One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

pat.

Zhang Taichu casually tossed the wet towel on the ground, stirring up a small circle of dust.

Chen Duo stood there blankly, her hair a mess, tangled like a bird's nest, her cheeks red from being rubbed hard with a towel.

The heat from my scalp was still there, like an invisible hand pressing down on me, inexplicably heavy, yet inexplicably reassuring.

She subconsciously raised her hand, wanting to touch the top of her head.

"Waaaaah..."

Just then.

A suppressed sob, as if forced out from the chest, shattered the eerie silence.

The middle-aged man who had been cowering in the shadows in the corner, looking timid and submissive, finally broke down and stumbled out.

"Chen Duo..."

"Chen Duo!!"

Old Meng's face, which always wore a humble smile, was now covered in tears.

He looked at Chen Duo, who stood in the moonlight, wearing a loose T-shirt, barefoot, and clean and tidy like a girl next door, and his whole body trembled violently.

That trembling wasn't just from excitement, but also from a deep-seated sense of guilt and self-reproach.

That was a nightmare he could never overcome in his life.

That was the scene at the Medicine Immortal Gathering where he watched helplessly as the child was turned into a Gu poison.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Old Meng rushed to within three meters of Chen Duo, his legs buckled, and he knelt down without any dignity.

He wanted to reach out and touch the girl, but it felt like he was dealing with a fragile piece of porcelain, and he didn't even dare to let his dirty hands defile her at that moment.

"It's my fault... I'm the one who ruined you..."

"I should have taken you with me back then... I should have risked my life to take you with me!!"

Old Meng knelt in the pile of rubble, his hands gripping the ground so tightly that his fingernails broke and bled profusely.

He cried like a child who couldn't find his home, his cries were heart-wrenching.

At this moment, he was no longer a temporary worker in the Northwest Region, nor was he an alien who possessed the terrifying abilities of a beastmaster.

He was just a cowardly, incompetent middle-aged man burdened with a heavy cross.

The air around us seemed to grow heavy.

Wang Zhenqiu's playful smile vanished. He leaned against the tree trunk, stopped playing with the mask, and looked at the scene with a complex expression.

He pushed up his sunglasses and remained silent, but the tight corners of his mouth revealed his inner turmoil.

Even Zhang Chulan, who was watching from a distance, put away his spectator expression and sighed softly.

however.

Faced with this deeply moving scene.

Faced with this repentance that came many years too late.

Chen Duo simply tilted her head.

There was no emotion, no sadness, not even the slightest ripple in her clear yet empty eyes.

She just looked at the man who was crying his eyes out with some confusion, not understanding what he was doing or why he was apologizing to her.

"Alright."

A cold voice, like a bucket of ice water, extinguished the sentimental atmosphere.

Zhang Taichu stepped forward, blocking Chen Duo's path and shielding her from Lao Meng's burning yet humble gaze.

He looked down at Old Meng kneeling on the ground, his eyes filled with no pity, only undisguised mockery and disgust.

"Who are you crying to?"

"For this girl to see? Or for your own ridiculous conscience to see?"

Zhang Taichu's voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a sharp knife, precisely piercing the most festering wound in Lao Meng's heart.

"you……"

Old Meng raised his head, his face streaked with tears, and looked at Zhang Taichu, his lips trembling as he couldn't speak.

"What? Do you feel wronged? Do you feel like you're being very affectionate?"

Zhang Taichu chuckled, squatted down, and stared intently at Old Meng with his deep eyes:

"Why are you crying so loudly now? What were you doing back then?"

"You were one of the participants in the suppression of the Medicine Immortal Society back then, weren't you?"

"Why didn't you take her with you then? Why didn't you fight tooth and nail for her?"

"Because you're afraid."

Zhang Taichu extended a finger and poked Lao Meng's forehead without mercy, causing him to fall backward:

"You're afraid of the company's rules, you're afraid of taking responsibility, and you're afraid you can't support this monster."

"So you handed her over to the company, to Liao Zhong, and then hid back in the Northwest, becoming a coward."

"You've lived so comfortably for so many years, and now that you see her dying, that she's being treated as a nuisance, you suddenly shed these two drops of piss?"

