Chapter 496: Forced to a Corner
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: Rock, DavidT
'Pu pu pu' came the countless sounds, followed by a loud explosion, as those who clashed abruptly separated! Ling Chen and Li Xue stumbled as they retreated, with Ling Chen bleeding from her left arm, shoulder, and chest, staining her originally pure white robes.
Li Xue had help Ling Chen to take the majority of the impact, absorbing practically all the force generated between their collision. The pure internal energy collision was not something that could be nullified easily, and while Li Xue had movement techniques that surpassed Ling Tian, she had no way to dodge in this scenario! While she had no external injuries, the impact her internal organs had suffered was not light. Her tiny mouth opened wide as a huge mouthful of fresh blood was vomited out. Her eyes immediately dimmed, and she had to forcefully will herself to prop up her body.
As for the three NanGongs, the two elders had already turned into pieces of icy slush the moment they were thrown back, filling up the entire sky. Under the frenzied brandishing of Li Xue's sword in retaliation, the two of them suffered from the torture of a thousand cuts to the point that not even a complete skeleton remained! As for NanGong TianHu who had a higher cultivation, because he was ambushing towards the rear of Ling Chen, he was spared the brunt of Li Xue's assault. However, he had eaten the majority of Ling Chen's palms, and as his corpse flew up high, the blood he spat froze into a piece of ice even as he slowly turned into a popsicle in midair!
"Pa!" NanGong TianHu viciously smashed on the ground, but instead of letting out the sound of a low grunt, a crisp shattering sound was heard, as though a porcelain vase had fallen off the roof… under the dumbfounded gazes of all present, NanGong TianHu's body shattered into a multitude of various sized frozen pieces, even the organs being preserved in a perfect state without a single drop of blood flowing out...
Of those surrounding the duo, NanGong Yu had put in the most effort. However, due to her skill being the weakest, she was repelled by the strong counterforce of Li Xue's internal energy even as she threw herself forward. She felt as though her entire body had broken apart, and she was totally unable to even pick herself up. Her hate-filled, venomous eyes finally revealed the look of despair one shows when their armies are routed...
Li Xue had just managed to stand upright when she let out a light cry. Though her voice made the cry sound sweet, the killing intent within was impossible to hide. She immediately threw herself into the crowd of assailants like a whirlwind, beginning her killing. The cry she let out, under the effects of her internal energy, traveled far and wide, and the moment the sound ended, a few tiny specks appeared on the horizon. Those specks were precisely Ling Lei and his group.
With Li Xue's cry awakening her from the stupor, Ling Chen, who had just undergone a baptism of life and death, was determined not to be outdone. She immediately threw herself into the fray as well. Sound after sound of agonized wails could be heard, as the remaining men from the NanGong Family were scared out of their wits by these two ladies, unable to even utilize half of their strength. Everyone only had the thought to run as far as they could, however, under the ghostly movements of these two ladies, who could even escape from them?
On one side, the morale was as high as rainbows, the other as low as a collapsed mountain. There was no way to rewrite history at this point, let alone the fact that there were still reinforcements of the winning side coming over!
Ling Chen retained her usual stance of only ensuring that they were immobilized, but Li Xue was acting strange now, only maiming instead of killing them up front. It was just that the people she injured were all in much worse states as compared to those handled by Ling Chen, with the lightest injury being amputated limbs, turning the people into cripples.
By the time Ling Lei and his group managed to arrive, there were less than ten people who were still standing, and under the tyrannical strength of the Ling group, the entire battlefield took on a completely one-sided victory, with all of the NanGong's people being taken prisoner in just a few moments. Of the 135 people activated in the NanGong Family for the operation this time around, 39 were killed on the spot, leaving 96 alive as prisoners, without even one person escaping!
Looking at Ling Chen's wounds as well as the dismal expression on Li Xue's face, Ling Lei clenched his teeth, furiously staring at the NanGong people who were being gathered into a heap. His eyes looked as though they could spew fire at this very instant!
"Sister Chen, how do we deal with these prisoners?" Ling Lei questioned.
Before Ling Chen could open her mouth, Li Xue's clear voice had already traveled over, "We of course have to deal with them, and it has to be this little sister Ling Chen to personally deal with them, to be considered just! Such despicable people who are worse than beasts, furthermore attempting to shame and humiliate her, shouldn't she herself deal with them to make herself feel better?"
Ling Chen started, and a complex expression surfaced on her face as she carefully spoke, "Why does elder sister say so? This group can be left for Ling Lei to deal with, why do I…"
Li Xue heartless refused her with a wave of her hand, resolutely snapping, "Not this time! I require you to personally act!"
She turned around, facing Ling Chen straight on. "Don't tell me you still wish to run away from this? You need to know that right now, you're not living for only yourself!" Li Xue coldly laughed, as she pointed to the prone NanGong Yu on the ground, "Have you ever thought? If NanGong Yu's plan had succeeded today, do you know what would have happened? Do you know how serious things would have become?"
