277: How dare a Golden Core cultivator kill a Nascent Soul cultivator?

Chen Yan stared at her, his eyes red-rimmed, and finally raised a hand to gently caress her cheek:

"Lin-mei... I... in this life, what virtue or ability do I possess..."

The wind swept through the mountains, and peach blossoms fluttered.

The two embraced at the village entrance, with only each other left in the world.

But the bell, quietly resting in Qing Mu Lin's sleeve, in an unnoticed shadow,

gently... vibrated once.

The wedding was set for the spring equinox, the day the peach blossoms bloomed.

The entire village was adorned with lanterns and streamers, filled with joyful music.

Qing Mu Lin wore a red wedding dress, a Phoenix coronet on her head, and held the bell that had accompanied her for ten years.

During the bowing ceremony, the heavens and earth were harmonious, and a spring breeze brushed their faces.

The master of ceremonies loudly proclaimed: "First bow to Heaven and Earth—"

Just as Qing Mu Lin and Chen Yan turned to bow—

Ding!

The sound of the bell suddenly lengthened, sound waves like blood threads drilled into their eardrums, carrying a strange rhythm, spreading out in circles.

Ding-ling—Ding-ling—

Each chime darkened the world a little more.

Chen Yan's body suddenly stiffened, a happy smile still on his lips, but in the next instant, black blood gushed from his seven orifices!

His eyes bulged, his pupils instantly disintegrated, as if his Divine Soul had been torn apart from the inside out by an invisible force.

"Mu... Lin..." His lips moved slightly, but before he could finish speaking, his entire body collapsed like a withered tree, devoid of life.

"Yan-ge?! Yan-ge!!" Qing Mu Lin screamed, reaching out to help him, but saw that blood was still flowing from his seven orifices, and his skin rapidly withered, as if all his vital essence had been drained.

But before she could react—

Ding-ling... the bell rang again, this time, it was three consecutive chimes!

Qing Mu Lin's father suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, and looking down, his shirt had ripped open on its own, a line of blood burst from his chest, and his heart turned into a mist of blood!

Her mother's head, without any warning, exploded with a "bang", splattering red and white matter all over the ' 囍' (double happiness) character.

Screams, cries, and sounds of fleeing rose one after another.

But regardless of age, all those who were Bloodline-related to Qing Mu Lin or had deep affection for her, instantly died under the sound of the bell!

In just three breaths, Qingxi Village was plunged into Hell, blood flowed like rivers, and corpses lay strewn across the fields.

"No—!!!"

Qing Mu Lin knelt before Chen Yan's corpse, her hands covered in his blood, trembling like a leaf in the wind.

She looked up at the sky, tears rolling down like broken pearls, and cried out hoarsely:

"Bell Sister!! Why?! Why did you kill them?! You said you would protect me to Immortal Ascension... You said I was your Disciple... You said... no one in this world was luckier than me..."

"But you lied to me!! You lied to me completely!!"

For ten years, she and the bell had talked about everything—

She told "Bell Sister" that she liked Chen Yan, and the sister smiled, saying: "Good child, when you achieve Immortal Ascension, you will be able to live with him until old age."

She was afraid that Cultivation would be too arduous, and the sister gently comforted her: "Don't be afraid, I'll always be by your side."

She dreamt of her parents dying, and the sister softly reassured her: "That's fake, I will keep your whole family safe."

She regarded the bell as a sister, a Celestial Master, a gift of fate!

But now—

This "sister" whom she revered as a deity, personally killed the person she loved most, annihilated her entire clan, and destroyed everything she sought in life!

"Why?! You said you would help me!!" She roared at the sky, "Why are you doing this to me!!"

The bell in her palm trembled slightly, and a cold yet familiar female voice finally stopped feigning gentleness, instead, with the chill of a thousand years of blood seas, slowly resounded:

"Because..."

"You were never a lucky one."

"This Physical Body of yours... from the moment you picked up the bell, it was mine!"

Qing Mu Lin was struck by lightning, her entire body stiff in the pool of blood.

She finally understood—

Those repeated "good Disciple," those repeated "I'll protect you,"

were all for this moment:

To break her heart, to drive her mad, to make her completely collapse in despair, her Divine Soul undefended... so that the Blood Luo Ji hidden within the bell could perfectly achieve Possession!

