“Ahh!”
Everyone was startled, and Chu Miaoyi let out a scream of terror, covering her mouth in shock.
But then Wang Yong’s hand stopped mid-air. The dagger in his hand dropped to the ground, and Xiong Ying’s bleeding ceased. His wound miraculously began to heal itself.
“Ugh…”
Watson suddenly took a step back. A golden light flashed around him, and in an instant, a swirl of golden energy enveloped his body, cutting off the connection between Crow Patriarch and the outside world.
As his grip loosened, he released Wang Rong.
Wang Rong, Xiong Ying, and Wang Yong—these three people—were all covered in black qi, but soon returned to normal.
Xiong Ying touched his neck. Though a faint scar remained, a soothing stream of water-like immortal energy was nourishing the wound, giving him a pleasant sensation so that he felt no pain at all.
At this moment, Watson staggered and said, “Boy, you’re pretty good, but don’t forget—I still have a hostage! No matter how powerful your magic is, you can’t stop me from killing him!”
“…”
Shui Miao said nothing.
Earlier, Shui Miao had hesitated to act because he was worried about Watson’s safety. He never expected the Crow Patriarch to be so ruthless and act so quickly, leaving Shui Miao no choice but to abandon Watson and save his grandfather.
After a pause, Shui Miao suddenly asked, “Crow Patriarch, is that really just a fragment of your original soul?”
“Uh…”
Crow Patriarch was momentarily caught off guard.
Earlier, Shui Miao had sensed with his spiritual awareness that the Crow Patriarch’s soul wasn’t simply a fragment of his original soul, so he had his suspicions and asked this question.
“What do you mean? Are you trying to threaten me?” the Crow Patriarch said, slightly flustered.
Shui Miao licked his lips and suddenly changed the subject. “By the way, the death of the Crow Girl must have something to do with you, right? You said she was your woman—don’t you think that’s stretching the truth a bit?”
Crow Patriarch’s eyes darted. “What exactly do you want to do?”
Shui Miao took a deep breath, glanced around, and smiled faintly. He spoke calmly, “Love and beauty, life’s pleasures—nobody really wants to die. For humans, death isn’t so bad; at least the soul remains, and one can be reborn in the cycle of reincarnation. But for demons and monsters, death means true annihilation—utter destruction, with not even a trace of memory left behind. Just thinking about it is terrifying, isn’t it?”
Shui Miao’s words, neither warm nor cold, were meant to stir fear in the Crow Patriarch’s heart.
And indeed, the Crow Patriarch was frightened. He suddenly shouted, “Alright, enough stalling! Just tell me plainly—what do you want from me?”
“Those words sound familiar!”
Shui Miao smiled at the Crow Patriarch, then suddenly turned cold. “You’re asking me what I want? You’re actually asking me such a complicated question? Are you kidding me? After everything, you still ask what I want?”
Shui Miao repeated the Crow Patriarch’s earlier words.
Crow Patriarch was shaken to the core. He struggled repeatedly, but could not escape the suppression of the golden immortal energy.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Crow Patriarch was scared and desperate. For the sake of survival, he quickly released Watson’s spiritual channel, allowing Watson to speak.
As soon as Watson regained his voice, he asked Shui Miao, “Leader, before I die, please tell me—Are you really my leader, or are you Shui Miao?”
“…”
Shui Miao hadn’t expected Watson to ask such a question at a moment like this. After a pause, he replied calmly, “Your leader was only using you. Although he saved your life, you’ve already repaid him for everything you’ve done. As for me… I am Shui Miao. Your leader’s soul has long since scattered into oblivion.”
“What?!”
Everyone gasped in shock, speaking in unison.
But Watson fell silent.
Seeing Watson speak so irrelevantly and unrelatedly, the Crow Patriarch became furious. “You damn kid, I let you speak, and you’re spouting nonsense!?”
“Kill me. Kill both me and him.” Watson suddenly knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face. “If you don’t kill me, I will seek revenge one day.”
“Just because he saved your life? So you’re willing to give everything for him, regardless of who he really is? Even to the point of confusing right and wrong?” Shui Miao found it hard to understand.
Yi Tianwen had done many evil deeds and killed countless innocent lives—things Watson knew well.
Of course, everyone else also knew this.
“He saved my life. I should give it back to him.” Watson took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Enough said. Do it.”
“You bastard, you’re trying to get me killed!” The Crow Patriarch was frantic, never expecting that his possession would end up in the body of a suicidal madman.
“Watson, I won’t kill you, because I am not Yi Tianwen. I don’t kill the innocent. I’d rather let this evil Crow Patriarch escape than take your soul. I’d rather you seek revenge against me than kill you.” With that, Shui Miao withdrew his golden immortal energy.
