Martial Cultivator

In a daze, Chen Chao murmured to himself, "Can I really do nothing for her?"

The voice in his mind sounded out softly, "She's still a child. Can you bear to watch her die like this? How much can it delay you to send her home?"

The voice was very calm, yet it carried a certain alluring undertone, making it difficult for Chen Chao to focus. However, the pain in his mind lessened somewhat at this moment, though the voice in his head continued one after another, incessantly.

"What do you cultivate for?"

"Is it just so your life and death won't be decided by others?"

"Then why are you a warden?"

"Who will you never believe in this life?"

"Everything is solely for your own benefit?"

"Can someone like you reach the pinnacle of the martial path?"

The voices in his head kept sounding out one by one. That voice remained calm from start to end, devoid of any emotional fluctuations. Yet, it was precisely this calmness that left Chen Chao feeling bewildered and deeply immersed in them.

He muttered, "Was I wrong?"

The voice did not answer. Instead, the little girl who had been standing in front of the lantern suddenly disappeared. When she reappeared, it was a different scene. She lay in a pool of blood, her small face covered in fresh blood.

One of her hands had already been partially eaten by a ferocious-looking demon.

"How could this be..."

Chen Chao widened his eyes, his gaze filled with confusion and self-blame. If he had truly accompanied this mother and daughter to White Deer Prefecture, would this little girl still be alive?

It would not have mattered much for him to arrive late at Sword Qi Mountain, but for this little girl, it was different.

It might be the difference between life and death.

That voice slowly sounded out again at this moment. "Do you regret it? If you regret it, why did you do it in the first place?"

Chen Chao remained silent. It was just that he closed his eyes rather painfully.

The sachet in his bosom happened to fall out at this moment. Chen Chao glanced down absentmindedly, then muttered, "Do I have to save her?"

The voice in his mind responded, "If you don't even know yourself, then who knows?"

Chen Chao said, "I didn't owe her anything in the first place. What I do or don't do, no one can say anything about me."

"Outsiders might not be able to say anything about you, but what about your own heart?"

Chen Chao frowned. "That heart is mine. How could it go against my will?"

"If it cannot go against your will, then what are you doubting now?"

The voice in his mind slowly rose, flowing like water through Chen Chao's heart.

Chen Chao remained silent. When he finally wanted to speak again, the voice in his mind had already dissipated. As he looked ahead again, the lantern lay there alone, without any other scenes.

The heart demon had dissipated.

Chen Chao was currently drenched in sweat. When he came to his senses, he realized that there was no sachet in his palm, only his hands covered in bloodstains.

Full of demon blood.

Chen Chao furrowed his brows, roughly understanding why this had happened. The impact of his qi surging combined with the fact that this demon had likely eaten many people, after being tainted by its blood, he was invaded by the resentment of those consumed by the demon. It caused a momentary lapse of his mental defenses, creating a situation akin to the invasion of a heart demon. However, since the demon's realm was not high, it was not a true heart demon, so it did not persist for long before the illusion dissipated.

However, this also served as a warning for Chen Chao. There was still something in his heart that was not firm enough; a hidden danger that might erupt at some moment. Furthermore, it would definitely be at a critical moment.

After a moment of silence, Chen Chao picked up the demon bead and placed it in his palm for a long time. He could only sense some resentment within it, but there was no way to dispel it. Perhaps only those monks were adept at such matters. Chen Chao then stored away the demon bead and picked up the lantern again. However, just as he was about to move forward, he stopped after a few steps.

Taking out the sachet from his bosom, Chen Chao took a few looks silently. Although the heart demon had dissipated, the problem still lay before him at this moment.

Chen Chao had a premonition that this might be his last chance. If he did not seize it, he feared that it would definitely sow a seed in his heart, and when the heart demon truly erupted in the future, Chen Chao might encounter great trouble because of his current decision.

Just as Chen Chao was about to turn around, he muttered to himself, "If I turn back now, am I doing it for my own future plans, or just to help her?"

After pondering for a long time, Chen Chao did not have an answer. But in the end, he put away the sachet and smiled, "Consider it as if you've already paid the remuneration."

Then he turned around and retraced his steps, returning to the ferry crossing before daybreak. At this moment, the horizon in the distance was just beginning to glow faintly with the light of dawn. The ferry was not at the shore, and there were no pedestrians or travelers on either side. Without hesitation, Chen Chao leaped into the river and began to cross the river.

Chen Chao's crossing of the river by mustering his qi was not as smooth as those of the foreign cultivators who could directly traverse with the qi within their chest. Instead, he had to lightly tap the surface of the river with his toes and borrow the momentum to cross it. When he crossed the river, the ferryman from before had just arrived at the riverbank.

As it was still not very bright, the ferryman could not see Chen Chao's face clearly, but he could vaguely see a figure flying over his head.

