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Knowing that he was doomed to die, Pu Zhi's mind fell into chaos. He was not afraid of death; he was simply unwilling to accept it. He still had a grand vow in his heart: to unravel the mystery of immortality. Now that he had clearly glimpsed hope of doing so, he was about to die. How could he possibly accept that?

In the end, just as in the original story, Pu Zhi woke Zhang Xiaofan. Seeing that he was kind by nature, Pu Zhi smiled and took him as his disciple, teaching him Tianyin Temple's methods. He also gave him the Bloodthirsty Bead and told him to find a secluded valley and throw it away.

After explaining everything to Zhang Xiaofan, Pu Zhi let out a low laugh. Amid that laugh, filled with sorrow and resolve, Zhang Xiaofan lost consciousness once more. Meanwhile, Ye Yun was sleeping soundly in the cave.

Having made up his mind, Pu Zhi placed Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu somewhere safe, then streaked toward the village like lightning. He intended to slaughter everyone in the village, forcing Qingyun Sect to take the two children as disciples. Just as he was about to break down the wooden door before him and massacre the family inside, Ye Yun's adorable little figure suddenly appeared in his mind. His body jolted, and he gradually awoke from his confusion.

Listening to the steady breathing within the house, Pu Zhi was drenched in sweat. He truly could not believe that, after cultivating Zen his entire life, he had conceived such vicious thoughts merely to fulfill the greatest wish of his life. Fortunately, Ye Yun's figure had flashed through his mind at the final moment, awakening the familial affection buried deep in his heart and bringing him to his senses in time. Otherwise, who knew whether he would have committed such a heinous crime, hated by both heaven and man?

Once he had regained his clarity, Pu Zhi's usual kindness returned to his face, along with his smile. Following Ye Yun's aura, he found him sleeping soundly in the cave. Looking at this tiny figure who had not only let him experience the bond between grandfather and grandson once more in his final days, but had also pulled him back from the bottomless abyss at the critical moment, Pu Zhi's face was full of tender affection. At that moment, he was no longer a High Monk revered by others, but a kindly grandfather.

Pu Zhi felt Ye Yun's bone structure and found that, although his talent appeared merely above average at first glance, a closer inspection revealed that his aptitude was no weaker than Lin Jingyu's—perhaps even better.

This discovery brought a radiant smile to Pu Zhi's face, but it quickly faded. He suddenly remembered that he did not have long to live, and that Demonic path villain would certainly return to silence witnesses. As his thoughts raced, he came up with an excellent plan. Since someone from Qingyun Sect could disguise himself as a demonic path cultivator to seize his Bloodthirsty Bead, why could he not disguise himself as one and abduct these villagers? Qingyun Sect would surely not stand by and do nothing. These three little children could then enter Qingyun Sect as well.

No sooner said than done. After moving Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu into this small cave, Pu Zhi used a secret technique to stimulate his entire body. Drawing upon the Bloodthirsty Bead's blood-energy, he forcibly restored his spiritual power. Then, with immense magical power, he swept away every villager, destroyed every building in the village, and set it ablaze to make it appear as though demonic path cultivators had attacked. After that, he left with the villagers of Cao Miao Village.

The sleeping Ye Yun had no idea that his arrival had already changed the plot. At the very moment the plot shifted, threads of unfathomable mysterious energy silently entered his mind and were entirely absorbed by a ray of light within his sea of consciousness.

At dawn, a cool breeze heavy with moisture blew Ye Yun awake. The first thing he did after opening his eyes was touch his head, then carefully inspect his body. Once he found that he was completely unharmed, he planted his hands on his hips and burst into laughter.

"Damn, I survived! I actually survived! Looks like reaching the pinnacle of life and marrying a rich, beautiful woman is no longer just a dream."

"What are you making such a racket for? Are you going to let anyone sleep this early in the morning?" Just as Ye Yun was imagining himself surrounded by beauties at the pinnacle of life, a voice behind him pulled him back to reality.

"Holy crap! Why are you two here?" Seeing Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan behind him, Ye Yun's jaw nearly dropped. Wasn't Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu supposed to have been placed beneath a tree by Pu Zhi to shelter from the rain in the original story? Why are they here? His mind was filled with questions.

"What do you... Ah!!!" A thunderous scream suddenly rang out. "Wasn't I sleeping perfectly fine at home? How did I end up here?"

"Jingyu, Xiao Yun, why are we here?" At that moment, Zhang Xiaofan's voice sounded. He had been awakened by Lin Jingyu's scream.

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? I was wondering why I was sleeping perfectly fine at home last night, only to wake up here!" Lin Jingyu said irritably.

"Xiao Yun, do you know?" Unable to get anything from Lin Jingyu, Zhang Xiaofan turned to Ye Yun.

Ye Yun was still caught up in his excitement. How could he care about anything else? He answered perfunctorily, "How would I know? We'll find out if we go back and take a look."

"That makes sense. Let's hurry back and see!" With that, the three of them hurried toward the village. Yet before they even entered it, they realized something was wrong. The rows of houses that had once stood there were gone, leaving behind only scorched ruins scattered across the ground.

"Father! Mother!" Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu shouted in unison before running toward their homes. Ye Yun stared blankly at the sight before him. The village had been perfectly fine yesterday, yet after one night's sleep, it had all become ruins. Such a drastic change was difficult to accept even with the mentality of someone in his twenties.

"You still couldn't escape disaster after all?" Wearing a vacant expression, Ye Yun dragged his small body toward a house by the roadside that had not been completely burned down due to last night's rain. He found a long stick inside and, with an anxious heart, used all his strength to pry at the chunks of earth pressing down on it. After expending tremendous effort, he finally overturned the debris covering the ruins. What made his heart pound wildly was that he found no bodies beneath them.

This discovery filled Ye Yun's face with excitement. He hurried to another burned house nearby and repeated what he had just done. After overturning the bedroom of the third house, he finally confirmed that no one had been inside when the houses collapsed. In other words, the villagers might still be alive. This delighted Ye Yun greatly. His little face and clothes had been blackened with soot, and it felt especially unpleasant after mixing with sweat, but none of that could conceal his excitement. After all, he had grown up under the red flag. It was hard for him to accept that people he had eaten and chatted with yesterday could become bloody corpses the next day—an entire village of them.

After confirming that he had changed the plot, Ye Yun wiped his soot-covered little face and skipped off to find Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan. What left him speechless was that both Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu had collapsed in front of the doorways that had become ruins.

Looking at the sun rising in the east, Ye Yun found a shady spot beneath a tree and sat down. It was not that he did not want to drag Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu into the shade as well, but with his tiny arms and legs, he simply could not move them. As for waking them, Ye Yun decided it was better not to subject them to another blow. Qingyun disciples would arrive soon enough anyway, so he let them lie there for a while.