Chapter 63: Eat It

Cang Yinyue whirled around and looked down, seeing Cang Yuanhou, dressed in a deep purple brocade robe and wearing a jade crown, standing in the cave with his hands behind his back, smiling at her.

Seeing this, Cang Yinyue leapt down from the bronze cauldron, instantly enraged, her gaze fixed tightly on him:

“Did you do all this? Do you even know what you’re doing?”

Cang Yuanhou’s temples were slightly streaked with white, his face showing signs of age, yet his nose was high and his features clear and sharp—he had clearly been a handsome man in his youth.

He looked at Cang Yinyue with perfect calmness and nodded gently:

“Of course I know what I’m doing. There’s no need for you to be so shocked.”

Hearing this, Cang Yinyue stared at her father—the man she hadn’t seen in some time—and for the first time, she felt utterly alien to him, nothing like the weak, sycophantic Cang Yuanhou she remembered.

Suppressing her shock and fury, she pointed upward and asked in a low voice:

“Did you kill all those people? Why? What madness drove you to do such a thing?”

Cang Yinyue’s emotions were deeply conflicted. Though she despised this cowardly father—had it not been for his marriage to that wicked woman, her mother and elder brother would not have died—

she still retained fragments of childhood memories: the warm moments when all four of them were together.

Back then, she had felt her father’s tenderness, not the cold estrangement between them now.

Yet she never imagined he could have become so unrecognizable, so cruel.

Not only had he killed so many, but he’d used their bones to extract corpse oil—utterly without conscience!

At this, Cang Yuanhou slowly raised his head toward the cave ceiling and shook his head:

“You misunderstand me. Not all those people were killed by me—I merely took advantage of your stepmother’s efforts. Without her relentless killings, I could never have crafted this ‘Earth Corpse Pill’!”

As he spoke, Cang Yuanhou turned slightly toward Cang Yinyue and smiled faintly. The next instant, an astonishing aura radiated from his body.

He rotated his palm downward; waves of chilling true qi rapidly coalesced into a gray, hazy palm imprint. Then, flipping his palm upward, he struck the bronze cauldron above with a palm thrust through the air.

Crack!

The moss-covered bronze cauldron shattered under the force of the palm strike. Residual corpse fluid and unknown herbal residue tumbled down in a clatter, along with a single yellow-glowing corpse pearl.

Cang Yuanhou shot out his hand and seized the Earth Corpse Pill. His true qi surged, scattering the spilled fluid and residue.

“When did you ascend to the Grand Master level of martial cultivation?”

Cang Yinyue felt the overwhelming aura emanating from Cang Yuanhou and stepped back in shock.

Cang Yuanhou had always been mediocre in martial talent; after years of cultivation, he’d barely reached the Master level—by all logic, he should never have reached Grand Master.

Yet now, Cang Yuanhou was undeniably a true Grand Master, and his true qi was extraordinarily potent—not the feeble power of a newly ascended Grand Master.

Cang Yuanhou shook his head:

“Don’t concern yourself with that. I had my own opportunity.”

He gestured to Cang Yinyue with a smile:

“Dear daughter, haven’t you always wanted to kill your stepmother and avenge your mother and elder brother?”

“Here, swallow this Earth Corpse Pill—you’ll gain the strength to kill her.”

Hearing this, Cang Yinyue furrowed her brows, studying her father and the corpse pearl in his hand.

She didn’t know what this so-called Earth Corpse Pill was, but anything forged from human corpses was clearly no good thing.

Cang Yinyue shook her head and slowly retreated, putting distance between herself and Cang Yuanhou:

“I don’t need it. I believe that with my own efforts, I’ll eventually kill that wicked woman.”

Seeing this, Cang Yuanhou narrowed his eyes, then looked down at the Earth Corpse Pill in his hand and sighed:

“Yinyue, you may not know—I’ve long wanted to kill Zhu Fenglan and avenge your mother and elder brother. But… I couldn’t.”

“My martial cultivation is too weak. She could crush me beneath her foot with one step. No matter how hard I tried, it was useless—I was as lowly as a dog before her.”

He lowered his head, his face twisted in pain:

“Since that woman entered the Marquis House, using her connection with Imperial Consort Ji, she’s ruled the entire household. Now, the Cang Marquis House is entirely hers—only the surname hasn’t changed to Zhu yet.”

Hearing this, Cang Yinyue remained unmoved, sneering:

“Isn’t this your own doing? You abandoned your wife and children to seize the Marquis title—you should’ve known this retribution would come.”

“Yes, it’s my retribution. I’m not even human—I deserve to die a thousand deaths!”

Cang Yuanhou nodded heavily, his voice hoarse:

“But this Marquis House must never fall into the hands of outsiders. I’ve exhausted my lifespan cultivating martial arts—I have little time left. Yinyue, this entire Marquis House will one day be yours.”

Hearing this, Cang Yinyue shook her head coldly:

“I don’t need it. Besides, aren’t you still alive? You have Cang Yuning.”

At this, Cang Yuanhou fell silent for a long moment, then suddenly snarled:

“Cang Yuning isn’t my blood. He’s the son of Zhu Fenglan and the Fourth Elder of the Taiyin Yuan Sect. All these years, I’ve been treated like a fool.”

“And that woman didn’t just kill your elder brother—she tried to kill you too. She wants to exterminate the Cang lineage. I will never allow that.”

“So I must ensure she doesn’t live—and neither will her bastard.”

As he spoke, Cang Yuanhou lifted his head. His once gentle face was now twisted with fury, as if he longed to tear Zhu Fenglan and Cang Yuning into pieces.

Cang Yinyue froze slightly, startled by this revelation.

She had never imagined Cang Yuning wasn’t his biological son.

But soon, Cang Yinyue merely shook her head indifferently:

“It has nothing to do with me. I don’t want the Marquis House. My only goal in life is to avenge my mother and elder brother.”

Hearing this, Cang Yuanhou smiled, opening his palm to reveal the Earth Corpse Pill:

“Perfect. Swallow it, and tonight you can kill that woman.”

Cang Yinyue stared at the man before her—familiar yet alien—and suddenly grew wary:

“If swallowing this can bring revenge, why don’t you take it yourself?”

At this, Cang Yuanhou’s smile froze. He looked at Cang Yinyue’s guarded expression and sighed:

“Dear daughter, I’m giving you this precious chance for revenge—and you doubt me? What am I supposed to say to you?”

The moment he finished speaking, Cang Yuanhou vanished from his spot, reappearing beside Cang Yinyue in an instant.

His hand landed on her shoulder; surging waves of chilling true qi pinned her in place. Then, with his other hand, he thrust the Earth Corpse Pill toward her mouth.

Cang Yinyue’s face twisted in terror—she couldn’t resist. But the next moment, she saw Cang Yuanhou suddenly freeze.

Then, from nowhere, a hand reached out, plucked the Earth Corpse Pill from Cang Yuanhou’s grasp, and shoved it straight into his own mouth.

(End of Chapter)