On his way back, Ye Hun felt a persistent sense of unease, though he could not quite put his finger on why.
"Could there be something wrong with yesterday's Azure Spirit Fruit?"
Ye Hun let his mind wander as he walked.
As he walked along the same road he had taken the day before, that unsettling feeling grew increasingly intense, until finally he could no longer maintain his leisurely pace and broke into a run.
He desperately wanted to return to Ye Family Village as quickly as possible.
Yet, having not yet stepped into the Spirit Awakening Realm, his physical strength and endurance could not support running indefinitely.
He had set out from Qingyun Town around morning, and by the time the hills of Ye Family Village finally came into view, it was already afternoon.
In the distance, several thin wisps of black smoke were lazily drifting up from Ye Family Village!
"Is there a fire?"
Ye Hun guessed aloud!
Without slowing his pace by even a fraction, he hurried back to Ye Family Village, but the scene before him left him rooted to the spot, completely unaware even when the bundle in his hand slipped from his grip and fell to the ground.
Before Ye Hun lay a expanse of shattered walls and ruins, with fires still smoldering in some places.
Countless corpses littered the ground, burned beyond recognition by the fierce flames, making it impossible to tell who was who.
Everything before his eyes struck him like a thunderbolt from the blue, causing Ye Hun's mind to explode with a deafening roar!
"It can't be!!"
"How is this possible!!"
"Everything was fine when I left!!"
Unable to believe his eyes, Ye Hun rubbed them over and over again, hoping against hope that he was merely seeing things.
Yet the sharp pain in his chest dragged him ruthlessly back to reality; all of this was real.
He dragged his feet forward step by step, walking with heavy steps into the settlement.
Suddenly, his foot kicked against a piece of blackened wood—no, that was not wood!
It was actually a corpse, and a child's at that. The body had long been burned beyond recognition, clearly having tried to flee the village only to be burned alive before making it out.
Ye Hun wanted to find something to cover the remains, but everything around them had been burned to ashes, leaving nothing whatsoever to use as a shroud.
In the end, Ye Hun stripped off his own black outer garment and laid it gently over the child's body!
He continued onward, crystal tears streaming from his bright, dark eyes. Had anyone been there to witness it, they would have seen that these were clearly two trails of bloody tears.
Dragging legs that felt as though they were filled with lead, Ye Hun walked step by step toward his grandfather's courtyard.
Along the way, he encountered a man severed in two by some sharp weapon, a mother and child who had died locked in an embrace, an old man kneeling as if in desperate prayer, and one tragic child after another.
Severed legs, severed arms, charred remains—every unimaginable cruelty known to mankind had visited this small mountain village.
Some people stared with wide-open eyes, filled with intense bitterness and reluctance; others still clutched broken weapons in their hands, shielding their wives with their bodies.
He did not know what had happened; right now, he could not utter a single word, his body completely numb.
A fierce, burning desire to see his grandfather was the only thing supporting him, urging him forward.
"It can't be, it simply can't be." Inspecting each and every corpse, Ye Hun muttered to himself over and over, praying that his grandfather had escaped harm.
Finally, he reached the open clearing in the center of the village.
At this very spot, evening classes were usually prepared, surrounded by groups of women chatting and laughing while praising their own children. Now, however, countless corpses lay scattered across the ground.
There, he found Uncle Gang, who had so often dragged him home for meals, the same man who never forgot to bring him a portion whenever he carved up a pig's leg; he found the auntie who, just yesterday, had stuffed his hands full of fresh fruit.
There was also Uncle Teng, usually extraordinarily stern yet deeply earnest and responsible when it came to the village children.
There was Uncle Hu, bold and heroic, pinned to the earth by a heavy javelin. Beside him lay his wife—the woman he affectionately called the true "tigress"—now nestled close to Uncle Hu's side with a faint smile lingering at the corners of her mouth. They were the parents of Ye Feng.
And there was Uncle Tiangang, a fierce and powerful man, the strongest in the entire village, who always charged at the very forefront during hunts and brought back the greatest catch, winning high praise even from the village chief......!
There were simply too many, some burned so severely that even their facial features were indistinguishable.
When Ye Hun finally laid eyes on that particular corpse, his body instantly stiffened. He wanted to rush forward, but his limbs refused to obey his commands.
"Clatter!"
Ye Hun stumbled and fell to the ground, ultimately crawling forward in a clumsy, stumbling scramble.
Reaching the spot, Ye Hun dropped heavily to his knees. The corpse was covered in sword gashes, its arms severed by sharp blades. Trembling violently, he pulled the body into his arms and held it tight.
The tears in his eyes could no longer be contained, and he burst into a heartbreaking wail!
