Who Was the Aggrieved Party?

Watching Wu Baoru coax him along step by step, Yue Qianchou thought, I'll play along with you slowly, old man. Aloud, he asked, "Really?"

"Mm!" The former nodded heavily. After hesitating for a moment, the latter said, "All right! I'll tell you, but you absolutely mustn't tell anyone else!"

"Mm!" After nodding, Wu Baoru could not help sighing to himself that Hao Sansi had taken in an idiot for a disciple.

"Then swear a venomous oath that you won't tell anyone else." Yue Qianchou still looked unconvinced.

"Er..." Wu Baoru took another deep breath, thinking, I'll endure it. I'll deal with you slowly later. He slowly raised a hand and said, "I swear that I will never reveal the secret my martial nephew tells me today. If I break this oath, may I die a miserable death. You can speak now!"

Yue Qianchou nodded happily, looked around as though afraid someone might be eavesdropping, then lowered his voice. "Martial Uncle, bring your ear closer. Don't let anyone else hear." Wu Baoru's eyes lit up, and he obediently leaned over. He heard Yue Qianchou say, "I really do have a secret when I cultivate. Every time, Master gives me his Spirit Stones to absorb their spiritual energy. Master told me not to tell outsiders."

Wu Baoru waited for a while. When no more words came, he turned and asked, "What else?" Yue Qianchou shook his head. "That's all."

"What? That's all?" Wu Baoru shrieked. What kind of secret was that? It was perfectly normal for a master to give Spirit Stones to a favored disciple. The purpose was simply to help the disciple's cultivation rise quickly. He instantly felt as though he had been toyed with. Grabbing Yue Qianchou by the front of his robes, he said darkly, "Are you going to talk or not?"

"Hmph!" Yue Qianchou snorted coldly. The foolish look on his face vanished in an instant. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he said calmly, "What? Since you couldn't trick it out of me, you want to use force?"

"Ha ha!" Wu Baoru froze for a moment, then burst into furious laughter. So he had treated the other man like an idiot, only to be played like an idiot all along. He had truly lost face this time. He said viciously, "Good brat, you dared to toy with me? I think you're tired of living." His aura suddenly erupted.

How could Yue Qianchou, at his current level, withstand the cultivation of the Nascent Soul Realm? The pressure of that aura immediately made it hard for him to breathe, and the killing intent within it was as plain as day. Yue Qianchou said coldly, "If you dare touch even a hair on my head, I guarantee you'll never learn this secret. If you don't believe me, try it."

"You think I don't dare?" Wu Baoru slowly raised one palm.

"I'll wait and see." Yue Qianchou raised a brow and smiled. "But there's something I should remind you of. If I die, I wonder whether the others in the Qingguang Sect will suspect that you swallowed this secret all by yourself."

Though Wu Baoru's expression did not change, Yue Qianchou clearly saw his pupils contract sharply. The former gave a sinister chuckle. "I'll give you one last chance. If you don't talk, I'll kill you immediately."

"Thank you! You don't need to give me another chance. Kill me now!" Yue Qianchou smiled at him. Though he said that, his mind had long since locked onto the golden bead in his dantian. The moment he detected any sign that the other man was about to attack, he would flee at once.

The muscles in Wu Baoru's face twitched. His triangular eyes rolled, and he suddenly shoved Yue Qianchou away. With a cold laugh, he said, "I almost fell for it. You brat were trying to provoke me."

Yue Qianchou straightened the wrinkled front of his robes and shook his head with a sigh. "You old bastard. You're clearly afraid that killing me will draw the suspicions of the other Old Fellows, yet you insist on finding yourself a dignified step to climb down. If you knew it would come to this, why bare your fangs and brandish your claws? Old dog, just look what you did to my clothes." He no longer spared the man any face. Since they had already torn off all pretenses, there was no need to hide anything.

"Heh heh! You sharp-tongued little beast. I won't waste my breath with you. I'll cripple your dantian right now and make your life worse than death for the rest of your days. I'll torment you until you talk." Wu Baoru was trembling with rage. After so many years in the Qingguang Sect, when had anyone ever cursed him like this? From the look of him, he was not merely talking—he truly intended to act.

"Oh? You're getting serious now. I've got the golden bead, so I'm not afraid. Mm! Today seems to be the day they discuss cultivation insights. I'll play you to death, old dog." Thinking this, Yue Qianchou sighed. "Stop. I'll admit I'm afraid of you. I can tell you, but I want to go to Qingguang Grand Hall and tell the Sect Master personally. If you refuse, I'll self-destruct my dantian."

Wu Baoru froze. Once you tell me, I'll slaughter you immediately, he thought, then readily agreed. Yue Qianchou could have guessed what he was planning with his backside.

Yue Qianchou swaggered ahead, while Wu Baoru followed behind with a cold smile. The two headed one after the other toward the Qingguang Sect's grand hall. After passing through the enclosing wall, they saw many disciples seated in the middle of the square, listening to lectures, while several elders sat below the hall sharing their cultivation insights. A knowing smile appeared on Yue Qianchou's face.

Just as they approached the crowd in the middle, Yue Qianchou suddenly took off running for his life. Wu Baoru was slightly stunned. Where could you possibly run to here?

"Help! Someone's trying to rob me of my Spirit Stones! The old dog is trying to rob me of my Spirit Stones! The old bastard wants to murder me for my wealth! Sect Master, save me..." Yue Qianchou shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice rang across the entire square, and his cries were incomparably miserable. In an instant, countless gazes throughout the square turned toward them.

