He walked into the mountain belly during the daytime and passed through a deep tunnel. The old man led him to the edge of a deep pit, where several sturdy young villagers from the village stood guard.
Mu Daoying feared the old man might be an inside collaborator with some trick up his sleeve, so he sealed the man’s vital points and left him there temporarily. He himself quietly slipped behind the young villagers.
“Who’s there?!” The young villagers whipped around fiercely. They were vigilant enough, but in the end, they were just untrained mortals. Though faint demonic qi leaked during their scuffle, suggesting they had cultivated demonic arts, Mu Daoying still knocked them down one by one.
He went back, grabbed the old man, and brought him to the pit’s edge.
Even with mental preparation, the sight at the bottom of the pit sent chills down Mu Daoying’s spine.
The pit’s base was layered with countless white bones. Among the human skeletons lay Immortal Alliance disciples including Liu Qiao’e, Zhao Yange, Song Miaoling, and many others, sprawled in disarray.
It was clear that Ren Family Village had colluded with the Demonic Sect. What Mu Daoying couldn’t understand was how these mortals, even if they had cultivated demonic arts, had taken down the likes of Song Miaoling and Lai Yongle.
His other companions could arrive at any moment, so Mu Daoying demanded the antidote from the old man.
The old man still refused to hand it over. Not wanting to harm him, Mu Daoying put on a show and coldly threatened to break his fingers and sever his meridians. After much persuasion, he finally forced the old man to relinquish the antidote.
Mu Daoying didn’t dare delay. He forced the old man to descend into the pit with him, first lifting Liu Qiao’e and pulling her into his arms.
Seeing her eyes tightly shut, her life hanging by a thread, his expression darkened, and pain stabbed his heart. He fed her the antidote, gently stroked her back, and waited for her to wake.
‘…Qiao’e, Qiao’e. If something truly happened to her, he really wouldn’t know what to do.’
He waited anxiously for a good while, not daring to miss the slightest change on her face, until she finally furrowed her brows lightly, let out a soft groan, and slowly came to.
“I…”
When Liu Qiao’e opened her eyes, her gaze was still dazed. Her head felt heavy, her thoughts a jumble.
Where was she?
She only remembered that she had fallen asleep, with Mu Daoying guarding her side as usual, so she slept deeply.
Until she suddenly sensed a faint movement… as if someone was touching her storage pouch!
She opened her eyes but hadn’t reacted when Mu Daoying kissed her!
He had never been so forward before. It left her startled, flustered, and intoxicated. In an instant, she forgot the suspicion in her mind, forgot to stay alert, forgot to probe, and let her guard down completely—until she abruptly lost consciousness.
She snapped awake, her expression changing drastically. How could she not realize there was something fishy!
With fury on her face, she stood up and lunged forward, yanking open his collar at the neck.
Mu Daoying’s heart sank. He knew he had muddled things up worse and didn’t dare hide anything.
Seeing his neck—slender, fair, and spotless—her face turned extremely gloomy.
Mu Daoying gauged her expression and called out, “Qiao—”
Before the word finished, a heavy slap landed on his left cheek. “You bastard, Mu Daoying!”
She glared at him with hatred. “You deceived me!”
Mu Daoying knew he was in the wrong and took the slap. He quickly grasped her hand. “Qiao’e, hear me out—”
“This isn’t the time or place to talk. Look around first.”
Rage nearly consumed her mind.
For her, this was an utterly intolerable betrayal! But she wasn’t some child ruled by emotions; she knew priorities. Forcing down her anger, she looked up, her brows knitting even tighter.
“What in the world is going on?!”
Mu Daoying didn’t delay and explained the entire sequence of events. He frowned. “There’s something wrong with this village. When I arrived, I saw everyone’s weapons had been disarmed. In short, let’s detoxify everyone first.”
Liu Qiao’e’s face remained coldly stern. She touched Blood Rakshasa—it was still in her sleeve—and breathed a sigh of relief. Her realm was too high; the villagers couldn’t do anything with it.
As for how she was knocked out by Mu Daoying’s ruse, that was one thing, but how had these villagers with their crude methods taken down Song Miaoling and the others?!
Liu Qiao’e suppressed her multitude of questions and first helped him administer the antidote to everyone.
When the others woke, they all felt sore and weak, still shaken.
Song Miaoling’s face was pale. “What kind of knockout drug was that? It actually put all of us under!”
Di Chong woke in a rage. “These wretched villagers!” He spotted the old man trying to slip away amid the chaos and unleashed a sword strike in fury.
The sword light hadn’t reached him when Liu Qiao’e and Mu Daoying blocked it, one in front and one behind.
Mu Daoying said, “Don’t kill him. There are still many questions that need thorough interrogation.”
Di Chong spat, “Who the hell do you think you are!”
Liu Qiao’e snapped coldly, “Spare him, or I’ll treat you as an accomplice and execute you on the spot!”
Di Chong gritted his teeth but stayed his hand.
Even knowing the timing was off, Mu Daoying couldn’t help stealing another glance at him.
