When Chi Changye arrived at the Prince Huai estate, the residence had already been reduced to a charred, smoking ruin.
Corpses littered everywhere.
Corpses whose features were rendered entirely unrecognizable.
Torn, scattered limbs and bodies.
Only Prince Huai’s corpse remained intact; his face was clearly visible, bearing a distorted expression frozen in sheer panic and despair, his eyes wide with a deathly refusal to close.
The male corpse was stripped bare and strung up upon the lush, leafy osmanthus tree standing in the courtyard, dangling much like a fat rat hung out to dry by a shrike.
Blood and a murky, whitish fluid dripped down step by step along the dead man’s legs.
A single glance was enough to make Chi Changye avert his gaze in revulsion.
Geng Chen’s methods were excessively gruesome.
Had he truly subjected every single male within the Prince Huai estate to…
Chi Changye could not bear to dwell on it.
Merely conjuring the imagery in his mind felt entirely degrading.
Frowning deeply, Chi Changye walked forward along a pathway slick with fresh blood. The sight that met his eyes when he finally located Geng Xinghe filled him with blinding fury.
“Geng Chen, stop this at once!” Chi Changye shouted in a sharp, stern voice.
Geng Xinghe paused mid-motion, his long whip sweeping downward to sever the head of a woman cradling a child, sparing neither her nor the infant held tightly in her arms.
Fast though the azure-clad immortal was, he still failed to intercept Geng Xinghe’s murderous handiwork.
With his chest heaving violently, Chi Changye delivered a brutal, stinging slap across Geng Xinghe’s face. “Geng Chen, you, you truly outdo yourself.”
The boy dropped to his knees before him, keeping his spine straight and rigid. “Master pitied Prince Huai’s innocent young children, but what about the children of my Geng family? When my friend Lin Zixiang ran about seeking justice for me, he was framed and thrown into prison, and his entire family was slaughtered—his unborn child still resting within its mother’s womb, yet where was its innocence?”
Geng Xinghe’s eyes burned red, though no tears fell. The light within his gaze was savage, cold, and venomous, akin to a poisonous serpent or a raging beast. “Master, why must the Geng and Lin families be entirely eradicated, while I am expected to spare some little monster belonging to Prince Huai? Just because his imperial bloodline is somehow noble?”
Chi Changye’s hand trembled faintly as he pointed a finger at Geng Xinghe, utterly incapable of uttering a single word in response.
Yes. I am not Geng Xinghe; I have no right to demand that he forgive.
Yet a child, what wrong had that child committed?
Was it merely because they happened to be born into the wrong womb?
Chi Changye had no defense left to offer.
With a flick of his sleeve, the young immortal vanished into a streak of azure light, leaving the estate entirely.
Geng Xinghe stood up, surveyed the blood-drenched ground, and confirmed that not a single trace of living breath remained before slowly walking away from the slaughterhouse.
Geng Xinghe lacked the ability to ride a flying sword, nor did he know the art of shortening distances through space.
Standing within the grand hall of the Prince Huai estate, the boy searched through his qiankun pouch until he retrieved two teleportation talismans.
Biting his lower lip and hesitating for a moment, Geng Xinghe tossed one of them forward.
The talisman erupted in a blinding burst of golden light, swallowing the boy whole.
Geng Xinghe vanished from the spot.
Upon returning to Peak Chiyue, Chi Changye furiously locked down the entire mountain peak.
Geng Xinghe arrived a step behind, discovering that even bearing his disciple token granted him no entry past the barriers sealing Peak Chiyue.
Without a shred of hesitation, the boy dropped to his knees at the base of the mountain.
The slender, tall youth knelt with his back held straight, unmoving as a carved jade statue.
News regarding Immortal Lord Yaoguang could never be kept hidden for long.
Before long, the cultivation forum was flooded with discussions concerning the immortal’s favored disciple mercilessly slaughtering mortals.
The horrifying carnage inside the Prince Huai estate was even uploaded directly to the forum.
In an instant, the immortal sects were engulfed in fury, demanding severe punishment for Geng Xinghe across every board.
As head of his sect, Yue Qianfan received the news immediately.
Gazing at the rampant speculation and outrage sweeping the forum, Yue Qianfan crushed a teacup to dust within his grip.
“Damn those gossiping bastards. I swear I’ll slaughter the lot of them sooner or later,” Yue Qianfan muttered furiously.
