Facing the old Daoist's piercing gaze, Lu Li's heart pounded like thunder, but he forced himself to calm down.
He lowered his head, his voice steady:
"Immortal, I truly don't know anything about a Storage Pouch."
"When I arrived, that woman was already pinned to the wall. If she had any treasures you mentioned, I'm afraid... the monster would have taken them long ago."
As he spoke, he pointed to the corpse of the Earth Fiend King not far away.
The old Daoist narrowed his eyes, his expression slightly pausing, a flicker of thought in his eyes.
He stared at Lu Li for a moment, his tone softening:
"Tell me honestly... what exactly did you see that day?"
Lu Li's heart tightened, but his face remained impassive. He quickly organized his words, speaking at a steady pace:
"My brothers and I crawled in through a small hole. First, we saw her—hanging on the wall, limbs nailed down, her stomach torn open. I didn't dare to make a sound, hiding and not moving."
"Then, a black-robed old Daoist suddenly appeared, killed all the goblins, walked up to her, and said she was some kind of... some kind of Fairy, saying she fed ghosts and raised corpses, that she was a Demonic Cultivator."
"But... as soon as the old Daoist finished speaking, that monster burst in. The Earth Fiend King fought with him and chased him away."
"When that monster was injured and walked back closer to the woman, she suddenly struck, stabbing it in the throat with a knife."
"But the monster didn't die. It slapped her against the wall on the spot... and she died instantly."
At this point, Lu Li's face showed a perfectly calibrated mix of fear and sorrow.
His tone remained unchanged, his pace steady, his expression genuine, not mentioning a single detail about the Possession, the mystic bone, or the woman's corpse being robbed of her bones by 'Lu Yuan'.
"Later, the goblins weren't all dead. My second brother fell and was impaled by a shard of rock... Big brother, to protect me, was ambushed by that goblin and had his heart pierced."
"I... I crawled out of the cave, and somehow I survived."
He spoke the entire process extremely quickly and clearly, without even a hint of hesitation.
The old Daoist's expression fluctuated as he listened, his peripheral vision repeatedly falling on Lu Li's face.
This young boy... eleven years old, yet he spoke so calmly?
There was a trick.
He could sense something hidden, and his intuition told him that this child in front of him was concealing something.
But—at this moment, he couldn't afford to delve deeper.
His attention was quickly drawn to the "possible treasure." His gaze swept around, and he immediately began searching everywhere.
Lu Li quietly let out a sigh of relief, but he didn't dare to move, standing in place, watching the old Daoist's back, his shoulders trembling slightly, cold sweat dripping down his spine.
A moment later, a burst of wild laughter came from deep within the Cave.
"Hahaha—indeed! It really is here!"
Lu Li turned his head to look, only to see the old Daoist pulling out a small black pouch tightly wrapped in cloth from behind a throne-like stone seat made of piled bones.
His face was filled with joy, and with trembling hands, he untied the opening of the pouch. A ray of spiritual light appeared, and immediately, faint images of Magic Treasure, Spirit Stone, Jade Slip, and the like flickered into view.
The old Daoist's eyes gleamed with greed, like a starving wolf who hadn't drunk in years encountering fresh blood.
"Fairy Qiuyue truly possesses great treasures... Tsk tsk... This is far more valuable than any corpse elixir..."
The smile at the corner of his mouth deepened, but he didn't notice—
Lu Li, standing not far away, whose eyes were growing colder and deeper.
"Immortal... could you take my two brothers' bodies home?"
Lu Li finally couldn't help but speak.
His voice was as light as ashes in the wind, yet it carried a dying man's desperation, clinging to a straw.
The old Daoist had just obtained the treasure and was in a good mood, but his expression remained cold.
He casually glanced at the two small corpses, his tone indifferent:
"Why bother with such trouble?"
Before he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and a flash of spiritual light appeared at his fingertips.
"Boom—!"
Two fireballs appeared out of thin air, like demonic flames soaring, and landed directly on the bodies of Lu Yuan and Lu Ya.
The flames devoured them extremely quickly, almost instantly igniting the shriveled clothes and flesh, emitting a "sizzle" sound.
Lu Li's pupils constricted sharply, and he lunged forward half a step, but was blocked by a surge of spiritual power.
He could only watch—
His blood brothers, whose bodies he had just recovered, turn into a pile of ashes before his eyes.
The old Daoist's tone remained calm, as if he were merely disposing of two rags:
"It was already enough effort to bring you up here. How could I possibly drag two more corpses down the mountain?"
