Facing Zhao Zongchang’s shouted words, Lu Li’s gaze sharpened, a trace of pity flickering in his eyes, yet not the slightest hesitation.
His hands quickly formed a series of seals, and the spiritual energy around him surged like a tidal wave.
Twelve spirit swords emitted a clear, resonant hum, and the sword formation’s light suddenly intensified.
“Sword Formation! Rise! Heavenly calamities be purged! My Dao shall flourish!”
Feeling the increasingly intense energy fluctuations behind him, Zhao Zongchang painfully endured the zombie’s gnawing torment.
He turned to look at his wife, Ruan Shi, who was already petrified by the scene before her, tears streaming down her face.
Bloody tears mixed with the blood spilling from the corners of her mouth, rolling down his face.
His voice was hoarse and broken, yet carried a heartfelt and soul-baring repentance, clearly echoing throughout every corner of the courtyard.
“Ah Ruan… I’m sorry… It’s my fault!”
“It’s me… I was deluded!”
“I was stubborn… blinded by the illusion and obsession of resurrecting our daughter, unable to listen to your advice…”
“My obstinance… brought about this irreparable disaster today!”
Every word Zhao Zongchang spoke to his wife seemed to drain tremendous effort from him, the wound in his abdomen worsening with the zombie’s relentless tearing.
Blood gushed out, pooling on the ground into a small, shocking crimson puddle.
“It’s me… I caused Yinyin’s suffering! I made her restless after death, her soul tainted, her body reduced to a creature driven only by bloodthirsty killing…”
“It’s me… I have wronged our ancestors, the Zhao family kin who died and were injured, the court that trusted me, and the City Defense Guard brothers…”
“It’s me… who failed the people of Yangzhou…”
“And the one I owe the most apology to… is you! Ah Ruan!”
“Ah… I’m sorry you had to see this… see our Yinyin become like this…”
“Sorry you had to see me, so utterly shameful…”
Zhao Zongchang’s voice was filled with endless remorse and self-flagellation.
His eyes fixed unblinkingly on Lady Ruan, as if engraving this final confession into her very soul.
“Ah Ruan! You must remember! Please remember!”
“Do not… do not blame the Secret Art of Duanqing Peak Sect! And do not harbor hatred toward Master Lu because of this!”
“Master Lu… he… he was right! He saw through my foolishness and mistakes long ago…”
“He even warned me many times, but I refused to listen! The reason he came tonight was to stop me…”
“To stop me from bringing about an even greater catastrophe…”
“Master Lu came to cleanse the evil cult, to uphold justice and protect the people!”
“All sins… all stem from my selfish desires!”
“It’s me… I caused Yinyin’s suffering…”
“It’s me… I caused the ruin of Yangzhou City and the Zhao family!”
“All the mistakes… are because of me…”
By the end, Zhao Zongchang was nearly broken by tears, blood and tears mingling as they dripped onto his daughter’s cold cheek, unable to elicit even the slightest response.
He suddenly turned his head and summoned the last of his strength to appeal to Lu Li, whose sword light flickered restlessly as he prepared to act.
This final, most sincere plea was heavy with sorrow and profound regret in every word.
“Master Lu! Hurry! Please act!”
“My heart is resolute. I beg you to send me and my Yinyin on our final journey, to end this sin and farce that I caused once and for all!”
Lu Li gazed down at the burdened figure soaked in blood and tears, the last flicker of turmoil in his eyes gradually calming.
He formed the sword seals with his hands, his voice like the ringing of metal and jade, carrying a solemn gravity as he clearly replied.
“Lord Zhao! Farewell.”
“Secret Art of Duanqing Peak! Supreme Demon-Slaying Array! Activate!”
As Lu Li’s words fell, the twenty-four spirit swords surrounding him responded instantly, transforming into twenty-four dazzling streaks that tore through the night sky like a radiant celestial river, resembling countless thunderclaps exploding simultaneously.
The overwhelmingly yang and unyielding sword qi, controlled by Lu Li, gathered into a vast, blazing torrent of sword light as fierce as the sun.
It descended with supreme willpower capable of purifying all worldly defilements and severing all obsessive desires and delusions upon the sorrowful father and daughter entwined below, their blood and tears mingling.
