Book 10: Chapter 9: Ravaged Heart
Book 10: Chapter 9: Ravaged Heart
A wave of great sadness flooded Lin Xi’s entire body. He could no longer sleep in the endless darkness, waking up.
Pain.
The very first thing he felt was the pain, feeling as if his heart was clenched in his own hand and then he fiercely gripped down. Then, his entire body felt like it was smashed apart, the pain as if he was being cut apart.
The latter pain he could endure, but the former pain made his entire body twitch unbearably.
His eyes lit up again. In that instant, he still didn’t see anything else clearly, still somewhat unable to understand what happened.
He only felt as if his body was tightly wrapped within something, not even able to lift a single finger.
The world before his eyes became brighter and brighter, just like when he first descended upon this world.
He suddenly became filled with fear, just like when he first faced this incredibly real world filled with joys and sorrows.
Then, he began to recall some things, remembering the streak of golden lightning, the scattered fragments. He felt as if he couldn’t breathe, the entire real world appearing before him, weighing down on him like incomparably massive mountains one after another.
…
Lin Xi opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw were pieces of wooden boards. This was the top of a carriage.
He knew that he was in a carriage. Just now, it seemed incredibly bright compared to the endless darkness, but right now, it was instead extremely dusky.
This carriage’s doors were sealed shut, only a small lattice cut open for ventilation.
Then, he saw that his entire body was bound in thick black military bandages, to the extent where there were many splints holding him in place beneath his bandages.
After that, he saw Gu Xinyin who was looking at him.
When he saw the other party’s eyes, he understood that the previous sigh was released precisely by this senior who returned from Tangcang.
Looking at Gu Xinyin’s eyes, he recalled even more bits and pieces, finding it even harder to breathe. Then, a wave of indescribable pain made him unable to help but want to speak out.
A groan of pain was released from his mouth.
This was the very first sound he uttered since returning to this world, but he only released a groan of pain. Lin Xi already saw Gu Xinyin, asking, “What… exactly happened?”
Gu Xinyin knew what Lin Xi wanted to ask about, he understood Lin Xi’s current suffering, because he had also experienced this type of pain. However, while looking at Lin Xi who definitely couldn’t utter any sounds, but still forcefully spoke, he didn’t hide anything, only calmly nodding and saying, “Bai Yulou hacked out at you… his final blade displayed that he should be a cultivator from Great Mang’s Thousand Devil Nest, a Great Mang spy. It was most likely because of his fear that you would become a great threat to Great Mang in the future, that was why he didn’t hesitate to pay any price to kill you. None of us expected this, moreover, his cultivation was extremely high, that was why he succeeded.”
“Bai Yulou…”
Lin Xi only felt as if his body instantly became ice-cold, as if he entered a frozen land… In this instant, he understood many things… he understood why Xu Ningshen could freely escape from East Forest Province and arrive in Dragon Snake Border Pass, moreover, he also understood why Wenren Cangyue was so sure of their position, as well as how he launched that attack.
“Is he still alive?” Lin Xi’s voice calmed down, only, it was now filled with an icy coldness spreading from within his body.
“The instant he took action to kill you, he also already died.” Gu Xinyin looked at Lin Xi, also calmly saying, “In that type of situation, even if it was a Sacred Expert, there is no way of blocking Wenren Cangyue’s soul weapon.”
Lin Xi wanted to nod, but his neck was tightly bound in thick bandages, unable to do so. He became rigid for a moment and then said, “What about Jiang Yu’er?”
Gu Xinyin looked at Lin Xi, not saying anything.
However, he could sense Lin Xi’s breathing and blood flow, knowing that Lin Xi definitely had to hear his reply.
As such, he nodded, quietly saying, “She’s gone.”
…
The carriage entered silence once more.
There was no heart splitting liver tearing wailing. During this silence, Lin Xi spoke with difficulty again. “Chen Mu… what about Changsun Wujiang?”
This sigh was for Yunqin, for the entire world, also for Lin Xi and the other youngsters who were just like their past selves.
“Wenren Cangyue’s strike was only a cover… the crown prince has also departed. In that battle, the entire world was defeated under his hands.”
Lin Xi’s body momentarily went rigid once more. Then, he looked at Gu Xinyin. “What about the others?”
“Li Wu’s eyes were blinded… but there is no danger to his life.”
“Nangong Weiyang had one hand crippled, needing at least half a year to recover.”
“A fragment entered Meng Bai’s forehead, the fragment already removed… There is no danger to his life, just leaving behind a bit of a scar. In the future, when there are some changes in weather, he might feel a bit of headache from time to time. The others haven’t experienced many setbacks.”
Only some headaches?
Lin Xi was momentarily speechless.
He was in pain.
Incomparable pain.
In that instant, he didn’t even know where his pain came from.
It was because right now, his heart, liver, lungs… almost everything was already completely torn, completely shattered.
