Chapter 471: Baseless Accusations
Morning light illuminated the Snow God Sect’s headquarters, casting a stark contrast against the destruction from the previous night’s brutal battle.
Though the sect had many superhumans and had gained experience fighting the undead, lives were still lost. However, the casualty numbers had begun to decline.
After his meeting with Bian Junwu, Zheng Yixian returned to the Snow God Sect’s base and began overseeing the relocation of non-combat personnel.
Their new shelter was the underground parking structures, with all entrances securely sealed, leaving only combat-capable members above ground to defend them.
In the past, the sect had tried moving people to higher floors of buildings and cutting off access to the lower levels. Yet the zombies, unbound by physical limitations, climbed dozens of meters to reach their prey. That mistake had cost them dearly, but they’d learned their lesson.
The area around St. John’s Cathedral was a desolate wasteland. The dawn brought no sense of renewal, only stark visibility to the carnage—a grisly mix of human corpses, zombies, and giant rats littered the surroundings.
Exhausted sect members worked tirelessly to clear the battlefield.
The corpses had to be moved to a nearby abandoned building, where they would be consumed by the bloodvine. Leaving them exposed risked the recently dead transforming into new zombies.
Amid this chaos, Father Li Jian, a priest of some standing within the sect, searched frantically alongside his wife, Zhang Jianfang.
The previous night’s battle had separated them from their son, Li Kaile. Now, they scoured the battlefield, their desperation mounting.
“Where could Kaile have gone?!” Zhang Jianfang’s voice was tinged with panic.
Their son had gone missing after recklessly rushing off to find his girlfriend, Xu Beibei, despite the danger and his parents’ protests.
Now, amid the sea of corpses, Zhang Jianfang feared the worst.
“Kaile!” she called, her voice trembling.
Li Jian, his expression grim, asked every sect member he passed if they had seen his son, but no one had time for their plight.
Then, as Li Jian rounded a corner near the ruins of a building, he froze, his blood running cold.
In the shadow of the rubble lay Li Kaile, drenched in blood. His lower body was soaked in dark red, and he lay motionless on the ground.
Standing over him was Sect Leader Yuan Kongye, her hand gripping a bloodstained dagger. Her face was calm, but her gaze betrayed a twisted struggle.
For a moment, Li Jian’s mind went blank.
Then his instincts as a father took over.
“Kaile!” he roared, charging toward them.
Without turning her head, Yuan Kongye raised her left hand.
A powerful force sent Li Jian flying backward, landing heavily five meters away.
Zhang Jianfang, arriving moments later, saw her husband crumpled on the ground and her son bleeding beneath the sect leader. Her face turned ghostly pale.
“This filth...” Yuan Kongye muttered, staring at Li Kaile with a look of cold disdain. “You must be purified.”
Her words plunged Li Jian and Zhang Jianfang into despair.
Why? Why would the revered sect leader harm their son?
As if answering their silent pleas, High Priest Zheng Yixian appeared.
Surveying the scene, he frowned slightly before striding toward Yuan Kongye.
Towering over her, Zheng Yixian opened his cloak and enveloped her in a protective embrace.
Yuan Kongye’s tense body remained rigid, but the madness in her eyes began to subside.
“Original sin is unforgivable,” she murmured. “I am helping him.”
“I know. You’ve done nothing wrong,” Zheng Yixian reassured her gently, allowing her to keep the dagger as he led her away.
Li Jian and Zhang Jianfang could only watch helplessly as the two figures disappeared into the distance.
Swallowing their fury and confusion, they scrambled to their son’s side.
Li Kaile was unconscious, his face pale as paper. His lower body was drenched in blood, though his upper body bore no fatal wounds.
Li Jian’s expression darkened as he pieced the situation together.
The purification ritual.
He’d heard whispers about the Snow God Sect’s initiation practices, particularly the “cleansing” of young boys.
As a superhuman serving the sect, he had hoped his son would be spared this fate. But now, it seemed inevitable.
Though devastated, they found solace in the fact that Li Kaile was alive. Yuan Kongye had stopped the bleeding after the ritual, but the emotional scars would remain.
How would their son face the world when he awoke?
Tears streamed down their faces as a storm of emotions—grief, anger, and helplessness—overwhelmed them.
From a distance, Zhang Jianfang spotted a figure huddled in a shadowy corner.
It was Xu Beibei, trembling and curled into herself, clutching her knees.
Zhang Jianfang clenched her fists and shouted, “Xu Beibei! What happened here? Why did the sect leader harm my son? Was it because of you?”
Xu Beibei, already in tears, shook her head frantically.
“I... I didn’t do anything!” she stammered, her voice choked with sobs.
“After we escaped, he kissed me. That’s when the sect leader saw us, and... and then she...”
Her voice broke as the memory flooded back, her sobs intensifying.
Zhang Jianfang’s anger flared, but seeing the girl’s misery, she was left with more questions than answers.
What had driven Yuan Kongye to such extremes?