Chapter 541: The Last Hope
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After all that he had heard, Yun Yang began to pick up a relatively clearer trail of hints – while the Four Seasons Tower had opened fire at the Concourse of the Underworld and was winning, Venerable Lord Ice had suffered from serious injuries from the battle and was brought away by his own people. Venerable Lord Ice had thought that what awaited him was salvage only to be greeted with a nightmare. The reality was that the Four Seasons Tower's relief arm had confirmed that Venerable Lord Ice had no more hope at surviving and decided to strain his soul and retrieve the Bone of the Ice God nourished within him.
Venerable Lord Ice had refused to accept his fate and retaliated with all his might. With the help of his two brothers, he managed to escape, albeit in a tattered state. A fortunate escape could never change the critical situation, though; the Four Seasons Tower's fatal pursuit would never stop, it was destined to last until his death.
Venerable Lord Ice was more than aware of this point; at the same time, the guilt for his son was also another push factor that brought him to Tiantang City in the last legs of his life.
Yun Yang's unintentional intrusion was timely, causing a twist to the story. It might be his accidental intervention that had caused Venerable Lord Ice to have other thoughts in his impasse. Just like the latter had thought, he had given everything for the Four Seasons Tower, even the happiness of his son's family. Ultimately, he had only been taken as a disposable chess piece. The rage that wracked him, hopeless despair and the tower's colossus might as well as terror rendered his inability to obtain revenge, despite having the intention. However, Yun Yang's surprise entrance and the sudden switch of stances gave birth to this moment – a submission due to 'coercion', a complete unveiling of the Four Seasons Tower's biggest secret.
Yun Yang sighed. A tough character like Venerable Lord Ice would never easily submit; what he said was only limited to what he wanted to say. Even if Yun Yang had not threatened him, he would have told him everything anyway. On the contrary, no matter how Yun Yang threatened and oppressed him, it would be meaningless if he did not wish to say anything!
Since the thought process was now clear, the most important question was instead whether what Venerable Lord Ice had said was true. Yun Yang analyzed the situation with utmost concentration and concluded that more than a ninth of what Venerable Lord Ice said should be true. Still, this truth was further evidence that the Four Seasons Tower's monstrosity was limitless.
The fact that someone so mighty like Venerable Lord Ice was only a very, very minuscule presence, a disposable existence proved that the exact capacity of the tower could only be unimaginable!
At the same time, as Yun Yang digested this surprising information, his heart was further chilled. This was not at all relevant to Yue Rulan; where had she gone to? What could have become of her after these few days? Yun Yang did not even dare contemplate the question further.
"Knowing these now, you now know the Four Seasons Tower's biggest secret. Go along this direction, and you'll know even more, maybe even things that we don't know either…"
Venerable Lord Ice said in desperation, "I know that you want to know more, where the headquarter is, the location of each operation… but not even us brothers know about them."
"Come to think of it, we've been calling ourselves seniors of the martial world in vain. Since we become the Four Seasons Tower's Venerable Lords, more than ninety-nine percent of the time is spent in the Venerable Lord Hall or waiting for orders or practicing our skills… We thought that we would eventually become supreme rulers somewhere, a character who conquers… We would never think that we were only pathetic people who don't even qualify to enter the main quarter!"
Yun Yang kept silent.
Indeed, Venerable Lord Ice and the rest of the Five Venerable Lords had lived rather tragic lives.
They had thought their positions to be venerable, high and mighty, beneath the tower's head Mr. Nian; their future was anticipated, being authoritative and immortal were only matters of course. Yet everything was a trap; they had been utilized, and they had abandoned their families for this temptation and beautiful hope, contributing a lifetime of loyalty to the Four Seasons Tower. Ultimately, they had thrown in not only themselves but everything of their families as well.
At the end of the end, when they had gotten to the end of their lives, only then did they realize the truth; that their lifetime of effort was only to be someone else's stepping stone – that was all there was to it!
What could they do when they found out? Everything was too late, there was no turning back. They were already alone in this world. Their wives, their children, their families… everything had been destroyed by their own hands! It was too late.
Such tragedy was akin to concentrating the world's worst fates into one. What was even more tragic was that Venerable Lord Ice was no longer able to plot his revenge; he could only accept this fate passively, as nothing more could be done. This was the most tragic of fates!
Yun Yang sighed. Looking at Venerable Lord Ice's withered form in the snow again, the resentment filling him had already vanished. He said in a low voice, "When Marshal Yang was about to pass, I've asked him who his father was. Where was he? But Marshal Yang only said one thing."
Venerable Lord Ice stepped forward emotionally as he asked with a trembling voice, "What… did Tao'er say?"
"He said… even if he was wrong and had committed so many heinous sins, he's still my biological father! I can't betray him!" Yun Yang uttered faintly with closed eyes.
"Tao'er!"
Venerable Lord Ice trembled once he heard Yun Yang. His already pale face drained of color completely as he cried out in agony. He spat a mouthful of blood thirty feet away.
"Even if he was wrong and had committed so many heinous sins, he's still my biological father!"
"I can't betray him!"
These were his son's last words to him! The last act of filial piety! What right did he have as a father to cherish this last filial act of his son?
"I have no right to be your father…" Venerable Lord Ice fell into a trance once he heard his son's last words. Yang Botao's words before his death were like a sharp, burning, red knife that stabbed right into his most tender part, shattering and crushing him.
Yun Yang sighed softly and asked, "Is this the cenotaph you've built for Marshal Yang?"
Venerable Lord Ice could not satisfactorily express his regret, punching the ground with his trembling fist. "How can I be gifted with the joy of building a cenotaph for my son, being such a failure of a father? These are the silver taels, banknotes, and gold that Tao'er gave me when he urged me to leave…"
He sobbed, entering a state of frenzy, shrieking incoherently, "Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry!"
It was at this moment that Yun Yang's ears perked up; some other people were about to arrive. There were vague human noises from somewhere far from them amidst the snow, but they were obviously headed in their direction. Listening to the fluttering sound of clothes, not only were these people rather skilled, it seemed that there were quite a number of them!
It seemed that a team of experts was about to arrive.
On the other hand, Venerable Lord Ice was in an unhinged state now, sobbing while hugging the cenotaph, incapable of any other action.
Yun Yang frowned, and gently called out to the distraught man, "Someone's coming!"
Venerable Lord Ice was still weeping as if he had not heard anything Yun Yang had said. Yun Yang spoke again, "Before Yang Botao died, his mistress had made arrangements… to send their young son away."
Venerable Lord Ice was already disorientated but Yun Yang would not let him fall into a deeper state of insensibility! Never!
Venerable Lord Ice, who was in an irrational condition, lifted his head and trained his eyes on Yun Yang, speaking in disbelief, "What did you say? What did you say…"