The youngest Chen son was trembling. He was stuck in the middle of a stand-off. He raised his head to look at his father.
Mr. Chen, on the other hand, shifted his gaze away. After a brief pause, he firmly said: "No… I don't recognize it. I d-didn't hear it!"
Chu Wanning's face looked like it was covered in frost, and he whispered: "Lies."
Originally, his expression was extremely stern, but now his sharp eyebrows furrowed and he looked so murderous that he was even more terrifying than the evil ghost.
Mr. Chen involuntarily took a few steps back. Chu Wanning fiercely snapped Tianwen against the ground. In a sudden crack, flames erupted and flew in all directions and the green leaves flew up in a flurry. Horrified, Mr. Chen fell to the ground with a thud.
"Did your family make the butterfly fragrance powder? Who was your eldest son's first wife? Who is Luo Xianxian? Do you have any dignity left?!"
Mr. Chen's mouth fumbled, opening and closing. In the end, he couldn't find the words to explain, his complexion gradually flushing from pale to red.
Rather, it was the Chen's family young daughter, who had been crouching next to him, that spoke. When she heard the name "Luo Xianxian", she wailed.
She leaped over, kneeling in front of her mother and shaking her unconscious body: "Sister Luo! Sister Luo, did you do all this? I know you don't want to leave, but I beg you, for my sake, please let my family go… Sister Luo…"
Chu Wanning leaned down. Holding Tianwen's wooden handle, emanating a golden light, he used it to raise Mr. Chen's head.
This was Chu Wanning's psychological need to stay clean. People disgusted him; he wouldn't even touch someone's hand. The slightest touch gave him goosebumps.
"Did you think I wouldn't know when someone's lying to me?" He stared at Mr. Chen frigidly and he saw his face reflected in his horrified eyes.
His glare was really unpleasant, so cold and ruthless, like a blade covered with frost and snow.
But so what.
Yuheng of the Night Sky never needed anyone's affection.
"Dao Master, Dao Master, you're the master from Life-Death Peak, I am the client; how can you interfere with my personal affairs like that, I–"
Chu Wanning said: "Okay, I don't care. I'll leave and let you accept your fate."
"No! No no no! You can't—"
"I can't?" Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes; the glint in his phoenix eyes was threatening: "I can't what?"
"I'm… you're… you…"
"If I had a disciple like you in my sect…" Chu Wanning stroked Tianwen gently and murmured. "I would've sliced your flesh and snapped your tendons."
At this point, Mr. Chen couldn't play the fool anymore. He saw that Chu Wanning was deadly serious and didn't have the soft kindness of a typical cultivator. He didn't want to appear any weaker than he already was, but he couldn't stop his legs from giving out. He fell to his knees with a thud and cried: "Dao Master, we - we couldn't offend the county magistrate's daughter! We've lost sleep over it, unable to eat because of it! Dao Master——"
He could tell he was going to grab onto Chu Wanning's legs.
Chu Wanning had a deep obsession with cleanliness. Seeing that Mr. Chen was going to touch him, Tianwen shot down and he said in disgust: "Don't touch me!"
"Ah!" Tianwen had struck the back of his hand. Even though there was no spiritual power infused into it, Mr. Chen still cried out and yelled: "My god! A master from Life-Death Peak would beat an ordinary civilian!"
"You–!"
When Mo Ran helped the two injured people into the house, he saw Mr. Chen kneeling on the ground with tears rolling down his face, pointing a trembling finger at Chu Wanning and yelling: "Which sect would do this sort of thing?" I commissioned you from Life-Death Peak. Not only do you not protect your client, but you also beat them. This is serious, this is truly— how shameless! I-I want to tell this to the world! I want everyone to know about this! I-I'm going to tell everyone about… about your attitude! It'll ruin your reputation and you'll never earn another penny!"
Chu Wanning replied angrily: "Why should I care about money? Can money resolve your conflicts? Can you use it to repay a debt of gratitude? Can you do whatever you want and go back on your word if you have money?"
The youngest Chen son next to him said timidly: "We didn't kill Luo Xianxian. We only beat her a bit and drove her out. She was the one that didn't want to live. It was snowing and she didn't try to find some shelter. How can we be blamed for that? We didn't kill anyone. You're a cultivation master, you can't toss around blame like that so carelessly."
His remarks were extremely sharp. As far as the law is concerned, the Chen family didn't do anything wrong. Even if Chu Wanning turned them over to the court, the judge would, at best, blame the Chen family for being untrustworthy, but they would never find them all guilty.
"I didn't kill our older brother, our older brother died because of me - You really figured it all out, didn't you?"
The hand Chu Wanning had wrapped around Tianwen trembled slightly because of his rage.
Mr. Chen was a wily old man and he had already recovered from his previous panic. He was worried that Chu Wanning would leave them alone with the evil spirit, but on second thought, this powerful cultivator was sent by Life-Death Peak. Life-Death Peak was the number one sect in the lower cultivator world. Once they accepted a commission, the cultivation masters sent to vanquish the evil had to complete the task. This was something everyone in the realm knew.
After coming to this conclusion, he wasn't so scared anymore.
