I'm caught in the cycle of endless competition, you're waiting for me in the apocalypse.

"...What time is it now? Those two scumbags are back?" An Xin took a breath, as if she remembered something, and looked at Li Qingchuan.

“It’s past 3 p.m. now. Uncle Qiu and Uncle Zheng arrived early this morning. They were shocked to see you like this. But none of us told them that you were unconscious. We just told Uncle Dong and the others that you had a cold and were sleeping. They came to see you, but since you were alright, they didn’t bother you anymore. The village chief and the others have returned, but they don’t seem to have anything unusual.”

"Well, Uncle Qiu and Uncle Zheng, you two shouldn't go out today. I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid I might alert them. Let's check on those two scumbags' movements first."

"Junior Nephew Xin Xin, what exactly did they do to you? You look so furious whenever you talk about them, calling them scumbags." Master Zheng squinted at An Xin. Having spent the past two months with her, he was arguably the elder in the temple who had interacted with her the most, and knew her character well. Judging from her reaction, those two must have crossed her line and angered her.

"To be honest, in that secret room, I saw a filthy bed! It was a mess, covered in bloodstains... and there were handcuffs with chains attached to the headboard..." An Xin said, lowering her head and her eyes reddening.

Sighs drifted from inside the room…suppressed, gloomy…

After a long while, An Xin finally raised her head, suppressing her tears. She took a few sips of water, paused again, and continued, "I groped my way to another door. After opening it, there was a flight of stairs, and at the end was another wooden door. Pushing it open, I found a large cabinet. Pushing open the cabinet door, I found a small room, and then... I encountered a cloud of black energy that was about to attack me. I used my light energy to purify the black energy!" Seeing the questioning looks from her uncles and aunts, An Xin quickly explained, "Um, I'm currently out of light energy, so I can't produce any more. My second and third senior brothers know that!"

When the two Taoist priests saw their fellow disciples nod, they stared at An Xin, giving off an air of "Don't go back to the Taoist temple until you explain things clearly."

"Well, after the purification, a soul appeared! During our friendly conversation, I learned that his name was Dong Chuanzhi, and he was actually the son of the village chief, Dong Wenyu. Moreover, he seemed to have intellectual disabilities, his intelligence was stuck at the level of a child. Later, I heard him say, in bits and pieces, that the village chief beat those people locked in the secret room, and buried them in the yard after killing them. I also learned that he had been locked in that small yard all along. So I thought, were those victims also trapped by the resentful aura like him? So I went into the yard, but I didn't expect there to be so much black energy, it was gushing out from the soil... I just didn't pay attention and went all out..." As she spoke, she noticed that several men frowned and looked at her with unusually serious expressions. Feeling guilty, she spoke softer and softer.

"So you know you're feeling guilty! Aren't you supposed to be very bold?" Master Qiu glanced at her and said sarcastically, "If your two senior brothers hadn't arrived in time, you'd still be lying in that little courtyard, waiting to be discovered by scum!"

"Oh dear, oh dear~ Uncle Qiu, it's my fault, I won't do it again next time... There are still many victims' souls in that courtyard, I think I've already purified their resentment and evil energy. I want to rescue them all..."

"Since they have been purified, why do you feel that those souls are still in that courtyard?" Master Zheng was very puzzled.

"Actually, I've already cultivated a little bit of the ability to see and hear the heavenly eye, but I couldn't use those abilities in the village chief's house, the courtyard, or even in Butcher Zhang's house! And, did Second Senior Brother show you the map of Fulin Village I drew? Those souls are trapped inside and can't get out... This Gathering Evil Array is particularly sinister..."

At this point, she noticed the four men were looking at her with probing expressions again... which was really frustrating... It seemed her disguise was about to be exposed...

With two quick "swish" sounds, An Xin grabbed A Guang in one hand and lifted A Ye in the other!

"Let me introduce you all. This is my Miao sword, A Guang! And this is my Mo sword, A Ye!"

With two more "swish" sounds, An Xin was now completely empty-handed.

She covered her face, unable to look at everyone...

"...Xinxin, is this...a hidden universe in your sleeve?" Master Qiu asked hesitantly.

An Xin put down her hand, nodded with an expression that said, "That's all!"

The room was silent...

Silence for a long time...

“Xinxin, even if you’ve revealed all your cards and tried to tell us how outstanding you are, you can’t act alone anymore, okay?” Li Qingchuan walked to the bedside, silently knelt down, looked directly into An Xin’s beautiful eyes, and gently expressed his inner fear to her, “We’re really worried…”

An Xin stared intently at Li Qingchuan. At that moment, he reminded her of Captain Xiao, who always told her when she was most helpless and vulnerable: "You are excellent, but please don't be stubborn. As long as we are here, we will always be your spear and your shield."

Touched by the softest spot in her heart, she obediently nodded.

"Um... Xinxin, could you take your Ah Guang out and let me take a look again?" Master Zheng scratched his head and said with a smile.

"Swish—" A-Guang was once again held in An Xin's hand.

Master Zheng looked at Ah Guang with overflowing admiration. He took Ah Guang with both hands, his devotion and joy evident.

"What a fine knife! It's truly a fine knife!"

"Uncle Zheng, don't praise A-Guang in front of A-Ye! He'll get jealous!"

"No, no, that's not true! Both of your swords are fine weapons, just with different styles!"

