“Although I say this, I have no intention of harming Ren Qiu and Ying Xia,” the old Taoist priest continued, turning to the two in the distance and bowing slightly. “Ren Qiu, despite having harmed countless people, is inherently pure. I will find a way to remove the ghostly face from him and restore his life. As for Ying Xia, his malevolence is too strong, so I will take him into the temple and nurture him properly,” the priest said kindly. “The truth of the matter has now been clarified. Please, benefactor, do not continue this cycle of resentment. When will the cycle of vengeance end? Since things have come to this, why don’t we find a way to break this cycle…”
“Ren Qiu’s life can continue, Ying Xia’s life can continue, and their families will receive the compensation they deserve,” the priest urged them. “Isn’t this the best possible outcome?”
“Yes,” Cheng Xin chimed in, seizing the moment. “What’s the point of killing the Wang family now? The dead won’t come back. This is already the best outcome. Besides, so many people have already died. If you’re venting your resentment, you should have vented enough by now. The Wang family has been living in fear for years, and they’ve realized their mistakes. As players, our first task is complete, and we won’t pursue the main culprit anymore, so…”
After his words, Ren Qiu looked at them with confusion. He felt an overwhelming pressure bearing down on him, even greater than when he had seen his sister’s corpse, vowed revenge, and stumbled into the temple…
It was even more intense.
“Is what you’re saying true?” he asked, looking down at his fists. “The Wang family… they regret it?”
“It’s true, it’s true!” Cheng Xin, sensing an opportunity, pulled Wang Zhanpeng forward. “If you don’t believe me, ask him!”
“That’s right!” Hearing the commotion outside, Wang Zhanpeng poked his head out the door and looked at Ren Qiu. When he saw the young man before him, fear and disgust flashed in his eyes, but he forced himself to speak. “Ren Qiu, I truly regret it. I was blinded by greed back then. Don’t worry! I’ll compensate you! I’ll give you a lot of money, so much money, hundreds of thousands! Your sister, just a high school graduate, couldn’t have earned that much in her entire life. I’ll also renovate your family’s house, and…”
Before he could finish, his arm was pulled by someone else. Wang Zhanyuan, seeing his brother like this, hurriedly whispered to him.
“You’re giving him money?! After all these years of him tormenting our family, shouldn’t he be compensating us instead…” she said.
Before she could finish, her older sister Wang Zhangfeng covered her mouth. Wang Zhangfeng glanced outside and scolded her, “Are you really that stupid, or are you just pretending? We’re just saying this now, listen to the priest…”
“But…”
“What but? Listen to the priest and the others. It’s thanks to everyone that we found the real culprit. I told you before, when we sealed Ren Chun’s grave, why didn’t it work?” Wang Zhangfeng said. “This time, let’s handle Ren Qiu properly, and then we can do whatever we want.”
Wang Zhanyuan thought about it and found it reasonable, so she shut her mouth. After a while, she tugged at her second brother’s arm. “Second brother, you go and talk too.”
One after another, the Wang family members made empty promises about the future to Ren Qiu. Ren Qiu’s head drooped lower and lower. After everyone had spoken, the old priest stroked his beard and continued, “…If we do this, everyone can have a bright future. So, Ren Qiu, Ying Xia, do you agree?…”
Ren Qiu trembled all over. He looked at Lin Huai for help, and Lin Huai silently mouthed something to him.
Under everyone’s expectant gazes, Ren Qiu shook his head.
“You…”
“A bright future?” Lin Huai held Ren Qiu’s shoulders, chewing on the phrase. “What about the Wang family?”
“What?”
“The Wang family’s future?”
“The Wang family? Naturally, they will make amends within their means…” the priest said.
“Within their means, what a nice phrase. But the Wang family will also have a bright future, won’t they?” Lin Huai chuckled softly. “After they so easily destroyed other people’s lives, they will still have a bright future and make amends within their means…”
“What a beautiful picture. Everyone in this village will have a bright future,” he spread his hands. “Whether it’s the rumor-mongers, the bystanders, or the real executioners… they will all have their bright futures, except for one person.”
“Except for Ren Chun, because she’s already dead,” Lin Huai said. “Does a dead person’s future no longer matter?”
“You…” the priest was stunned. “But Ren Qiu and Ying Xia…”
“Ren Qiu and Ying Xia are one thing, Ren Chun is another,” Lin Huai said. “I never said I was only playing this role-swapping Game for Ren Qiu and Ying Xia…”
As he spoke, a wicked smile spread across his face. “There’s also Ren Chun, and there’s also me. Why do you think they can represent our opinions?”
“You…” Cheng Xin was dumbfounded. “This is dictatorship!”
“I’ve said it before, I’m not doing this for some altruistic reason. I just think it’s more interesting this way,” Lin Huai clapped his hands. “Actually, I’ve always… wanted to do an experiment.”
“The experiment is about how much blood of enemies it takes to turn an ordinary Ghost into a Red-Clothed Vicious Ghost?” he tilted his head, showing a puzzled expression. “I’m very grateful to you… for giving me this opportunity to experiment.”
“Since you’ve brought up the future, I naturally have to consider the future of our victim, Miss Ren Chun. After all, there’s no reason that the person who suffered the harm is her, but the ones who benefit and sign the settlement agreement are her family, right? She died tragically, was suppressed in her grave for years, and now her life force is extremely weak…” Lin Huai stroked his chin. “Don’t you think, for her future, I should capture a few of her enemies, dye her dress red with their blood, and turn her into a top-tier Red-Clothed Vicious Ghost?”
