Chapter 1262: Deep-Seated Hatred
It took Ma Ling about ten minutes to recount the entire incident, detailing everything that had transpired.
It turned out that the reason the Corpse Sect had attacked the Ma Family back then was because they coveted the Ma Family's unique methods of Corpse Driving and Corpse Rearing.
Although the Ma Family were exorcists and not members of the Corpse Sect, they were renowned for their effectiveness against zombies. Their reputation had spread throughout Ancheng and even into neighboring cities, where their formidable abilities in this field were widely known; it was no exaggeration to say they were famous far and wide.
However, many outsiders only knew of the Ma Family's prowess in combating zombies, but were unaware of their equally strong capabilities in Corpse Rearing and Corpse Driving. It was precisely this secret knowledge that brought about their family's demise.
The individual from the Corpse Sect had learned that the Ma Family not only excelled at dealing with zombies but also possessed unique methods for Corpse Rearing and Corpse Driving. This sparked his malevolent intent, as he desired to seize all the Ma Family's secret manuals and information for himself.
Naturally, the Ma Family had no intention of handing over these secret manuals and records. These documents included ancestral legacies, as well as knowledge they had painstakingly acquired and compiled. They were, in essence, the culmination of generations of the Ma Family's hard work and dedication, and it was unthinkable for them to surrender them.
Since the Ma Family was unwilling to surrender their secret manuals and various compiled materials, the Corpse Sect member naturally would not give up. Though the Ma Family had some renown, he did not hold them in high regard. If the Ma Family refused to hand over what he desired willingly, he would simply take it by force.
Faced with this individual's aggression, the Ma Family naturally refused to surrender. However, the disparity in strength between the two sides was immense. Thus, despite the Ma Family's fierce resistance, they did not emerge victorious. Instead, they were brutally slaughtered one after another by this person, their souls even being scattered. This demonstrated the perpetrator's ruthless brutality.
Ma Ling's survival was an exception, as she managed to save her life because the Ma Family had secretly set up a small teleportation array long ago. Its purpose was obvious: to cope with irresistible sudden disasters. Should the Ma Family truly encounter such a catastrophe, they would at least have a path of escape. To put it plainly, this teleportation array was for their escape in critical moments.
Before the confrontation, the Ma Family had sensed that their opponent was formidable, but they did not believe they were utterly incapable of resisting. They even thought that with proper tactics and coordinated use of various formations, it might be possible to severely wound their enemy.
If they could repel the attacker, their family's reputation would not only be preserved, but they would also serve as a warning to intruders: the Ma Family was no mere "embroidered pillow" – no random cat or dog should think of bothering them or trying to steal their belongings.
Once the two sides engaged, the opponent unleashed his full power. Only then did the Ma Family realize that this person's strength was far beyond their ability to handle, even if their entire family combined their efforts. Not only could they not severely wound him, but they couldn't even withstand his assault. In a single exchange, they lost a family member.
The power displayed by their opponent made it clear to the Ma Family that they simply could not contend with him. At that moment, they all conceived the idea of escaping through the secret teleportation array.
They thought it, and they acted on it. However, the opponent seemed to have discerned their intent to flee and gave them no such opportunity.
In such circumstances, the Ma Family knew it was impossible for everyone to survive, so they unanimously placed their last hope of survival on Ma Ling.
Ma Ling was the Ma Family's "precious darling. " Thus, at this final critical juncture, they were willing to sacrifice themselves to buy Ma Ling time to escape, holding back their opponent with their lives. However, Ma Ling was not the kind of person who would abandon her family for her own survival. She did not want to escape alone through the teleportation array. Her thought at the time was simple: either escape with her family, or fight to the death with them, even if it meant "Soul Transformation" in the end!
Ma Ling's lack of cooperation doubled the pressure on the Ma Family. They knew clearly that if Ma Ling continued to resist, even her last shred of hope for escape would be shattered.
In this situation, Ma Ling's second brother, Ma Yu, decisively took action. Catching Ma Ling off guard, he forcefully knocked her unconscious and, without the slightest hesitation, sent her into the teleportation array.
In the blink of an eye, Ma Ling vanished within the teleportation array. The moment Ma Ling disappeared, Ma Yu wasted no time and immediately destroyed the teleportation array. His action was, of course, to prevent the Corpse Sect member from using the array to find the unconscious Ma Ling.
In Ma Yu's eyes at the time, as long as the teleportation array was destroyed, the Corpse Sect member, no matter how powerful, could not discover Ma Ling's whereabouts, and Ma Ling would thus save her life.
