335: Chapter 115 The Curtain Falls and Heartlessness

"Wait, Holy Monk."

Just as the Sweeping Monk was preparing to return to his place of seclusion to cultivate, Qiao Feng called out to stop him.

Immediately, Qiao Feng knelt before the Sweeping Monk, pressed his palms together, and implored, "I beg the Holy Monk to show mercy and save my father."

The Sweeping Monk raised his hand and used a stream of True Qi to lift Qiao Feng up from a distance, then said, "This Monk has said before that your father has entered the Demonic Path, and the method to resolve the Karmic Obstruction on his body must be sought within Buddhist teachings. This Karmic Obstruction refers not only to his internal injuries but also to the hatred in his heart and the baleful Qi accumulated from killing too many people."

"As for the internal injuries, This Monk can treat them."

"With the passing of Abbot Xuan Ci and the fact that the participants of the Yanmen Pass incident from back then are no longer in this world, the hatred has likely dissipated."

"Only this baleful Qi requires long-term chanting of scriptures and cultivation of the mind to be resolved."

"Otherwise, even if Elder Xiao's body is unharmed, his mind will remain restless."

"After all, he harmed many innocent people during his quest for revenge."

Qiao Feng said, "I beg the Holy Monk to show mercy and treat my father's internal injuries."

"Amitabha." The Sweeping Monk uttered a Buddhist chant, nodded, and said, "Since you have implored me repeatedly, This Monk shall comply."

Having said that, he waved his hand and struck Xiao Yuanshan with a stream of True Qi.

Xiao Yuanshan failed to react in time and was struck instantly. His face immediately contorted in pain, he let out a miserable cry, his head slumped, and his vital signs rapidly faded.

Qiao Feng was immediately alarmed.

He had begged the Sweeping Monk for treatment, never expecting that the other party would actually take his father's life.

For a moment, Qiao Feng's anger flared, causing him to lose his composure. Without thinking, he channeled the Dragon Subduing Palm and struck at the Sweeping Monk.

Meng Li had just walked a short distance away. Seeing this, he flashed over to block him, using his self-created Dragon Elephant Vajra Palm to clash with Qiao Feng's palm.

The two palms collided, and the power of the Dragon Elephant Vajra Palm and the Dragon Subduing Palm erupted.

Meng Li stood still in place.

Qiao Feng, however, was shaken back ten or so steps.

This shocked Qiao Feng, but he was filled even more with anger.

He said in a deep voice, "Young Master Murong, why do you stop me from avenging my father?"

Meng Li laughed, "Your father isn't dead, so what revenge are you seeking?"

At this moment, the Sweeping Monk, who had begun using True Qi to stimulate Xiao Yuanshan's blood circulation, explained, "Your father's internal injuries have accumulated for many years. To cure them, one must first let him enter a state of turtle-breathing slumber."

Qiao Feng looked surprised and suspicious, "Is there any healing method in this world that involves killing someone first?"

Others around them also looked suspicious.

This claim went beyond common sense and was hard to believe.

The Sweeping Monk did not explain further and directly channeled his power to proceed to the next step.

Meng Li said to Qiao Feng, "Whether it is true or false, won't you know once he stops?"

After saying this, he did not linger, turned around, and walked toward Wang Yuyan, A Bi, and the others.

Since the Sweeping Monk had acted, Xiao Yuanshan would likely remain at Shaolin Monastery to become a monk, just like in the original story.

The affair of the Heroes Assembly at Shaolin Monastery had thus come to an end.

The subsequent event in the original story was Western Xia recruiting a son-in-law, but that was caused by Xu Zhu meeting the Western Xia princess "in a dream" after obtaining a series of fortuitous encounters.

Now that Xu Zhu had no fortuitous encounters, it was unclear whether the Western Xia son-in-law recruitment would even happen.

Even if it did happen, Meng Li did not intend to restore the kingdom and couldn't be bothered to join the fun.

After that, it was Qiao Feng being trapped in Liao, and the heroes coming to his rescue.

But Qiao Feng had not become the Southern Court King of Liao, so whether he would be trapped was also uncertain.

Even if he were trapped, it had nothing to do with Meng Li.

Therefore, with nothing else to follow, he planned to return to Canhe Village and stay there, continuing his beautiful life of romance and leisure.

With these thoughts in mind, Meng Li led Wang Yuyan, A Bi, and the rest of his beautiful companions down the mountain.

As a result, they hadn't walked far before Duan Yu, Duan Zhengchun, and their group caught up.

"Young Master Murong, please wait." It was Duan Zhengchun who spoke.

Meng Li was a little surprised.

Since they had met, Duan Zhengchun had not spoken much to him.

Because things were a bit awkward between them.

