Walking in the cycle of reincarnation

Chapter 26 Integrity

Meng Cang remained standing in the same spot, but the surrounding fields were like ink spreading into water, layer by layer, encroaching upon the entire landscape. In an instant, heaven and earth were completely absorbed, turning into nothingness.

"Elder brother, Father passed the position of clan leader to me."

A voice suddenly drifted from behind him, tinged with disdain.

Meng Cang froze and suddenly turned his head.

Meng Lie slowly emerged from the void, looked down at him, and a mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth:

"You are skilled in both literature and martial arts? You are handsome and charming? But before my father passed away, he held my hand and said that he could only die in peace if the Meng family was handed over to me."

Meng Lie approached step by step, each step seeming to tread on Meng Cang's heart.

"Guess why your father didn't pass the torch to you? Because you're too wild, because you..."

Meng Lie leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"Because you are not a member of the Meng family at all."

Upon hearing this, Meng Cang staggered backward, feeling a sense of absurdity.

No, impossible. This is an illusion; that beast can actually use mental illusion magic.

He trembled uncontrollably as the light and shadows shifted before his eyes, and countless long-forgotten memories unfolded before him.

He suddenly saw it.

He saw himself in the prime of his youth, appointed as the young clan leader, bearing the expectations of the masses and leading the clan's rebirth. But his father's dying words robbed him of half his life's ambition and overturned the power and glory he had gained.

On the day Meng Lie ascended to the throne, he stood below, his elder brother bowing and addressing him as "Clan Chief." From his high position, Meng Lie scrutinized him as if he were a corpse.

"He will kill me... He'll kill me sooner or later..."

Meng Cang muttered to himself, clutching his head and curling up on the ground, his plain robe sinking into the mud.

The world changes.

Dongzhou. Rainy night.

He saw himself hiding in a dark alley, a broken knife piercing his shoulder, blood flowing down his fingers into the puddles.

The pursuers were closing in relentlessly behind him, and ahead lay a dead end. At that time, he was nothing more than a lowly blade in the "Midnight Rain" gang, powerless to control his own destiny, his killings left to others.

"I don't want to die... I absolutely cannot die..."

Meng Cang's whole body convulsed, and he dug his ten fingers into the mud.

Change again.

An embroidered couch, with red candles burning brightly.

His wife, a woman from a scholarly family in Dongzhou, was looking at him with her clothes half undone, her eyes filled with tender expectation.

But he stood before the bed, at a loss, covered in cold sweat, his heart a desolate wasteland.

Because of his youthful recklessness and fighting spirit, he was injured in his groin. The doctor diagnosed him with a disability that would prevent him from having children for the rest of his life.

He looked at his wife and saw her eyes gradually turn from expectation to disappointment, and then to indifference, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

His wife turned her head away, and the light and shadow flickered by the bed, where Meng Lie's figure quietly took his place.

Meng Cang's eyes were bloodshot, and a beast-like howl escaped his throat as he slammed his palm forward.

The two figures suddenly vanished, leaving only a cold remark.

"You're a useless piece of trash...you can't even give me a child..."

Meng Cang stood there, stunned.

Yes, he had no descendants. Meng Cang, the eldest son of the Meng family, a master of the Poison Body Realm, was actually childless.

Fear surged like a tide, wave after wave.

The scene changed once again.

Altar.

He saw the high platform, its steps made of white bones and its banners of human skin. Several figures stood on the platform, all draped in scarlet cloaks, their faces hidden in shadow.

Meng Cang's blood and qi froze.

He saw himself kneeling at the foot of those white bone steps, bowing and kowtowing again and again, humbly begging for mercy.

He saw the messenger of the altar embed a snake scale into the back of his neck.

When he saw their promise to help him seize power, they were so nonchalant, as if he were nothing more than a pawn to be casually placed and discarded.

He saw the last person who had made a pact with the altar, stripped of all value, being led to the altar by several men in scarlet cloaks. His desperate pleas for mercy abruptly ceased as the giant serpent emerged from the shadows and swallowed him whole.