Zhang Taichu stood up, clapped his hands as if they had been stained with something dirty:

"I had neither the courage to take her away completely, nor the ability to protect her."

"And now you come here to shower me with your cheap sympathy."

"Old Meng, you're disgusting."

"Late-blown affection is worth less than grass."

boom!

It was as if a thunderclap exploded in Lao Meng's mind.

He froze completely.

Zhang Taichu's words were like peeling an onion, layer by layer revealing his hypocritical facade and exposing the cowardly, selfish, and despicable soul within.

"ah----!!!"

Old Meng suddenly let out a mournful howl.

He lay face down on the ground, his forehead slamming against the earth repeatedly—once, twice, three times…

boom! boom! boom!

The ground was stained red with blood.

"I'm guilty...I'm so guilty!!"

"I'm a piece of trash! I'm an asshole!"

At this moment, Lao Meng's psychological defenses completely collapsed.

The surroundings were deathly silent.

Wang Zhenqiu turned his head away, unable to bear watching any longer.

He sighed deeply, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.

This is the adult world, cruel and suffocating.

"That's enough!"

Just then, an angry voice rang out.

Ma Xianhong pushed aside the puppet remains blocking his way and strode over.

Although he was intimidated by Zhang Taichu's imposing manner, his obsessive protective instincts resurfaced when he saw Chen Duo.

"She is not a tool for you to vent your emotions!"

Ma Xianhong pointed at Zhang Taichu and said through gritted teeth:

"She's from Biyou Village! Only I can save her! Only the Body Cultivation Furnace can save her!"

"Of all of you, not one of you has ever truly considered her feelings?"

Zhang Taichu didn't even glance at Ma Xianhong.

He simply turned slightly to the side, revealing Chen Duo behind him.

At this moment, Chen Duo was quietly watching Old Meng, who was lying on the ground crying.

For the first time, a look of bewilderment appeared on her face, which was usually expressionless.

She doesn't understand.

Why is this person crying?

Why does he smell so bad that it makes her feel sad?

By some strange twist of fate.

Chen Duo took a step forward.

She stretched out her clean little hand, clumsily and stiffly reaching towards the top of Old Meng's head.

Just like what Zhang Taichu did to her earlier.

She wanted to pat this person's head.

"call……"

Chen Duo's hand gently landed on Lao Meng's dusty hair.

The movements were clumsy, and even a bit rough.

Old Meng's crying stopped abruptly.

He stiffly raised his head, feeling the tiny, insignificant warmth coming from above.

Tears welled up again.

"Chen...Chen Duo..."

This scene is like a still frame of a painting.

A ruthless, poison-wielding holy child clumsily comforts a distraught middle-aged man.

Cruel, yet tender.

however.

This warmth didn't last even three seconds.

Snapped.

A large hand reached out and grabbed Chen Duo's wrist, pulling her back without any hesitation.

"Alright."

Zhang Taichu pulled Chen Duo behind him, as if he were catching a stray kitten and putting it back in its cage.

"Your hands are freshly washed, don't touch dirty things."

Chen Duo obediently withdrew her hand without any resistance, but blinked her eyes, seemingly puzzled.

Zhang Taichu turned around.

At this moment.

Whether it was Old Meng kneeling on the ground, Ma Xianhong with a face full of anger, or the temporary workers around them who were eyeing him covetously.

All eyes were focused on the young Taoist priest.

Zhang Taichu straightened his slightly disheveled cuffs, his expression calm.

hum-

A faint golden light emanated from his body, instantly enveloping an area of ​​ten feet in radius.

The golden light wasn't dazzling, but it carried a suffocating sense of heaviness, as if the rules of this world had been trampled under his feet at this moment.

He raised his eyelids and his gaze swept over everyone present.

Finally, the image settled on the distant sky.

"That girl."

Zhang Taichu gave a thumbs-up and pointed to Chen Duo behind him.

His tone was flat, leaving no room for negotiation:

"From this moment on, I'm in charge."

"Whether it's Anywhere Connected or Biyou Village."

A wildly arrogant smile curved Zhang Taichu's lips, and the languid aura around him vanished instantly, replaced by an overwhelming domineering presence.

"Does anyone have a problem with this?"

"You can step forward now."

"die."