Chapter 134 (1): What’s the Meaning of This?

A hint of panic broke through Sun Chang's furious veneer as he yelled, "I'm just trying to reason with you, Senior Bu! You can't just sentence people to death like this!"

His panic was quickly growing by the second as he could sense that Bu Chou fully intended to kill him.

Sure enough, Bu Chou refused to listen to his pleas as he swung his staff down from the heavens.

Crushed under the weight of Bu Chou's aura, Sun Changxiao was completely powerless to resist, and he could only look on in helpless horror as Bu Chou's staff came crashing down toward him like a falling mountain.

A dull thump rang out as his entire body exploded into countless pieces.

Sun Changxiao was one of the Mountain Moving Sect's five patriarchs, yet he may as well have been a powerless infant before Bu Chou!

All of the Mountain Moving Sect disciples were horrified, and they were only now beginning to grasp what it entailed for a warrior to be just outside the top ten on the Cloud Weapon Archive.

The other four patriarchs were deathly pale.

"Which one of you is Wei Yunxiao?"

Another old man stepped forward as he said, "Senior Bu, I am Wei Yunxiao. I know why you're here. Please give me a chance to explain myself."

"Go ahead."

"Deng Tianfang's clan and mine have always been sworn enemies for generations, and by my generation, the conflict between our two clans had already become completely impossible to mitigate. Furthermore, back when I sought out Deng Tianfang for vengeance, I had no idea about his ties to you. If I had known, I would've never gone through with it! I had no intention of causing any offense to you, Senior."

"You think you're justified in what you did just because you didn't know Deng Tianfang and I were sworn brothers? Is that why you killed his entire family as he watched, then slowly tortured his wife and three children to death? Oh, but it was all justified because you didn't know, right?"

"That was indeed what I did at the time, but..."

Bu Chou had no interest in hearing any further justifications as he declared, "I can spare the Mountain Moving Sect on one condition!"

"What is it?"

"I want an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I want all of you to tie Wei Yunxiao and make him watch as all of his disciples and every member of his clan is killed before his eyes! After that, I will personally put an end to his life, then leave! From this moment forth, I'm just going to stand here and not do anything. However, if Wei Yuanxiao or any of his disciples or clansmen manage to escape, then I will kill every last one of you!"

Wei Yunxiao's expression changed drastically as he immediately turned to flee, only to find himself abruptly immobilized.

The person standing beside him had already sealed away his cultivation base. "Senior Brother! How could you..."

"It must be done for the sake of the sect," Wei Yunxiao's senior brother sighed, then sealed away his ability to speak as well.

Wei Yunxiao's face was twisted in fury and horror, but he was unable to utter even a single word.

"Capture all of Wei Yunxiao's disciples and clansmen!"

Wei Yunxiao's senior brother would've normally been a very benevolent-looking old man, but in this instant, his face wouldn't have looked out of place on a demon lurking in the deepest depths of hell.

His order had been assigned to Sect Leader Tian Guang, who was very hesitant and conflicted.

"Do it!" the old man yelled. "As the sect leader, you should be the one to give this order!"

Tian Guang turned to Bu Chou with an ashen complexion as he pleaded, "Please don't do this, Senior Bu! It would be understandable for someone from the demonic churches to do this, but as a Guardian..."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Bu Chou snapped in a furious voice, cutting Tian Guang off mid-sentence. "Demonic church members would be justified in doing this, but the same somehow isn't true for the Guardians? What the hell is wrong with this world? Is this how twisted everyone's sense of justice has become?

"Everything that demonic church members do is within reason, while Guardians have to be held to impossibly high standards? Wei Yunxiao tortured and killed my brother's entire clan, yet not only has your clan not punished him, you've protected and sheltered him this entire time! However, now that I'm exacting vengeance for my brother, what I'm doing is somehow reprehensible? Explain that to me!"

Tian Guang had no response for this, and in the end, he could only plead, "Please have mercy, Senior Bu..."

"Shut your mouth! Actually, you're the sect leader, right? In that case, I'll give you a choice today."

"What choice?"

