Nine Nether Wind Flame

"I'll talk... I'll tell you everything!" the old man wailed. Wounds covered his body, along with charred marks left by flames.

Watching the old man roll about on the ground, Zhang Tian felt calm as still water.

How many people's struggles were dismissed as beneath notice by others?

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—over those sixty years, how many "young men" had been bullied into losing their spirit and left destitute in love?

"Is life really so fragile?" Yun Yun stopped her Azure Longsword from falling. Sheathed sword in hand, she stood there in silence.

In these past few days, she had killed more innocent people than she had in all the years before combined. It made her feel terrible.

"All right, old sir, hurry and tell us." Zhang Tian smiled and personally helped the old man to his feet, speaking gently.

There was not the slightest trace of any other emotion in his actions, as though he were merely helping up an ordinary old man who had taken a fall.

"Don't you... feel guilty?" The look in Yun Yun's eyes changed as she stared at Zhang Tian. Afraid of hearing an answer she did not want to hear, she gripped her sword with both hands, even more nervous than she had been in battle.

"Guilty about what? Guilty about killing innocent people?" Zhang Tian helped the old man up, then thoughtfully patted the dust from his sleeve.

"Who in this world is truly innocent?" Zhang Tian sighed and looked steadily into Yun Yun's eyes.

"Everyone has those close to them and those distant from them, people they understand and people they resent. Only a stone could be without reason or feelings." He rubbed Yun Yun's hair. Naturally, they were close to him—along with his little disciple Xiao Yan, old Yao Lao who loved bickering with him, and his sworn brother Xiao Zhan...

"So then, does the saying, 'The sage is unkind and treats all things as straw dogs,' instead describe the greatest benevolence—fair and impartial?" Zhang Tian mocked himself inwardly. Cultivators were all full of contradictions. They claimed to uphold justice and chivalry, yet they so often blocked others from attaining the Dao.

"All right, let's hear what the old sir has to say first. With all the killing across this continent, can you really manage it all?" Zhang Tian spoke to Yun Yun with rare gentleness, without deliberately provoking her.

When the old man heard Zhang Tian call for him, his body began trembling as though he had been struck by lightning.

"Don't panic. Take your time. Just tell us before today is over." Zhang Tian chuckled, as easygoing and unhurried as though chatting with a friend.

"Huff... huff... huff..." The old man breathed frantically, as if trying desperately to steady himself. Only after swallowing hard did he look at Xiao Yan with bloodshot eyes.

"This... this old man's name is Wang Shunmao..." the old man stammered, utterly flustered.

"There's no need for introductions, old sir. We want to know the route to the Endless Abyss in the Land of the Far North. Please tell us in detail." Seeing that the old man could not calm down, Zhang Tian fed him a second-tier calming pill. Only then did he gradually settle down.

"To reach the Land of the Far North, you need to travel south from here for roughly three hundred li. After reaching the Demonic Sky Swamp, go another dozen or so li deeper, and you'll enter the Endless Abyss." The old man barely suppressed his pounding heart. Amid the ruins of broken walls and crumbling structures, tears streamed down his aged face. At this moment, all he hoped for was to survive.

"Good, I understand. Old sir, gather whatever treasures and valuables the sect left behind, then go down the mountain. Be careful on your way down." Zhang Tian nodded. A sect without even a Dou Emperor had nothing in its estate that either he or Yun Yun cared for.

When they reached the mountain gate and were about to descend, Qing Lin, dressed in green, came trotting over.

"What were you doing just now?" Zhang Tian stroked Qing Lin's little head and asked with a curious smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Um, I was looking at the scenery on the mountain. The trees formed forests, and there were tall mountains and cascading waterfalls. Startled deer and birds would pass by now and then, and the air was so fresh."

Qing Lin gave an adorable smile. Her childish little face was filled with innocence and purity.

"Want to stay a few more days?" Zhang Tian was tempted by her words. Ever since he was young, he had longed for this kind of quiet, elegant environment deep in the mountains and forests. Soaking in a mountain spring would be wonderfully relaxing.

"Resting again? Have you forgotten that you're seriously injured and still on someone else's territory? Going to the Endless Abyss is one thing, since there aren't many people there. If you want to rest, wait until you get there. Then you can lie around for as long as you want." Seeing these two, one big and one small, Yun Yun's veins bulged on her forehead. She rapped each of them on the head.

