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An unknown amount of time passed before his five senses returned. Something cool touched his lips, and sweet, clear water flowed into his mouth. Wu Fei swallowed with a movement of his throat.

The next instant, the Buddhist disciple's tightly shut eyes suddenly opened. When he saw who was giving him water, he froze.

They were in a mountain forest. Wu Fei lay on lush green grass, with the occasional distant birdsong drifting through the trees. Everything around him was perfectly ordinary.

What was not ordinary was the person before him: a wealthy young master of about eight or nine, standing tall and brimming with spirit, the very image of a miniature Yin Fan.

A vague suspicion arose in Wu Fei's heart.

Seeing him awake, the young master looked pleasantly surprised, his eyes bright. "You're awake?"

Before Wu Fei could speak, he went on, "Why were you lying here all alone? If I hadn't found you, the big tiger in the woods would have eaten you..."

"Thank you." Wu Fei chuckled softly and asked, "What's your name?"

The young master was momentarily dazzled by his smile. Only after a pause did he say, "My name is Jing Fanyu. My father is the city lord of Heavenly Clear City."

Just as he thought...

This really was the protagonist as a child. The massacre had not yet happened, and the Jing Fanyu before him was still a pampered young master who knew nothing of the world.

But... what exactly was the Obstruction Devil trying to do by creating an illusion like this?

"Big brother, what's your name?" little Jing Fanyu asked.

Big brother?

Wu Fei raised his eyebrows almost imperceptibly. "My name is Wu Fei."

Little Jing Fanyu nodded and asked curiously, "Big Brother Wu Fei, why were you lying here?"

"I got separated from my junior brother." Wu Fei's voice sank slightly. He tried to sense the Silent Dust Pearl's location, but to no avail, and his eyes could not help darkening.

Suddenly, his expression paused. He looked at little Jing Fanyu and asked, "What's the date today?"

Little Jing Fanyu thought he was still muddled from sleeping on the grass. "Today is the ninth day of the ninth month. Oh, I should go back, or Father will send people to look for me!"

"Come back with me, Big Brother Wu Fei. I'll ask Father to help you find your junior brother."

Wu Fei smiled. "All right."

Yet a shadow passed through his eyes. The night of the Double Ninth Festival, on the ninth day of the ninth month, was when Heavenly Clear City had been massacred.

He followed Jing Fanyu into Heavenly Clear City. The guards at the gate and the peasant women returning home after washing clothes all greeted Jing Fanyu warmly when they saw him.

"Young City Lord, you're back! Where did you sneak off to play today?"

"And how did you bring back such a handsome master?"

The people of Heavenly Clear City radiated the happiness, peace, and joy of contented lives. Their words were full of goodwill, even toward a stranger they had never met.

Wu Fei responded with a faint smile, but he could not help feeling a slight ache in his heart. The closer Jing Fanyu was to the people of Heavenly Clear City, the more painful it would be to watch them die gruesomely before his eyes, one after another...

It was no wonder he had fallen into devilhood in a single thought.

When they reached the city lord's residence, the servants were preparing a banquet, and the place was bustling. The city lord and his wife, however, were not there.

A guard said, "The city lord and his wife went to meet an honored guest in the east of the city. They aren't in the residence at the moment."

Then he muttered, "Quite a coincidence. The person the city lord and his wife went to meet is a master too..."

He just was not as good-looking as the one the young city lord had brought back.

The guard's muttering was quiet, and little Jing Fanyu did not hear it. He replied, "Got it," then led Wu Fei to his courtyard.

Wu Fei, however, heard every word clearly, and an odd feeling passed through him. The illusion conjured by the Obstruction Devil mixed truth and falsehood, but he had been the only Buddhist cultivator around the altar. Thus, it was highly likely to be true that, on the day Heavenly Clear City was massacred, the city lord and his wife had met an honored guest who might have been a Buddhist cultivator.

Little Jing Fanyu returned to his room to change, arranging a room where Wu Fei could rest for now.

Wu Fei told the maid serving tea to wait outside. Once the door closed, he shut his eyes, and his Divine Sense shot out toward the east of the city.

His Divine Sense spread like a tide from the city lord's residence all the way to the east of the city, stopping above an inn and taking in the scene below.

A couple in fine clothing were presumably Jing Fanyu's parents, and the person opposite them was indeed a Buddhist cultivator. It was...

Wu Fei's Divine Sense wavered. He abruptly opened his eyes, a flash of astonishment crossing them.

That Buddhist cultivator... was Master? Why would Master be in Heavenly Clear City?

Judging by his appearance, aura, and cultivation, Wu Fei was certain he had not mistaken him. The honored guest Yin Fan's parents had met was undoubtedly his master.

Wu Fei's thoughts raced, but his expression remained calm, and the prayer beads in his hand continued to turn at an unhurried pace. As far as he knew, his master truly knew nothing about the Heavenly Secrets Fate Disc's prophecy or the massacre...

Therefore, his master must have come to Heavenly Clear City on some other business before the Devil Cultivators massacred it, and had also met Yin Fan's parents.

As he pondered, a faint disturbance suddenly stirred in the room, and wisps of Demonic Qi floated in the air.

What was this?

Wu Fei gathered his thoughts slightly. Sensing the familiar aura, he fixed his gaze on the Demonic Qi.

More and more Demonic Qi gathered. Wu Fei raised a hand to lay down a barrier and quietly waited for the familiar figure to slowly emerge from the surging Demonic Qi.

"Senior Brother Wu Fei." Yin Fan reined in his Demonic Qi and looked at the Buddhist disciple before him with an utterly harmless smile.

A faint trace of Blood Qi still clung to Yin Fan. It was not hard to guess what he had just been through.

"How did you find your way here, Junior Brother?" Wu Fei's expression softened slightly.

Yin Fan held out his hand, a golden pearl floating above his palm. "Your Silent Dust Pearl brought me here, Senior Brother."

Naturally, certain things must have happened before the Silent Dust Pearl brought Yin Fan to him, but since Yin Fan said nothing, Wu Fei pretended not to have noticed.

Just then, little Jing Fanyu's voice came from outside the door. "Big Brother Wu Fei..."

In an instant, the Demonic Qi around the Devil Venerable beside him surged violently. His slightly low voice seemed to come through gritted teeth. "Big Brother Wu Fei?"

Wu Fei looked at him with a half smile. "Can't you recognize whose voice that is, Devil Venerable?"