Chapter 0096

Chapter 96: Chen Ling’er, Humbled to Dust

“Do you know what you are saying?” Tang Qi asked in a solemn voice.

He did not care about Zhou Tong or Chen Ling’er. Only that guest elder made him wary. The man’s power was too deep to read. Whenever Tang Qi pictured him pulling down a star and wiping out the Joyous Union Sect, his heart could not help but pound. Yet no matter what, that man had dared to shame him face to face. The path to death was already set. [That guest elder, I will kill him.]

“I know very well,” Xia Hong Xiu said with a secretive smile, which made Tang Qi jolt with interest: “in truth, besides you, no one can kill that man.”

“How so?” he asked.

“You do not know this: he bears a Void Fate. Ten thousand calamities cannot touch him, and only a bearer of great destiny can restrain him,” she said.

“And you are a bearer of great destiny. I cast the sticks for you once. You will become a supreme powerhouse.”

A few words of praise sent Tang Qi floating. Joy surged in his chest. [I knew it. I am chosen by fate.]

“I can work with you,” he said without even thinking. The future emperor should crush every enemy.

Xia Hong Xiu’s lips curved. She parted them, and a pearl and a jade talisman slid out into her palm. At once Tang Qi’s pupils tightened. The pulse from the two items was anything but ordinary.

“These are treasures my ancestor found in a secret realm,” she said. “This pearl is called the Heavenly One Pearl. It can raise your cultivation sharply for a short time.”

“This talisman is called the Chaos Fate Talisman. It can make a Void Fate fail for a while and open a chance to kill with one strike.”

“I am entrusting both to you. I believe you know what to do.”

“Heh heh, of course,” Tang Qi said with a cruel grin as he took the treasures without politeness. He had never felt so proud. The Heavenly One Pearl plus the Myriad Transformations Art, plus the old ghost’s soul infusion. If he used all three trump cards together, who could stop him?

“Rest easy, senior sister,” he said, “once I butcher that trash, everything else will be simple.”

Hearing this, Xia Hong Xiu finally showed a satisfied smile. Her future was already in her grasp.

…

In another room, Chen Ling’er woke up. Seeing “Zhou Tong” within arm’s reach, her eyes filled with fear and hate.

“I did not expect you could still remember what came before. My memory deletion technique has never failed,” Lian Han Xing said with amused interest, as if studying a rare item. This girl’s talent was surely extraordinary.

Chen Ling’er began to tremble. She recalled how easily this person had killed someone at the Life-and-Death Realm. Then her face turned even paler, as if she had thought of something worse: “You… you are not my junior brother.”

“Did that need saying?” Lian Han Xing mocked. Radiance flashed over her body and she showed her true face.

“So beautiful,” Chen Ling’er breathed for a heartbeat, then hatred surged back into her eyes: “You took my junior brother’s place. Where is he? Did you kill him?”

“That has nothing to do with you,” Lian Han Xing said, patience thinning as she walked forward. “Do not be afraid. This time I will delete all your memories. You will forget every sadness, including Zhou Tong.”

“No!” Chen Ling’er suddenly burst out with emotion so strong it crushed even her fear. She drew her sword and set the edge to her own neck, ready to die.

“Tell me if my junior brother is alive. If you refuse, I will kill myself right now.”

“You think I care?” Lian Han Xing snorted. She did not believe Chen Ling’er had the nerve.

But then Chen Ling’er shattered her assumption. She dragged the blade and a thin line of red appeared on her neck. She truly dared.

“So what if he lives? So what if he does not?” Lian Han Xing stopped, puzzled why the girl reacted so wildly.

“If my junior brother is alive, I will let you do whatever you want. If he is dead, I will not live either,” Chen Ling’er said.

Lian Han Xing was deeply moved. She did not doubt it. If she said Zhou Tong was dead, Chen Ling’er would cut her throat at once.

“Were you two that close?” Lian Han Xing asked.

“Answer me,” Chen Ling’er cried.

“Fine. I will be direct. He is alive and well, and I am not his enemy,” Lian Han Xing said.

With a clang the long sword fell. Chen Ling’er seemed to lose all strength. She collapsed, covered her face with both hands, and sobbed in a muffled way: “Thank goodness… he is alive… this is so good. Heaven bless me. I am so lucky.”

She looked like someone who had survived a disaster, and also like someone with too much love and nowhere to let it out. Lian Han Xing’s face showed open dislike. [Still pretending?]

She had already learned Zhou Tong’s deeds from Mu Rong Ya, so her heart was full of contempt for Chen Ling’er. When she thought of Zhou Tong, she could not help but admire him. That little one was unmatched and heroic. To be loved by such a person was a great blessing, yet some people never cherish it. Like the Chen Ling’er in front of her, who not only strung along the former Zhou Tong but kept belittling and trapping him. Lian Han Xing even wondered if Chen Ling’er’s brain had been pinched by a toilet seat. Now that Zhou Tong was gone and treated her like a worn-out shoe, she wanted to regret and pretend depth. Was it not far too late?

Such a person could be summed up in one word: low. Low to the bone and beyond saving.

“Stop crying,” Lian Han Xing said, words aimed at the heart: “even if you cry, he will not come back. Some things, once lost, are gone forever.”

“You lie. How could he bear to leave me?” Chen Ling’er flinched at the word forever. “We were clearly fine before. He is only angry with me now. When his anger fades, he will again…”

“Do not daydream. You know the truth,” Lian Han Xing said, crushing her hope again.

“I do not want that,” Chen Ling’er cried out as if struck, falling to her knees.

“Sister, help me, please,” she begged, clutching at Lian Han Xing’s leg like someone seizing a straw in a storm. “I know you can reach him. I only want to see him once. Just once. Will that do?”

At this moment Chen Ling’er was like a small flower in a gale, fragile and close to breaking. “Sister, help me just this once. If this works, I will be your maidservant. You can command me as you wish. I will never complain. I swear on my Martial Heart.”

Hearing this, Lian Han Xing was finally moved a little. “I will try, but do not hope too much,” she said.

“Thank you, sister,” Chen Ling’er said, smiling through tears.