FRGNM -Chapter 293 Because of Him, He Died

“Buzz!”

With a sweep of his right hand, purple Dou Qi descended from the sky. In an instant, dust and smoke billowed everywhere. The signboard of the Tang family’s trading grounds ahead was smashed down onto the ground. His expression was icy, and within his purple eyes surged boundless killing intent.

He was unwilling.
He refused to accept this.

Why had things turned out this way? He had gone to great lengths to avoid being discovered, exhausting his own strength in the process, leaving himself neither fully human nor fully ghostlike. And now—now he couldn’t even protect the person closest to him. He could only watch helplessly as someone who hadn’t even stepped into the Purple Venerable realm killed him.

Even if it wasn’t by his own hand, it was still because of him that Minglang died!

No—no, that was wrong.
It was him. He himself had killed Minglang.

Because he was too weak!

“You little brat, what do you think you’re doing—ugh…!”

Members of the Tang family rushed out in fury. Seeing their signboard smashed onto the ground, their faces darkened as they turned and shouted at the figure in the sky.

But the very next moment, all of them froze.

What was this situation?

A Purple Venerable… who looked only about ten years old?!

This—this was simply unbelievable!

“Everyone inside—come out! Are you deaf?!”

With a raise of his hand and a fall of his sword, chilling killing intent swept out. Dou Qi overflowed wildly, and in the next instant, the Tang family trading grounds shuddered violently before collapsing from top to bottom.

“Boom!”

A deafening crash echoed through the surroundings. Those too close couldn’t dodge in time and were buried beneath the trading grounds. Those who reacted quickly fled at once. In the blink of an eye, the street was completely emptied, leaving only countless figures watching from distant treetops.

Joking aside—there was a Purple Venerable-level Dou Qi master here. If they stayed nearby, would they really have any chance of surviving?

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Tang Ming crawled out of the rubble in utter disarray. His eyes bulged like copper bells as he stared at the scene before him in shock.

How was this possible?
How could his trading grounds end up like this?!

Drawing in a sharp breath, Tang Ming looked at the figure in the sky and hurriedly clasped his hands in salute.

“I didn’t know a Venerable was descending here and failed to welcome you properly. Please forgive my offense. But may I ask—why has Your Excellency destroyed my Tang family’s grounds?”

The one before him was a Purple Venerable. Even his own old ancestor was merely on the verge of entering that realm. Tang Ming cursed his luck inwardly—why did this have to happen now? The old ancestor had just left, and now another Purple Venerable had come knocking. How could he possibly speak with any confidence?

“Is this place yours? And what is your relationship with Tang Ming?”

Light flared in those purple pupils as the swordsman stared down coldly. It felt as though the entire world had turned into hell, completely enveloping the man below, suffocating him until he could barely breathe.

Tang Ming?

Tang Ze sucked in a sharp breath. A cold glint flashed through his dark eyes as he forced a smile.

“So Your Excellency is a friend of our old ancestor. Tang Ming is indeed the elder of my Tang family—”

“Your mother!”

The figure suddenly raised his right hand. The sword in his grasp shot forward like a roaming dragon, his ferocious eyes fixed coldly on the man below. His wrist sank.

A massive sword-light burst forth like lightning. The people on the ground hadn’t even had time to react before searing pain tore through their bodies—Tang Ze’s left arm and left leg were already severed from him.

His pupils contracted violently. Tang Ze stared in horror at his missing limbs. Only after a few seconds did realization strike. He clutched at his arm stump and collapsed heavily to the ground, his balance completely gone.

Damn—so domineering!

He came in with a single curse and immediately started killing!

The onlookers were stunned beyond belief, eyes nearly popping out, hair standing on end. Who could have imagined that the yellow-haired brat in the sky would be so ruthless, striking without the slightest hesitation?

Just what kind of god had Tang Ming offended?!

“My arm! My leg! Ah—Your Excellency, Your Excellency, please, let’s talk this out! What exactly happened? There must be some misunderstanding!”

Cold sweat poured down Tang Ze’s forehead. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he looked up at the figure in the air.

That small figure flashed and landed on the ground like lightning. Killing intent flooded from his eyes, while a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips. A frigid aura of death spread in all directions.

“A misunderstanding? Isn’t this the thing that belongs to your Tang family’s old ancestor?”

With a flick of his left hand, a bloodstained wooden plaque fell to the ground. The plaque engraved with the character Ming was scorched black in places, yet the heavy stench of blood could not be concealed.

“T-This is… Old Ancestor?! What on earth happened?!”

Tang Ze’s eyes widened in horror as he stared at the child before him. He grabbed the wooden plaque—it was indeed the old ancestor’s possession. But how could it be in this child’s hands?

Before Tang Ze could react any further, the figure stomped down hard on his spine. Bloodlight flared within those purple eyes as the child sneered coldly.

