Chapter 335
The Lin Family .
At the moment, Ling Kuang was even thinner than he had been a month ago . The scraggly beard is already white as frost, without a single strand of black . He was not yet seventy, but looked more haggard than an eighty year old .
All sorts of torture, all sorts of defeats, He has thought about death many times during this period of deep disappointment and hopelessness, but each time, he stopped just before completing the action .
He was not satisfied, how could he be satisfied with things the way they are?
This entire lifetime - what did he give and what did he receive in return?
Riches? Power? Prestige? The turbulence of the past now passes as transient as a cloud, leaving him to face the gloom-shrouded Lin Family . All of this - who was the cause of it all?
Who framed Xiao-er? Was it really Ye WuChen, as the Emperor had said?
If not, then Xiao-er’s death, Zhan-er’s death… . all of them had in truth fallen to the Emperor’s schemes . It must’ve been the Emperor all along .
And for covering up his crimes, the Emperor had told such a simple and heart wrenching lie .
Emperor, what are we to you? Are we just a bunch of disposable slaves? A bunch of dogs that you can beat to death and throw away when we’re no longer obedient or useful? And then you can spread lies to the rest of us that you’d like to keep, manipulating us and binding us to you with lies .
My Emperor, you’re not a fit master for this old man .
He spent the past days turning these thoughts over in his mind . Compared to Long Yin’s ‘heartlessness’ and ‘viciousness’, the question about whether Ye WuChen was the one who harmed Lin Xiao is not so important anymore . As a weary, old man, he no longer has the strength to pursue answers . All of his time was spent mulling over Ling Yin . The complicated mixture of emotions and hatred that he felt towards Long Yin long surpassed anything he might have thought about the one who initially harmed Lin Xiao .
Suddenly, his sight blurred . A flash of silvery white light lit up his sight in its piercing brightness, but Ling Kuang did not startle from the sudden intrusion . Instead, he slowly raised his head, and looked at the person that suddenly appeared in front of him .
“Who are you?” He asked weakly . But as soon as the words left his mouth, his pupils contracted in fear as he took an involuntary step backwards . “You’re… . the Evil Emperor!”
As of the moment, there is not a single person under the sun that didn’t know of the Evil Sect or of the Evil Emperor .
Even if his tired heart felt as still as dead waters, it still pounded heavily in his chest as he caught sight of the Evil Emperor . Lin Kuang’s muddled thoughts became clearer, an automatic reaction to danger . The very air around them became as cold as ice as fear blossomed in his heart, the emotion only becoming stronger as time passed .
Lin Kuang desired death, yet he was afraid of death, because he wasn’t satisfied dying just like this, after losing everything he had . He wasn’t supposed to be such a pathetic and pitiful person .
“It is Us,” the Evil Emperor’s mouth stretched open into a smile as the horrifying sounds came from his mouth . In all his years Lin Kuang has never heard such a terrible voice . As the Evil Emperor spoke, a ghastly Blood Bow appeared on his hand . A single, crimson arrow rested on the bow strong . The tip of the arrow pointed directly at Lin Kuang’s throat .
T/N: he’s using the royal ‘Us’, cause he’s an Emperor
This bow . . . Lin Kuang knew of this bow .
“You want to kill me… . there are no quarrels between us, why do you want to kill me?” Lin Kuang backed another step . The familiar sense of despair swelled up amidst all the fear . Once the Evil Emperor decided on a target, he has never one left an intact corpse behind .
One after the other, these disasters befall the Lin family, but never in his wildest dreams would Lin Kuang have predicted that the Evil Emperor would one day appear in front of him like this .
“We’re not here to kill a person, We are here to slay a dog . ” The Evil Emperor’s smile was cruel and twisted .
“A dog?” This word madd LIn Kuang freeze . This word, he has repeated too many times during the past few days .
“It’s about time to switch up the emperor for the Sky Dragon Country . As the soon to be ex-emperor’s dog, it’s only natural that you get to go first…… . . . haha, it’s an honor to die at the hands of the Evil Emperor, so you should be feeling grateful . Don’t worry, you won’t be lonely at all . After you die, all of the Lin family will follow close behind you, not a single one will be left . ” As the Evil Emperor spoke, a cold, steely glint flashed through his eyes .
Lin Kuang’s pupils constricted even more, shrinking into the size of pinpricks in his fear . All of a sudden, he began to calm down . Even the traces of fright on his face seemed to smooth away . He leaned against the wall and spoke weakly: “The Evil sect has enough power to permeate all corners of this world . If you had wanted to get rid of the Lin family, you would’ve done it without breaking a sweat . As for me, I’m just an insignificant old man - how would someone like me force the mighty Evil Emperor himself into action? You, you wanted to use my relationship to the Emperor, and force me to stage an uprising . ”
The Evil Emperor lowered the Blood Bow in his hands, and laughed uproariously . “ Hahahaha, Lin Kuang, you really didn’t live all those years for nothing . Since you already know what We want, then you must also know what you must do . ”
“The Evil Sect has more than enough power to wipe out the Long family, why would you need my Lin family?” Lin Kuang’s voice was empty as he spoke, staring soullessly ahead . The Long family couldn’t even scare a single God level warrior, much less the Evil Sect, which has four known God level warriors . On top of that, the Evil Sect also has numerous cultivators below the God level . Just as Lin Huang had said, with this type of power, destroying the Long family is easy - there is really no need for the Lin family to do anything .
