380: Revenge

In front of the Pill Tower, when Jiang Donghua’s figure tore through space and instantly appeared before Red Silk, everything around them seemed to freeze.

Their eyes met, and a thousand words choked in their throats, turning into a silent gaze.

Tears in Red Silk's eyes slid down her cheeks like broken strings of pearls.

Jiang Donghua's eyes were also slightly red. He tremblingly reached out his hand, gently caressed her cool cheek, and wiped away her tears.

"Red Silk... it really is you!"

His voice was hoarse, filled with the ecstasy of recovery and disbelief.

Red Silk nodded vigorously, too choked up to speak, and simply buried her cheek deeper into his warm palm.

The next second, Jiang Donghua could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart. He abruptly opened his arms and tightly, forcefully embraced the wife he had yearned for, the one he had thought was lost to him forever!

He wanted to meld her into his flesh and blood, never to be separated again!

Red Silk also extended her arms without hesitation, wrapping them around his strong waist and back, burying her head deeply into the crook of his neck.

Both greedily inhaled the familiar scent of the other, laced with subtle, unfamiliar changes.

Jiang Donghua carried the faint fragrance of herbs mixed with the powerful pressure of Dou Qi, while Red Silk carried the scent of road dust from her journey, and a faint, unique milky fragrance?

"You're alive... that's wonderful... truly wonderful..."

Jiang Donghua whispered repeatedly in her ear, his voice filled with the relief of surviving a great calamity.

Red Silk only held him tighter, answering his longing with her actions.

The torrent of emotion broke the dam of reason.

Jiang Donghua lowered his head, found her slightly trembling red lips, and kissed her deeply, unable to restrain himself.

Red Silk stiffened momentarily, then responded passionately.

This kiss was filled with years of longing, worry, pain, and the immense joy of their reunion.

However, this passionate scene caused the surrounding guards and passersby—who were already stunned by Jiang Donghua's sudden appearance—to instantly widen their eyes, followed by bursts of good-natured laughter and cheering.

"Whoa—!"

"Venerable Donghua, well done!"

"Hahaha, congratulations to the Venerable One and his wife on their reunion!"

Hearing the surrounding commotion, Red Silk suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing they were still in public!

Her already flushed cheeks instantly turned so red they looked ready to bleed, even her earlobes and neck were stained with an alluring shade of pink.

She was mortified, and quickly placed her small hands against Jiang Donghua's solid chest, gently pushing him away.

"Stop... stop this... so many people are watching..."

She lowered her head, her voice barely a whisper, too shy to look around.

Jiang Donghua realized he had lost his composure somewhat, but his skin was clearly much thicker.

Seeing his wife’s infinitely bashful appearance only deepened his love and pity for her.

He burst into laughter, grabbed her hand, and declared loudly.

"That's right, she's my wife! She is Red Silk, the woman Jiang Donghua formally married!"

He looked at her intensely, wanting to engrave her into the depths of his soul.

His heart, which had been hanging precariously, finally settled completely at this moment!

He had always believed that Red Silk, having been pursued by the Xuanming Sect back then, was likely dead.

He never expected that Heaven had been kind to him, allowing her to survive!

"Ahem!"

Jiang Donghua cleared his throat, suppressed his excitement, and gave Red Silk a mysterious smile, saying.

"It's too crowded here. Come, I'll take you somewhere nice!"

With that, he tightly grasped Red Silk's hand with one hand, and with the other, he violently tore at the void in front of him again!

"Tear—!"

A stable spatial rift instantly appeared.

Jiang Donghua gently enveloped Red Silk with pure Dou Qi, protecting her like a precious treasure, and then stepped into the rift, disappearing from sight.

The spatial rift quickly closed, leaving behind a group of dumbfounded onlookers who immediately erupted into more fervent discussion.

Inside the spatial passage, Red Silk, who was firmly protected in Jiang Donghua's embrace, felt her cheeks—which had been flushed red from shyness—instantly pale a little as she sensed the bizarre, turbulent void around them, and the terrifying strength of her husband who could tear space apart with a mere gesture.

She clearly felt that her husband's current strength had reached a realm she could not possibly imagine!

A Dou Venerate!

He was definitely a powerhouse at the Dou Venerate level!

And certainly not an ordinary low-level Dou Venerate!

Coupled with his identity as the Pill Gathering champion and an Eighth-Grade Alchemist Grandmaster... an indescribable sense of inferiority and dread, like a cold tide, silently washed over Red Silk's heart.

"He has already reached the peak of the Central Plains, yet I am still only a three-star Dou Huang!"

Red Silk nestled in her husband's warm embrace, but her heart was cold.

"Has the gap between us become this enormous? Am I still worthy of him?"

Once this thought arose, it clung to her like a nightmare.

The immense joy of reunion was gradually replaced by a deep worry.

She tightly clutched the corner of Jiang Donghua's clothes, buried her face deeper, her heart filled with complex, inexpressible emotions.

