Master Xuanji led Zhang Shaozhong to stand once again in front of that hidden valley in the Cloud Mist Mountain.
At this moment, Zhang Shaozhong had truly undergone a complete transformation, as if he were a completely different person.
All that youthful spirit I used to have has vanished.
Her white hair was tied back with a simple ribbon, not a single strand out of place.
That look in his eyes was as cold as ice crystals frozen solid in the twelfth lunar month; one glance from it could chill you to the bone.
His body was surrounded by a chilling aura that kept strangers at bay; within a ten-step radius, not even an insect dared to utter a sound.
Master Xuanji stroked his beard, looking at his "masterpiece" with undisguised pride in his eyes.
Just as the two were about to step into the misty valley, they suddenly heard a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps behind them, mixed with cries that sounded like sobs.
"Master! Wait! Please wait for us!"
That voice is so familiar, it's Ling Qingxue!
Zhang Shaozhong's back stiffened almost imperceptibly, so quickly that one might think it was an illusion.
But he didn't even turn his head; his back was tall and solitary, like an ice sculpture.
Suddenly, three people arrived.
Besides Ling Qingxue, whose eyes were red-rimmed, there was also Ye Meier, who was also in a hurry, and her father, the Demon Lord, whose cultivation was suppressed but whose aura was still intimidating.
Ye Meier immediately spotted Zhang Shaozhong's familiar yet unfamiliar back. Her voice trembled with excitement, choked with sobs as she cried out, "Husband! Husband! We found it! We found the evidence! The real killer who murdered your parents is..."
"Shut up."
The two words, like two blocks of ice, were cold and hard, directly cutting off Ye Meier's next words.
Zhang Shaozhong finally turned around slowly, his emotionless eyes coldly scanning the three anxious faces before him as if they were objects.
"I have nothing to say to you."
Ling Qingxue felt a sharp pain in her heart from the pure coldness in his eyes. She took a step forward, her voice pleading, "Husband! Please listen to us, okay? There's more to the story about your uncle and aunt's deaths than you think!"
Ye Meier panicked and frantically pulled out her phone from her bosom, as if clutching a lifeline: "It's true! I searched everywhere I could and found a surveillance video from that time! Although the picture is as blurry as a mosaic, you can tell that the person who did it was impersonating my father! It wasn't my father at all!"
As she spoke, she tried to hand over her phone.
Even the Demon Lord spoke in a deep voice, his blood-red eyes carrying a hint of arrogance befitting a superior: "Boy, I have roamed the demonic path for so many years, killing countless people, and I have never bothered with concealment. If I did it, even if the Heavenly King himself came, I would admit it! But if I didn't do it, no one can pin this on me!"
Faced with these explanations and evidence one after another, Zhang Shaozhong only had a mocking sneer on his face. He squeezed out three words through gritted teeth: "Have you had enough of this act?"
Master Xuanji interjected at the opportune moment, looking at Ling Qingxue with a pained expression: "Qingxue, Qingxue, how long will you remain so stubborn? Look at yourself now, what kind of behavior have you become! Come back to the Taiqing Sect with me, devote yourself to cultivation, and stop associating with these demonic people and tarnishing your reputation!"
Ling Qingxue couldn't hear any of that. Her gaze was fixed on Zhang Shaozhong, looking at this husband who was both familiar and strange to her, making her heart ache as if being torn apart: "Master! What did you do to my husband? How could he... how could he become like this?!"
Master Xuanji flicked his sleeve and snorted, "This is his own choice! He voluntarily cultivated the Supreme Forgetfulness Technique in pursuit of the Great Dao. What does it have to do with me?"
"The Supreme Technique of Forgetting Emotions?!"
The Demon Lord's expression changed drastically, clearly having heard of the infamous reputation of this technique. He glared at Xuanji Zhenren: "Old man Xuanji! How vicious you are! How dare you let him cultivate such an evil technique that severs emotions and human relationships!"
Ye Meier was struck dumb, her beautiful eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at Zhang Shaozhong, her voice trembling: "You...you've cultivated the Forgetfulness Technique? Then...then have you forgotten us all? Forgotten me?"
Zhang Shaozhong looked at her coldly, his gaze as if he were looking at an insignificant passerby: "So what if you remember? So what if you forget? The fact is, you are now standing with the people I consider my enemies. In that case, does it make any difference whether you remember or forget? We are already strangers."
"An enemy? An enemy!"
Ye Meier trembled with rage, tears welling in her eyes. "How many times have I told you! My father didn't do it! Look! Look at this video!"
Holding her phone, she tried to rush over without thinking.
"Clang—!"
With a clear, melodious sword cry, the Frost Sword was suddenly drawn. Its cold tip gleamed with a ghostly blue light in the sunlight, pointing precisely at Night Enchantress's throat. The sword's energy caused the stray hairs on her forehead to flutter.
Zhang Shaozhong's voice was completely calm: "Take another step forward, and you'll die."
Ling Qingxue was terrified and quickly grabbed the impulsive Ye Meier, while she looked at Zhang Shaozhong through teary eyes, her voice mournful and pitiful: "Husband, look at me, look at me properly! I am Qingxue! I am your wife! We swore to be together for all eternity! Have you forgotten?"
In that instant, Zhang Shaozhong's hand holding the sword trembled almost imperceptibly, and his eyes were momentarily dazed and empty, as if something frozen inside was struggling to break free.
But the next moment, a deeper, more biting chill surged up like a tide, completely drowning out that slight fluctuation. His lips moved slightly, uttering two more hurtful words: "Boring."
Master Xuanji stroked his beard smugly and said to Ling Qingxue, "See? This is what it should be like to pursue the supreme Dao! Severing worldly ties and having no worries in one's heart! Qingxue, stop clinging on and come with me!"
Ling Qingxue shook her head violently, tears finally bursting forth: "No! I won't leave! I want to take my husband back! He must have been controlled by this evil technique! He didn't really want this!"
A fierce glint flashed in the Demon Lord's blood-red eyes, and his demonic energy began to surge erratically: "Old man Xuanji! If you don't remove the evil technique from this brat's body today, I will risk damaging my cultivation to fight you to the death!"
Master Xuanji scoffed, his expression full of contempt: "With your current cultivation level, suppressed by heaven and earth? You think you're worthy?"
Seeing that the two sides were on the verge of fighting, Zhang Shaozhong, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up. His voice was still cold and carried an undeniable determination: "Senior, there's no need to waste words with them. We should go."
Master Xuanji nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, let's go."
The two turned around again and resolutely stepped toward the node where the space fluctuated.
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