“What happened? Your old ancestor was killed in a single strike. And the person closest to me also died at Tang Ming’s hands. I’m very curious—how exactly did you people find out that Zizhu was in our possession?”

“What?! Zizhu was with you?!”

Tang Ze stared at him in shock, his voice rising several pitches.

The surrounding listeners pricked up their ears in confusion. What was going on? Wasn’t Zizhu something that could be bought anytime? It didn’t seem strange at all that they had some.

“I came here today to avenge Minglang. That ten-year-old child died at your old ancestor’s hands. I was far too merciful back then—why did I sacrifice my own Zizhu essence to save people like you?”

His right hand slowly lifted, a chilling strand of purple energy forming in his palm. He stared coldly at the man beneath his foot, then brought his hand down sharply.

“Slash!”

The round head rolled to the ground. Fresh blood sprayed everywhere.

He stood there coldly, letting the blood splatter across his cheeks and soak into his thin clothes. Only then did he realize—wearing these clothes felt so cold, so cold.

At first, it had all been for fun.

He imitated humans, wandering through the mountains, watching them search for treasures, watching them gather herbs and flowers. He learned from them, too, putting on thick clothes. At the time, he only thought they were cumbersome—hot and heavy.

When he saw people die, he followed those wearing mourning clothes, followed the wailing women trailing behind coffins. He followed them until they knelt, until they left, and only then did he appear at the grave.

He dug up the tomb, opened the coffin, and saw the woman lying inside. She wore bright red wedding robes and held a memorial tablet in her arms, as though she were merely sleeping. Her fair skin was soft and delicate, and there was even a faint touch of rouge on her lips.

The first time he saved someone with his own blood, he cut his finger and brought it to her lips, wrapping the blood in spiritual energy and sending it into her mouth. The woman in the coffin awakened and climbed out.

A single drop of Zizhu blood was equivalent to Zizhu’s vital essence. Just that one drop caused backlash he couldn’t withstand. All that remained was a pile of clothes, while he sank back into the earth, absorbing spiritual energy to recuperate.

When he awoke again, he saw the woman he had saved crying by the riverbank. Only then did he learn the truth—he had saved her, but her family had forced her to die. She was beautiful, holding a lantern by the river, smiling faintly. She said she had once had a wish unfulfilled, but now it was complete.

She thanked him for saving her.

Her first kiss landed on his cheek—cold, a little ticklish. He stood by the river and watched her turn into white mist, dissipating into nothing. Only the lone lantern remained, bobbing on the water’s surface.

Only then did he realize—she had already died three years earlier.

The white silk hanging from the large tree was what she had used to hang herself back then. Even though she had been saved, the fact of her death had already taken root in people’s minds. She was an anomaly, someone who could never be accepted.

When she returned home, she was driven out and nearly frightened her own father to death. She knew she had been poisoned, yet she could not understand why her parents still wanted her to die after she came back to life.

She fulfilled her fate—ending her life on that same tree, buried once more in her original grave. Before dying, she thought that if her savior ever appeared again, she would hold his hand tightly and repay him properly.

But he never came.

She sat there, waiting for him.

When she finally sensed that familiar aura emerging from the earth once more, she wept with joy and gently kissed him—repayment for three years ago.

Goodbye, benefactor.

He didn’t understand what that kiss meant. He only knew that humans were difficult to comprehend.

Later, when he saw gravely ill people dragging their frail bodies up the mountains in search of medicine, he transformed his own Zizhu essence into Zizhu and scattered it throughout the mountains, hoping to save them.

But…

He still didn’t understand humans well enough.

All the Zizhu across the mountains—three years of cultivated spiritual energy—was stripped clean in less than a month. He couldn’t understand why useless people would gather Zizhu at all. Wasn’t it meant for the gravely ill?

Then he met the abandoned little Minglang.

He decided to enter the human world, to understand these humans, to see how they differed from demonic beasts.

Years passed, and he still couldn’t understand why they acted this way.

Until now.

It was all greed. Greed that brought disaster, that invited calamity.

These people… all deserved to die!

“Slash!”

With a single swing, purple Dou Qi transformed into dragons and tigers, crashing into the crowd like lightning. Screams rang out endlessly as flesh and blood flew everywhere. Bodies were blasted apart, scattered across the ground.

The standing figure was like an Asura, staring ahead coldly.

“You all deserve to die. You all deserve to be killed!”

“Buzz!”

Just as the Dou Qi descended, several figures flashed through the sky, appearing in front of Minglang in an instant. A right hand extended, and the Thunderbolt Spear pierced forward, shattering the incoming energy.

“ Minglang—no, Zizhu! Wake up!”

“Wake up?”

A sinister light flashed through those purple eyes as the sword-wielding figure sneered coldly.

“I’m very awake right now. I feel lighter than ever—like I’m about to fly.”

“Heh… hahahaha…”