One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

The interior of Ziyang Cave is not as narrow as it appears from the outside.

After passing through the narrow rock crevice that could only allow one person to pass sideways, the view suddenly opened up.

This is a huge, naturally formed cave with countless stalactites of various shapes hanging from the ceiling. Under the golden light in Zhang Chulan's palm, they refracted eerie colors.

Tick.

Tick.

Water droplets slid down the stalactites and hit the puddles on the ground, making a crisp echo.

The golden monkey king that led the way seemed to know the way very well. Even in the pitch-black darkness, it could accurately avoid the hidden pits and pebbles on the ground. Every now and then, it would turn around, bar its teeth at the group, and urge them to follow.

"This place..."

Wang Ye walked in the middle of the group, his cloth shoes making a sizzling sound as they stepped on the slippery moss.

"The feng shui is wrong."

"The atmosphere here is lifeless, yet it's as if someone has forcibly brought it to life."

"It's like... a haunted house for the dead, yet it somehow exudes a sense of life."

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Qing reached out and touched the damp rock wall beside him, feeling a cool sensation on his fingertips:

"It would be strange if the place Wugensheng chose was normal."

"The aura left behind by the Ziyang Hermit who attained enlightenment here can still influence the magnetic field here even after hundreds of years."

Just as the group was talking in hushed tones...

The monkey king, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped.

Squeak! Squeak!

It pointed to a slightly flat, elevated platform ahead and let out a rapid cry, its voice carrying a hint of fear and anxiety.

Look in the direction the Monkey King is pointing.

The golden light in Zhang Chulan's hand suddenly flickered, illuminating the area completely.

"hiss--"

Upon seeing the scene clearly, Zhang Chulan couldn't help but gasp in astonishment:

"That was... a person?"

In the center of the high platform stood a thick stone pillar.

A hunched figure was tightly bound to a pillar by several wrist-thick dark alloy chains.

It was an old woman with a full head of silver hair.

Her clothes were already tattered, revealing her emaciated body underneath. Her skin was covered with crisscrossing whip marks and brands, some of which were still oozing pus and blood, emitting a putrid stench.

I heard light and footsteps.

The old woman, who had been hanging her head and whose fate was unknown, suddenly trembled.

She slowly raised her head.

That wrinkled face was no longer human; its left eye was swollen shut, and dried blood still clung to the corner of its mouth.

But in that perfectly healthy right eye, a chilling malice and madness erupted.

"Pooh!"

The old woman opened her mouth and spat a mouthful of thick, bloody phlegm directly at Baron, who was walking at the front.

"roll!!"

Her voice was hoarse and shrill, like two rusty pieces of iron rubbing together violently.

"You bunch of bastards!"

"Why did you come back?!"

"Want to know the sect leader's whereabouts? Dream on!!"

"Even if you slice off pieces of my flesh, I won't tell you a single word!!"

Baron sidestepped the glob of phlegm, his brow furrowing slightly, and turned to look at Zhang Taichu behind him:

"Master Dao, it seems she's mistaking us for the same group from before."

"Is this the elder of Quanxing, Granny Jinfeng?"

Zhang Chulan felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the seemingly insane old man.

"Look how badly she's been tortured... That Qu Tong was so ruthless."

Feng Baobao then peeked out from behind.

Her large, usually unfocused eyes suddenly froze the moment she saw Granny Jin Feng.

She tilted her head, blinked in confusion, and her lips twitched slightly, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.

"Get out of here!!"

Grandma Jin Feng didn't notice Feng Baobao; she was still struggling frantically, the chains rattling and digging into her flesh, blood dripping down their length.

"Don't think I won't recognize you just because you've changed your faces!!"

"That disgusting smell... I could smell it from 800 miles away!!"

"You want the sect leader's treasure? You want the secrets of Tongtian Valley?"

"Maybe in the next life!!"

Faced with Granny Jin Feng's hysterical curses.

Zhang Taichu's face remained expressionless.

With his hands in his pockets, he stepped onto the high platform, his feet crunching over the scattered pebbles.