Jiang Donghua did not notice the subtle change in his wife.

At this moment, his heart was full of the joy of reunion, and he only wanted to quickly take her somewhere quiet to talk about the suffering of their separation over the past few years.

He did not know that the huge disparity in strength had already carved a chasm in Red Silk's heart, one that would require time to heal.

The spatial fluctuations subsided, and Jiang Donghua, leading Red Silk, appeared deep within a valley that was cold, damp, and permeated with the faint scent of blood and rusted metal.

The light here was dim.

Surrounding them were towering black rock walls, and crude caves had been carved into the walls.

A murky stream flowed through the center of the valley, its water an abnormal dark red color.

Red Silk steadied herself, looked around, furrowed her delicate brows, and asked somewhat blankly.

"Donghua, where is this place?"

Jiang Donghua did not answer immediately.

He simply took her hand, his voice calm but tinged with a cold intent.

"Follow me. I told you I have a great gift to give you."

Red Silk was puzzled, but looking at her husband's steady and resolute back, she chose to trust him unconditionally and silently followed behind him.

The feeling of being led and protected by him gave her immense peace of mind, temporarily dispelling the gloom caused by the disparity in their strength.

The two walked along a rugged path toward the depths of the valley.

Soon, Red Silk saw some figures.

These figures were raggedly dressed, disheveled, and covered in mud and mining dust.

Heavy, specially made iron chains were locked around each person's ankles and wrists, the other end of the chains deeply embedded in the rock.

They were numbly striking the rock face with crude tools, mining a kind of ore that gleamed with a faint, chilling blue light—Cold Iron.

Most of these people had weak auras, stumbled as they walked, and had vacant eyes, like walking corpses.

Red Silk didn't pay much attention at first, assuming this was just a mine where a certain sect punished criminals.

After all, the cultivation of these people was so weak in her perception that it was almost negligible; many of them didn't even have any Dou Qi fluctuations.

For a moment, she couldn't recognize who these gaunt, beggar-like people were.

It wasn't until she observed carefully that she noticed something was wrong.

The area around these people's Dantians seemed to bear traces of having been forcefully destroyed!

Their Dou Qi wasn't weak—it had been completely abolished!

Who was so vicious as to cripple the cultivation of so many people and imprison them here for hard labor?

Just as this question arose in Red Silk's mind, Jiang Donghua stopped.

He turned around, his gaze coldly sweeping over the prisoners who were trembling under the overseers' shouts, his voice like ten thousand years of ice, clearly entering Red Silk's ears.

"Red Silk, look closely at these people."

He raised his hand and pointed at the prisoners, every word striking Red Silk's heart like a heavy hammer.

"They are all the remaining members of the Xuanming Sect, the culprits who besieged the Hong Family and slaughtered your entire clan back then!"

"Their Sect Master, Elders, core disciples—everyone involved in the events of that year, not a single one is missing, they are all here!"

"I found them, crippled their Dou Qi, locked them here, and made them mine this Soul-Corroding Cold Iron every day, letting them taste a life worse than death!"

"Do you like this great gift?"

Boom—!!!

Jiang Donghua's words struck Red Silk like thunder from the Nine Heavens!

Her delicate body suddenly stiffened, her beautiful eyes instantly widened to the extreme, her pupils contracted, and her breathing abruptly stopped!

She looked at the prisoners in disbelief, her gaze sweeping over their filthy faces and numb eyes one by one... The enemies who, in countless midnight dreams, had made her start awake and weep, were now all appearing before her in the most humble and miserable way possible!

"Uh... Ah..."

A sound of extreme suppression, like the whimper of a wounded small animal, escaped Red Silk's throat.

Her body began to tremble violently, and tears, like a bursting flood, instantly poured out, blurring her vision.

Those were not tears of sorrow, but the ecstasy of vengeance achieved, the excitement of finally releasing the pain and hatred accumulated over countless years!

She had thought revenge was hopeless in this lifetime, that she could only bury this blood feud deep in her heart, and had even feared her husband had long since been killed.

She never expected, never expected that Donghua was not only alive and incredibly powerful, but had already captured all her enemies for her, exacting revenge in the cruelest way possible!

"Donghua... You... I..."

Red Silk sobbed uncontrollably, lunged into Jiang Donghua's arms, clutching his lapels tightly, crying and trembling all over, as if trying to weep out all the grievances, pain, and hatred accumulated over the years.

Jiang Donghua held her tightly, gently patting her back, his voice low and tender.

"Don't cry anymore, it's all over.

I told you I would definitely avenge the Hong Family.

I won't let go of anyone who has ever harmed you."

Red Silk nodded forcefully in his arms, her tears soaking his collar.

She raised her head, her tear-filled eyes looking at the enemies struggling in the Cold Iron mine pit.

The enormous rock that had weighed on her heart for too long finally crashed to the ground.

Great vengeance achieved!

Her husband has returned!

Her life, at this moment, truly began anew.