Hengtian Sect… what sins you’ve committed

 

The group of people appeared to be at a loss against this unrelenting, immortal evil tree, but the tree itself had no intention of considering their difficulty. Its frenzy only intensified, as if it intended to overturn the dense forest within a hundred-mile radius and drain the life force from all living beings within it.

Countless heavy branches, each weighing as much as a thousand pounds, struck the ground with deafening "cracks," followed by the shattering sound of stones and debris. The noise was akin to the continuous explosions of houses collapsing right next to one’s ears.

The sound was jarring and relentless, making hearts pound uncontrollably and fraying nerves to the point of near collapse.

For powerful figures like Junxiao and Yu Xian, this was not a real threat. However, it was pure torment for the disciples, who were like fragile chickens. Most of them had spent their time training their skills safely within their sects and had never faced such a scene.

They instinctively felt that Junxiao and Yu Xian were far superior to them, but they had no concrete understanding of their capabilities. They didn’t know how confident these two were about dealing with this terrifying tree. Even though the disciples were shielded behind them, they remained anxious, caught between wanting to help and being too scared to act. They also feared being smashed or drained dry by the evil tree, leaving them utterly overwhelmed.

Hengtian Sect had always recruited numerous new disciples. Except for a few special cases or those with unexpected circumstances, almost all participated in the trial. Compared to other sects, their group was massive. Combined with the disciples of Xuanwei and Changling Sects, there were nearly a hundred individuals who had passed through the Vermilion Bird Gate onto this path.

Due to various forked paths dividing them into small groups, they had already scattered into dozens of teams. When the Nine-Kill Array set by Hengtian Sect lured them into its illusion, they were dispersed even further. Every minute or so, a disoriented disciple, still shaken from escaping the illusion, would stumble in. Sometimes one or two would appear, other times three to five.

Yu Xian and Junxiao were constantly repeating the same tasks—cutting away branches of the evil tree, saving the lured disciples, and throwing them back into the group of “chickens.” But even as they dealt with the branches, new ones would grow, and fresh disciples would wander into danger.

This strategy could only maintain temporary safety, as the evil tree continued to grow.

As more people gathered in the area, the dense presence of life force made the tree harder to deal with. Its growth accelerated, and its branches extended even further.

Two reckless disciples who accidentally wandered in tried to set up a formation to deal with the evil tree. But their ill-conceived plan backfired, and they ended up right at the tree’s base. By the time Yu Xian and Junxiao finished rescuing another group and rushed over, the two had already been entrapped by thick branches.

Junxiao dashed over and yanked the two back, but one of them had already lost an arm. Blood poured down their body as they screamed in agony. The flesh around their shoulder was mangled, the wound nearly rotting, and even the exposed bone had been damaged.

This gruesome sight left the other disciples horrified and frightened. They stood frozen, shoulders hunched, like rabbits ready to run away at the slightest movement.

Yu Xian and Junxiao had their hands full—warding off the relentless branches with sword light, keeping the main group safe, and pulling new arrivals out of danger. Yu Xian was so overwhelmed that his head started to ache.

After what felt like an eternity, Lin Jie, who was responsible for counting, shouted at Junxiao, "Two more, and we’ll have everyone!"

As his words fell, Junxiao’s sword aura streaked down from the sky with a thunderous roar. Golden light flashed, splitting the evil tree in two. He leapt through the gap, snatched the last two disciples, and swept back like a gust of wind.

When the two “chickens” landed safely, Lin Jie shouted at the top of his lungs, “That’s all of them now!”

Yu Xian and Junxiao continued to weave their sword light into a defensive wall while exchanging glances.

“No good! There’s not even time to lay down a restriction array!” Yu Xian growled, his brow furrowed as he focused on the unrelenting branches.

Junxiao, his expression equally grim, responded, “We have to find a way to stop it from growing new branches and regenerating the ones we cut.”

The severed branches turned into clusters of black mist upon being sliced apart, which then swirled back to the tree’s trunk and gave rise to fresh branches.

After observing for a moment, Junxiao said to Yu Xian, “Ancestor Yu, if we can prevent the black mist from returning to the tree’s trunk, it might not be able to grow new branches.”

Yu Xian glanced at the mist and nodded. “To contain all the black mist—”

“Yes. You sever the branches, and I’ll gather the mist,” Junxiao interrupted. He cast a quick glance at the evil tree, then carefully set down Bai Ke, whom he had been holding the entire time, and instructed Lin Jie to protect him.

Then, with perfect synchronization, Junxiao and Yu Xian soared into the air like two meteors flashing through the daylight.

