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

Hey.

Hey.

Hey.

The footsteps were not heavy; in fact, they could be described as somewhat unsteady and sluggish.

But at this moment, in the deathly silent Tang Clan Hall, each sound of the soles of the shoes rubbing against the ground was like a dull drumbeat, striking hard against everyone's heart.

All eyes were fixed on the back door that had been smashed to pieces by Zhang Taichu's roar.

There was a pitch-black abyss leading to the Tang Clan's largest forbidden area—the Tang Tomb.

The setting sun, like blood, slanted in through the broken doorway, illuminating only a small patch of dusty ground at the entrance.

at last.

A hand reached out and braced itself against the door frame.

It was a withered hand, the skin like a layer of dry old tree bark, wrinkled and stuck to the bone, covered with brown age spots, and the nails were gray and long, obviously not trimmed for a long time.

Followed by.

A figure, hunched over to the extreme, slowly emerged from the darkness.

"Huff... huff..."

It was a wheezing sound, like a broken bellows.

What appeared before everyone was a ragged old man.

No, calling him an old man is a bit of a stretch; he's more like a piece of dead wood just dug out of the ground.

He was wearing a few tattered pieces of cloth that barely covered his body, and his skin was so dirty that his original color was no longer visible. His messy, gray hair was tangled together, making him look like a chicken coop on his head.

He squinted his cloudy eyes and raised a hand to shield his forehead, seemingly uncomfortable with the slightly glaring light from the outside world.

His body was still trembling slightly and uncontrollably, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

Is this Xu Xin?

This is the Xu Xin who the Tang Clan kept hidden for decades, the legendary sworn brother of the Thirty-Six Thieves?

All the Tang Clan disciples present were stunned when they saw the thin, even somewhat sleazy figure in front of them.

Even Zhang Chulan, who had been mentally prepared, couldn't help but open his mouth wide, his eyes filled with astonishment.

He had imagined countless scenarios of this senior advisor making his appearance.

Perhaps it's the demeanor of a peerless master, or perhaps it's the aggression of a madman.

But that was the one thing he never expected.

It turned out to be such a... old beggar who looked like he could die at any moment.

"This is... a bit too tragic."

Zhang Chulan's throat moved, and he couldn't help but mutter something under his breath.

Da, da.

The hunched figure finally emerged completely from the shadows and stood in the setting sun over the main hall.

He stood there all alone, exuding an aura of decay that had never seen the light of day, making him stand out starkly from the well-dressed Tang Clan disciples around him, who were armed with weapons.

Tang Miaoxing, who had been slumped in the chair, suddenly seemed to have a burst of energy before death. He propped himself up and staggered down the steps.

"Junior Brother... Junior Brother..."

However, the hunched figure merely raised his hand slightly to stop Tang Miaoxing's actions.

He didn't look at Tang Miaoxing, nor at the Tang Clan juniors around him with their various expressions.

After his cloudy old eyes adjusted to the light, they slowly turned, passing over everyone.

finally.

The image freezes on the young Taoist priest standing with his hands behind his back in the center of the main hall.

that moment.

The old man's previously cloudy and dull pupils suddenly contracted.

That look in his eyes was extremely complex.

There was shock, confusion, reminiscence, and even more disbelief, as if one had seen a ghost.

"Who are you……"

The old man's voice was terribly hoarse, like two pieces of rough sandpaper rubbing against each other:

"That young Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain?"

He took two shaky steps forward, craning his neck and staring intently at Zhang Taichu's excessively young face.

Decades have passed.

Everything in this world has changed.

Those old friends from back then, some are dead, some are old.

Even he himself has changed from a spirited young man into the withered skeleton he is today.

But the person in front of me...

It looked exactly the same as when we first met in the martial arts world decades ago.

Time seemed to have stood still on him, leaving not a single trace.

"It...it really is you..."

Xu Xin's lips trembled, her eyes gradually reddened, and two streams of tears slid down her deeply lined cheeks:

"Zhang Taichu...Master Zhang..."

"I never imagined that I would see someone from back then again in my lifetime..."

"You're still alive...you're so young..."

"But I...but I'm already..."

Xu Xin looked down at his own dry, claw-like hands, then at Zhang Taichu's upright, pine-like figure, and an indescribable sense of sorrow and self-deprecation instantly welled up in his heart.

"I'm already a dead man..."

This scene touched the hearts of many Tang Clan disciples nearby.

Just as everyone was immersed in this bleak atmosphere.

"Tsk."

An extremely untimely, disdainful click of the tongue abruptly broke the somber mood.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, Zhang Taichu did not step forward to help his old friend up, nor did he say a few words of sentiment.

Quite the opposite.

He tilted his head slightly, his deep eyes scrutinizing Xu Xin from head to toe, his expression as if he were picking out rotten vegetables at a market, making no attempt to hide his disdain.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Zhang Taichu shook his head, a cold, sarcastic smile curling at the corner of his lips:

"Xu Xin?"

"I was just wondering what kind of rat could hide in a hole for decades."

"Now that I look at it..."

Zhang Taichu took a step forward, and the imposing aura emanating from him made Xu Xin instinctively shrink back.

"You're not a mouse."

"You're clearly a monkey who's become a demon."

puff--

Zhang Chulan, who was in the distance, almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Uncle-Master!

Can't you be a little more humane at a time like this?!

They're already in such a miserable state, and you start talking about rats and monkeys with your mouth. You're going to drive them crazy!

really.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xin's tearful face froze instantly, the sorrow frozen on her face, replaced by a flush of humiliation.

