Chapter 962: I Am Not a Demon

Before a huge elevated platform, a Nine Peaks Mountain cultivator stood, clutching a lightning rope. Thunderbolts continuously struck, but he had merely raised the rope, not yet swung it.

“Zhuang Ze, do you admit your guilt?”

The accusing voice didn't sound particularly loud, yet it resonated throughout Nine Peaks Mountain. In Aze's ears, it drowned out the sound of the thunder, shaking him almost deaf.

Aze, his clothes tattered, hung suspended between two pillars. He looked down at the Nine Peaks Mountain cultivator below, then struggled to muster his strength, glancing around the entire Cliff Mountain and the surrounding sky. Nine Peaks Mountain cultivators, some distant, some close, all watched him, but he couldn't find Sister Jinxiu.

“Zhuang Ze, I ask you again, do you admit your guilt?”

Aze was in agony. He lacked the strength and the will to answer the cultivator's question below, so he simply closed his eyes again.

Aze had not expected that upon his return to Nine Peaks Mountain, the only punishment awaiting him would be death—there was just this one option, no alternative. He couldn't even see Sister Jinxiu.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't just death. According to the Nine Peaks Mountain sect rules, Aze's act of abandoning the sect required him to endure three strikes from the lightning rope, after which he would be expelled from Nine Peaks Mountain.

Immortal sects have their own regulations. Those pertaining to fundamental principles often remain unchanged for centuries or even millennia. This might appear rigid, but it stems from their connection to the most unbearable aspects of the sect's immortal path.

From Nine Peaks Mountain's perspective, they had exhausted every benevolent effort, doing everything possible to help him. Yet, many cultivators who had held high hopes for Aze were now inevitably disappointed. For Aze, Nine Peaks Mountain's kindness was hypocrisy; he fundamentally distrusted them.

Regardless of who was right or wrong, the situation was irreversible. Even if Ji Yuan himself were present, Nine Peaks Mountain would never yield to him on this matter, unless Ji Yuan truly wished to sever ties with the sect and forcibly attempt to take Aze away.

However, for Aze at this moment, there were no 'what ifs.' He was past caring, for he could not endure even a single strike from the lightning rope. Fundamentally, he had not undergone serious cultivation for long. Furthermore, the person wielding the lightning rope looked at him as if he were a demon or monster.

In Aze's eyes, many, if not most, people at Nine Peaks Mountain already considered his descent into evil irreversible. They had concluded he was demon-possessed and did not want to release him to harm the world.

“Zhuang Ze, do you admit your guilt? Are you truly a demonic fiend?”

The moment the person below questioned him again, Aze's eyes suddenly snapped open, bloodshot and utterly terrifying. Even those preparing for the execution below felt a jolt of fear.

Why, why, why, why...

Why do they just assume I'm a demon? Why are they calling me that? No, they must have been calling me that in private for years, just never saying it to my face. It's just that few people ever came to Cliff Mountain...

At that moment, Aze's spiritual consciousness seemed to explode across Cliff Mountain. Though devoid of demonic aura, it was a demonic thought so purely intense it was exaggerated, captivating hearts and chilling souls with terror.

“I—am not—a demon—”

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

Aze's roar seemed to eclipse the thunder, causing the golden ropes on the execution platform to violently shake. His voice reverberated throughout the entirety of Nine Peaks Mountain, like the wailing of ghosts and the roaring of wild beasts...

At this moment, countless masters across Nine Peaks Mountain, regardless of whether they cared for Aze or not, cast their gaze towards Cliff Mountain. Meanwhile, Sect Leader Zhao Yu slowly closed his eyes and turned away.

On Cliff Mountain, the cultivator finally collected himself, fiercely swinging the lightning rope in his hand towards Aze on the execution platform.

Crack...

Booming...

Thunder from the sky also descended simultaneously, striking Aze, who hung suspended from the execution platform.

Ahhh!

Aze could not tell the extent of his injuries, but the pain—an incomparable agony—was something he had never imagined. It was a torment that corroded every sensory level, from his mind to his flesh, a suffering that surpassed even the scourging of ghosts in the underworld. Even as his physical body felt crushed and pulverized, Aze seemed to relive the moment his family died.

“Demonic fiend—”

Crack...

Booming...

The lightning rope fell again, and thunder struck once more. This time, no scream escaped.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The entire execution platform trembled continuously, or rather, the entire floating Cliff Mountain quaked. The already agitated birds and beasts of the mountain seemed to completely disregard the terror of the stormy weather. They either scrambled out from various parts of the mountain or took flight in terror to escape.

“Endure the punishment—”

Crack...

Crack... Boom, boom, boom... Crack... Booming...

Continuous streaks of lightning struck, and the entire execution platform was enveloped in terrifying electrical light...

Lu Min and his friend both watched in horror as the lightning spread. The former slowly turned to look at the cultivator beside him, only to find that the other person wore an expression of disbelief as well.

