Some were even babies less than a month old, so these two could be said to be deeply sinful. At the time, their cultivation was not high, and upon realizing their actions had been exposed, they immediately fled to the deep mountains of a neighboring province to temporarily hide. They planned to act again once the situation calmed down. However, the deep mountains were also inhabited by people. Two years later, a cultivator passed by and saw a village in the mountains. He intended to pass by to ask for a bowl of water and rest for a night, but upon entering, he found desiccated corpses everywhere, terribly pitiful. Shocked, the cultivator immediately made certain connections in his mind, feeling both astonished and enraged.

After leaving the mountains, he immediately contacted a group of cultivators and re-entered the depths of the mountains, only to find that several small mountain villages had become this way, with no exceptions among the people who lived there. This made the righteous folks completely furious. A surviving witness was found later, though half-crazed from fright; he gave a rough account of the situation in broken sentences. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He happened to have been far away herding cattle, thus escaping the calamity. A man and a woman, the woman surrounded by black aura and the man enveloped in a red one, came to the mountain village and started the massacre. Given that their cultivation was low at the time, their absorption was slow, so several days were required for them to drain a village of dozens of people.

The herder returned and was shocked by the scene, fled in panic, and alarmed the two who pursued him. In a panic, the herder rolled down a hillside, falling into a ravine, and the two stopped their pursuit.

This was just three months ago, and the righteous were infuriated upon hearing this. They had already identified this man and woman as the Southern Sky Twin Fiends, the most evil demonic practitioners, so at once, the righteous sects communicated with one another to wipe out these two.

However, during that time, since information was not readily available and Huaxia was engulfed in turmoil, human lives were as insignificant as grass, unknown today was tomorrow’s affair, the righteous had many tasks to attend to. After chasing them for some time with little clues, many left to do their own things.

Thus the pursuit came to a temporary halt. Two years later, another incident erupted in an occupied territory, with numerous mummies suddenly discovered. When the righteous people found this, seeing the mummies, they immediately thought of the Southern Sky Twin Fiends. Upon further exploration, they learned that not only had the pair not ceased their activities, but they had allied with the Japanese invaders. The Japanese provided them with captured people to absorb, as long as they contributed when fighting against Huaxia’s masters.

This revelation sent the entire righteous community into an uproar. They hadn’t expected the pair to be so evil, so several renowned masters from the Southern Provinces joined forces to issue a pursuit order. Even ordinary people could report clues, and martial artists along with cultivators were encouraged to join the hunt, with substantial rewards and even techniques offered.

Eradicating evil to uphold justice is what the righteous must do, especially when there are benefits involved. Hence, hundreds of righteous individuals joined the hunt for the Southern Sky Twin Fiends in no time.

But by then, because they had absorbed so many people without worry, the sinister skills they cultivated were greatly enhanced. This time, they did not evade but confronted the righteous head-on.

Massacres broke out instantly, their sinister skills and methods both eerie, and ordinary cultivators stood no chance. Furthermore, each time they killed someone, they would immediately absorb their target, replenishing themselves rapidly. Even after continuous battles for several days and nights, they remained unaffected.

The aspect delighted the Japanese, as they commented that it was Huaxia’s dogs biting its own people, which was obviously a good thing.

Eventually, several top masters joined forces and forced the pair into a corner, fighting several battles, with injuries on both sides. The pair fled desperately.

Such is sinister skill; if one wholeheartedly wishes to escape, it’s exceedingly challenging to kill them. After they fled, the righteous did not relent, continuing to search for them until after the founding of the nation. The pair never emerged, because the battle took quite a toll, leading them to hide away in relatively backward and isolated mountains, never wiping out an entire village all at once, but occasionally stealing away one or two people at a time.

They slowly trained and recovered over ten years, and when they reemerged, time had passed, and chaos still lingered with people dying of hunger everywhere. The pair absorbed freely and encountered Elder Nan who had by then chosen to stand guard in the south. He hadn’t been part of the siege against the Southern Sky Twin Fiends earlier due to other pressing matters. Naturally, now encountering them, Elder Nan wouldn’t let them off easily. Several battles later, Elder Nan was considerably injured, while the Southern Sky Twin Fiends also sustained minor wounds. However, communication was better at the time, and top national guardians were summoned, the greatest masters of the era taking action to besiege the pair, forcing them to flee hastily despite their formidable sinister skills.

They were pursued for half a year, with the righteous relentlessly closing in, leading to the pair’s sinister prowess being more than halved and realizing that Huaxia was no longer what it had been a decade prior. A stable nation made it impossible for them to act recklessly like before, as exposure would surely result in a relentless pursuit by the righteous. Faced with this realization, they quickly made a choice to secretly return to Southern Sky Province once they could move.

