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

The night was as dark as ink, and the candlelight in the main hall flickered erratically in the draft, casting long and short shadows of everyone present.

Xu Xin knelt on the ground. Although he had regained his middle-aged appearance, his back was bent even lower than that of the little old man from before. He supported himself with his hands on the ground, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold floor tiles, and his body trembled slightly.

That night…

Xu Xin's voice trembled slightly, echoing throughout the hall.

"That big-eared scoundrel Zhang Huaiyi... he wasn't driven to a dead end by us at all."

Zhang Chulan suddenly raised his head, his eyes, which had been somewhat dim, now filled with bloodshot veins. He stared intently at Xu Xin, his hands unconsciously gripping his trouser legs tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

Xu Xin did not raise his head, remaining in the kneeling position, his voice low and deep, as if it came from underground:

That night, the Tang Clan deployed all its elite forces.

"Senior Brother Yang Lie... who was the previous sect leader, led us to lay a trap."

"We thought we had caught that rat crossing the street, that we could rid the world of supernatural beings of a menace, that we could reclaim the so-called Eight Extraordinary Techniques..."

Xu Xin suddenly chuckled.

The laughter was filled with self-mockery and a deep sense of powerlessness.

"ridiculous."

"That's ridiculous."

"That bastard Zhang Huaiyi... was that really daring to break through the mountains?"

"He's clearly just here... to stroll around the back garden."

Upon hearing this, Tang Miaoxing froze, his face turning deathly pale. Although he had already witnessed Zhang Taichu's terrifying power, hearing that his once-proud record was also a lie caused a corner of his faith to crumble once more.

"If he was so strong, why did he die?"

Zhang Chulan's voice was hoarse, with a hint of suppressed sobbing:

"If it was like strolling through a back garden... why did I end up dying at your hands?!"

Xu Xin slowly straightened up.

At this moment, his face was already covered in tears.

He looked at Zhang Chulan, his eyes filled with an indescribable sense of guilt and sorrow:

"Because...me."

Zhang Chulan was stunned.

Xu Xin took a deep breath, as if to expel all the pent-up emotions of the past few decades:

"That night, Zhang Huaiyi had already broken through Senior Brother Yang Lie's Dan Shi technique."

"The Qi Source Flow... that is indeed an inconceivable method."

"Even the incurable poison, Dan Shi, was somehow... neutralized by him."

"At that time, Senior Brother Yang Lie had already fallen, and the remaining Tang Clan disciples were also rendered unable to fight by him."

"If he wants to leave, no one can stop him."

"Even if he wanted to destroy the Tang Clan, it would only be a matter of a little more effort."

Xu Xin closed his eyes in anguish as he spoke, clutching his hair tightly with both hands:

"But he didn't leave."

"Because... he saw me hiding in the shadows."

"At that time, I was already dead, a secret hidden by the Tang Sect."

"If he had gone on a killing spree or walked out like that, my existence... and even the scandal of the Tang Clan colluding with the Thirty-Six Thieves, would likely have been exposed."

"To prevent me from being exposed..."

"To preserve the last shred of dignity for the Tang Clan..."

"He stopped."

Inside the main hall, only the crackling sound of candle flames popping could be heard.

Xu Xin's voice choked with emotion, each word sounding like blood squeezed from his throat:

"He could have lived, and lived a very good life."

But he didn't.

"He endured the lingering poison of the pill, and the old wounds that had already flared up inside his body..."

"He killed his senior brother Yang Lie, who harbored the strongest murderous intent towards him, but spared the ordinary disciples who besieged him."

He told me…

Xu Xin raised his head, his eyes somewhat unfocused, as if he had traveled through time and space to see that big-eared thief covered in blood, yet still grinning:

He said... "Xu Xin, you've had it pretty tough too."

"If I leave, these people will still hunt me down, and that will inevitably implicate you."

"Instead of that... I might as well rest here."

"Perfect timing... I'm tired too."

boom!

It was as if a thunderbolt exploded in Zhang Chulan's mind.

He collapsed to the ground, covering his face with his hands, his shoulders heaving violently.

There was no loud crying.

