Ye Tiancheng certainly didn't want his disciple to be associated with the demeaning term "third party." If it were Lin Xue from before, proud as a plum blossom on a high mountain, she wouldn't have even glanced at a man like Ouyang, let alone be linked to the word "third party."
However, to help him transfer the curse, Lin Xue had become so terrible. Hearing her blame herself like this, it was Ye Tiancheng who was most heartbroken.
Ye Tiancheng reached out and stroked Lin Xue's head. "Don't overthink it. Some things are beyond our control. Let's go with the flow. Even if we can't be completely guilt-free, at least let's not let things spiral out of control."
Lin Xue listened, understanding little, but nodded. "I understand, Master."
Facing the table full of delicacies, Ye Tiancheng had no appetite. Perhaps his mood was so terrible that everything tasted bland, like chewing on wax. He had a vague feeling that this matter wouldn't remain hidden for long and would soon be exposed.
After the meal, Ye Tiancheng suddenly felt a wave of nausea, not physical, but psychological. He didn't know why he felt such a strong sense of revulsion, which shocked him greatly.
Lin Xue was also dispirited. It started raining outside, and she stood by the window, gazing out. She felt that the rain outside perfectly matched her current mood.
"Master, without Ouyang, I feel like my heart has gone with him. I have no mood to do anything else. The only feeling I have now is longing to the bone."
Ye Tiancheng was also helpless. Ouyang was already dead. It was only now that Ye Tiancheng realized that no matter what mischief Ouyang had caused, as long as he was alive, it would be fine. Now that he was dead, it was truly troublesome. There was no one else in the world exactly like him, and he wouldn't be able to account for it.
Since the person was gone, exposure was only a matter of time. In such a situation, living in constant anxiety was perhaps the most frustrating.
"Master, although I slept for a long time today, I don't want to toss and turn anymore. I want to sleep soundly."
Lin Xue went to sleep after saying this, but Ye Tiancheng couldn't. He thought about how he could conceal it for another two or three days. He wondered if Lin Xue would go mad when she learned the truth. But just thinking about it was terrifying. This problem was truly difficult to solve. What should he do? This was a huge dilemma.
The rain outside grew heavier and heavier, and it rained almost all night, finally stopping slowly in the early morning.
Ye Tiancheng suffered from insomnia, only falling asleep between two and three in the morning. He didn't know how he fell asleep, but he woke up feeling somewhat numb. The sky outside was already bright.
Ye Tiancheng originally wanted to sleep for a while longer, as he felt he hadn't rested well. He wondered how long he could last dragging his tired body like this.
In such a situation, he never expected that just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he suddenly heard a sharp, piercing scream.
The scream was deafening, almost terrifying. It felt like a torment for everyone. Fortunately, Ye Tiancheng used his true qi to protect his body, which blocked the powerful sound waves from the scream.
Ye Tiancheng's ears ached slightly. When he came to his senses, he realized the voice was Lin Xue's. Why would Lin Xue let out such a startled scream? Realizing this, Ye Tiancheng rushed to the living room to check.
In the living room, there was a dried corpse wrapped in plastic sheeting. The mummified body was still recognizable as Ouyang.
Beside the mummified body, Lin Xue sat on the floor, looking utterly lost, clearly terrified. Otherwise, she wouldn't have behaved like this.
Seeing the man she loved lying beside her, cold and lifeless, and in such a horrifying state, gave her a terrible feeling.
"Xue'er, don't look. I'll have someone take the body away immediately. Don't be affected."
Ye Tiancheng was at a loss. The thing he feared most had happened. The body had been buried, so it couldn't have come back to life. This meant someone had dug it up and deliberately sent it over. He didn't have the energy to figure out which bastard was so bored. He just felt annoyed, wondering why such a bizarre thing had happened. It was so bothersome.
"Ouyang is dead. Master, you knew about this long ago, didn't you?"
Lin Xue was too smart. Combined with Ye Tiancheng's previous unusual behavior, she had definitely discovered something. Therefore, the most important thing for her now was to know the truth, because she felt her suspicion was too terrifying, almost unbelievable.
"Xue'er, I know you suspect I killed him, but how could I do something so foolish? I know you can't leave Ouyang right now. I wouldn't kill him. Wouldn't that be killing you too?"
Lin Xue immediately understood Ye Tiancheng's meaning. Previously, Lin Xue, Ye Tiancheng, and Fatty had gone through so many hardships together, and they understood each other well. With a little explanation, she would quickly grasp what he meant and wouldn't continue to misunderstand.
"Then who killed him? And why? He was just an ordinary person. Regardless of his character, he didn't deserve to die!"