Even while injured, they were more formidable than an average person. It was during this time that they encountered Old Master Zhao, while he was still young. The Zhao Family had been landowners, but their estate had been divided. However, due to their astuteness, the Zhao Family wasn’t persecuted and retained some assets. Thus, at this time, Old Master Zhao still had some wealth, planning to rebuild the Zhao Family after waiting out the storm, without expecting the future transformation of the Zhao Family.

Not long after, several family members who had joined the military returned, leading Old Master Zhao to discover that these individuals had become highly decorated, returning in glory, with future appointments across different regions.

Thus began the rise of the Zhao Family, and of course, this was after Old Master Zhao and his steward had already fought the Qing Gang with knives, marking a crucial moment. The emergence of the Southern Sky Twin Fiends ended the awkward situation of the Zhao Family lacking experts.

Both sides immediately hit it off, with Old Master Zhao thrilled to receive two masters as guests of honor, treating them with particular respect. Moreover, he was delighted that these two required nothing but food and shelter and some medicinal herbs to heal.

At the time, Old Master Zhao merely thought that since they were already so powerful while injured, they would become even more formidable once healed, which secretly pleased him.

During this period, the pair understood that patience was necessary for healing, opting to recuperate slowly. Conveniently, behind Zhao Family Village stood a mountain over a thousand meters tall, seldom visited. Thus, the pair proposed moving to the mountains to continue their cultivation, occasionally coming down the mountain to hunt for prey. Over a year or two, their cultivation slowly returned, while dozens to a hundred corpses began appearing in a natural cave in the mountains, all conducted quietly, unbeknownst to anyone.

Until one day when some Zhao Family children, while playing, stumbled into the back mountain and discovered these corpses, screaming as they ran back, encountering Old Master Zhao and the steward. Hearing this, the duo couldn’t believe it, comforting the children before heading up the mountain. Just reaching the cave entrance, they saw the Second Elder standing there with a grim expression.

Both Old Master Zhao and the steward were stunned. The presence of the Second Elder indicated his connection to the corpses there, so... At that moment, Old Master Zhao was terrified, almost turning to run when the First Elder appeared, calling them into their cultivation abode within the cave.

The First Elder disclosed the pair’s identities, expressing gratitude for Old Master Zhao’s hospitality, leaving him dumbfounded and quickly insisting he didn’t dare to claim such honor. Following that, the First Elder asked whether the two had harmed the Zhao Family during their two years at Zhao Family Village, despite their poor reputation, mostly propagated by others.

Old Master Zhao hastily shook his head, acknowledging indeed nothing of the sort had occurred. Thereafter, the First Elder explained that due to their cultivation methods, the pair had no choice but to act as they did, or they would perish. As such, they chose terminally ill individuals, bringing them up the mountain whilst providing compensation to their families, which wasn’t too horrendous.

Old Master Zhao urgently nodded, agreeing with the revered individuals, which indeed seemed less heinous as explained.

This statement naturally earned approval from both Elders, with the First Elder subsequently proposing, "If Old Master Zhao doesn’t mind, the pair could continue to reside at Zhao Family Village. Old Master Zhao could arrange to purchase individuals on the brink of starvation or those willing to sell themselves, sending them here, as these individuals would eventually perish, dying being a relief... And the pair can continue assisting Old Master Zhao. If anyone dares to infringe upon Zhao Family, they shall intervene. Should Old Master Zhao encounter powerful foes while attempting to develop the Zhao Family, they too can be called upon for assistance.

At that time, the Zhao Family was merely moderately affluent, and given Southern Sky’s remote location rife with all kinds of individuals, robbers, and thugs ran rampant, alongside numerous cultivators. Rival factions engaged in mutual discord, necessitating such experts.

Concerning those lives... with a fierce resolve, Old Master Zhao concluded that if the Zhao Family was to develop and thrive, sacrifices were inevitable. As long as no Zhao Family members died, the Zhao Family could eventually expand, commissioning monks for prayers and Taoist priests for services in the future.

Hence, both sides reached a mutual agreement, initially profiting from one another. However, as the Zhao Family continued rising and those holding official positions gradually advanced, Old Master Zhao grew reluctant to continue collaborating with the pair. After all... times were changing, increasingly unaccepting of such matters, and acquiring people became harder.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Not only had he provided the pair with years of shelter and blood offerings, but they had also conducted too many tasks for Old Master Zhao, leaving both sides compromised. When the First and Second Elders requested no longer sickly blood offerings, instead wanting normal, healthy ones, Old Master Zhao faced a dilemma, unable to refuse due to years of acquiring some methods from the pair for his steward and others to cultivate. Facing opposing them risked the techniques, and even their own safety...