The crowd’s attention turned to Qi Yunke.
Qi Yunke sighed reluctantly, “Actually, before the Mount Dinglu incident, the demonic cult’s Elder Kaiyang had already been captured by my master and his peers. He was imprisoned in the dungeon of Wanshui Qianshan Cliff. Elder Yaoguang was quite close to Elder Kaiyang, so…”
Yang Heying exclaimed, “Could it be that Master Canghuanzi wanted Old Patriarch Yin to exchange that demon for his beloved disciple? Surely not. Did Old Patriarch Yin agree?”
“Of course not!” Song Shijun shouted. “Back then, my father-in-law, his senior brother Cheng Hao, and junior brother Wang Dingchuan were known as the ‘Three Elders of Qingfeng.’ They were as close as brothers and renowned. It was to capture the demon Kaiyang that two of the Three Elders of Qingfeng fell! My father-in-law was grief-stricken, bedridden for months—Master Fakong knows this.”
Master Fakong chanted a Buddhist phrase, “Indeed, it was so.”
Everyone in the hall thought: How could they give up the great demon that Qingxue Sect paid for with two Grand Masters’ lives to exchange for Wu Yuanying, especially when they weren’t even sure if he was alive or dead?
Qi Yunke continued, “Master and Elder Canghuanzi had decades of friendship. He shouldn’t have refused, but remembering how Elder Cheng and Uncle Wang died horribly, he found it hard to decide. Finally, the Master decided to accompany Elder Canghuanzi to the meeting. If Brother Wu was truly alive, they planned to work together to capture Elder Yaoguang and rescue Brother Wu. But who knew…”
“There’s nothing more to know,” Cang Qiongzi interrupted. “This whole thing was indeed false—a trap set by that demon from start to finish. My senior brother returned gravely injured from the meeting and passed away soon after. Fortunately, he and Old Patriarch Yin managed to kill the demon Yaoguang together, ridding the martial world of a great evil!”
Qiu Yuanfeng added, “Master spoke clearly on his deathbed—Senior Brother was dead, and we should never believe anything the demonic cult says! Fourth Junior Sister, you were by Master’s sickbed too. Didn’t you hear?”
Cai Zhao was confused and suspicious: “So Elder Yaoguang deceived Elder Canghuanzi? What happened to Elder Kaiyang then?”
“I know this,” Fan Xingjia rarely had a chance to contribute. “Thunder Senior Uncle said that when Elder Kaiyang heard Elder Yaoguang had died, he recklessly tried to escape and was killed at the cliff’s edge that night.”
Cai Zhao exclaimed, “Wow, I didn’t expect such deep brotherly loyalty among evil cult members.”
Chang Ning glanced sideways, “…Loyalty indeed, but brotherly? Not necessarily.”
Cai Zhao didn’t understand, his attention drawn back to Luo Yuanrong’s words.
“I heard,” Luo Yuanrong said calmly. “At the time, I blamed Master in my heart. Only later did I understand—he did it for me. He had no other choice then.”
She continued, “Elder Kaiyang, exchanged for the lives of two Qingxue Sect uncles, couldn’t be traded for Senior Brother. Master was also near death—who would support me after he was gone? People soon forget the dead.”
“The day after Master passed, Uncle took over as sect leader, followed by Third Senior Brother. Those who respected and remembered Senior Brother were gradually pushed out of Taichu Temple.”
“Now, no one remembers him anymore.”
A wave of sadness washed over the crowd. The once-mighty young hero of the righteous path had been forgotten.
Luo Yuanying suddenly raised her head: “But I remember him. I will never, ever forget him!”
“Enough!” Qiu Yuanfeng exploded in anger. “Senior Brother is truly dead. Why do you keep dwelling on this? Show us some irrefutable evidence! Don’t bring up that heart mirror again—who knows if it even works!”
“Ironclad proof? Of course,” Luo Yuanying’s smile was desolate and vengeful. “Without rock-solid evidence, how dare I come to Wanshui Qianshan Cliff today?”
The crowd tensed.
Luo Yuanying turned back: “Wu Gang, Wu Xiong… be careful.”
The two men carefully opened the golden bamboo basket, which seemed to contain a thick, soft blanket. All eyes focused on it as they revealed a person wrapped inside.
They uncovered the head first, then shoulders, chest, abdomen, and then… nothing more.
Nothing more?
Cai Zhao, standing far away, craned his neck curiously to see clearly. Suddenly, he heard Yin Sulian in the main hall let out a terrified scream before fainting.
Everyone finally saw clearly what remained of ‘this person.’
His eyes had been gouged out, tongue cut off, and once-prominent nose flattened, leaving only two holes for breathing. His limbs were severed, leaving just a torso. The body was covered in wounds—even the exposed skin showed signs of whipping, cutting, tendon severing, burning, charring, flesh carving…
Perhaps it could no longer be called a person.
In the hall, only heavy breathing could be heard.
“This… this is…” Yang Heying’s voice trembled, barely recognizable even to himself.
“Brother Yuanying!” Taoist Yun Zhuan cried out, rushing to embrace the ‘person’ like a madman. He wailed, “Brother Yuanying, how did you end up like this? How… how could this happen to you!”
His cry seemed to wake everyone from a nightmare. Many in the hall had met Wu Yuanying before. Despite the passage of twenty years, despite his current horrific state, they could still vaguely recognize that this was indeed Wu Yuanying, once the pride of Taichu Temple!
“The demonic cult is inhuman, worse than beasts!” Song Shijun roared.
Even the usually gentle Zhou Zhizhen gritted his teeth in extreme anger.
Cai Zhao had heard the crowd’s clamor many times today—cheering, mocking, threatening—but none as thunderous as now. Everyone was screaming, lamenting, cursing, exclaiming, creating a deafening uproar!
A fate worse than death had befallen this once-celebrated prodigy.
Cai Zhao felt a chill deep in his core.