Chapter 199: I Want to See Sanniang
Nether Prison.
After seeing Lu Ning off, Dao Xuan Zhenren’s gaze fell upon the young girl behind him.
He looked at Mu Sanniang, his brows furrowed, his expression grim. Suddenly, he asked, “Who taught you this cultivation technique?”
Dao Xuan Zhenren’s question seemed to come out of nowhere. He didn’t question Mu Sanniang about “harming fellow disciples.” Instead, he asked a question that appeared irrelevant on the surface.
However, upon hearing this, Mu Sanniang instinctively tightened her grip on the small knife in her hand. She lowered her gaze, remaining silent.
A dead silence fell.
Dao Xuan Zhenren gazed at her intently for a long time before slowly saying, “Initially, I only thought you had some fortunate encounter outside, so I didn’t inquire further.”
“I never expected that your so-called ‘fortunate encounter’ would be so sinister and venomous!”
By the time he uttered the last four words, Dao Xuan Zhenren’s voice was filled with evident anger. He glared at the young girl and berated her loudly, “Don’t you ever consider if such bizarre cultivation methods are righteous?”
“To practice, you can devour demon souls without hesitation today. Tomorrow, if you face another setback, will you devour humans?!”
“Soul devouring, soul snatching, do you really think there are no side effects?!”
“Now that you’ve just stepped onto this path, you can still barely control your sanity. After a few more years of cultivation, do you know what fate awaits you?”
“When your sanity is eroded by demon souls, inner demons grow, and you lose yourself, won’t this world gain another god of slaughter that harms all living beings?! How will you, Tai Xuan Sect, account to the world then?!”
Dao Xuan Zhenren’s voice, laced with fury, echoed throughout the entire passageway. His string of questions was directed squarely at the young girl. He brutally tore open the cruel reality that she had always refused to face and laid it bare before her.
The girl’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and her body gave a subtle shudder. However, she still kept her head down, her expression impassive, refusing to answer.
The passageway once again fell into silence.
After a long while, a man’s sigh could be heard.
“Logically speaking, you’ve already joined my Tianxuan Peak. As a disciple of this peak, you’ve committed such a grave offense. You should be punished according to the sect rules.”
Having said this, he seemed to lose interest in continuing the conversation and turned away.
Suddenly, another thought struck him, and he asked, “By the way, does your younger brother know about this?”
This question finally elicited a reaction from the usually silent girl. Her eyes flickered, and she whispered, “He… he doesn’t know.”
Hearing this, Dao Xuan Zhenren’s expression eased slightly. He waved his hand, “Yes, Feng Xiang Song’s matter has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to worry about it.”
His voice paused here, and his tone turned stern. “However, your cultivation of demonic arts and your willing descent is something that cannot be easily forgiven!”
“It’s only because you haven’t harmed the innocent that I concealed this from Lu Ning just now.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Sanniang suddenly looked up. For the first time, her expression showed a flicker of emotion, a hint of urgency. Her eyes darted about, and her tone pleaded, “Then, can you also not tell him?”
The young girl’s words were not explicitly stated, but Dao Xuan Zhenren knew very well who she was referring to. The man stood with his hands behind his back, his expression stern, and gave no answer.
He flicked his sleeve, and with a surge of spells, he instantly transported both the young girl and the headless corpse away. After doing this, Dao Xuan Zhenren remained in his original spot. His expression shifted unpredictably under the glow of the flames on either side of the passageway.
After a short while, the man began to walk towards the end of the passageway. This section of bluestone passageway, though seemingly not long, took him nearly half an hour to traverse, even with his cultivation of Tribulation Crossing.
As the view gradually widened, a prison cell constructed entirely of profound iron appeared before Dao Xuan Zhenren. He stopped at the entrance of the prison cell. Dark, ominous bloodstains flowed along the ground, forming a large, sinister blood lotus.
In the center of the prison cell was a high stone platform.
A desiccated, shriveled body lay there, along with a blood-red long sword plunged into it. Dao Xuan Zhenren gazed at the scene, standing silently.
After a long time, his eyes revealed a look of utter disgust. But soon, that disgust was replaced by other emotions.
“I know you’re manipulating things.”
“Feng Xiang Song’s mind was unstable, coupled with the long-term influence of the Nether Prison’s Yin energy, which led him to be ensnared by your蠱 worm.”
“But why did you go to such lengths, even to the point of exposing your last trump card…?”
Dao Xuan Zhenren’s voice was low, more like a self-muttering soliloquy.
“What is it about that young girl that makes you want to do this?”
“You could even bestow your last life-saving蛊 onto her…”
The prison was utterly silent, with no one to answer his questions. Only on the high platform, the quietly lying mummy’s lips turned up slightly, as if in silent mockery.
…
The snow on South Mountain had been falling for a day and a night, but there was no sign of it abating. Chen An walked along the mountain road, letting the snowflakes fall onto his shoulders. He no longer held the paper umbrella. After all, it was prepared for Mu Sanniang, and now that she had not returned, it was no longer needed.
The young man’s destination was clear. After learning that Sect Master Dao Xuan Zhenren had taken his sister away, he headed straight back to Tianxuan Peak. He wanted to see his Master. Although he didn’t know the full details, he didn’t believe a single word of Lu Ning’s accusation of “harming fellow disciples.” The people from Shang Xuan Peak were a bunch of brutes with slow minds. In a moment of desperation, they might lose their reason. Therefore, his testimony was debatable.
However, an important piece of information revealed by the other party gave Chen An a lead. Dao Xuan Zhenren, the esteemed Sect Master, had appeared at the scene and forcibly protected Mu Sanniang. There must be another hidden reason for this. Coupled with Dao Xuan Zhenren’s rather unusual behavior during the outer sect selection competition previously, Chen An had a tentative guess in his heart.
But most of the information he had was incomplete, unable to piece together the full picture. However, one thing was certain: Mu Sanniang was currently in his Master’s hands. This made things simpler. Find Master, and then he could find his sister. This was the young man’s only request. He quickened his pace, heading towards his Master’s cave mansion.
At this moment, a sigh suddenly echoed in his mind. “Why go through all this trouble?”
The young man’s expression remained unchanged. “If you have something to say, just say it.”
The system seemed taken aback by his retort before sputtering, “This is her destiny. No matter how much you want to change it, it will be in vain.”
“You are too immersed in the role.”
This was the system’s second reminder. But the young man’s steps did not falter, his expression exceptionally calm. He merely said softly, “I don’t know what it means to be too immersed in a role.”
“I only know that Sanniang saved me from the snowfall.”
“It was also Sanniang who fed me the last piece of pastry she herself was reluctant to eat.”
“I want to see Sanniang.”
The young man said.
(End of this chapter)
