Evil Mage Cultivation: The Immortal Enslavement Path-Chapter 87: I Thought You Were Dead

His brazen words sparked something in the crowd. Even with the crimes he’d committed, his reason was one every man in that courtyard could understand, loving someone enough to burn everything down for them, even if it wasn’t something they could forgive.

"What about you? Do you think it’s fair?"

Luo Chen asked his daughter, because in the end, it was her man who had died, so the crime was hers to judge.

Luo Lan looked at Han Suwen. Beneath the sincere righteousness on his face she could see something else hidden deep, mockery and deceit that hadn’t quite disappeared.

"If he wants to, who am I to refuse," she said coldly, which shocked Hong Qing.

Hong Qing looked at Han Suwen like she was trying to apologize, but he smiled and didn’t seem to care.

"Then it’s decided. For now, let’s focus on the real threat. The Flaming Cloud Sect. What do we do about them?" Han Rui turned rational as he spoke to Luo Chen and the other figures gathered. Every person present held enough authority to have a say in what came next.

"I think it’s time we rooted them out, once and for all." Luo Chen’s suggestion drew wide support.

There was the poison master, whose poison was potent enough to turn a man into a slave against his will, and that crime still hadn’t been answered.

On top of that, all the deaths that had been piling up across the mountain range, and now this. Every grievance pointed in the same direction, and every person standing there wanted punishment worth the weight of it.

"Then it’s decided. Gather everyone. We’ll discuss the plan in three days, and give warning to any of their disciples who wish to leave." Luo Chen announced.

"Merciful as ever, my friend," Han Rui sighed. If it were up to him, he’d have rallied the men and been on his way to their sect by tomorrow morning.

"Not every disciple deserves to die just because their sect master is corrupt, and we need to prepare public opinion first." Luo Chen had no interest in staining the town’s reputation or souring the trust between factions.

If two clans simply marched out and massacred an entire sect, opinion would turn sour fast, and that was the last thing they needed with the poison master still operating behind the scenes.

"And what do we do about the poison master?" Luo Phen asked, concern plain on his face. If such a person was siding with the Flaming Cloud Sect, going to war with them would cost dearly. Everyone knew poison warfare was one of the worst fights you could pick.

"Unlike Doctor Zhong, he hides in the dark, which means he’s a coward. A direct war like this should scare him off. Besides, we can always ask Doctor Zhong for help." Luo Chen reassured the shaken elders.

"And it’s not like we’re out of options either. His associate, Hui Lian, has been producing an antidote that works like a miracle cure. If we stock enough of it, we should be fine." One of the Han clan elders spoke up and pulled a clear liquid bottle from their storage ring.

"We do have that!" Han Rui had forgotten, given everything that had happened, but an antidote had been circulating for some time now.

All Han Suwen could hear was the sound of coins lining up in his pocket. ’I should visit them to collect before I begin the final phase.’ Mortal money took a lot to buy a cultivator’s treasures, but it was still better to have it than not.

"Should we test it on your son? The poison might be curable," Luo Chen proposed, but Han Rui shook his head and held his position.

"Save the antidotes for our soldiers. Even if he tries to find a cure on his own, I’ll kill him myself if he dares to escape his punishment." Han Rui didn’t waver or soften even when the alternative was laid in front of him.

He placed the weight of dignity above simply saving his son.

If he showed favoritism to his own blood, what signal would that send to everyone else going forward?

The Han clan had no profound legacy left behind by their ancestors. What held them at the same level as the other great clans was their discipline, and that was something he was not going to destroy for one person, even if that person was his own son.

What’s more, he was still capable.

Eighteen years from now, he could always have another child.

"To make sure he doesn’t run, can I watch over him?"

Before everyone left to begin preparations, Luo Lan asked.

"Of course you can," Luo Chen smiled. It was practical, having his daughter’s executioner be the one to watch over him, ensuring he didn’t slip away before anyone could avenge her late fiancé’s death. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Well, if your father agrees then I have no objection either. You can stay at my house while we prepare for war. Sound good?" Han Rui suggested. He wasn’t going to be home for a while anyway, so he might as well turn it into his son’s prison.

"That will do, thank you, sir." Luo Lan bowed to Han Rui, her eyes locked straight on Han Suwen without blinking.

"I’ll stay too!" Hong Qing raised her hand.

Luo Lan sighed. "Fine."

After the matter was settled, people spread out to carry on their tasks and prepare for what was to come, leaving only three of them alone in the house.

The prisoner, the executioner, and the witness.

The moment they were sure they were alone.

SLAP!!

Luo Lan slapped Han Suwen across the face with full force, her usually cold expression twisted with anger, her eyes reddening.

"Haha... I deserved that one," Han Suwen laughed and willingly accepted his punishment.

"But hey, you got your chance to kill me like you wanted. Isn’t that good?" The first thing on her mind when he revealed himself had been to kill him on the spot, and now that a few days had passed, he was curious what answer she had settled on.

But instead of a concrete answer, Luo Lan started sniffling and hit him again with her fist, and then slowly, a single tear slid from her eye.

"I-I thought you were dead..." Her voice trembled.

Hong Qing had lived in this town her whole life and had seen Luo Lan many times.

But never once had she seen any emotion cross that face, much less a tear.

Her fist clenched, a flame lighting in her chest.

Just what kind of relationship do you two have?

Jealousy burned hot, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

She was weaker.

No matter how much resentment she harbored, strength dictated what the weak were allowed to feel and what they were allowed to act on.

Even if they were technically sharing the same man, there was an invisible hierarchy between them.

"It’s okay. I can’t die even if I’m killed. I always come back." Han Suwen was surprised to see her break down this much, so he gently patted her head to comfort her.

He understood well enough what she had been through when she received the news.

Imagine knowing you were going to die.

Everyone telling you that you were going to die.

Then someone came along and cured you temporarily, with a promise to free you from that early death entirely.

Only for that person to suddenly be gone.

It was worse than a blind man who regained his sight only to have his eyes torn out again.

The life she had begun to imagine haunted her.

The dreams she had started having turned to nightmares.

The hope that had reignited her will to live became a fire that burned her alive instead.

She could no longer picture a world that didn’t have him in it.

That was the kind of relationship they had.

Just standing nearby, Hong Qing found herself lost for words, something lodged tight in her throat. Compared to the two of them, she was just a bystander who had abandoned her own fiancé for a better man.

A doubt began to surface in her heart. Maybe I was wrong...

But before she could fully crystallize the thought, his voice called to her.

"Hong Qing, you did a great job." His warm voice tugged at her heartstrings.

Maybe it was love, or maybe it was pride that in some small thing she could compete with someone so far above her as Luo Lan.

That thought alone blew away her regret and replaced it with happiness.

Han Suwen gently took her hand and consoled her.

"I told you to prepare a good explanation, didn’t I? Let this be a lesson to always listen to me." He could sense the damaged tissue in her hand, and it was frostbite, no mistaking it.

So, he healed her.

A warm feeling surged through her and she smiled.

"Yes..." She meekly accepted, which made Luo Lan’s ear twitch from where she stood in his arms, but she let it pass this once.

Because she knew. She was still number one on his list.

Oh, how wrong she was...