby.
Piercing, continuous screams erupted inside the room, completely trapped inside by the barrier so that not a sound leaked outside.
Jiang Youbai sat leisurely on the floor, watching with rapt interest as Yu Ting swung the whip. The spiritually charged whip lashed down again and again onto the bodies of those men, instantly shredding their clothes into tattered strips. Fresh blood welled up from beneath their skin in an instant, covering them in blood within just a few strikes until they looked like they had been fished straight out of a pool of blood, terrifyingly gruesome.
“Senior Brother, it’s us! Stop hitting us!”
“Senior Brother, please stop, someone’s going to die!”
“Senior Brother, please stop!”
“Help.”
Watching them slaughter each other, the amusement in Jiang Youbai’s eyes deepened. Like a young pup observing human behavior, he watched unblinkingly, with a focus that was utterly chilling.
Gradually, the noise around them died down. Jiang Youbai sighed with apparent disappointment. “So fragile? That seemed to be six lashes at most. When I took ten lashes back then, I still survived just fine.”
Beside him, Yu Ting began to tremble uncontrollably, unsure whether it was out of terror toward Jiang Youbai or a futile struggle against the mind control.
Jiang Youbai glanced at him indifferently with a smile. “Now, it’s your turn.”
Yu Ting watched in sheer horror as his own hand raised the whip and lashed it straight down onto his own body. Yet his entire body refused to obey his commands, completely paralyzed as his hand moved independently, guided by someone else’s will, driving the spiritually charged disciplinary whip against his own flesh strike after strike.
He couldn’t even manage to cry out a plea for mercy.
The entire room was filled only with the sound of the whip whistling through the air, repeating the mechanical motion like a broken puppet. After taking five strikes, Yu Ting collapsed to the ground, hanging on the brink of death. Just as Jiang Youbai prepared to direct the final strike, the barrier at the entrance suddenly rippled.
Turning his head, he saw Tang Ci walking in hurriedly. Seeing the blood covering the floor, Tang Ci knitted his brows tightly. “Xiao Bai.”
The dangerous smile on Jiang Youbai’s lips vanished. His gaze lingered for a moment on Tang Ci’s glabella before seeming to recall something. Reaching out, he took the disciplinary whip from Yu Ting’s limp hand and held it out toward Tang Ci. “Is this what Senior Brother wanted?”
Tang Ci looked at the whip crackling with spiritual energy without speaking, his gaze slowly lifting to land on Jiang Youbai. The person was smiling, yet the smile did not reach his eyes. Whip marks and blood stained his snowy robes, making them somewhat soiled, yet this layer of grime did not detract from his appearance; instead, it lent him a disheveled, tragic beauty. The long spirit feathers dragged behind him without a single speck of blood touching them, their bright luster gleaming like silver powder.
Tang Ci was well aware of the existence of humanoid beasts and had even seen illustrations in ancient texts, but none of them could compare to the visual impact of the scene before him. It was a presence that could not simply be described as beautiful, it was an absolute enchantress.
Taking the disciplinary whip without unfurling it, Tang Ci asked, “Why did you sneak into the Shangqing Sect? Why did you want to kill the Sect Master?”
Jiang Youbai was growing sick of hearing that question. This time, however, he did not answer, countering instead, “Everyone in your Immortal Alliance has the blood of beasts stained on your hands. Shouldn’t I kill you?”
Tang Ci was momentarily choked for words. “But the Sect Master treated you so well. He favored you so deeply, and even taught you the Spirit-Sealing Grand Formation. Yet you killed him… you really are a…”
“Ungrateful wretch.” Jiang Youbai finished the rest of the sentence for him. Tang Ci opened his mouth, unsure whether he was acknowledging the label or wanting to refute it. Jiang Youbai didn’t care either way, simply offering a faint, mocking smile. “Is Shen Changchuan dead?”
As soon as those words left his mouth, Jiang Youbai found himself suddenly dreading Tang Ci’s answer.
Actually, back on the day he was reborn and first encountered Shen Changchuan, his very first reaction hadn’t been to kill Shen Changchuan, but to leave, to run as far away as possible and sever every last shred of connection with the Shangqing Sect and Shen Changchuan. He hadn’t even thought about killing Shen Changchuan back then.
It was only later, when Shen Changchuan stubbornly insisted on bringing him back to the Shangqing Sect, that he began wanting revenge for his past life. But in truth, what he wanted to ask most of all was why Shen Changchuan had ultimately chosen to kill him.
Since he had always trusted him, why couldn’t he trust him all the way to the end?
And the moment he learned that the jade plaque inside him could sense whenever he harbored malicious intent, he finally understood why Shen Changchuan had wanted to kill him. At that time, he truly had intended in all sincerity to annihilate the Shangqing Sect and kill everyone there.
He figured he ought to hate Shen Changchuan, but…
Yet at the exact fraction of a second when the spirit feather pierced straight through the other’s chest, he had somehow felt a sudden surge of regret.