The figures on the altar remained as still as water, utterly undisturbed.

"What's the point of keeping useless things?"

As soon as he uttered those words, Meng Cang felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

"No...don't kill me...I'm a useful person!"

Meng Cang roared hoarsely:

"I have toiled for the altar for years! I have supplied you with men! I have sacrificed for the 'Serpent Mother'! I have done everything with utmost devotion! I have offered up my entire Mon family to you! Spare me—!"

He screamed and crawled on the ground, his white robe haphazardly wrapped in the mud, looking utterly wretched, and cried like a child.

Meng Jinchuan, standing to the side, was already stunned.

He had never seen his uncle look like this before.

The uncle who was always gentle and composed, always confident and always unfathomable was now rolling around in the mud, wailing and losing his composure. In particular, the words "I will give the Meng family to you" shocked him deeply.

What could possibly be causing my uncle such fear?

Meng Jinchuan was overwhelmed with a myriad of emotions. There was shock, disgust, and pity, but above all, there was a chilling coldness.

It's the Golden Toad Ancestor again...

He turned his head sharply and looked at the lone, towering golden-purple figure.

Zhang Nanfeng had already leaped onto a high rock, his gaze deep and unfathomable as he looked down at the farce unfolding below.

"The Golden Toad Ancestor..."

Meng Jinchuan crawled forward on his knees, kowtowing heavily, his voice trembling:

"This junior begs the Golden Toad Ancestor for mercy! Spare my uncle's life! He... he was momentarily confused. Although he offended the divine might, he is still a pillar of the Meng family. I beg the Golden Toad Ancestor for great compassion to release him from this... this divine punishment!"

Standing atop the high rock, Zhang Nanfeng sneered inwardly.

Solution? He can solve it, but... on what grounds?

Meng Cang is a man of deep cunning and shrewdness. If we do not crush his pride and bring him to the dust today, he will surely harbor rebellious intentions in the future.

Only by letting him experience a fate worse than death, and making him understand that you can strip him bare at any time, can he shed all his illusions and truly submit.

Zhang Nanfeng slowly raised his eyes, his gaze falling on Meng Cang, who was convulsing in the mud, without a trace of pity in his eyes.

This "bone-revealing" transformation specifically erodes the mind and spirit, without harming the skin, flesh, or bones. Those affected will sink into their deepest fears, unable to extricate themselves. And, similar to the previous fleeting phenomenon, the potency of the poison is closely related to the amount of poison administered.

He spared no expense to teach Meng Cang a lesson he would never forget.

......

Time passed unnoticed, and the howling from the mud gradually subsided.

Meng Cang collapsed into the mud, his chest heaving violently, his eyes unfocused, as if he had escaped a nightmare that had haunted him for half his life.

When he refocused his gaze, the first thing he saw was that golden-purple figure.

Meng Cang trembled all over.

He struggled to his feet, but his knees buckled, and he knelt heavily before Zhang Nanfeng.

"The Golden Toad Ancestor..."

His voice was hoarse and barely audible, his forehead pressed against the mud, all the arrogance, shrewdness, and integrity he had possessed for half his life gone.

"This junior...this junior is but a mortal with mere mortal eyes, who has offended divine might, and deserves to die ten thousand times over. I beg the Golden Toad Ancestor...I beg the Golden Toad Ancestor to spare my life..."

His body trembled uncontrollably, and as he bowed his head in supplication, he subconsciously glanced at Meng Jinchuan beside him.

The boy remained kneeling there, head bowed, his expression unreadable.

Meng Cang knew that his nephew had seen everything about him, and all the dignity and respect he had built up over the decades had been destroyed in an instant.

Overwhelming humiliation and despair surged in my heart, but were quickly suppressed by an even deeper fear.

He dared not complain, dared not hate, and simply buried his head even lower.

Zhang Nanfeng stood still on the high rock, without moving an inch.