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Chapter 21
Chapter 21
“Stop!!”
The moment the purple thunder dragon struck down, Lin Mubai in the void yelled out in desperation.
As an observer, he knew that everything was a misunderstanding.
Yet, he never imagined that in this dream, he would go so far as to exhaust all his righteous Qi just to cripple Jiang Chen’s cultivation!
At this very moment, he wanted to strangle Lin Mubai in the image!
Night after night, he had been hoping that Jiang Chen would turn over a new leaf and live up to the name of “Ninth Peak Eldest Senior Brother.”
Even though it was just a dream, it was still a dream come true. But who knew that this dream version of himself would be such a madman, completely disregarding any of Jiang Chen’s explanations!
If Jiang Chen’s cultivation were really destroyed, how could he ever forgive himself?
After all, everything felt so real!
He wanted to stop it, but he was powerless. He wanted to use his own body to shield Jiang Chen from the thunder dragon that seemed like divine retribution. But the thunder dragon simply passed through his body and struck Jiang Chen directly on the forehead!“Boom—”
A dull sound echoed the next second. The thunder’s impact caused the earth to crumble, ancient trees to spontaneously combust, and the air was filled with a thick scent of burning.
Watching all this, Lin Mubai in the void was already pale as a ghost.
How could he accept that the Eldest Senior Brother of his dreams was destroyed by his own hands?
“Mubai, calm down…”
A familiar voice sounded. The dust settled.
Jiang Chen was seen enveloped by an ancient, golden bell, its surface covered with obscure and ancient characters.
The ringing of the bell was like the whisper of deities, making one’s knees go weak, wanting to kneel and worship.
Suddenly, the ancient bell disappeared. Jiang Chen looked a bit pale, his vital energy depleted, but his cultivation was still intact.
“Phew—”
This made Lin Mubai in the void breathe a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to curse at the version of himself in the image, he was taken aback.
He saw that his dream self was now lying on the ground in a spread-eagled position, sound asleep and snoring!
“…After I wake up from this dream, I’m definitely giving up alcohol!” he decided.
Jiang Chen in the image was also helpless. After a brief rest, he got up, picked up his unconscious Second Junior Brother, and slowly started heading back to the sect.
But after only a few steps, Jiang Chen seemed to sense something and suddenly looked at the palm of his right hand.
“The Jade Spirit Pill… is destroyed?”
What?!
Upon hearing this, a thunderous shock exploded in Lin Mubai’s mind in the void!
Everything had happened too quickly, and in his urgency, Jiang Chen could only focus on saving himself.
So…
Was it he who destroyed Qingning Junior Sister’s Jade Spirit Grass?!
……
“Jiang Chen! Qingning trusted you so much, how could you do this?!”
“Qingning is kind-hearted and gentle. When others doubted and criticized you, she always defended you. Even after being deceived by you many times, she still believed you were not beyond redemption!”
“But this time, you’ve truly broken her heart…”
“Do you know that even at the last moment, on the verge of going mad during her cultivation, she still murmured to herself to have faith in you! That you would never deceive her!”
“But what was the result? All she got in return was your ‘it’s gone’?!”
“How could you do this! How could you!!”
Inside the grand hall of Ninth Peak, Xiao Hongyi held Qingning, who was crying inconsolably, and roared in disbelief.
At first, her words were filled with anger. But as she spoke, her tone gradually lowered, and tears shimmered in her beautiful eyes.
“Master, I…”
Jiang Chen, dressed in white, hesitated to speak.
“You? What about you?”
Sensing that her eldest disciple seemed to have unspeakable difficulties, Xiao Hongyi softened her tone: “Master trusts you just the same. If there is a reason for this matter, just speak up! Master is not a person who makes arbitrary decisions and will investigate thoroughly.”
But all that answered her was Jiang Chen’s silence.
The scene unfolding before his eyes left Lin Mubai in the void weeping silently.
Due to the sudden incident last night, Jiang Chen instinctively protected himself, but the Jade Spirit Pill in his hand was affected by the power of thunder and turned to ashes.
For this, Lin Mubai in the void had been blaming himself for a long time.
He had thought that Jiang Chen would tell the truth when Xiao Hongyi questioned him today.
But who could have expected!