"I want you to be the one to execute all of Wei Yunxiao's disciples and clansmen, and you must do so to a standard that satisfies me! You're all about the greater good and the bigger picture, right? You'll be doing this to save your sect, so your actions will be fully justified!"

Tian Guang's entire body stiffened in despair.

Never had he imagined that his attempt at mediation would bring all of the heat upon himself!

He turned to the three patriarchs for help, but all of them refused to meet his gaze, and he could only lower his head in despair.

Before long, all of Wei Yunxiao's disciples and clansmen were brought out, tied up with fearful looks on their faces.

Bu Chou placed the memorial tablet up high as he said, "Watch, Brother Deng! Justice is finally going to be served!"

He then turned to Tian Guang with a cold gaze as he snapped, "What're you waiting for?!"

Tian Guang was trembling, but there was a look of resolve in his eyes as he grabbed onto the hilt of his sword.

Wei Yunxiao had fallen to his knees and was frantically kowtowing to the ground. Unable to speak, he could only plead with Bu Chou with his eyes.

All of a sudden, a blood-curdling howl rang out as Tian Guang pierced his sword into the arm of Wei Yunxiao's most beloved youngest son.

Wei Yunxiao fell to the ground with an anguished gurgle, his entire body trembling in pain.

"Hurry up!" Bu Chou snapped, and Tian Guang shuddered as he continued to carry out his role of tormentor.

***

An hour later, Bu Chou left the Mountain Moving Sect.

In the end, he didn't force Tian Guang to torture everyone to death as he had originally mandated. Instead, he lost the will to watch after only a few had been killed, and he put the rest out of their misery with a single swing of his staff.

He chose to ignore the black mist that rose up from the bodies of Wei Yunxiao and the other high-ranking members of the Mountain Moving Sect.

Everyone knew that this was a telltale sign that they were members of the Church of the Self-Righteous, but prior to coming here, Dongfang Sansan had told him that the Mountain Moving Sect had to be spared as it was still useful.

The reason why he had gone on such a huge killing spree was because of the black mist that had risen up from the bodies of the first few Mountain Moving Sect disciples he killed, but he obeyed Dongfang Sansan's orders and stopped short of wiping out the entire sect.

He had been thirsting for revenge for over a thousand years, but in the end, he was still unable to bear watching everyone close to Wei Yunxiao being tortured to death.

Prior to his departure, he demolished the only remaining peak of the Mountain Moving Sect, leaving the sect in complete shambles.

Looking at the ruined sect and the countless bodies littered throughout the wreckage, Tian Guang suddenly burst into tears, but all of the disciples remained silent with dull and lifeless looks in their eyes.

Tian Guang's sword was still dripping with blood.

He really wanted to defend himself, to tell everyone that he had only done what he did for the sake of the sect, but he was unable to bring himself to say such things.

The patriarchs had practically fled back to seclusion as soon as Bu Chou departed, but as the sect leader, there was nowhere for Tian Guang to run.

***

Shortly after Bu Chou's departure from the Mountain Moving Sect, he encountered Yang Luoyu and Dong Changfeng.

"All wrapped up, Master Bu?"

They had accompanied Bu Chou here, but they had been asked to remain outside the sect.

"Yes," Bu Chou sighed. "Where are you two going from here?"

"We're heading to the White Cloud Prefecture."

"In that case, we'll be able to travel together for a while longer. I'm going to the White Apple Prefecture."

As the trio set off on their journey, Bu Chou grumbled, "I just don't get it! Why is it that in the eyes of some, evil-doers can commit the most heinous crimes and have it be justifiable, whereas good people can't even seek justice without being denounced and criticized? It's become the norm for demons to kill the innocent, but it somehow goes against the natural order for good people to kill demons! Where's the logic in that?"

This was a question that had already been bothering him for many years.

He had always been a very willful and headstrong person, following a very rudimentary brand of justice that essentially boiled down to an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

However, he had come under heavy criticism for his straightforward ways, earning him a rather terrible reputation, and that had always been very frustrating for him.

Why am I coming under so much fire? I don't feel like I've done anything wrong!