Chapter 203 The Path of Severance: She had no origin.
As soon as the sleet appeared, the shouts below the city immediately quieted down, but this silence seemed to be the calm before the storm.
The corpses hung on the city wall, which had a deterrent effect, but none of the cultivators outside the city left.
They protested silently, but perhaps at some point they will surge in.
As if oblivious to the surrounding silence, Ru Xian simply stepped forward, and a swirling current swept by, blowing away the dust and grime beneath his feet, leaving not a trace on the hem of his robe.
Then, he stopped a step away from the three of them and looked down at Lin Feiran.
Did you sleep well last night?
“…Very good.” Lin Feiran sighed softly, then turned to look at the crowd below the city. “My lord, the city has been so quiet these past few days, with few pedestrians on the streets. May I know the reason?”
Xun Feifei glanced at her and sighed inwardly. Bi Qing's gaze shifted between the two of them. She scratched her head and stepped forward, saying, "Your Excellency, you know that Lin Feiran always speaks so directly. She's not questioning us."
Lin Feiran paused, looked at Bi Qing, and couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth in his heart.
“I know she didn’t mean anything by it.” Ru Xian’s tone remained unchanged as she walked to the wall. “They came here not just because of the deaths of the Slender Waist King and the others. If you want to know, wait a little longer.”
Lin Feiran glanced to the side and saw Ru Shan stepping over the threshold, now standing beside her. Her waist-length snow-white hair was blown by the wind, strands of it wrapping around her arms and leaving striking marks on her black clothes.
"I don't want to wait," she suddenly said. "Guess what I want to do right now?"
Ru Xian smiled and said, "I don't need to guess. You have your way, and I've never stopped you."
If they wanted to stop him, Lin Feiran would never see the situation outside the city today.
Whether it was before or after she woke up, the reason he didn't say anything during those few free days was simply because he felt she should rest properly, and of course, there was also some selfishness out of love for her.
Whether it's falling asleep or copying books, being able to temporarily unload the layers of burdens on one's shoulders is not necessarily a bad thing.
Lin Feiran glanced at him, then flipped over and jumped down, standing in front of hundreds of cultivators.
Biqing and Xun Feifei exchanged a glance, then fell silent and went to the edge of the wall to observe quietly.
No matter what, Lin Feiran will always choose to face it head-on, facing every ray of light or every arrow.
"Lin Feiran, you finally dared to step out of the city gate!"
Upon seeing her appear, the demons dressed in white flashed forward and immediately surged to the front, standing tall like a wall. However, due to the people on the city wall, they did not move and could only glare angrily.
Lin Feiran stared intently at them. These people looked haggard, each with sorrow in their eyes. The lines drawn on their faces were strikingly red against their pale skin, a testament to the most genuine pain caused by the death of their parents.
She had felt that way before, so she could tell that it wasn't an act.
But her gaze didn't stop there; after glancing at the people in front of her, she slowly looked further into the distance.
She glanced past the esoteric Buddhist monks with shifty eyes, past the elders of the four clans with inscrutable expressions, past the demon cultivators who were praying with their hands clasped together and their eyes closed, and then paused slightly, stopping on some familiar faces.
She often saw those people in the demon capital.
"..." She silently withdrew her gaze and returned it to the group of teenagers.
Her voice was calm, without a trace of the urgency and indignation one might feel at being slandered.
Despite facing a hundred opponents alone, this young human showed no sign of panic, but rather displayed a composure beyond her years.
She could have ignored it and stayed in the city, but she still stepped forward.
Just when the others thought she was about to admit it and were about to launch an attack, Lin Feiran changed the subject, her bright voice reaching everyone's ears.
"I feel neither regret nor remorse for the deaths of the Slender Waist King and the others, and I will not admit any wrongdoing for it."
As soon as the words were spoken, not only were the people in front of them stunned, but even Ru Xian and the other two on the city wall were somewhat surprised.
"You!" One of the boys, his eyes bloodshot, was about to step forward when he heard this, but was immediately pulled back by the person behind him.
Lin Feiran turned to look at him, not retreating an inch, her eyes clear and bright.
