He had crystal-clear, sky-obscuring wings tinged with pale blue, fiery red pupils in fox-like eyes, and his long hair, which had turned silver-white due to the intense spiritual energy conflict earlier, fluttered in the night wind.
There was not a trace of gentleness on the young boy's face.
This was completely different from the impression Zhao Huai had given before.
At this moment, his aura was terrifying and powerful. His body seemed to have grown much larger with the flapping of those wings.
With a cold and stern face and imposing manner, such a powerful aura would probably make the five leaders in the Eastern Ze Wilderness tremble in their boots.
The young boy gently moved his finger, and the ground where the Li family members were standing under the high platform suddenly cracked. Countless ice pillars grew around them. These pillars were like a cage, trapping those spiritual pharmacists inside and confining their spiritual energy.
"Huai'er—"
The woman sitting on the ground murmured these two words.
Was this strange-looking young boy in mid-air really Zhao Huai, the son she had raised for twelve years?
Li Yan was severely injured at this moment.
"Who are you?"
With great difficulty, he spat out these three words. Then his body fell from mid-air and crashed heavily onto the high platform.
The young boy slowly landed on the ground, looking like a celestial being untouched by the filth of the mortal world.
This time, it was Zhao Huai's turn to walk towards Li Yan step by step.
Li Yan was seriously injured. Seeing the young boy approaching him, he was shocked again. Blood kept oozing from his palm. As Zhao Huai took a few steps forward, he hurriedly took a few steps back.
"What, what do you want? Who, who on earth are you?"
The young boy's power just now belonged neither to a spiritual pharmacist nor an alchemist. Moreover, the pair of wings that had appeared behind him didn't seem to be the primordial spirits of any divine beasts. Who on earth was this strange and mysterious young boy? With such great strength, why would he be willing to stay in a small town like Qinghui?
If he really had such power, then why had he just watched as Li Yan harmed his family?
Countless questions popped up in Li Yan's mind.
Every time the young boy took a step forward, a series of ice pillars would form under his feet.
"Who am I?"
The young boy's voice was barely audible, but no one dared to ignore it.
"I also want to know who I really am."
Were Zhao Huai's words a mockery or a self-question?
Who was he? What was his origin? Even now, he still didn't know. He couldn't become an alchemist or a spiritual pharmacist, but the powerful force in his body just now felt so familiar to him. Why?
"Spare me, young master. Please spare me."
"Young master, it was my ignorance. It was me who offended your Zhao family. It was my own fault. But please, for the sake of my love for my son, none of your Zhao family members have been hurt. Spare me. I'll give you everything the Li family has. Okay?"
At this moment, the two sides had completely switched positions.
Li Yan had become the weak one, constantly begging Zhao Huai.
The young boy bent down and looked at the middle-aged man. "What about Zhao Shuning?"
"I, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything. Zhao Shuning is indeed dead, but, but it wasn't the people of the Li family who killed her. Young master, you should know that girl's ability is not comparable to that of ordinary people. Although Can'er is a bit more powerful than her, he suffered losses at her hands several times. If you say Can'er killed Zhao Shuning, he doesn't have that ability."
"Young master, it was Zhang Tianyuan, that Zhang Tianyuan who was almost recognized as an inner disciple by the Wang family. He founded a large sect. There are some very powerful spiritual pharmacists in it, and Zhang Tianyuan himself is also a third-rank spiritual pharmacist. It was him, together with a group of second-rank spiritual pharmacists, who forced that girl off the cliff."
"Cliff? Have you found the body?"
A glimmer of hope rose in Zhao Huai's heart.
"No. There's an undercurrent river below the cliff."
Undercurrent river? This kind of river could devour everything. Even spiritual beasts would be eaten up without a bone left if they fell into it. Without the cultivation of a fifth-rank spiritual pharmacist, entering the undercurrent river was like stepping into the gates of hell with both feet.
The undercurrent river was also the river of death.
"Is Zhang Tianyuan from the Misty Rain Tower?"
Li Yan nodded eagerly.
Divulging the secrets of the Misty Rain Tower and bringing disaster to the students would surely lead to the termination of the cooperation between the Li family and the Misty Rain Tower if the tower master found out.
But now, Li Yan didn't care about that. All he wanted was to save his own life.
"Do you have a way to get me into the Misty Rain Tower?"
"Young master, the annual recruitment of trainee students is over. I'm afraid—"
The cold air around the young boy grew even stronger.
"However, I have a trading cooperation with the Misty Rain Tower. I can use this relationship to get you in."
Zhao Huai nodded. With a thought, the Li family's spiritual pharmacists trapped by the ice pillars were finally freed. At this moment, Li Yan's body fell to the ground. Outsiders couldn't see any force acting on him, but they could hear the sound of his bones breaking in his limbs.
Zhao Huai hadn't forgotten what Li Yan had done to Zhao Zheng.
Like his sister, the people of the Zhao family were the most vengeful.
He turned around. All the people of the Zhao family behind him were looking at him in horror.
The young boy closed his eyes and returned to his previous appearance.
Then he slowly walked back.
Lin Min'er stood up and hugged Zhao Huai.
"Mother, aren't you afraid of me?"
Lin Min'er shook her head. "I'm not afraid. You're my child, Huai'er. I know Huai'er would never hurt me."
"They think I'm a monster."
"Huai'er is not a monster. You're the child of me and your father, and the brother of Shuning. We only recognize you in this capacity."
Zhao Huai regained his gentle look and continued, "So, mother, I'm going to avenge my sister. I'll get back everything those people owe her one by one."
"Huai'er."
"Mother, don't worry. I can do it."
Zhao Huai smiled slightly. He picked up the dagger that Zhao Zheng had used to stab Li Yan earlier and made a cut on his finger. Immediately, blood flowed out, and Zhao Huai's blood was tinged with blue and purple.
He slowly fed the blood from his finger to Zhao Zheng's lips. To everyone's surprise, Zhao Zheng's body was healing at a visible speed.
His blood was different from ordinary people's. He had discovered this a long time ago. At that time, Zhao Shuning was still a baby in the cradle. She often cried in her sleep at night. Whenever this happened, Zhao Huai would bite his finger and gently put it in her mouth. Then she would stop crying, and the scratches on her face would disappear a lot.
"Mother, wait for me."
"Trading with the devil, Huai'er, you have to be careful."
Zhao Huai smiled. He turned around and looked at Li Yan. Trading with the devil? Mother was thinking too simply. If anything, he himself was the real devil.