Yu Xian didn’t even bother with preparatory gestures. He simply raised his hand, using the tip of his sword as a pen and the empty air as his canvas. With bold, sweeping movements, he began inscribing runes mid-air. Wherever the sword tip moved, dazzling golden light trailed behind, flowing like a dragon’s dance. His movements wove through the massive evil tree, severing countless branches that fell to the ground in an instant.

As before, the severed branches disintegrated mid-fall into countless wisps of black mist, all surging toward the tree’s main trunk.

But this time, a figure moved with such speed that it was almost imperceptible, darting through the cloud of black mist like a phantom. Junxiao, wielding his long sword with blinding precision, encircled the massive tree trunk and formed a sword wall that trapped the black mist outside its bounds.

With a low shout, Junxiao unleashed the full force of the sword wall, which erupted in a brilliant flash of golden light. A piercing sound, like metal striking stone, rang out as the sword wall blasted the thickening black mist dozens of meters away. Then, with a sweeping motion, the sword wall gathered the scattered mist, compressing it into a single enormous sphere.

Junxiao and Yu Xian worked in tandem to push the sphere of black mist, rolling it larger and larger until it was massive enough to crush an entire section of the forest. Meanwhile, the evil tree’s long, whip-like branches, which had been as unyielding as steel, were now completely severed. None regenerated, leaving the tree with nothing but a bare, half-shorn trunk, incapable of further mischief.

“It’s done!” Yu Xian exclaimed, shaking his sword vigorously to fling off the sticky sap clinging to its blade. The sap, a dark reddish-brown bordering on black, exuded an overwhelming stench—a suffocating smell of rusted blood, and the putrid odor of a rotting corpse.

Frowning with distaste, Yu Xian cast a purification charm to cleanse his sword before sheathing it. Then, with a quick movement, he appeared at Junxiao’s side.

Junxiao was holding one hand aloft, channeling energy to steadily dissolve the massive sphere of black mist. The mist shrank visibly, disintegrating as though melting under sunlight, until it completely vanished.

The moment the black mist disappeared, the evil tree seemed to lose its final vestiges of vitality. Its massive trunk instantly withered, becoming brittle and dry, and large chunks of bark began to peel away.

The tree, now reduced to a withered husk, looked eerily like a molting serpent. In this form, it seemed to align more with its title of "Blood Beast."

However, when the snake-like bark fell away, revealing the core of the trunk, it induced a collective gasp from everyone present.

The “chickens” who had been cautiously observing from a safe distance started to gather around Junxiao and Yu Xian, gaining confidence after the apparent defeat of the tree. Lin Jie, half-supporting and half-carrying Bai Ke, approached Junxiao, who immediately took Bai Ke from him, cradling him protectively as though afraid of any unexpected developments.

Just as the group found their footing, the brittle bark of the tree emitted a sharp cracking sound. It finished shedding, crumbled into pieces, and fell to the ground.

This left the group face-to-face with the exposed core of the evil tree, and the sight left them utterly stunned. Those who had never experienced such horrors froze in shock, their expressions contorted. A few of the weaker-hearted disciples, after standing in stunned silence for a moment, turned and began to vomit violently.

The sound of retching echoed through the clearing.

The core of the tree was much softer and more pliable than the hardened exterior it had previously displayed, resembling a thick, fleshy vine. Its surface oozed with a viscous sap that seemed ready to drip at the slightest scratch.

But the vine-like core wasn’t smooth, nor did it have the fibrous veins or bristles typical of normal tree trunks. Instead, it was covered with countless round protrusions—densely packed and utterly grotesque. The sight alone was enough to make one’s skin crawl and send waves of goosebumps across their body.

If those protrusions had merely been featureless lumps, like tumors, they might have only triggered a mild sense of revulsion or a few days of loss of appetite for those with trypophobia (NT: intense fear triggered by clusters of small holes or patterns). But these were not ordinary growths.

Each protrusion was a human face.

The core of the evil tree—a fleshy, vine-like mass—was covered in countless protruding human faces, packed so densely that they overlapped grotesquely.

What a horrifying sight it was. Even the disciples of various sects, who had seen far more than the average youth, had never encountered such an abominable monstrosity.

For disciples from smaller sects like Changling and Xuanwei, whose training was lax and whose ranks were often filled with orphans or impoverished children, this was especially unbearable. These youths, who had barely endured even mild trials, instinctively turned away after just one glance. They dared not look again, as if a second look would curse them with nightmares for a long time to come.

The disciples of the powerful Hengtian Sect, though better trained and more seasoned—having ventured into dangerous places like Wanchao Valley under the guidance of their seniors—still found themselves taken aback. While their initial reaction was to recoil, they quickly remembered their status as members of the foremost sect and forced themselves to endure the discomfort, staring at the tree with determined faces.

Yet as they continued to look, their expressions grew increasingly horrified. Soon, they displayed an even greater sense of shock than the disciples from Changling and Xuanwei.

