Chapter 62 You’ll Come Out and Bring Me Home

Chapter 62: Are You Coming to Get Me Home...?

In the dense, fog-shrouded mountain forest, a young man dashed through the trees, moving with frantic speed.

Chasing closely behind him was a thick, malevolent black mist, relentless in its pursuit.

"What the hell is this thing?!" the young man cursed over his shoulder, not daring to slow his pace as he fled for his life.

This young man was none other than Yuan Xiao, who had been forcibly taken from outside the demon palace. Bian Xi had unceremoniously dumped him into the Nightmare Realm, leaving him to run for his life and endure immense suffering.

At the thought, Yuan Xiao couldn’t help but curse Bian Xi again. "May the Abyss Valley above grant that this man perish quickly!"

After running a bit farther, Yuan Xiao unsheathed his sword and, without looking back, commanded, "Attack!"

Yuanyu shot backward as if on cue, piercing toward the indistinct entity.

Seizing the opportunity, Yuan Xiao came to an abrupt halt, spun around, and formed a sword gesture with his fingers, manipulating Yuanyu to weave through the air.

The sword’s light flashed chaotically, making its movements nearly impossible to track. Sweat beaded on Yuan Xiao’s brow.

Finally, with a sharp "whoosh," the sword pinned the creature against a tree.

The moment it was impaled, the black mist dissipated, as though the thing that had chased him for half a day had never existed.

Yuan Xiao let out a long sigh of relief.

This Nightmare Realm was different from the one he had experienced before. From the moment he entered, he could sense an unsettling presence. The small world was filled with a stifling aura of resentment and malice—oppressive, suffocating, and despairing. These sensations weighed on him constantly, making it hard to breathe.

Yuan Xiao pressed onward with clear purpose.

Immortal Lord had been following Bian Xi earlier; perhaps he had entered this realm too. Having no idea how to get out and with dangers lurking everywhere, his top priority was to find a safe place to hide.

His persistence paid off—he actually found such a place.

Before him was a cave, its entrance mostly concealed by shrubs. The surrounding area had relatively less resentment and malevolent energy. Without Yuanyu’s guidance, he might never have noticed it.

Yuan Xiao pushed aside the bushes, took out a lighting artifact, and carefully slipped inside.

Though the cave entrance was narrow, the interior opened up into a spacious area with several branching paths leading who-knows-where. Not daring to venture too deep, Yuan Xiao only explored the outermost section. It was then that he noticed something unusual.

In one corner lay some dried grass with visible impressions, clearly indicating that someone had rested there.

Who could it have been?

Someone who accidentally stumbled into the Nightmare Realm? Or someone seeking its legacy?

Yuan Xiao’s mind raced, but a sudden chill ran down his spine.

His hairs stood on end, and he immediately drew his sword and spun around.

Their weapons clashed with a sharp "clang." The other’s weapon was ordinary and shattered upon impact. Then, a voice asked in surprise, "Yuanyu?"

Yuan Xiao recognized the person and was equally astonished. "Tang Lin?"

They stared at each other, speechless.

After three breaths, both dropped their weapons simultaneously and lunged at each other, exchanging blows.

It was hard to tell who had the upper hand; only they knew how many blows they had taken.

Fortunately, both demons and cultivators possessed robust physiques. The rough-and-tumble brawl left no visible marks, but at least it allowed them to vent their pent-up frustration and resentment.

Perhaps exhausted from the fight, they stopped at the same time. Yuan Xiao flopped down, rolling onto the ground beside Tang Lin.

"You hit way too hard! You almost got me killed—twice!" Yuan Xiao complained angrily, raising two fingers toward the sky.

Once, when Sheng Yiming had lured him into a trap, and now, this.

Though unintentional on Tang Lin’s part, Yuan Xiao had initially come because of a letter supposedly from "Tang Lin."

Tang Lin didn’t ask about the two incidents and snorted. "And you think you were gentle? Who was it that hid his identity and deceived me first?"

"If I had told you from the start, would you still have been friends with me?" Yuan Xiao asked calmly.