Ling Chen sighed, she knew that Li Xue made sense, at the same time feeling the anger that she had vented through the fight just now beginning to rise once again. Li Xue was right, the actions of NanGong Yu today could be said to be unpardonable even through death, but she just could not make the final move…
Li Xue coldly snorted as she continued to stare at Ling Chen, "If their plan had succeeded by a fluke, you would have been subjected to an inhumane treatment, the most malicious humiliation in this world, as well as a disaster the likes of which you cannot imagine. On one hand, it would affect all the deployment of the Ling Family Courtyard, and secondly, Tian'ge would go insane when he heard about what happened to you. Under such circumstances, Ling Tian would have no more misgivings, and once he explodes, what do you think everyone will face? To put it in another way, you should understand the feelings Tian'ge has towards you, as well as understand what sort of person he is. He would destroy everything in this world for you, including himself!"
Li Xue replied in a heavy tone, "If the entire Ling Family's influence was to collapse and fall into ruin because of you, causing over ten thousand deaths including your beloved, then how could you still not bear to kill the mastermind behind this whole incident when he or she is in front of you! Is this cowardice or foolishness?! Such 'kind-heartedness', if you continue to maintain this image, sooner or later, you will drag everyone down into hell together with you! I've also said it previously, that you are not just living for yourself now. Your greatest objective in life now is to stay alive for him! Those people who aim to sabotage him or his matters, how should you treat them? This is the time to make such a decision!"
Ling Chen opened her eyes wide in astonishment, a fierce jolt in her heart! She stared at Li Xue in a daze, unconsciously taking a step back in fright.
However, Li Xue continued to pressure her to no end, her eyes seeming to see straight into the depths of her heart. "Do you know why NanGong Yu would choose you of all people instead of choosing others such as Old Madam Ling? It is because you are too soft-hearted! And far too naive! Furthermore, you matter the most to Ling Tian! Of course, the most important thing is that they do not dare. They are afraid to antagonize Ling Tian himself as well as his family members, thus they come after you!"
"Think about just now, if I wasn't by your side. What would have happened to you? Ling Chen! Listen carefully to what I'm going to say next! Such things will become commonplace in the future, where every single influence will think of such methods. However, the operations in the future will not merely consist of this paltry strength that the NanGong Family brought today! And we ultimately can't always be your shadows, following you every single split second. There will be times when you are left alone! Furthermore, once war begins in the future, you will need to take charge of a group! Your excessive tendency to clemency will only lead to a funeral procession for you! A funeral procession for your friends near you, your relatives, your love!"
"If you do not wish to suffer a greater loss from your own misgivings, if you do not wish to become the fatal burden of your loved one, then just becoming strong isn't enough! You need to learn how to be sufficiently ruthless and vicious! Knowing how blood tastes and smells like, knowing how to kill, how to rob someone of their lives! Only then can you become a true stepping stone for him! As such, now, take up your sword, and kill all those present now. Go!"
Clang! Li Xue stretched out her hand, pulling out Ling Chen's sword from the sheath, and reversing her grip, threw it into Ling Chen's right hand, an unforgiving light within her eyes. "Catch!"
Ling Chen subconsciously received the sword, her face turning into a deathly white color even as the sword in her hands began to tremble. The point faced towards an immobile expert of the NanGong Family, and the light refracting off the trembling sword turned it into something similar to a darting snake. Even after a long period of time, the sword was still unable to pierce forward...
For someone who has not killed before, if that person accidentally killed someone, or had killed out of necessity like within a battlefield, they would probably feel a smaller amount of shock. But under the gazes of many, to thrust out a sword and kill someone who had no resistance at all, this sort of visual stimulation was a huge torture to anyone, let out a young lady who had not previously killed!
Cold sweat had already started to appear on the forehead of Ling Chen! She was not at such a loss even during the previous intense battle!
Ling Chen was extremely clear in her heart that following the increase in Ling Tian's strength, he would one day wipe out all under heavens. As his number one assistant, to avoid being stained with blood was something that she could not escape from! At least, she hoped that the day would be delayed for as long as possible!
However, Li Xue had surprisingly seen through her hesitation today and thus started to pressure her. Li Xue was clear that based on Ling Chen's pure and kind character, if one did not continuously pressure her bottom line, most likely, it would be too far-fetched to think about the day where Ling Chen would break past her phobia! Right now, all the warning signals were showing towards the world getting more chaotic. Thus, she could not afford to guide Ling Chen patiently and systematically, and could only resort to this cruel method to completely break her tiny bubble as well as her fantasies. Only then would she be able to really be of help to Ling Tian when the war started, and truly display her abilities!
Thus, the circumstances completely warranted for this sort of compulsion! Especially with the provocation from the NanGong Family, to Li Xue, this was like a heaven-sent chance for Ling Chen to allow fury to overwhelm her own heart's barriers!