Lin Xue was still in a state of collapse when suddenly someone frantically pounded on the door. Just as Ye Tiancheng was about to open it, the door was violently kicked open from the outside. This was also normal, as it was an old residential area with old facilities, so it wasn't surprising for things to break.
An old acquaintance arrived. Ye Tiancheng had been entangled with Ouyang Xinuo for so long without seeing his real person, but today he saw Ouyang Xinuo himself, accompanied by a large group of people from the Ouyang family, as well as some old men who seemed to be elders of the Ouyang family, people of considerable status.
"Ouyang Xinuo, why are you here?"
"You really like to ask the obvious. You know perfectly well why I'm here. It's because you killed someone. You have to give our Ouyang family justice. You can't just kill someone and let it go."
Ouyang Xinuo suppressed all his dark energy and appeared incredibly normal. In short, no one would think that such a person could be associated with a great demon king.
Ye Tiancheng instantly understood why the corpse he and Fatty had buried in that desolate place had suddenly appeared in his living room. Now everything was explained. It was clearly Ouyang Xinuo, that bastard, who had done it.
Now that everything was explained, Ye Tiancheng knew he couldn't escape responsibility. The only thing he could do was face it bravely.
"I didn't kill him. Ouyang Xinuo, when this person died, he was emitting dark energy all over his body. In front of so many people from your family, I believe you're not so thick-skinned that you can't dare to say this has nothing to do with you, even in this situation."
Ouyang Xinuo's skin was indeed thick enough. He showed no concern and smiled shamelessly.
"What dark energy are you talking about? I've never heard of it, and neither have the people around me. So, I think you should try not to cause trouble here. What you're saying is preposterous."
Ouyang Xinuo simply denied it. His face was as thick as a city wall. Ye Tiancheng also felt what it meant to have no way to explain himself, which was enough to drive him crazy.
"Alright, it seems you're feigning ignorance. I can't do anything about you. But don't treat others like fools, Ouyang Xinuo. Are you not afraid of my retaliation for making things difficult for me here?"
Ye Tiancheng wanted to make a move directly. Arguing with someone like Ouyang Xinuo was a waste of breath. He should just pin him to the ground and beat him severely to teach that ghost face, as thick as a city wall, a lesson.
"Of course, I'm not afraid. After all, it's you who committed murder, not me. What do I have to be afraid of? The one who actually killed someone must be guilty."
Ye Tiancheng couldn't hold back any longer and used his true qi to pause time and space. As a cultivator, it was his responsibility to keep ordinary people away from danger, and he also couldn't reveal his true qi strength, as that would violate the rules of the entire cultivation world.
"Ye Tiancheng, you finally can't hold back. I thought you would have become more composed after not seeing you for a while, but I didn't expect you to still be so impatient, still that hot-headed kid who fought me for Miss Su back then."
Their feud began from that moment, otherwise, they wouldn't have been so thorough from the start, directly causing the dark energy to devour his soul until it was tattered.
If it weren't for this, I think Ouyang Xinuo, as an ordinary person, wouldn't have been able to contend with Ye Tiancheng.
Ouyang Xinuo attacked directly. Dark energy coiled around Ye Tiancheng like a rope, tightening its grip, making the air in Ye Tiancheng's lungs increasingly scarce, leading to suffocation.
"You're no match for me at all. The reason I brought so many people today was just to provoke you. If we were to really fight, you'd only be severely beaten by me."
When unable to breathe, anyone's subconscious would be to find a way to survive. However, at this moment, Ye Tiancheng's mind was exceptionally clear.
Because he knew that the more difficult the situation, the more important it was to remain calm. Ouyang Xinuo had indeed become increasingly powerful, killing people while absorbing dark energy, and that dark energy was mixed with the resentment of many people.
This resentment included students who had failed to get into their ideal universities after many years of trying, housewives who wanted to commit suicide due to domestic violence from their husbands and the torment from their sons, and even beggars who had suffered long-term humiliation. Ouyang Xinuo was not picky; he maximized the resentment of these people before killing them.
Those people became extremely terrifying, and at the same time, Ouyang Xinuo became very greedy. After absorbing the resentment of these people, he grew stronger and stronger. In short, he would not easily let anyone escape his grasp; he would crush their bones and eat them.
At a critical moment, Ye Tiancheng gave up struggling and used his true qi to protect himself. Only by calming down could he form a large protective layer. Otherwise, if he only thought about resisting, he wouldn't be able to concentrate.
"You do have some skills, but they're useless. Even if I can't kill you now, I won't let you off easily. I've already called the police. You'll be implicated in a murder case and might go to prison. Let's see what else you can do to turn the tables."