Chapter 35: This First Place, I Claimed It Fair and Square—Don’t… Part 1

The smug Han Ya quickly received a slap from Gu Changhuai. “The judge isn’t allowed to speak.”

“…”

After taking the hit, Han Ya resentfully tucked in its wings and obediently crouched without moving.

That was the life of a bird—one had to accurately discern the master’s intent when necessary. The implication of that slap was clear: jump again, and it would go from live bird to roast.

The fights in the courtyard and on the rooftops had raged for quite a while.

Seeing the stalemate persist, Lady Mengying’s eyes suddenly hardened with resolve. She waved both hands, summoning all the surrounding thorns to gather abruptly and block the Enforcement Elder, forming a solid wall.

The Enforcement Elder struggled momentarily to break through the wall of rose vines and frowned. “Yingniang! Don’t do anything rash!”

“You have no say in this!” Lady Mengying coldly tossed back the words before turning and leaping toward Pei Tianyi on the rooftop. At the same time, her demonic energy began converging above her head, forming a blooming rose in midair. As the rose solidified, her face grew increasingly pale and weak.

Gu Changhuai’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The Dan Core.

Demonic cultivators tied to flowers, plants, spirits, or beasts typically harbored a Dan Core within them, which condensed their lifelong cultivation. Losing it made recultivating extraordinarily difficult. Few demonic cultivators ever chose to separate from their Dan Core.

Yet now, Lady Mengying intended to use hers to shatter Pei Tianyi’s seal.

…She was truly throwing her life away.

With a glance, he saw the Enforcement Elder madly hacking away, forcibly carving a path through the rose wall. He shot forward like a streak of light toward Lady Mengying.

Trouble.

Gu Changhuai pulled a rope from his sleeve.

The judge made his move.

At that moment, Lady Mengying had fully extracted her Dan Core. She cradled it in her palm and struck fiercely at the sealing chains on Pei Tianyi!

Jin Shuang struggled to fend off Xue Lao Er’s demonic aura and couldn’t spare a hand to intervene. His pupils contracted at the sight. “Stop!” Suddenly, his expression froze.

Pfft!

Lady Mengying’s hand, clutching the Dan Core, pierced straight through a chest. At the same time, a longsword impaled her own heart.

Lady Mengying stared in shock at the sword in her chest, then at the Enforcement Elder whose chest she had pierced. His aura weakened. “Yingniang… I’ll go with you…”

Their eyes met. Lady Mengying let out a shrill scream, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m not willing! I’m not willing! Why you? Why?! Clearly, I was the one who…” loved Yier the most.

She cut herself off abruptly. Her gaze began to scatter, and both she and the Enforcement Elder spat out a mouthful of blood. In that instant, her emotions calmed, and even the surroundings seemed utterly silent, with only faint breaths audible.

She looked up blankly, gazing into the void.

The darkening sky resembled the dusk over two hundred years ago when they first met—sunset, flying birds, mountains, dim light.

It seemed like nothing had changed, yet everything had.

“Don’t be afraid.” The Enforcement Elder drew close and gently embraced Lady Mengying, closing his eyes. “This time, I’ll accompany you.”

In the next instant, the spiritual energy on the sword clashed violently with the demonic energy of the Dan Core, unleashing a gale that darkened the heavens and earth, rippling with terrifying destructive force.

BOOM!

The shockwave surged ferociously. Jin Shuang couldn’t dodge in time and hastily formed a barrier in front of himself and Pei Tianyi. But in the next moment, a rope flew from behind, binding them together and yanking them down.

After the ripple passed, Xue Lao Er had vanished from the rooftop—perhaps he’d fled elsewhere or been blasted away.

Without Xue Lao Er sustaining the seal, Pei Tianyi’s body instantly relaxed. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he frantically ran toward the center, only for Jin Shuang to yank him back. “Let me go!! Let me go!” Jin Shuang remained silent, his face grave as he prevented him from approaching further.

Finally, Pei Tianyi collapsed weakly to the ground. His voice trembled as he shouted into the sky, “Dad! Dad, I won’t make you angry anymore! Dad! Don’t scare me…” By the end, his crying voice turned hoarse.

The barrier Gu Changhuai had erected at the long corridor blocked the incoming gale.

In the courtyard, the wind whipped up rose petals, turning the scene into a sea of flowers that obscured the collision’s epicenter. Only vague silhouettes of two figures were visible within.

His divine sense probed and detected two faint auras inside, already dissipating—their final breaths before death.

He withdrew his gaze, his mood complex.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell Pei Tianyi the news.

After a long while.

The wind gradually died down.

The silhouettes in midair faded as their divine senses scattered, their bodies dissolving into stardust.

Lady Mengying turned back to look at Pei Tianyi, her expression softening with tenderness. Her eyes held thick, inseparable worry for him. “Yier, don’t blame Mother.”

