Killing Monks

"Brother Fei..."

A soft voice suddenly drifted into Lu Fei's ear, delicate and familiar, making him somewhat unable to believe it.

For a moment, he was in a daze, and the hazy golden light before his eyes seemed to distort and recombine, outlining a slender figure.

Xiaojun.

A name that had been buried deep in his memory for so long, a name he dared not touch, along with that vivid face, suddenly emerged so clearly.

She stood there, about fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing the pale yellow dress he knew so well, the hem of which swayed slightly in the ethereal breeze.

Her eyebrows and eyes were curved, and her smile was as bright as ever, as if she had never left all these years and had just mischievously played hide-and-seek for a while.

"It's fake..."

Lu Fei's rationality told him that this was an illusion caused by the Buddha's soldiers, a manifestation of inner demons stirred up by the mirror's light.

But... but her appearance was so lifelike, even the unruly strand of hair at her temple was incredibly realistic.

A corner of my heart was deeply touched, and an irresistible desire surged forth.

I haven't seen her for many years, and I haven't dreamed about her for a long time!

Just one look, just one more look at her, would be enough!

Just one glance!!

True illusions never frighten people with their grotesque appearance, but gently strike the softest corner of the heart, making people unable to resist indulging even though they know it's fake.

"Brother Fei, what are you looking at?"

In the illusion, Xiaoyun skipped over to him, tilted her head back, smiled slightly, revealing two cute little tiger teeth, and her eyes were so lively they seemed to speak.

Lu Fei stared at that smile, lost in thought.

He and Xiaojun grew up together as childhood sweethearts.

Or perhaps, the Lu family originally adopted the orphan Xiaojun with the intention of finding a playmate for their eldest son, and maybe even taking her as a concubine in the future.

When I was little, I just felt like there was a little tagalong following me around, annoying and impossible to shake off.

But from some point onwards, probably when she turned fifteen, Lu Fei suddenly realized...

That blonde girl who always followed behind him had grown up, her features had matured, her figure had become more slender, and her eyes shone when she smiled; she had become...so beautiful.

He loved watching her focus when she practiced martial arts, loved watching her deftly tidy the courtyard, and loved watching her quietly embroider by the window.

He couldn't get enough of every move, every smile, every gesture.

A youthful, innocent affection quietly blossomed within him. He once secretly thought that it wouldn't be bad to watch her like this for the rest of his life.

But the problem lies precisely in this idea of ​​"a lifetime".

"You are the eldest son of the Lu family, the future head of the family. How can you indulge in such sentimental matters?" His father Lu Chengyu's cold rebuke still echoed in his ears.

Young Lu Fei retorted defiantly, "I'm happy! Xiao Jun was always mine!"

Then, one afternoon without any warning, Xiaojun died.

He died from a cup of sweet soup laced with poison.

When she collapsed, she was wearing this pale yellow dress, and her appearance was forever frozen at the vibrant age of fifteen, never to grow old again.

"Women are nothing more than clothes, tools for procreation and the release of desire. You are a person destined for great things; how can you let such sentimental love cloud your judgment?"

This was the "reason" that his father, Lu Chengyu, told him after he personally poisoned Xiaoyun.

Lu Fei will never forget that day when he held Xiao Jun's gradually cooling body and cried his heart out.

With her last strength, the girl in his arms raised her hand, her fingertips trembling as she touched his wet cheek, her voice barely a whisper:

"Brother Fei...you look so ugly when you cry..."

From then on, Lu Fei rarely cried.

He learned to laugh, to be cynical, to be carefree, and to never cry in front of others!

Now, in this illusory world, Lu Fei sees the living, smiling Xiao Yun again. Even though he knows it's fake, he still compares the Xiao Yun in front of him with the girl in his memory.

They look exactly alike.

They are one person!

Xiaojun asked him how he had been all these years.

Lu Fei then began to recount his experiences in the martial world, describing the joys and sorrows, the thrills and adventures, with great enthusiasm.

In her hallucination, Xiaojun listened intently, clapping her hands in amazement from time to time, her eyes sparkling.

As Lu Fei spoke, it was as if he had truly returned to the past, where the bloodshed, betrayal, and loneliness had temporarily faded away, and all that remained before him was the girl who was gazing at him with all her heart.

Without realizing it, he reached out to hold Xiaojun's hand, imagining what it would have been like if none of this had happened.

They might leave the Lu family, wander the world, and have children...

Just as his fingertips were about to touch that illusory warmth, Xiaoyun's smiling head suddenly slipped off her neck without warning.

With a soft "thud," her head fell into her outstretched hands.

That face, which had been so vibrant and bright just moments before, instantly lost all color and turned ashen white.

A trickle of dark red blood slowly seeped from the corner of her mouth. Her once lively and smiling eyes were now wide open, staring blankly at Lu Fei.

The hallucination's voice became ethereal and chilling, like a final testament, and like Lu Fei's countless regrets over the years:

"Brother Fei...have you forgotten?"

"I'm already dead."

"Why aren't you smiling anymore?"

There was no fear, no screams.

The lingering, illusory smile on Lu Fei's face, born from a hallucination, froze completely, then shattered inch by inch.

Instead, a chilling, piercing pain instantly swept over the entire body!

That wasn't physical pain; it was the pain of having the deepest, unhealed wounds in my heart brutally torn open and then roughly mixed with a handful of coarse salt!

Regret, anger, grief, and helpless rage...

All the emotions he had suppressed with his smile for years erupted at this moment, breaking down all his rational defenses!

"Lu—Cheng—Yu—!!!"

A roar, almost like that of a wild beast, burst forth from Lu Fei's chest, filled with deep-seated hatred and a madness that wanted to destroy everything.

"I want you dead! I want you dead!!!"

The true inner demon is never content with merely making people addicted.

Its cruelest aspect is that after you relive the beauty, it crushes that beauty in front of you with your own hands, repeatedly tearing open the bloody scars, making you tremble with pain and hate to the point of burning your heart!

After that, you will become a slave to this inner demon, forever trapped in a purgatory of illusion and pain!

At this moment, Lu Fei had already fallen into this state.

The last vestige of clarity in his eyes was completely swallowed up by the surging crimson, his gaze becoming unfocused and frantic, no different from those fighting in the valley.

Heavy breathing escaped his throat as he abruptly turned his head, staring intently at the nearest crazed warrior.

In that vision distorted by illusion, the other person's face superimposed on the cold and dignified face of his father, Lu Chengyu, in his memory!

The killing intent, like boiling magma, instantly overwhelmed all reason.

"Lu Chengyu—!!!"

He roared like a wounded beast, no longer caring about any techniques or moves, and pounced forward, his fists and palms carrying all his life's strength and unleashed fury, slamming them relentlessly at his "enemy" before him!

Every move was ruthless, every action a desperate gamble; he had completely fallen into a frenzied state of trading his life for another.

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!