My junior sister sees everyone as a heretical cultivator.

Chapter 170 Shen Jiaye's Notes
"Thank you, Immortal!"

"I was just joking earlier. I still deeply respect the Immortal Master and the others!"

Ordinary people showered him with praise, but Dong Changsheng felt a surge of sorrow as he listened to these words.

Alas, they only now realize their good intentions.

It seems that only his drastic measures can save this team.

How could he feel good about sending those junior brothers with the lowest cultivation levels to scout ahead?
Watching them go on their dangerous journey, his heart was bleeding!

However, one should not do that!

A loving mother often spoils her child!
The key point is that he must harden his heart and give them a chance to become strong!

They should thank him!
Thank you for pushing them to grow!
And Junior Sister Su... is the one with the highest cultivation level in the team, and she is our last line of defense.

Placing her at the rear of the team not only keeps her constantly alert to unknown threats from behind, ensuring she maintains peak combat readiness, but also preserves the most crucial piece of the team's strategy.

If something goes wrong ahead and an emergency retreat is needed, Su Shimei, who is at the back of the team, can immediately change direction and instantly transform from a defender into a vanguard to clear the way!

With her strongest fighting power, she fought her way out for the entire team!
This is the optimal allocation of resources!
As for himself...

He walked calmly in the very center of the group, surrounded by people, a feeling of boundless loneliness and tragic grandeur welling up in his heart.

Sigh, do they think this place is the safest?

wrong!
They were wrong!

This is the most dangerous and painful place for him!
Those in front only need to face the enemy ahead; those behind only need to be wary of attacks from behind.

How simple and happy they are!

And what about him? He was caught in the middle, having to endure the fear, doubt, cowardice, and folly of everyone from all sides!

His spirit was constantly tormented!

His duty is not to charge into battle, but to have a comprehensive understanding of the situation, so he naturally has to sit in the very center of the team!
He lives not for Dong Changsheng, but to lead everyone to survive!
And so, the team set off again.

They carefully walked around the corner, and a downward stone staircase appeared before them.

The group followed the stone steps down to a damp and cold cellar.

In the cellar, most of the wooden frames had rotted and collapsed, emitting a strong musty smell.

The undercover agents carefully investigated and discovered a hidden wooden door, more than a meter high, at the deepest part of the cellar. A talisman was pasted on the door, sealing it tightly.

Disciples B, C, and D stepped forward to try, but found that their spiritual power could not budge the talisman in the slightest.

"I come."

Dong Changsheng stepped forward, activated his Qi Refining Level 8 cultivation, and spread his spiritual energy onto the talisman.

The talisman struggled violently for a few moments before finally turning to ashes.

The door to the hidden compartment opened with a click.

Inside were some of the daughter's personal belongings: a dressing box, hairpins, a bronze mirror as tall as a person, handkerchiefs... After a hundred years, they were still not completely decayed.

Inside a wooden box, the group found a stack of letters wrapped in special oiled paper. Although the pages were yellowed, the ink was clear and the paper was well-preserved.

Everyone turned to the first page, where they saw two characters written in delicate small regular script.

Heart Letter.

This appears to be a journal entry by someone named Shen Jiaye.

March 7th, sunny.

Today, at the academy's spring poetry gathering, the teacher asked everyone to write a poem on the theme of "spring."

When it was Lin Lang's turn, he only recited one line of poetry and then said nothing more.

Everyone laughed at his lack of inspiration, but only I knew that he was moved by the sight of the jade bracelet on my wrist.

When he looked at me, there was a clear light in his eyes.

My heart, like the willow catkins in spring, is adrift and uncertain.

……

April 2nd, cloudy.

My father said he has arranged a marriage for me.

The other party was Shen Gang, the instructor of the martial arts school in the east of the city, who was a martial arts practitioner.

I asked my father why it wasn't... My father only said, "The words of the matchmaker and the command of the parents are what a woman should obey."

