The Sect Leader Raised a Fox to His Own Detriment - Chapter 10

He held two grown men in his hands, one of whom A-Yin even recognized.

“The Governor of Yangzhou?” A-Yin’s eyes widened.

The other disciples woke up one after another. Seeing the Sect Leader had returned, they gathered at the bow. Zhu Yan and Lin Fengfei also hurried over.

“Governor…” Yue Xichen’s unruffled voice echoed over the Jing River.

“You accidentally learned there were mermaids in the Jing River. You then instructed this young actor to pose as a boatman and use his singing to attract them. With sweet talk, he coaxed them ashore, where you captured them, subjected them to various tortures, and used the hard-won Ice Tear Beads as tools for bribery and profit…” Yue Xichen spoke calmly, but his frost-cold face was chilling enough to scrape a layer of ice from.

“A life for a life… Since that mermaid was killed by the Governor, then please, Lord Governor, use your own life to repay the debt!”

“Are you joking?!” The Governor struggled violently, shouting at the top of his lungs. “They’re just a bunch of fish! Beasts! Why should this official pay with his life for a beast? To think you are the Sect Leader of Lingyun Mountain, a high-level cultivator, yet you don’t even understand such a simple truth! If anyone is to blame, it’s themselves—who told them their Ice Tear Beads could fetch such a high price? If others can catch them, so can I! Release me at once! Don’t forget, I was the one who sought you out to slay demons!”

The Governor’s self-righteous shouting echoed across the river, vibrating against the eardrums of every Lingyun disciple.

A-Yin felt his hair stand on end. He was a half-demon, with half the blood of the demon race in his veins. If others found out, would his fate be the same as that mermaid’s?

“Sect Leader!” Zhu Yan couldn’t help but shout, his entire argument contained in those two words. Even if the Governor’s actions were excessive, mermaids were still demons. As cultivators, they were supposed to protect humans from demons, not the other way around.

Yue Xichen knew exactly what Zhu Yan meant but acted as if he hadn’t heard.

“Since the Governor is so persistent in his ways, do not blame me for being impolite.”

His distinct five fingers suddenly let go. The Governor plummeted instantly, accompanied by a deafening scream. Simultaneously, Yue Xichen retracted the Yinyue Sword and withdrew the formation. The newly freed mermaids panted and lunged frantically at the Governor who had fallen into the water.

Screams rang out incessantly, and the water of the Jing River was instantly stained red. Witnessing the Governor being torn apart and eaten by countless mermaids, the young actor fainted from sheer terror.

“This man was merely following the Governor’s orders; the Governor was the true culprit. Now that I have handed the perpetrator to you and your revenge is complete… do not harm this man, nor the innocent people of Yangzhou again.”

Having avenged their sister, the mermaid tribe’s wild nature had been stirred. Several leading mermaids bared their sharp fangs at Yue Xichen, seemingly not yet satisfied with the killing. However, in the next second, the true qi within Yue Xichen exploded. The sky lost its color, clouds surged, and massive waves rose. Without even drawing Yinyue or Luohua, this burst of energy was enough to make the mermaids turn pale with fear. They instantly retracted their wildness and lowered their heads submissively.

Yue Xichen returned to the boat and was surrounded by the disciples. A-Yin didn’t join the crowd; he simply watched the man from a distance, his eyes filled with a mix of admiration and a touch of restless ambition.

His Master… was truly powerful! Only absolute strength could make the six realms submit. A restlessness that wouldn’t settle stirred in his chest. A-Yin clenched his fists and made a secret vow: he would become as strong as his Master… no, he would become even more powerful than his Master.

“A-Yin…”

Hearing the call, A-Yin looked up to see Yue Xichen standing before him, his black hair and white robes fluttering in the wind. “This time was thanks to you. Well done.”

His shoulder was patted twice. A-Yin turned his head, his eyes reflecting his Master’s hand. It was a very beautiful hand slender, bony, fair, and delicate, with long fingers and neat nails. A-Yin dazed off into a memory from ten years ago, during his first trip to Lingyun Mountain. They were walking a narrow path; the road was muddy from a recent rain, and he had slipped. It was Yue Xichen who had reached back and caught him. That was the first time A-Yin noticed his Master’s hand though cold to the touch, it provided more security than he could imagine.

By the time Yue Xichen withdrew his hand, A-Yin snapped back to reality. In his memory, this seemed to be the first time Yue Xichen had ever praised him in public. Grinning, he showed his two sharp little canine teeth.

“Thank you, Master.”

Nearby, Zhu Yan and the other disciples exchanged looks, feeling uneasy. They didn’t think A-Yin had done anything worthy of praise. Zhu Yan, in particular, felt A-Yin had made things worse. If not for the boy’s nonsense about hearing “inner voices,” the Governor wouldn’t have been executed. They were supposed to solve the problem by eliminating the demons; now the demons were alive and the Governor was dead. If word got out, the world would think Lingyun Mountain was no different from a demonic sect, slaughtering the innocent.

Zhu Yan felt more and more that letting Yue Xichen come here was a mistake. If it had been Li Yan, those mermaids would have been wiped out long ago. But he didn’t dare defy Yue Xichen openly not just because he was the Sect Leader, but because his cultivation was virtually unmatched in the entire world. Otherwise, their previous Master wouldn’t have passed the leadership to the closed-door disciple, Yue Xichen, over the eldest senior brother, Li Yan.

“Sect Leader, about these mermaids…”

“They will no longer harm the people of Yangzhou,” Yue Xichen replied tonelessly.

Zhu Yan pouted and waved to the disciples. “The matter is resolved. Let’s head back!”

As the disciples dispersed, only A-Yin ran to the bow to wave goodbye to the mermaids. At that moment, he heard the lead mermaid choke out to him: “Thank you… thank you for hearing us… thank you for helping me avenge my daughter…”

A single crystal-clear tear fell, instantly transforming into an Ice Tear Bead radiating a watery blue light. As the tribe swam away, the bead sank silently into the shimmering Jing River.

A-Yin’s eyes widened. Only one thought occupied his mind—Get that bead, reach Foundation Establishment, and get stronger!

Splash!

The sound of something hitting the water caught Yue Xichen’s attention. As he turned toward the bow, he heard Zhan Ning shout at the top of his lungs: “It’s A-Yin! A-Yin jumped into the river!”