Although Ma Yu's action made Ma Ling's situation safe, it cut off the escape route for the rest of the Ma Family. However, no one in the Ma Family blamed Ma Yu, because Ma Yu's action was exactly what they wanted. If they were in Ma Yu's position, they would have also chosen to do the same without hesitation, because only by doing so could Ma Ling be truly protected.
If they hadn't done this, their Ma Family would certainly have been wiped out by this Corpse Sect member, and that was not the outcome they wanted to see. So they all approved of Ma Yu's action and naturally would not blame him for cutting off everyone's escape route.
Moreover, even without destroying the teleportation array, they had no hope of stepping into it, because the opponent would not give them such an opportunity. They had already used all their means and strength to successfully send Ma Ling into the teleportation array; being "an arrow at the end of its flight," they simply had no power left to send anyone else into the array.
No miracle occurred. Not long after Ma Yu sent his beloved younger sister into the teleportation array, the rest of the Ma Family tragically died at the opponent's hands. The entire process took only a few short minutes.
Without exception, every member of the Ma Family suffered "Soul Transformation. " Conversely, the Corpse Sect member sustained little damage. Even the combined and desperate efforts of the Ma Family failed to seriously wound him. This clearly showed the immense disparity in their strength. If not for the opponent's carelessness, Ma Ling could not have been successfully sent into the teleportation array, nor could the array have been successfully destroyed by Ma Yu. It is no exaggeration to say that Ma Ling's survival was purely good fortune.
Ma Ling did not know how long she had been unconscious. When she groggily awoke from her stupor, she found herself lying in the teleportation array, but the array was dim and emitted no power fluctuations whatsoever.
As her mind restarted, the events before her unconsciousness flashed through her memory. She recalled everything that had happened and quickly tried to activate the teleportation array, hoping to reactivate it and return to the other end to save her family. Even if she lacked the ability, she was willing to die alongside them. However, no matter how she tried to activate the teleportation array beneath her, it remained unresponsive.
She was well-versed in the Way of Formations, and furthermore, this teleportation array was a creation of her own Ma Family, so there was no possibility that she didn't know how to activate it. The fact that the teleportation array remained unresponsive to her activation could only mean one thing in her mind: the other end of the teleportation array had been destroyed.
Although she had been unconscious when the teleportation array was destroyed by Ma Yu, a moment's thought allowed her to guess that it must have been someone from her Ma Family who destroyed the array, the purpose naturally being to protect her and prevent the Corpse Sect member from finding her. Conversely, the Corpse Sect member had no reason whatsoever to destroy the teleportation array.
Unable to return via the teleportation array, Ma Ling did not give up. Disregarding her injuries, she endured her physical weakness and tore through space, then teleported back to the location of the other end of the array. By the time she arrived, the murderer had long vanished, leaving only her relatives—now mere incomplete corpses, their souls gone.
Ma Ling was utterly stunned, her mind a blank. She sat motionless, like a statue.
She didn't know how long it was before she emerged from that despairing state. The first thing she did after recovering was to collect her family's remains, and then she swore a solemn oath: throughout her life, she would use every means necessary to avenge her deceased family.
After that, she began investigating the identity of the person that day while simultaneously seeking opportunities to strike at the Corpse Sect. The intense hatred in her heart made her want not only to eliminate that individual but also every member of the Corpse Sect; in her eyes, they were all her Ma Family's enemies, and they all deserved to die!
Gradually, she successfully uncovered the identity of the person from that day. During this period, more and more Corpse Sect disciples died by her hand. However, at that time, the Corpse Sect still had branches in various locations, and the disciples who died at her hands belonged to these branches, and more than one. Therefore, the matter did not cause much impact then, nor did it attract the attention of the Corpse Sect's higher echelons.
Later, when the Corpse Sect consolidated its power and relocated to Tong Continent, she secretly followed them there. Because that person's strength was too great, she was not yet his match, so she could still only target the Corpse Sect's disciples.
However, she would occasionally strike at weaker high-ranking members. Over time, the excessive number of mysterious disappearances within the Corpse Sect, coupled with her inability to execute every act flawlessly, eventually led to the Corpse Sect discovering clues. This time, before she could assassinate her target, she was instead trapped within a restrictive barrier by the Corpse Sect's ambush. Had Yang Haoran and Zhong Siyu not arrived, she would certainly have lost her life this time.
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