Gu Yao glanced at the unperturbed You Su. He naturally knew that the youth had merely been used by City Lord Liu without meaning to, and that he had indeed wronged him. Gu Yao was torn. He did not fear having his prestige dented, but behind him stood the Xuanxiao Sect—the Mount Henggao.
Sigh. Since things had come to this, he could only wrong this innocent youth for now and think of a way to compensate him later.
"You're called You Su?"
Gu Yao finally began to take the youth seriously.
"That's right."
"Then do you know your mistake?"
Gu Yao's curiosity lasted only through a single exchange. Suddenly, a sharp light burst from his eyes, and his voice rang like thunder. Even the onlookers were frightened enough to have their hearts and guts split apart.
You Su was stunned for a moment. Then, inspiration suddenly flashed through his mind. He lowered his head and bowed, clasping his hands with a sharp smack that drew everyone's attention. In a solemn voice, he replied:
"You Su knows his mistake!"
Gu Yao narrowed his gleaming eyes slightly, clasped his hands behind his back, and snorted coldly.
"Hmph! Then where did you go wrong?"
You Su gritted his teeth and turned his head aside, his face filled with extreme remorse. Before the spectators at the edge of the field had figured out what was happening, You Su had already cried out in pain:
"I was wrong to think myself clever and ruin Immortal Master Gu's painstaking intentions!"
Only then did Gu Yao turn around. His thick brows relaxed slightly as he said coldly:
"Then tell me, what painstaking intentions did I have? If you can't say, your punishment will be increased!"
As City Lord Liu listened to the two of them question and answer each other, he finally raised his head and revealed his withered face. He looked at the youth half-kneeling on the ground, an inscrutable light flashing through his eyes.
"The sacred mountain protects the mortal realm, keeping evil spirits beyond the earth so that the human races of the Five Continents may live and work in peace. Yet evil spirits are sinister and cunning, slipping through every crack. Immortal Master Gu came all this way here, certainly not simply to catch a stray evil spirit. More importantly, he came to warn the cultivators of the world on behalf of the sacred mountain: no matter when or where, the evil of evil spirits is right beside us! We must never rely blindly on the sacred mountain and let down our guard. Only by guarding our original hearts and devoting ourselves wholeheartedly to the Dao can we truly leave evil spirits no opportunity to take advantage of us!"
You Su spoke with impassioned conviction. Gu Yao's expression remained as calm as still water, but inwardly, he was so shocked by You Su's performance that he was utterly speechless.
He had merely wanted to force the youth to admit to concealing the truth and giving offense, allowing him to recover his dignity. He had never expected that this blind man would not only understand so quickly, but would also elevate his arrival into such a grand cause. Gu Yao could not help looking forward to how You Su would justify his next words.
"Continue."
You Su lifted his eyes, understood perfectly, and continued mournfully:
"Even a butcher knows the principle that one need not use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken. If you wanted to test whether we had been tainted by evil spirits, why would you need the Golden Eyes? Immortal Master Gu had long seen that we were all law-abiding people, yet he still spared no effort to expend his energy and cast the technique. His purpose was none other than to make us remain vigilant in times of peace and experience the terror of being controlled by evil thoughts. Only after everyone thought the disturbance had settled did he identify the final person as an Evil Demon. Only then could his painstaking intentions reach their climax."
"So no matter who the final person was, Immortal Master Gu would have said the words 'You are an Evil Demon.' His purpose was to make us panic and take the matter seriously. Only after revealing the truth in the end could we truly understand the principles I mentioned, raise our vigilance, and stay away from evil spirits. Yet I not only concealed the fact that I was blind, I even became smug because of Immortal Master Gu's misjudgment, and went so far as to speak out and ruin his painstaking efforts!"
"I deserve ten thousand deaths!"
Most of the people at the edge of the field cried out in surprise. They had never imagined there was such a reason behind everything. Only after hearing You Su's explanation did they awaken to the truth. No wonder Chuyun City was such a remote little city, a place that had not seen a single evil spirit in hundreds of years, yet someone had suddenly come here to hunt one.
A small group of people, however, remained silent. It was unclear whether they were merely pretending to be calm or, like You Su, had seen through the cause and effect behind everything.
There was one person who had certainly seen through the entire charade. The corners of City Lord Liu's lips curled upward. He was practically shouting, What a fine performance!
"Consider yourself clever!"