Wu Baoru had not expected him to pull such a stunt in front of everyone. He was almost angered into fainting and roared, "Stop right there!" His figure flashed as he shot forward.

"Damn! The old dog's furious." Just as Yue Qianchou was preparing to hide inside the golden bead, a voice rang out from the grand hall. "Stop!" At the same time, one of the elders who had been discussing cultivation insights flashed over and stood in front of Yue Qianchou.

"Senior Brother Lu, move aside! I'm going to kill him!" Wu Baoru roared in fury. The old man called Senior Brother Lu frowned slightly and barked, "Junior Brother Wu, look where you are! What kind of conduct is this?" This man was Lu Wanqian.

"I..." Reminded by his senior brother, Wu Baoru looked around. Countless people were staring at him in disbelief. Then he recalled that little beast's cries, and his heart immediately turned half cold. He had utterly lost face today. Yet that detestable face behind his senior brother was making faces directly at him. He began trembling all over in rage and shouted, "This Baleful Intent is killing me!"

"Who is making a racket outside the hall?" Sect Master Liu Changqing emerged with a group of elders. Yue Qianchou immediately turned and ran toward them, crying, "Sect Master, save me! Martial Uncle Wu wants to kill me to silence me! Sect Master, save me! Martial Uncle Wu wants to kill me to silence me!"

Liu Changqing and the others immediately fixed their gazes on Wu Baoru. They knew perfectly well why Wu Baoru had gone looking for Yue Qianchou.

"Utter nonsense! This Baleful Intent is killing me! Little beast, I'll kill you!" Wu Baoru was so furious he was on the verge of vomiting blood. He leaped straight over Lu Wanqian and unleashed a streak of dazzling light toward Yue Qianchou.

"Outrageous!" Liu Changqing flicked out his whisk. Its strands instantly lengthened, wrapped around the streak of light, and pulled it back. A longsword was bound within them. Two elders also flew out from his side and seized Wu Baoru. The latter stared at Yue Qianchou with bloodshot eyes, howling wildly as though he wished he could tear him into ten thousand pieces.

After glancing at Wu Baoru, Liu Changqing stared at Yue Qianchou and asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Sect Master, save me!" Yue Qianchou seemed frightened out of his wits. Dropping to his knees, he cried loudly, "Today, Martial Uncle Wu came to find this disciple. After forcing this disciple to reveal a secret, he stole the one hundred mid-grade Spirit Stones my master left me. This disciple had originally planned to swallow this insult and let the matter pass. But for some reason, Martial Uncle Wu refuses to let me go. This disciple suspects that Martial Uncle intends to kill me to silence me. This disciple is so wronged! I never imagined that just after my master died, Martial Uncle Wu would actually... sob sob... Sect Master, please uphold justice for this disciple."

"Ah..." The entire square immediately erupted. Though the Cultivation World was inherently cold and faithless, it was still rare to see a martial uncle rob the disciple of his own junior brother immediately after that junior brother's death. Seeing Yue Qianchou's miserable state, no one would have imagined that he dared falsely accuse his martial uncle. Though no one dared discuss it loudly, whispers were unavoidable. Everyone looked at Wu Baoru as though he were some kind of monster. Among them were disciples from Wu Baoru's lineage, who lowered their heads in utter shame.

Many female disciples, hearing of Yue Qianchou's tragic suffering and seeing how pitifully he spoke, had tears welling in their eyes. Qu Ping'er bit her lower lip hard. She had never imagined that the talented man who had composed two peerless songs would suffer such abuse.

"Little beast! You still dare say... I'll kill you!" Wu Baoru struggled madly, but with two senior brothers whose cultivation surpassed his holding him down, how could he break free?

Yue Qianchou thought, Is this old fellow about to be angered out of his mind? Tch! With such poor mental fortitude, and he still dared come out and play the thug. Still, it's best if he goes mad with rage. I'll provoke him a little more.

"Martial Uncle Wu, you dare do it, but you won't even let me speak of it... ngh!" Yue Qianchou clutched his chest, looking as though his heart condition had flared up. He staggered a few steps, spread his arms, and raised his head to the sky as he cried, "Heavens! Open your eyes and look! There is actually someone in this world so utterly devoid of conscience." After barely steadying himself, he pointed at Wu Baoru and screamed hysterically, "I have held no grudge against you in the past, no grievance against you in the present—why do you treat me like this? Why do you treat me like this?" His grief and fury were enough to move one to tears.

"Martial Ancestor Uncle Yue is so pitiful!" Female disciples in front of the hall immediately began choking up. One stirred two, two stirred three... before long, quite a few female disciples were openly weeping.

"Pfft!" The sound of their crying fell upon Wu Baoru's ears like a thunderbolt. His whole body shook, yet there was nothing he could do to Yue Qianchou. Rage attacked his heart, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed into his senior brother's arms.

Damn! I'm still the greatest. I actually angered a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator into fainting, ha ha! Yue Qianchou looked through tear-blurred eyes at the man who had vomited blood.

Liu Changqing's face was ashen. He had never imagined that sending Wu Baoru to find Yue Qianchou would cause such a mess. His gaze swept back and forth between the two, yet he could not tell who was truly the aggrieved party. When Wu Baoru fainted, his eyes immediately locked onto Yue Qianchou. But how could the face Yue Qianchou had tempered through two lifetimes be so easily seen through?