txolops Chapter 229 Human Hearts...
Chapter 229 Human Hearts...
Upon hearing An Xin's words, the lightning gathered at Lin Yuan's fingertips paused slightly. He glanced at An Xin, the killing intent in his eyes gradually subsiding. Then, he turned to look at Ling Tai and Ling Yu, who were lying on the ground, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.
He had to admit that An Xin's words made a lot of sense—since the master of these two Taoists was able to raise an evil dragon, his strength must be extraordinary. If he could extract useful information from these two Taoists and find out their background in advance, he would have a better chance of winning if they met in the future.
Killing them is easy, but the potential dangers they leave behind are unpredictable. It would be better to extract information through interrogation before making any further plans.
"Don't worry, you're right." Lin Yuan's voice was still cold, but it lacked some of the deadly killing intent, and instead carried a more scrutinizing and oppressive tone. "Keeping their lives alive is indeed more useful than killing them outright."
He slowly walked up to Lingtai, looking down at him. He gently placed his foot on Lingtai's shoulder, which was scorched by lightning and fire, gradually increasing the force. Each exertion was accompanied by Lingtai's heart-wrenching scream of pain.
"Speak, tell me about your master's background, the exact location of Xuanzhen Temple, his true purpose in raising the dragon, and all the arrangements of your Xuanzhen Temple. If you tell me in detail and without hiding a single word, perhaps I can consider sparing your lives."
The excruciating pain in his foot made Lingtai gasp, his forehead instantly covered in cold sweat, and his muscles trembled violently.
Just moments before, he thought that he and Lingyu were doomed to die today—their magic artifacts were destroyed, they were seriously injured, and even if Lin Yuan didn't kill them, they would still be unable to escape their master Xuanjizi's raging fury after returning home.
After all, they failed to complete the mission of hunting down the enemy assigned by their master, and they also destroyed two important magical artifacts, the Soul-Suppressing Bell and the Soul-Devouring Banner. Given Xuanjizi's personality, they would only die a more miserable death, and might even be tortured to the point of being annihilated by Xuanjizi's evil magic.
Despair, like an icy tide, had already overwhelmed him; he had even closed his eyes, awaiting death.
But at this moment, Anxin's words were like a ray of light, piercing through the endless darkness and igniting a faint but extremely fervent hope in his heart—a chance to survive!
Lingtai's heart began to pound wildly, and the despair gradually faded, replaced by extreme ecstasy and an intense desire to survive.
He subconsciously turned to look at Lingyu beside him, and the same look flashed in both of their eyes—so what if they betrayed their master? That old bastard Xuanjizi had never shown them a shred of kindness before. In Xuanzhen Temple, they were never any personal disciples, but merely tools for Xuanjizi to cultivate evil arts and raise ferocious beasts, pawns he could discard at will.
Eight or ten of his fellow disciples died at his hands. The fact that they are still alive is just a fluke, because they still have value to him and can do things for him and risk their lives for him.
In Lingtai's mind, countless chilling scenes flashed by: because the eldest brother failed to collect enough Yin souls on time to meet Xuanjizi's needs for cultivating evil arts, he was tortured by Xuanjizi with the Soul Devouring Curse for three days and three nights. In the end, his soul and body were destroyed, and not even his bones were left. He was only turned into a wisp of black smoke and absorbed by Xuanjizi.
Second Senior Sister merely accidentally touched Xuanjizi's natal magic weapon, the Xuan Yin Mirror, and he immediately crippled her cultivation, threw her into the Yin Han Cave behind Xuanzhen Temple, and fed her to the evil creatures inside. Her screams echoed throughout the entire back mountain for several days.
And those junior brothers and sisters who had just entered the sect, some were beaten and scolded for their slow progress in cultivation, and some were used as sacrifices for making mistakes. They all died tragically at the hands of Xuanjizi without even a chance to defend themselves.
"Betray your master? What's wrong with that?" Lingtai screamed wildly in his heart, his tone full of resentment and unwillingness. "That old man is extremely cruel. He has never treated us as disciples, but only as tools! We risked our lives for him and collected Yin souls for him, but he regarded our lives as worthless. If we were not careful, we would be dead!"
"Even if we manage to get back this time, he'll still execute us. It's better to betray him and save our lives! What's the point of master-disciple relationships, loyalty, or morality? They're all worthless in the face of survival!"
The will to survive, like wildly growing vines, completely entangled his heart, overriding the so-called master-disciple relationship and the fear of Xuanjizi.
In his view, he would do anything as long as he could survive. As for what fate awaited Xuanjizi after he was betrayed, that was none of his business. That old man had committed many evils and deserved his retribution long ago.
Lingyu, standing to the side, was also going through the same struggle and torment. His arm had been shattered by Anxin's bullet, and the wound was throbbing with pain. Blood kept seeping out, staining the ground beneath him. His spiritual energy was in complete disarray, and his cultivation had been severely damaged. Even if he survived by sheer luck, he would never be able to regain his former strength and would be a cripple for the rest of his life.
Even being a cripple is better than being dead. As long as you're alive, there's still hope. As long as you're alive, you can stay away from that hellish place, Xuanzhen Temple.
He recalled Xuanjizi's usual behavior, the tragic deaths of his fellow disciples, and the torment he had suffered at Xuanzhen Temple over the years—because his cultivation talent was inferior to Lingtai's, he was often beaten and scolded by Xuanjizi, bullied by Lingtai, and even used as a test subject to test Xuanjizi's newly refined evil arts, almost losing his life several times.
The so-called master-disciple relationship was nothing more than a facade used by Xuanjizi to win them over. Once he lost his usefulness, he would only end up like his fellow disciples.
"That's right, that old bastard doesn't deserve to be our master at all!" Lingyu thought to herself, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes. "He raises dragons to harm people, practices evil arts, and treats human life like dirt, his hands stained with blood! If we follow him, we'll end up like our fellow disciples sooner or later. Rather than be tortured to death by him, we'd better betray him and have a chance to live! Betraying him not only saves us our lives but also allows us to settle some old scores. Why not? Even if he finds out we betrayed him later, we'll have already fled far away and changed our names, he won't be able to find us!"
The two exchanged a glance, and in each other's eyes they saw resolve and greed—greed for that slim chance of survival, and resolve to betray their master who treated them like dirt.
Gone was the arrogance and ruthlessness of the Xuanzhen Temple disciples; only a humble will to survive remained. Their eyes were filled with pleading, as if they had grasped at the last straw, fearing that Lin Yuan would break it with his own hands...