Perhaps knowing that speaking out would lead to punishment, or not wanting to let himself fall into self-blame and thus affect his state of mind. Or perhaps, knowing that speaking would be futile…
In the end, no matter how angry Xiao Hongyi was or how much Qingning cried, Jiang Chen did not reveal a single word! “Lin Mubai’s body has run out of the vast Righteous Qi, and last night there were frequent thunderstorms near the Jiuyan Sect, what exactly happened?”
Xiao Hongyi asked again.
Compared to her previous words, her tone had become clearly more severe.
“…”
Jiang Chen remained silent.
“Won’t you speak?”
Xiao Hongyi was furious, “Now you won’t even make excuses! Can’t you even make up a reason to deceive me?”
“…Disciple does not wish to speak.”
Finally, Jiang Chen squeezed out a sentence.
This sentence exhausted all of Xiao Hongyi’s patience.
While gently comforting Qingning, her aura continued to rise, pressing down on Jiang Chen so much that he struggled to breathe.
Seeing that she was about to take action, Lin Mubai in the void became anxious and immediately knelt down to plead:
“It’s not like that! Master, it’s not like that!”
“It’s all my fault! I was the one who jumped to conclusions, I was the one who attacked Eldest Senior Brother, and I was the one who destroyed the Jade Spirit Pill!”
“Eldest Senior Brother did not lie, he did this only to protect me! And to prevent Junior Sister Qingning from harboring resentment towards me!”
“Master! Eldest Senior Brother is truly good.”
“He is no longer the Eldest Senior Brother who took pleasure in bullying Junior Brothers and Sisters, but a righteous and respected Eldest Senior Brother!”
“Master, if you must punish someone, punish me!”
Undoubtedly, no one heard his words.
Though her expression struggled, Xiao Hongyi still said coldly: “Jiang Chen! If I do not punish you severely, how can I, as a master, have the face to hear Qingning call me ‘Master’? Today, I will strip you of your cultivation…”
“Don’t…”
Before he could finish, Qingning in her arms stopped her with a cry: “Master, please spare Eldest Senior Brother.”
Seeing that Xiao Hongyi did not respond, Qingning continued: “Eldest Senior Brother is Master’s first disciple. For the sake of a mere Jade Spirit Grass, it’s not worth it for Master to lose a disciple. Ninth Peak without Eldest Senior Brother is truly not worth it, I am willing to forgive Eldest Senior Brother.”
Having confirmed repeatedly that this was indeed her thought, Xiao Hongyi had no choice but to close his eyes and sigh.
Jiang Chen felt a warmth in his heart and expressed his gratitude, “Thank you, Junior Sister. I will definitely find a treasure of heaven and earth of the same caliber to make amends.”
The response that came from Qingning was an indifferent face.
She had indeed forgiven Jiang Chen, but she was also extremely disappointed.
Soon after, Xiao Hongyi and Qingning left, overwhelmed by their disappointment.
Jiang Chen stood alone in the great hall, his dejected expression wrenching the heart of Lin Mubai, who was watching from the void.
“If all of this is real, then it is definitely my worst nightmare. If all of this is false, I just want to wake from this dream as soon as possible…” he murmured to himself.
No sooner had he spoken than a young man, still reeking of alcohol, burst in, cursing loudly:
“Jiang Chen!! You really did steal Junior Sister Qingning’s Jade Spirit Grass! I knew you were beyond redemption, but I never imagined you would stoop so low!”
“Don’t think that I would be grateful to you just because you didn’t report yesterday’s incident to our master!”
“Let me tell you, if there’s a next time, I would do the same!”
“You are not worthy of being the Ninth Peak’s Eldest Senior Brother!”
Hearing this, Lin Mubai in the void suddenly looked up and saw his own face in the image.
His eyes bloodshot with self-reproach and guilt, emotions surged to their peak, and he charged like a madman towards his own image.
“I’ll kill you!”
“You are the beast! You are the one beyond redemption!”
“It was you who destroyed Junior Sister Qingning’s Jade Spirit Grass! It was you who caused the complete rift between Junior Sister and Eldest Senior Brother! It was you who made our master sad and Eldest Senior Brother suffer!”
“Lin Mubai, you bastard! Why don’t you just die?”
“What kind of sage’s books have you read? What kind of noble Righteous Qi have you cultivated? How can you still have the face to spout such nonsense here?!”
Punch after punch.
Though all missed, and despite having no effect on his own image, Lin Mubai refused to stop, his expression becoming somewhat deranged.
It seemed that only by doing so could he slightly alleviate the guilt in his heart.
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