The Enforcement Elder sighed softly. “You need to grow up now.”

Their final breaths became their last words. They embraced and fully dissipated from the world, as if the conflicts between them had vanished. Their only regret was the one left behind: Pei Tianyi.

All strength drained from Pei Tianyi. He muttered in a daze, “No… it can’t be…” His hands shook uncontrollably as he stumbled toward where the Enforcement Elder had vanished.

At that moment, sensing a subtle shift in the air, Gu Changhuai’s gaze turned icy. “Careful.” He kicked out his longsword.

Clang—

A nail-sized rose Dan Core suddenly appeared from nowhere, hurtling toward Pei Tianyi’s brow. But it collided midair with the flying ring-pommel longsword and bounced away.

Pei Tianyi recoiled in shock and was seized by the throat by a hand emerging from the black mist, rendering him immobile. Xue Lao Er glared venomously at Gu Changhuai, grinding his teeth. “Gu Sanbai!”

Gu Changhuai was in a foul mood, his tone lacking patience. “Don’t call me that.”

Annoying.

“Are you really tired of living?!” Xue Lao Er bellowed. “Do you know that if there’s any slip-up this time, the Demon Venerable will truly take your life!”

Gu Changhuai’s tone was casual. “I know.” He pointed at Pei Tianyi. “Let him go first. The kid just lost his parents and is grieving.”

At that, Xue Lao Er said, “Gu Sanbai, this matter must be completed.”

Gu Changhuai’s eyes darkened. He chuckled lightly. “No can do.”

“That’s not up to you!” Xue Lao Er said coldly.

A palm-sized red drum abruptly materialized in midair at his command. Xue Lao Er urged it, making the drumhead thrum. In an instant, agony tore through Gu Changhuai’s abdomen, and his vision blackened.

In that very moment.

The golden bell rang, summoning the seal from Pei Tianyi’s body.

“Stop.” Jin Shuang drew his sword and advanced to block, but Xue Lao Er repelled him with a palm strike. Then the tiny rose Dan Core flew straight into Pei Tianyi’s brow.

The emerging chains began cracking inch by inch. Pei Tianyi’s face twisted in agony. He opened his mouth but couldn’t make a sound. As the seal shattered, his spiritual root was suppressed by the demon vein, and his surrounding spiritual energy gradually dispersed.

His eyes widened as he watched years of cultivation taint with demonic energy in an instant. His left pupil turned crimson, a tear of blood trailing down.

Once the seal fully broke and the chains shattered completely, Pei Tianyi slumped to the ground. He panic-strickenly stared down at his hands.

What overflowed from his palms now was not the familiar spiritual energy, but thick demonic aura. His spiritual root had been fully suppressed by the demon vein.

This time.

Gu Changhuai truly harbored killing intent. As he raised his gaze again, icy indifference filled his eyes. He gripped the recalled longsword.

The pain from the demon gu couldn’t fully halt his movements. Without a word, he slashed backhanded toward Xue Lao Er.

The murderous sword intent swept over. Xue Lao Er dodged with a leap, leaving a deep gash in the ground that radiated chilling killing intent, sending shivers down the spine.

“…” Realizing Gu Changhuai meant business this time, Xue Lao Er didn’t dare utter a word of defense and vanished into the black mist, fleeing.

The Shadow Clan had an iron rule.

Whoever touched a berserk Gu Changhuai was doomed.

Gu Changhuai stepped forward and yanked the ring-pommel sword, buried several inches into the ground. He leaned down and swiftly sealed Pei Tianyi’s major acupoints, quickly suppressing the overflowing demon vein.

Seeing Pei Tianyi dazed and pale, on the verge of breakdown, he simply tapped his neck, knocking him out.

Gu Changhuai said flatly, “Temporarily sealed. Take him to Rong Ye immediately.”

Jin Shuang quickly understood and nodded. He supported the unconscious Pei Tianyi and asked, “What about you?”

“Me?” Gu Changhuai’s tone was languid as he smiled. “I’m going to teach that fool a lesson.” With those words, he vanished from the spot.

…

Silence enveloped the surroundings.

Jin Shuang surveyed the empty Zhuangzi Manor. The roses around had completely withered, the thorny vines on the eaves dried up. Beneath the withered thorns lay heaps of bones exposed to the air.

Including the previously concealed walls, gardens, and rooftops—everything was piled with snow-white to yellowish corpses.

With Zhuangzi’s master dead, the manor lost its disguise. The bones emerged, murderous aura soaring to the heavens. Without the thick floral scent, the faint stench of human bones lingered.

These bones stacked one atop another. A rough glance showed some very small, shorter than his arm; some adult-sized, but most from teenagers around ten to under twenty.

Such heavy baleful aura.

This was troublesome.

Jin Shuang’s expression grew solemn.