How could Chi Changye, having finally managed to take on a disciple, manage to bungle things this badly?
How could Geng Xinghe, having entered the sect mere days ago, possess the capability to slaughter an entire mortal princely estate?
And why on earth would Chi Changye ever permit such a thing to transpire?
It was all absolute, utter nonsense!
Usually priding himself on being a refined and elegant gentleman, Yue Qianfan was driven to absolute rage, leaping to his feet to track down Chi Changye directly.
He refused to believe that Chi Changye’s disciple would commit such atrocities.
Even if he had, there had to be a reason; Chi Changye would never allow his own disciple to slaughter the innocent indiscriminately.
And if they were slaughtered, they certainly couldn’t be innocent!
Yue Qianfan was blocked right at the foot of Peak Chiyue.
Barred alongside him was Geng Xinghe, still kneeling at the base of the mountain.
Gazing at the boy’s rigid spine, Yue Qianfan frowned. “Xinghe, did you truly do it?”
With Geng Xinghe kneeling here and Chi Changye locking down the peak, it seemed the rumors on the forum were entirely true.
Geng Xinghe had defied his master’s strict commands and massacred a mortal princely estate, every word of it was real.
Yue Qianfan rubbed his temples, feeling his headache worsen.
“What is Your Reverence referring to?” Geng Xinghe asked.
The boy’s voice remained gentle and detached, completely devoid of any trembling guilt or terror.
A spark of hope rekindled within Yue Qianfan. Perhaps Geng Xinghe was being punished for an entirely different reason.
With that thought in mind, Yue Qianfan pressed on, “You slaughtered a mortal princely estate, did you do this?”
“I did,” Geng Xinghe replied without the slightest hesitation.
Yue Qianfan: …
Splendid. Chi Changye’s disciple really is a cold-blooded, bloodthirsty monster.
How was he supposed to answer to the three thousand immortal sects now?
Furious, Yue Qianfan snapped, “You… Geng Chen, the immortal sects strictly prohibit the slaughter of the innocent; you cannot possibly claim ignorance of this. How expect me to handle this now?”
“How you handle it is none of your concern,” a cold, detached voice rang out as Chi Changye materialized in their line of sight.
Yue Qianfan looked up, meeting Chi Changye’s characteristically cold, unreadable gaze, and grew even angrier. “Chi Changye, do you have any idea what he has done? He.”
“I know. I brought him down the mountain, and I permitted it,” Chi Changye replied with icy indifference. “My disciple requires no one else to discipline him.”
Yue Qianfan froze in disbelief. “Old Chi, have you lost your mind? How can you claim you permitted it? You.”
“I permitted it. I took him there myself,” Chi Changye stated coldly.
“If anyone holds any grievances, they are free to seek me out.”
“No, Master did not permit me to slaughter indiscriminately.”
Geng Xinghe spoke up, attempting to explain, but was cut off by Chi Changye: “Shut your mouth. I am speaking with your master uncle; you have no right to interrupt.”
“Master indeed forbade me from slaughtering the innocent; the fault lies entirely in my own overwhelming bloodlust,” Geng Xinghe insisted stubbornly.
“Silence!” Chi Changye’s demeanor turned even more frigid. “Another word, and you are no longer my disciple.”
Geng Xinghe fell silent.
Yue Qianfan finally understood the situation. “So, Old Chi, you intend to shield him, is that it?”
“He committed a wrong, and I will punish him myself,” Chi Changye said coldly. “I am not yet in my grave; I have no need for others to do my work.”
Yue Qianfan sighed heavily. “I didn’t come here to cause trouble. But seeing him kneeling outside Peak Chiyue made me think you had cast him aside.”
A dark shadow of gloom veiled Chi Changye’s pale complexion. “I shall mete out punishment to Geng Chen. His offenses stem from my lax discipline, and I shall bear the penalty in his stead.”
The boy, who had maintained an expressionless facade until this moment, snapped his head upward in profound shock. “No, Master! The mistakes I made, how can you be punished for them?”
Chi Changye gazed down at him without a shred of warmth in his eyes. “A father’s fault if he fails to teach; a master’s fault if his discipline is lax. I am your master; why shouldn’t I be held accountable for the wrongs you committed?”
“No, Master.” The youth gripped the hem of Chi Changye’s robes frantically. “You can punish me however you wish, but you cannot, you cannot.”
“You said no one would dare punish you,” he pleaded desperately, tears swirling within his eyes.