"you……"

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

Zhang Taichu didn't give him a chance to speak at all; his words were like knives, each one cutting to the bone.

"Look at the state you're in now."

"To survive, they hid in a dark cave like dogs, barely clinging to life."

"Living a life that is neither human nor ghost."

"With your appearance, you're more like that big-eared thief Zhang Huaiyi than anyone else..."

"Even if Wugensheng from back then saw this, he'd probably regret bringing such a good-for-nothing like you into the group!"

Every word Zhang Taichu said was like a resounding slap across Xu Xin's face.

Xu Xin's body trembled violently.

He bit his lips hard, leaving only a few broken teeth, and his withered hands gripped the tattered rags on his body tightly, his nails digging deep into his flesh.

ashamed.

No place to be self-contained.

There's also a surge of... a raging fire that's been suppressed for decades and is now boiling wildly.

"I...I did it for the Tang Sect..."

Xu Xin managed to squeeze out a weak defense from his throat.

"For the Tang Clan?"

Zhang Taichu scoffed, his contempt deepening.

Stop making excuses for your weakness.

"Back then, in order not to implicate his family, Zhang Huaiyi faced the pursuit of the entire world alone, and finally fought to the death, dying a glorious death."

"And what about you?"

"You hid under the protection of the Tang Clan, eating the leftovers of your fellow disciples, and lived a shabby existence for decades."

"And this is how you ended up looking like a monkey?"

Zhang Taichu suddenly moved closer to Xu Xin, his eyes like two sharp swords piercing into the depths of Xu Xin's soul:

Tell me, Xu Xin.

"Have you been atoning for your sins all these decades...?"

"Still afraid of dying?!"

boom!!

The word "fear of death" struck Xu Xin like a thunderbolt, instantly snapping the string of reason in his mind.

He suddenly raised his head.

In that instant, a chillingly fierce light suddenly burst forth from his previously cloudy old eyes.

That's the madness of the Thirty-Six Thieves!

That was the blood and spirit of the extraordinary, buried by time and suppressed by guilt, yet never extinguished!

"I'm not afraid to die!!!!"

Xu Xin suddenly let out a heart-wrenching roar.

He abruptly pushed away the Tang Clan disciple who tried to help him. His spine, which had been hunched over like a shrimp, straightened up abruptly at that moment, accompanied by the cracking sound of his bones!

He looked directly at Zhang Taichu, no longer dodging or shrinking back.

Tears streamed down his withered old face, yet it held an unprecedented resolve and ferocity.

"Zhang Taichu! Don't look down on me!!"

"Back then, I dared to swear brotherhood with the Quanxing Sect! I dared to be an enemy of the whole world! I've never been afraid of death!!"

Xu Xin turned around and faced the hundreds of Tang Clan disciples in the main hall, all of whom looked astonished.

He took a deep breath, as if to expel all the pent-up frustration that had been building up in his chest for decades.

then.

He opened his mouth, which had only a few teeth left, and with all his might, roared out the name he had hidden his whole life, and the name the Tang Clan had hidden their whole life:

"Listen up, all of you!!"

"I'm not dead!!"

"The Thirty-Six Thieves—Xu Xin!!"

"Right here!!!!"

The roar was like thunder, echoing endlessly within the hall.

This shout completely shattered the fig leaf that the Tang Clan had maintained for decades.

It also completely shattered the ghost known as the Tomb Keeper of Tang Tomb.

The one standing there was no longer a pitiful old man.

Instead, it was Xu Xin of the Tang Clan, the one who dared to challenge the rules of the world and was arrogant and unruly back then!

After a deathly silence.

"Master... Uncle-Master..."

Looking at that upright figure, Tang Miaoxing burst into tears, slumped onto the steps, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

at last……

said it.

The burden that the Tang Clan had carried for decades was finally lifted this afternoon.

Xu Xin was breathing heavily, his chest heaving.

After venting his anger, his eyes gradually became clear and sharp.

That's the kind of look only someone who has disregarded life and death could have.

He slowly turned around and looked at Zhang Taichu again.

This time, the inferiority and evasiveness in his eyes were gone.

"Zhang Taichu".

Xu Xin addressed him by his first name, his tone eerily calm:

"You provoked me out here, wasn't it all about Zhang Huaiyi?"

"You want to know the truth, you want to see Dan Shi."

"it is good."

"Since this is a gathering of old friends, there's no need for the younger generation to get involved."

Xu Xin slowly raised his hand, and an extremely eerie aura began to flow on his withered fingertips.

That was the scent of death.

It is a deadly poison formed by the lives of generations of Tang Clan ancestors.

"Chief."

Xu Xin said to Tang Miaoxing without turning his head:

"I'll take this bet."

Then, he looked at Zhang Taichu, and a somewhat ferocious smile, yet still carrying a hint of his former madness, appeared on his wrinkled face:

"Master Zhang."

"Didn't you want to try this stuff?"

"Then it's up to my old friend..."

"I'll personally send you on your way!!"

Looking at Xu Xin, who had finally regained some semblance of humanity, and at the chilling Qi emanating from his fingertips.

The disdain on Zhang Taichu's face disappeared.

He stood with his hands behind his back, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, and that signature arrogant smile reappeared.

"Oh."

"That's more like it."

"If you want to send me on my way, then stop dawdling."

Zhang Taichu spread his arms wide, his chest exposed, completely undefended, his eyes gleaming with excitement:

"Come."

"Let me see you, you old monkey..."

"Does it really bite?"