Who Are You, Really?

The more the steward thought back on it, the more familiar that face seemed. The doubts in his heart grew deeper and deeper.

When they had been eating earlier, he had already noticed that the man's cultivation should have been at the Qi Refining Third Layer.

It was not that he had wanted to stare. Zhao Ling'er, who had been with Chen Ze, was simply too strikingly beautiful, and he had unconsciously glanced at her several more times.

After thinking back on it, he was now certain that the incident where he had fallen earlier had been caused by this person.

Yet no matter how hard he thought, he could not understand how someone at the Qi Refining Third Layer dared provoke a person at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer like him.

Could he be deliberately trying to draw my attention?

There were too many uncertainties in the steward's heart now. He was merely someone who had been driven out of Qingyun Sect, with no patron left to rely on. A faint sense of lingering fear rose within him.

"Let's stop drinking here for today! I have something urgent to deal with."

After saying that, the steward ignored the strange looks from the others at the table, rose from his seat, and headed outside.

The others at the table looked at one another in bewilderment.

"This?"

The steward hurried out of the tavern. As long as he remained here, he could not shake the feeling of unease.

During his many years in Qingyun Sect, he had offended quite a few people.

Now that he had been expelled from Qingyun Sect and had come to Wannan City, what he feared most was running into old acquaintances from the past.

Although the people he had offended before had all merely been Service Disciples.

Who could say whether one of them had not encountered a fortuitous opportunity and soared into the heavens in a single leap?

I should leave this place as soon as possible. The steward's heart was filled with unease.

After leaving the tavern, the steward entered a narrow alley and turned through several alleyways in succession.

His pace quickened and quickened. He always felt as though a pair of eyes behind him had been staring at him.

Just then, a figure appeared before him. "Long time no see, Steward Lin."

The figure standing before Steward Lin was none other than Chen Ze.

"You are?" Steward Lin began sizing Chen Ze up. Sure enough, he was only at the Qi Refining Third Layer.

Yet he did not dare let down his guard. For someone at the Qi Refining Third Layer to block his way for no reason at all was far too abnormal.

At this moment, Steward Lin glanced back over his shoulder. He had already prepared himself to flee at the first sign that something was wrong.

But when Steward Lin turned around, he saw someone standing behind him as well. It was Zhao Ling'er.

"?" Seeing Zhao Ling'er, who had been eating with Chen Ze, did not strike him as too strange. Yet no matter how he looked, he could not make out Zhao Ling'er's cultivation.

Zhao Ling'er had completely restrained her aura at this moment. She was like an ordinary mortal, not revealing the slightest trace of cultivation.

Steward Lin was alarmed and suspicious. Being unable to see her cultivation did not mean she had none.

At that moment, Chen Ze said teasingly, "Steward Lin, you truly are a noble person with a poor memory.

Still, it is normal that Steward Lin does not remember me. After all, two years have passed.

Though you do not remember me, there has always been an obsession in my mind.

Now that I see you living so comfortably, that obsession has only grown deeper.

If I do not settle it, I will never be able to get past it."

Steward Lin was almost driven mad. He truly could not remember. "Who exactly are you?"

"Heh heh, Steward Lin, how did it feel to be driven out of Qingyun Sect?"

"Could it have been you?" Steward Lin's mind felt as though it had been struck by lightning. Even now, he still could not understand how he had been doing perfectly well, only to be driven out.

"Haha, it was me. Back then, you got me driven out of Qingyun Sect. Now, I will let you taste the same feeling.

Originally, this matter could have ended there. But today, when I suddenly saw that you were living so comfortably, I became a little uncomfortable."

"Who exactly are you? Why are you doing this?"

"Think carefully. Back then, there was someone who worked himself to the bone and knew only how to tend Spirit Fields.

He planted so much extra Spirit Rice, thinking he would earn recognition. Who would have thought that you would line your own pockets, causing him to be driven down the mountain by you?

I was the same back then. No matter how hard I thought, I could not understand why I had been driven out of the sect. I had clearly worked so hard."

At that moment, a figure seemed to surface in Steward Lin's mind. The person before him gradually overlapped with that figure.

"Chen Ze?" Steward Lin cried out in terror.

Chen Ze burst into laughter. "Haha, you finally remembered."

"No, you cannot be Chen Ze. He was just a worthless trash. He would never dare act as you have today." Steward Lin still found it hard to believe.

"Forget it. Since you have remembered who I am, there is no need to waste words."

"What do you want?" As he spoke, Steward Lin released the Spiritual Energy throughout his body, ready to strike at any moment.

"Haha! Do you think I am still the person I was back then?" After Chen Ze spoke, he likewise released his spiritual power and no longer concealed his cultivation. His Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation was revealed.

Feeling Chen Ze's aura, Steward Lin was utterly stunned. "Foundation Establishment Realm? How is that possible?"

"What is impossible about it?" Chen Ze said calmly.

Then, a stream of spiritual power shot from Chen Ze's fingertips, striking directly at Steward Lin's dantian.

Bang! A muffled explosion sounded from Steward Lin's dantian.

Steward Lin crumpled to the ground. His dantian had been destroyed, and his Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivation vanished in an instant.

Feeling the pain radiating from his dantian, Steward Lin wore a look of utter disbelief.

His cultivation had been crippled just like that? This cultivation had been his only support after he was driven out of Qingyun Sect.

He had once thought that with Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivation, even without Qingyun Sect, he could still live well.

Now his cultivation had been crippled, and by someone he had once looked down upon. His entire being descended into madness as he screamed, "Kill me! Kill me!"

Chen Ze frowned. "Noisy."

Another stream of spiritual power shot out.

Steward Lin only felt a chill at the root of his tongue. When he opened his mouth, something fell to the ground. He whimpered wordlessly, unable to speak.

Steward Lin completely broke down. He hurriedly knelt on the ground, picked up his tongue, and tried to stuff it back into his mouth.

"Let's go. This is boring now." Chen Ze called out to Zhao Ling'er, who had been watching from behind the entire time.

Zhao Ling'er hurried to Chen Ze's side and looked at him in confusion.

She felt that Chen Ze had never been this bloody before. In the past, at most, he would kill someone and be done with it. He had never tortured anyone like this.

"Let's go back. I will tell you about this slowly later."

Chen Ze turned and left with Zhao Ling'er, leaving Steward Lin alone, kneeling on the ground and trying to put his tongue back in.

There was no expression on Chen Ze's face, but something deep within his soul seemed to loosen.

It was as though a voice were shouting, as though it had finally been freed.

Zhao Ling'er followed beside Chen Ze, glancing at him from time to time.

She felt as though she had never seen Chen Ze like this before.

In her impression, Chen Ze seemed not to care about anything. He was always so calm and unruffled.

He lived every day so leisurely, as though nothing could ever affect him.

She knew now was not the time to ask. She was a Doppelganger; she only needed to obey his orders.

Moreover, she believed that Chen Ze had his reasons for everything he did. She did not need to ask too much.