Chapter 172: I Really Hate You

Chapter 172 I Truly Hate You

Liu Muchen killed her own father—such an act of rebellion and filial impiety! How dared she appear so brazenly before him?

Moreover, with the poison gas released by the Lin family's monstrous beasts and the amplification of the Four Directions Deadly Formation, even a Nascent Soul Realm master couldn't possibly stand there unscathed.

Liu Dazhong furrowed his brow. How had these women managed it? They must just be putting on a brave front.

That's right, even if they shattered the Echo Barrier, what good would it do? They still couldn't escape this Deadly Formation. No one would leave here alive.

Mu Chen casually twirled the twin blades in her hands, a cold sneer rising in her eyes as she watched the male soldiers surrounding them but not daring to advance. "If you don’t want to die, step aside now!"

Before joining the demonic faction, she had already reached the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, equivalent to the demon clan’s Condensed Demon Realm. After becoming a demon, her cultivation advanced significantly, and she was now at the peak of the Condensed Demon Realm. Dealing with these minor adversaries was utterly effortless.

Liu Dazhong thought he could eliminate them with poison gas, but he was unaware that the Demon Lord had long foreseen his scheme. She had sent people beforehand to raid the medicinal herb shops run by the cultivation families, seizing all their herbs and obtaining the antidote, Purifying Pills.

Thus, the poison gas posed no threat to them whatsoever.

By now, they had shattered the Echo Barrier and stepped out of the area Liu Dazhong had predesignated for them.

The male soldiers surrounded them, longswords in hand, but dared not attack. For every step the women took forward, the soldiers retreated a step.

Some were trembling so badly that, accompanied by several clattering sounds, their blades fell to the ground.

Seeing that Zhang Jiuxiao and the others were unaffected by the poison gas, they were already drenched in cold sweat. Without any cultivation, how could they possibly hope to defeat the people of Eternal Night?

Just the intimidating aura emanating from them was enough to instill profound fear.

Suddenly, one male soldier let out a scream, turned, and bolted toward the venue's exit.

It was like a signal. The others quickly sheathed their spears and fled.

However, the venue had already been enclosed by Liu Dazhong’s formation. They couldn’t escape, and could only stand at the edge, hopelessly pounding on the blood-red light barrier.

Zhang Jiuxiao withdrew her gaze. These people were purely cannon fodder for Liu Dazhong. There was no need to waste time on them.

"Kill the toxin-spreaders first!" Zhang Jiuxiao ordered.

Mu Chen and the others immediately turned their attention toward the Lin family hiding in the corner.

The Lin Family Patriarch was busy controlling the two-headed venomous lizard. He tightly gripped the spirit collar around its neck and snapped, "Stop playing dead! Spit out more poison, or you won’t get any meat today!"

Both heads let out a pitiful whimper in unison, their dark eyes filled with a resentment undetectable by humans. Their venom glands were already dry and swollen, unable to produce another drop of poison.

The Lin Family Patriarch didn’t care about that. He had fed and cared for them all this time precisely so they could be useful at a moment like this.

Every single one of these people who wanted to overthrow the cultivation families deserved to die. He wouldn’t show any mercy.

Seeing the two-headed venomous lizard looking as if it were on its last legs, he grew furious. What was it pretending for?

Just as he was about to tighten the spirit collar further, the sound of whistling through the air came from ahead. He looked up and saw two sharp blade winds, like intersecting crescent moons, slashing straight toward his face.

Unable to dodge in time, he took both blows unexpectedly, his body flung backward as he coughed up blood.

A pair of feet in black boots stopped in front of him. The Lin Family Patriarch looked up at her face, his pupils trembling.

This demon was clearly Liu Xiaozhi’s daughter!

"You… how dare you—" he gasped with difficulty, but when he saw Mu Chen raising her blade again, he quickly shut his mouth.

Instead, he loosened the spirit collar around the two-headed lizard’s neck and urged, "Quick, kill her!"