"It's so noisy."

Zhang Taichu stopped in front of Granny Jinfeng, looking down at the old woman who had devoted her life to guarding a dead person, his tone indifferent to the point of being almost heartless:

"At your age, you still have such a temper."

"Looks like those guys didn't go hard enough to teach you how to shut up."

"you!!"

Granny Jin Feng's eyes were bloodshot; if looks could kill, Zhang Taichu would probably be torn to pieces by now.

"You little beast! Go ahead and kill me if you dare!!"

"Even if you kill me, you won't get away with it..."

collapse!

A crisp metallic snapping sound rang out without warning, abruptly interrupting Granny Jin Feng's angry roar.

Zhang Taichu stretched out a finger and gently traced a line across the alloy chain binding Granny Jinfeng's neck.

The special alloy chain, which even hydraulic shears could hardly cut, was as fragile as a noodle under his fingertips, snapping instantly and falling to the ground with a crisp clang.

Grandma Jin Feng was stunned.

The words she was about to say stuck in her throat, and a hint of confusion flashed in her eyes, which were originally full of resentment.

She knew the stiffness of the chain.

It was an alchemical artifact specifically designed to trap supernatural beings; even those who captured her could only open it with a special key.

This young man...

Was it cut off with a finger?

collapse!collapse!collapse!

One after another, crisp sounds rang out.

Zhang Taichu's fingers traced across the chains like butterflies flitting among flowers.

Wrists, ankles, waist and abdomen...

The chains that had dug deep into the flesh all snapped instantly.

"thump."

Without the support of the chains, Granny Jin Feng's already exhausted body instantly went limp.

But she did not fall to the ground.

A slender hand rested firmly on her shoulder.

"Don't move."

Zhang Taichu's voice remained indifferent, showing no sign of emotional fluctuation.

next second.

Om-! ! !

A warm, vast, and pure golden light flowed down the palm of her hand, like a burst dam, and instantly poured into Granny Jin Feng's long-dried and shattered meridians.

"Ugh!!"

Granny Jin Feng shuddered, and the pupils in her cloudy old eyes widened instantly.

This Qi...

It doesn't resemble the Qi cultivated by prestigious sects, which possesses various attributes.

It lacked both the rage of thunder magic and the fierceness of the golden light mantra.

It's too pure.

It was as pure as... as the most primordial breath at the beginning of time.

It traveled through her body, and wherever it passed, the broken meridians, damaged organs, and festering flesh began to repair and regenerate at an incredible speed.

That warm feeling made her heart, which had long been cold and lifeless, tremble.

"This...this is..."

Granny Jin Feng struggled to raise her head and stared intently at the excessively young Taoist priest in front of her.

In that moment of daze.

She seemed to see another figure in this young man.

That person was once just as arrogant, just as disregardful of rules, just as...

A figure standing in the crowd, yet seemingly detached from the world.

"The... Sect Leader?"

Grandma Jin Feng's lips trembled, and two streams of tears slid down her deeply lined cheeks:

"It doesn't look like it... the aura doesn't look like it..."

"But this feeling..."

"This feeling of wanting to trample everything under heaven and earth underfoot, yet being indifferent to everything..."

"Why do they look so alike...?"

Zhang Taichu withdrew his hand, and the golden light that had enveloped Granny Jinfeng dissipated.

He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and slowly wiped the hand that had just touched Granny Jin Feng, as if it had been stained with something unclean.

"Don't randomly claim kinship with others."

Zhang Taichu casually tossed the handkerchief aside, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery:

"I am not that good-for-nothing who only knows how to cause destruction and end up killing himself."

Upon hearing the word "useless," Granny Jin Feng's previously somewhat dazed eyes instantly sharpened.

She struggled to stand up, trying to uphold the dignity of the god in her heart:

"You are not allowed to insult the sect leader!!"

"He is the most amazing person in the world!! He is..."

"He's a stray dog."

Zhang Taichu interrupted her outburst directly, his tone as calm as if stating a fact:

"Leading a bunch of idiots, what kind of sworn brotherhood is this, the Thirty-Six Thieves?"