"Burning them is good, a proper cremation, much cleaner than abandoning them in the wilderness."
With that, he shook his hand and tossed out two Jade Slip bottles:
"You can put the ashes in these. If you want to take them back, keep them yourself."
Lu Li gritted his teeth, his fingers trembling, but he didn't say a word. He just walked forward silently, knelt before the fire, and waited for the last wisp of flame to extinguish.
He knelt, carefully scooping the ashes into the bottles, his movements meticulous, as if he were collecting Broken Gold.
His hands were covered in ash, but there were no tears in his eyes.
Those were his brothers, his kin who had once climbed cliffs alongside him.
Now, only these two bottles remained, not even their grave clothes.
He lowered his head, and no one saw the hatred in his eyes slowly rise, like an underground fire vein, gradually spreading.
The old Daoist stood not far away, watching him expressionlessly, without urging him.
When Lu Li finished collecting, the old Daoist turned, his sleeve sweeping, and Spiritual Qi lifted the two of them, soaring into the air.
Soon, they exited the mountain cave.
Not far from the cave entrance, the young girl Xiang'er was standing by a bluestone, kicking a small pebble absentmindedly.
Seeing them emerge, Xiang'er looked up, her eyes immediately lighting up:
"Grandpa! Why did you take so long—"
She spoke halfway, her gaze falling on Lu Li, and her eyes suddenly froze.
The child was covered in blood, his face pale, holding two bottles in his arms, his hands covered in a mixture of ash and red mud.
Xiang'er's smile slowly faded, a hint of confusion and timidity flashing in her eyes.
She wanted to ask, but hesitated for a moment and didn't speak.
The old Daoist, however, didn't look back, speaking indifferently:
"Let's go."
The night had not yet faded, and the mountain village was quiet.
The three quickly returned to Lu Li's already cold thatched hut.
The old Daoist stood with his hands behind his back in front of the house, his gaze sweeping over the black-tiled, mud-walled structure, without a ripple of emotion. It was as if whatever had happened here had nothing to do with him.
He turned to look at Lu Li, his tone cold yet brooking no refusal:
"I have brought back the bodies for you. My promise has been fulfilled."
He paused, a sinister gleam suddenly flashing in his eyes, his tone turning cold:
"Now, it's your turn to fulfill your promise."
Before he finished speaking, he extended a palm, his fingers like hooks, and pressed it fiercely onto Lu Li's forehead!
"Ah—!"
Lu Li let out a cry of pain, his entire being seemingly torn out from the depths of his mind.
A wisp of blood-colored spiritual light, as fine as a thread yet faintly reddish, was slowly drawn out from his forehead by the old Daoist, condensing into a floating blood mass that spun and pulsed in the air, like fire and mist.
Lu Li fell to his knees with a thud, his face ashen, cold sweat beading on his forehead, his breathing rapid, as if his entire being had been emptied, even his Soul feeling too weak to hold together.
The old Daoist didn't even look at him, simply flicking the mass of Soul Blood gently, letting it fall onto Xiang'er's fingertips.
The young girl froze, instinctively catching it, and looked down at the faintly glowing blood mass pulsating in her palm, her eyes filled with confusion.
The old Daoist said indifferently:
"From today onwards, this Soul Blood belongs to Xiang'er for safekeeping."
"His name is Lu Li. He is your person, and he is your Dao Protector slave. His life and death are now entirely under your control."
His gaze was like a knife, sweeping towards Lu Li:
"You, then, shall enter the Illusion Immortal Sect to Cultivate together with Xiang'er."
"She is the master, you are the slave; if she says east, you are not allowed to go west; if she wants your life, you cannot refuse; if she needs protection for her Dao, you shall be a shield with your life."
"Her commands are your heavenly laws."
"Do you understand?"
Lu Li's face was pale, his lips trembling, a flash of shock and anger flickering in his eyes.
He finally understood that the so-called "taking you to find the bodies, taking you to Cultivate Immortality" was nothing more than a transaction from beginning to end, a complete exchange and enslavement.
And now, he didn't even have the right to regret it.
He slowly lowered his head, his knees settling inch by inch, his teeth grinding audibly.
"...Understood."
The voice was very soft, yet it carried a calmness almost like that of a dead person.
He dared not resist.
At this moment, with his Soul Blood in hand, his life no longer his own, even conceiving of resistance would be self-immolation.
But the something that had begun to ignite in the depths of his eyes, even the old Daoist had not noticed.