195: Chapter 195 Tianyu Lian

The White-robed Person saw it.

"Many thanks."

The White-robed Person's lips curled up slightly. He put away the scroll, turned around, and walked out of the side chamber.

He took two steps, stopped, and without turning his head, spoke in a very soft voice.

"You are more useful than Tianyu Bo. I shall grant you a quick death."

A flash of white light streaked past.

Great Elder Tianyu Xuan's voice came to an abrupt halt. His body slid down limply, leaning against the wall. His eyes remained open, pupils unfocused, the expression on his face frozen between fear and relief.

The White-robed Person walked out of the side chamber, stood under the corridor, and looked toward the deepest part of the residence.

The wind blew, and the dark red crane wings on his white robe fluttered slightly in the breeze.

He lifted his feet and walked toward the back mountain.

The White-robed Person passed through layers of Restrictions and walked to the deepest part of the back mountain.

Every Restriction, when faced with the release of his Demon Power, was like paper; it shattered at a single touch.

In the back.

There was a naturally formed cave here. The entrance was covered by vines and moss. If not for that glance from Great Elder Tianyu Xuan, an ordinary person could walk past it a hundred times and never discover it.

The cave was spacious. Several night-luminescent pearls were embedded in the stone walls, emitting a dim, yellow light. In the deepest part, there was a stone bed covered with a thick brocade quilt, and a woman lay on it.

Tianyu Lian.

Her face was exactly the same as in the painting—beautiful, gentle, and picturesque.

But her eyes were open, her pupils unfocused, and a silly smile hung on the corners of her lips. Her fingers traced unconsciously on the brocade quilt, like a child drawing on the ground.

A century ago, her Nascent Soul Lightning Tribulation damaged her Divine Soul, causing a loss of her Origin and a complete loss of her sanity.

Over these years, Shangguan Hong had searched the world for Spirit Medicine, but he could only maintain her Physical Body from decaying; her sanity had never been restored.

The White-robed Person walked to the side of the stone bed and looked down at her.

Tianyu Lian raised her head, smiled foolishly, and let out indistinct syllables, like a baby babbling.

The White-robed Person did not look at her and took a medicinal herb from his sleeve.

The herb was pitch black, its leaves covered with silver patterns, and its roots were as thin as hair.

"Eat this."

The White-robed Person placed the herb in his palm and channeled his spiritual power. The herb transformed into a wisp of black mist that slowly drifted toward Tianyu Lian.

The black mist wormed its way into her nostrils, ears, eyes, and mouth, penetrating everywhere.

Tianyu Lian's body stiffened abruptly, her pupils contracted violently, her mouth opened, and she let out a sharp, miserable scream.

Her body rolled, convulsed, and struggled on the stone bed. Her fingers clawed randomly at the brocade quilt, her nails broke, and blood seeped from her fingertips. The White-robed Person stood by the stone bed, looking down at her, not moving.

"It hurts…" "It hurts, I'm in pain!!" "Ah…" "So painful…"

The screaming lasted for a dozen breaths, then gradually faded away.

Tianyu Lian stopped struggling, lying on the stone bed, gasping for air.

Her pupils were no longer unfocused, and the silly smile on her lips had vanished. Her eyes began to focus, and she started to see everything around her clearly.

The stone walls, the night-luminescent pearls, the brocade quilt, the stone bed, and that White-robed Person standing by the bed.

Seeing this.

Her lips moved, and her voice was hoarse and weak, like someone who hadn't spoken for a long time opening their mouth for the first time.

"Who… are you… Where… is this…" "Where is A-Hong…" "I, wasn't I Undergoing Tribulation…"

Her eyes were dazed, like someone who had just woken up from a long nightmare, not yet knowing where she was, not yet knowing what had happened, and not yet knowing who this person in front of her was.

The White-robed Person looked down at her, his lips curling up slightly.

That smile was very handsome, but when Tianyu Lian saw it, she did not know why, but all the hairs on her body stood up.

