“Mother, what’s wrong?” At that moment, Madam Zhu’s two children rushed over. Seeing her trembling and frozen in place, both asked anxiously.

The older one, a boy around fifteen or sixteen years old, and the younger, a girl about thirteen or fourteen, still in her tender bloom, bore strong resemblance to Madam Zhu—eight parts alike.

Having investigated the Zhu family for some time, Wei Tu already knew the names of Madam Zhu’s children.

The boy was called Zhu Peilin.

The girl was named Zhu Yunxiu.

After asking a few questions—

Even though Madam Zhu was unable to speak due to backlash from her failed charm technique and Wei Tu’s spiritual pressure, her children could roughly guess what had happened.

Zhu Peilin cautiously looked up at Wei Tu, then quickly looked away, not daring to say more.

After all these years of seeing his mother being dominated by Jiao Qizhi, his courage had long been worn down.

Zhu Yunxiu, on the other hand, was still young and hadn’t yet been crushed by reality. She still had some courage. In a soft and respectful tone, she bowed to Wei Tu and pleaded, “If my mother has offended Senior in any way, I beg your forgiveness. As a righteous cultivator, a light punishment would suffice. That way, my mother learns her lesson, Senior maintains your authority, and gains a reputation for compassion.”

Her words were tactful and well-considered.

Wei Tu gave a faint nod and withdrew the pressure he’d placed on Madam Zhu. The coldness in his expression gradually faded.

With Wei Tu’s suppression lifted, Madam Zhu, soaked in cold sweat, finally managed to move again. She collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest as she gasped heavily for breath.

At that moment, the aftereffects of her charm technique also surfaced.

A trace of bright red blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

“Senior Zhou, I... I was deluded. I offended you. But my children are innocent. You can abandon me here in this wasteland, but please… I beg you to uphold your promise, and take my two children… to Zheng Kingdom,” Madam Zhu said with fearful eyes, gasping for air between words.

“Mother!”

“Mother!”

Zhu Peilin and Zhu Yunxiu rushed to support their mother. Hearing her words, their eyes turned red and welled up with tears.

“Don’t mind me.”

“Go beg Senior Zhou.”

Madam Zhu shoved them away with force and barked sternly.

Seeing this display of a mother’s love and sacrifice, Wei Tu couldn’t help but feel a headache. Logically, it would be entirely reasonable for him to abandon the Zhu family then and there. Madam Zhu was already guilty by association and had deeply offended him just now.

“I’m still not a true villain.”

Wei Tu sighed softly.

Since entering the cultivation world, after years of trials and hardships, he had slowly transformed into a proper cultivator—

Cold, cautious, and devoid of the righteous fervor he once had as a martial artist.

“If Master were still alive, he would probably support this decision.” At this moment, the image of Dan Wu Ju surfaced in Wei Tu’s mind.

Compared to him, his master Dan Wu Ju had been a true man of martial virtue.

The rent he charged villagers in Sanyuan Township was the lowest. If the locals were sick or in trouble, he always lent a hand—without asking for anything in return.

Wei Tu then looked coldly at Madam Zhu and said with a flat voice, “This time, for the sake of your daughter’s plea, I’ll spare your life. If there’s a next time, I won’t show mercy.”

As his voice fell—

Madam Zhu let out a long breath of relief.

She carefully asked, “Then… about the promise Senior Zhou made earlier… does it still stand?”

“It does.” Wei Tu’s tone was indifferent.

By now, they were already near the border of Zheng Kingdom. Just a few hundred li ahead, they’d arrive.

Escorting Madam Zhu and her children the rest of the way was a trivial matter. Even earlier, when Madam Zhu hadn’t yet offered the Heavenly Spirit Water, Wei Tu hadn’t interfered with them following him.

Now, with the Heavenly Spirit Water in hand—

That was profit.

The three jade slips belonged to Immortal Master Wu, so taking them didn’t trouble his conscience. But the Heavenly Spirit Water was Zhu family property. If he broke his word and kept it without honoring his agreement…

Wei Tu feared his own moral bottom line would continue to slip, and one day he’d become a true “demonic cultivator.”

…

One month later.

Zheng Kingdom.

Mortal Realm, Jinliang City.

Wei Tu suppressed his aura and walked up to a courtyard wall. Using his spiritual sense, he observed Madam Zhu and her children from afar, then raised his right hand.

Moments later—

A translucent moth flapped down from the sky and landed in his palm.

The Zhu family mother and children would never have guessed that the “Senior Zhou” who had parted with them more than ten days ago near the border was now right by their side, separated by just one wall.

Nor would they expect—

That all three of them had been monitored by Wei Tu through special means for days.

“Not bad. No signs of resentment toward me. And they haven’t figured out my other identity.” After reviewing the memory from the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth, a faint smile appeared on Wei Tu’s lips as he exhaled in relief.

Zhu family and he didn’t share any deep-seated grudge.

To truly eliminate them all, to completely wipe them out—even he couldn’t bring himself to strike such a ruthless blow, especially against a mother and her children.

