IW: Chapter 273 - Protective Master! I Am a Feng Shui Master, and You Want Me to Reason with You?
"The resentment clinging to this spiritual meridian is truly horrifying!"
Uncle Nine accepted the Nine Cauldrons from Bai Ye's hand, his fingers instantly going numb as a wave of icy, suffocating malice surged through his forearms.
This was with the ancient artifacts actively suppressing its power; he couldn't even fathom what catastrophic horror would unleash if that vessel failed—the raw, unbridled malice of the severed earth line would likely obliterate every living soul within a hundred miles in an instant!
"How could it not be choked with hatred after being brutally slaughtered?"
Snowflake muttered quietly under her breath. "It's no different from a human—if you are murdered, how could you possibly die without malice?"
Furthermore, the longer a deceased entity rotted in the mortal world, the deeper its hatred toward the living festered. That was precisely why lingering spirits grew progressively more violent over time.
And this wasn't just a simple spirit—it was a majestic Dragon Vein!
After anchoring the fortunes of the central lands for countless centuries, it had been betrayed and cut down. How could such a grand entity feel anything less than absolute, burning indignation?
It was the ultimate form of being discarded after its purpose was served.
"Indeed. Therefore, purifying this malice is an absolute prerequisite before we attempt to reactivate the earth line. Otherwise, restoration is completely out of the question."
The density of the lingering malice was simply staggering.
Bai Ye knew that if he forced the ritual without cleansing this corrupted energy, the moment all nine spiritual meridians were awakened, this specific line would turn its fury directly against them before anything else!
It would completely defeat the purpose of restoring the realm's foundation.
It was protecting the land's prosperity just fine—why on earth did those fools have to slay it in the first place?!
"How are we supposed to purify something of this scale?"
Uncle Nine stood frozen in place, a look of utter helplessness washing over his face. Although he understood the theoretical necessity of the step, he simply lacked the methodology to accomplish it!
He had exorcised infant spirits, cleansed malevolent wraiths, and subdued ancient ghouls, but he had never attempted to cleanse the grand, corrupted soul of an entire mountain range!
Yet, the second the words left his mouth, a sudden realization struck the old priest. Since Bai Ye had explicitly identified the problem, didn't that mean the young master already possessed the exact solution?
"Fellow Daoist, how about I leave this to you?!"
Uncle Nine had already prepared to entrust the Dragon Vein to Bai Ye after he acquired it.
After all, he couldn't protect this thing himself.
There were many, many evil cultivators. If they knew the Dragon Vein was with him, not only would he suffer greatly, but Ren Family Town would also suffer immense losses because of him.
So, Uncle Nine thought it might be better to give it to Bai Ye, though he wasn't sure if Bai Ye could handle it.
He should be able to, right?
Thinking of the Thunderclap just now, Uncle Nine immediately changed his mind to wondering if those evil cultivators could handle it.
"Alright, I'll take it. This thing is quite troublesome to purify."
Bai Ye didn't decline. Both Uncle Nine and Ma Ma Di wanted to give this to him.
If he still declined, it would be somewhat hypocritical.
Besides, Uncle Nine and the others didn't have the ability.
"But before that, it might be better to ask the two of you to come out first, perhaps?"
Bai Ye turned around and looked at the entrance of the cave they had come through earlier.
The people who had been following them into Teng Teng Town seemed to have followed them here as well.
Although he couldn't be sure what the other party intended to do, Bai Ye roughly felt they were evil cultivators, as he had sensed them near the Royal Zombie before.
So, if they came, it was likely for the Dragon Vein, right?
Otherwise, there would be no need for them to join the fun here. Wasn't this thing always the goal of evil cultivators?!
"Have we been discovered? I thought I was hiding quite well."
From the darkness, two people emerged: a withered old man, and the other made Ma Ma Di's expression change drastically.
"A Hao!!?"
Ma Ma Di looked at A Hao in disbelief.
What puzzled Ma Ma Di was why A Hao had turned into such a ghostly state.
A Hao no longer had that sunny youthful feeling he once had; at this moment, A Hao gave Ma Ma Di an eerie sensation.
"He's no longer human."
Bai Ye glanced at A Hao. Although he was somewhat surprised, he wasn't overly shocked. He just hadn't expected A Hao to appear here.
That familiar yet unfamiliar aura he felt earlier seemed to be coming from A Hao.
It looked like after he left, A Hao was taken away by the evil cultivators?!
Although his impression of A Hao wasn't very good, Bai Ye still felt a touch of sympathy for A Hao becoming a monster.