Gu Yao assumed a solemn expression and waved his large hand. From within his sleeve, he took out an ancient bronze mirror. Gu Yao secretly infused it with qi. Under the reflection of the sunlight, a shifting circular scene appeared in the air:
The small city in the scene flourished, with cultivators and commoners living together in harmony. Suddenly, one of the cultivators in the crowd changed shape, transforming into a massive blue fleshy monster! Resistance and escape were both futile. Mortals were trampled casually like ants, while the cultivators were swallowed whole like self-service meals for evil spirits. Broken limbs and severed arms lay everywhere. The peaceful little city instantly became a living hell.
After everyone watched the images, they all drew in a sharp breath.
Most of them were like lambs protected inside a sheepfold. To them, evil spirits had been described as lightly and simply as a mother sheep warning her lambs, "There are hungry wolves outside." Only after seeing another lamb torn apart by a hungry wolf, its entrails spilling everywhere, did they truly understand how terrifying hungry wolves were.
Gu Yao struck while the iron was hot and spoke in a ringing voice:
"This was a real incident that took place in Xijing City of the Central Yuan Continent two months ago. Xijing City is even somewhat closer to Mount Henggao than your Chuyun City. The impact of that evil-spirit massacre was extremely vile, but it also sounded an alarm for us: the mortal realm has enjoyed peace for too long. It seems everyone has forgotten those evil spirits kept beyond the shores by the Divine Radiance Stone."
"But you must understand that evil spirits are not like the Demon Race in Eastern Ying Continent, which cannot cross the Eastern Sea without humanity's permission. They slip through every crack and squeeze through every gap. They are even constantly reproducing and evolving. The Divine Radiance Stone is not perfect. Evil spirits will eventually seep into every corner of the earth, hiding in your shadow and waiting for the day you let down your guard. The sacred mountain will do its best, but we cultivators must be even more steadfast and hold firmly to the righteous path! We must never allow evil spirits to taint the earth on which we depend for survival!"
"That's right! Remain steadfast! Hold to the righteous path! Remain steadfast! Hold to the righteous path!"
Some among the crowd were swept up in the emotion and raised their arms in response. Gradually, more and more people joined in, and the momentum grew ever more immense, almost piercing the firmament.
It was as though, at this moment, people had finally remembered that endless evil spirits still lurked in the sea, watching covetously. They were the enemies of the living beings of the Five Continents, enemies who would never stop until one side was dead.
Gu Yao watched everything with satisfaction. He had not even imagined that things would develop this way. Through the crowd, he looked at You Su, who had quietly stood up and blended into the mass of people. His gaze was complicated.
Gu Yao glanced at City Lord Liu in the corner again. His eyes were no longer cold. Instead, they held a faint smile—a confident smile of turning defeat into victory and righteousness suppressing evil.
City Lord Liu sensed Gu Yao's gaze and smiled back at him. He looked kind and benevolent, his withered wrinkles piled atop one another, as though he and Gu Yao were sharing in the people's relief. No one could detect anything unusual.
Gu Yao remained silent, allowing the crowd to digest the shock brought by the evil spirits on their own. He, meanwhile, replayed everything that had happened just now in his mind.
To be frank, his third purpose in coming to Chuyun City was not as noble as You Su had made it sound. His true purpose was to find the Dream-Eating Ghost.
The Dream-Eating Ghost had fled into the Central Yuan Continent, and the Evil Warding Department of Mount Henggao had taken it extremely seriously. Several sects had jointly sent many people to various parts of the Central Yuan Continent, determined to eliminate this enormous hidden threat.
Because the Dream-Eating Ghost's rank was too high, the Evil Warding Token was completely useless before it. That was why he had not hesitated to use the Golden Eyes on these people. The reason he had not tested the cultivators in the Channel Opening realm was even simpler: the Dream-Eating Ghost simply looked down on the meager Mystic Qi possessed by Channel Opening cultivators, and would never target them.
Who would have thought that he would happen to run into a blind man and capsize his boat? For the sake of the Xuanxiao Sect's reputation, he had been forced to make the youth admit fault against his conscience. Now that he thought about it, he really had been bullying others through his position.
Yet the youth had repaid enmity with virtue, giving him such a great gift in return. Not only had it helped him recover his dignity, it had also made his momentum even greater.
It was just that this youth had undoubtedly offended Junior Brother Liu. How should he repay him now...?
You Su's heroic and graceful appearance surfaced in Gu Yao's mind again, and he sighed inwardly.
Perhaps there really was a dust-covered pearl hidden away in this Chuyun City.
Before you continue