Chapter 63: An unexpected old friend
That icy murderous intent, as tangible as substance, surged from all directions like a tide, nearly freezing the three men's bones. "Go!" Chu Yun, without hesitation, grabbed Mo Li, who stood frozen in shock, and with his other hand, grabbed Li Ge, whose expression was solemn. They launched a final charge towards the massive altar, which lay just a stone's throw away! They had no escape route. The moment they were completely exposed, stealth was meaningless. The only thing left to do now was to rush to the altar's core and destroy the blood sacrifice formation at all costs, before all the powerful guards on the altar could react and form a tight, dragnet-like encirclement. This was their only, and final, chance! "Stop them!" "Kill them!" Countless roars filled with fury and murderous intent echoed from behind and all around them. Foul, evil-filled black blades and silent, poisonous arrows rained down like a torrential rain! "Mo Li! Left! Li Ge! Right!" Chu Yun shouted, his voice hoarse from the sheer speed and intensity. "Got it!" Mo Li and Li Ge wereted no time, instantly understanding Chu Yun's intention. Their bodies, like swifts darting through a storm, flanked Chu Yun, one on each side. Mo Li pushed his mechanical armour to its limits, and "light shields" crafted from a special metal rapidly ejected from it, forming a swirling, shimmering "shield wall" around the three of them. "Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!" Countless swords and hidden arrows pierced the "shield wall," making a dense, crisp sound like rain on banana leaves, only to be easily deflected or redirected. Li Ge's hands, like butterflies flitting through flowers, rapidly formed strange and chilling hand seals. Clouds of deep purple "miasma," capable of paralyzing nerves and corrosive energy, continuously emanated from her. Those attacks that managed to pass through Mo Li's "shield wall" were met with the "miasma" and their energy was rapidly corroded, dissipated, and ultimately vanished, as if they had met their nemesis. One focused on the outside, blocking physical attacks; the other focused on the inside, neutralizing the energy erosion. Mo Li and Li Ge, two women who had been at loggerheads over their differing philosophies not long ago, now turned their backs to each other without reservation. Using their completely different yet perfectly complementary powers, they constructed a seemingly fragile yet indestructible absolute defense for Chu Yun in the middle! Chu Yun, on the other hand, focused his entire attention on the road ahead. He was like an unsheathed, indestructible sword, his eyes fixed only on the approaching tower, emitting...
The icy murderous intent, as solid as substance, surged from all directions like a tide, almost freezing the three people's bones completely.
"Let's go!" Chu Yun didn't hesitate at all. He grabbed Mo Li, who was standing there in shock, with one hand, and grabbed Li Ge, who had a serious expression on his face, with the other hand, and launched a final charge towards the huge altar that was within reach!
They had no escape route. The moment they were completely exposed, stealth had become meaningless. The only thing left to do now was to rush to the altar's core and destroy the blood sacrifice formation at all costs, before all the powerful guards on the altar could react and form a dragnet-like encirclement. This was their only, and last, chance!
“Stop them!”
“Kill them!”
Countless roars filled with rage and murderous intent echoed from behind and all around him. Foul, evil black blades and silent, poisonous arrows poured down like a torrential rain!
"Mo Li! Left! Li Ge! Right!" Chu Yun shouted, his voice a little hoarse due to the extreme speed and tension.
"Got it!" Mo Li and Li Ge didn't waste any words, instantly understanding Chu Yun's intention. Their bodies were like swifts flying through a storm, protecting Chu Yun from both sides.
Mo Li pushed the mechanical arm armor to the extreme, and "flowing shields" made of special metals popped out from the arm armor at a rapid speed, forming a constantly rotating, flowing "shield wall" around the three people.
"Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!" Countless sword lights and hidden arrows shot at the "shield wall", making dense and crisp sounds like rain hitting banana leaves, and then were easily bounced off or changed direction.
Li Ge's hands, like butterflies flitting through flowers, rapidly formed strange and chilling hand seals. Clumps of deep purple "miasma," capable of paralyzing nerves and corroding energy, continuously emanated from her surroundings. Those attacks that managed to pass through Mo Li's "shield wall" were, upon contact with the "miasma," their energy was rapidly corroded, dissipated, and ultimately vanished, as if encountering its nemesis.
One focused on the outside, blocking physical attacks; the other focused on the inside, neutralizing energy erosion. Mo Li and Li Ge, two women who had been at loggerheads over differing philosophies not long ago, now unreservedly turned their backs to each other. Using their vastly different yet perfectly complementary powers, they constructed a seemingly fragile, yet indestructible, absolute defense for Chu Yun, who lay in the middle!
Chu Yun, on the other hand, focused all his attention on the road ahead. He was like an unsheathed, indestructible sword, his eyes fixed only on the altar that was approaching, emitting an endless evil aura.
Thirty feet... twenty feet... ten feet...
Finally, after paying a heavy price in which Mo Li's "Flowing Light Shield" was almost completely shattered and Li Ge's soul power was almost exhausted, they safely broke through the first encirclement formed by the Shadow Pavilion and puppets and successfully stepped onto the huge altar built of bones and blood!
The moment they stepped onto the altar, a stronger, sickening smell of blood and an icy evil aura that could freeze the soul hit them in the face, causing all three of them to feel a heart-wrenching pain.
They saw, in the very center of the altar, a massive formation composed of countless blood-red runes imbued with curses and resentment, operating frantically. Visible streams of blood-red light, representing the essence of life, were continuously drawn from the bodies of the innocent, numb-faced people bound by iron chains, and flowed into the center of the formation.
