Chapter 410: Questioning One's Conscience

In a daze, Chen Chao murmured to himself, "Can I really do nothing for her?"

The voice in his mind sounded out softly, "She's still a child. Can you bear to watch her die like this? How much can it delay you to send her home?"

The voice was very calm, yet it carried a certain alluring undertone, making it difficult for Chen Chao to focus. However, the pain in his mind lessened somewhat at this moment, though the voice in his head continued one after another, incessantly.

"What do you cultivate for?"

"Is it just so your life and death won't be decided by others?"

"Then why are you a warden?"

"Who will you never believe in this life?"

"Everything is solely for your own benefit?"

"Can someone like you reach the pinnacle of the martial path?"

The voices in his head kept sounding out one by one. That voice remained calm from start to end, devoid of any emotional fluctuations. Yet, it was precisely this calmness that left Chen Chao feeling bewildered and deeply immersed in them.

He muttered, "Was I wrong?"

The voice did not answer. Instead, the little girl who had been standing in front of the lantern suddenly disappeared. When she reappeared, it was a different scene. She lay in a pool of blood, her small face covered in fresh blood.

One of her hands had already been partially eaten by a ferocious-looking demon.

"How could this be..."

Chen Chao widened his eyes, his gaze filled with confusion and self-blame. If he had truly accompanied this mother and daughter to White Deer Prefecture, would this little girl still be alive?

It would not have mattered much for him to arrive late at Sword Qi Mountain, but for this little girl, it was different.

It might be the difference between life and death.

That voice slowly sounded out again at this moment. "Do you regret it? If you regret it, why did you do it in the first place?"

Chen Chao remained silent. It was just that he closed his eyes rather painfully.

The sachet in his bosom happened to fall out at this moment. Chen Chao glanced down absentmindedly, then muttered, "Do I have to save her?"

The voice in his mind responded, "If you don't even know yourself, then who knows?"

Chen Chao said, "I didn't owe her anything in the first place. What I do or don't do, no one can say anything about me."

"Outsiders might not be able to say anything about you, but what about your own heart?"

Chen Chao frowned. "That heart is mine. How could it go against my will?"Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

"If it cannot go against your will, then what are you doubting now?"

The voice in his mind slowly rose, flowing like water through Chen Chao's heart.

Chen Chao stared into the eyes of the demon, the emotions in his eyes cold and indifferent.

The demon hesitated for a moment, then its eyes were filled with spitefulness. "We didn't touch that mother and daughter you mentioned today!"

Chen Chao shifted his gaze to the surrounding demons.

Soon, those demons began to speak all at once, all claiming they had not encountered a mother and daughter. Most of them did not even venture out during the day but waited until nightfall to act.

Chen Chao withdrew his gaze, then slowly sliced off a large piece of flesh from the demon.

Chen Chao said with a cold sneer, "Still lying?"

Demons were highly sensitive to human blood. Even if they did not actively hunt humans, they could definitely sense passing humans.

The demon gritted its teeth in pain, about to say something, but Chen Chao had already sliced off another large chunk of its flesh.

The demon let out a painful cry, staring fixedly at this young man who seemed like the devil himself.

Chen Chao was expressionless, "I urge you to think carefully before you speak. If I say I can make you suffer for a night, then I can make you suffer for a night. If you want to deceive me, think again about whether you have the ability."

The demon lowered its head, it was unknown what it was thinking.

Without waiting for its reaction, Chen Chao sliced again with his saber.

He had plenty of methods to deal with these demons; far more than the average person would think. During his years in Tianqing County, he had dealt with countless demons.

The demon let out a muffled groan, but this time it did not make a sound.

Chen Chao did not waste his breath, directly decapitating it with one clean stroke, then casually tossed the head aside. It rolled on the ground and stopped in front of another trembling demon. Chen Chao spoke calmly, "There's nothing more to say. If you dare to deceive me, I'll truly make you wish you were dead."

That demon was originally afraid of that demon king's status, that was why it did not dare to speak. Now that the demon king was already dead, it quickly kowtowed and poured everything out like pouring out beans, "In the early morning, three people appeared on the other side of the riverbank. We were preparing to attack them, but then a cultivator appeared, killed the old man, and abducted the mother and daughter."

Chen Chao said in a grave voice. "Where is the old man's body?"

The demon did not dare to hesitate and immediately replied, "The cultivator threw it into the river, and it was eaten by the fish in the river long ago. We were watching from afar at the time. Originally, we thought that it would be impossible to escape death as that cultivator discovered us. However, for some reason, he did not take action and simply left."

Chen Chao stared at the demon and asked, "Which direction did the cultivator go?"

The demon replied, "Southeast."

......

......

Carrying the lantern, Chen Chao left the deep mountains and returned to the riverbank. His expression darkened. He had initially thought that the mother and daughter might have been eaten by these demons. While the final answer was not exactly reassuring, it was somewhat acceptable. However, now it involved a foreign cultivator, which made Chen Chao even more worried.

Why would a cultivator abduct ordinary civilians?

Though the answer was still unknown, it was definitely nothing good.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes and turned to head southeast.