After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Mingyuan's gaze casually swept down the mountain.
This sweep made him pause.
Not far down the mountain, there was a mortal village. Wisps of hearth smoke curled upward, which should have been an ordinary, peaceful scene.
But at this moment, the village was dead silent; not even the crowing of a rooster or the barking of a dog could be heard.
Only a single familiar figure squatted before a newly mounded dirt grave, with a thin, frail girl kneeling beside her.
“Hey, Su Jinxue,” Zhang Mingyuan nudged the woman beside him. “Look at that person in the village. Isn't that the girl Nian'an?”
Su Jinxue looked in the direction he pointed, her cold eyes narrowing slightly.
“It is Nian'an. Strange... Why isn't she returning to the Myriad Snow Palace? What is she doing in this mortal village?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the two exchanged a glance, reading the same intention in each other's eyes.
Go take a look.
In the next instant, their figures vanished from the mountain peak without kicking up even a breath of wind.
...
At the entrance of the village.
Nian'an was about to help up the girl beside her, who was crying so hard she was on the verge of fainting, when two figures appeared behind them without warning.
Her entire body stiffened, but she immediately felt a presence that was all too familiar.
“Immortal Lord! Sa—Sacred Lord!”
Nian'an quickly turned around and bowed respectfully.
“What's the situation here?” Zhang Mingyuan asked, getting straight to the point.
His gaze fell upon the kneeling girl.
The village was not large, with only about a hundred households, yet it was eerily quiet. A faint scent of blood and death lingered in the air.
Aside from Nian'an and this girl, who looked to be no more than seventeen or eighteen, there was not a single living soul.
The girl was very delicate and pretty, but her face was deathly pale. Her large eyes were swollen like walnuts, filled with grief and despair.
Nian'an composed herself and said solemnly, “Reporting to the Immortal Lord and the Sacred Lord. Three days ago, this place was blood-sacrificed by a demonic cultivator. No one in the village... survived. Only this girl happened to be out gathering herbs that day, allowing her to escape the disaster.”
“Then why are you staying here?” Zhang Mingyuan asked.
Nian'an glanced at the girl and murmured, “This girl actually possesses a one-in-a-million Unblemished Body, which is somewhat similar to the Immortal Lord's constitution. I thought I might bring her back to the palace to see if the Immortal Lord would be willing to take her in.”
She paused and added, “For the past few days, she has been burying the remains of the villagers all by herself, only finishing just today. I wanted to use magic to help her, but she insisted on burying her loved ones with her own hands so they could rest in peace.”
An Unblemished Body?
Zhang Mingyuan raised an eyebrow and looked at the girl again.
What a pitiful yet stubborn child.
He stepped forward and softened his voice. “What is your name?”
The girl lifted her head, looking at him through tear-filled eyes, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. “...Bai Yao.”
“Do you want revenge?” Zhang Mingyuan asked directly.
Bai Yao's body shuddered violently, and deep, bone-deep hatred suddenly erupted from her dim eyes.
“Yes! More than anything! But... I don't even know who the enemy is...”
By the end, the flame that had just ignited quickly died out, turning into endless loneliness.
“Do you know that we are immortals?” Zhang Mingyuan suddenly curled his lips into a smile.
Bai Yao nodded blankly. “...I know. Sister Nian'an told me.”
“Then what do you think an immortal is like?”
Without waiting for her answer, Zhang Mingyuan raised his hand and casually swiped at the sky above the village.
Buzz—
The space trembled slightly.
A Mahayana Stage divine ability: Karmic Retrospect!
In an instant, the sky above the entire village seemed to turn into a massive water mirror.
Light and shadow flowed as time flowed backward.
The tragic massacre of the village from three days ago was clearly displayed before everyone.
Bai Yao's eyes widened, and Nian'an held her breath as well.
This was something Sister Nian'an said was impossible, yet this handsome immortal had accomplished it so effortlessly.
Within the water mirror, a massive blood-red array enveloped the entire village.
The villagers writhed in agony within the array, their bodies withering at a visible rate. Their life essence was frantically extracted, turning into wisps of bloody mist that merged into the center of the array.
Bai Yao saw her parents, she saw the old grandmother next door, she saw Uncle Wang from the edge of the village... They wailed in despair, finally turning into ashes.
And above the array, a figure draped in a black robe, surrounded by swirling demonic energy, sat cross-legged, enjoying this feast of flesh and blood.
Beneath the black robe was a pale face, but a bizarre, satisfied smile stretched across his lips. A hideous, scorpion-shaped demonic seal extended from the corner of his eye down to his jaw, writhing like a living creature with his every breath.
“Ah—!”
Bai Yao let out a shrill, mournful wail, her entire body collapsing to the ground.
But her eyes stared dead-fixedly at the demonic cultivator's face in the projection, wanting to engrave that face and that demonic seal forever into the deepest depths of her soul.
The image dissipated, and the sky returned to its clear state.
Bai Yao's face was covered in tears, but her eyes were no longer filled with only grief; instead, a spark of hope had ignited within them.
She abruptly turned toward Zhang Mingyuan and, using every ounce of her strength, fell to her knees with a thud.
“Immortal!”
She kowtowed heavily, her forehead striking the ground.
“Can the people of my village... still be saved?”
Her voice carried a final, desperate sliver of hope.
“Ahem...”
Zhang Mingyuan had been feeling rather pleased with his flashy display, but now he was instantly choked up by her question.
He cleared his throat. “Well... the dead cannot be brought back to life, especially since they've been dead for several days already.”
“Oh, right.” He seemed to remember something and quickly looked at Su Jinxue beside him, passing the buck. “Didn't you cultivate some kind of Samsara Law? See if you can pull them back from the underworld?”
Reminded by his words, Bai Yao seemed to grab onto a final lifeline. She immediately turned to Su Jinxue, ignoring her already bleeding forehead as she kowtowed heavily again and again, making dull thudding sounds.
“I beg the Immortal Lord to show mercy! I beg the Immortal Lord to save my parents!”
Su Jinxue looked at the girl on the ground, who was practically breaking herself, and shook her head slightly. “It has been too long. Their souls have already returned to the underworld, and their reincarnation is set.”
Bai Yao's movements came to an abrupt halt.
Her final sliver of hope was completely shattered.
Her head remained pressed flat against the cold ground, her frail shoulders trembling violently. Sobs squeezed out from her throat as tears soaked the soil beneath her drop by drop.
“My condolences, little girl,” Zhang Mingyuan sighed, offering a word of comfort.
He shook his head, then suddenly added, “How about we catch your enemy first and let you kill him with your own hands?”
The crying stopped abruptly.
Bai Yao slowly raised her head. On her small face, covered in tear tracks and bloodstains, her eyes were instantly filled with the flames of revenge.
She looked at Zhang Mingyuan, her resolute and determined expression making her seem like an entirely different person from the fragile girl just moments ago.
“I beg you, Immortal!”
She kowtowed once more. This time, her voice was hoarse but incredibly firm.
“I beg the Immortal to uphold justice for me!”
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