Tang Lin remained silent for a long time, unable to answer.

Yuan Xiao smiled knowingly. "See? You were the one with preconceptions. How can you blame me for deceiving you?"

"You... that’s twisted logic!" Tang Lin, clumsy with words, struggled to refute him.

But was he the only one with such biases?

He had grown up hearing such things, bearing the weight of his clan’s blood feud, with "evidence" seeming so conclusive.

Was it all his fault?

"Fine," Yuan Xiao said, sitting up straightforwardly. "Although hiding my identity was necessary, I did deceive you. That was wrong of me. I apologize."

Tang Lin was stunned.

"But! You have to apologize too! I haven’t forgiven you for what you did!" Yuan Xiao crossed his arms and glared at him indignantly.

Was an apology all it took...

Tang Lin suddenly laughed.

So an apology was all it took.

Yuan Xiao found his laughter baffling. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. I’m laughing at how foolish I’ve been. Even a three-year-old knows this logic, yet I’ve been trapped by my own struggles for so long." Tang Lin’s laughter was one of sudden clarity.

Regardless of whether Yuan Xiao chose to forgive him, he needed to say these words.

"I’m sorry."

Tang Lin sat up straight and spoke solemnly.

Yuan Xiao felt he should respond with equal seriousness but somehow lost the ability to form words. In the end, he just scratched his head and muttered awkwardly, "Oh."

"By the way, why are you here? Did that bastard Bian throw you in too?"

Tang Lin nodded. "If you mean the demon who appeared at the Yu family, then yes."

"I knew it!"

In that case, it was hard to say which of them had dragged the other into this mess.

At this stage, discussing it was pointless. What was important was how to leave.

"How did you find this place?" Tang Lin asked.

Yuan Xiao: "This direction has the fewest hostile black fog clusters, so it makes sense I'd end up here, doesn’t it? You too."

"No, I wound up right outside this cave as soon as I entered." Tang Lin considered a chilling possibility. "Have you ever wondered why there are so few hostile creatures around here?"

They've dwindled so much that they’re almost nonexistent.

It’s like sheepdogs corralling prey toward their master.

"Perhaps we should leave this place and find another way out," Tang Lin said.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiao got chills down his spine. After a moment of thought, he clenched his jaw and insisted, "I can’t leave. Immortal Lord has surely followed me in. If what you say is true, then Immortal Lord will definitely find this place too."

Yuan Xiao and Tang Lin sat back-to-back for who knows how long, with nothing happening. The calm was even deeper than the moment right before Elder Nie walked into the classroom at Wen Dao Academy.

Just as they began to think Tang Lin’s fears might have been unfounded, the resentful energy in the cave suddenly surged to its peak. The light from Yuan Xiao’s glowing charm flickered and dimmed, leaving only a faint glow, like firefly light, barely enough to see himself.

In an instant, only one thought crossed their minds—

Run!

However, this resentful energy was entirely different from what they had encountered outside. Against it, their resistance was as useless as trying to scratch an itch through leather, almost ineffective.

It felt physical, tightening around their throats like a noose, squeezing tighter and tighter, as if intending to turn them into part of the resentful energy itself.

This place didn’t feel like an ordinary karmic realm at all.

Yuan Xiao felt as though he could no longer breathe. The earlier negative feelings stirred by the resentful energy now came flooding back.

How could deception and life-or-death matters be equated? Why should he forgive Tang Lin just because he said "I’m sorry"?

Let him struggle and suffer for the rest of his life!

"Yuan Xiao!"

Someone was calling his name.

Who was it?

Yuanyu flew from his hand and, with a single strike, unleashed a power entirely different from when it was in his hands.

Even so, it took considerable effort to force back the resentful energy.

Yuan Xiao finally managed to gasp for air.

Holding his chest, he coughed repeatedly. Then, a large, slender hand with distinct knuckles reached out to him: "Are you alright?"

