597: Chapter 597 Post-War in the Southern Desert

"Ugh, I feel so terrible."

"Where am I?"

Wang Yao kept his eyes closed, feeling his way through the darkness.

It was as if he had lost his sight; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open his eyes, so he walked with great caution with every step.

"From today on, you are my Junior Brother."

Halfway through his walk, Wang Yao was startled by a sudden voice.

"Who, who is speaking!"

After the panic, he fumbled around wildly, but found nothing.

"Gulp." Wang Yao swallowed, and for some reason, an inexplicable, ominous premonition rose in his heart.

Driven by some strange impulse, Wang Yao continued to grope his way forward.

His steps became faster and heavier, until eventually, he was running.

"Hello, Senior Brother, please take care of me."

"Junior Nephew, that is not how one practices the sword."

"Thank you, Immortal Master, thank you for saving my child."

The voices echoing in Wang Yao's ears grew more frequent, and his breathing involuntarily became heavier.

"What, what are these?"

Clutching his forehead, Wang Yao just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible and stop hearing these voices.

"Light, it's light!"

Sensing a faint light ahead, Wang Yao ran towards it, and during that time, he heard no more voices.

Just when he thought everything was over, his eyes suddenly opened.

The sudden opening of his eyes and the intense light in front of him made him close them again, covering his eyes in a daze.

Opening his eyes again, what came into view was a ruined small town, currently engulfed in flames, with blood and severed limbs everywhere.

Wang Yao was dazed at first, then started trembling; he had clearly never been here before, yet he was incredibly familiar with the place.

"No, no!"

"I have to run, run out of here!"

Clutching his forehead, Wang Yao turned to leave, as if the darkness from just a moment ago offered far more security than this town.

"Do it!"

Wang Yao instantly froze. As soon as he turned his head, he collided with a man dressed as a Daoist, who grabbed his shoulders and roared at him.

The Daoist's eyes were blood-red, his cheeks gaunt, and the veins on his face seemed to be flowing with green blood, making him look even more hideous.

"Ah!"

Wang Yao screamed, broke free from the man's grip, covered his ears, and fled.

He didn't know where he was running, but he knew something bad was bound to happen next.

"Roar!"

A monster's roar came from behind, followed by various screams.

"Ahhh! Don't, don't eat me!"

"I beg you, please spare my child!"

"Monster, I, I'll fight you to the death... Ahhh!"

No matter how tightly Wang Yao covered his ears, the sounds still managed to enter, plucking at his heartstrings.

"No, no, I didn't want this either, I didn't want this!"

"I, I can't bring myself to act!"

He kept repeating these two sentences, and his vision blurred once again.

"Bang."

In an instant, the world seemed to become quiet. Wang Yao only felt as if he had collided with a mountain.

He opened his eyes, wanting to see clearly, but could only see a blurred figure.

It seemed to be an old man with a white beard, standing straight and holding a long sword.

Evidently, Wang Yao had collided with him.

Wang Yao stared blankly at the figure, and just as he was about to fall, the figure grabbed his hand.

The figure's lips moved slightly as he spoke.

"Yin and Yang tilt toward each other; when obscured by filth, the spirit drifts away, no longer its true self. Keep the heart unified; even if close, do not waver; when eliminating evil, be decisive."

"Heaven and Earth have their flaws, and situations are never perfect; this is the natural transformation. Follow the Dao, do not doubt, do not delay."

As the words fell, the old man pulled hard, and Wang Yao felt as if he had been dragged out of water.

"Ha—ha!"

Wang Yao sat up abruptly, gasping for air; even now, his hands were still trembling, too weak to be raised.

He looked around; this was no longer the small town, nor was it darkness.

Long Tianxing was on his right side, and Xiao Sheng was on his left. Beside Xiao Sheng, there was an empty spot; evidently, this was a four-person hospital room.

Just as Wang Yao was bewildered, a voice caught his attention.

