Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1167 Is there a worse fate

1167: Is there a worse fate?

1167: Is there a worse fate?

“As I mentioned before, in the beginning, our focus was on the Chi family rather than the Ning family, even though they posed a greater threat,” Xia Fang continued.

“Even when they became the ones to spearhead the attack, we never considered them a real danger—because, on the surface, they never did anything to warrant that level of concern.”

“Their uninjured palace realm expert never directly engaged the formation barrier, instead opting to use hit-and-run tactics against it.

And when that proved not to be enough, they used a few talismans here and there, along with other measures which fell within the ‘acceptable’ range of what we would expect a family with a foundation like theirs to have.

They never did anything that seemed out of place,” Xia Fang explained.

“And when the two palace realm experts from the Chi family recovered so quickly, it only reinforced our belief that they were the ones we needed to focus on.

Meanwhile, we barely noticed the true threat hiding in plain sight,” said Xia Fang as she helplessly shook her head.

“When we looked back at it, though it was small, the clues that pointed to them were there; it is just that we never bothered to look deep enough.

At the time, it didn’t strike as strange how that one early-stage palace realm expert had managed to dodge the formation diagram’s power for a whole ten years despite handling it alone.

And then there was the fact that he kept up a continuous use of palace realm talismans.

The clan dismissed the first as luck, attributing it to his hit-and-run tactics and the fact that our formation diagram wasn’t operating at full capacity.

As for the second, despite the sheer number of talismans he used, we assumed they were supplied collectively by all three clans.

In reality, it was the Ning family, with sponsorship from that prince of the Song Kingdom,” Xia Fang said, her gaze turning distant.

“Our window of noticing anything slipped away the moment the Chi and Fan families joined the fray.

Besieged by seven palace realm experts, we barely had the attention to spare for anything else,” Xia Fang said, a hollow laugh escaping her lips.

“Without the element of surprise on our side anymore, and with the Ning family’s secret support funneling through, even fatally injuring just one of those seven proved to be an impossible task.

Instead, we were the ones suffering fatalities,” she said somberly.

“Those seven palace realm experts were relentless in their attacks, rotating so that not a single day passed without the formation diagram being under constant bombardment—either by the experts themselves or by the talismans the Song Kingdom was supplying to them.

The continuous assault put immense stress on the diagram, and the burden of maintaining it meant the nodes had to overextend themselves, especially without a palace realm expert to anchor the core.

The nodes kept dying under that strain and getting replaced, dying, and getting replaced, as our situation got graver and graver with the continuous deaths we suffered, and our already dwindling resources got consumed at an alarming rate as a result of it,” Xia Fang said, her expression heavy with exhaustion.

Xia Fang looked at Yang Qing, her eyes clouded with a dark gray haze as if hiding something eerie within them.

“By the time I was born, our clan—once boasting a population of 47,000—had dwindled to just 6,000.”

“Some perished in failed tribulations.

Others fell to their heart demons, unable to withstand the unending nightmare we lived under.

And then there were those… who weren’t nodes but still sacrificed themselves to buy the clan more time.

They stepped beyond the formation barrier, choosing to self-detonate in an attempt to take the enemy down with them.”

A bleak smile formed on her lips, tinged with both sorrow and gratitude.

“In fact, about half of those we lost went out that way.”

Her mother had been among them.

So had several close relatives.

“It didn’t manage to injure a single one of their palace realm experts,” Xia Fang continued, her voice quieter.

“But it was enough to make them wary, to force them to slow their attacks—even if only for a short while.”

She let out a slow breath before speaking again.

“But things…” Her gaze dropped to the tea in her hands.

“Took a turn for the worse when the three clans produced two more palace realm experts during that time.

One from the Ning family, the other from the Fan family.

That brought their numbers up to an even nine—three on each side.”

“A good portion of our remaining clan members died during that period, as their combined attacks finally began to slip through the formation…”

Her voice grew softer, slower, her gaze turning distant.

She pressed her lips together, which quivered slightly.

That, and the furrows on her brow, made her look like someone hesitant about something grave.

“Because of how bad things were at the time…” she continued, her voice barely above a whisper.

“There were those in the clan who reached their limits…”

The forced smile she had on did little to mask the emptiness in her eyes.

Even without her saying it outright, Yang Qing could already guess where this was headed.

That dead look in her gaze told him everything.

“To reduce their losses, the three retainer clans tried to sow dissension within our ranks by promising to spare the lives of those who surrendered,” Xia Fang said slowly.

Figures…

Yang Qing thought, his suspicions confirmed.

“At first, when the clan was still fired up, no one listened.

But as things grew darker, as our numbers kept dwindling, that promise started to sound…

tempting.

It wasn’t long before it gained a solid foothold in the clan.”

She exhaled softly, her voice growing faint.

“We already had enough on our plate dealing with the three retainer clans.

We couldn’t afford to fight among ourselves, too…

But that fight came whether we wanted it to or not.”

There was a long pause before she continued.

“We only managed to weather through it because my grandfather broke through to the Palace Realm, pulling the situation back from the brink.

But…” She trailed off, pressing her lips together as if trying to contain the pain.

“The damage from that period…” She shook her head slightly, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks.

“It was far worse than anything those three clans—or that rogue cultivator’s son—ever did to us.”

“Can you imagine…” she said softly, her gaze locking onto Yang Qing.

“Having relentless enemies constantly beating the drums of annihilation outside, clamoring to slaughter you.

Watch your own people die in the midst of it.

Watching those you held in high regard slowly break down, becoming hollow husks of themselves.

The stench of death, fear, desperation, and despair all around you, all the time.

And then…” She let out a weak, bitter smile.

“As if that wasn’t horrific enough, seeing your own turning on each other in the midst of it all.”

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s too cruel,” she murmured, as though those words had drained the last of her strength—even from her soul.

“Living in constant fear of the enemies outside… and now, inside.”

Her hands trembled slightly as she lowered her gaze.

“And from your own, no less…”

She looked up again, her expression hollow, despair reflected in her eyes.

“Is there a worse fate?”