The Man in Brocade had descended into something like madness.
He truly felt he was going insane.
As he remembered it, after he slaughtered everyone in the village that day, the next thing he knew, it was the following morning, and he had awakened in a corner of the village.
He had wandered around the village for three days, only to discover that none of his former teammates recognized him.
Wary, he had neither attacked nor shown himself, merely observed from the shadows.
He had also tried to leave the village. For three days, he had suddenly lost consciousness in the middle of the night, then awakened the next morning back in the village.
Today was the fourth day.
But he could no longer stand it. Any more of this, and he would go mad.
"Since none of you remember, I'll help put you out of your misery, rather than let a bunch of cultivators waste the rest of their lives here with muddled minds! Consider it a good deed."
"Every last one of you has to die!"
The pressure of a Third Realm cultivator erupted without mercy.
Clatter.
Hearing the sound, the Man in Brocade turned and fixed a murderous gaze on the figure behind him.
Bai Lu stood frozen, a trace of alarm on her beautiful, alluring face. The wooden basin full of clothes had fallen from her hands. Clearly, he had frightened her.
"You?"
Of course the Man in Brocade knew Bai Lu, his former teammate, the woman from the Joyous Union Sect.
Even before this, he had vaguely sensed that there was something extraordinary about her.
But...
Vital Breath raged. Without even needing to use a supernatural ability, the Man in Brocade merely pointed a finger.
Blood splashed.
Bai Lu's chest was pierced through, and she collapsed into a pool of blood.
"Help! Murder!"
Several old villagers at the entrance fled, crying out.
The Man in Brocade ignored them. Mortal lives meant nothing in his eyes.
What concerned him were those former cultivators, all living in the same area now.
He would deal with them first, then come back for the others.
The Man in Brocade looked ahead.
There was the pale-faced Bai Changzai, the trembling Lin Qingqing, and... and a madman, looking him over with delight, his eyes full of familiarity, as though he had spotted an old friend.
His gaze lingered on the madman.
That madman... the Man in Brocade knew he was from the Heavenly Prison.
Though he was mad, after observing him over the past few days, the Man in Brocade actually felt he was more normal than the others.
If not for what had happened with Tu Su... the Man in Brocade had actually intended to approach the madman in private today. Perhaps he could learn something.
But it no longer mattered.
He would start with this madman.
"You broke bastard in brocade, killing people is wrong."
"Why are you killing people during the day? Wolves can only kill at night!"
The Man in Brocade's gaze faltered, because the madman was actually running toward him enthusiastically.
Are you out of your mind? Why call me broke?
Am I that poor?
I was the Thousand Illusions Sect's sect master's disciple, for heaven's sake!
The Man in Brocade even glanced down at himself. Apart from the slightly faded edges of his robe, his somewhat worn shoes, and his curling trouser hems...
Rage burned within him!
"You madman, I'll make sure you know why you're dying!" the Man in Brocade roared. The facade he had struggled to maintain had been punctured with a single remark, and that enraged him.
His feet swept forward, and he rushed at the madman like a speeding shadow, his Vital Breath surging like a dragon.
He would do it himself, crushing the man to death with his own body.
In an instant, he was within ten meters.
Creak, creak!
The Vital Breath coiling around him stiffened slightly. The Man in Brocade suddenly felt as though he had met resistance.
The madman before him had turned red in the face, seemingly straining with all his might to do something.
What was he doing?
There was clearly nothing there.
The Man in Brocade's thoughts lasted only an instant, because in the next, he lowered his head and stared in disbelief.
A huge hole gaped in his chest, as though something had pierced straight through it.
"This... this is impossible."
The Man in Brocade felt he was going mad.
Not because he was going to die, nor because the other man had pierced his chest.
But because not a single drop of blood flowed from his wound.
The Man in Brocade froze in place, then slowly collapsed.
Only an absurd smile remained in his eyes, as though something had come back to him.
When life flashed before someone's eyes, they remembered their entire existence.
Entering the village, climbing the mountain, dying and having his cultivation vanish...
Scene after scene seemed to flash before his eyes, and the Man in Brocade appeared to understand everything.
"So I'm the one who isn't real. Every day, even tomorrow..."
The Man in Brocade did not close his eyes, because he refused to accept it.
But Ye Wuyou crouched down and passed a hand over them.
The Man in Brocade's eyes closed.
Ye Wuyou remained crouched there, sorrow on his face.
Because this time, too, there was only a single jade pendant.
At the village's eastern entrance, a large crowd had gathered.
Xu Fang sat sullenly to one side, bleeding. Lin Qingqing was bandaging him, but he was still conscious.
Tu Su was also badly injured. He had awakened briefly, then passed out again, but at least his life had been saved.
Only Bai Lu...
"What do we do, madman? Can you save her? You were so powerful just now, surely you have some way to save her?"
"Yes, yes, madman, think of something."
"We're all from the same village. Save whoever you can."
A crowd surrounded Ye Wuyou. Clearly, what they had just witnessed him do had been astonishing.
Someone so powerful had been inexplicably dealt with by a mere movement of Ye Wuyou's hands.
Perhaps the madman had some other impressive trick that could save lives?
An odd expression appeared on Ye Wuyou's face. He patted the pale yet alluring face of the woman lying on the ground, then pinched it.
Then Ye Wuyou sat down on the ground and spread his hands.
He simply gave up.
"I'm the madman. Are you all idiots? How would I know how to save anyone?
Besides, she's already stone cold. What the hell am I supposed to save?"
[No matter. The world is ignorant, unaware that Demon Foxes of the Qingqiu Royal Clan are heaven and earth's favored children. Each tail is a life. You need only wait a little.]
Ye Wuyou understood none of the narration in his head, nor did he consider why a voice kept sounding inside it.
Because this was normal.
For a madman to hear someone speaking in his head was perfectly normal.
Quiet sobbing arose around him.
When someone died, there had to be crying. Who cried did not matter, as long as someone did.
Ye Wuyou pursed his lips and shrank back a little. He was deeply uncomfortable with this atmosphere.
Staring at Bai Lu on the ground, her chest pierced clean through, Ye Wuyou tilted his head.
Annoyed by the crying, Ye Wuyou finally could not help shouting.
"Stop crying, stop crying! I'll try saving her. If I can't, then you can cry."
The crying around him quieted. Ye Wuyou recalled the spell Tu Su had used yesterday.
If it could save even that half-dead chick, surely it was worth trying on a person?
Ye Wuyou thought for a moment, then stiffly began moving his fingers.
His body convulsed violently, and afterward, everything felt dull and empty.
A flash of spiritual light, invisible to everyone else, struck Bai Lu's body.
[Yes, this is who you truly are. You foresaw this step long ago. You secretly learned the beast taming inheritance precisely for today's situation. Now, you shall possess a Demon Fox of the Qingqiu Royal Clan as your bound spirit beast.]
[All the world envies you, but before you, they can only grieve in secret.]
[A royal Demon Fox has one life for every tail.]
[And now, her life is yours.]
Before you continue