"According to gossip provided by an insider, this unprecedented crisis in the Southern Desert is suspected to have been orchestrated by a certain Saint Zhou of the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven."

"So, what is the truth? Please take a look at the footage."

Wang Yao got out of bed and followed the sound outside. Xuanyuan Qingyao was sitting on a recliner, munching on a spirit fruit while watching television.

The evening news was playing on the TV.

"Yo, you're awake."

Xuanyuan Qingyao didn't look at Wang Yao behind her, but just waved a hand casually to greet him, her attention still focused on the TV.

"Since you're awake, sit down and have some fruit."

"The idiot in charge of the team brought the wrong supplies and brought a huge pile of spirit fruits as support, so now there are spirit fruits everywhere; even the medical center is piled high with them."

The TV broadcasted the footage, showing a Wolf Demon who scratched the back of his head and said embarrassedly.

"Can you censor this?"

The reporter nodded upon hearing this, and then censored his name.

"If you ask me, this is definitely a political gamble!"

The Wolf Demon, thinking he had been censored, instantly put on airs, pointing out the situation like an expert.

"This must have been done by that Qingxu Saint, with the goal of warning the Liyan Holy Land, which is why we suffered this unprovoked disaster."

"May I ask why you are so certain?"

"Hey, you don't know this, but I was actually at the scene."

"I was on the front lines at the time, fighting a bloody battle, everything was dark and chaotic, and we were about to win, but guess what happened?"

"Hah! That surge of Evil Qi erupted with a demonic roar. By the time we arrived, he was holding a sword, looking furious, and there were three people lying on the ground."

"One was Long Tianxing, the other was Wang Yao—these are his own Junior Brothers! They must have discovered that he was the mastermind behind the scenes, which is why he ruthlessly tried to kill them."

"It's a good thing we arrived early, otherwise, tsk tsk, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"

Watching this report, Wang Yao was dumbfounded.

What on earth happened? Why are they saying this was done by Senior Brother?

Xuanyuan Qingyao seemed to sense Wang Yao's confusion and explained it to him.

"Later, Zhou Yan's clone woke up and went to support you all. He was also the one who brought you and your fellow sufferers lying in the room back."

"As for why they are reporting it this way, it might be because he was shouting and yelling at the time, scaring everyone."

"But that's not important. It will be explained later. For now, it's not bad as a topic of conversation for everyone after the battle."

The reporter on TV was a bit puzzled and asked again.

"Didn't you say three people? Then who is the other one?"

The Wolf Demon paused, looking a bit awkward.

"He looked a bit familiar, but I can't remember who it was for a moment. He seemed to be wearing a Daoist robe; he should be a Disciple of the Dao Sect."

"But that's not important. What's important is..."

"Why am I not important!"

A tragic roar came from behind. Wang Yao turned around and saw Xiao Sheng clinging to the door frame, looking like he wanted to cry but had no tears.

At the same time, Long Tianxing also woke up and was holding a steel pipe—who knows where he dismantled it from—preparing to ambush Wang Yao.

Seeing that the ambush was exposed due to Xiao Sheng's complaint, Long Tianxing simply stopped acting and swung the steel pipe at Wang Yao.

"You blockhead, prepare to die!"

Watching Long Tianxing chase after him, Wang Yao didn't know why, but he felt inexplicably guilty and just kept dodging.

"Are you sick? Why are you hitting me for no reason!"

Ignoring Wang Yao's complaints, Long Tianxing just wanted to beat Wang Yao up to vent his anger.

"That is exactly what I want to ask you!"

Seeing the two of them chasing and fighting, Xiao Sheng was afraid of getting caught in the crossfire and hurriedly hid near Xuanyuan Qingyao for refuge.

Xuanyuan Qingyao watched the two of them fighting and commented while munching on her spirit fruit:

"They really have a good relationship."

"Who has a good relationship with him!" × 2