I Want to Be Alone for a While

Ye Feng was nearly dying of pain, unable to suppress the power of the ghost hand, yet that man hadn't even spared him a single glance. Looking at the man fussing over Meng Wanshu and looking her up and down, he really couldn't take it anymore. Forcing the primal energy within his body to circulate, he yelled, "Help... help me!!" Only then did Meng Jiangchu notice the deep crater several thousand zhang away, where Ye Feng clutched his right shoulder with his left hand, struggling desperately to suppress the rampaging power of the ghost hand. Whoosh! Teleporting to Ye Feng's side, the man looked at him with immense gravity. With a wave of his hand, twelve ice needles as thin as strands of hair floated into the air. Meng Jiangchu's divine sense hummed. His right hand moved like lightning, embedding the twelve ice needles into Ye Feng's arm according to an esoteric technique. The ice needles, barely exposing their tips, suddenly erupted with immense power. Like an unruly dragon, this force coursed through his body! Soon, all the ghost hand power that had dispersed through his body was forced back and subdued. Seeing this, Ye Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief. Rising to his feet, he bowed to Meng Jiangchu and said, "Thank you for your assistance, Senior Meng." Meng Jiangchu waved a dismissive hand, paying no mind to such a minor favor. Looking grave, his eyes gleamed sharply as he stared at Ye Feng's arm. Under Meng Jiangchu's gaze, Ye Feng instinctively shifted sideways, trying to shield his arm. To his surprise, Meng Jiangchu spoke up: "Those Twelve Ice Swirl Needles are yours to keep. In a moment, I will teach you the needle technique. Lest another situation like today arises in the future and you don't even have anyone by your side who can help." Hearing this, Ye Feng stood dazed in place, looking at the man. *So... he wasn't looking at the power of my arm with disgust...* An inexplicable warmth flowed through his heart. He was about to politely decline when Meng Wanshu said, "Keep them. This set of Ice Swirl Needles will be very useful to you." In the end, Ye Feng did not refuse. He nodded quietly and said, "Thank you." The man smiled and nodded. Taking out a blank jade slip, he pressed it against his glabella. A moment later, he opened his eyes and handed it to Ye Feng. Ye Feng bowed, receiving the jade slip with both hands, and put it away like a priceless treasure. With the twelve Ice Swirl Needles still lodged in his arm, Meng Jiangchu instructed, "Do not remove these twelve needles for now. Take them out in seven days, once the power has completely stabilized. It should not be longer than that, nor should it be shorter." Ye Feng nodded. "Understood." As the words fell, a somber mood settled over the three of them. Meng Jiangchu took a deep breath, gravity heavy between his brows, and said in a low voice, "Wanshu, take your void avatar and head back first. Settle in and focus on healing your injuries. Leave matters here to me." After speaking, he glanced at Ye Feng and sighed. "You return to the domain with Wanshu as well. Recover from your wounds first. You two don't need to worry about the situation here." The two exchanged a look, nodded, and turned to leave. Everything just now had happened in the blink of an eye; the slightest misstep would have meant death and the end of their cultivation path. Even Meng Wanshu felt a lingering terror whenever she looked back on it. Ye Feng, on the other hand, appeared completely calm, prompting Meng Wanshu to ask curiously, "Ye Feng, weren't you afraid of what just happened?" She had thought he was simply carefree, but Ye Feng merely shrugged and replied, looking at her, "Afraid of what? Aren't we still alive right now? And if we were dead, there'd be even less to fear." Meng Wanshu's steps paused slightly at his answer. Ye Feng continued calmly, "What good is fear? When it's time to face something, you just have to face it. In the Purgatory Abyss... I went through situations thousands of times more dangerous than this. If I were afraid every single time, I never would have made it out. Or rather... there, you only have one thought in your mind: to survive. As for fear, terror—such emotions won't help you in the slightest." Having said this, Ye Feng stretched, clasping