Chapter 121 I helped you, yet you deserve to die just as much.

The gust of wind swept Zhou Yaren's figure away, leaving only afterimages. Those around him only saw a blur before their eyes, and the person who was standing in front of the pagoda disappeared in an instant.

The smiling man's curled fingers grasped at empty air. He turned his head, and Zhou Yaren suddenly appeared behind him, her fan, sharp as a sword blade, slashing horizontally towards his neck.

The smiling man slightly raised his head, his neck hovering just inches from the edge of the fan, and tapped the other's wrist with his finger: "You still have strength."

Zhou Yaren swiftly twisted her wrist, deftly dodging the attack while simultaneously unleashing a barrage of wind blades from her folding fan, displaying extraordinary ruthlessness: "You found me in prison eight years ago for Yin Sui, didn't you?"

The smiling man dodged all the wind blades, then curled his fingers into a hook and grabbed at the man's throat: "What makes you say that?"

Lin Mupi, standing nearby, felt a chill run down his spine and blurted out a warning: "Be careful!"

Zhou Yaren leaned back in time and used his folding fan to block. The difference in strength between the two was obvious. He was knocked back several steps, but he showed no signs of defeat. He stepped forward and said, "Because He Yan took Yin Sui from you back then."

From then on, Yin Sui and He Yan disappeared without a trace.

The smiling man must believe that Yin Sui is still in his possession, or that He Yan has hidden it in some secret place, which perhaps only He Yan himself can find.

He Yan died and came back to life repeatedly; isn't he just like Zhou Yaren now? So sending him to find Yin Sui is the most appropriate thing to do.

As they spoke, the smiling man and the other man exchanged no less than a hundred moves, but at this moment, the man was careless and a gust of wind blade slashed across his sleeve, tearing a gash.

The smiling man glanced at the tear in his sleeve with great care: "It seems you've learned a lot over the years."

"Thank you for your care, Grand Master of Music." Zhou Yaren stirred up the phoenix vortex, stirring up the surrounding mist, which covered the sky and the earth. "But now it seems that there is still a long way to go."

"So you're already starting to drift apart? Shi Ru is your master." The smiling man moved with lightning speed, breaking through the fog and rushing into the center of the phoenix vortex, suddenly slamming a palm into Zhou Yaren's body.

This palm strike should have pierced through the heart, but it turned out to be just a phantom hidden in the mist and vortex of wind, which was shattered by the palm wind like smoke.

Zhou Yaren moved swiftly through the thick fog. Due to his serious injuries, he was unable to confront him head-on. So he used the foggy terrain to attack from different angles and directions with his wind blades: "He is also your spy in the palace, a puppet to help you control me."

"If Shiru heard these words, how heartbroken he would be," the smiling man said, wary of the danger that might strike at any moment from within the illusion, occasionally striking back and swiftly and fiercely splitting several pine cones in two. "Doesn't Shiru treat you well? Even I can see that he is truly doing his best to cultivate you."

Zhou Yaren almost couldn't avoid it several times.

The thought of his master made Zhou Yaren's breathing quicken slightly. Although he was unwilling to accept it, Yin Shiru was indeed a responsible and strict teacher to him.

Zhou Yaren remembered those days when he was suffering from eye irritation from listening to the wind, and it was Yin Shiru who always used talisman water to soothe his eyes. When his left leg was broken and re-set, it was Yin Shiru who taught and cared for him while he recovered from his leg injury. It was Yin Shiru who helped him get out of bed and walk step by step out of the prison gate.

But in the face of intrigue and scheming, how much of it is genuine and how much is feigned?

The smiling man suddenly reached into the fog, only to grab a handful of pine branches, pricking his finger with the sharp needles. He pulled out the thorn, as if knowing what Zhou Yaren was thinking: "If you can't tell the difference between sincerity and pretense, you can judge by actions, not intentions. You were personally taught by him, and so far, Shiru has never harmed you in the slightest. If you hate him too because of me, he will be very sad."