"Those who thought they could understand the ways of heaven, and what was the result?"

"He killed everyone, implicated his family, and in the end, he has to hide in this dark cave like a rat, drawing a few scribbles to comfort himself."

"Is this the God you see?"

"Is this the dream you've cherished your whole life?"

Zhang Taichu took a step forward, his indifferent eyes meeting Granny Jin Feng's directly.

"How foolish."

Grandma Jin Feng opened her mouth wide, wanting to refute or curse.

But under Zhang Taichu's powerful aura, she couldn't utter a single word.

Those words were like sharp knives, precisely piercing through the thin veil of faith in her heart, revealing the bloody reality within.

"I'm not here for the junk that guy left behind."

Zhang Taichu turned away, no longer looking at the pitiful old man.

He reached out and waved to Feng Baobao, who was standing not far away:

"come over."

Feng Baobao paused for a moment, then slowly walked over, carrying a shovel.

She stood beside Zhang Taichu, still looking dazed and silly, but her eyes kept glancing at Granny Jinfeng.

Zhang Taichu placed his hand on Feng Baobao's messy head and rubbed it a couple of times with a little force:

"I've come to take back what belongs to her."

"Belongs to...her?"

Grandma Jin Feng subconsciously looked at the young girl who was wearing a windbreaker and was covered in dirt.

She hadn't looked closely just now because of her anger and the pain.

At that moment, bathed in golden light, she could see that face clearly, and those eyes that were so clear and pure.

boom!

It was as if a thunderclap had exploded in her mind.

Granny Jin Feng's body trembled violently, a hundred times more violently than when she was being tortured.

She stared wide-eyed in disbelief, forgetting even to breathe.

That face...

Although I've grown up, and my facial features have matured.

But the charm in her eyes, that ethereal quality, and that...feeling that was so familiar to her.

"You...you are..."

Granny Jin Feng reached out her trembling hand, wanting to touch Feng Baobao's face, but stopped in mid-air, afraid that this was a dream that would shatter at the slightest touch:

"That child?"

"What are you doing here...?"

"You're not dead?! You're actually still alive?!"

Feng Baobao blinked, looking at the elderly woman in front of her who was so excited she was almost fainting, and scratched her head, somewhat puzzled:

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"My name is Feng Baobao."

"Feng Baobao..."

Grandma Jin Feng murmured the name repeatedly, tears streaming down her face once more.

"It's good that you're alive... It's good that you're alive..."

"If the sect leader knew... no, he definitely knew, he must have already made arrangements..."

She suddenly seemed to understand something and abruptly turned to look at Zhang Taichu standing to the side.

The hostility in his eyes dissipated considerably, replaced by a deep sense of awe and complexity.

No wonder this young man is so strong.

No wonder he was so disdainful of the sect leader.

If it's for this child...

"Looks like you recognized me."

Zhang Taichu, hands in his pockets, watched Granny Jin Feng's ever-changing expression:

"Since you've recognized me, then stop wasting words."

"lead the way."

"Go to the place where that guy last stayed."

"There are some scores I need to settle with that dead man on behalf of this girl."

This time, Grandma Jin Feng did not refuse.

She wiped away her tears, leaned against the stone pillar, and struggled to stand up straight.

Although her body was still weak, her eyes shone with an unprecedented light.

"it is good."

Granny Jin Feng gave Feng Baobao a deep look, then turned around and, supported by the monkey king, walked deeper into the darkness of the cave.

"Come with me."

"The things left behind by the sect leader... are inside."

Watching Granny Jin Feng's faltering figure, Zhang Chulan moved closer to Zhang Taichu and asked in a low voice:

"Master Uncle, what does that old woman mean when she said that Bao'er is that child?"

"Could it be that Sister Bao'er and Wugensheng are really related?"

Zhang Taichu glanced at him, did not answer, and simply followed him.

Some things are better left unsaid now.

The truth.

It has to be peeled layer by layer, like peeling an onion.

Even if you end up in tears, it's a process you have to go through.