"That's right, this fellow hated you guys to the core back then. He voluntarily left with me, all for the sake of getting revenge today."
Is that so?!
Bai Ye's last shred of sympathy vanished.
He had initially thought that the evil cultivators had killed A Qiang and then taken A Hao away, but he never expected that A Hao had actually left with them voluntarily.
At this point, there was no need to deceive them, as A Hao was already a monster.
Moreover, from the malevolence on A Hao's body and the hatred in his eyes the moment he saw them, Bai Ye could have explained it as him becoming a monster before, but now there was no need.
However, for Bai Ye, whether he was forced or acted on his own initiative, his fate was sealed the moment he became a monster.
"Why?!"
Ma Ma Di was perplexed, and at the same time, a surge of hot blood rushed to his head!
What kind of situation was this?!
It seemed like he was the one who got tricked back then, right?
A Hao actually wanted to take revenge on them?
Revenge for what?
"Because he hates you for taking away his opportunity, especially you, he hates you the most."
The Feng Shui Master had seen A Hao's memories back then.
In A Hao's memories, he hated Bai Ye the most, followed by his master, Ma Ma Di.
Hearing his name mentioned, Bai Ye found it a bit strange. Did A Hao hate him the most?
Speaking of which, how dare this guy still hate him?
"Master, this fellow truly took kindness for granted!"
Ren Tingting indignantly spoke up for Bai Ye.
Why did A Hao have the nerve to hate Bai Ye?
If it weren't for Bai Ye, A Hao would have already died, and Bai Ye didn't even do anything, so why?!
"Who knows, this guy really liked that girl, and you guys drove him away, so he naturally holds some resentment towards you. But speaking of which, he's quite ruthless for revenge, even killing his junior brother, A Qiang."
"A Qiang was killed by you?"
Ma Ma Di finally understood now why there was only A Qiang's corpse and no A Hao's back then.
It turned out A Hao killed A Qiang. Looking at it this way, the situation made sense.
However, Ma Ma Di felt an indescribable taste in his heart.
Even if he wasn't a disciple anymore, did he kill A Qiang just because of this matter?
A Qiang didn't seem to have done anything, did he?
Looking at A Hao, a hint of vitality seemed to flicker in A Hao's dull eyes.
A Hao wasn't without consciousness; it was just sealed away. After enduring so much torment, A Hao at this moment not only wanted to kill Bai Ye and the others, but also wanted to kill the group of evil cultivators as well.
No one knew what he had suffered.
Therefore, to prevent A Hao from breaking free and killing his master, he could only be controlled.
"Alright, let's have a chat."
The Feng Shui Master temporarily released A Hao's control. He enjoyed such moments; a conversation between master and disciple should be quite interesting, right?
"Master…"
A Hao looked at Ma Ma Di with a hoarse voice.
At this moment, his consciousness was difficult to regain, but his body could do nothing, because it was restrained.
Ever since he knew A Hao had rebellious intentions, the restraints on his body had increased.
These people hoped his power could eliminate Bai Ye, but they were also afraid his power would affect them.
Did A Hao regret it?
Actually, if he couldn't get revenge, of course he regretted it. If he could get revenge, then all the suffering he endured at this moment, in A Hao's eyes, would be worth it.
A Hao was inherently quite selfish.
"A Hao, why did you do this?!"
Ma Ma Di looked at A Hao with a complicated expression. He couldn't understand why A Hao would do this.
"Nothing, I just hate why you expelled us from the sect."
A Hao always believed that this matter was Ma Ma Di's and Bai Ye's fault.
A Hao initially thought this way.
If he could win over Ren Zhuzhu, then even if he left Ma Ma Di, it wouldn't be a problem.
And even if he didn't win her over, as long as he made Ren Zhuzhu fond of him, that would be enough.
Ren Zhuzhu's family was very wealthy.
A Hao had long since not wanted to be a corpse driver. When he was with Ma Ma Di, he did the hardest and most tiring work.
So, in A Hao's opinion, this matter was simply not something a person could do.
Later, he finally managed to get Ma Ma Di to agree to let him go out and drive corpses.
Ma Ma Di also agreed to this matter. A Hao originally thought he should be able to see the light.
But in the end, he messed up the corpse driving himself. A Hao knew he couldn't blame anyone else for this; it was all his own carelessness.
But in A Hao's opinion, it was only his first time driving corpses. Did Ma Ma Di just let him go then?
It wasn't like he had been driving corpses for a long time.
This was why he hated Ma Ma Di.
