TSFLIP Chapter 419

Xuan Qing would always remember it—an exceptionally sunny day.

After the battle where Xuanmen had surrounded and eliminated the Eldest Senior Brother, although they had succeeded in capturing him as they had hoped, Xuanmen had also lost many talented disciples. The sect, already strict and somber, had become even more silent and oppressive, a heavy atmosphere that felt almost unbearable.

Xuan Qing hid in his room, afraid to go outside. His bed had become the resting place for the little girl, Xiao Xiao. True to her name, she hardly cried. She seemed to understand her precarious situation and thus, remained quietly obedient.

At five years old, Xuan Qing didn’t know what babies were supposed to eat. Seeing that she had no teeth, he sneaked a bowl of porridge from the kitchen and fed it to Xiao Xiao. But he was just a child himself and didn’t know how to care for someone younger than him. Gradually, Xiao Xiao became quieter, and Xuan Qing noticed her forehead felt hot. He realized she had a fever, and when a baby had a fever, they needed to see a doctor.

He dared not go to the Holy Medicine Hall, so he decided to take Xiao Xiao down the mountain himself.

It wasn’t easy for him to sneak down the mountain alone, and even more so with a baby in his arms. Before long, he was spotted by patrolling disciples.

One of the senior brothers asked him, “Where did this baby come from?”

“I… I found her at the foot of the mountain…” Xuan Qing tightened his hold on the child, instinctively lying for the first time.

“Found her?”

The patrolling disciples didn’t believe him right away. Since the Eldest Senior Brother’s disappearance, everyone, except for Xuan Qing and Mu Ning, had been suspicious of each other while vying for the position of the next sect leader. To them, no one could be trusted but themselves.

Faced with their questioning, Xuan Qing didn’t know how to respond. Fortunately, at that moment, an ominous celestial event occurred: the sun was suddenly covered, and everything was plunged into darkness.

At the same time, the sect’s alarm bell rang. All the disciples rushed to the gates to assemble, and no one paid attention to Xuan Qing.

Xuan Qing, still holding Xiao Xiao, also quietly made his way toward the mountain gate. He was looking for a chance to sneak down and take Xiao Xiao to see a doctor.

The group of disciples in white gathered at the gates, led by Daoist Yi Mu, who had lost an arm. He frowned and muttered, “This phenomenon… It’s the day the Ghost Gate opens.”

He knew well that the Ghost Gate opened once every seven hundred years, and the reason he had recently chosen to deplete his cultivation to open it was because he couldn’t wait any longer.

Xuan Qing hid behind a pillar and watched as his senior brothers and sisters reacted to the words “Ghost Gate” with uneasy expressions.

The sun was completely obscured, and now the daylight was as dark as night—no, darker than night—because the sky was void of stars or moonlight.

Then, everyone felt a powerful, evil energy that suppressed the sect’s spiritual power. Inside the vast sect, only the corrupt and twisted energy lingered, unsettling everyone around.

The wind rustled through their clothes, and a man in white slowly ascended the stone steps in front of the mountain gate. His robes were snow-white and spotless. His long black hair fluttered in the wind, and his tall, graceful figure and perfect appearance seemed almost otherworldly.

His steps were neither fast nor slow, and his footsteps made no sound, but each time his foot lifted and landed, an invisible sound seemed to resonate in the hearts of those who heard it.

Finally, the man reached the mountain gate. He smiled at the gathered disciples, his expression as gentle as a spring breeze. “As promised, I’ve come to take your lives.”