his hands behind his head. The weeping of the Xiao clan disciples filled his ears. In a low voice, he said, "As long as you're still alive, whatever suffering you went through before doesn't matter anymore." Meng Wanshu gazed at Ye Feng's back, wondering just what he had gone through during those years in the Purgatory Abyss. *** The Xiao clan domain. Looking at the ruins and collapsed walls all around, Meng Jiangchu was filled with sorrowful contemplation. Mutilated corpses lay strewn across the ground, blood soaked the earth, and the air remained thick with the stench of gore. "Sigh..." Sighing heavily, Meng Jiangchu stepped forward, teleporting outside Xiao Chen's residence. His gaze was somber. For a moment, he wondered whether splitting into countless avatars had been the right choice. If not for dividing his power into avatars, leaving him currently with only the strength of the mid Body Integration Realm, he could have turned his hand and crushed that Abyss Demon on the spot! Meng Jiangchu's eyes flickered, and he murmured softly under his breath, "It seems it's time to restore my peak strength. And I'm afraid the Xiao clan's Body Integration ancestor passing away long ago can no longer be kept secret either... The Xiao clan... will find it very difficult to remain a first-rate clan." When the anxious, terrified servants looked up and saw that the Domain Lord himself had arrived in person, they fell to their knees one after another to pay homage. Meng Jiangchu simply teleported them all outside. With a gentle wave of his hand, he tore through the seal Ye Feng had set up and stepped inside. As soon as he entered, he saw Xiao Chen lying fast asleep upon the ice lotus, and a surge of mixed emotions washed over him. Though Xiao Chen was eccentric and cynical by nature, he wasn't inherently bad, and he placed deep value on loyalty and kinship. The only issue was his poor relationship with his father, Xiao Yue. The two would quarrel the moment they met, until eventually Xiao Chen simply refused to return home. Even when he returned to the Shenbao Domain, he preferred to shamelessly loiter at the Meng clan rather than step foot here. Who could have imagined that overnight, the Xiao clan would suffer such a catastrophe... Meng Jiangchu slowly reached out, seamlessly tearing open the domain boundary Xiao Chen had temporarily created. Suddenly! The moment the unconscious, sleeping Xiao Chen sensed someone breaching the domain he had created, a blood-red spear violently thrust toward Meng Jiangchu's head! Having lunged to his feet, Xiao Chen's eyes were bloodshot, his icy killing intent almost tangible! A barrier of primal energy gathered in front of Meng Jiangchu, blocking the strike. The friction from the Blood God Spear tore through the flesh of Xiao Chen's palms before it was thrown back. Bang! Screech! The spear pierced deep into the wall, its butt still trembling slightly. Xiao Chen finally made out the man's features clearly. His numb eyes instantly reddened. In a hoarse voice, he murmured, "Uncle Meng..." Meng Jiangchu's emotions were already tumultuous, and when he heard Xiao Chen call him Uncle Meng, his eyes grew moist as well. He paused for several breaths before speaking softly, "Child... rest easy. Uncle Meng will hold everything up for you. Any scoundrels who dare harbor ill intentions at a time like this—Uncle Meng will never let them off!!" Silence fell. Hearing those words, Xiao Chen's heart churned with overwhelming emotion. He wanted to say something, yet nothing would come out. A wanderer of the martial world now felt the crushing burden of his family in this very moment. His father was dead, and before he could even recover from the heavy grief, he felt the weight of responsibility as the Xiao clan's eldest son. At a time like this... whoever else might collapse, he could not! Forcing down the sorrow in his heart, Xiao Chen slowly stood up, his eyes dull and lifeless as though his soul had been ripped away. "Uncle Meng... I want to... be alone for a while." Hearing this, Meng Jiangchu's eyes were filled with worry and lingering unease. Xiao Chen kept his head lowered, disheveled strands of hair concealing his battered, wretched state. In the end, the man merely stood up silently, patted him on the shoulder, and turned to leave the cultivation chamber.