There stood a towering figure, clad in the all-too-familiar attire of a Tianshi Temple elder. He held aloft a compass-like instrument emitting an eerie red glow, chanting an ancient incantation steeped in evil and filth. He was the mastermind behind this human tragedy, the executioner who had used countless innocent lives as fuel.
"It's him!" The murderous intent in Chu Yun's eyes boiled to the extreme. He no longer hesitated and rushed forward at all costs to kill this hypocritical beast with his sword.
But at this moment, the figure who had been facing away from them, as if sensing their arrival, slowly turned his head. A face, pale in the blood-red moonlight, but vaguely recognizable, appeared before the three of them.
The moment he saw that face, Chu Yun's body, which was about to rush out, suddenly froze in place. He felt as if he had been struck by the coldest lightning in the sky. His brain instantly went completely blank, and his heart seemed to stop beating at that moment.
That face... that face that appeared with a gentle and kind smile countless times when he was young; that face that guided him step by step in drawing his first "Evil-Breaking Talisman"; that face that was revered as a "model of righteousness" and "highly respected" by the entire Evil-Suppression Bureau and even the entire cultivation world - Elder Zhang, Zhang Huaide, the "Uncle Zhang" who took the best care of him and whom he respected the most after his father passed away.
How could it be him? Impossible... This is absolutely impossible!
Chu Yun's body trembled violently and uncontrollably, his eyes filled with an indescribable shock and disbelief. This discovery chilled him to the bone, even more than the icy "truth" in the Judge's last words. The Judge's last words had merely revealed a cruel truth he had never imagined, but the face before him, like a sharp, red-hot dagger, pierced the softest, warmest, and most vulnerable part of his heart, stirring it violently, shattering his last remaining illusions about "righteousness," "the past," and "humanity."
The "righteous path" he had always believed in, the "role model" he admired, and the "warmth" he missed, were actually a complete scam from the very beginning?
"Elder...Zhang?" A hoarse murmur like a dream, full of pain and confusion, came from his throat.
"Chu Yun! What's wrong with you?!" Mo Li immediately noticed something was wrong with him. She saw that Chu Yun's eyes, which had been burning with fighting spirit, instantly lost all their spirit after seeing that face, becoming empty and blank.
"That person... do you know him?" Li Ge immediately realized something and his voice was full of solemnity.
Chu Yun did not answer, but stared intently at the "old friend" who was still enthusiastically presiding over the blood sacrifice ceremony. Uncontrollably, scenes of memories that had been buried for thirteen years emerged in his mind:
"Yun'er, you see, the most crucial thing about this 'Evil-Slaying Talisman' is not the precision of the strokes, but the 'righteousness' in your heart that slays demons and monsters."
"Yun'er, don't lose hope in this world just because of your father's incident. Believe that good will prevail over evil. The Tianshi Mansion will definitely seek justice for the Evil Suppression Division."
"Yun'er, the Taiyi Qi in your body is both a blessing and a curse. Unless absolutely necessary, you must not use it lightly, otherwise you will bring about fatal disaster."
Every word filled with "concern" and "teaching", every scene filled with "tenderness" and "encouragement" turned into the sharpest invisible knives at this moment, ruthlessly torturing his heart.
"Why..." A trickle of hot, bright red blood oozes from his mouth, the result of internal injuries caused by his rage and shattered faith. "Why... you?" He finally asks this question, filled with endless pain and confusion.
"Chu Yun! Wake up!" Mo Li looked at him, almost on the verge of collapse, and was almost going crazy with anxiety, "Who is that person?!"
"He..." Chu Yun's eyes shed two lines of hot tears. "He is the person I respect most in this world besides my father. He is recognized by everyone in the Evil Suppression Division as a good man."
This answer made Li Ge and Mo Li gasp. They finally understood why Chu Yun had been so devastated. This wasn't just a simple betrayal, but a complete denial of their entire past, all their knowledge, and the few "good" things they had once possessed.
"So... what do we do now?" Mo Li stared at the sinister formation's core, then at the "old friend" who had thrown Chu Yun into complete disarray. For the first time, she felt at a loss. Their original plan had been to rush in and destroy the formation at all costs, but now the person presiding over the formation was Chu Yun's "old friend." This sudden change instantly added an extremely complex layer of personal vendetta to the plan. Kill? Or not? Destroy? Or not?
At this moment, Elder Zhang, who had been enthusiastically presiding over the ceremony, seemed to have finally reached a crucial point. He slowly paused his chanting and turned around. His eyes, usually filled with gentleness and kindness, now burned with a terrifying evil light filled with madness and greed.
He looked at the uninvited guest who had intruded into this "holy land." When his gaze fell on Chu Yun, a smile filled with surprise flashed across his face, which then turned into an extremely cruel and playful smile: "Oh? Isn't this... the only... 'remnant' of our Evil Suppression Division?"
"I never imagined that a 'little fish' like you, who had lingered on for thirteen years, would actually have the guts to swim here. It seems that sparing your life back then was truly... the best decision I ever made."
He looked at Chu Yun's face, which was twisted by extreme pain and anger, and smiled even more happily: "Why? Surprised? In pain? In disbelief? Do you feel that your ridiculous, fragile world has collapsed in an instant?"
He opened his arms, as if embracing the entire blood-red world. "Come, my dear Yun'er. Before you die, I'll let you take one last good look at how your so-called 'righteous path,' your so-called 'role model,' personally created this great, brand-new... era!"
As he finished speaking, the huge blood sacrifice formation started to operate more frantically, and the blood moon in the sky became more bizarre and "full", and the situation became extremely urgent in an instant.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