“They did come here to challenge for the position of Demon Lord, but after being defeated by the envoy, they did not stop there. Instead, they joined forces to attack the city, causing harm to the people of the Demon Capital. Many of the accompanying elders were seriously injured. They were punished for this, and I do not think I was wrong.”
"I did fight them, but I knew the limits. The Four Kings were quite strong. They might have been injured, but they were not fatal. I did not harm them, so I don't think I was wrong."
"Having served as an envoy for so long, working diligently in the Demon Capital, I have never wrongly punished a single person, never abused my power, and never retaliated wantonly. I have a clear conscience. As a human, I do not believe I have done anything wrong!"
With each of his three impassioned pleas, the eyes of the people before him turned even redder.
He stared intently at Lin Feiran, his voice hoarse: "So, you're saying you're completely innocent! You humans are truly sharp-tongued, despicable, and shameless!"
"Whether it's despicable or shameless, nothing is more frightening than stupidity."
Lin Feiran looked straight back, his dark eyes clear and bright, like the sharp edge of a long sword, sweeping across the faces of the several young people.
"May I ask how the four kings were treated after they were injured, who the doctor was, how serious their injuries were, how well the treatment was received, whether there were any unusual events during the treatment, and what the cause of their deaths was?"
I can tell you that you know nothing just by looking into your eyes.
A gentle breeze arose beneath her feet, and with a slight movement of her hand, a clear chime instantly pierced the air, like a shooting star falling beside her, kicking up a cloud of dust.
It was a longsword that reached shoulder height, its blade as smooth as a mirror, with a long crimson streak running across it, reflecting the different gazes of the crowd.
When she was falsely accused in the past, she always felt that she had to explain and clear her name. But in this life, we come from filth and blood, and leave covered in mud and rotten flesh. A gust of wind will blow us covered in dust. In the eyes of others, we are never absolutely innocent, so why be so persistent?
She gripped the sword hilt, casually swung it in front of her, and several chilling sword intents surged forth: "If you want to collect a debt, you'll have to ask my sword first."
Lin Feiran has now reached the Advanced Realm. Not to mention these young people in front of him, even in the entire Demon Realm, he is by no means an ordinary person.
Once the sword intent was unleashed, its power was overwhelming. The young man dressed in plain white was stopped by his clansmen, and for a moment no one dared to approach him.
Lin Feiran sheathed his sword, ran his fingers along the blade, and a smile appeared on his face: "How dare a mindless sparrow, which listens to what others say and has no brains, take flight?"
"you!"
With a clang, the longsword plunged into the ground once more, standing beside her. From a distance, no one could discern the source of the sword intent!
Lin Feiran took two steps forward, and the young masters surrounding her subconsciously stepped back, making room for her.
"You brat, stop putting on this fake show of compassion. Do you think you can clear your name by saying these things?!"
Suddenly, a string of sandalwood beads flew out from the crowd, spinning rapidly as it attacked. Lin Feiran immediately turned around, drew his sword, and struck the string of beads back with his backhand. Then, he looked at that spot with a slightly somber gaze.
A gaunt old woman with long pendants hanging from her ears walked out from behind, followed by a group of demons. She took back the string of beads, her sharp gaze piercing Lin Feiran, her eyes filled with intense disgust.
Someone recognized the woman and exclaimed in surprise, "Grandma Shangsi!"
Granny Yu walked slowly, holding a bone staff, staring intently at Lin Feiran: "Boy, the deaths of the Slender Waist King and the others are ultimately only related to their four clans. We cannot interfere, so you still have room to argue."
But this calamity that has befallen us was entirely caused by you alone, yet it threatens to bring disaster upon the entire demon race. I will not tolerate you here today!
Because of Lin Feiran's appearance, many demons who were not originally there gradually gathered both inside and outside the city.
Under the gray winter sun, the long shadows of the crowd cast upon the city walls, making the light below even more dim.
Lin Feiran held the sword behind her back with her hand behind her back. The sword light was unusually bright at this moment. She looked straight at it and said, "Please explain."
"Don't you know?" Granny Yu laughed loudly, but it was full of sarcasm.
She was a demon who had survived the war between the two worlds. She felt nothing but disgust and contempt for the human race and had no goodwill whatsoever. Lin Feiran's sword-wielding posture was very similar to those human cultivators from back then. How could she not hate him?