"Grandfather, how could this happen!!"
"Why!!"
"Why on earth!!"
"Everything was fine just yesterday when I left!!"
"Grandfather, wake up! Weren't you going to tell me stories?"
"You've always kept your promises, so why did this happen? Wake up, please!!"
"Who was it??!"
"Who on earth killed all of you??!"
Ye Hun roared in fury, bordering on madness!!
Anyone could see at a glance that the village had been subjected to a brutal attack; how could Ye Hun fail to understand?
"Ah—"
Ye Hun let out a soul-shattering howl, his eyes splitting at the corners as a boundless rage sought an outlet, threatening to tear his body apart. His black hair whipped wildly around him, and a flash of silver light flickered in his eyes!
At that very moment, a violent gale suddenly swept across the heavens, and in a mere instant, the entire sky plunged into pitch darkness before rolling peals of thunder began to crash.
It was as if the heavens themselves were singing a dirge for Ye Hun!
By now, Ye Hun's eyes were burning completely red, bloody tears staining his pale face in a terrifying manner, while fresh crimson blood began to trickle from the corners of his mouth.
Unaware of it all, Ye Hun felt that none of these physical torments could compare to the agony within his heart.
"Pfft—"
Ye Hun coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, yet he smiled—a smile so desolate and tragic. At that exact moment, a torrential downpour broke loose from the sky.
Rain poured down in thick sheets, washing away much of the blood on Ye Hun's face, though the bloody tears continued to flow from his eyes.
Then, Ye Hun spoke, his voice sounding like a demon crawling straight up from hell: "Grandfather, rest assured. For this bloody vengeance, whoever it may be, I, Ye Hun, swear right here—even through the endless cycle of reincarnation and the collapse of heaven and earth, I will drag them before you and use them as a sacrifice to your memory!!!"
"Rumble—!" Thunder exploded through the heavens.
With those words spoken, heaven and earth itself seemed to join Ye Hun in swearing this solemn oath.
The torrential rain continued to fall as Ye Hun held Old Village Chief tightly for a long time, falling into an eerie stillness. But upon closer inspection, Ye Hun's fingernails were already deeply embedded into his own flesh, though he felt no pain whatsoever.
"Little Hun! What do you want to eat today? Grandfather will make it for you!"
"Little Hun, you must remember that hatred and resentment are only temporary; never let them harm yourself!"
"Little Hun! What story do you want to hear today? Grandfather will tell it to you."
"Grandfather, when I grow up, I will definitely make sure you live a good life."
"Haha, good, good, good! Only Little Hun knows how to be filial to his grandfather."
"Little Hun! Don't give up, you can definitely do it. Grandfather believes in you."
...
In a daze, scenes from the past flashed before Ye Hun's eyes. His gaze brightening, he reached out with blood-stained hands, trying to grasp something, but it was all nothing more than an illusion!
Only the cold corpse in his arms was real. "Grandfather, I am an orphan, abandoned at birth with neither father nor mother."
"I often envied the children in the village who had the love of parents, often crying late into the night when I couldn't fall asleep in bed."
"But in the end, you made me realize that I had you!"
"Your love for me was greater than any two others combined. You told me stories, taught me how to be a proper person, and taught me how to read and write."
"There were also the uncles and aunties in the village; they treated me just like their own flesh and blood. I grew up here, lived here, and made friends here, making me truly feel that Ye Family Village was my real home."
"Did you suddenly make me leave yesterday precisely so that I wouldn't die this tragic death too?"
"But do you know, Grandfather, living now is agonizing beyond measure. You are the only family I have left in this entire world."
"I want to follow you, but I cannot. With a blood debt this heavy, the lives of a thousand people from Ye Family Village will never rest in peace!"
"Rest easy, I will stay alive, and with my own hands, I will slaughter every single one of them."
"Whoosh—"
The heavy rain continued to fall as Ye Hun dug grave after grave in the downpour.
He dug straight through until the deep of the following night, burying the villagers whose faces could no longer be recognized. Afterward, he dug individual small pits for the uncles and elders who could still be identified.
For each and every grave mound, he erected a wooden plaque, inscribed entirely in fresh blood.
Right in the center was the grave of Old Village Chief. Unsure of what title to write, he finally carved—*Grave of Grandfather Ye Yuan*.
Then, Ye Hun knelt before Old Village Chief's grave and kowtowed heavily three times.
His hands were already a mangled mess of flesh and blood, and his eyes had wept until even the tears had run dry, no longer even bleeding.
On this day, Ye Hun buried the entire village, buried the one who had treated him with the respect of a second parent, and buried the carefree, carefree youth he once was.
He buried everything—except for that fiercely burning heart of vengeance.