His demon beast was incredibly powerful—even Golden Core Realm cultivators feared it.

But the next moment, Mu Chen twisted her curved blade, and the blade light severed the spirit collar around the beast’s neck.

The two-headed venomous lizard immediately turned and pounced on the Lin Family Patriarch, its massive jaws opening wide and biting into his face, tearing the flesh away violently.

"Ahhhhhhh—!"

A piercing scream instantly echoed throughout the venue.

————

"Look, the poison gas is dispersing!" someone from the opposition faction exclaimed in shock.

Someone else shouted with all their might, "Let’s not be swayed by Liu Dazhong’s provocations. We must join forces to break this murderous formation first!"

Unfortunately, most people had inhaled the poison gas. In their panic, how could they possibly listen to such words, let alone unite against the enemy? They simply scattered in all directions, desperate to survive.

On the circular platform, the members of the cultivation families grew restless upon seeing the poison gas dissipate.

"What’s going on?"

"You promised none of them would escape, so how is it that even the people of Eternal Night remain unharmed?!"

The family heads loudly questioned him, showing no regard for Liu Dazhong’s face.

In their eyes, they were the seniors. Regardless of whether Liu Dazhong was the Lord or not, they had the right to question and reprimand him.

Since they had already decided to purge the opposition, they had to ensure nothing went wrong. These frequent mishaps were utterly infuriating.

Liu Dazhong gritted his teeth. What right did these old fools, who were all talk and no action, have to criticize him?

Just as he was about to say something, a series of cracking sounds came from ahead.

He looked up and saw the formation in the southwest corner shattered by a long sword. The male soldiers along the way were like fragile straw, easily flung aside by the sword’s energy. These people hadn’t been poisoned at all?!

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Jiuxiao led the people of Eternal Night to kill all the soldiers he had stationed in the venue, charging fiercely straight toward the circular platform.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Liu Dazhong’s back. "Quick, tell the He family head to fire the arrows! Stop them!"

His subordinate’s voice trembled as well. "Lord, the Grand Madam and the others are still in the formation. Arrows don't discriminate—I’m afraid… they might harm them."

"At a time like this, we can’t worry about that anymore!"

"But activating the arrow formation will consume tens of thousands of spirit stones…"

"No buts! Once we’ve killed those who oppose me, we’ll have as many spirit stones as we want!"

As soon as the order to fire was given, the area above the plaza darkened.

Those who had just survived the poison gas didn’t even have time to catch their breath before they saw tens of thousands of spirit arrows, their tips gleaming with a cold blue light, raining down uniformly into the formation.

Like a torrential downpour, they were dense and countless, blotting out the sky.

Seeing this, Zhang Jiuxiao immediately halted her advance, hatred filling her voice. "Liu Dazhong has truly gone to extremes!" She raised her hands and summoned a defensive barrier, holding it overhead.

Mu Chen was also frightened and quickly, along with her sisters, pressed her hands against the defensive barrier, channeling energy to hold it steady.

Suddenly, she spotted Li Jingui’s group to her right and froze.

Her mother had no cultivation base whatsoever—how could she possibly withstand this volley of arrows?

Just as panic set in, the arrows rained down, clattering loudly against the light sphere.

Those outside their protection, without any magical shields, immediately fell to the ground, pierced and killed by the arrows.

She heard Li Jingui crying out, her voice strained and desperate, "Zhong’er, stop this! Tell them to stop! I want to get out of here... Stop!"

"Liu Dazhong, do you not even care about your own mother's life?" the other women shouted accusingly.

Some among them, Qi Refining Stage cultivators, hurriedly summoned magical shields, barely managing to block the arrow rain.

But the Spirit Arrows came wave after wave, and in an instant, their spiritual energy was depleted.

With a crack—someone's shield shattered, and they fell injured to the ground.

Only then did they realize that Liu Dazhong meant to kill them all.