That was why, after parting ways with Madam Zhu and her children at the border, he secretly used a Seven-Colored Phantom Moth to monitor their every move—to see whether they held any resentment toward him.

After all, though he’d escorted them safely into Zheng Kingdom and done them a favor, in the eyes of narrow-minded people, such a favor could easily become a grudge.

Fortunately, while Madam Zhu was “shrewd,” she wasn’t someone who couldn’t tell good from bad. She didn’t harbor any hatred over the charm technique incident or plot revenge.

Otherwise, for the sake of his own safety—

Wei Tu wouldn’t have let Madam Zhu off so easily.

Sure, he was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. By the time Madam Zhu’s children grew and possibly reached Foundation Establishment, he might’ve already stepped into the Golden Core realm, no longer fearing a mere Foundation Establishment-level threat.

Even his own children might be able to handle such danger.

But—

Even ants can kill an elephant.

In the cultivation world, anything was possible.

Just like more than a hundred years ago, when he made his first windfall.

With only a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivation, he had killed Geng Wen, a peak-stage Qi Refinement first-rank alchemist, and taken three late-stage Qi Refinement inheritances—soaring from there and enjoying the benefits of that victory to this very day.

This time, for Madam Zhu and her children, Wei Tu had spent nearly a month.

But Wei Tu believed it was worthwhile.

If he’d killed indiscriminately like a demonic cultivator, he didn’t think his Dao heart could remain unblemished.

The goal of a cultivator was, of course, longevity—but if, for the sake of longevity, one abandoned everything else, then they were no more than a cultivation tool obsessed with life.

…

Three days later.

Wei Tu returned to Cicada Cry Cliff.

But just as he arrived at his cave dwelling, he noticed that the entrance to the adjacent Chu Huan’s cave had gathered a thick layer of dust. The formation stone disc embedded with several spirit stones glowed faintly, like dying candles, on the verge of extinguishing.

“Fellow Daoist Chu didn’t make it back?” Wei Tu paused, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

He sent a communication talisman to inquire with Li Daoyuan.

Li Daoyuan emerged from his own cave dwelling, gave Wei Tu a glance, then sighed and said, “Half a month ago, Fellow Daoist Chu’s sect-summoning spirit contract turned dim…”

“She must’ve fallen.”

“Likely died on the way back from the ambush site.”

The death of a fellow evokes grief in one’s heart.

Chu Huan, like him, had been one of the rogue cultivators who joined the ambush and later joined the Loose Immortal Alliance. Now, on the road back to Cicada Cry Cliff, she had died in action… Li Daoyuan saw his own possible fate in hers.

“Fellow Daoist Chu is gone…”

Wei Tu sighed inwardly.

He had helped Chu Huan during the ambush, increasing her chances of survival. But he could only save her for the moment, not for a lifetime.

Among the ambushers, Chu Huan’s cultivation had been the weakest.

She had no way to contend with Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators of the same level, let alone those of higher realms.

Once, luck may favor you.

But not every time.

“Fellow Daoist Wei and Fellow Daoist Chu were acquainted. I’ll ask Senior Xi to open her cave. Fellow Daoist Wei, would you take care of gathering her belongings and writing a mourning letter to her kin?” Li Daoyuan said with a sorrowful look.

This was the very reason he had befriended Wei Tu earlier—

So that if he ever died in action, someone trustworthy could write a mourning letter for him.

“This is something I should do.”

Wei Tu nodded.

Chu Huan’s daughter was a cultivator of Mirror Water Pavilion.

And among all at Cicada Cry Cliff, he was the only one acquainted with Chu Huan and also had some contacts within Mirror Water Pavilion.

So the task of writing her mourning letter naturally fell to him.

…

Chu Huan didn’t leave behind much.

Only a few robes and daily-use items.

None were of significant value.

Even so, Wei Tu carefully gathered them into a storage pouch, intending to deliver them to her daughter when the time was right.

To Chu Huan’s daughter—

These were priceless mementos.

However—

When it came time to write the mourning letter—

Wei Tu picked up the brush and, on the recipient’s line, wrote only two characters: Chu Qin.

But when it came to the body of the letter—

He didn’t know how to begin.

He paused for half a day.

Finally, Wei Tu sighed and started to write.

The letter mostly recounted things Chu Huan had said about Chu Qin during her time at Cicada Cry Cliff.

Only toward the end did he mention details about the ambush mission.

“Do not let hatred cloud your heart.”

Wei Tu ended the letter with that line.

…

After sending off the mourning letter—

Wei Tu took out the three jade slips obtained from Madam Zhu. Skipping the other two, his gaze fell directly on the one that recorded the body-tempering secret art.

The technique recorded in this jade slip was called the Ninefold Golden Lock Art, which refined “golden locks” within the meridians to reduce the difficulty of progressing in physical cultivation.

Ninefold Golden Lock Art.

Wei Tu silently recited the name a few times.

“This body-tempering technique is quite similar to the Qi Pouch technique, perhaps even derived from the same lineage.” After studying the Ninefold Golden Lock Art for several months, Wei Tu reflected inwardly.