A wave of bitterness welled up in Zhou Ya's heart.

“I can keep it from Shiru, so he won’t feel bad.” As he spoke, the smiling man, with his eyes and ears open, seized the opportunity to grab the figure flashing through the fog and drag him to his side. Wearing a smiling mask, he said, “I’ve caught you.”

The smiling man kept mentioning Yin Shiru, simply to disturb his mind and distract him.

Zhou Yaren struck him with her elbow, swept her folding fan horizontally, and with a somersault and agility, pulled and yanked him, almost dislocating his arm. After finally breaking free of his grip, the smiling man slapped him hard on the left side of his ribs.

Zhou Yaren seemed to hear the cracking sound of his ribs breaking. He was thrown several meters away, his back hitting a pine tree and bending over. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and without bothering to wipe his mouth, he tried to get up, but the broken bone seemed to have pierced his lungs, causing him so much pain that he almost fainted.

With a flick of his sleeve, the smiling man dispelled the illusion and leaped over.

Zhou Yaren gritted her teeth and rode the wind, hiding herself in the thick fog.

His body had many open wounds that were bleeding profusely, so the wind he stirred up carried a fishy smell.

“Shi Ru said you are stubborn, and you are indeed exceptionally stubborn,” the smiling man advised. “You are so badly injured, why force yourself to endure it? Shi Ru values ​​you and treats you like a son. He always looks pleased when he mentions you. I can spare your life for his sake, as long as you obediently hand over the Death-Reporting Umbrella.”

Zhou Yaren could no longer be affected by it. Such a deep-seated blood feud lay before him, splitting his heart into a bottomless abyss that had to be filled with this person's flesh and blood.

Zhou Yaren ignored his sweet talk and leaned against the tree trunk to support herself: "During the Qin Dynasty, there was a famous alchemist named Xu Fu who once wrote to Emperor Qin Shi Huang, saying that there were divine mountains in the sea called Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou, where immortals lived. Emperor Qin Shi Huang believed it to be true and ordered him to lead thousands of boys and girls to travel overseas to seek the elixir of immortality."

Zhou Yaren paused briefly, wanting to hear the other party's response. But the smiling man in the illusion became unusually quiet, and his steps faltered.

Zhou Yaren continued, "There are also records that his name was Xu Shi, courtesy name Junfang, which is only one character different from Xu Zhangfang."

After a short while, the smiling man spoke: "Oh, what a coincidence."

The tone of voice didn't reveal any particular emotion.

Zhou Yaren's breathing became light: "What a coincidence?"

The smiling man retorted, "Isn't it a coincidence?"

“Xu Zhangfang, you are the alchemist Xu Fu who went to sea to find medicine for the First Emperor.”

"What do you care who I am?" In fact, by now, the blind man in front of him already knew most of the facts. The smiling man sighed and said, "Since I wear a mask, it's because I don't want people to know me, and of course, I don't want to be exposed. You know what's going on. Shouldn't you learn to see through things but not say them? Didn't Yin Shiru teach you that?"

Zhou Yaren almost bit her lip until it bled: "You live in this world wearing a mask, pretending to be both a human and a ghost."

The smiling man interrupted: "People have many facets."

"You didn't find any immortal mountain or paradise, but instead found a settlement of the immortals, so you captured them and brought them here..."

“No,” the smiling man interrupted, shaking his head and repeating, “No.”

"What?"

The smiling man chuckled: "Wasn't it you who led everyone to the settlement of the undead?"

He touched his upper lip to his lower lip, speaking casually as if it were everyday conversation.

But these calm and collected words struck Zhou Yaren like a thunderbolt, leaving him speechless: "What did you say?"

He didn't know if he suddenly couldn't hear anymore, or if he hadn't made a sound at all, but the next moment, he knew he wasn't deaf.

“It was A Zhaosu who led Fang Xiandao into the secret realm,” the smiling man said. “If you want to question him, shouldn’t you go and ask A Zhaosu?”

