Chapter 50: I've Found You

Song Cheng looked at his so-called cousin, his smile bright and open, uncannily reminiscent of Yu Daoyi.

“Sis, I don’t want to debate the rights and wrongs of all this, but surely there are better ways to handle these things. He’s brought to light things that Father kept buried deep in his heart, things he never spoke of to us, and now he’s laid them bare before our eyes.”

“So what? I trust my father. Right and wrong, black and white, I don’t want to dwell on those. Call it avoidance or unwillingness to face reality, but I believe in my father. My brother Daoyi may be unreliable at times, but he’s not wrong about everything!”

“Blaming heaven and others, always thinking the world owes him; lacking real skill, yet convinced he’s seen through to the truth of everything. People like that—well, that’s exactly how they should be answered.”

The wind stirred the leaves, sunlight casting shadows through the bamboo—bright, but not blinding.

“Eat shit, idiot!” Song Cheng mimicked a certain someone, clenching his fist and extending his middle finger in a casual, relaxed manner.

Even his impudent antics were becoming more and more like Yu Daoyi’s...

“Turns out my Brother Cai’s methods really are the most satisfying!”

Song Cheng felt the gloom in his heart swept clean. Then he turned to Song Qiuling and said,

“Sis, I won’t always be your burden, nor will I always trail behind you. Even if everything they say is true, I still believe in Father’s decisions! It’s him now, but in the future, it’ll be me in the Song family!” Song Cheng spoke with great seriousness.

“Stop deluding yourself! How much do you know about what the Song family has done?” Song Yong roared, his voice hoarse and ragged.

“Heh, do you expect me to trust a traitor like you, rather than my own father and brother?”

“Enough already, you’re so noisy, idiot!”

Song Qiuling looked at Song Cheng without saying more. She felt as if he’d grown up a little—just a little, but already there was a trace of their father in him. Reflecting on her earlier hesitation, she suddenly felt so foolish.

“How dull. Song Yong, there’s no need to waste words on them. Play your melody to the fullest; when you’ve severed their heads, they’ll know who the true fool is,” Lin Tao said coldly, displeasure etched on his brow.

“So! The reason our Duan family’s Spirit Control Melody was stolen was because of you?” On the other side, Duan Yuxuan glared angrily at Lin Tao.

“I am ashamed to admit, it was merely that some in your family were dissatisfied with mediocrity and tempted by life’s illusions. I just gave them a little nudge,” Lin Tao replied, sounding bored since he hadn’t seen the Song siblings crushed.

“Don’t you understand why you’re all here?” Yu Yunfan turned his head and looked at Duan Yuxuan.

“What do you mean?” Duan Yuxuan was confused.

“Scapegoats,” Duan Yin said quietly, her lips barely moving.

After a moment’s thought, she continued, “I know little of what happened in Green Hill Town, but I do know of its four great families. If both sons of the Yu household die here, then we become the scapegoats.”

“The Lin family will surely seek to suppress this matter, or redirect the blame elsewhere. Even we were surprised that Song Yong could play our family’s Spirit Control Melody, and outsiders will never suspect as much. As long as the Lin family manipulates things from the shadows, it’ll be easy to shift suspicion onto us. And if we die here as well, then there’ll be no one left to testify, no way to clear our names.”

Duan Yuxuan’s face grew dark. From the moment he had accepted their invitation, he had already become a pawn, every move watched by their calculating eyes.

“My brother was right,” Yu Yunfan said coolly.

“Oh? I’d like to hear what your brother said,” Lin Tao smiled, suddenly curious.

“He said to be wary of you. Anyone who can so carefully conceal their true nature from most people cannot be simple,” Yu Yunfan replied offhandedly.

“I didn’t expect such a high appraisal. Your brother may lack talent in cultivation, but in certain ways, I truly fear him. Sacrificing Wang Hongjun to get rid of him was worth it,” Lin Tao nodded, looking genuinely delighted with Yu Daoyi’s evaluation.

“But he also said one more thing.”

“Oh? What was it?” Lin Tao asked, intrigued.

“Overconfidence looks like mere foolishness to outsiders, and when a fool tries to act clever, that’s courting death. At the time, I didn’t really understand what courting death meant, but—”

“But now, my brother surely understands. Courting death, now that’s a fine phrase.” A lazy, impish voice sounded from within the Blood Python with the Phoenix Crest.

Lin Tao’s face changed dramatically. “Impossible! How could someone at the third stage of Qi Refinement still be alive after all this time?”