After a tense silence that seemed to last forever, a disciple finally broke the suffocating stillness.

“Th-that face! Isn’t that Senior Brother Zijing?!” His voice trembled as he called out to another disciple. “Ah Qi, come look! Isn’t it him? I can’t be mistaken, can I? Heaven help us! What is this thing? Why is Senior Brother Zijing’s face on it?! Wasn’t he missing for months?!”

His stammering words dropped like a spark into a vat of oil, igniting an uproar.

“That’s Senior Sister Ali! Yuchen, I see her too!”

“And there’s Senior Brother Zixi!”

“I see him as well!”

“Over here! Look over here! Aren’t these faces the disciples who joined before us? I can’t remember all their names, but they’re so familiar!”

“What is happening?!”

Name after name was shouted out amidst the chaotic clamor. Each name elicited more gasps and cries of disbelief. As more familiar faces were recognized, the cacophony eventually lessened into a heavy silence, leaving behind a suffocating tension.

The young disciples of Hengtian Sect fell into a state of silent terror, their thoughts a whirlwind of fear and revulsion. Finally, one of them muttered, trembling, “The faces on the tree… they all seem to be from our sect. Some are from our generation and went missing later, and others… Do you remember those disciples who were brought into the sect long ago and then disappeared? Do you think they… ended up here?”

The disciple’s voice was barely a whisper, quivering with fear, each word forced out as if it drained the very strength from his soul. Yet everyone present, including the disciples of Changling and Xuanwei, heard him clearly.

Chills ran down their spines, and no one dared answer his final, haunting question.

Only Yu Xian, hands clasped behind his back, gazed sorrowfully at the faces on the tree. With a deep sigh, his old, raspy voice broke the silence, echoing like the wind through the clearing.

“Hengtian Sect… what sins you’ve committed.”

While the others stood frozen in horror, one disciple unexpectedly moved. Breaking away from the group, he walked directly toward the tree, unflinchingly staring at the human faces. Slowly, methodically, he studied them, moving along the massive tree’s trunk with deliberate steps, his gaze scanning every detail.

It was Lin Jie.

At this moment, he looked like a different person entirely. Gone was his usual carefree, mischievous demeanor. His face was ashen, drained of all color, his expression heavy and somber. It was as if his soul had been stripped away, leaving only a husk.

He moved like a wandering ghost, his empty eyes fixed solely on the grotesque faces. It was unclear what he was searching for, but he paid no attention to anyone around him.

After circling most of the tree, Lin Jie finally stopped. His movements were sluggish, as though even the effort to raise or lower a foot was almost too much. He stood motionless, staring at a specific spot on the tree trunk. His entire being seemed to freeze, as if rooted to the ground like a tombstone.

Following his gaze, Junxiao and Yu Xian saw it too. About halfway up the tree trunk was the face of a young girl. Like all the others, it was deathly pale, almost bluish, with cracked lips slightly parted and traces of dried blood at the corners of her mouth.

If she were alive, she would have been a lively and spirited girl. Her almond-shaped eyes were large and beautifully shaped, reminiscent of a cat’s. If not for the lifeless dilation of her pupils, her gaze might have sparkled with joy, curving into crescent moons when she smiled.

The girl’s features—her eyebrows, the slight upturn of her lips—bore a striking resemblance to Lin Jie.

Junxiao, Bai Ke, and Yu Xian all recalled Lin Jie mentioning his sister before—a girl with exceptional talent, taken into Hengtian Sect when she was young but never seen again.

Lin Jie had spoken of her many times, always with deep concern. He would reminisce about how she cared for him when they were children, sharing anecdotes and worries about what might have happened to her.

He had considered every possibility: perhaps she was alive but gravely injured, or perhaps she had long since perished. Then he might run over and cry out in agony, releasing all the worries and longing he had carried for the past ten years, and then he would carefully gather her remains and lay her to rest.

Regardless, he clung to a faint hope of finding her alive, even if she were clinging to her last breath. He had vowed to take care of her, no matter the cost, just as she had once cared for him. Of course, if she could be healthy and just like she was before, that would be even better. He would be more than happy to make it happen again.

Countless scenarios had played out in Lin Jie’s mind—some good, some bad, some filled with happiness, others with sorrow. He had believed he was fully mentally prepared, but in that moment, he was left speechless, unable to react.

His expression, as seen by Junxiao and the others, was one of total bewilderment, as if he could not even recognize the face before him.

Lin Jie stood there for an eternity, until his legs almost gave out. His unblinking eyes finally moved, shedding tears that fell like heavy rain. His lips trembled, forming a single word, barely audible.

“...Sister…”

His voice broke, and he could say no more.

 

Translator : DarNan