When Chu Feng returned to the Chu Heavenly Clan's territory, he found that the vast palace complex had been razed to the ground.
Debris from the buildings lay scattered everywhere in complete ruins.
And the clansmen of the Chu Heavenly Clan had all been gathered in the destroyed main hall.
They were bound by special ropes that continuously released flames, burning them until their bodies were covered in wounds, crying out in agony without cease.
However, Chu Feng noticed that Chu Ping, Chu Qing, Chu Haoyan, Chu Huanyu, Chu Shuangshuang, and several others were not among them.
After landing, Chu Feng immediately released them from the fire ropes and healed their injuries.
"Was it the Burning Sky Demon Clan?" Chu Feng asked once Chu Hongyi and the others had recovered somewhat.
"You still have the nerve to ask? If it wasn't the Burning Sky Demon Clan, who else could it have been?" Chu Hongyi rose to his feet, pointing at Chu Feng and roaring in fury.
Those words confirmed what Chu Feng had already suspected.
"What about Sister Shuangshuang and the others? Were they captured by the Burning Sky Demon Clan?" Chu Feng asked.
"Of course they were captured! It's precisely because they were close to you that the Burning Sky Demon Clan took them. Their fates are unknown now — even if they're still alive, they've probably been tortured to the point of madness by the Burning Sky Demon Clan."
"Chu Feng, you truly are a jinx. The Chu Heavenly Clan was perfectly fine within the Ancestral Martial Cultivation Realm before you came along. But look — look closely at what our territory has become now, and all of this... is entirely your doing." Chu Hongyi pointed at Chu Feng, berating him ceaselessly.
The others kept their heads lowered in silence. Though they said nothing, Chu Feng could see traces of blame on some of their faces.
"So you're all blaming me?" Chu Feng asked.
"Of course we're blaming you! Who else should we blame? Myself?"
"If it weren't for you, would we have fallen to such a state?" Chu Hongyi accused, jabbing a finger at Chu Feng.
"Little Brother Chu Feng, what Big Brother Hongyi said isn't without reason. If you hadn't been so impulsive back then, the Burning Sky Demon Clan wouldn't have become enraged, and they wouldn't have come to slaughter the city."
"Fortunately, we were inside the Ancestral Martial Cultivation Realm, protected by the formation arrays, so our lives weren't in danger. But if we had been outside this realm, our souls would have been scattered and we would all be dead at the hands of the Burning Sky Demon Clan."
At that moment, several people standing beside Chu Hongyi also rose to their feet and spoke up.
Though their attitude wasn't quite as overbearing as Chu Hongyi's, their words were still brimming with blame.
"So by your logic, I was wrong to save them back then?"
"You stood by and did nothing while they were dying, and now you're blaming me for intervening?"
Chu Feng pointed toward the clansmen nearby — the ones he had rescued from the Burning Sky Demon Clan — and posed the question.
"If you had just held back, maybe everything would have blown over. We're inside the Ancestral Martial Cultivation Realm anyway — we can't actually die."
Someone spoke up, and he said it with such conviction, as though what he was stating was the absolute truth.
"Right, we can't die. Since we can't die, then why don't you put this rope back on?" Chu Feng pointed at the severed fire ropes on the ground and asked.
"I..." That person's expression shifted, unsure of how to respond. Those fire ropes were instruments of torture — the flames looked simple enough, but they could actually burn the soul. The agony of having his body continuously scorched was something he never wanted to experience again.
"If it had been you who were tortured back then, should I have stayed out of it as well? Even if you had been tormented to the point of mental collapse, driven mad for the rest of your lives, I shouldn't have intervened?" Chu Feng asked once more.
This time, not only did those who had previously berated Chu Feng fall silent, but even those who had only shown traces of blame on their faces now wore expressions of deep shame.
If it had been them in that situation, they naturally would have hoped for someone to save them. After all, no one wanted to become a lunatic.
"Chu Hongyi, it was you who previously led our clansmen into the Burning Sky Demon Clan's territory, which resulted in our people being captured, publicly tortured and humiliated by the Burning Sky Demon Clan."