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墨書 Inktalez
Seeing him like this, I relaxed my guard slightly, but still felt something strange in my heart. "Old man, the person I killed was your disciple, and he had only recently joined before betraying the sect. But I remember he should have been quite old himself. Why would you..."
"You're not wrong," the old man stroked his white beard and said. "He did betray the sect shortly after joining, and he was indeed of advanced age. However, as for why he chose to take me as his master at such an age, I cannot say. At that time, I thought he had good potential and was sincere in his desire to learn, so I accepted him. But little did I expect..." He sighed deeply, showing a hint of regret.
At that moment, Yao Long beside me was scrutinizing the old man and his disciples behind him, frowning as he spoke directly, "Sir, you've shared so much with us, yet we still don't understand why you are here or how you are connected to the Vengeful Spirits around us."
"This question is best answered by my disciple," the old man said as he pushed forward a man in his thirties from behind him. The man held a Black Sword in his hand, with a broad build and an air of heroism about him.
He stood before us and glanced at the old man, who smiled kindly and softly urged him, "Since this has already happened, there's no need to hide it."
The man understood and nodded, turning his piercing gaze toward me. "To be honest, the person killed in Gui Tian Village was my father." As he spoke, his grip on the Black Sword tightened slightly, producing a creaking sound.
Hearing this, I was taken aback; it turned out I was his father's killer. "You..." I found myself at a loss for words; what I wanted to say stuck in my throat.
"The reason you all got involved in this matter is that my brother opened the Underworld Gate. He is the one who died in your previous residence. He knew you were the one who killed our father and wanted revenge at all costs. However, lacking leads, it took him nearly a year to find out about you."
"But when he arrived at that residence, you had already moved away. Unable to locate you for a time, he devised a plan to draw you out."
"And all the Vengeful Spirits and casualties here stemmed from him..." The man's expression showed a hint of anger; whether it was directed at me for being his father's killer or at his brother's actions remained unclear.
"But wasn't he already dead? And it didn't seem like a suicide..." I questioned.
"In fact, it was suicide. He first left behind the Nine Star Diagram that you have been searching for on the ground and then used his own life to open the Underworld Gate. He fused his soul with numerous Vengeful Spirits to become a powerful Void Spirit, waiting for your arrival to kill you and avenge our father."
"He knew that his death and the chaos triggered by the opening of the Underworld Gate would inevitably make the news and draw your attention. That's why he remained silent after his death, to prevent us from scattering him."
Upon hearing this, I understood the entire situation. I had killed their father, which drove the older brother to madness in his quest for revenge, while the younger brother maintained his rationality.
"Don't you hate me?" I asked tentatively.
He gritted his teeth. "Hate? Of course I hate you. But what my father did is simply unforgivable. He killed many innocent people. I don’t want to see a father like that, and I certainly don’t want him to keep making mistakes." His voice began to tremble, tears welling in his eyes.
I sighed inwardly; there are not many people in today's society who possess such profound understanding of righteousness. Then I recalled the incident where Hu Fang was attacked and how that Evil Spirit was sent by "them" to target Hu Fang. A sense of doubt arose within me, prompting me to ask, "By the way, there's something else I want to confirm with you..." I then recounted the events of capturing the Vengeful Spirit and interrogating the Evil Spirit.
Upon hearing this, they were equally puzzled, expressing that they had no knowledge of the matter. Only one young woman spoke up after listening, "So, the family I saved before was you?"
Her words cleared up much of my confusion. The shadow that killed Li Zhisheng while interrogating the Evil Spirit that night must have been this woman.
Li Zhisheng, who had been silent until now, was furious. "So it was you who messed up our plans! I was about to find out who sent them to harm people, and you went ahead and killed it."
"Hey! Are you even being reasonable? I clearly saw you were in danger and wanted to help you out. And yet here you are, biting back at me—what a good deed turned into a misunderstanding," she huffed, turning her head away.
Seeing Li Zhisheng about to retort again, I quickly intervened. "This isn't the time for arguing; I still have some questions for them." I then turned my gaze back to the old man and asked in a calmer tone, "Now that we have a general understanding of what happened, could you tell me what exactly you all do?"
After hearing my question, Yao Long seemed surprised, but Li Zhisheng quickly grasped the situation. I noticed that Yao Long seemed completely unaware of their presence; even during the battle with the Vengeful Spirits earlier, he hadn’t detected them hiding nearby. This led me to two possible conclusions: first, these individuals might possess the ability to conceal their presence like the deceased Haoyang; second, they might not have any Void Spirit within them at all, which would explain why Yao Long found it difficult to sense anything unusual.
In fact, it took Yao Long almost an entire day to realize they were there—likely due to one of these two reasons—so I felt extremely curious about their true identities.
“Blame me, blame me. From the very beginning, I should have been clear with you. In fact, I think you are not unfamiliar with us, because both you and this brother hold the weapons that belong to our sect.” The old man said as he pulled a jujube from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.
“Are you saying… that the Azure Spirit and Jiang Ling in our hands were made by you?!” I asked, somewhat surprised.
“Not exactly. They originated from my sect, but they were not crafted by my hands. The weapons you hold were forged by the ancestors of our sect and have a history of over a hundred years. So, you could consider me a blacksmith of weapons or a Taoist priest. While both are correct, neither is entirely accurate.”
“Then how should I address you accurately?” I pressed on.
The old man sighed meaningfully, “Shidao… It has been a long time since anyone called me by that name…”
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