Jiang Yun's speed was astonishingly fast, and Lin Feier quickly lost sight of him. After turning a corner, Jiang Yun had already disappeared from Lin Feier's view.
Lin Feier wondered what had happened to Jiang Yun. How did he, who was always gentle and composed, become so bloodthirsty?
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a teahouse along the road where Lin Feier stood, a middle-aged man with graying hair was gazing out the window. His gaze happened to fall on Lin Feier, and the old man's heart trembled. He silently said to himself, "I never expected to encounter such a promising talent here. It seems that fate has favored me, preventing the interruption of my inheritance!"
From his vantage point in the teahouse, the middle-aged man quickly noticed Jiang Yun hiding at the corner where Lin Feier had disappeared. His heart trembled once again. "Interesting. Not only does this small city of Yanjing possess a rare phoenix-like physique, but there is also a young fellow whose sword intent has gone astray. Interesting, indeed."
Lost in her thoughts, Lin Feier walked back along the road with her head lowered. However, she didn't anticipate a figure suddenly appearing at the corner, startling her and causing her small hand to pat her chest.
"Why are you following me?" Lin Feier regained her composure and looked up at the person who spoke. Her face displayed a mixture of surprise and joy because the person was none other than Jiang Yun, whom she had lost earlier.
Jiang Yun's tone was cold and indifferent, as if he didn't even recognize Lin Feier. In fact, at this moment, Jiang Yun truly didn't recognize her. His mind was influenced by the murderous intent, completely forgetting his past and acting solely based on his preferences. If it weren't for sensing that Lin Feier held no ill will toward him, he would have already struck her down with his sword.
Jiang Yun's sword intent dominated his body, and his sensory abilities became extraordinarily keen. When Lin Feier caught up with him, he had already sensed her presence. His return was a calculated move to observe how Lin Feier would react in her state of panic.
People often make subconscious actions when they are startled. If Lin Feier had harbored ill intentions toward Jiang Yun, she wouldn't have escaped his perception when she suddenly appeared. However, at this moment, Jiang Yun didn't sense any malice from Lin Feier. Instead, he felt her deep concern, which made him uncomfortable.
"Brother Yun, don't you remember Feier?" Lin Feier felt a mixture of fear and grievance under Jiang Yun's unfamiliar gaze.
When Jiang Yun infiltrated the Lin family's guards by changing his appearance, Lin Feier had recognized him through a birthmark that inadvertently appeared on his left arm. Later, she devised a plan to introduce Jiang Yun into the Lin family.
Jiang Yun, who went by the alias Li Tao, was consumed by conflicting emotions. Along with their innocent childhood memories, Lin Feier had long developed feelings for him. Seeing Jiang Yun acting as if he didn't recognize her at all, Lin Feier couldn't help but feel her eyes welling up with tears.
Rather than evoking sympathy from Jiang Yun, Lin Feier's appearance as a grown woman only served to agitate him further. He couldn't control the urge to lift his Qingping Sword and strike her down, as she was the source of his disturbed state of mind. However, Jiang Yun's descent into darkness was not absolute, and the remaining shreds of his rationality prevented him from following through with his impulse.
Within Jiang Yun, rationality and the desire to kill were locked in a struggle. The intent to kill occupied the majority of his consciousness, but the weaker force of his rationality persisted in its resistance.
All of this unfolded before Lin Feier's eyes. She noticed the constant color changes in Jiang Yun's eyes, with his irises shifting between black and white. When rationality gained the upper hand, his eyes gradually returned to black. However, when the murderous intent took control of his body, his irises turned white, although most of the time the intent to kill prevailed.
The strange condition of Jiang Yun's eyes filled Lin Feier with worry. Taking a step forward, she asked with concern, "Brother Yun, what's wrong with you? Don't scare Feier like this."
Jiang Yun pushed Lin Feier away, and his eyes rapidly changed colors. Soon, white almost entirely occupied his pupils, and at this point, he had lost all rationality.
Unaware of the situation, Lin Feier felt that Jiang Yun's behavior was increasingly peculiar. Overwhelmed by worry, tears streamed down her face, which only intensified the murderous intent in Jiang Yun's heart.
Suddenly, Jiang Yun's eyes were completely consumed by white. He raised his Qingping Sword high and swung it fiercely at Lin Feier.
Caught off guard by Jiang Yun's sudden attack, Lin Feier was unable to utter a word. In her desperation, she tightly closed her eyes as she sensed the gust of the sword.
After a brief moment, Lin Feier realized that she didn't feel any pain. She slowly opened her long eyelashes and saw a middle-aged man in elegant attire holding Jiang Yun's Qingping Sword, preventing it from landing on her.
The middle-aged man had sharp features, as if his face had been sculpted with a knife. The passage of time had left a few wrinkles on his face, adding to his maturity. His wise eyes observed Jiang Yun and Lin Feier, filled with a sense of mockery.
Jiang Yun, with his white eyes fixed on the middle-aged man in elegant attire, grew more determined to draw out his Qingping Sword. However, he realized that the middle-aged man's grip was unexpectedly strong, making it impossible for him to retrieve the sword no matter how hard he tried.
Letting out a low growl, Jiang Yun felt a sense of urgency. He decided to abandon the sword and strike with his palm instead, using his most vicious technique known as "Bone Dislocating Palm."
The middle-aged man in elegant attire seemed oblivious to Jiang Yun's attack, unaffected by his actions.
As Jiang Yun's palm made contact with the middle-aged man's body, he tried to transform his palm strike into a claw, attempting to disable the man's arm.
"Crack!"
Instead of dislocating the middle-aged man's arm, Jiang Yun's own wrist was dislocated due to the powerful counterforce from the middle-aged man's body.
The middle-aged man gripped the tip of the sword and quickly tapped Jiang Yun's body a few times. As a result, Jiang Yun fell to the ground in agonizing pain, unable to move. His eyes gradually transitioned from white to crimson red, and low growls emanated from his throat, although they couldn't form coherent words.
At this moment, Lin Feier perceived Jiang Yun as a crazed beast, his bared teeth and growling appearance truly terrifying. However, when she saw the middle-aged man step toward Jiang Yun, she immediately stood in front of him.
"No, you can't harm Brother Yun. He's already so pitiful," Lin Feier pleaded, her hands extended and fearlessly locking eyes with the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man chuckled as he observed Lin Feier, pausing to ask, "Haven't you noticed that this little fellow has already fallen into madness? He has lost his sanity. Even if you save him, he won't be grateful. Who knows, he might draw his sword and try to kill you in the next moment."
Lin Feier glanced at Jiang Yun behind her and realized that what he said was true. Jiang Yun was likely completely lost to madness at this point. Sympathetically looking at Jiang Yun's agonized state, she turned back and said, "Even so, it's my choice. It's none of your concern. I believe Brother Yun will find his own way to get better. He's so strong, he won't remain like this forever."
"Young girl, don't deceive yourself. As a martial practitioner at the Yuanwu Realm, don't you know that once someone falls into demonic cultivation, it's impossible for them to recover on their own?" the middle-aged man retorted.