As for Bai Ye, it was even simpler. If Bai Ye hadn't taken Ren Zhuzhu as his disciple, A Hao felt it would have been very easy for him to deceive a naive girl like Ren Zhuzhu.
Moreover, Bai Ye was also involved in Ma Ma Di expelling him.
Thinking this way, A Hao felt that Bai Ye must also bear more responsibility.
So, Bai Ye completely cut off his retreat!
If it weren't for Bai Ye, even if he were abandoned by Ma Ma Di, he could still leave with Ren Zhuzhu.
He had long since not wanted to be a corpse driver.
The Ren Family could allow him to live a life of luxury forever.
"You are unskilled and morally corrupt. Expelling you from the sect was the most correct choice I ever made!"
If Ma Ma Di had previously harbored a trace of guilt about expelling A Hao from the sect, then now Ma Ma Di was immensely grateful that he had driven A Hao away back then.
He truly couldn't imagine that A Hao was so morally corrupt, even killing A Qiang. If he had remained in Maoshan, he would probably cause even greater disasters in the future.
Did he actually have the nerve to question him about the reason now?
"Unskilled… It doesn't seem like you taught us much, did you? Even if we're morally corrupt, it's because of you!"
A Hao's mind had long been twisted. Before, he would feel guilty for killing A Qiang, but now A Hao would never feel that way again.
A Hao now felt as if he had been abandoned by the whole world.
"Alright, the time for reminiscing is almost over. Speaking of which, we also know each other. Your grandfather snatched my feng shui treasure land back then, and this time, it's time to kill all of you."
The Feng Shui Master interrupted their conversation. He had originally wanted to watch a good show.
However, it was a bit regrettable that these two didn't seem to have any overly drastic actions, which somewhat made the Feng Shui Master feel apathetic.
But he still found it amusing to bring up his own story.
Mainly, he wanted to see Ren Tingting's reaction.
"You are the Feng Shui Master who refined my grandfather into a zombie?!"
A flicker of shock, mixed with indignation, crossed Ren Tingting's eyes.
Actually, ever since she learned about what her grandfather had done, Ren Tingting had secretly believed that her grandfather deserved his fate.
The treasure land that should have belonged to the Feng Shui Master was forcibly taken away.
She didn't quite approve of that action.
But the Feng Shui Master wanted to kill their entire family, and even made her grandfather do it.
She was the victim!
"Who told Ren Weiyong that guy to snatch my feng shui treasure land back then? If your grandfather hadn't been greedy, he wouldn't have become a zombie. Besides, didn't he do that for you guys? As his descendants, if your grandfather truly enjoyed the 'Dragonfly Touching Water' formation, wouldn't you also benefit? Don't act as if you gained nothing; it's only because of my arrangements that you've gotten worse and worse!"
A sneer flashed across the Feng Shui Master's face. He observed Ren Tingting's expression and understood what she was trying to say.
People, there's no need to be so hypocritical.
In his opinion, didn't Ren Tingting and the others also benefit from this matter?
After he said this, it indeed left Ren Tingting speechless for a moment.
What he said was actually not wrong, and it made Ren Tingting's face turn pale then red.
"I ask you, is it wrong for a cultivator to do this?"
The Feng Shui Master ignored Ren Tingting and looked at Bai Ye instead.
As Ren Tingting's master, he wanted to see what this guy thought.
He was just a pitiful person.
Who would want to become this neither human nor ghost-like being?
If he could have been buried in the 'Dragonfly Touching Water' formation sooner, he wouldn't have done these things.
Over the years, he had done many evil deeds; to survive, he stopped at nothing.
Even if a person like him died, he would go to hell to suffer, and it was likely he would never be able to reincarnate in this life.
So he hated!
In his opinion, what he did was not wrong.
It was all Ren Weiyong's fault, and the Ren Family's, and everyone else who hindered him.
Upon hearing his words, Ren Tingting lowered her head, prepared for Bai Ye to say it was not wrong, and she felt some shame in her heart.
"Yes, it's wrong."
Hearing Bai Ye's words, the Feng Shui Master was somewhat taken aback. Bai Ye ignored him and continued, "First, you are wrong because you shouldn't speak of my disciple. Only I can teach my disciple; you are not qualified.
Second, you call yourself a cultivator, yet you didn't dare to act against Ren Weiyong directly, only daring to play petty tricks. Why didn't you dare to face Ren Weiyong directly back then? Because you are a coward!
Third, I am already a Feng Shui Master, and you want me to reason with you!?"