–
The old man was pinned down by the group, trembling in fear, scared out of his wits. Liu Qiao’e, Lai Yongle, and others went to question him. The rest investigated the white bones in the pit.
Zhao Yange sidled up to Mu Daoying. He was still a bit frightened, his face pale, but his greatest worry wasn’t Ren Family Village. “Ning Xia…”
Shen Chengyin looked downcast. “Sorry. We acted without caution and fell into their trap, getting you involved.”
Mu Daoying comforted her instead. “Human hearts are unpredictable. Today, they schemed against Qiao’e when she had no defenses up. And we fell into their scheme too—something we couldn’t have foreseen or avoided. Don’t take it to heart.”
Zhao Yange hesitated to speak. “It’s all our—”
Mu Daoying shook his head. “Yange, this isn’t the time for that.”
“It’s my fault.”
Mu Daoying fell silent for a moment, then shook his head lightly but firmly. “This was my choice alone. No one forced me, so how could it be your fault?”
Since he had resolved to do such a thing back then, he should have recognized the possibility of failure and borne its consequences.
What worried him was—perhaps it was his imagination—but since Liu Qiao’e woke, he felt something about her had changed. Yet he didn’t dare dwell on it.
Zhao Yange mumbled to himself, practically wanting to howl at the sky. What the hell kind of situation was this?!
Meanwhile, Liu Qiao’e and the others hadn’t gotten any useful answers when footsteps echoed from the tunnel outside!
Heavy steps, mixed with chatter, laughter, and complaints.
Lai Yongle glanced back at the group with a signal. They understood. The moment those villagers entered the pit, a barrage of spells and divine abilities rained down like it was free.
The villagers hadn’t even reacted before they were beaten into submission, kneeling and begging for mercy.
“Where are our swords?!” a Supreme Harmony Sect disciple demanded.
“They’re… with the village head,” a burly man pleaded through tears.
Moments later, Zheng Shen was also dragged over.
The Immortal Alliance disciples who investigated the bones came back and reported they had found tokens from other sects.
“Besides beast bones, plenty of cultivators died too—all reportedly missing in Fogveil City before.”
Liu Qiao’e gave no response.
Mu Daoying stayed silent. He glanced at Liu Qiao’e; now he fully understood what she was thinking.
The two were nearly of one mind.
The group stared in shock and suspicion at the kneeling villagers before them—men and women, from decrepit elders to young children!
It was too absurd. Liu Qiao’e demanded of Zheng Shen, “What’s with the demonic qi on you all? When did you collude with the Demonic Sect? And how did you secretly kill so many cultivators?”
Seeing the scene, Zheng Shen understood everything. He immediately prostrated himself and spilled it all.
“It wasn’t that we wanted to harm anyone. We just wanted to survive!!”
–
Roughly several decades ago, the earthquakes and fissures in Fogveil City weren’t as frequent yet.
The spirit ore from the mines was abundant and stable, and the people lived peacefully, though cave-ins sometimes killed many, and overseers often abused and shortchanged them.
But overall, life was tolerable.
“Then one day, no one knew why, but the spirit ore output suddenly dwindled. The quality grew unstable—mostly scraps and impurities. But up top—” Zheng Shen pointed skyward, “—those sect and clan bigshots still forced us to dig nonstop. They even suspected us of hoarding and beat several to death!”
“The Immortal Alliance made us mine day and night. With no power to resist, we just kept digging, and countless people came down with mineral plague!”
As he spoke, he gestured for the other villagers to roll up their sleeves. They did, revealing patches of blue crystals protruding like scales on their limbs. These grew under the skin, piercing through flesh and merging with it. Fresh ones still oozed blood and pus.
“With this mineral plague, the wounds itch and ache every day. Have you ever heard the sound of crystals growing under your skin at night? Rustling, like rats gnawing bones. If it were just the pain, fine—but the real issue is, once you get mineral plague, you don’t have long to live. We all knew it.”
Liu Qiao’e said coldly, “But you all seem to be living just fine!”
Zheng Shen smiled bitterly. “So that’s the answer to what that old lady asked us.”
“We didn’t want to die; we wanted to live. One day, a group of black-clothed people arrived in the city and countryside, preaching ‘Perfect Virtue Brings Release from Suffering, Rebirth in Peace.'”
“They even treated our illnesses and taught us cultivation.”
“How did they teach you to cultivate?” Song Miaoling asked.
Zheng Shen fell silent.
Di Chong barked, “Speak!”
“They… they told us to cultivate with bones, saying the essence souls of all things lie in bone, blood, and flesh. At first, we only used animals. Later, they had us kill visiting cultivators, drain their essence, and said cultivators’ bones held the richest essence souls… that they usually exploited and abused us, so it was just them reaping what they sowed.”
“At first, we were scared. How could we beat cultivators? They gave us a knockout drug. But these cultivators always looked down on mortals and had no guard up against us, so we succeeded time and again.”
“Later, more of them came and specially instructed us… that the Immortal Alliance had noticed something off and might send people to wipe us out… to strike first. So we waited for you immortal seniors…”
With the Demonic Sect’s specially tailored knockout drug, premeditated and targeted at them, it was indeed possible to take down Song, Lai, and the other elders.