She looked at the bell in her hand, which had once given her infinite hope, but now felt like a giant stone weighing ten thousand catties, crushing her Soul.

She was not a chosen one.

She was just... a carefully nurtured vessel.

The wind rose, scattering peach blossoms across the ground.

"I'll take you down with me!!" Qing Mu Lin roared, urging her Golden Core to self-destruct.

But Blood Luo Ji sneered:

"Too late."

In an instant, the bell shattered, and a bloody shadow rushed out, transforming into a woman in a red dress, her long hair like blood, her eyes crimson!

She pressed a palm onto Qing Mu Lin's crown—

"Blood Slave Seal, activate!"

Qing Mu Lin felt her Divine Soul being torn apart, her consciousness forcibly stripped away!

She watched helplessly as her body was invaded by the bloody shadow, her limbs no longer under her control, her Golden Core refined into another's power!

She wanted to cry, but no sound came out; she wanted to escape, but she couldn't move.

"I curse you..." Her last shred of consciousness whispered amidst the collapse.

The wind rose, peach blossoms fell.

The wedding hall became a mourning hall, the bride a Puppet.

Ding-dong, a pleasant sound, a mockery from Hell.

Blood Luo Ji stood in the blood mist, slowly opening her eyes, feeling this young, pure body containing a Golden Core. Not bad, not bad. Although it was much worse than her previous body, it was barely enough.

This damned Lady White Bone, summoning us so urgently, I wonder what it's about. Let's go check it out first!

With that, Blood Luo Ji controlled Qing Mu Lin's body and flew towards the Southern Barbarian... Deep in the Southern Barbarian, the Skeleton Forest was as dark as ink, with gusts of Yin Qi, and white bones lay beneath decaying leaves.

Three figures quietly gathered on an altar made of white bones in the forest.

The air was stagnant, and murderous intent surged beneath the surface.

Lady White Bone You Tan stood in the center, a black veil gently dancing in the wind, her face hidden beneath the shadow of her hood, only a pair of eerie green eyes flickering like ghost fire.

In her hand, she held a yellowed scroll of skin, its edges carved with blood patterns, a "Yin Name Registry" made of human skin as paper and vengeful Souls as ink.

She slowly spoke, her voice hoarse like rubbing dry bones:

"I have found out that everyone who entered the 'Heavenly Origin Treasury' back then... there were eighteen people on the list."

"But now—"

"Only one person is still alive."

Blood Luo Ji stood beside her: "Oh? Who?"

Lady White Bone raised her eyes, enunciating each word:

"Lu Chen, this person should now be in Chu Kingdom, Lu Family Village, his Cultivation... Golden Core Stage."

"Golden Core Stage?"

Green Crow stood with his hands behind his back, his green robes fluttering, but his brows carried a hint of impatience and weariness.

He had already taken human form, living with the scholar in dreams, their Souls intertwined, ten years of warmth had long made him weary of killing and schemes.

Now forcibly summoned back, a hint of cold anger flashed in his eyes:

"Lady White Bone, you called me and Blood Luo Ji here just for a Golden Core Cultivator? Are you perhaps senile? Or have you refined too many White Bone Puppets, and even your brain has been corroded by Yin Qi?"

Lady White Bone, however, sneered, her voice suddenly rising:

"Green Crow, have you forgotten how Qing Ming died?!"

Green Crow's footsteps paused.

Lady White Bone looked at the two, her eyes sharp as knives:

"Who was Qing Ming? He was the Deputy Director of the Spirit Realm, a Peak Spirit Transformation Cultivator, with heaven-defying abilities! Even if he smuggled himself into a broken Small World, his Physical Body was damaged, and his Cultivation fell to the Nascent Soul realm, he absolutely could not have been killed by a native of such a low-level world! The Divine Soul strength of a Nascent Soul realm is enough to sweep away a hundred Golden Core Cultivators! But he died—died completely, without even a trace of his Divine Soul imprint left!"

She paused, her voice low and chilling:

"This person named Lu Chen must possess an earth-shattering secret. A Golden Core Cultivator, how dare he kill a Soul Transformation Cultivator? And how could he kill a Soul Transformation Cultivator?!"