Zhang Tian and Qing Lin exchanged a glance. Qing Lin stuck out her tongue with a giggle, while Zhang Tian blinked and burst out laughing.

"Actually, I don't think there's a problem. This place is quite remote, and the scenery is nice. No one will find us. As the art of war says—"

"War, my ass!" This time, Yun Yun directly punched Zhang Tian on the forehead. Little Qing Lin shrank her neck, though she also wanted to laugh.

"Let's go." Yun Yun grabbed Zhang Tian and prepared to leave, thoroughly annoyed. Zhang Tian could only gaze reluctantly at the beautiful scenery around them.

"It's getting foggy..." Qing Lin suddenly raised her little head. Sure enough, a mountain mist had begun to rise at some point, gradually blurring the surroundings. A damp, warm sensation drifted over them, incredibly comfortable, though visibility had dropped considerably.

"Let's go to the waterfall!" Qing Lin's eyes darted as she ran toward the waterfall across the valley like a little deer.

The mountain range now formed something like a basin. The valley was filled with emerald vegetation and lush trees, while several peaks connected together did indeed somewhat resemble Five Finger Mountain.

Zhang Tian and Yun Yun smiled as they watched Qing Lin leap straight down into the valley, springing from tree to tree. Yun Yun shook her head helplessly.

Dressed in green as clear as jade waters, Qing Lin truly seemed to blend into the greenery of the valley.

"That sound... Mm, I like waterfalls like this. It's like a clear spring, yet grand and majestic." Zhang Tian casually found an excuse. Dou Qi wings appeared behind his back, and before Yun Yun's astonished gaze, he flew straight toward the other side.

The gust scattered Yun Yun's hair. With an annoyed huff, she spread her blue Dou Qi wings and chased after him.

Zhang Tian was far faster than Qing Lin. When he saw her lose her footing, snap a branch beneath her feet, and begin to fall, he shook his head and flew over, becoming a gust of wind as he caught her in his arms.

"Hey, little Qing Lin, aren't you afraid of falling?" His voice held a slight note of reproach. Qing Lin's little face was flushed red, though it was impossible to tell whether she had been frightened or was simply too excited.

Zhang Tian crossed the valley's several dozen meters in one leap. Without waiting for Yun Yun, he set Qing Lin down and rushed with her toward the waterfall.

"Rumble!" Falling from a mountain nearly a hundred meters high, the immense torrent sent spray flying endlessly. Its thunderous roar deafened their ears, drowning out every other sound.

Day after day, this magnificent waterfall crashed down with the same soul-stirring force, carrying the softness of water, the boom of thunder, and a boundless sense of power.

Countless droplets scattered in every direction. There was no fog here, but the air was saturated with moisture, because the mist had already blended into the spray filling the sky. Almost the instant they entered, Zhang Tian and Qing Lin were soaked like drowned rats. Zhang Tian only raised a Dou Qi barrier after bursting into laughter.

"You two really can run." Yun Yun caught up with them, speaking irritably. However, having seen Zhang Tian and Qing Lin's example, she had raised a Dou Qi barrier in advance.

"Let's go inside the waterfall and take a look." Qing Lin suddenly suggested, smiling at Yun Yun.

"Actually, now that we're here, I kind of want to leave." Zhang Tian scratched his head without much interest. After all, he was not a playful little girl like Qing Lin.

He had come on a whim, and now that whim had passed.

"No, let's go take a look. We've already come all this way." Damp vapor continued to permeate the air with a warm feeling. The waterfall's immense kinetic force became a roar that echoed endlessly through the valley. Qing Lin pouted and tugged on Yun Yun's hand.

As for Zhang Tian...

Standing off to the side and looking around, Zhang Tian felt a little awkward. Was I being ignored? Or had Qing Lin decided I couldn't beat Yun Yun, so she was doing this on purpose?

"All right." Yun Yun's big-sister instincts ultimately got the better of her. She could not withstand the innocent, adorable pleading of Qing Lin, a little girl around Nalan Yanran's age.

So the ultimate weapon against a big-sister type was actually a loli?

Zhang Tian could not help but entertain an absurd thought.