Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 271 - 185: What? I’m going to kill Tang Seng and his disciples?

Chapter 271: Chapter 185: What? I’m going to kill Tang Seng and his disciples?

"What is this? A study room?"

The incoming scent of ink suddenly stirred an appetite.

It wasn’t that Jiang Feng was starving or had some peculiar craving. The higher the quality of the ink, the richer and more aromatic it was. Looking inside the room, the youth instantly forgot his exhaustion, so surprised he was momentarily lost for words.

For within the room was nothing but a desk and piles of books in every corner. Not just that, the four walls nearly had all sorts of paintings hanging.

Men and women, old and young, a closer look would reveal that these paintings were nailed at specific fixed spots. Stepping back, he realized that the entire wall was a massive map!

"This is..."

His eyes were trembling.

He noticed at the bottom right corner of the map a face he had never met, yet felt incredibly familiar with.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he recognized who it was.

Thump thump!

His heart gave a fierce pound, and the youth even felt a piercing pain in his heart chambers...

Thud—

A wooden sword tapped him on the head!

A coolness rushed into his brain and expelled the foul air from his seven orifices, bringing his consciousness back to clarity. It was then that Jiang Feng realized he had nearly been spiritually possessed simply by looking at a painting!

"Are you calm now?"

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

The Jiang in question now followed obediently like a cat, glancing at the painting at the bottom right corner. That plain and unadorned face still caused him some palpitations.

And Liu Tangxi had already walked straight over.

She picked up a writing brush from the desk and dipped it in the inkstone, then brushed two strokes on the painting in the bottom right corner of the map.

A standard "X", regardless of how others might evaluate it, in Liu Tangxi’s eyes, Demon Night True Monarch was dealt with and posed no threat.

"You’ve probably recognized him by now, this is the true face of Demon Night True Monarch."

"This painting originates from Purple Cloud Palace, and Elder Mo is one of the only three inside Purple Cloud Palace who have seen Demon Night’s true face."

"The other two are the Great Elder and the Sect Master. However, their artistic skills are rather poor, while Elder Mo’s are exquisite, with most of these authentic works in the room coming from his hand."

"According to Elder Mo, this painting is ninety percent physically accurate and seventy percent spiritually accurate, almost identical to his initial encounter with Demon Night True Monarch, in which he was so frightened he felt his spirit leave his body. Even from a distance, one could feel the Spiritual Energy in their body boiling like hot water."

"But now, as Demon Night True Monarch’s death is confirmed, leaving only his masterless spirit sealed within your body, it is natural to erase his name and surname."

She nodded gently.

He could tell that his Senior Sister was only trying to put him at ease, but Jiang Feng didn’t mind the dormant spirit inside him and continued to look around, noticing that each painting had a name underneath.

Especially the central map, which happened to depict the Central Plains, and while he didn’t recognize a single one of the portraits, Jiang Feng had a vague idea of the purpose of this map and paintings.

"Senior Sister, could it be that these paintings represent the duties of our Swordmaster Peak?"

"How clever."

That’s just how Liu Tangxi was.

She never spoke against her conscience. If she thought someone did well, she would praise them, even if she didn’t like that person. If someone performed poorly, even if it was her own disciple, she wouldn’t hesitate to scold harshly.

But Jiang Feng looked hesitant. The central map depicted the Central Plains, while the side maps were of other regions. Not many portraits hung above them, only about ten per side.

It would have been less concerning if they all appeared to be wicked villains, but Jiang Feng clearly saw among the portraits not only the elderly and young girls, but also children who had not reached adulthood.

Some even had their height, body size, and preferences labeled beside them, making one marvel at the strength of Purple Cloud Palace’s intelligence network.

"Senior Sister, are these the portraits of the Evil Cultivators on the run?"

He pointed to a portrait hanging on the map, depicting what appeared to be a child around five or six, with two skyward ponytails indicating that she might be a little girl.

Liu Tangxi only glanced at it, her tone neutral.

"This person is named Yin Xue, a Loose Cultivator, born in Dali, with no clear family lineage."

"Yin Xue emerged unexpectedly a hundred and twenty years ago; at that time, she appeared as an old woman. On the day she announced herself, she infiltrated Yao Hui Sect, exterminating its entire Sect, turning forty li into a Blood Sea, consuming their essence, flesh, and blood for her cultivation. She hung a Blood Moon in the sky that lasted seven nights."

"She repeated this technique six times, killing over thirty thousand people, including four towns and two Sects."

"Later, when Purple Cloud Palace received word of the calamity in Dali, they dispatched hundreds of Sect Disciples who went there. But with no prior meeting, they couldn’t recognize Yin Xue’s appearance; only survivors mentioned the perpetrator was an old hag."

"Fortunately, the Sect Disciples hurried to the scene and found a survivor, a young girl barely twenty-eight. You can probably guess the outcome."

Jiang Feng trembled, guessing the answer.

In a hoarse voice, he asked, "What were the losses of the hundred disciples the Sect sent?"

He didn’t even bother asking if they had managed to see through her disguise or their battle situation; he went straight to asking about the losses.

"Eight crippled, five mad, and two died upon returning to the Sect without recovering."

Although he had anticipated the outcome, the harsh numbers still made the youth clench his fists.

What Liu Tangxi mentioned were only these fifteen, he knew the rest wasn’t that she wished not to speak of them, but rather that they couldn’t be spoken of—those consumed by that Evil Cultivator were probably not even left with bones, totally annihilated.

"Later, our mentor personally drew his sword and headed there himself. Although Yin Xue’s cultivation realm was behind our mentor, her methods were extremely cunning. With our mentor’s strength, defeating her was easy, but she proved impossible to subdue."