Yuan Xiao placed his hand in the offered one and stood up with its support. Seeing Que Zizhen’s reassuring face, his eyes welled up with tears, and he lunged forward crying: "Immortal Lord, you’ve finally come!"

Que Zizhen, unaccustomed to his son’s clingy, childlike behavior, had no time to adjust and could only admit his fault: "I arrived too late."

Tang Lin, having caught his breath, felt somewhat awkward and bowed respectfully to the elder without saying a word.

Now that he had someone to rely on, Yuan Xiao, having indulged in his usual whiny behavior, felt a bit embarrassed: "It’s not that. I was just too careless."

Que Zizhen said without reproach: "They came prepared, making it impossible to prevent. Besides, how could one stand idly by when a friend is in danger?"

Yuan Xiao chuckled.

Just then, Que Zizhen’s expression changed slightly. Without another word, he urged them both to leave quickly.

"What about you?" Yuan Xiao asked, noticing that Que Zizhen was still holding Yuanyu and showed no intention of moving, which made him worried.

Que Zizhen indeed had a reason he had to stay: "This place is different from an ordinary Karma Realm. There’s no legacy of powerful experts or opportunities—only endless resentful malice. The Karma Realm master's consciousness has long turned into resentment itself. The only way to leave is to destroy it."

And this place was clearly where the master of the Karma Realm resided.

The entire cave began to shake violently. The resentment and malice that had retreated earlier returned with hundredfold, thousandfold force.

Faintly, a voice that sounded neither human nor ghost could be heard, repeating incessantly: "Stay... all of you stay..."

"Go!"

Que Zizhen pushed them toward the exit, turned his back to the cave entrance, and faced off against the master of the Karma Realm, who had long become resentment.

He stood tall and straight, as if he were still the all-powerful Jade Mountain Immortal Lord. Yet Yuan Xiao knew that his cultivation base had fallen and had not improved since.

Facing such power, life or death was uncertain.

Tang Lin knew that staying would only be a hindrance, so he pulled Yuan Xiao and ran toward the cave's entrance.

Yuan Xiao couldn’t resist turning back for a glance. He saw Que Zizhen, alone with his sword, holding back all danger behind them.

"Dad—" he shouted loudly, "you must come out and take me home!"

Outside the Ten Thousand Demons Abyss, the ninety-nine heavenly thunderbolts had all descended, followed by a drizzle fine as silk.

The Sixteen Generals of the Four Directions swarmed in, once again lashing Bian Xiu's already disfigured corpse, as if doing so would earn them chief credit in slaying Bian Xiu.

While they desecrated the corpse, they did not forget to plunder anything valuable on it.

"Enough!" Yuan Qichen barked with a dark expression.

The group immediately stopped their bandit-like behavior, becoming as meek as quails.

Who would dare provoke him? He was now the only Half-Step Tribulation cultivator across the three continents and four realms.

Not to mention, his mood was clearly foul.

Only Feng Xuan stepped forward cheerfully to congratulate Yuan Qichen on becoming the foremost figure in the three continents and four realms, expressing his honor to be associated with him.

Yuan Qichen’s eyes held no trace of a smile, but he forced a slight curl of his lips and asked, "The Bian clan came prepared, knowing quite a bit of information. Could any of it have been leaked by you?"

Feng Xuan broke into a cold sweat instantly, wishing he could slap himself for speaking out of turn. With a pained expression, he said, "Your Excellency, please be assured. I would never dare, even if beaten to death."

Xi Yue, who had come to clean up the aftermath, saw through the situation at a glance and rolled her eyes at him. "The young master and his mother are missing, and you all have the nerve to flatter and seek merit? Hurry up and find the entrance to the Karma Realm!"

Yuan Qichen’s anxiety was palpable. Only someone as tactless as Feng Xuan would dare test his temper. At Xi Yue’s words, the group scattered like birds and beasts.

It wasn’t until news arrived that the entrance had been found, but—

"It’s a Resentment Karma Realm."

Yuan Qichen’s heart, which had yet to settle, tightened once again.

Author’s note: Countdown to the finale [Owl]