She did not know who this person was, nor did she know why he was smiling, but her body knew—it was a fear born from the depths of her instincts.

"Tianyu Lian."

When the White-robed Person spoke this name, his voice was very soft, as if he were calling someone he had known for a long time.

Tianyu Lian's pupils contracted slightly. She stared at the White-robed Person's eerie face, her mind in chaos.

She remembered that her name was Tianyu Lian, remembered that she was Undergoing the Nascent Soul Lightning Tribulation, and remembered that when the Lightning Tribulation struck, her Divine Soul had split, and then there was nothing but a blank space. The subsequent memories were gone, as if someone had gouged a piece out of her mind.

"Do you… know me?"

Her voice was still trembling.

The White-robed Person did not answer. He looked at her as if he were looking at an account book from a long time ago, flipping through it entry by entry, calculating it item by item.

"The eldest legitimate daughter of the Tianyu Family, gifted and intelligent, achieved Foundation Establishment at twenty, and Golden Core at fifty."

"During the Early Stage of Golden Core, you were ordered to clear out a group of bandits. You chased them to a city of Mortals. The bandits hid in the city. You could have waited—waited for them to come out, or waited for the commoners in the city to be evacuated, but you did not."

Tianyu Lian's expression changed. Memories she did not want to recall surged forth crazily.

"You found it troublesome, you felt it took too long, so you attacked directly. A full-force strike from a Golden Core Cultivator, mixed with poison arts, spread and wiped out the entire city. Three hundred thousand Mortals, in a single night, left not a single bone behind."

Tianyu Lian's mouth hung open, wanting to say something, but only indistinct gasps squeezed out of her throat. Tears welled up in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks, dripping onto the brocade quilt, mixing with blood.

"Afterward, you were afraid." "Three hundred thousand lives—the Tianyu Family could not protect you, and the Dachuan Dynasty could not protect you either." "So, you fabricated a story."

"It wasn't you who killed them; it was the Yao Race. A group of the Yao Race had wandered into the city. By the time you arrived, it was already too late, and all the commoners in the city had perished. You fought to the death to slay that group of the Yao Race, avenging the commoners."

"You acted too well." "You cried sorrowfully, knelt sincerely, and swore before the ancestral tablets of the Tianyu Family that if you did not avenge this grudge, you would not be human."

The White-robed Person's lips curled up slightly, revealing a smile. "Isn't it true? As you acted, you even believed it yourself."

"You began to believe that the thirty thousand Mortals in that city were truly killed by the Yao Race. You began to believe that your hands were clean. You began to believe that you were a hero who eliminated evil for the people."

"But you felt it wasn't enough." "With just your words, the people of the world wouldn't all believe you. You needed ironclad proof—proof that could make everyone shut up."

Tianyu Lian's body began to tremble. It wasn't pain; it was fear. She knew what the White-robed Person was about to say.

"You set your sights on a nest of Crane Yao in Liuyun Pond within the Dachuan Dynasty. That nest of Crane Yao had lived in Liuyun Pond for hundreds of years, never provoking the Human Race, living in seclusion."

"You found Shangguan Hong and said you had investigated clearly; the Yao Race that massacred the city was that group of Crane Yao. Shangguan Hong believed it. He believed it because it was you who said it."

The White-robed Person's voice finally had a hint of fluctuation, not anger, but something colder.

"The two of you joined forces and, in a single night, slaughtered the entire flock of cranes at Liuyun Pond. You personally cut open the belly of that old crane, took out her Demon Core, held it in your palm, and cried, saying, 'Finally, I have avenged the commoners.'"

"Shangguan Hong stood beside you, gripping his sword, covered in blood, thinking he had done a righteous deed on behalf of Heaven."

"That nest of Crane Yao had no grudge against you." "They didn't even know your name. You killed them simply to put the final seal on your lie. With the corpses of this nest of Crane Yao, your story was complete."