Chapter 185: Four Years On
After Demoness Ji’s words, Su Zimo had a new understanding and impression towards her and fiend sects.
Just like immortals and Buddha, fiends had a Dao of their own.
After pondering for a while, Su Zimo suddenly thought of something and asked, “A few months ago, I met a cultivator in a spirit mine with ruthless methods. He ma.s.sacred an entire city of living beings and uses a vile cultivation technique that can suck a living person into a dry corpse. Is he someone from the fiend sects?”
“From what I know, there’s no such cultivation technique in the fiend sects,” Demoness Ji shook her head.
She paused for a moment and continued, “The reason why the reputation of fiend sects is bad in the cultivation world is all because of you people from the orthodox path. As long as it’s something that goes against humanity, you guys accuse us of the fiend sects for it. It’s truly despicable!”
“If it’s not done by the fiend sects, you guys can come forth and explain yourselves,” Su Zimo frowned.
“Fufu.”
Demoness Ji scoffed coldly, “There’s no way the fiend sects will do that. Demons have their pride.”
She thought for a moment and said, “A senior in the fiend sects once gave an example to describe the difference between immortals and demons. I think it’s rather apt.”
“For the same treasure, cultivators of the fiend sects would fight for it openly. However, cultivators of immortal sects would vie for it in secret and frame it onto those of the fiend sects.”
“That’s a little extreme.”
Su Zimo shook his head. “I don’t wish to argue with you anymore.”
With that, Su Zimo turned to leave.
Demoness Ji followed him again. But this time round, Su Zimo did not chase her away.
“Where are you going?” She asked.
Su Zimo remained silent for a while before replying, “Back home to take a look.”
…
As Su Zimo sped towards the capital of Yan Country, more than ten cultivators arrived at a small town on the border of Yan Country.
They were led by a man and woman.
The man wore sparkling white robes. He had a smile on his face, looking handsome and elegant.
The woman was dressed in a long, emerald dress. Her black hair swayed in the wind and she had beautiful features, looking gentle and quiet.
The both of them rode on their swords and their clothes fluttered in the wind. Like a match made in heaven, they were dazzling and could not be ignored.
More importantly, both of them were at perfected Foundation Establishment realm!
The ten odd cultivators that followed them were all Foundation Establishment Cultivators as well, varying from early to late-stage.
On their waists hung a badge with the words ‘Iridescent Clouds’.
It was daytime at the moment with many citizens walking on the streets. Their expressions changed starkly with the sudden appearance of the many Foundation Establishment Cultivators above them.
The citizens hurriedly knelt on the ground and shouted, “Greetings, immortals!”
Someone in the crowd with sharp eyes recognized the gentle woman and whispered, “It’s that girl from the Shen family!”
“It’s really her! I wouldn’t have been able to tell if you hadn’t said it. She’s changed drastically after four years. She’s just like a fairy now!”
“Shh! Shut up! Stop looking at her! She’s an immortal now! If you anger her, she’s going to gouge out your eyeb.a.l.l.s!”
The gentle woman in the emerald dress was none other than Shen Mengqi who was taken away by Perfected Being Cang Lang four years earlier to join Iridescent Clouds Palace.
The white robed cultivator beside her was her senior brother, Xu You.
“So this is your home, junior sister?” Xu You looked at Shen Mengqi beside him with a gentle gaze and asked softly.
“I see.”
She seemed distracted as she responded. Looking at the small town beneath her, she sighed in a dazed manner, letting out a reminiscing expression.
Unknowingly, four years had pa.s.sed.
Four years ago, she stood with Perfected Being Cang Lang in midair looking at Ping Yang Town the same way.
However, that afternoon, a stubborn youth stood with his chest puffed and head held high on this familiar long street. He did not kneel nor fear.
At the thought of that youth, Shen Mengqi smiled faintly.
Right after, she sighed gently and shook her head.
No matter what, immortals and mortals were different – she was no longer on the same level as that youth.
Decades later, her youth would still be present and she would be in her prime. However, that youth would have entered his later years and await death of old age.
Even though they had unforgettable memories together, that could only fade and disappear along with time.
“Junior sister, junior sister?”
Xu You’s voice pulled Shen Mengqi back from her memories.
“Ah, sorry,” She replied apologetically, neither too intimate nor unfriendly.
Xu You was considered as one of the top ten inner sect disciples of Iridescent Clouds Palace. He had courted her for a long time, but she never agreed to it.
She made the decision to return home for a visit in a low profile. However, Xu You volunteered to accompany her and brought more than ten juniors along.
Before long, Shen Mengqi and the others descended at the Shen residence.
She only had a single kin – her brother, Shen Nan.
The Shen family had changed drastically. Even though the Zhao and Li families were eradicated and removed from Ping Yang Town, Shen Nan had benefited greatly from following the two families in the past. As such, he had long expanded into a luxurious mansion.
Because of Su Xiaoning’s kidnapping incident back then, Su Zimo went on a killing spree and killed many people, except Shen Nan.
Even so, Shen Nan did not dare to continue being brazen.
After all, Su Hong’s conferment as king happened in Ping Yang Town. Although no one knew what was going on behind the scenes, everyone witnessed the outcome.
“Mengqi?”
When Shen Nan caught sight of Shen Mengqi, he was rooted on the spot with a look of disbelief.
“Brother, it’s me,” Shen Mengqi smiled and nodded.
“It’s good that you’re back, it’s good.”
Facing more than ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators from Iridescent Clouds Palace, Shen Nan’s heart was trembling with fear. He looked uneasy as he remarked with a smile.
From Shen Mengqi, Shen Nan could feel an unfamiliar aura.
It was as though their relations.h.i.+p through blood had faded after she entered the path of immortality.
“The family has changed quite drastically.”
Shen Mengqi walked around the Shen residence casually with a smile. Shen Nan followed behind her, not daring to walk in front.
After walking around, Shen Mengqi asked in a seemingly casual manner, “Shen Nan, are the four major families of Ping Yang Town still around? Such as the Su family?”
“Ah?”
Shen Nan froze for a moment and shook his head with a strange expression on his face. “N-Not anymore.”
“The Su family is not around anymore?”
Shen Mengqi stopped in her tracks and suddenly turned around, frowning.
“Yeah, they’re all gone.”
Shen Nan nodded and related everything that happened four years ago.
Shen Mengqi listened intently.
“That Su Zimo must have taken on an expert in the pugilistic world as his master. His strength grew by leaps and bounds and he destroyed the Zhao and Li families almost singlehandedly!”
Shen Nan glanced at Shen Mengqi. “However, he did not kill me. I think it’s on account of your relations.h.i.+p.”
Shen Mengqi did not reply.
She knew very well why Su Zimo did not kill Shen Nan. Even though it had something to do with her, it was definitely not because of their relations.h.i.+p!
“Junior sister, who is that Su Zimo? Where is he now?”
At the side, Xu You could vaguely tell that Su Zimo seemed to have a close relations.h.i.+p with Shen Mengqi in the past. Because of that, he was long frustrated and asked with a scowl.