Only a suppressed, whimpering sound, like that of a wounded beast, escaped from between his fingers.

It turned out to be the case.

So that's the truth...

In his memory, his grandfather was always sleazy and slovenly, and he taught him to hide and to endure.

My grandfather, who spent his whole life on the run and hiding.

In the final moments of his life, he chose the most uninhibited and unbearable way.

With my own life.

The peace and tranquility of an old friend has been replaced.

It changed the life path of a group of pursuers.

"Idiot..."

Zhang Chulan cried and cursed at the same time, tears streaming down his fingers and covering the back of his hand.

"That old man... he's a complete idiot..."

"She could have lived...she could have lived!!"

Wang Ye sighed, reached out and patted Zhang Chulan's shoulder, but didn't know what words of comfort to say.

Tang Miaoxing and the other Tang Clan disciples all lowered their heads at this moment.

ashamed.

I felt nothing but shame.

Their proud achievements, the slaying of demons they regarded as an honor, turned out to be nothing more than a moment of mercy from others.

Zhang Huaiyi did not die at the hands of the Tang Clan.

He died in his own... mercy.

"Oh."

Just as this sorrow was overflowing, a soft laugh suddenly rang out.

Zhang Taichu leaned back in his chair, toying with a teacup he had casually picked up from the table.

He looked at Xu Xin kneeling on the ground, then at Zhang Chulan who was crying like a baby, and a faint smile appeared on his lips:

"That old bastard Zhang Huaiyi."

"Although he's a bit slow and not very efficient."

"However..."

With a clang.

Zhang Taichu casually tossed the teacup back onto the table, and the lid spun around on the surface several times before stopping.

"He's not bad, though."

This assessment is neither lofty nor particularly eloquent.

But at this moment, coming from Zhang Taichu, a monster who had just single-handedly challenged the entire Tang Sect and treated Dan Shi as nothing, it carried immense weight.

Xu Xin's body trembled, and he kowtowed heavily.

"Master Zhang is right."

"Zhang Huaiyi... was a great hero."

"And we... are just worms living in the gutter."

Zhang Taichu waved his hand, seemingly impatient with this sentimental act:

"Alright, stop wailing here."

"The dead cannot be brought back to life; what happened back then is over."

As he spoke, his gaze sharpened, piercing Xu Xin:

"That concludes the story of Zhang Huaiyi."

"What about Wugensheng?"

"That guy went to great lengths to create that valley called 'What is Human?' and hid Feng Baobao's photo in an iron box."

"What exactly did he leave for Feng Baobao?"

When Wugensheng was mentioned, Xu Xin's expression became somewhat complicated.

He hesitated for a moment, then took something out of his pocket.

It was an ordinary-looking wooden plaque with some strange patterns carved on it, which looked neither like a Taoist talisman nor a Buddhist scripture.

"This is what the sect leader... no, what Wugensheng left me back then."

Xu Xin held the wooden plaque in both hands and handed it to Zhang Taichu:

"He said that if one day someone comes to me with a photo of Feng Baobao, I should give this to him."

He also said... this thing is a key.

"key?"

With a flick of his finger, Zhang Taichu sent the wooden plaque flying into his hand.

The moment I touched it, I felt a faint warmth.

But this is not Qi.

Rather, it is a kind of... vitality.

A life force that is extremely pure, even carrying a hint of primitiveness.

"This pattern..."

Wang Zhenqiu, who had been standing silently to the side, suddenly came over.

His eyes, which always held a playful smile, were now fixed on the wooden plaque in Zhang Taichu's hand, and his expression became exceptionally interesting.

"What? You know this two-tailed creature?"

Zhang Taichu glanced at him sideways.

Wang Zhenqiu ignored Zhang Taichu's form of address. He took out a tablet computer from his bag, quickly swiped his fingers across it, and then brought up a picture.

"Master Zhang, look."

Wang Zhenqiu handed the tablet to Zhang Taichu.

On the screen is a blurry satellite image.

In the center of the picture is an isolated island. And at the very center of the island stands a towering tree whose outline can still be seen even from 10,000 meters above the ground...

"The patterns on this wooden sign are the totems of Nathan Island."