Holding his hand that had a small scrap across it, he sobbed with tears and snot on his face: "Figure it out? The Chen family has never done anything harmful in this life. We didn't do or cause anything. Luo Xianxian didn't want to live, but she was fine mooching off of us? I-If you don't get rid of this ghost today, I'll march straight into Life-Death Peak and sue you! How can you do things like this? You take people's money and get rid of their problems. Do you not understand that? You still—"
Before he finished speaking, Chu Wanning took his own money pouch and angrily threw it in front of Mr. Chen: "The sect charged you and I'm offering you a refund. As for wanting to sue, do what you want!"
Tianwen lit up, its willow leaves gleaming like knives.
Mr. Chen was caught off guard. He squealed, his head jumbled with fear, and in a panic, he dragged his young daughter in front of him to block the willow vine.
It was fortunate that Chu Wanning was used to whipping others and Tianwen was linked to his mind. It immediately retracted, narrowly avoiding the Chen family daughter. It instead spun around, finding Mr. Chen's face and slashing across his cheek. Blood splattered everywhere and he screamed.
Mr. Chen didn't expect that Chu Wanning would retaliate. All his aggression had completely melted into a bubble of mud, and he fled, shouting: "Stop! No More! Dao Master, ignore my rambling! It was all nonsense! Dao Master! Ah! Dao Master, forgive me! Ouch, I beg you! I'm old and can't bear it! Be merciful! It's our fault! It's the Chen family's fault!"
Chu Wanning wasn't going to listen to it. Anger boiled in his chest, his phoenix eyes ruthless. Tianwen moved so fast, the eyes couldn't keep up with it. He beat Mr. Chen to the floor, and he burst into tears.
Standing in the doorway, Mo Ran was stunned: "…
This was the first time he had seen Chu Wanning using Tianwen on a civilian and he wasn't holding back. Mr. Chen was hunched over like a cow and the willow vine danced like a shadow.
What's going on? The contractor was beating up the client. Whether this happened in the lower cultivation realm or the higher cultivation realm, it was enough to discredit the immortal. No matter how strong his temper was, no matter how impulsive he was, Chu Wanning wouldn't have had such a grave lapse in judgement, right?
This was even worse than his "crime of theft and prostitution", which was considered a first-degree offence.
Shi Mei also paled with fright, and hurriedly tugged on Mo Ran: "Quick, go and stop Shizun!"
Mo Ran handed the unconscious Chen Yao, the daughter of the Yao family, to Shi Mei. He rushed forward to grab Chu Wanning's wrist, shocked and nervous: "Shizun - you - what are you doing? "
Chu Wanning didn't have a good temper. His sharp eyebrows were drawn tightly together and he forced out: "Let go."
"Shizun, you're breaking the sect rules–"
"What are you trying to say? That you know the 750 sect rules better than I do? Let go!"
Mo Ran's voice rose: "Then what? You'll keep fighting?"
Chu Wanning didn't bother talking to him anymore. He flung his sleeves to the side and whipped the vine again, slamming it across Mr. Chen.
"Shizun!!"
Chu Wanning whispered angrily, frost and snow dancing in his eyes: "Get out!"
When Mr. Chen looked outside, he thought that Mo Ran must be a good person because of his dashing good looks. He quickly stumbled over, shrank behind Mo Ran, and tugged on Mo Ran's robe: "Dao Master, you have to talk down your shizun. I-I'm just an old man. Even if I screwed up… Even if I screwed up, that doesn't justify being beaten like this…"
Unexpectedly, Mo Ran turned to look at his face covered in tears and snot and didn't feel any pity towards him. Instead, he only felt disgusted. "Ah." He quickly stepped away, repulsed: "Don't touch me."
"…" As soon as Mr. Chen saw that he wouldn't help him, his eyes turned to Shi Mei, who was helping set Chen Yao down on a chair not far away. In a last-ditch effort, he crawled towards Shi Mei, bawling and sobbing as he did so.
"Dao Master, Dao Master, show some kindness and compassion. I know that I was wrong. It's my fault, it's all my fault. Please, help me convince your shizun. I made mistakes, I admit it… I…I… You can do whatever you want to me, just don't beat me anymore. I'm too old, my body can't stand it… I can't stand it…"
He cried mournfully, and, in order to ensure his survival, he put on a very sincere act. Crawling to Shi Mei's side, he stretched out his hand and pulled on Shi Mei's clothes.
"…" When he saw how remorseful he seemed, Shi Mei raised his head and said to Chu Wanning: "Shizun, since the old man admits that he was wrong, you should be merciful and let–"
Chu Wanning said: "Get out of my way."
Shi Mei: "…"
Chu Wanning shouted: "You're still in the way!?"
Shi Mei shuddered in fear and moved aside.
Tianwen cut through the air with a swoosh, rushing towards Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen held his head in his hands and let out a heartbreaking cry. The cry was too much for him. Shi Mei stood beside him, and couldn't stop himself from abruptly stepping forward, blocking the whip intended for Mr. Chen.
The brush of a willow vine sounded.
Shi Mei moved too quickly and, by the time Chu Wanning recalled Tianwen, it was too late.
Blood splattered on the ground and, since Shi Mei's body was weak, after receiving the blow, he knelt on the ground, clutching his pale and delicate cheek. That didn't stop the blood, however, and it trickled out through his fingers…