The ferryman raised his head and muttered, "An immortal."

……

……

Since he had decided to take a detour to White Deer Prefecture, Chen Chao did not tarry on the way. He started to follow the river down to find the whereabouts of the mother and daughter. It had merely been one night, Chen Chao felt that he should be able to catch up with them no matter what.

However, as he followed the river for a day, Chen Chao deliberately increased his pace. Yet, by the time the sun set, he still had not seen any trace of the mother and daughter, including that old servant.

Standing by the riverbank, watching the setting sun gradually hide behind the mountains, the worry in Chen Chao's eyes grew. According to the pace of the mother and daughter, they should not have eluded his search until now Even if they had unfortunately fallen victim to murderous hands, Chen Chao did not sense any demonic or bloody aura along the way.

Chen Chao's expression was grim. In the end, he chose to carry his saber and head into the dense mountains.

An hour later, as darkness fell, it became pitch black. Tonight was a night shrouded by thick clouds, obscuring the moonlight. Chen Chao held a lantern in front of him, and before him was a humanoid demon kneeling down, coughing up blood profusely. The situation of this demon was currently miserable. In addition to coughing up blood, one of its arms had been severed by Chen Chao, and blood flowed non-stop. Around him, several demons trembled and prostrated on the ground.

Chen Chao stared at this demon who dominated a radius of dozens of miles, the broken saber in his hand dripping blood.

"I have only one question. If you dare to deceive me, I'll slice off your flesh piece by piece. Don't worry, I'm very experienced in this sort of thing. You won't die before day breaks."

Chen Chao spoke slowly, but his voice sounded like a chilling wind from hell to the demon, grazing over its wounds bit by bit.

As the demon king of this area spanning dozens of miles, the demon knew that hoping to survive tonight was already a luxury. However, how to die could still be quite different. After a moment of silence, it asked hoarsely, "What do you want to know?"

"There was a mother and daughter, along with an old man, three people in total, who appeared today within several dozen miles of here. Are they... still alive?"

Chen Chao stared into the eyes of the demon, the emotions in his eyes cold and indifferent.

The demon hesitated for a moment, then its eyes were filled with spitefulness. "We didn't touch that mother and daughter you mentioned today!"

Chen Chao shifted his gaze to the surrounding demons.

Soon, those demons began to speak all at once, all claiming they had not encountered a mother and daughter. Most of them did not even venture out during the day but waited until nightfall to act.

Chen Chao withdrew his gaze, then slowly sliced off a large piece of flesh from the demon.

Chen Chao said with a cold sneer, "Still lying?"

Demons were highly sensitive to human blood. Even if they did not actively hunt humans, they could definitely sense passing humans.

The demon gritted its teeth in pain, about to say something, but Chen Chao had already sliced off another large chunk of its flesh.

The demon let out a painful cry, staring fixedly at this young man who seemed like the devil himself.

Chen Chao was expressionless, "I urge you to think carefully before you speak. If I say I can make you suffer for a night, then I can make you suffer for a night. If you want to deceive me, think again about whether you have the ability."

The demon lowered its head, it was unknown what it was thinking.

Without waiting for its reaction, Chen Chao sliced again with his saber.

He had plenty of methods to deal with these demons; far more than the average person would think. During his years in Tianqing County, he had dealt with countless demons.

The demon let out a muffled groan, but this time it did not make a sound.

Chen Chao did not waste his breath, directly decapitating it with one clean stroke, then casually tossed the head aside. It rolled on the ground and stopped in front of another trembling demon. Chen Chao spoke calmly, "There's nothing more to say. If you dare to deceive me, I'll truly make you wish you were dead."

That demon was originally afraid of that demon king's status, that was why it did not dare to speak. Now that the demon king was already dead, it quickly kowtowed and poured everything out like pouring out beans, "In the early morning, three people appeared on the other side of the riverbank. We were preparing to attack them, but then a cultivator appeared, killed the old man, and abducted the mother and daughter."

Chen Chao said in a grave voice. "Where is the old man's body?"

The demon did not dare to hesitate and immediately replied, "The cultivator threw it into the river, and it was eaten by the fish in the river long ago. We were watching from afar at the time. Originally, we thought that it would be impossible to escape death as that cultivator discovered us. However, for some reason, he did not take action and simply left."

Chen Chao stared at the demon and asked, "Which direction did the cultivator go?"

The demon replied, "Southeast."

……

……

Carrying the lantern, Chen Chao left the deep mountains and returned to the riverbank. His expression darkened. He had initially thought that the mother and daughter might have been eaten by these demons. While the final answer was not exactly reassuring, it was somewhat acceptable. However, now it involved a foreign cultivator, which made Chen Chao even more worried.

Why would a cultivator abduct ordinary civilians?

Though the answer was still unknown, it was definitely nothing good.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes and turned to head southeast.