Crazy

"I don't know."

"Really."

"I'm sorry."

"Qingfeng, kill me or carve me up as you please. I, Yang Lingu, will bear no resentment."

Yang Lingu suddenly raised his head. Blood streamed down from his mangled forehead, mingling with tears as it ran past the corners of his eyes.

He crawled on his knees before Li Qingfeng.

Li Qingfeng abruptly raised the Dharma sword in his hand.

Struggling.

Agony.

"I learned of Meng Zhen's whereabouts and entered the Prefectural Governor's Mansion that night."

"I learned that they were using Meng Zhen as medicine."

"I immediately decided to take revenge."

"Why did you confess so easily?"

Li Qingfeng demanded sharply.

He hated him.

Yet in the end, he could not bring himself to strike.

His sword could not cut down a friend of old.

Killing someone was easy—but what came after? What had he done all this for?

Rip!

The Dharma sword sliced through the robe, and half of the green garment drifted to the ground.

"Today, I, Li Qingfeng, cut my robe and sever our bonds. We shall have nothing to do with each other again."

"Get lost."

Li Qingfeng seemed drained of all strength, barely managing to remain standing by leaning on his Dharma sword.

His withered hair hung loose over his shoulders.

His voice was soft.

Yet utterly resolute.

He had no time to remain entangled in such matters.

His gaze turned and fell upon the Prefectural Governor's Mansion.

His enemy was there!

Spiritual power surged, sweeping away his dejection as he strode toward the gates.

"I know that my one life cannot repay the one hundred and three lives of your family."

"Today, I return one life to you. If there is another life, I will return my life to you again!"

"Life after life, generation after generation, until the debt is paid!"

"I'm sorry to you, and I'm sorry to Meng Zhen."

"But I, Yang Lingu, am no coward clinging to life and fearing death."

"I never imagined it. I never imagined Zhang Wanlong would slaughter your entire family over something so trivial."

"I truly didn't know."

Yang Lingu rose from the ground and shouted at Li Qingfeng's retreating back.

He was lost. He hoped Li Qingfeng would turn around.

As he spoke, he drew a dagger concealed within his sleeve.

He gripped it tightly with both hands.

Trembling, he plunged it into his heart.

Blood filled his mouth. Yang Lingu's eyes flew wide as he clutched the dagger with all his strength.

It was the feeling of life slipping away.

He fell to his knees, his eyes fixed stubbornly on Li Qingfeng's back.

Until they finally dimmed.

He died.

Tu Shan Jun could clearly sense the gathering Baleful Intent and the disappearance of life force.

However, if they did not enter the Soul Banner, Living Souls would soon disperse.

Li Qingfeng did not turn back.

He had cut his robe and severed their bond because he could not bear to strike.

But that did not mean he would forgive Yang Lingu.

Not expecting something did not mean it should have happened.

Too many calamities had been wrought because no one expected them.

He should have prepared for the worst long ago.

The moment he learned that Meng Zhen had been harmed, he should have been ready.

Li Qingfeng walked toward the Prefectural Governor's Mansion.

The sun sank in the west, its scattered rays draping themselves over Li Qingfeng.

His hair hung loose.

He threw back his head and laughed.

He laughed until tears welled forth with it.

"Eh, why does that man look so much like the young master of the Li family?"

"Which Li family?"

"The Li family whose entire household was wiped out."

"I heard he went missing. Why has he returned?"

"He looks crazed. Could he have gone mad?"

"His family was destroyed and everyone died. How could he not go mad?"

"What a sin."

Dusk in Eight Directions Prefecture was no longer as bustling as before, though there were still quite a few peddlers.

Refugees and beggars gathered in heaps.

Teahouses and taverns remained open as usual.

Life, in the end, had to go on.

The common folk at the bottom had long grown accustomed to orders.

As long as they had a bite to eat, they would not resist.

Though many soldiers patrolled the Prefectural Governor's Mansion, and constables and yamen runners were everywhere, no one dared speak loudly. They did not even dare breathe too hard.

They could only feel the oppression.

The Prefect's central hall had not been rebuilt and remained half a ruin.

In the rear offices, Zhang Wanlong was entertaining two people who appeared richly dressed.

As they traded cups of wine, the two praised Prefect Zhang.

"I dare not accept the excessive praise of you two immortal masters."

"Ah, Prefect Zhang, there is no need to worry. From your description, that Demon Cultivator is nothing much."

"He merely relied on a strange Dharma artifact to show off his might."

"There is no need for elite disciples of the Five Spirit Sect. The two of us brothers will be more than enough."

"With the words of you two immortal masters, I can rest easy." Zhang Wanlong smiled.

There was not the slightest trace of amusement in his eyes.

A beautiful maid at his side poured wine for the immortal masters.

Zhang Wanlong could not discern the strength of these two immortal masters from the Liang capital, but he had realized that immortal masters were people too.

They lacked none of the seven emotions and six desires.