The Shen family is powerful, which is beneficial to our family.

I stayed up all night.

Instructor Shen... I've only seen him once from afar. He's a burly man, unlike Lin Lang who is so gentle and refined.

What will the future hold?
I felt apprehensive, yet a glimmer of hope remained. Perhaps... our married life would be one of mutual respect and harmony.

...July 19th, rumbling thunder.

One month into the marriage, I realized what hell on earth truly was.

Shen Gang... he's not a good man at all!

If anything goes wrong, they'll beat me up.

Today, just because the dishes I cooked were a little too salty, he poured a whole bowl of hot soup on me.

It's so hot...it hurts so much...I want to escape, but where can I escape to?
In the stillness of the night, I always think of the Lin Lang I met back then.

If only back then... no, there's no going back then.

September 3rd, cold.

I was pregnant.

I told Shen Gang about this, and maybe after I have a child, he won't treat me like this anymore...

……

It snowed on the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month.

My child... shall be named Junxiong.

But Shen Gang treated me the same as always.

I spend my days in tears, and can only place all my longing on my child.

Recently, a gaunt old Taoist priest came to Shen Gang's house, and Shen Gang treated him with utmost respect and even became his disciple.

The old Taoist priest's gaze was sinister.

Since then, Shen Gang has often followed him out late at night, doing whatever he wants.

I always felt that it wasn't the right path of spiritual practice.

……

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month has no moon.

I saw it! I saw it!
That old Taoist priest... what he taught Shen Gang were evil arts that could command wandering ghosts!

I witnessed Shen Gang torture and kill a black cat and a child, and then extract their souls from them!

terrible!

They...they are heretical cultivators!

Should we report this to the authorities...?

……

On the second day of the second lunar month, a strong wind blew.

(The handwriting here begins to become messy and chaotic)
Shen Gang is back... He's reeking of alcohol and is angrily smashing things in the yard...

I was so scared... I clung to Junxiong and hid in the room, afraid to make a sound... He seemed to be looking for something...

(The ink has spread out here, seemingly caused by a tear.)
He's here... He's banging on the door...

Bang...bang...bang...

The door was almost smashed open...

Help... my life ...
(The handwriting kept repeating itself, and the characters for "fate" of various sizes became distorted like ghost writing, almost unrecognizable.)
(Finally, there was a large patch of messy marks left by the paper being torn by a sharp object, and dark red stains that had long since dried.)

After reading the last entries in the journal, everyone gasped in shock.

The tragic life of a woman is thus condensed onto these pages soaked in blood and tears.

Wang Xiedi was filled with righteous indignation, trembling with anger. He slammed his fist on a nearby piece of rotten wood and said angrily:
"They're worse than animals!"
Now that you are married and have become a husband, how can you be violent towards your wife?!
This Shen Gang, he's not worthy of being a man, he's worse than a beast!

Su Ling'er nodded slightly at Wang Xiedi's words.

However, Dong Changsheng disagreed.

Now that Shen Gang has become a disciple and embarked on the path of cultivation to pursue higher power, he is a superior person. How can we use ordinary morality to bind him?
The path of cultivation is inherently full of thorns and sacrifices; mere family affections are nothing but fleeting clouds and stones.

Moreover, Shen Jiaye herself stumbled upon her husband's secret cultivation, and instead of thinking about how to help him, she felt fear and might even be thinking of reporting him to the authorities.
That's not how people behave! They had a marital relationship, but they couldn't see the situation clearly and couldn't seize the opportunity!
Her final fate, seemingly caused by Shen Gang's poison, was actually the will of Heaven!

So, what wrong has Shen Gang done?

He's just clearing obstacles from his path to success; his juniors don't see it clearly enough.

Just as everyone was immersed in the thoughts brought about by the notes, a voice suddenly rang out from the cellar.

A voice that doesn't belong to any of them.

"Ho...ho...ho..."

(End of this chapter)