His voice was filled with chilling hostility and thick resentment. For a moment, the leaves on the mountain rustled violently. Qingxu, hearing this, took a step back, gripped his whisk, and his expression changed. “You’re incorrigible!”
“Incorrigible? Are you talking about me—or yourself? How funny. You talk about a cycle of resentment? When Ren Chun was killed, I didn’t see you talking about a cycle of resentment. Now that the Wang family’s lives are threatened, you come out to talk about a cycle of resentment?” Lin Huai sneered. “Are the Wang family’s lives more valuable than the Ren family’s, more worthy of being part of the cycle? Or is it because every brick and tile in this temple was donated by the Wang family?”
The priest’s hypocritical Painted Skin was slowly peeled away by Lin Huai, and he could barely maintain his composure. “You…”
“After all these small reasons, it’s time to talk about the main reason—the only, the main reason I’m going to tear down this temple,” Lin Huai extended his right hand.
“This hand, I’ve taken great care of it. I wash it before eating, after eating, after bathing, and even apply hand cream. This hand, which I cherish so much—” Lin Huai’s expression suddenly changed, “Was actually burned by your peach wood tablet! Tell me, shouldn’t you…”
“Die a thousand deaths?”
His voice was deafening, and Cheng Xin was flabbergasted. After repeatedly confirming, he realized Lin Huai wasn’t joking and couldn’t help but curse, “You…”
Lin Huai continued coldly, “So, for the sake of this hand, I’m going to tear down this lousy temple, kill this fame-seeking priest, drag out the Wang family one by one and kill them, and then talk to you about karma!”
“Lin Huai!” the priest shouted his real name. “Do you really have to be our enemy?!”
In response to his question, Lin Huai laughed arrogantly.
“Yes, I’m not just going to help them,” Lin Huai grinned. “I’m going to help them slaughter the temple. If heaven has retribution, then let it come at me! I don’t believe in karma. I don’t submit to heavenly principles!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he kicked the priest’s face with a resounding thud!
The priest, caught off guard, was sent flying back into the barrier. Lin Huai turned to Ren Qiu and said, “Go find your sister.”
“I…” Ren Qiu said, “I’ll stay and help you…”
“Subtext: you’re just in the way here,” Lin Huai had to be blunt. “It’s hard to fight with you around.”
Ren Qiu then left, looking back every few steps. Lin Huai pointed at Ying Xia and said, “Stand over there.”
“I…”
“Let me solo the experience, thanks.”
Then, he took out a black coat from his bag and put it over his white shirt, muttering to himself, “This isn’t to cosplay as Ip Man, but…”
“But because I’m afraid you’ll be scared when you see me covered in blood.”
The priest fell into the temple, his face bloodied from the kick. Then, a loud crash echoed from the barrier outside!
The sound was like a giant sword slashing against the rock-solid barrier.
But everyone knew there was no giant sword outside, only one person…
The panicked Wang family members rushed to help the bruised and bloodied priest, asking, “Priest, this barrier…”
“Don’t worry,” the priest said bitterly. “With his Cultivation, he can’t break this barrier!”
As he spoke, he wiped the blood from his face, his expression sinister.
“Overestimating yourself, overestimating yourself, overestimating yourself!” he thought fiercely. “If you don’t take the easy way, then I’ll make you fight the hard way, until you’re mangled!”
However, the sound of the barrier being violently struck repeatedly was still unsettling. Wang Zhanyuan looked up at the barrier, feeling that faint cracks seemed to be forming. She grabbed her brother’s arm and worriedly said, “Brother, if that monster gets in, what do we…”
“Don’t worry!” Wang Zhanpeng reassured her. “As long as the four array nodes are intact, no matter how powerful he is, he can’t break through the barrier!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the western part of the barrier collapsed in an instant.
“This is…” Wang Zhanpeng was dumbfounded.
While others were still confused, Zhang Minge’s expression changed. “Not good!”
He pulled out his longbow and rushed toward the west. As he passed the iron cage where Chu Tianshu was held, he glanced inside and saw it was empty, with only a tape recorder playing “Wild Wolf Disco.”
Zhang Minge: …
He looked down at the cage and saw that the weakest part of the iron bars had been bent by Chu Tianshu using some tool, creating an opening to escape.
“So he was using the sound of singing to cover up the fact that he was escaping from the cage?” Zhang Minge thought. “And the reason he deliberately got captured was to enter the temple, pretend to be helpless, and destroy the array nodes from the inside?”
But there was no time to think further. Before he could reach the spot, Chu Tianshu had already dug out the northern and eastern array nodes. Seeing him arrive, Chu Tianshu waved the stones in his hand and winked at him. “Did you like my song?”
“You—”
Zhang Minge reached out to grab him, but his hand passed through an illusion, grasping at air. As he was stunned, a cold voice came from behind him. “I told you before, I’m the Invisible Guardian—that is, an assassin you can’t see.”
Then, the person sighed. “Don’t look at me like this, I was actually the assassin in my group back then.”
“You… bull… shit…” Zhang Minge used his last ounce of strength to retort. “What kind of assassin… uses a stun gun…”
