93: Shocked Pei Yunchuan

Extreme sorrow and disappointment caused Pei Yunchuan to lose his judgment of his surroundings.

Along the way, Pei Yunchuan ignored several charred corpses electrocuted and stumbled into Prefecture City.

He originally thought that a bloody net of snares would greet him, but it turned out to be just this?

***Two quarters of an hour later, Pei Yunchuan stood on the streets of Prefecture City, gazing at the bustling crowd, momentarily dazed.

If this place could barely be recognized as a city before, now it was a battle-damaged plus version.

The grayish-blue city walls were covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and the surface of the bricks and stones was caked with dark brown scorch marks.

The once majestic city tower now leaned precariously, its flying eaves' ridge beasts were incomplete, and the glazed tiles were shattered into sparkling dust, rustling in the wind.

The shop doors on both sides of the street were wide open, their wooden panels charred and curled, and the beams were entwined with twisted scorch marks.

The branches of the locust trees along the street were bare, and where the bark had peeled off, honeycomb-like holes were exposed; occasionally, fine bits of charcoal rustled down.

The entire city was enveloped in an eerie silence, with only dust stirred up by the wind sweeping across the ruins.

Unlike the dazed and numb state he had imagined, these people were actually working!

And they weren't being driven to work by whips.

An old woman laboriously swept the rubbish in front of her door.

Several middle-aged men collectively carried a charred wild boar from the other side of the street, a rare smile appearing on their faces, as if they were about to have a feast... No, they were waiting to die!

They weren't waiting to die? Could these people have just been captured?

It's useless. Under the extreme plunder of the Blood Fiends, even the most spirited person would become dazed, slow-witted, and expressionless within five days.

This is not something an individual's will can control. Even if you have a stable mindset and an optimistic nature, the outcome will not change in the slightest.

This is the terrifying aspect of the Spirit-奪取 Array.

Thinking this, Pei Yunchuan prepared to bypass these people and open the door to the place he had lived before he left.

When he left, Grand Elder's "Go quickly!" still echoed in his ears, but now not even a trace of his Qi could be felt.

The village was terrifyingly silent.

The wind whistled through the broken flagpole, making a wailing sound.

Several charred corpses maintained their battle poses, with stark white bones exposed beneath carbonized skin.

Pei Yunchuan recognized the bronze bracelet on one of the wrists—it was the personal item of Grand Elder's granddaughter, Aman. The little girl always said this bracelet would keep her grandfather safe.

When he left, Aman was already gone, and Grand Elder had always worn this bracelet close to him.

"It's all my fault..."

Pei Yunchuan's throat bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of metallic sweetness.

If it weren't for covering his escape, Grand Elder and the others might not have been harmed.

If he hadn't been so determined to break out for help, their Qingyun Sect might still have had a day to rebuild.

He mechanically stood up, his sword sheath scraping the ground, leaving a long trail.

Three li away from the village, the first corpse of a Qingyun Sect Cultivator appeared by the roadside.

The person lay face up, with a bowl-sized charred hole in his chest, the surrounding flesh cracked radially.

Pei Yunchuan numbly stepped over the corpse, not even daring to glance down.

Then came the second, the third... These corpses were lined up like road markers along the mountain path, all bearing similar lightning burns.

Pei Yunchuan's boot accidentally crushed a section of a withered, charred finger, making a crisp sound.

He seemed not to hear it, just walked mechanically forward, his eyes dry and aching.

When the incomplete outline of Prefecture City appeared in his sight, Pei Yunchuan finally stopped.

His previously tense shoulders slumped slightly—there was no Spirit-奪取 Array as anticipated, no sky-obscuring resentful spirits, and even a few masons were standing on the leaning city tower, repairing the city wall.

"This is impossible..."

Pei Yunchuan murmured to himself.

He had personally seen what a city controlled by a Spirit-奪取 Array looked like.

The common people wandered the streets like walking corpses, their eye sockets sunken, spiderweb-like black lines appearing under their skin, finally turning into nourishment for the Blood Fiend Gate in extreme agony.

Yet, this Prefecture City before him, though its walls were riddled with cracks, its city gates were wide open.

Several children chased each other across the street, startling a flock of sparrows pecking for food.

Pei Yunchuan stood at the intersection, momentarily feeling as if he had stumbled into some absurd dream.

"Immortal, please move aside..."

An old voice came from behind him.

Pei Yunchuan turned and saw a hunched old woman laboriously pushing a wheelbarrow.

The cart was piled with broken tiles and burnt wood, and on top lay a broken sword, half of the red ribbon on its hilt carbonized.

Seeing that he didn't move, a hint of fear flashed in the old woman's cloudy eyes: "If the Immortal is here to slay demons, the demon Cultivators of the Blood Fiend Gate have already been taken care of by that white-robed Immortal..."

"White-robed Immortal?"

Pei Yunchuan's voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

The old woman pointed to the east of the city: "Three nights ago, many bolts of lightning suddenly struck from the sky, turning those red-robed monsters into charcoal."

She suddenly lowered her voice, "This old woman saw with her own eyes, a flying monster tried to escape, but was struck by a purple lightning bolt in mid-air and turned to ash without even uttering a scream."

"Did that benefactor leave a name?"

"Of course, the benefactor's name is Lin Chuping. Several of us are preparing to erect a monument and build a temple for the benefactor!"

After saying this, the old woman left on her own.

Pei Yunchuan stood on the streets of Prefecture City, his ears buzzing.

The three words "Lin Chuping" exploded in his mind like a thunderclap, shaking his Divine Soul.

His legs gave way, and he knelt in the dusty street, attracting curious glances from passersby.

"It's me... I killed them..."

Pei Yunchuan's fingers dug deep into his hair, his nails scraping his scalp, causing sharp pain, but it was less than a thousandth of the regret in his heart.

If he hadn't left, if he had persisted a few more days... Grand Elder and the three hundred-plus members of Qingyun Sect might not have... As long as he had been patient and waited until today, the Blood Fiends would have died, the Spirit-奪取 Array would have been destroyed, and Grand Elder and the others might have survived?

***If Lin Chuping knew Pei Yunchuan would think this way, he would certainly scoff.

What you sow, you shall reap.

Even if those old men hadn't died at the hands of the Blood Fiends, they would have died under his heavenly lightning.

Since Qingyun Sect relied on the Spirit-奪取 Array to Cultivate, then when the Blood Fiends appeared, these people should not have chosen to cling to life; fighting to the death was their destiny.

Especially since these old men knew about the existence of the Spirit-奪取 Array.

Their ultimate fate of having their Divine Soul utterly destroyed was merely the inevitable result of the Heavenly Dao of Reincarnation.

It wasn't that Lin Chuping was morally blackmailing, but rather that it was the truth.

Sow a cause, reap an effect; the principles of Heaven are clear.