“We do not have to answer you… . you must be in pain, and hate that Emperor to the bone right? Ha, if you revolt, you will not only get a chance to act on your suppressed anger, but you will also be able to save the lives of the Lin family . We will promise you that . So long as you rebel, We will not touch a single member of the Lin family . If you do not obey, then We will kill them all and destroy their corpses . From the youngest to the oldest member of the Lin family, all will live or die depending on your choice . It’s your move . ”
Lin Kuang laughed humorlessly: “Do I really have a choice at this point? My children and my grandchildren have already died . This old man can either end his pitiful life in pain and sorrow, or I can, just as Second Brother had said, go insane for once… . . that’s the only thing that I can do, in order to properly face my children in the Heavens… . . ”
As he spoke, Lin Kuang suddenly felt a tremendous weight lift from his body, as if the breath held too long in his chest cavity had escaped in one big exhale . Over a decade of loyalty had made him suppress the desire to rebel as much as he could . But now, under the Evil Emperor’s coercion, after he had made this choice, he found that he didn’t mind the idea at all . Instead, he felt as if he had been released from the invisible shackles that had bound him without him noticing .
“Evil Emperor, maybe I should thank you . If you haven’t forced me to, I would’ve never gotten around to making this decision . ” Lin Huang murmured .
The Evil Emperor grinned: “I will create the perfect opportunity for you . ”
Following the promise the body of the Evil Emperor disappeared tracelessly in a flash of white light, going just as he came .
When Ye WuChen returned to his room, Ning Xue was still sleeping quietly .
Upon catching a whiff of his scent, Tong Xin darted towards him to lean against him, staring up at Ye Wuchen silently .
Ye WuChen put the silver mask and the silver robes inside the Sword God Ring (剑神指环), and led Tong Xin to the edge of the bed by Tong Xin’s small hands . Wordlessly, Ye WuChen looked at Ning Xue’s sleeping form for a moment before turning to Tong Xin: “Tong Xin, let’s go outside for a bit . ”
Tong Xin pushed Ye WuChen’s wheelchair along the streets of Sky Dragon City . The other people on the street looked at the pair as they passed . Even though they all knew that Ye WuChen’s body had been crippled, no one can forget that he once was able to produce the “Ashura” miracle . His story spread like fire in Sky Dragon City for three years, and he himself had become a figure in a legend . With such a history, who would dare to look down at him? As Ye WuChen’s wheelchair moved forward, all the passersby moved out of his way to create a clear path for him .
“Ma’am, how much for this hair clip?” Ye WuChen picked up a dainty, black hair clip and toyed with it . The hair clip ws inlaid with a beautiful, black butterfly, and the hair clip itself glowed with a soft, dark light .
The vendor hurried to reply: “It’s my honor to have my product catch young master Ye’s eye, if the young master likes it, then you can go ahead and take it… . ”
T/N: oh my god it’s so late and I’m making stupid errors due to sleep deprivation . Just realized that I’ve been referring to Ye WuChen as ‘young hamster’ instead of ‘young master’ QAQ
“I can’t do that . ” Ye WuChen interrupted with a gentle smile . “You’ve all been working so hard to make a living, coming here to sell your wares in both rain and shine . It doesn’t rest well with my conscience if I just take your stuff without giving anything else in return . ”
“Then, young master Ye it’s fine if you give me one tael of silver . ”
“Such intricate craftsmanship . One tael is too little . ” Ye WuChen reached out and grabbed a handful from the pile of silver he carried wherever he went . Placing the silver in front of the vendor, before pulling Tong Xin to stand in front of him . And just like that, in the middle of the street, he gently helped the girl smooth out her hair, before carefully placing the little hair clip into her hair . The black butterfly rested in her night-colored hair as if it would come to life any moment and flap its wings in flight .
“The best color for my Tong Xin will always be black . ” Ye WuChen cupped her face and smiled as he spoke . That small face was unbelievably cute and delicate, as if carved from the softest jade . Tong Xin has long become Ye WuChen’s shadow, always chasing after him as if bewitched . And now, he can’t imagine a single day without her following behind .
Ye WuChen’s hand caressed her face softly, watching as her eyes glazed over . Ye WuChen could feel a strange gaze behind him . Turning around, Y WuChen caught a little girl staring at him . He felt a growing sense of familiarity at the first sight of her .
Tong Xin still stood rooted to the spot . She felt as if she was being melted . Ye WuChen is the only one in this world that could make her heart stir like this . He’s the only one who could effortlessly cast her into the depths of despair .
The connection between them started from a collision of souls . That’s why they could sense the depths of each other’s hearts, know where the other is even with miles and miles of land between them . A simple hair clip, and the feeling of adoration and fear of losing her that Tong Xin sensed from Ye WuChen, for someone like Tong Xin to whom Ye WuChen was everything, this moment was enough to shake her entire world .
She is not entirely without emotion . Rather, her emotions will only ever stirl for a single person .
Ye WuChen turned to face the little girl . Her hair was done up in twin pigtails, and she wore colorful skirts . Everything from her age and her petite body were similar to Tong Xin . Surprise and elation lit up the youthful face that still held hints of innocence and naivety characteristic of a child . The little girl looked closely at Ye WuChen’s face for a moment, before exclaiming: “Gege! It’s really you! Do you still remember me?”
T/N: idk what to do here, the author literally used ‘petite body’ I felt kind of uncomfortable translating this since I think the little girl is still a child . And btw ‘GeGe’ (哥哥) is the Chinese version of ‘Oppa’ - it’s quite cute, so I left it as is . If you haven’t heard what it sounds like, it’s worth the effort to search it up .
The girls’ words made Ye WuChen even more convinced that he’s met this little girl in the past . Searching in his memory, he finally remembered with a start exactly where he’s seen her before . Smiling, he replied: “Of course MeiMei, isn’t your house on the east side? Why would you come over here?”
T/N: ‘MeiMei’ (妹妹) means ‘little sister’, but is also a cute term by older males as a term of endearment in referring to younger females . Again, I thought that this was a pretty nice part of the Chinese novel experience, so I left it as is .