Chapter 213: If Only Old Jiang Were Still Here!

"This... this is..."

The three of them felt their blood freezing into shards of ice; their limbs were so stiff they couldn't even lift a finger.

Zhang Cheng's sneer remained frozen on his face, unable to retract, while his pupils had shrunk to the size of needle points.

What terrifying killing intent.

He was the oldest and the most experienced among them.

He realized with horror that only one type of person could possess such killing intent.

A demon of the Qisha Sect!

A wave of absurd despair surged in his heart.

Were they destined to die today?

Having just escaped the clutches of the Tianqing Sect's Elder Jiang, they had run straight into a star of disaster from the Qisha Sect in this quiet alley...

As for Zhou Qiang and Wang Qi, under the suppression of this killing intent, their thoughts seemed to have frozen solid.

For them, just standing was difficult enough, let alone thinking.

The next instant.

A thin, upright figure paced out slowly from the shadows of the alley entrance, their aged, indifferent face reflecting a cold, ghostly light in the sunlight.

"How could it be him..."

The moment he saw that face, all thoughts in Zhang Cheng's mind came to a standstill.

It wasn't a Qisha Sect demon.

It was Elder Jiang of the Tianqing Sect.

But this answer didn't bring him any relief; instead, it pushed his fear to an unbearable extreme.

He instinctively opened his mouth to beg for mercy, but under the suppression of that overwhelming killing intent, he couldn't even utter a complete syllable.

Jiang Ye pointed like a blade and waved his hand casually.

The next instant.

The world in the eyes of the three turned upside down.

The alley, the sunlight, and Jiang Ye's aged, indifferent face were all swallowed by an endless sea of blood.

The bluestone tiles beneath their feet turned into a dark red blood swamp, and the sky was occupied by a giant, eerie blood moon.

"What is this..."

Zhang Cheng looked up in terror and confusion.

That blood moon hung silently in the blood-red firmament, its eerie red light spilling onto his pale, paper-like face, reflecting his fear-stricken expression like a ghost suffering in hell.

As he stared, the blood moon suddenly began to fall.

Silently, yet as fast as a falling star, it expanded rapidly in his pupils.

He didn't even have time to let out a scream before his consciousness was completely swallowed by the overwhelming sea of blood.

In the alley, the three remained standing stiffly, their eyes wide open, but the vitality in their pupils had completely dissipated.

Jiang Ye swept a cold glance over the three corpses, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

This was the first time he had combined his killing intent with the Blood Moon Blade's true intent, the Blood Moon Illusory Kill.

Its power was even greater than he had imagined.

A single move had finished off three Embracing the Pill Realm martial artists.

Jiang Ye flicked his finger, and a wisp of red-gold flame from his fingertip landed on the three bodies.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

The flames silently devoured the corpses.

He withdrew his killing intent, smoothed his sleeves, and turned to walk toward the alley entrance.

Liu Fu.

Inside a quiet courtyard.

"Yiyi, it's been so hard for you to come back, why are you going to the Upper Sect in Linzhou again..."

Huang Xiyu held her daughter's hand, her eyes slightly red, full of reluctance:

"When you were at the Tianqing Sect, Mother could see you every few days. Going to Linzhou, with mountains and rivers in between, I don't know how long it will be before you can come back."

Liu Qingshi, standing to the side, shook his head slightly and comforted her softly: "Xiyu, Yiyi being able to go to the Upper Sect in Linzhou is a heaven-sent opportunity; we should be happy for her."

Compared to Huang Xiyu's overflowing reluctance, his expression was much calmer.

But in those steady eyes, besides the pride he couldn't hide, there was also a hint of hidden concern.

It was just that a man's emotions were always more reserved.

Liu Yiyi's usually cold face revealed a rare touch of gentleness, her voice still light and indifferent, but her tone was a bit more patient than usual:

"Mother, I'm going to the Upper Sect in Linzhou, it's not like I'm never coming back."

Hearing that Liu Yiyi said she would come back, Huang Xiyu looked worried again: "Linzhou is too far away... the road might not be safe..."

In the corner of the courtyard, a thin figure stood silently in the shadows like an old pine tree.

Jiang Ye was circulating his Deer-Form True Intent, his aura completely retracted, blending in with the mottled tree shadows, so that even Liu Qingshi, a peak Transformation of Force martial artist, hadn't noticed him at all.

He watched Huang Xiyu holding her daughter's hand, unable to let go, and watched Liu Yiyi's usually cold face reveal a rare, helpless gentleness.

He watched Liu Qingshi sitting on the stone stool, clearly hiding his reluctance, yet still putting on a stern face to smooth things over for his daughter.

This scene of domestic trivialities, falling into his aged eyes that had seen all the ups and downs of the world, actually caused a faint, faint arc to appear on his indifferent old face.

Once upon a time, in that tiny gatehouse of the Qingshi Martial Arts Academy, he had also watched this family of three like this, day after day, year after year.

It was just that back then, he was the gatekeeping old man sitting on a small stool at the door, nodding off.

Now, he was the Tianyang Peak acting Peak Master who shook the entire Yunling Prefecture, standing in the shadows.

He wasn't surprised at all that Liu Yiyi had been chosen by Liu Qingyu to go to the Upper Sect in Linzhou.

This girl herself had superior roots, and after swallowing the Heavenly Heart Ice Seed Lotus, her aptitude had improved even further.

It wasn't that the Tianqing Sect wasn't good.

It was just that with her current talent, arriving at the Upper Sect in Linzhou would surely be an even broader horizon.

He shifted his gaze away from Liu Yiyi and landed on Liu Qingshi, then nodded secretly.

With his current five senses, he could keenly capture the faint, hazy water aura circulating around Liu Qingshi.

It seemed that the "Canglan True Water Qi Cultivation Method" he had "dropped" had already been initially mastered by Liu Qingshi.

In another period of time, he might be able to embrace his Qi into a pill.

Jiang Ye wasn't surprised by this either.

Liu Qingshi had been stuck at the Transformation of Force bottleneck for too many years.

All he lacked was a catalyst.

And Jiang Ye had provided that catalyst.

He just stood in the shadows, watching the three of them talk about their domestic lives, a hint of hidden gratification flashing in his aged eyes.

Just then.

Liu Qingshi suddenly let out a melancholy sigh:

"If only Old Jiang were still here..."

"If he knew Yiyi was so successful now..."

"He would definitely be very happy too."

This sentence came without warning, yet like a stone thrown into a deep pool, it stirred up ripples of different kinds in the hearts of the three people in the courtyard.

Liu Yiyi's body trembled, and she bit her red lips instinctively, a trace of extremely complex thoughts flashing in her beautiful eyes, though it was unclear what she was thinking.

Even Huang Xiyu sighed, a rare trace of nostalgia and regret appearing in her eyes:

"Sigh, Old Jiang..."

"I... I was indeed too harsh to him back then..."

"I really want to apologize to him in person."

In the shadows of the corner, Jiang Ye slowly closed his eyes.

He didn't appear, and he didn't make a sound.

Only the thin fingers tucked into his sleeves trembled very, very slightly.

A moment later.

He exited the Liu Fu silently, just as silently as he had arrived.

Only the branches and leaves of the old locust tree in the courtyard swayed gently as he departed.