“Fellow Daoist, is this—is this truly just an execution for a... novice disciple who committed a grave error?”

The cultivator beside Lu Min remained silent for a long time, not knowing how to answer Lu Min's question.

The electrical light persisted for a full dozen breaths before finally dimming. The bronze pillars of the execution platform appeared faintly red, and Aze, hanging from the two golden ropes, was unconscious, his fate unknown.

However, the arm of the cultivator wielding the lightning rope trembled slightly. Despite being an immortal cultivator, his breathing was ragged at that moment, and his eyes stared in disbelief at the person hanging from the golden ropes.

“This abomination, this demonic fiend... he didn't die... He actually didn't die... *exhales*...”

The executioner exhaled a long breath, gripping the lightning rope tightly. After a lengthy silence, he slowly uttered a sentence.

“The three strikes are complete... Await further decree...”

Having spoken, the executioner slowly turned and departed, riding a mountain breeze. However, most of the Nine Peaks Mountain cultivators observing the execution did not disperse. Those with shallower cultivation even displayed a bewildered terror.

Mid-flight, the executioner turned and addressed Cliff Mountain.

“Disperse! Return to your cultivation.”

As his voice carried, the Nine Peaks Mountain cultivators gradually dispersed, leaving only Aze, barely clinging to life, suspended in the air from the execution platform, and the startled birds and beasts scattered across the entire mountain.

The birds and beasts across the mountain were not startled by the heavenly thunder. Throughout Cliff Mountain, birds abandoned their nests and fled, flying far away from the peak, while beasts rushed towards the edge of Cliff Mountain, some restlessly pacing at the cliff's brink.

“Aze—”

Jinxiu cried out from her quiet chamber. She had just heard the thunder and even faintly discerned Aze's screams, but her master had cast a spell on the chamber, making it impossible for her to leave.

“Master! Master, let me out—”

A Nine Peaks Mountain cultivator meditating in the front pavilion opened his eyes, glanced towards his disciple's quiet chamber, shook his head, and closed them again. Given Aze's terrifying demonic thought from moments ago, Nine Peaks Mountain likely had no further reason to keep him.

What no one expected was that Aze, suspended on the execution platform at that moment, had not completely lost consciousness. Although his awareness was very hazy, it persisted.

Gasp... gasp... gasp...

Every breath was excruciatingly painful, and even forming a single thought was torment. Aze could not open his eyes, feeling as if he were blind and deaf, yet he could inexplicably sense the fear of the animals in the mountain.

‘Why am I not dead yet...’

Soon after this thought arose, a small point of light slowly drifted out from within Aze's tattered clothes, gradually transforming into a painted scroll.

The scroll was already severely damaged, covered in scorch marks. Its radiant glow flickered, brightening and dimming, as it dispersed along with flakes of burnt ash. As the wind blew away all its light, the scroll became like a tattered, charred piece of paper, carried away by the wind from Cliff Mountain, its destination unknown.

Although Aze couldn't see, he surprisingly knew what was happening before him.

‘No, don't go, no... Mr. Ji, I'm not a demon, I'm not, sir, don't go...’

Aze could not speak, move, see, or hear, yet he roared in his mind!

Jinxiu was finally released, but it was already the third day after Aze's punishment. However, she could not bring herself to be happy, not just because of Aze's condition, but also because she vaguely understood that the sect would likely no longer keep him.

Jinxiu was permitted to see Aze once, and she could decide when that meeting would take place, with no one disturbing them. It was a seemingly warm gesture, yet behind it lay a cruel reality.

Jinxiu did not know how to face Aze, much less dared to. She knew how insignificant she was; the sect would not bend to her will, nor would they allow her to indefinitely delay. She wanted to seek out Mr. Ji, but where would she even begin to look for the mysterious and unpredictable Mr. Ji? Would it take months to find him? Years? Or even decades? She considered finding A'gu and the others, but she couldn't bear for Aze to see them for such a final farewell.

So Jinxiu could only prepare thoroughly, doing what she could. On this day, she departed the Nine Peaks Grotto-Heaven and arrived at Ruan Shan Du, a place where she could find things unavailable within Nine Peaks Mountain.

Sugar-coated hawthorn skewers, small sugar figures, plain noodles, beggar's chicken...

Many of these were items Jinxiu and Aze had promised to eat together outside the sect. And, of course, she also brought clean and neat clothes, both for herself and for Aze.

However, even as she purchased the items, Jinxiu felt somewhat numb. The lively atmosphere and joyous laughter of Ruan Shan Du seemed incredibly distant.

“Miss... Miss!”

Someone waved a hand in front of Jinxiu. Her eyes refocused, and she looked forward, blankly responding, “Ah?”

A woman with a gentle and refined appearance stood before Jinxiu.

“Miss, you seem quite distracted. Have you encountered some difficulty? Do even disciples of Nine Peaks Mountain, dwelling in a sacred place of cultivation, experience such distress?”