Chapter 484: On Behalf of All Ancestral Masters, I Thank You, Brother Chen!

He said grimly, "This is my territory—show some sense—"

Before he could finish, he suddenly realized his body couldn't move.

An invisible force, like unseen chains, locked him firmly in place.

He widened his eyes in terror, struggling desperately, but found his true energy frozen solid, utterly unmovable.

What realm is this?

Chen Mu looked at him, his tone as calm as if commenting on the weather.

"You wanted to kill my friend?"

The middle-aged man opened his mouth, trying to speak, but not a single word came out.

Chen Mu raised his hand and gently clenched it in midair.

Crack—

The middle-aged man's body, as if gripped by an invisible hand, cracked with audible bones breaking.

He screamed in agony, blood gushing from all seven orifices, collapsing lifelessly to the ground.

A Peak of Three Flowers at Earth Altar realm expert died like this!

Without even a chance to resist.

The hundred or so bandits around them stood frozen, as if petrified, faces filled with terror.

Shen Ge also froze in shock.

Chen Mu turned calmly and pulled out a healing pill from his sleeve, handing it to him.

"..."

Shen Ge instinctively took the pill, swallowed it, and felt its power dissolve, warmth spreading through his body.

"Chen brother, how did you find me?" Shen Ge asked, exhaling.

"One of your junior brothers passed on the news," Chen Mu smiled lightly. "His name is Zhou Yi. Besides him, there's also Xue Xue Ranran and others."

"Did you save them?" Shen Ge immediately realized.

Chen Mu didn't answer, walking forward slowly.

In the flickering firelight, the hundred bandits still stood frozen, not daring to move.

Chen Mu led, Shen Ge followed, walking slowly outward.

As they passed the middle-aged man's corpse, Shen Ge glanced down, said nothing, and kept walking with Chen Mu.

The bandits remained rigid, watching the two walk away; just as they sighed in relief, thinking they'd escaped—

Shh-shh-shh!

Invisible sword qi suddenly shot from the air in dense torrents, like rain, engulfing them.

Before a hundred screams could even form, they dropped dead on the spot.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"

…

When Chen Mu brought Shen Ge back to the ruined temple, the moon was bright.

Inside the temple, Xue Xue Ranran and the others had already waited at the door.

Seeing that slender figure appear in the night, Xue Xue Ranran trembled, her eyes instantly reddening.

"Senior brother..."

Her voice choked, she stepped forward as if to rush to him, but her feet rooted to the ground, unable to move.

Shen Ge looked at the surviving junior disciples, at their tattered clothes, their bruised faces, their eyes filled with fear and hope; his throat bobbed several times, but no words came out.

He walked to Xue Xue Ranran, raised his hand, and gently patted her head.

"It's over."

Just those three words, and Xue Xue Ranran's tears burst forth.

She threw herself into Shen Ge's arms, sobbing uncontrollably, like a child who'd suffered unbearable wrongs.

The other disciples gathered around, some weeping softly, others silently crying, some fighting back tears but unable to hold them.

The youngest female disciple tugged at Shen Ge's sleeve, crying so hard she couldn't speak.

Shen Ge patted each of their shoulders, murmuring "It's over," "It's all behind you," yet his own eyes glistened faintly red in the moonlight.

Chen Mu did not enter.

He stood outside the ruined temple, hands behind his back, gazing at the cold, round moon on the horizon.

Moonlight spilled like water over the broken shrine.

From within, muffled sobs rose faintly—joy at survival, sorrow for the lost sect.

Chen Mu did not intrude, simply standing quietly, giving them space to release their grief.

Footsteps approached from behind, growing closer until they stopped three paces behind him.

"Chen brother."

Shen Ge's voice was hoarse, heavy with exhaustion from battle, yet his spine remained straight as a blade.

Chen Mu turned; in the moonlight, Shen Ge's face was pale as if translucent, his torn robes replaced—Xue Xue Ranran had somehow found him coarse cloth garments, washed until faded, yet meticulously cleaned.

He stood there, carefully straightening his collar, then clasped his fists and bowed deeply, bending nearly parallel to the ground.

"Shen, on behalf of the surviving disciples of Yaoyue Sect, thanks you, Chen brother, for saving our lives."

Chen Mu raised his hand...

"This bow, Chen brother, you must accept."

Shen Ge's voice was low, yet each word clear: "Ranran said, if not for you, she'd now be the Young Master Zhao's plaything, wishing she were dead. The other junior disciples said, if not for you, they'd already be corpses beneath their pursuers' blades."

"My life, Shen Ge, was saved by you from Shanzhai. Without Brother Chen, the last ember of Yaoyue Sect would have been utterly extinguished."

He straightened up, his gaze burning as he looked at Chen Mu: "So this bow is not merely my personal thanks—it is from all generations of Yaoyue Sect's ancestral masters, expressing gratitude to Brother Chen."

Chen Mu fell silent for a moment, then ceased his protest and merely gave a slight nod.

"A trivial matter, nothing to dwell on. I've always remembered how you looked after me back then."

Shen Ge let out a bitter laugh: "Those small favors from back then? Compared to today, they're not worth mentioning."

He paused, then stepped beside Chen Mu, standing shoulder to shoulder as they gazed at the bright moon.

"Ask me whatever you wish to know, Brother Chen."

Chen Mu glanced at him, then spoke slowly: "What are your plans next?"

Shen Ge remained silent for a long while before whispering: "Yaoyue Sect has existed for over a thousand years and has secretly established many escape routes. A few hundred li to the south lies a mountain range, within which is a hidden outpost—prepared a century ago by one of our ancestral masters. It holds grain and pills enough to sustain a hundred people in seclusion for years."

"I plan to take Ranran and the others there first—to lie low until their wounds heal, then decide what to do next."

Chen Mu nodded: "That plan is sound. I'll escort you there."

Shen Ge turned to look at him, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes, then turned back to the moon and whispered: "Brother Chen, your kindness is beyond repayment..."

"Here we go again."

Chen Mu cut him off, his tone cool: "I told you—it was nothing. If you keep saying this, I'll turn around and leave."

Shen Ge froze slightly, then let out a bitter laugh and shook his head, saying no more.

The two stood there in silence, listening to the night wind moaning through the ruined walls, listening to the weeping inside the temple gradually fade.

Long after, Shen Ge suddenly spoke, his voice lowered so only the two of them could hear.

"Brother Chen, do you know why Yaoyue Sect was wiped out in a single night?"

Chen Mu's gaze shifted slightly as he turned his head to look at him.

Shen Ge did not turn his head, still gazing at the moon, but his clenched fist betrayed the turmoil within.

"Others believe it was because the Longlife Mo Sect grew too powerful, and the two Grand Elders joined forces to besiege our Yaoyue Ancestor. But in truth..."

He drew a deep breath, his voice heavy with bitter hatred: "The root of it all came from within Yaoyue Sect."

"It was all because of the Grand Elder."