Chapter 44: Critical Moment
Mu Lichuan curled his lips into a mocking smile. "What do you think?" He knew all of this was closely tied to a certain spirit—otherwise, he would have long turned to ashes, let alone anything else.
"It's you! This was all your scheme!" Suddenly, Mu Xiaolin erupted with immense hatred, and the barrier shrank once more. Instead, a wave of dark energy surged toward them.
Mu Mu Changnian's entire body stiffened, his face quickly overtaken by a terrifying black aura. "Why?" His eyes were filled with terror, and from the corner of his vision, he could clearly see many people fleeing in panic, even recoiling from the oppressive energy.
"I hate you!" Unlike before, Mu Xiaolin still retained some semblance of rationality this time. His eyes were bloodshot, glowing with madness. "If not for you, I wouldn’t have ended up like this!"
He wanted to slaughter every last member of the Mu family, make them taste his power, make them regret ever crossing him.
Mu Mu Changnian's lips trembled as if trying to speak, but no words came out. His head tilted to the side - dead, his eyes wide open in unwillingness.
What was supposed to be a joyous engagement banquet had turned into a battlefield of carnage. Those who failed to escape in time collapsed lifelessly, their lives extinguished in an instant.
Mu Xiwang had also been given a protective barrier by the patriarch. Gripping Mu Lichuan’s hand, he tried to flee in another direction, but Mu Xiaolin seemed to anticipate their escape, cutting them off.
"Trying to run? Why not leave your lives behind instead?" This time, Mu Xiaolin was not out of control. Watching those people die before him filled him with a perverse satisfaction. He could feel the energy inside him growing stronger, as if something was howling - hungry, demanding to devour them all...
"Mu Xiaolin! Turn back before it's too late!" Mu Xiwang roared, his face desperate, hoping his father would arrive in time.
"Turn back? All I know is that if I don’t kill you all, it’ll be my end." Mu Xiaolin’s voice was soft, but laced with venom.
"Of course, old man, if you hand over Mu Lichuan, I’ll let you go." In his eyes, everything was Mu Lichuan’s fault.
Mu Xiwang immediately shielded Mu Lichuan. "Never!" Though he didn’t know what tricks Lichuan had up his sleeve, the fact that the dark energy didn’t affect him proved he was the Mu family’s only hope.
"Then you can die with the rest." With a vicious snarl, Mu Xiaolin moved - too fast to see, and a pitch-black light pierced through Mu Xiwang. The barrier shattered uselessly, and in an instant, his body withered into a desiccated husk.
In Mu Lichuan’s eyes, his grandfather had turned into a mummy, flesh and blood completely drained away.
"Grandfather!" he screamed, but his voice was swallowed by the black miasma.
"Get out of here. My spiritual energy is less than a ten-thousandth of its usual strength. This man possesses demonic energy at the Golden Core stage," Xiao Mo said gravely. "If you had dual-cultivated with me earlier, we wouldn’t be in such a sorry state." The last part almost sounded teasing.
"Is this really the time for jokes?" Mu Lichuan growled. Even if he held no affection for the Mu family, he couldn’t let Mu Xiaolin grow any stronger.
"Give me control of your body," Xiao Mo said. "I’ll eliminate this scourge for you." A spirit and a physical form were different - with a body, he could weave spells. Besides, Mu Lichuan was ideal for divine cultivation. Even if it meant exhausting himself, survival was better than death.
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