"Several months ago, snow clouds appeared inexplicably in the sky above the demon realm and did not recede for a long time. As a result, even the warm sea of Jihai was frozen with frost and snow and could not recover. Tribes that had lived there for hundreds of years could not survive!"
Ladies and gentlemen! Our ancestor responded, "It's all because of her!"
Some people present were surprised, but the demons who had come with Granny Yu already knew, so they just stared coldly at Lin Feiran.
Granny Yu raised her bone staff, and a certain spiritual object flew out and appeared before everyone's eyes.
It was an irregularly shaped square or round piece, about the size of an array plate, with a grayish-yellow color, like bone that had been decaying for thousands of years. It seemed as if it could crumble into dust at any moment. On that fragile bone surface, there were many golden rays crisscrossing horizontally and vertically.
That's the ancient script of the demon race.
Lin Feiran glanced up and looked around. Although she didn't recognize them, she could guess most of it from the sudden change in the gazes of the people around her.
Granny Yu spoke in a trembling voice.
"The wounds inflicted by the demon race on the human race cannot be healed even after thousands of years!"
But there was one human, a young human, who sat in a high position in our race, wielding the power of life and death, playing with the lives of thousands of people at will, and cruelly murdering the four kings!
Because of her, the progenitor of the demon race, who existed between heaven and earth, was enraged and thus unleashed punishment!
The progenitor was enraged that a human had once again trampled upon the demon race, enraged that the demons had forgotten the deep-seated hatred, the shame and sorrow of their ancestors being enslaved by humans, and yet treated a human as an honored guest!
As soon as she finished speaking, tears welled up in Granny Yu's eyes, and her body trembled slightly, moving everyone who saw her.
Her gaze shifted, fixing on Lin Feiran with a hateful stare, her eyes filled with venom as she slowly moved closer, like a cold snake that was about to retreat and was gradually coiling its tail around her.
"Only by killing her or banishing her from the demon realm forever can we appease the ancestor's wrath!"
"Such anger is something none of us can bear. I once petitioned the Demon Lord, writing ten petitions to the death, and several of us joined me in a bloody plea to beg the Demon Lord to hand her over, but what was the result!"
As she drew closer, Lin Feiran tightened her grip on the sword hilt, but still did not retreat even a step.
Granny Yu didn't stop walking, but threw a white document with red patterns into the air, making it clear to everyone.
"Ru Xian, a member of the demon race, issued such a chilling edict in the face of this momentous matter!"
The document was well-made and brightly colored. It was about the length and width of two palms, not small at all, but only a sentence was casually written on the top.
Those who believe Lin Feiran is guilty should leave immediately.
Lin Feiran looked at that sentence, her gaze shifting slightly.
Granny Yu cried out hoarsely, "Anyone who wants to protect the demon realm is a traitor to him, someone to be expelled! This vast demon capital can accommodate a human, but not a demon! How heartbreaking!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Granny Yu and Lin Feiran were only a step apart. The cold winter wind blew between them, but neither of them retreated.
Besides the two, many demons couldn't help but look up. Ru Xian stood there upright, letting the wind ruffle his robes.
This barrage of words failed to elicit the slightest remorse or attempt to evade him. He simply accepted the attention of the crowd without flinching.
She suddenly raised her bone staff, and the resulting gust of wind swept past. Lin Feiran only slightly turned her head to avoid it, but her gaze never left the scene.
Behind Granny Yu, one demon after another stepped forward, standing in layers like bricks being continuously piled up, gradually forming a thick shadow that enveloped her as she held the sword.
Lin Feiran gripped the sword hilt tightly, shifting his right shoulder back half an inch, like a taut bow, ready to strike at any moment.
But the next moment, the bone staff fell, and Granny Yu knelt on one knee with her hands crossed over her chest. As a result, the shadow that had been cast behind her also shrank by half. Everyone knelt down together, bringing with them a small breeze that quickly blew past Lin Feiran, who was standing close by, and lifted the stray hairs on her cheek.
"Our people who remain in the city! With natural disasters imminent, it is a time of life and death. Our ancestors have shown us a clear path!"
Perhaps you've spent a long time with her and developed feelings for her, but how can a cold snake have the heart to repay its parents?!
