CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 56: SENIOR BROTHER, I’M BEGGING YOU

Lu Chengfeng stood amidst the wind and snow, not in a hurry to go home. Half a year of hard cultivation had brought him great gains, with significant advancements in strength and cultivation. More importantly, he had fully digested the gifts from three people, giving him a clearer understanding of the sect’s situation.

"Back when Xun Shuijing died, the former Sect Leader was furious and spared no cost to investigate thoroughly. Elder Li Guan of Profound Crane Peak and Qin Feng were both involved."

"Both of them were already at their life limits, and under the temptation of outsiders with life-extending pills, secretly leaked information about Xun Shuijing."

"Though there was no solid iron-clad evidence for such matters, the former Sect Leader forcibly sent these two to the Trapped Dragon Abyss, from where they never returned."

Lu Chengfeng thought about the colossal entity Li Guan saw in the Trapped Dragon Abyss within the fragments of his memory, a shudder stemming from the soul—a suppression from bloodline and life itself.

Even merely witnessing it in memory was terrifying and horrifying.

"Fortunately, it has always been asleep. If not, the entire Yun Cang might have been destroyed instantly."

"The so-called demon beasts, merely born from its aura, already possess unfathomable powers, putting great pressure on the sect."

"How can such a terrifying existence exist in this world?!"

Lu Chengfeng shook his head. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes in memory fragments, he wouldn’t have believed that the beings from myth and legend truly exist in the mortal world.

The entire Yuncang Sword Sect was like being built on a volcanic crater, and if one day the volcano erupted, everyone within the sect would be reduced to ashes.

"Compared to the being beneath Trapped Dragon Abyss, the petty schemes within the sect seem insignificant."

"Just the shady tactics of those chasing after carrion, living a wretched existence!"

Li Guan, as a witness to the sect upheaval twenty years ago, had information in his memory fragments that had become taboo for the young disciples of today.

Who could possibly know the internal struggles and undercurrents among the sect’s higher-ups?

Integrating the memories of Li Guan, Zhao Changzhen, and Xiao Qi, Lu Chengfeng could see the current sect situation with remarkable clarity, though there were some gaps.

"If I’m not mistaken, the meeting between Zhu Yuxian and Zhao Changzhen back then was not surprising at all."

"Zhao Changzhen’s death was even more inevitable."

He sighed slightly, turning around and walking along a lonely path, leaving only shallow footprints in the snow that were soon covered by the falling snow.

Lu Chengfeng walked for about a quarter-hour, entering a gorge at Bixiao Peak. The surroundings were tranquil, rarely having any traces of life, with scattered gravestones standing here and there.

He went straight to a gravestone buried under the snow and personally swept away all the snowflakes, revealing the inscription at once.

Grave of the kind father Zhao Changzhen—Erected by daughter Zhao Ling’Er.

There were not many words, not even the birth and death years, simple and even somewhat crude.

After sweeping away the snowflakes and clearing the weeds beside the gravestone, Lu Chengfeng knelt before it.

Zhao Changzhen was a man who violated and killed beautiful women, forcibly took Luo Suyi as a concubine, betrayed the Yuncang Sword Sect, and had blood and innocent souls on his hands—a man of many evils, his death not unjust.

But to Lu Chengfeng, he was genuinely kind, showing some true affection. Zhao saved Lu Chengfeng’s life, imparting all his Martial Arts from Bixiao Peak.

Others might speak ill of Zhao Changzhen, but Lu Chengfeng could not.

"Master, I will always remember when I was thirteen, my father, working in the Government Office, once showed kindness and let go of a criminal’s six-year-old orphan girl."

"That girl somehow found poison and put it into our family well, leading to the entire Lu Family’s death of seventeen people."

"I slit my wrist, barely surviving until Master saved me, allowing me to escape disaster."

Lu Chengfeng respectfully kowtowed, "Master, your life-saving grace is something I can never repay in this lifetime."

"After saving me, Master took me to the Government Office with a sword, placing the sword on the City Lord’s head, forcing him to send people to retrieve the orphan girl, whom I killed with my own hands to avenge the deeply rooted hatred."

"Without Master, the enemy would have vanished into the vast sea of people, and I fear I would never have avenged myself in this life either."

"Master taught me Martial Arts and the lesson of eliminating the roots, being ruthless."

"I know Master was not a good person, but I don’t care, because you were good to me, truly."

He looked at the name Zhao Changzhen on the gravestone and said, his voice hoarse, "Even if you forcibly took Suyi as a concubine that day, causing me grief and pain, I was helpless."

"Who let you be my savior, avenger of my parents, and the one who passed on your mantle, treating me as a son, Master?"

"But you died, before you could consummate the marriage, killed on the mountain by someone with just three strikes."

"Though you had countless faults, I, Lu Chengfeng, owe you in this life, and must avenge you no matter what, otherwise, how can I face you? How can I face my own conscience?!"

Lu Chengfeng recalled his childhood by Zhao Changzhen’s side, a thirteen-year-old boy, his family tragically dead, alone, with Zhao Changzhen teaching him swordsmanship hand in hand, giving him the courage and strength to survive.

"But why was the one who killed you him?"

Lu Chengfeng’s voice was dark and oppressive, "I didn’t want him to die, but... why did he kill you?"

"Master, I owe you a great debt, and this enmity cannot go unavenged."

"I will find a suitable moment to kill him with one strike. To avenge you."

"Senior Brother." At an unknown moment, a figure in red appeared behind Lu Chengfeng, her flawless face already full of tears, her eyes red and swollen, tightly holding her sword.

"Tell me, who exactly killed father?"

Lu Chengfeng did not turn around, having sensed Zhao Ling’Er’s presence when she just appeared with his current martial prowess.

"Junior Sister, you need not worry about this matter, I will surely avenge Master’s death."

"Senior Brother!" Zhao Ling’Er knelt before the gravestone, kowtowing three times first, the snow and mud staining her clean forehead, yet she didn’t care at all.

While turning to the side, she stared at Lu Chengfeng with her swollen eyes, "Today is father’s birthday, every past year we would celebrate for him together, and he would prepare gifts for you and me."

"The other senior brothers and sisters did not have the same, only you and I were favored by father."

"Today I woke up early, but couldn’t eat a bite or drink a sip, inadvertently finding myself here."

"Senior Brother, I don’t have father anymore, he died... he died..."

Zhao Ling’Er sobbed uncontrollably, only to push away Lu Chengfeng’s hand reaching to support her, asking sharply, "Are you going to let me not even know who murdered my father?"

The fierce wind howled, snow swirling everywhere, Zhao Ling’Er’s thin frame trembling lightly, her tears already blurring her vision.

"Senior Brother, I beg you."

As she spoke, she suddenly kowtowed.