Day was breaking.
A disciple of the Chen Family snuck out of Shihu City.
A splash of dark red floated in the babbling creek.
A figure in tattered clothes sat leaning against the bank, gasping for breath. He had clearly just returned from beyond the pass.
"Senior Brother Lu, stop searching! Senior Brother Lin has returned, safe and sound!"
"Quick, come back to Shihu with me."
The Chen Family disciple trotted closer and reached out to help him up.
Hearing this, the dazed look in the red-faced man’s eyes slowly regained its luster. His voice was hoarse. "Really?"
"Of course it’s true. We had just gotten back to the inn when Senior Brother Lin arrived right after us. If other things hadn’t come up, I wouldn’t have waited this long to come find you."
The disciple continued, sighing softly, "Our Master is gone. There’s no body. She never even had the chance to lure out the Demon. She was captured by three Demon Generals as soon as she got near the Demon Mountain."
...
After hearing this, Lu Yun, ignoring the blood streaming from his wounds, staggered to his feet. His chest heaved as he let out a gravelly laugh. "Excellent! Excellent!"
’The righteous one returned safely, while the treacherous villain died a miserable death beyond the pass.’
’How satisfying!’
Seeing this, the disciple shot a strange look left and right. Since they weren’t in the city, no one could hear them, so he simply let his senior brother vent his frustrations.
"Senior Fan said he’ll contact the Chen Family. A new Immortal Descendant will be here soon, so we don’t have to worry. And this whole affair ends here. No one is going to investigate you any further."
"Everything will be alright."
The disciple forced a smile and stepped forward again, intending to help him back to the city.
But Lu Yun stood his ground. "I’m... not going back."
He had thought it over and over, but he didn’t know how he could possibly face Senior Brother Lin.
’Who could prove that Luo Ming secretly pressed that wisp of an Immortal Family’s foundational aura into my shoulder, and not that I willingly took on the task, coordinating with our Master and the Steward to murder Lin Shu?’
’Now that those two are dead beyond the pass, the matter can never be cleared up.’
"You’re overthinking it!" His junior brother saw through his thoughts and couldn’t help but sigh. "You’re just a Trial Disciple with Mid-stage Jade Liquid Cultivation. Who would even care about you? Even if Senior Brother Lin really did misunderstand, he wouldn’t be interested in doing anything to you."
"Of course, I know that."
Lu Yun lowered his head and pondered for a long time before looking up seriously. "But I still want to prove my innocence. Besides, I don’t trust them."
’I’ve worked diligently all these years, just trying to avoid making mistakes.’
’But in the end, I still ended up like this. My heart has grown completely cold.’
’If I get another Master, will anything really be different?’
"How are you going to prove your innocence?" His junior brother was dumbfounded. Was he going to summon their Master’s Soul back for a face-to-face confrontation?
"By standing on the opposite side of them."
Lu Yun let out a long breath. As his junior brother’s eyes filled with sudden panic, he turned and bowed deeply in the direction of Shihu City.
’If I’m lucky enough to survive this, and if I ever have the chance to see Senior Brother Lin again in this lifetime, I will definitely repay him for saving my life time and again.’
The red-faced man slowly straightened up, the image of that junior disciple fleeing in panic flashing through his mind.
’Back then, I didn’t have the heart to be ruthless, so I held back my strength and let him escape. I regretted it for a long time afterward.’
’Now, by a strange twist of fate, perhaps I have one more path I can choose.’
With that thought, he dragged his heavily injured body and limped toward the Demon Mountain.
"He’s crazy! Crazy!"
The Chen Family disciple trembled all over.
’How is feeding himself to a Demon a way to prove his innocence... Could it be that he plans to betray the Immortal Sect and defect to the Demon Evils?’
He suddenly remembered something and shrieked a reminder, "I forgot to tell you! The Demon-slaying Bureau! The Demon-slaying Bureau is almost here!"
’Even if he hated our Master, he shouldn’t act so recklessly at a time like this! Senior Brother Lu has always been so steady and reliable. Why is he suddenly being so foolish!’
Lu Yun raised his arm and waved without looking back, gradually disappearing from his junior brother’s sight.
...
「Broad daylight.」
The hundred Earth Cities of Yongzhou Pass were bustling with activity once more.
Cultivators defecting to Demon Evils was common enough, but no one had ever heard of a scandal like an Immortal Descendant colluding with a Demon.
The Chen Family was truly going to become infamous in Yongzhou this time.
This incident alone would be enough to keep people talking for at least three to five years.
As for the other, equally astonishing event, it seemed all the more deafening for riding on the coattails of this scandal!
An Immortal Descendant and a Steward had joined forces to entrap and kill a Trial Disciple.
Not only did they use a scheme to lure a Demon, but they even secretly colluded with the Zhao Family of the Great Shun Dynasty.
The auras of eight Spirit Tiger Jade Tokens were identified one by one, exposing Zhao Tinglan, the man behind them.
This young talent of the Zhao Family, whose star had been shining brightly, had overshadowed Yu Duchuan for years.
But this time, he had completely and utterly lost face.
Eight against one—and it was World Traveler Disciples armed with Jade Tokens bullying a Trial Disciple from Shihu City.
In the end, his entire force was annihilated, without a single survivor left.
Normally, Yu Duchuan should have been overjoyed, throwing a grand banquet and actively publicizing the matter to bolster the Yu Family’s prestige.
But therein lay the problem.
The rising Celestial Pride was none other than Lin Shu, the very person he had once judged so harshly.
A single Magical Combat had caused two young members of the Immortal Families to lose face.
This, too, was a first for Yongzhou Pass.
"His reputation reached Yongzhou while he’s still undergoing trials in the Border Region. His future career is sure to be smooth sailing from now on..."
Everyone toiled away in this Border Region not just to advance their Cultivation, but also to build up some prestige so they could secure an official post in the Court upon their return.
With Lin Shu’s current fame, plus the backing of the Yu Family’s status, he could probably skip the County Government and go straight to working in the State Yamen.
"Yu Duchuan won’t let that master and disciple pair just leave like this."
"Why not?"

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