As they talked, everyone relaxed again. And throughout the entire conversation, no one asked An Xin where her baby came from.

..........................................

After telling An Xin to rest a little longer, the group gathered in their senior brothers' room to sort out the clues.

An Xin then summoned Di Ting to inquire about Dong Chuanzhi: "Xiao Jiu, how is Chuanzhi?"

"It's not very stable, so I think we shouldn't let him out for the time being!"

"So you heard it?"

"Yes, I heard that. I have a general understanding of their family's complicated relationships..."

"How complicated is it?"

"Dong Wenyu is his father, Dong Mo'er is her mother, and Dong Wenyu is Dong Mo'er's half-brother!"

"Wait...wait, let me sort this out...ah! That's not...that thing..."

Do you want to hear more?

"Okay, speak!"

"This story begins with Dong Wenyu's parents. His father and Dong Zhu, also known as Aunt Dong, had a daughter named Dong Mo'er. However, she was sickly from birth. In their village, due to consanguineous marriage, early child death was commonplace. After a year, they discovered that their child not only had poor health but also intellectual disabilities. Since the old village chief and Aunt Dong were unable to have any more children, he conceived a wicked idea. He hired a human trafficker to buy a kidnapped woman and hid her in an abandoned courtyard behind the village. Later, fearing discovery, he secretly dug a secret room and moved the woman there. He also painstakingly dug a secret passage leading to the ancestral hall."

"...I can't hold back my swearing anymore."

"Listen patiently!" Di Ting continued recounting the truth without any expression. "He tormented that poor woman until, after several bouts of morning sickness, he finally confirmed her pregnancy. At the same time, Dong Zhu also became pregnant. Unexpectedly, Dong Zhu miscarried a few months later. The old scoundrel kept it a secret until the woman in the secret room gave birth. Seeing it was a boy, he felt relieved and hurriedly took the child home, telling the villagers that he and Dong Zhu had a son who could inherit the family business. Dong Zhu, on the other hand, felt immense guilt for having given birth to a sickly and mentally challenged girl, and later miscarrying." Yes. When the old scoundrel handed her the baby boy, she didn't even ask a question, accepting the child like an ostrich, raising him as her own until now. Meanwhile, the woman in the secret room had already suffered immense hardship, and had to give birth in that cramped, filthy, and sunless room without anyone to help her… She died of postpartum hemorrhage not long after. The old scoundrel buried her directly under the locust tree. Only when he was near death did he tell Dong Wenyu the truth. Dong Wenyu was a vibrant 20 years old at the time, and the truth utterly devastated him! His most prized bloodline had become a joke!

"Since he knew he was also born to an outsider mother, why was he so hostile towards other outsider wives in the village and their children?"

"He just doesn't want to face it... Haven't you heard the saying that the less something is there, the more you care about it..."

"And what about Dong Mo'er?"

"Then we have to start with Butcher Zhang's mother! The Aunt Zhang who took care of Dong Chuanzhi was Butcher Zhang's mother. She was originally from another village, but her husband died, and she lived alone in the village. One day, she met the drunken village chief, and the two started an affair. She became pregnant. The widow Zhang couldn't expose her affair, and the village chief didn't want to admit he had a child, so he sent Aunt Zhang to a distant relative's house, giving her a large sum of money along with her. Not long after, Dong Mo'er unfortunately fell into the water, but was rescued by this scumbag on the shore." Finding no one was watching them, he was suddenly overcome with malice. He took his half-sister to the abandoned courtyard his father had used and locked her in a secret room, just like before… Let's skip that part. Anyway, driven by his intense desire for a child of pure blood, he actually waited for the child's birth. Then, fearing discovery, he brought Aunt Zhang back to care for Dong Mo'er and Dong Chuanzhi. Unexpectedly, Dong Mo'er died not long after, and Aunt Zhang only cared for Dong Chuanzhi, while Zhang the butcher stayed with relatives. Outside, it was said that Dong Chuanzhi was the adopted child of the widow Zhang.

"This sounds terrible, stop for a second! My heart can't take it..." An Xin made herself a cup of tea and gulped it down before even sitting back down on the bed.

"...There's something even worse, do you want to hear it!"

"No way, what kind of demon is this? There's something even worse... But since you've heard all this, just tell me."

"As Dong Chuanzhi grew up, he had a high fever when he was seven years old, and his intelligence remained at that level. Two years later, the scumbag realized something was wrong, but it was too late for the best treatment... At that time, he began to complain and feel that God had treated him unfairly. He took advantage of his position as village chief and his education to lure the children of women from other places into his home. Under the pretext of helping with their homework, he sexually assaulted the children, even molesting them. He was simply a beast!"

"Damn it! Calling him a beast is blasphemous!"

"However, his level of perversion wasn't at its peak back then, and after all, those were children from the village. He would lure the children with delicious food and fun toys while suppressing those who showed resistance. Under his manipulation, the children didn't dare to tell the adults the truth. Besides, all the young and middle-aged people had gone out to work, the older generation didn't have that kind of awareness, and the children didn't receive proper sex education. They didn't understand anything and just grew up in a daze. When they came into contact with the outside world and learned about it, they were too ashamed to talk about it and didn't want to go back to that terrible hometown."

"..." An Xin was speechless... that heartache... that suffocation... had nowhere to be vented.