Chapter Twenty-Five: Quick to Draw Swords Over a Few Words

After all, no matter how turbulent the world may become, wanton slaughter has always been restrained throughout history, whether in the divine realm or among demons and monsters. Even those who practice evil arts and require souls rarely massacre entire villages so brazenly.

Staring at the scorched corpses before them, at the disfigured men, women, and children, Bai Mu and Ling Yan both felt a dark premonition rise in their hearts, as if some great calamity were closing in upon them, threatening to swallow them whole at any moment.

With Dayong reduced to ashes and night already deepening, it was impossible to travel further. Reluctantly, the two had no choice but to rest fully clothed in the peach grove outside the ruins for the night.

When morning sunlight finally bathed the peach trees and birdsong echoed through the mountains, the two looked back, full of regret, at the ruined Dayong, then swiftly set off toward Mount Floating Jade.

"Who are you two, and why are you here at daybreak?"

A rough, booming voice called out from behind.

Bai Mu and Ling Yan halted at the edge of the peach grove and turned to see who had spoken.

A middle-aged man in a crimson robe approached, a massive, ancient-looking sword strapped to his back. His figure was imposing, though his features were plain, no more than average. Yet as the slanting sunlight fell across him, his shadow in the grove stood tall as a small tower.

Behind him followed a young man, similarly clad in crimson, who looked to be in his twenties—slightly older than Bai Mu and Ling Yan. He too bore a large sword, though his was common iron, nothing special.

The moment Bai Mu and Ling Yan turned, the young man cried out in alarm, "Master, that's the man in white who slaughtered everyone in Dayong and burned the marketplace!"

Man in white?

Could he mean me?

Bai Mu glanced around in puzzlement; aside from himself, no one else present wore white.

Faced with such a confident accusation, Bai Mu could only shrug helplessly and retort, "Brother, you must be mistaken. When did I ever kill anyone or destroy a town?"

"Exactly! Don't slander us with baseless accusations!" Ling Yan protested, her delicately arched brows furrowing in anger.

"I am not lying!" the young man in red insisted, standing his ground. "Weren't you two in the commoners' eatery at the marketplace yesterday, and did you not leave Dayong after noon?"

"So what if we were?"

"Does eating at that inn make me a mass murderer?" Bai Mu shot back, his anger making his body tense and his expression harden.

This was the first time since he had slipped away from East Gaze Mountain that anyone had so unjustly accused him, and with no grounds at all.

"Don't deny it! I am not wronging you!" The young man risked a glance at the middle-aged man beside him, his voice full of grievance. "Master, yesterday I was eating on the first floor of the inn and saw this person go upstairs to dine. Not long after they left, chaos broke out in the marketplace."

"At first, people were running in panic, then came the sounds of fighting and screams of terror."

"When I rushed over with my sword, I saw the figure of a man in white robes, fan in hand, cutting people down wherever he went. Corpses littered the ground at his feet, blood flowed like rivers, and not even women, children, or the elderly were spared!"

"My blood boiled, and I attacked him from behind without even considering his cultivation. The man in white dodged my flying sword easily and leaped ahead."

"When I looked again, I realized the man in white was the same young man who had dined upstairs with that woman!"

"In my desperation, I fought with him in midair, but my skills were far inferior—I could not withstand even a few moves. After only three or five exchanges, he defeated me with his fan. Thankfully, I was quick-witted and used the Spirit Fire Pearl you gave me, Master, to escape with my life."

"Who would have thought that today, upon returning with you, I would find Dayong utterly destroyed—all thanks to him!"

He finished, pointing accusingly at Bai Mu's nose, his righteous indignation so convincing that, judging by his expression alone, one might almost believe him.

"Slander!" Bai Mu retorted, visibly agitated. "You claim to have fought me and been wounded in the process—yet why have I never seen you before?"

"As for those scenes of slaughter, I know nothing of them!"

"And another thing: you keep saying I defeated you with a fan. Are you blind?"

"I am clearly a swordsman. As for this fan you speak of, I have never even seen it!"

With that, he raised his treasured sword before the pair, hoping to bolster his case.

However, this seemingly unintentional gesture was instantly misconstrued by the middle-aged man in crimson.

The moment Bai Mu flourished his ancient Canglong Sword, the man's face darkened and he barked angrily, "Young man, you are far too disrespectful! Brandishing your sword before a master of the sword—are you challenging my authority?"

What?

Bai Mu wondered if he was hallucinating.

He had only shown his sword to prove he never wielded a fan, yet to the middle-aged man, this ordinary gesture had become an act of provocation.

Fortunately, Ling Yan was far more tactful. Seeing the misunderstanding, she hastened to explain gently, "Friends, we truly did not commit any crime in Dayong, nor did we destroy the town!"

"When we rushed back yesterday, the place was already engulfed in flames—and in fact, it was the two of us who put out the great fire together. If you do not believe us, go to the Hall of Return to the Void and ask their disciples for the truth. Two of them witnessed it firsthand!"

"You mean Xiu Ji and Wushang?" The middle-aged man in red asked coldly. Though his face betrayed no emotion, the murderous intent around him only grew heavier. At the mention of the Hall of Return to the Void, he unleashed a spiritual pressure as overwhelming as a mountain, bearing down upon Bai Mu and Ling Yan.