Chapter 296: Unconcerned with Life and Death
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT , Rock
Ling Tian stared directly at Ye BaiFei, sincerely speaking, "Definitely not! It was an order given down by one of my underlings. If it was me, then I would have silenced you on the spot, without giving you any chance! Brother Ye, I would never have captured you alive." A look of understanding appeared in his eyes, "Because I know that to someone of your caliber, that is an insult! I'll never insult an opponent that I respect." As he spoke that, he looked at Ling Chen, and her face reddened as she lowered her head in guilt.
Ye BaiFei let out a genuine laugh, "Thanks!"
Ling Tian, however, remained silent for a while more, finally saying, "There's no need for thanks! Because you are Ye BaiFei! Golden Leaves BaiFei!"
Ye BaiFei smiled in satisfaction, with a hint of pride, "That's right. I'm Golden Leaves BaiFei! Just as you are Ling Tian, the Ling Tian who wishes to overcome the Heavens themselves!" He looked at Ling Tian with a few extra points of appreciation, and this was the first time he stared directly at him since Ling Tian walked in! "I might not be as good as you, but there's one point, and that is the fact I will not concede defeat."
Ling Tian slowly nodded, "That's right, Brother Ye's demeanor really leaves one full of respect."
Using a much calmer tone, Ye BaiFei confided, "As such, your last sentence has no need for an answer."
Ling Tian sighed loudly in reply, "Yes! While I knew it was futile, I had to ask. If I didn't ask, it would be a huge regret in my life!"
Ye BaiFei turned around and spoke in a soft voice, "Since that's the case, Brother Ye will not see young noble Ling off."
Ling Tian laughed loudly as he replied, "Then let me give you some final words of parting: If there's a next life, then let us meet again as opponents! The road to the Yellow River is long, Ling Tian shall not see you off!"
"If there's a next life, let us meet again as opponents!" Ye BaiFei silently repeated these words, and laughed out, shouting, "You too! He who understands me, Ling Tian!"
A tremor suddenly passed through his body, and Ye BaiFei found that all his internal energy that had been sealed was suddenly unlocked. A look of appreciation and gratitude passed across his face, and when he turned around, he found out that only he was left in the chamber.
Looking at the chamber door which was left ajar without any guards, he sincerely whispered, "Thank you, Ling Tian! If there's a next life, maybe we might not be enemies, but bosom friends!"
On the journey back, Ling Tian had a heavy expression. Ling Chen finally couldn't take it anymore and curiously asked, "Young noble, just now when you were talking to Ye BaiFei, I didn't understand a single word you spoke to him."
Ling Tian halted in his steps, sighing, "Chen'er, while Ye BaiFei might not be a good person and even could be considered a heartless killer, he is, in the end, a hero!"
Ling Chen was stunned into silence. Since he was no good person, how could he still be a hero?
"Not every good person is definitely a hero," Ling Tian mused. "Just as not every evildoer is a villain! There would always exist anomalies! And for a hero, he has his own moral principles that we can't shame or cross!"
Hurried footsteps could be heard from afar, and Ling Tian seemed to have felt something, as his face changed and he stiffened.
A bloke full of sweat rushed over, going down on one knee as he reported, "Young noble, this servant has just discovered that the secret chamber was left unlocked, and inside, Ye BaiFei had committed suicide by destroying all his meridians!"
Ling Chen let out an 'ah' in shock, not knowing what to do.
Ling Tian had on an icy expression. He suddenly turned, staring up at the sky as though recalling something, but also looking as though he was sending something. At where he stared, clouds lazily floated by, serene and beautiful. At this point, he solemnly spat out the two words, "Bury him!" Then strode off. Ling Chen followed tightly.
"Yes!" The black-robed bloke inclined his head in respect, then stood back up.
"The turbulent river water flows east, and the waves carry away the heroes; looking back, all the successes and failures of life seem empty. The mountains still remain green, but the sun has risen and set many times!" Ling Tian seemed to be in a bleak mental state, composing such a poem as he walked through the courtyard. After this, however, he gave an easy smile, shaking his head as he muttered, "Let this poem be a sincere gift to Ye BaiFei!"
Ling Chen muttered the poem to herself and found out that while the poem sounded all-encompassing, it had with it a few points of being detached from all worldly affairs. She couldn't help but feel worried, glancing at Ling Tian. This was the first time in a decade that Ling Chen felt a sense of uncertainty from Ling Tian, as though his previous mentality of being able to do anything he wished had disappeared.
Noticing Ling Chen's gaze on him, Ling Tian couldn't help but pat her head, ruffling her hair as he lightly spoke, "You won't be able to understand. As a woman, there are things that we men do you will not understand, and neither will I allow my loved ones to worry about such matters!"