The pain of having his skin peeled, the feeling of having his heart crushed.
…
“Why?!”
“Why did you all have to send Jiang Yu’er here too?!”
“Sending anyone else here is something I can understand… but why did the academy have to send her here?!”
Lin Xi’s voice erupted in the completely dusky carriage. This voice was not like his normal voice at all. Drops of blood began to seep out of his chest’s bandages again.
There were quite a few people outside this carriage.
This was a currently advancing troop.
Lin Xi immediately realized that his voice was extremely loud, so everyone outside could hear it… The moment the first syllable entered the ears of the people outside, everyone immediately erupted with ecstasy. However, when they heard the second, third and fourth words, hearing Lin Xi’s voice, some of them began to quietly sob.
“Why? Tell me!”
Lin Xi used strength that didn’t seem to be his own and a voice that didn’t seem like his own to look at Gu Xinyin, asking this question he wanted to ask a long time ago.
He trusted the academy and he knew this matter had nothing to do with Gu Xinyin. However, right now, his pain made it so that he couldn’t control his own emotions at all.
Gu Xinyin looked at Lin Xi, watched as blood seeped out from Lin Xi’s chest. He didn’t say anything, only waiting until Lin Xi’s voice disappeared, and only then did he shake his head, look at Lin Xi and say quietly, “Even though I have not been in the academy during these years, I can tell you why.”
“Vice Principal Xia wouldn’t do meaningless things.”
“Previously, when I said Bai Yulou succeeded, I meant that under normal circumstances, you would already be dead. Even if there was no following arrow, you would already have died.”
As he looked at Lin Xi, Gu Xinyin was full of pity and sorrow. Then, he quietly said, “According to normal reasoning, just the impact from Bai Yulou’s strike would have left your condition worse than Changsun Wujiang’s. Even if Tang Yuren and the others were there and even if we had the best medicines, we wouldn’t be able to save you. However, together with that arrow that penetrated your body afterwards… you still lived. Apart from your willpower that far exceeds normal people, the only other chance of you surviving is that you cultivated the academy Teacher Luo’s Glorious King Destroys Restraints.”
“Your soul force is near double the amount of a normal person’s, and when wounded, it was still rather abundant, so it stopped most of your wounds from bleeding, only then did you survive.”
“You have that type of intuition, able to sense even what type of method Wenren Cangyue was going to launch a decisive attack with, so I know that you are just like Principal Zhang, someone with ‘Divine General’ talent.”
“I can almost guarantee that Vice Principal Xia’s body is already close to collapse… Before he leaves this world, he has to find someone to take his position, someone who can protect Green Luan Academy. That is why he must guide me back… However, in this world, not only does Wenren Cangyue not wish for me to return, all of Yunqin, Central Continent Imperial City and even Green Luan Academy itself have many people who don’t wish for me to return. That is why I might not be able to return, so he sent you all to me.”
“These are two generations of the academy… this is the true Green Luan Academy, the successors he has chosen… the people who could continue the true Green Luan Academy.”
Gu Xinyin took a deep breath. After a slight pause, he said with a smile, “I naturally understand his intentions… If we cannot return, he has to at least find some inheritors who can truly make our academy powerful and continue its legacy. By being here, it is equivalent to Green Luan Academy being here, it would also be just like you all returning to Green Luan Academy.”
“These are all your true friends, so you should understand even better than me what kind of person Jiang Yu’er was.” Gu Xinyin looked at Lin Xi who couldn’t speak, continuing to calmly say. “She was timid and bashful, her cultivation aptitude also normal, indeed quite ordinary, but she lacked bad intentions… You have to understand that our Green Luan Academy, apart from some people like us having formidable cultivation methods that need to be passed down… there are some things with even greater destructive power that need to be passed on. The reason the world fears the people of Green Luan Academy’s Medicine Department isn’t because of Medicine Department’s pill refinement abilities or their abilities to heal, but rather because they fear Medicine Department’s poison, fear things like Blue Apricot. As for these things like Blue Apricot, only in the hands of people like An Keyi and others like herself, can they be safe… that is why she came here. The lack of negative thoughts, innately kind and mediocre, this is instead the most important quality needed to grasp things of terrifying destruction.”
Lin Xi understood. His body began to silently tremble.
“I’ve also thought before, felt hatred, wondered why I had to face this type of parting of death.” Gu Xinyin took a deep breath and looked at Lin Xi, then saying with a calm and quiet voice, “But this is the real world. We cannot escape it, we can only face it.”
“Actually, after I thought through the reason why Vice Principal Xia insisted on my return, many times, I would also feel powerlessness and despair… Because I might not be able to truly return, because even if I return, I am not strong enough, unable to be as strong as Principal Zhang… If I am not as strong as him, even if I am stronger than Wenren Cangyue, stronger than Li Ku, I won’t be able to truly change this world. However, I encountered you… the fact that we are alive, thus has meaning.”