They began to curse Liu Dazhong and turned their anger on Li Jingui, berating her.

"You said you'd fight for our interests, but it was all a lie you and your son planned."

"Do you have no conscience? What good does it do you to help that Liu brat deceive us?"

"We trusted you so much, but you’re no different from Liu Dazhong—you sold us out in the end."

"Let me tell you, if we die, you won’t escape either."

Ignoring Li Jingui's protests, they pushed her out of the protective shield and used her as a human shield.

Li Jingui looked pleadingly toward Liu Dazhong, only to meet a pair of cold, indifferent eyes, making her feel as if she had plunged into an icy abyss.

Zhong’er had seen her—why didn’t he save her? Or was he really willing to watch her die?

Mu Chen was like this, and now Dazhong was too—why were her children such ungrateful wretches? What had she done wrong?

But before she could ponder, a Spirit Arrow shot through her right leg.

She shuddered and collapsed to the ground, tears of pain streaming down her cheeks.

Behind her, the women shouted urgently, "Liu Dazhong, do you see? If you don’t stop the arrow array, your mother will die!"

A flicker of hope rose in Li Jingui, but the arrow array showed no sign of stopping.

Another Spirit Arrow shot toward her.

Li Jingui let out a despairing cry, "No—!"

Was she really going to die here? Killed by the arrow array her own son had activated?

In that instant, long-forgotten memories flooded back.

In a dim, candlelit room, a young girl wept as she extracted her first mature Spirit Pearl from her body. Outside the window, enthusiastic cheers erupted; trembling, she glanced into the courtyard where her elder brother danced proudly with his sword, their father clapping and laughing beside him.

In a grand, brightly decorated hall, a veiled bride knelt silently before the ancestral tablet, a pair of scissors clenched tightly in her sleeve. Beyond the hall, the banquet echoed with laughter and clinking cups, guests congratulating her brother on gaining a brother-in-law’s support to enter the Golden Gate Immortal Sect and embark on the immortal path.

The wedding night was a mess, blood from her forehead streaming past the corner of her eye, staining her tears blood-red.

It turned out she had once thought of resistance and escape, but worn down over time, she grew numb and submissive.

So, when she saw her daughter strike her husband down, her first reaction wasn’t joy but... hatred.

All these years she could only endure—why could her daughter resist? Then what was the point of all her suffering?

That very night, under similarly dim candlelight, she uttered the same words her mother once had: "Marry her off soon."

No one had ever loved her—why should she be expected to love her daughter? Her heart had long been consumed by darkness.

Obeying her husband, depending on her son—this was the only way of survival she had learned over the years.

But she never imagined Liu Dazhong would be cruel enough to kill her.

Even as the Dowager Madame, why couldn’t she escape a fate of being humiliated?

Was it because she did something wrong? But doesn’t everyone do this? Didn’t her mother treat her the same way? She wasn’t wrong!

As these thoughts raced through her mind, the Spirit Arrow reached her.

Suddenly, a blade wind swept through, cracking the Spirit Arrow mid-air, shattering it into countless motes of light.

Li Jingui froze, only to see her daughter holding twin blades, with panic in her eyes, chest heaving.

"Mother... are you alright?" Mu Chen knelt before her, trembling as she took her hand.

Li Jingui’s pupils shook, then anger flashed across her face. "Who asked you to save me? You patricidal traitor!"

With that, she threw Mu Chen off, her shaking hands clutching her daughter’s throat, forcing her to the ground.

Just as Mu Chen fell, a sharp arrow shot from the direction of the circular platform pierced straight through Li Jingui’s chest.

Mu Chen’s eyes widened abruptly, tears of pain welling up.

"I really hate you..." Li Jingui laughed, her grip loosening as she collapsed.

But in her dark, turbid eyes, unmistakable tears of regret remained.

If she could live her life over, would the ending be different?

Unfortunately, there are no ifs.