Logically speaking, Meng Li had married Wang Yuyan and taken in Mu Wanqing, A Zhu, and A Zi, making him and Duan Zhengchun a father-in-law/son-in-law quartet; their relationship should have been very close.

However, due to their preconceived resentment, the four of them—Wang Yuyan and the others—disliked and even hated Duan Zhengchun, their biological father, without a shred of closeness or father-daughter warmth.

Duan Zhengchun, likewise, did not pay much attention to these daughters.

Therefore, although they were linked by blood, their relationship was worse than that of strangers.

Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible for Meng Li and Duan Zhengchun to be close.

Now that Duan Zhengchun had suddenly spoken up, Meng Li was surprised and also a bit curious.

He paused, turned around to look, and waited until Gu Ducheng pushed Duan Zhengchun closer before asking, "Duke Duan, why have you called out to me?"

Duan Zhengchun said, "I just remembered that A Xing has been staying at Canhe Village for some time to treat her scars. I wonder what the result is?"

Hearing this, Meng Li felt somewhat speechless.

We've met for so long, and now you only just think to ask about Ruan Xingzhu?

This performance deserves a major deduction!

Sure enough, the eyes of Wang Yuyan, Mu Wanqing, A Bi, Mei Jian, and Zhu Jian changed, looking at Duan Zhengchun as if he were a scumbag.

A look of disappointment flashed across A Zhu's eyes, and her expression was not very pleasant.

A Zi put her hands on her hips and spoke to Duan Zhengchun in a sarcastic tone, "Yo, you actually know to ask about my mother's situation? I thought you had thrown her to the back of your mind!"

Duan Zhengchun realized he was in the wrong and was momentarily speechless.

Duan Yu could not bear to see his father embarrassed, so he spoke up to defuse the situation, "Sister Zi, Father didn't mean to. You know he is immobile..."

Before he could finish, A Zi interrupted, "He is immobile, not dead!"

Immediately, she looked angry, changed the subject, and said hatefully, "Don't think that just because my mother didn't say anything, I can't guess it. My mother has a gentle temperament and previously stayed at Xiao Jing Lake, keeping to herself; it's impossible for her to have formed a great enmity with anyone."

"Her disfigurement must be because she was implicated by this bastard!"

"But what about him?"

"He implicated my mother, causing her to suffer this great disaster, and then left her at Canhe Village without a second thought!"

"How long has my mother been staying at Canhe Village? During this time, let alone coming to visit, he hasn't even sent anyone to deliver a message or asked about her once."

"Not to mention that we met yesterday, and he only just remembered to ask about my mother now!"

"It's clear he never cared about my mother at all!"

Duan Yu wanted to defend him, but couldn't find the words, so he could only lower his head powerlessly.

Gan Baobao looked stunned.

A Xing, Xiao Jing Lake, Ruan Xingzhu!

She was disfigured because of Brother Chun?

Subconsciously, Gan Baobao turned to look at Duan Zhengchun and saw him looking ashamed, not denying it.

In an instant, she realized that what A Zi said was true, and her mood became complicated.

Logically, Gan Baobao should have been happy that a love rival was suffering, but that was not the case.

A Zi's words and Duan Zhengchun's performance gave her a feeling of empathy for one's own kind.

She knew about Ruan Xingzhu's situation and knew that she had never married for Duan Zhengchun's sake, and now it seemed she had also borne him a daughter.

Putting herself in her shoes and comparing the two, Gan Baobao felt that Ruan Xingzhu must have been more liked by Duan Zhengchun than herself. Yet, the other party was disfigured because she was implicated by Duan Zhengchun, and it had been a while since the incident occurred, but Duan Zhengchun only now thought to ask about her situation; this behavior was indeed somewhat cold and heartless.

She had seen signs of Duan Zhengchun's polyamory and heartlessness long ago.

This was also one of the reasons why she chose to marry someone else.

It's just that before, no one had suffered, so although Gan Baobao had seen it, she hadn't deeply experienced it.

Now with Ruan Xingzhu as an example before her, she couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart, and at the same time, a trace of worry arose.

Gan Baobao thought of the Three Great Evils.

Although she didn't know the specifics, she knew that Duan Zhengchun's paralysis had something to do with these three people.

If they encountered the Three Great Evils on the way back to Dali, the situation would likely be grim.

If she were disfigured because of this, would it be the same as Ruan Xingzhu?

Gan Baobao dared not think too deeply.

Because just the thought of disfigurement was something she couldn't accept, but she was also afraid of the possibility.

Thinking of this, Gan Baobao couldn't help but glance at her daughter, Zhong Ling, and seeing her chatting and laughing with Mu Wanqing, she immediately had an idea.