Their desires were even stronger.

Those like the resident immortal master, who were pure-hearted and ascetic and devoted themselves to secluded cultivation, were probably few.

After all, he had exchanged treasures with the higher-ranking resident immortal master to obtain the Five Spirit Art.

Regardless of their character, since they could become Attendants in the Liang capital, there should not be much question about their strength.

The resident immortal master alone had been able to injure, even defeat, that assassin and evil ghost.

Now that two more immortal masters had come, they would surely finish the job in a single battle.

After supporting two Attendants from the Liang capital in food, drink, and pleasure for half a month, Zhang Wanlong had grown somewhat weary of it.

He hoped that assassin would come again.

"My lord."

A yamen runner hurried into the inner hall, his expression tense.

Zhang Wanlong's brows drew together as he said in a deep voice, "What are you panicking for?"

"My lord, someone has broken into the yamen. He says he has come to take revenge on you."

Zhang Wanlong abruptly rose, a savage look flashing across his face. "Good! He has finally come again. It seems his injuries have healed."

"The two Attendants?"

As he spoke, Zhang Wanlong looked toward the two Liang capital Attendants who were drinking.

"Good. Since this Demon Cultivator who does not know the immensity of heaven and earth has delivered himself to our door, we may as well settle this assignment and return to report."

"Let's go meet him." The two exchanged smiles and rose together.

Five Directions Temple.

The young man woke from meditation and looked toward the Prefectural Governor's Mansion.

Baleful Intent filled the air.

"He has come."

He opened his hand. The message that should have been sent to the sect now lay quietly in his palm.

The young man shook his head and sighed.

If he summoned his senior brothers from the sect again, that man would have no chance left.

All he could do was guard Eight Directions Prefecture and drive out demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters.

He did not wish to involve himself in other matters.

At most, this was all he could do.

He walked out of the Daoist temple.

Alone, with the Ebony Dharma Sword on his back, he hurried toward the Prefectural Governor's Mansion.

Li Qingfeng entered the Prefectural Governor's Mansion holding a three-foot ghost-faced banner, Baleful Intent swirling around him.

No soldier or yamen runner could stop him.

Until he stepped into the central hall.

Zhang Wanlong seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

Two calm-faced men stood beside Zhang Wanlong.

Their ages could not be made out, but neither was young.

One of them smiled as he sized up Li Qingfeng. "Indeed, yin energy and souls coil around you. It seems quite a few people have died at your hands."

"I am Wen Lichun, an Attendant of Great Liang."

The other Attendant, a rather honest-looking middle-aged man, curled his lip.

With considerable arrogance, he said, "If you abandon your Dharma artifact and surrender with your hands bound, then for the sake of us both being Qi Refiners, I can still leave you an intact corpse."

Li Qingfeng did not look at the two of them. Instead, he stared fixedly at Zhang Wanlong.

The savage ferocity on his face was unmistakable as he roared, "Zhang Wanlong, today is the day you die!"

"Kill!"

The floor tiles beneath his feet suddenly shattered, dirt and stones rolling everywhere.

Li Qingfeng had already charged forward.

Seeing Li Qingfeng disregard them so completely, the honest-looking Attendant flew into a rage. "Wretch, do not be so insolent!"

Face to face, Li Qingfeng's ferocious visage was filled with murderous savagery.

How had that short, fat Attendant ever seen someone like this—a vicious criminal who seemed utterly unconcerned with his own life? He was so frightened that his mind went blank for an instant.

Fortunately, Wen Lichun reacted quickly and was just about to move to restrain Li Qingfeng.

Li Qingfeng slipped past Wen Lichun like an ape. His hands rose like horns lifted in worship of the moon, smashing into the stout Attendant's jaw.

The stout Attendant was struck three feet into the air, blood spraying wildly.

Tu Shan Jun sneered. This dead fat man still dared stand in the way of Li Qingfeng now.

Though the greatest strength of the Demon Ape Three Moves was enhancing the divine soul, it was also a genuine killing art.

To resist it with one's flesh alone—

Such arrogant behavior was simply courting death.

"Die!"

In the blink of an eye, Li Qingfeng had passed the stout Attendant and appeared before Zhang Wanlong.

He raised his palm and struck toward Zhang Wanlong's crown.

The blow was mighty and heavy.

The palm wind blew Zhang Wanlong's hair crown away, scattering his hair.

Zhang Wanlong could clearly see the lines on that palm.

Yet he was not the least bit flustered as he had been the first two times he encountered Li Qingfeng.

"Not good!"

Wen Lichun hurriedly sent forth his magic artifact.

If, right before their very eyes, they still allowed a demon-path scoundrel to kill Zhang Wanlong, forget punishment—even their reputations would look terribly bad.

Bang.

Li Qingfeng's Sword Hairpin transformed into a dharma sword and stood behind him.

It blocked Wen Lichun's attack.

At the same time, Li Qingfeng's eyes widened, filled with shock.