Villain: You Want Me to Follow the Plot and Die? I’m Done Pretending - Chapter 44:

Chapter 44: Filling In The Blanks? I Just Want You Dead:

As the Patriarch Wen died, in the Wen family ancestral hall, the eternal flame, meant to honor his life, extinguished abruptly.

The caretaker stumbled over himself to report the news, and the entire Wen family fell into mourning.

Only Elder Wen himself wore a pale face, slumped on the floor in terror.

Meanwhile, the group of cultivators surrounding the Zhengyuan Sect had no idea what had just happened. They were still glaring menacingly at the Zhengyuan Sect disciples.

The ropes around Liu Fengyi had already been untied. He looked coldly at the crowd of cultivators, mostly Nascent Soul realm experts. Some were wandering cultivators, while others were guest elders from the Eternal Sect, merely here as a favor to the Patriarch Wen and with hopes of getting a piece of the pie for themselves.

“Patriarch Liu,” one of the Eternal Sect guest elders spoke, standing on his flying sword with a smug grin, “why look at us this way? Exercising demons and eliminating evil is the duty of any cultivator. Who knows how many innocent people this shapeshifted beast has endangered?”

It didn’t matter that he was talking to a sect master; he was backed by the formidable strength of an Earth Immortal Realm. And the Eternal Sect’s plan was likely to obtain many benefits from the Zhengyuan Sect this time.

But just as they were imagining the rewards they’d claim, a corpse suddenly flew out of nowhere and landed directly on the speaker, sending him and his sword crashing to the ground.

The cultivator managed to steady himself and looked at the body, eyes widening in horror. “Patriarch… Patriarch Wen ?”

The corpse’s eyes stared back at him, wide open, as if blaming him for being next. The guest elder’s voice shook as he recognized the body.

“You certainly talk a lot.”

A dark-haired young man in black robes landed beside him, his sword thrusting directly into the elder’s chest. The blade emitted fierce energy, instantly tearing the elder’s dantian apart and destroying his Nascent Soul, dispersing it in a single blow.

The sword continued to quiver as it stuck in the ground. Gu Feng didn’t even spare the man a glance as he casually picked up the Patriarch Wen’s body.

The cultivators who had accompanied the Patriarch Wen were completely shocked, staring in disbelief. Gu Feng’s cold smile only grew as he looked over the crowd.

“Those who challenge the Zhengyuan Sect will face death!”

Word spread quickly after the cultivators fled, and the entire cultivation world knew that the Zhengyuan Sect was about to rise to prominence.

At the Eternal Sect, the Patriarch Wen’s headless body was hung at the sect’s entrance, while his head was sent to the table of the Cloudshade Sect’s leader.

“This is outrageous! How dare they?”

The Cloudshade Sect’s leader slammed his fist on the table, furious. “How did all of this happen while I was in seclusion? Just who is this Gu Feng?”

Meanwhile, Ling Xue’s master could only watch with mixed emotions and regret.

If he knew Gu Feng had such talent, he would have pursued him relentlessly, even if it meant begging him to join the Cloudshade Sect. But it was too late; not only had they missed out on him, but they had also made an enemy.

“Speak!” the sect master demanded, sensing his subordinate’s hesitation.

Ling Xue’s master had no choice but to recount the events, saying, “Originally, Gu Feng was meant to join us. But we had already taken in Ye Fan and, with Gu Feng being the son of a servant, he refused. He even spoke rather arrogantly, so…”

“You let him go just because of that?” The sect master, breathless with rage, continued, “And now, what happened with the Wen family? Why is the Wen Patriarch’s head here?”

“This all started in the secret realm…”

Inside her meditation chamber, Ling Xue sat, hands trembling, unable to calm herself. The image of Gu Feng killing the Patriarch Wen kept playing in her mind. How could that be possible?

It had only been three years since Gu Feng joined a sect. How could he…

She remembered the conversation they’d had on the boat. A terrifying thought struck her: Gu Feng might be just like her, someone who had returned from the Sixth Realm. He’d been lying to her all along. He must have kept his previous life’s strength with him. That had to be it! He must hate her now because she denied him the chance to live.

“Senior Sister?” Ye Fan’s concerned voice snapped her back to reality. She glanced over, seeing him looking at her with genuine worry.

She frowned, conflicted. Gu Feng was nothing like Ye Fan, yet she knew he had always been interested in her. Sending her to the Snow Clan had been his way of exacting revenge for their past life. After all, love and hate are often intertwined.

“I’m fine,” she replied coldly, brushing off Ye Fan. Then, she raced out of the chamber, heading straight for the Zhengyuan Sect.

As her sword landed outside Gu Feng’s quarters, she felt a chill run over her. Pushing open the door, she found herself staring down the edge of a blade.

The sword missed her head by a hair’s breadth, slicing off a chunk of her hair. She saw Gu Feng’s gaze darken, sensing the powerful presence around him.

So this was the protagonist’s halo at work—she had been so close to death, and yet, here she was, still alive.