Pardon

Among the Baxiang Six Sects, Tianmu Mountain was a most peculiar presence to Liu Xiaolou—both familiar and unfamiliar.

It was familiar because of the life-and-death blood feud between Wulong Mountain and Tianmu Mountain. Back then, in seeking revenge, Liu Xiaolou and the band of Wulong Mountain heroes had dealt with Tianmu Mountain often enough. They truly were "friends bound by life and death."

Yet it was unfamiliar because, as the Sect Leader of a minor sect subordinate to Tianmu Mountain, he had never once set foot in the sect's inner mountain, much less upon the Cloud Terrace where the Lu clan sect resided. If he had to say he had come once, it would only have been when he stole the Foundation Establishment Pill years ago. Even then, he had not ventured deep into the Cloud Terrace, merely circling its outer edges.

He had always disliked Tianmu Mountain and avoided dealing with it whenever possible. Even though Lu Yuanlang had long since turned to ashes, he had never wished to have anything to do with Tianmu Mountain. Yet at this very moment, he could only stand outside Tianmu Mountain's gates and await a summons.

Looking up the mountain, he saw layered peaks rising and falling, with the occasional pavilion or tower hidden amid the woods, nothing visible but their upturned eaves.

A faint fragrance drifted beneath his nose, carrying a trace of familiarity. Someone hurried out from within the mountain gates—it was Yellow Leaf Immortal, whom he had not seen in a long time.

That bloody tragedy back then had begun with the betrayal of Yellow Leaf Immortal and Dai Shenggao. Liu Xiaolou later learned that they had acted only because their flesh-and-blood children had been seized. Though much of his hatred had faded, it was absolutely impossible for him