Chen Lin, who had turned her face away, sensed this aura, and immediately turned back to look at Lin Shuyou, worriedly reminding:
"Be careful, he has many soul generals on him, that's his and his family's trump card."
"No matter..."
A phantom holding an axe just appeared behind the old man and was immediately torn apart, leaving no trace.
"Pfft..."
The old man spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and black blood also flowed from his eyes, ears, and nose, suffering from a severe backlash.
A bloodline appeared at the back of his neck; a little deeper and his head would have been chopped off.
From a distance, Tan Wenbin, leaning against a tree and watching the scene, smacked his lips. It seemed that because Chen Lin was staying at Mr. Li's house, the person under the Peach Forest had shown some mercy.
The phantom behind Chen Lin was only severely injured and could recover with time, and Chen Lin herself had no obvious external injuries, which could be considered a lenient punishment.
But the phantom behind the old man was completely obliterated.
However, mercy was also shown to the old man. Cutting off his head with a peach wind should have been effortless, yet the person didn't do that and deliberately spared the old man's life, letting him live a while longer.
It seemed that the person also appreciated a good outcome.
He must be very idle, probably watching the commotion just like himself.
Tan Wenbin had heard from Xiong Shan that when Old Mrs. Liu from the Liu family had brought a sword to the Peach Forest to fight that person, it was because that person kept watching the old lady kill the Taoist, enjoying the spectacle.
After the old lady gave a warning, that person kept watching.
Lin Shuyou swept his mace horizontally, striking the old man's chest, causing a large area of depression, and his body flew out like an arrow off the string.
The Three-step Praise was activated, and Lin Shuyou was faster than the old man, arriving before the old man was hit flying, the golden mace smashed down!
"Boom!"
The old man was slammed hard into the ground, with a pit made in the soft soil field.
Lin Shuyou landed at the edge of the pit holding Chen Lin.
At this moment, the old man was covered in blood, his limbs twitching erratically, utterly wasted, with only a breath left.
Lin Shuyou: "See, I didn't lie to you; he's no match for me."
Saying this, Lin Shuyou deliberately let go of his hand.
Chen Lin staggered and fell forward.
Lin Shuyou instinctively wanted to reach out to hold her again, but Chen Lin had already fallen to the ground, leaning forward, looking at the old man at the bottom of the pit.
"He really was defeated... or is this his soul general clone..."
The old man and the family behind him had always been a nightmare for the Chen Family, causing repression ever since that incident.
When the foe you've always feared is so easily dealt with, anyone would unconsciously find it hard to believe and start doubting other things.
Lin Shuyou: "This is neither a puppet nor a clone; if you don't believe me, I'll prove it to you."
The proof was rather direct.
Lin Shuyou thrust the tip of the mace into the old man's chest, cut left and right, disemboweling him, revealing densely fractured internal organs.
Blood splattered everywhere, and because Chen Lin was so close, a splash of it landed on her face.
She didn't feel sick or nauseated; instead, the hot temperature made her finally believe that the old man was truly defeated.
Lin Shuyou apologized: "Sorry, I accidentally knocked his heart out of place earlier, so I couldn't control the blood flow when I was cutting."
After a pause, Lin Shuyou added: "You should wipe your face with your nightgown first; clean up after you get back."
The old man's life was tough; he wasn't dead yet. With bloody foam constantly spilling from his mouth, he was still able to make intermittent sounds:
"Don't kill me... give me... a life... I'll never dare again... my family will come... to take me home... for the rest of my life... I will shut myself off... never going out again..."
On the surface, the old man seemed to be pleading, but he was actually making a veiled threat, implying that his family knew he was in Nantong.
But such a roundabout hint was useless to Lin Shuyou because he couldn't accept it.
Moreover, using one's family to pressurize someone like Lin Shuyou now was almost ineffective.
In the entire Jianghu, it's probably only people like them who can use family to press others, with few able to use power against them.
He was still worried about whether Chen Lin fully believed that the old man wasn't a clone.
So Lin Shuyou walked over to Chen Lin, grabbed the girl's hand, and together they held the golden mace.
Chen Lin: "His family is very powerful, with many ancient soul generals always dormant; once awakened, things will become very complicated, so..."
The girl was still explaining the old man's family's background to Lin Shuyou, intending to suggest resolving the conflict peacefully rather than thoroughly.
But before she finished speaking, there was a crisp "snap" sound.
The golden mace fell on the old man's face, his head directly exploded.
With a twist, the mace trembled, a light and shadow appeared, and the child's skill crushed both the remnants of the old man's soul and the remaining weak soul generals.
The child, who used to be the Ghost King and now a Spiritual Body, was better at uprooting non-physical threats.
Chen Lin: "...so let's spare his life."
The last few words were said intermittently, and the old man was already dead completely.
At this moment, Chen Lin's doubts about Lin Shuyou's "deception" vanished, and she said worriedly:
"My family was forced to compensate for what happened back then and exiled my brother and me. His status in his family is different from his son's; you killed him today, and his family won't let it go easily. You shouldn't have done this, and I'm not worth you going this far for me."