The Crow Patriarch’s heart leapt. He quickly left Watson’s body, conjuring a gust of evil wind as he fled in disarray.
Watson looked confused. “Why? Why would you let me go, knowing I might come after you for revenge?”
“It’s simple. I only kill the wicked. The reason I kept you and the others around was to show you who I really am, so you could understand the difference between right and wrong, and no longer be lost.” Shui Miao took a deep breath. “Now, I’m giving you five minutes. If you kill me within that time, I won’t dodge. But if you don’t kill me after five minutes, I will go after the evil Crow Patriarch.”
“You think I won’t dare to kill you?”
Watson picked up the dagger from the ground.
Seeing this, Lin Xue quickly tried to draw her gun, but found it stuck in the holster, unable to be pulled out.
“Don’t do anything reckless!”
“Watson, calm down…”
“…”
Chu Miaoyi, Xiong Ying, Wang Yong, Jiang Zhihao—they all spoke up.
“Watson, forget it. although the master saved our lives, Shui Miao is a good person!”
“Yeah, Shui Miao is on the side of justice!”
To Shui Miao’s surprise, even the others spoke up…
Watson approached Shui Miao with the dagger, pressing the blade against his chest. Expressionless, he said, “Your magic is very strong. Even if I stab you, you probably won’t die, right?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried.” Shui Miao shook his head.
Watson nodded, smiling faintly. “Then tell me, if I can’t kill you, how can I ever seek revenge?”
“You can try…”
Shui Miao looked at Watson, whose eyes were brimming with tears.
Suddenly, Watson turned the dagger around and pressed it against his own chest, bitterly smiling. “Master, I couldn’t kill him, so I couldn’t avenge you. I can only repay your life-saving grace with my death!”
“Thud!”
Watson plunged the dagger deep into his chest!
Shui Miao rushed forward, activating his immortal energy to protect Watson’s heart, and slowly pulled the dagger out.
Watson’s wound quickly healed under Shui Miao’s immortal energy. Shui Miao sighed gently and said, “Brother, you’re a man of honor. Just now, you repaid your life debt to Yi Tianwen. This life now belongs to you—treasure it, and don’t do anything foolish again.”
“…”
Watson was stunned. He felt like he was dreaming. He touched his chest, and to his amazement, it was completely unharmed—truly miraculous!
“Alright, everyone, let’s get in the cars. We’re heading to the village to find the Crow Girl.”
Shui Miao turned and got into the car.
The events just now had been full of twists and turns, making everyone hold their breath in tension. Now that everything had ended on a positive note, everyone was excited and quickly climbed into the cars…
Except Watson and the others, who didn’t get in.
Shui Miao opened the car window and waved at the three of them with a joke. “We’re in the middle of nowhere here—only mountain demons and spirits around. No free rides available. If you don’t mind, come along.”
“In that case, we won’t be shy!”
Watson laughed heartily and climbed into the car with the others.
The convoy of off-road vehicles roared into the small mountain village.
The village was quiet, with few people around.
Occasionally, an elderly man or woman could be seen peering out from their homes, their legs too weak to walk.
The convoy stopped near the house of the woman who had hanged herself the previous night.
Shui Miao got out directly, walked to the coffin, and said to the black coffin, “Crow Girl, sorry to disturb your nap, but there are some things I need to discuss with you. I hope you can give me some information.” He recounted his encounter with the Crow Patriarch. Then he continued, “That’s basically what happened. I don’t believe you’re working with him, but I’m certain you know some arcane arts. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have become the Crow Girl. Anyway, I’m about to go after the Crow Patriarch. What do you think? Come out and express your stance.”
With a wave of his hand, Shui Miao sent out wood-elemental energy, and the coffin lid flew aside automatically.
Inside the coffin lay a woman completely covered in black feathers, eyes closed and motionless, as if she were just a corpse.
“Hehe, you really turned into a crow. What a big one! But you haven’t fully transformed yet. If I kill you now, you’ll never complete your transformation into the Crow Girl.” Shui Miao activated a surge of yin-elemental energy and channeled it into the Crow Girl, helping her complete the transformation. “Don’t misunderstand. I’m helping you finish the transformation because I sensed your resentment. I guess you must have been killed by the Crow Patriarch. So I’d rather help you seek revenge yourself!”
“Why didn’t you kill me?!”
The Crow Girl suddenly opened her eyes—eyes that were terrifyingly blood-red.
Shui Miao shrugged. “Why would I kill you? You’re only seeking revenge. I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. Besides, the Crow Patriarch has wronged me too. We should be allies, shouldn’t we?”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!!”
The Crow Girl took a deep breath and, to everyone’s shock, tears of blood streamed down her face!
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