Song Yan was slightly startled, then relieved.

In the mortal world, in some remote and undeveloped places, people with such a face were regarded as an ominous sign, a harbinger of bad luck.

They even attributed all the bad things that happened around them entirely to the appearance of such people.

Even those who embarked on the path of cultivation, if they held such prejudices, their preconceived notions would not easily dissipate with the improvement of their Realm.

In fact, they would become even more paranoid.

The path of cultivation is mysterious and profound; no one would joke about their Dao path.

When a certain rumor is difficult to verify, for most ordinary people, it is true.

For example, there is a rumor in the cultivation world of Chu that if male Cultivators maintain their primal yang and female Cultivators maintain their virginity, the probability of success during Foundation Establishment will slightly increase.

Another example is the Cave Abyss Sect’s tradition of gathering Qi at sunrise, which is rumored to purify spiritual power if adhered to consistently.

None of these "rumors" have been verified by any powerful Cultivator.

Or rather, those with low Realms cannot discern clearly.

Those with high Realms do not need to care.

However, Song Yan still had one question: "Since you’ve already escaped, why do you want to go back?"

"Could it be that you want to go back and save people?"

"No, it’s not that."

"I know my strength is weak, so of course, I wouldn’t do something so foolish."

"..."

Mentioning this, Ju Luyi’s expression dimmed slightly.

"My Realm is low, and I lost my Spiritual Artifact when I was escaping."

To be fair, seeing the poverty of this young girl, the fact that she possessed a Spiritual Artifact was also beyond Song Yan’s expectation.

However, she quickly gave the answer: "That was the last memento my deceased mother left me."

He suddenly understood.

Song Yan pondered for a moment, seemingly considering something.

Seeing him lost in thought, Ju Luyi quickly said, "Senior Song, there’s no need to worry. I’ll just go look for it on the mountain after nightfall."

"That Spiritual Artifact is just an embroidery needle; it might not catch the eye of those few people. It’s just that my magical power is low, and I can’t sense it."

"I won’t trouble you to act."

"..."

Hearing this, Song Yan felt a little ashamed.

His first thought was not to help the girl in front of him retrieve her Spiritual Artifact, but to go up the mountain and see Nanshan Temple.

He had met Abbot Lu several times, and this elderly Cultivator had treated him very well.

That cup of spiritual tea was the first Song Yan had ever tasted since embarking on the path of cultivation.

"Let’s go take a look."

With this friendship, not to mention avenging him or his Disciples.

He should at least collect their bodies and bury them in peace.

Song Yan turned and strode towards Mount Tainan.

"Senior Song, among those three, two should be in the Late Stage of Qi Refining, and the remaining one is in the Middle Stage of Qi Refining."

Ju Luyi quickly jogged to catch up, panting.

"You alone..."

Xiao Ju wasn’t implying that this Senior from the Cave Abyss Sect’s inner circle lacked strength; rather, she was annoyed that her own Realm was too low and would hold him back.

"It’s fine, if I can’t win, I’ll just run..."

He said indifferently, casually taking out some old clothes from his qiankun bag, tearing them into several strips of cloth, and wrapping them around Xiao Ju’s lower face.

"Se-Senior... what are you doing?"

"It’s not night yet, aren’t you going to cover up?"

"Oh... oh."

It wasn’t until her face was covered that he realized Xiao Ju still had many freckles on both sides of her nose.

If the other party recognized this face, it would be easy to identify her.

"Useless."

Let’s just go... Outside the temple, there were blue tiles and white walls.

There were many cracks on the outer wall.

Above the door, the plaque carved with "Nanshan Temple" hung crookedly, on the verge of falling.

Blood drops fell.

"These people started killing as soon as they came up the mountain path."

Before even entering the temple, they had already seen two or three corpses, their belongings having vanished.

Ju Luyi remained silent.

It was evident that she harbored some fear.

But she didn’t want to show it, so she forced herself to remain calm.

Following Song Yan, she stepped into the temple’s front courtyard.

A strong smell of blood, mixed with the sour stench of wine, food, and meat, assailed them.

Several corpses dressed in young Daoist robes lay scattered in a pool of blood.

They lay face up, eyes wide in death, with deep knife wounds on their necks and throats.

"Damn it!"

Bang—

Shouts and curses came, along with the sound of some porcelain falling to the ground.

"What kind of horse piss is hidden in this broken place? It’s undrinkable."

Ju Luyi subconsciously wanted to pull Song Yan to hide: "Senior Song..."

Song Yan’s eyes flashed with golden light: "5th Level of Qi Refining, Qi Refining Stage Seventh Level, Level 8 Qi Refining."

He began to ponder whether it would be dangerous if he and Xiao He joined forces to kill all three of them.

Yes, but very little.

When going up the mountain at this moment, the Hidden Sword Gathering Spirit Stance was fully active, making it difficult to detect.

Xiao Ju, however, did not have such a method to conceal her aura.

"You dare to come back and seek death?!"

Bang—

The wooden door of Nanshan Temple’s main hall was shattered by a massive spiritual force, and two Cultivators walked out from inside.

At the same time, another Cultivator at the 5th Level of Qi Refining arrived late from the adjacent wing room.

Song Yan’s eyes flickered, vaguely seeing several naked female Cultivator corpses lying in the main hall and wing rooms.

He couldn’t bear to look and shifted his gaze.

"I gave you a way out, why do you still come back to seek death?"

The Level 8 Qi Refining Cultivator wore a yellow robe: "And you brought... a pretty boy."

The yellow-robed Cultivator’s eyes narrowed slightly; he couldn’t clearly see the other party’s spiritual power Realm, and a sense of vigilance had already risen in his heart.

The three had now converged at the entrance of the main hall, facing Song Yan, glaring menacingly.

"Brother Xiang, that person seems to be a Cave Abyss Sect Disciple."

"Hmm..."

Just as the three were transmitting messages, Song Yan smiled warmly: "Three Fellow Daoists, I apologize for the disturbance."

"Passing by this time, may I ask if any of you know where Abbot Lu Yuan of Nanshan Temple has gone?"

"..."

The yellow-robed Cultivator saw that the young man had no intention of seeking revenge and thought that this person was probably just a timid and cowardly weakling.

So he sneered and casually said, "Lu Yuan? Heh heh."

"This person made too many enemies and was killed while traveling outside."

"I also had a grudge against him, so I took this opportunity to massacre the temple, enjoy his women, and seize his wealth."

His gaze was cruel, and his aura of Level 8 Qi Refining was undisguised, sweeping towards him and the girl.

"Is there a problem?"

"So that’s how it is. Alas... it’s fate."

Song Yan nodded, seemingly only a little regretful.

He continued, "I have some friendship with this Abbot Lu. Since Nanshan Temple has been destroyed, I will bury all of his Disciples for him."

After speaking, without waiting for their reply, he walked towards the nearest corpse.

Ju Luyi didn’t understand what this Senior Song was up to. Her small hand wanted to pull him back, but she withdrew it.

"Is your brain filled with water?! My big brother said he has a grudge against that old dog Lu Yuan!"

"Are you deaf?!"

The Long-faced Cultivator, who was at the Qi Refining Stage Seventh Level, wielded two flying blades, which shot towards Song Yan.

In an instant, they had already arrived.