It turns out that the source of all these disasters lies with Azhaosu; they all originated from Azhaosu.

No wonder, no wonder he dreams about that trial from time to time.

"You are a sinner!"

You are guilty!

"Your sins are unforgivable, and you deserve to die ten thousand times!"

Yesterday, he finally glimpsed a corner of the truth in the report of death. A thunderous judgment descended from the heavens, and the whips formed by lightning mercilessly lashed the dying A Zhaosu.

"Ah Zhaosu, your sins are unforgivable, you deserve to die ten thousand times!"

"Heaven has punished you for your sins. From this day forward, Azhaosu shall be banished from this land and never be allowed to return!"

So this is the heinous crime that Azhaosu committed. It is indeed unforgivable and deserves to be punished with ten thousand deaths. He should be banished from the country and never allowed to return. No, he should be torn to pieces, but even that would not be enough to atone for his sins.

No wonder He Yan couldn't handle it.

Because Azhaosu killed his own people, causing them to be burned and refined into pills by the flames.

Anyone with a conscience would feel guilty for a long, long time if someone died because of them, to the point of being unable to eat or sleep, let alone so many of their clansmen who were killed because of them.

At that very moment, the smiling man locked onto Zhou Yaren in the mist: "Stop playing these hide-and-seek tricks with me."

Zhou Yaren forced a smile that concealed his pain. Standing alone in the morning mist, he listened as the smiling man rapidly approached. He neither dodged nor retreated, and roared in his heart with a heart-wrenching pain: Kill him! I must kill him! Even if we perish together today, I will make him die!

Zhou Yaren's surging hatred and anger received a response from Bai Yuan, who said, "Alright, I'll help you."

These five short words seemed to possess an inexhaustible strength that sustained Zhou Yaren.

In truth, Bai Yuan had always been there, always had been. She simply remained silent, and then, at the moment he resolved to die together with her, she said to him: "Alright, I'll help you."

Bai Yuan's tone was no different from usual, as if he were just talking about a trivial matter.

But it gave him something to rely on from then on.

Zhou Yaren's nose suddenly stung with tears. He suppressed the urge to cry, gripped the Death-Reporting Umbrella tightly as if he were holding Bai Yuan's hand, and then felt an incredibly strong external force.

The moment the folding fan stirred up a fierce wind, the rising mist in the air instantly condensed into frost and ice, and the wind blades wrapped in frost and snow revealed a chilling killing intent!

Zhou Yaren's words were as cold as ice: "Ah Zhaosu's crimes are unforgivable, and you deserve to die just as much."

The approaching smiling man nearly collided head-on with this wave of sharp, unstoppable wind and frost, and suddenly leaped into the air.

Where the wind passes, it stirs up a pale, chaotic scene, and the pines and grasses in the mountains are covered with layers of frost, completely obscuring the vibrant spring.

A chill swept over them, and the boys shivered as they watched in shock as the pine trees around them frosted over and turned to ice.

Wen Yi murmured, "What...what's going on?"

“While Listening to the Wind can control the wind and create hurricanes,” Lian Zhao said, “the ability to turn mist into ice…”

As the fierce wind swept through and the cold mist permeated the landscape, in an instant, snow covered the green peaks, and thousands of forests were transformed into frost, as if a harsh winter had suddenly descended.

Lin Mu was utterly dumbfounded, for the ability to transform mist into frost was none other than that person's. He blurted out, "Innocent!"

Lin Mu suddenly grabbed Li Liuyun's sleeve, urgently asking, "Is it her? Senior brother, is it her?!"

“When yang energy prevails, it disperses and becomes rain and dew,” Li Liuyun’s sword-wielding hand was pulled down an inch by the woods. He lowered his eyes and stared at the pine trees beside him covered in silver frost, and said, “When yin energy prevails, it condenses and becomes frost and snow.”

Li Liuyun said, "It's her."

Upon hearing the certainty that it was "her," Lin Mu almost burst into tears.