Even if we don't kill her, I urge everyone to join me in petitioning to expel Lin Feiran from Lancheng and from the demon realm!
How could she possibly have a place here anymore!
Although Granny Yu was old, her words were firm and resounding, her slightly hoarse voice echoing in everyone's ears.
A moment later, everyone in front of the city shouted, "We are willing to risk our lives to petition for Lin Feiran to be expelled from Lan City and from the Demon Realm!"
The city was silent. Lin Feiran's chest rose and fell slightly, but he still gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. There was nothing in front of him except for a deafening roar.
She stood frozen in place as if she were rooted to the spot. The sound waves piled up and condensed into a gust of wind, lifting her long hair and obscuring her eyes and brows, so that no one could see her expression at that moment.
Some time later, a series of light footsteps came from inside the city. Someone ran out, walking hurriedly, and suddenly bumped into Lin Feiran's right shoulder. Ignoring her swaying, he joined the crowd, knelt on the ground, and spoke eloquently.
"My grandfather died in the great war between the two worlds, and my father still has the scars of the demon-slaying edict that was cut off from his body. I will never forget his hatred for the human race!"
My Lord, even if you take my life today, I will not care!
What does death matter? As long as she lives, the snow will never stop, and countless lives will be lost. What difference is there between that and death?
Please banish Lin Feiran from Lancheng and from the demon realm!
Lin Feiran lowered her eyes to look at his familiar face, her throat tightened slightly, and after a long while she managed to swallow, but she didn't say anything.
With this person leading the way, many hesitant demons poured out of the city. The chaotic footsteps trampled on her eardrums, and scattered figures brushed against her arms from time to time. After several collisions, her hand holding the sword loosened slightly, and the tip of the sword suddenly plunged into the ground at a certain moment.
"Please expel Lin Feiran from Lancheng and from the demon realm!"
"We don't want you to pay with your life, we don't want you to bear the guilt, that's already showing mercy. You don't belong here, the demon realm is not a place for you. Go back to where you came from!"
"Go back to where you came from!"
Where should she go back to? But she had never come from anywhere.
The Dao and the Palace are not, nor is the human realm.
She simply fled from here to there, and from the age of nine, she never returned home.
Biqing stood atop the city wall, her right hand gripping the edge, crushing half a brick. She glanced sideways and saw Ruxian still standing tall, her features also obscured by her hair, making it impossible to see clearly.
She looked at Xun Feifei, but he was just looking down, as if he was recalling something.
Just as she was about to leave, a clear child's voice rang out from the silence.
"But how do we know if your stone is real or fake? Whether the stone is real or fake is unknown, but Sister Lin's character is evident to all, and I don't want her to leave the Demon Capital!"
Before the little fairy tale was finished, the elders covered their mouths and noses and scolded them in a low voice, but they stayed in the city and did not run away.
The crowd's announcements rose again, each one louder than the last, crashing against her like a surging tide.
"Please expel Lin Feiran, a human, from Lan City and from the Demon Realm to quell the ancestor's wrath!"
Lin Feiran clenched his fist again after loosening it slightly, and exhaled a few breaths of cold air from his throat.
"If you want to quell the vague and ethereal wrath of the progenitor, then who will quell my wrath?"
As if retracting a hailstone, there was no trace of a smile in his eyes.
The spear fell sharply, locking onto Granny Yu with an unstoppable force. Everyone was momentarily pinned to the spot, unable to move. At this critical moment, Granny Yu closed her eyes and resolutely decided to die!
The next moment, the thunderstorm suddenly subsided, just as the downpour abruptly stopped midway, and the wind calmed and the sky cleared.
Everyone stared in astonishment, only to see Lin Feiran standing alone in front, her back slightly bent, raising her hand to grasp the spear. However, the force of the spear was too great, and it still moved forward in her hand. The two resisted each other, drawing blood, but finally stopped.
Granny Yu opened her eyes in horror and saw a glint of light from a spear fixed in front of her, almost within millimeters of her eyes!
However, what followed was a pair of even brighter eyes, hidden beneath her disheveled hair, gently watching her, their eyes containing a light even sharper than the cold glint in her eyes!
The owner of those eyes asked, "Is that all?"
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