As the twenty-four spirit swords fell, the mighty righteous energy swept through the entire courtyard.
Before Lu Li’s sword light arrived, the chilling righteous energy had already made the zombie in Zhao Zongchang’s embrace emit a deathly terrified howl.
The black-red Evil Corpse Qi rolling around its body melted rapidly under Lu Li’s sword formation, like ice melting under the sun.
At the final moment of life, Zhao Zongchang closed his eyes.
The expression of pain etched across his face gradually faded, replaced by a nearly relieved calmness, even a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
It was as if he once again saw that little figure with braided hair, lifting her skirt as she bounced toward him, softly calling out in a clear, sweet voice…
“Duo Duo…”
“Boom!!!”
The dazzling Supreme Demon-Slaying Array sword light completely engulfed the two figures.
The entire courtyard was dyed pure white by the sword light.
No earth-shattering explosion accompanied its fall—only the silent spreading of a primordial cleansing power born from the heavens and earth.
All bloodshed and sorrow, all sin and obsession, along with the twisted corpse and shattered soul, dissolved bit by bit within Lu Li’s radiant sword light as if ink washed clean by clear water, ultimately returning to pure emptiness and void.
As the sword light dispersed, black ink-like spots appeared in the pure white world of the courtyard, like ink drops bleeding into white rice paper, coloring the pristine world once more.
Only a spotless clearing remained, cleansed by the sword qi, along with two charred skeletons.
It was as if nothing had happened, save for the lingering ripple of spiritual energy in the air and Ruan Shi’s heart-wrenching sobbing not far away, silently testifying that a terrible tragedy born of love and obsession had just ended here.
“Ahhh… Master! Master…”
A faint chill breeze brushed across Lu Li’s silent face.
He slowly withdrew his sword seals, and the twenty-four spirit swords instantly transformed into streaks of light, returning to the storage pouch in his sleeve.
He gazed quietly at the clearing in the distance, then sighed softly, almost inaudibly.
“Alas… all emotions are bitter…”
“Love-separation, unfulfilled desire, resentful encounter…”
“As expected, my master’s path is the right one.”
Lu Li shook his head and let out a long, melancholic sigh—one for the dead, the living, and the eternal enigma of human emotions.
“We cultivators can only transcend worldly affairs and achieve carefree longevity by severing and forgetting all feelings…”
Just as Lu Li was lost in thought, Gu Qingying quietly approached his side.
Her violet eyes lightly scanned the two charred, barely recognizable skeletal figures, then drifted toward Ruan Shi, who was collapsed on the ground in agonizing sobs.
She quietly asked Lu Li in a low voice.
“Uh… Master, what should we do with the Demon Cult Rebel Zhao Zongchang and the corpse puppet he created?”
Gu Qingying’s tone was cool and rational, characteristic of a cultivator’s clarity, though faintly tinged with a subtle sigh of sorrow.
Hearing this, Lu Li’s eyes passed once more over the nearly carbonized and fragmented bones still locked in a final embrace, then toward the woman whose white hair fluttered in the wind as she nearly fainted from grief.
A complex expression flashed in his eyes before dissolving into profound silence.
He slowly shook his head, his voice low and heavy with the fatigue and compassion born from seeing through the ways of the world.
“Alas… it’s not necessary. Let’s go, Qingying.”
Gu Qingying was slightly taken aback and glanced at Lu Li with confusion in her eyes.
Lu Li looked up at the endless night sky and murmured to his beloved disciple.
“There is no so-called Demon Cult Rebel here right now, Qingying. Nor… any evil corpse puppet harming the people of Yangzhou…”
He paused briefly, his gaze falling on Ruan Shi’s trembling back.
“All that remains here is a poor wife and mother who just lost her husband and daughter…”
With that, Lu Li stopped lingering and turned away.
His dark robe fluttered lightly as he stepped across the moonlit ground and the lingering righteous energy of the Supreme Demon-Slaying Array, heading toward the courtyard’s exit.
Gu Qingying exchanged a glance with Gong Shangyu, both seeing a flash of understanding and relief in each other’s eyes.
Without a word, they silently followed their master’s retreating figure.