Ehh… Ling Chen felt like she was being exposed to some esoteric concept. You guys are obviously men, and I'm a woman, why are you affirming that? But hearing Ling Tian speak of her as 'his loved ones', she felt a sense of sweetness fill her heart, and immediately threw all irrelevant thoughts out of her mind!
Seeing the cute expression of Ling Chen blinking her eyes in confusion, Ling Tian laughed out, wiping off the depressed feelings he had a while ago. He pulled Ling Chen into his arms and beamed, "You silly girl, let's go, we'll go see how the Miss from the Shui Family is doing!"
Shui QianRou sat silently in her chamber with half-closed eyes and a haggard look on her face. Ever since she stepped into this place, many physicians had tended to her injury, and forced down quite a few medicines into her throat, so she could clearly feel that her wound was already in the process of recovering, the pain already much less. Die'er sat beside her silently, fretting over the expression of her miss, but not making any noise. Instead, her eyes moved nonstop, as though thinking of something. After being taught a lesson by Ling Tian that day, she no longer tried to scream and yell any longer!
Inside the chamber, there were not only beds and couches but also clean blankets as well as tables and chairs. There was even clean hot water as well as cups. Evidently, the Ling Family still treated this young miss quite kindly.
However, in Shui QianRou's heart, it was like the waves crashing onto a beach, billowing high as she constantly repeated the harsh words which Ling Tian spat out to her! 'What did I do wrong? Did I really do something wrong? No! I didn't do anything wrong, all of this was done for the sake of my family's benefit, how is that wrong? But no! I really am wrong, I've long lost my original purpose, and I've never done anything in my own name, with my own intentions!'
With the two sides of Shui QianRou warring with each other inside her mind, switching from thought to thought, this caused her to be tortured to no end, and to be muddle-headed. She actually couldn't make heads or tails of what she was thinking about.
A whole day and night had already past, and she appeared to have become a walking sack of meat, to the point where she had to require help from treatment and bandaging, all the way to eating and drinking where Die'er had to feed her. Such was the shock she received when she realized that she had never done anything on her own before and that she had always been manipulated from behind the scenes.
"Miss Shui, how are you feeling? Is the service provided here still adequate?" Suddenly, a familiar yet foreign voice pulled the half-conscious Shui QianRou back to reality. She sharply opened her eyes! That disgusting voice! And the disgusting owner of that disgusting voice! Ling Tian, you b*st*rd! You're finally here!
"Ling Tian!" Shui QianRou's voice sounded like she was speaking through clenched teeth. "What have I done wrong? To deserve a scolding like that? Who do you think you are? This lady here has never done any foul play! Yes, I admit that I like you! But liking is one matter, and my personal stand is different from my family's stand! Since we are enemies, when the time comes for me to kill, then I will kill! Who are you to lecture me?! My life and my everything has long been handed to my family, and to sacrifice myself to complete the task, where am I wrong?!"
Shui QianRou was so agitated, her pale face was flushed abnormally red. "You think you're some lofty person? Don't bring feelings into this matter! Ling Tian, let me ask you, even if you love a woman, would you betray your family for her? Can you do that? If you can't then who are you to judge others, you hypocrite!"
Ling Tian stopped in shock, what was wrong with this lass? Spitting out so much when they just met? Did those doctors feed her gunpowder for medicine?
However, Ling Tian was not aware that while Shui QianRou didn't consume any gunpowder, she was filled with such thoughts for the whole day and night! And furthermore, she was warring against whatever Ling Tian had spoken in her mind! The more she thought, the more she decided that she had no fault whatsoever, and upon seeing Ling Tian, she exploded like a volcano that had an atomic bomb thrown in it. Only when she had finished speaking out all that was on her mind did she finally slump onto the bed, bereft of energy.
Ling Tian replied calmly, "You're not in the wrong! In your viewpoint, you're absolutely correct. To willingly sacrifice for your family, to put in all your effort, how is that wrong? At least, to your family, that is absolutely correct, and you would be considered prestigious, your family is immensely proud of you! I've never once said that your viewpoint was wrong!" A cold smile then surfaced as he continued, "But, in MY viewpoint, you're gravely mistaken! What do you think?!"
"You are the Water of Heavenly Wind, situated on the far Heavenly Wind Continent. Other than the Yu Family with whom you have a grudge, you have no grudge with any others on Heavenly Star Continent, am I right?" Ling Tian's tone got colder.
Shui QianRou reluctantly lifted up her head, "And what has that got to do with anything?"
"What has that got to do with anything?" Ling Tian repeated her words, laughing out, "You invaded Heavenly Star Continent, not purely for the Yu Family, wasn't it? Your first mistake, and greatest, was to provoke me, Ling Tian! We had no enmity, but you just had to go over to collude with Northern Wei and Sky Bearing Imperial Court to get rid of my father! Shui QianRou, plotting to assassinate someone whom you have no enmity or feud with, what part of that is correct?"