“The knockout drug?” Liu Qiao’e asked.
“All used up,” Zheng Shen shook his head. “None left.”
Liu Qiao’e believed him but didn’t fully. It wasn’t the time to pursue that. She raised her face and asked again, “Did they make and deliver these drugs? You couldn’t make them?”
Zheng Shen said, “We couldn’t.”
“When do they come? How do you hand over? Where?”
Zheng Shen stammered, “In… in the core depths. They instructed us; in two days, they’ll surely come to check…”
Liu Qiao’e sneered. “So you feared we’d notice something and sabotaged the lift?”
Zheng Shen acquiesced.
“I have a question for you.” Liu Qiao’e suddenly said.
“Your words are touching, very moving, but there’s a premise.” Liu Qiao’e’s gaze swept over the kneeling villagers. “You’re not one of them.”
“You’re an Immortal Alliance overseer. That’s why they placed you as village head of Ren Family Village.”
“As a cultivator with no blood ties to them, never bullied or afflicted by mineral plague, why tangle with them? What’s in it for you?”
“Old lady,” Zheng Shen smiled bitterly. “Hearts are made of flesh too. I’ve been in Ren Family Village for over a dozen years, day in and day out with these folks. How could I bear to watch my fellow villagers suffer?”
Liu Qiao’e only sneered coldly. “The heavens turn, and the Demonic Sect shall rise. You’ve heard that long-circulating rumor, no doubt. I’ve heard many cultivators believe the Demonic Sect’s rise is inevitable and all want to ride that wave for founding merits, secretly defecting to the Demonic Sect.”
“In my view, you’re nothing but an opportunist!” She grew stern.
“Old Mother,” Zheng Shen still smiled bitterly, “if water is too clear, no fish will live in it. I certainly have my own selfish motives, but you can’t deny my true feelings! Who can clearly distinguish between selfish motives and true feelings?”
Di Chong said, “Your words sound so pretty! No wonder along the way, I haven’t seen any other overseers. I’m afraid they either colluded with you long ago or were secretly killed by you after you practiced your demonic arts!”
Song Miaoling also said, “You’re innocent, but aren’t those cultivators innocent too?”
As fellow cultivators, the Immortal Alliance members stirred restlessly for a moment, all filled with righteous indignation. “These people have practiced demonic arts, so they’re Demonic Sect disciples. We don’t need to be polite with them!”
“So much suffering, so much hardship! There are plenty of miserable people in this world. No amount of hardship justifies doing evil!”
Several Immortal Alliance disciples could no longer hold back and drew their swords to advance.
“To prevent them from harming more people, why not kill them all right here!”
Lai Yongle looked toward Liu Qiao’e. “Old Mother, what do you think…”
Everyone present awaited Liu Qiao’e’s decision.
Liu Qiao’e said, “Hold on!”
“I forbid you from moving,” she scanned the crowd coldly. “Whoever dares to step forward?!”
“Old Mother!!” Those few disciples were still unwilling, but Mu Daoying swiftly disarmed them with a backhand.
“Old Mother!” Lai Yongle was also startled. “They’ve harmed so many innocent cultivators, after all.”
Liu Qiao’e’s fair and beautiful cheeks were as cold as frost, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.
She asked Zheng Shen, “Have you ever killed ordinary people?”
Zheng Shen replied, “The other fellow villagers never bullied us, so how could we randomly kill people! Apart from killing a few cultivators, Old Mother, this pit is full of beast bones.”
Only then did Liu Qiao’e turn to face the crowd.
“As cultivators, how few people do we harm on a normal day? A single fight shakes the earth and mountains, destroying countless fields, toppling countless homes, and driving countless innocent commoners to death!”
“This…”
“But we’ve all given corresponding compensation,” one disciple said.
Liu Qiao’e looked at that disciple. “If I killed your parents and then compensated you, would you want it or not?”
“I…”
“Speak! Would you want it or not?”
“I…” That disciple gritted his teeth and straightened his back. “No! How can a son not avenge his parents?!”
“Good!” Liu Qiao’e praised.
She raised her face to the crowd again. “We’ve all grown used to throwing our weight around on a daily basis. Can’t stand it when the ants we look down on the most bite back?”
Her words were too sharp and piercing. The crowd buzzed with dissatisfaction.
“I’ve heard that there are some scoundrels in the Immortal Alliance who, when they run out of spirit stones, deliberately come to the mines to extort these commoners. The cultivators they’ve killed over these years weren’t all innocent either.” Liu Qiao’e didn’t press them too hard and softened her tone slightly. “Moreover, the truth of the matter hasn’t been investigated yet. They’re important witnesses—how can we kill them recklessly? Cripple their demonic arts for now, and we’ll discuss the rest later!”
She simply acted according to her own likes and dislikes. Over these years, how few commoners had cultivators bullied? They’d killed tens of thousands of lives—when had any cultivator ever paid with their own life?
What did it matter if she protected them this once?
Not convinced? If you’re not convinced, hold it in! If you can’t hold it in, then step forward—she’d beat them into submission one by one!