“Do you really know us? If you were truly clever, you wouldn’t have missed what weapon I hold in my hand,” Yu Yunfan said lightly, tossing the black rod in his hand.

“It’s merely a low-grade yellow-tier artifact—what’s your point?” Lin Tao stared at Yu Yunfan coldly.

“Yes, just a piece of worthless scrap metal. So here, I return it to you.”

With that, Yu Yunfan tossed the black rod to Song Cheng.

...Yes, yes, my rod is just a piece of scrap metal. Is this how you people always talk? Song Cheng’s heart ached.

Lin Tao suddenly realized, “That’s not your artifact!”

As if struck by a thought, he glanced at the Blood Python and shouted at Song Yong, “Song Yong, play the melody! Don’t let him escape from the python’s body! He went in there with the artifact!”

Hearing this, Song Yong resumed playing the Spirit Control Melody, forcing the python to coil tighter and tighter in an attempt to trap Yu Daoyi within.

“Song Cheng, there’s no use talking to people like this—just hit them with a stick as soon as you see them. Listening to you all outside made me want to punch someone. So much pointless chatter.”

You’re not the protagonist. Are you really that good at talking your way out of things?

“........” Song Cheng was speechless, unsure whether to feel joy that his brother was alive or frustration that he was still causing trouble.

“And little brother, are you going to let me out, or shall I let myself out?” Yu Daoyi’s voice was as relaxed as ever.

“You only survived thanks to an artifact’s protection, and yet you dare boast so arrogantly!” Lin Tao, realizing he’d been played for a fool, exploded with anger.

Given the circumstances, it was clear that Yu Daoyi had been protected by Yu Yunfan’s artifact when swallowed. With only third-stage Qi Refinement, there were too many dangers in these mountains.

“Did you not listen to a word my brother said?” Yu Daoyi’s voice was tinged with helplessness, as if he truly considered Lin Tao an idiot.

“What?” Lin Tao frowned, annoyed at being treated like a fool.

“Do you really know us? That’s what my brother said.”

“And now, I’ll answer you with action.”

After these words, all fell silent within the python’s belly.

“Aren't you going to help him?” Song Qiuling anxiously asked Yu Yunfan, who showed no sign of moving.

“If you really care about him, the first thing you should do,” Yu Yunfan glanced at Song Qiuling, then turned back to the python, his voice even, “is believe in him.”

For a long time, nothing happened. Lin Tao’s unease faded, and he mocked, “Ha! All bluff! You and your brother are just a pair of idio—”

Before he could finish, the surrounding spiritual energy seemed to boil. For miles around, birds and beasts panicked, howling to escape. An unfathomable force of spiritual energy surged from the python’s body, causing everyone around to feel their own energy slipping out of control.

Yu Yunfan, sensing the change, grew uneasy. He frowned slightly and ordered, “Scatter!”

The group obeyed, retreating at once. Meanwhile, Lin Tao’s face was a picture of disbelief. He simply couldn’t fathom how someone at the third stage of Qi Refinement could cause such upheaval. The old man at his side, after a moment of shock, recovered his composure and whisked Lin Tao away hundreds of meters in an instant.

The Blood Python trembled violently, desperate to flee, but the terrifying power was coming from within its own body. Panic twisted its monstrous face into a mask of human-like fear.

No matter how fervently Song Yong played the Spirit Control Melody, it had no effect on the python now. Song Yong himself began to look bewildered. With a loud bang, his green bamboo flute—an artifact of the yellow tier—shattered, sending him staggering back, his hands bleeding.

A wild wind rose out of nowhere, howling through the bamboo grove and bending every stalk to the ground. Fallen bamboo leaves were swept up into the gale, and the sky darkened ominously.

“My god... What on earth has my Brother Daoyi done?” Song Cheng stared at the scene, his jaw agape in shock.

“What’s happening? Never mind the overwhelming spiritual energy—why, why do I also feel...” Song Qiuling trailed off, but her worry was evident.

“Demonic energy,” Yu Yunfan murmured, lowering his head in thought.

The wind howled, clouds pressed low, and day turned to night. In the distance, the Blood Python roared in terror, struggling to escape, its face twisted in unmistakable, almost human fear—a sight to chill the blood.

...

In a place without name, where there was nothing, nothing could be seen, and there were no words to describe it—neither white nor black, neither empty nor full, where nothing existed and yet everything seemed to be present.

From out of nowhere, a drifting, almost illusory voice sounded in that place, deep and barely more than a whisper.

“Heh, it seems someone beat me to it. They’ve found you.”