Chapter 49

Lin Fan thought, "But isn't it a bit awkward for the disciples of the Blood Shadow Sect and the disciples of the Heavenly Border Gate to mix together? Especially since both are men."

"About that... let them guess," Ximen Shuai didn't want to take such a roundabout path.

Lin Fan nodded, "I'll remind you again, if we get surrounded, I can run very fast."

"I've seen how fast you can abandon your blood-sworn allies," Ximen Shuai recalled how Lin Fan had vanished without a trace during the battle with Nangong Wuhen.

Lin Fan ignored the sarcasm in Ximen Shuai's words, "Then go and prepare."

"What about you?"

"..." Lin Fan pulled out a bamboo sword from behind his back.

Ximen Shuai was helpless, as the other party had a ready-made method, "Wait here, I'll be right back."

...

Ximen Shuai transformed, wrapped his hair with a cloth strip, and tied it to his face, leaving only his eyes, which gleamed with a mischievous light, exposed. No, they were eyes filled with annoyance. Yu Ming took off his own robe, put on a short brown coat, and stepped on the bamboo sword, looking quite like a low-ranking disciple of the Blood Shadow Sect.

"Can I borrow the Seven Break Flag?" Lin Fan extended his hand.

"What for?"

"A messenger without a flag looks too fake."

"..." Without a word, Ximen Shuai took out a piece of cloth from his Qiankun Ring, cut it into a triangular flag, attached it to a wooden stick, and finally wrote the word 'order' on it.

Isn't this too shoddy? Lin Fan had no other choice, took the flag, and held it in his hand, which did make him look somewhat like a messenger. However, a disciple of the Blood Shadow Sect and a disciple of the Heavenly Border Gate who had never interacted before looked very out of place together.

"Report! A spy has discovered a Blood Shadow Sect messenger and a Heavenly Border Gate disciple together."

A leader was surprised, "Oh? Gu Ping of the Blood Shadow Sect has always been ambitious. If he's teaming up with the Heavenly Border Gate, there must be a plot. Such a bold appearance must be to pressure us. Someone... prepare, I, the Sect Master, will personally visit the Blood Shadow Sect."

Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai completely underestimated the impact. Generally, evil sects rarely interacted with each other, especially with official messengers. The only possibility was that the Heavenly Border Gate and the Blood Shadow Sect had secretly formed an alliance and were now delivering a message to the leader of another evil sect, putting pressure on them.

Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai had a smooth journey, and the places they passed through only had nearby sect spies following them from a distance, neither questioning nor intercepting them. They easily reached the vicinity of the Emerald Valley.

Between the Two Wasteland Mountains, there was a beautiful place with flowers, streams, butterflies, and bees, a rare and secluded spot. Lin Fan thought it was no wonder the thousand-year-old fox demon chose to rest and recuperate here, away from the Zitong Sect. The two flew past the edge of the Emerald Valley and saw a woman in white playing the zither. Inside the valley, several purple-robed female disciples were either trimming branches or fetching water. Only one purple-robed female disciple stood with her hands behind her back, quietly watching everyone work. She glanced at Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai as they passed by.

Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai landed behind the mountain. Lin Fan tore a piece of Ximen Shuai's clothing and said, "Blood!"

"What for?"

"It's useful."

"Don't you have it?"

"Two people's blood is needed."

Ximen Shuai was helpless, bit his index finger, and dripped blood onto the cloth. Lin Fan dipped his left index finger in the blood, drew a talisman, and then shouted, "Go!" The talisman rose with the wind and flew toward the Emerald Valley.

The Heavenly Eye Talisman!

Lin Fan closed his eyes and could see everything the Heavenly Eye Talisman saw. Ximen Shuai, with a small-minded attitude, asked, "Isn't one person's blood enough?"

"Since one person's blood is enough, why would two be needed?" Lin Fan countered.

"Then why use mine?"

"I'm afraid of pain!" Lin Fan frowned, and because of this expression, Ximen Shuai didn't press further, though he was quite annoyed.

What did Lin Fan see? He saw a room in a corner of the Emerald Valley where a man was tied to a wooden bed, his mouth gagged. A purple-robed disciple cut open his chest with her fingernail, reached inside, and removed his heart. Without caring if the man was dead, she hurriedly took the heart to a nearby small house and placed it in a pot of boiling soup.

Then, he saw the thousand-year-old fox demon playing the zither in a pavilion on the grass, her white clothes fluttering, her hair smooth, and her appearance ethereal and otherworldly. Lin Fan sighed inwardly, one really shouldn't judge by appearance. The Heavenly Eye Talisman landed on the eaves, and Lin Fan took his time, carefully observing the surroundings. He noticed that several purple-robed disciples had very low cultivation, not much different from servants. The disciple who was the personal disciple of the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord was calm and composed, seemingly quite skilled.

"Ziye, the soup is ready," a female disciple reported.

The leader disciple, Ziye, nodded, "Take it over, dispose of the body, the master doesn't like the smell of blood. Then go to the main hall and inform them that the living people are used up, and they need to bring more."

The disciple said, "The people from the main hall said that all the nearby miners have been captured or have fled."

"That's their problem," Ziye said, "If the master needs them, they must bring them."

"Yes!"

Soon, a small bowl of soup was delivered to the stone table beside the thousand-year-old fox demon, who nodded and sipped it slowly, as if tasting tea. Lin Fan's stomach churned, and he immediately disconnected the Heavenly Eye Talisman, afraid he might vomit. Ximen Shuai asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Fan shook his head, "Zhong Kui, Niu Tou, and Ma Mian may look ugly, but they are good people. This fox demon looks like a fairy, but..."

Ximen Shuai understood and asked, "Lin Fan, if your mother was seriously ill and needed a living person's heart as a medicinal ingredient, would you be willing to kill for it? If not, you are unfilial. If yes, you are inhumane."

"Hmph!" Lin Fan said, "Burying a child to support the mother is absurd. A person who breaks the底线 of humanity but practices filial piety." The story of burying a child to support the mother is about a person who, because his mother was reluctant to eat, gave the food to his grandson. This person thought that raising a child would affect his mother, so he decided to bury the child. While digging the grave, he found gold, achieving both goals, and his filial piety became famous throughout the land.

Lin Fan and the Sect Master discussed such matters, believing that although these people were moral role models in society, they were not good people. San San Zhenren had some reservations about Lin Fan's views but did not change his mind. San San Zhenren strongly agreed with Lin Fan's statement, "First be a person, then be a son. If you don't understand how to be a person, how can you be a son?" This Guo Ju burying his son, he gained a good reputation, but didn't he put his mother in an unjust position?

Ximen Shuai laughed and asked, "So you would just watch your mother die?"

At the time, San San Zhenren had asked Lin Fan a similar question, which left Lin Fan speechless. Lin Fan had no mother, so he didn't know. San San Zhenren had asked Zhang Lao, if killing one civilian could save Zhang Lao, would you kill or not? Lin Fan thought about it all night. The next day, Zhang Lao told Lin Fan, "If you kill one person to save me, you will achieve your righteousness, but you will tarnish my name. Will the King of Hell record this life on me or on you? Since it's to save me, why not ask my opinion? Do I want to live more, or do I not want to bear the burden of this life and live on?"

So Lin Fan answered, "I would ask my mother."

"Ha ha!" Ximen Shuai laughed and shook his head, "Lin Fan, Lin Fan, you are still young. Since you grew up without a mother, you would naturally choose this way."

"What about you?" Lin Fan countered.

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