57. Hate in the Sea (Part 5)

The so-called truth.

Ran Qinghe's voice was very soft, carrying the weakness of someone just waking up.

However, this last name was like a pebble thrown into a stagnant pond, stirring up uncontrollable ripples in Lou Tinglan's calm heart.

When he heard the last two words, his breath hitched. He looked up, and his eyes, which were always as cold as a deep pool, were now filled with turbulent emotions. His lips were pressed into a pale line.

He leaned down, his shadow enveloping Ran Qinghe: "Say it again, who is the last name?"

His gaze held an almost scorching stubbornness, as he sought to confirm a truth he dared not easily touch upon from her.

Ran Qinghe repeated, "Qianxue. That vengeful spirit whispered these names, and one of them was... Qianxue."

He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, most of the turbulent emotions in his eyes had been forcibly suppressed, leaving only a bottomless darkness.

"I understand..." He turned around, his back to Ran Qinghe, so that she could no longer see any emotion on his face.

His hands, hanging by his sides, remained clenched into fists and trembled slightly.

Why is Qianxue, his mother, connected to the vengeful spirit in the Tower Prison? Who exactly is that vengeful spirit?

He suddenly remembered that the vengeful spirit had been calling his father's name, and an almost impossible guess slowly emerged.

At the same time, countless details also came to light.

That vengeful spirit once said that he had a familiar aura on him. That vengeful spirit would suddenly stop moving when it saw the Tranquil Heart Sword. That vengeful spirit also kept calling his grandfather "father"...

But he knew that now was not the time to get to the bottom of things. Ran Qinghe had just woken up and was still weak, and he needed to sort out this tangled mess on his own.

"Your resentment has just been cleared, and you still need to rest." His voice regained its usual coldness, but there was a hint of tension that was hard to detect. "Next time, don't do this for me again. It's not worth it."

He repeated those three words again.

Ran Qinghe silently got off the bed, her steps unsteady as she walked towards the door. Just before stepping out of the inner room, she stopped, but did not turn back.

"Senior Brother Lou, for me, there is no such thing as worth it or not, only willingness or unwillingness."

The Soul Jade that Lou Tinglan had placed beside her pillow flickered slightly, and a wisp of black energy emerged, following Ran Qinghe's footsteps.

Xiao Hua's anxious voice rang in Ran Qinghe's ears: "Hehe, you're finally awake!"

"Xiao Hua?" Ran Qinghe was taken aback, then realized, "You're the one who brought me to find Lou Tinglan?"

“Yes!” Xiaohua’s tone was filled with lingering fear. “You were unconscious, so I had no choice but to control your body to find him.”

There was a hint of dissatisfaction in its tone: "But he's the opposite; all he does is interrogate me fiercely."

It paused, then lowered its voice, carrying an indescribable mix of emotions: "However... he still saved you. To save you, he even invited the sect leader of the White Void Sect, and promised... promised to pay the price of a realm of spiritual power."

"The spiritual power of a realm?" she repeated softly, her voice so faint it seemed to dissipate.

She turned around abruptly. At that moment, the door behind her was not completely closed. Through the dim candlelight inside, she could even vaguely see the bloodstains on Lou Tinglan's chest.

So, were those injuries sustained while trying to save her, at a cost? Or something else entirely?

The words "not worth it" still echoed in my ears, cold and distant, yet he did the exact opposite.

Xiao Hua continued affirmingly, "Although he took me into his Soul Jade, I still overheard that the white-bearded old man... um, that's Sect Leader Bai Xu. I didn't expect Lou Tinglan to actually agree."

In an instant, the surging emotions in my chest overwhelmed the walls I had painstakingly built up in my heart these past few days. Resentment, worry, fear, anger... even an indescribable bitterness and palpitation, all intertwined and transformed into a bit of courage.

Without further hesitation, she walked back, reached out, and with a loud bang, pushed open the unclosed door completely.

The loud noise startled the person inside, who frowned in surprise: "What else is it?"

Ran Qinghe stopped a few steps in front of him. The two were very close. He looked at the unusually bright eyes on that pale face and subconsciously looked away.

Ran Qinghe tilted her head back, a faint smile playing on her lips. "It's nothing, I just suddenly felt that the two of us seem... entangled, so I wanted to ask you."

Do you think I owe you more, or you owe me more?

Although Lou Tinglan couldn't understand the meaning behind her question, she still looked into her eyes earnestly and said, "Naturally, I owe you more."

She was always cold on the outside but soft on the inside. She had risked her life many times to help him, from the Mirror of Past Lives to the Tower of Babel. He had already owed her a great deal.

Ran Qinghe denied it, saying, "But in my opinion, I owe you even more. That's why I said I might not be able to settle this score."

Anyway, if things are entangled, so be it. She's willing to be entangled with him, since he's always the one causing trouble.

Her voice softened slightly, "Lou Tinglan, I only have one question for you: about that vengeful spirit, about... Senior Qianxue, don't you want to find out the truth?"

"As you know, only I can absorb resentment and briefly restore her to consciousness, including those names and those clues."

She took a small step forward, closing the final distance between them, her voice soft yet clear: "Lou Tinglan, I'm already involved in this matter. If you push me away, when will I ever learn the truth?"

“I can help you. You should know that I am not a burden you need to protect, but a… companion?”

She raised the pitch at the end of her voice, patiently waiting for his nod.

The room fell silent instantly, the candlelight crackling and illuminating the two figures gazing at each other, one stubborn and resolute, the other conflicted and struggling.

After a long while, the turbulent undercurrent in Lou Tinglan's eyes gradually subsided, turning into a deep gaze. His eyes fell on her still pale face.

"Your body..."

Ran Qinghe knew that this meant he was agreeing, and chuckled, "Compared to me, Senior Brother Lou should obviously take better care of himself."

She sat back down on the soft couch without a second thought, poured herself two cups of tea, and handed one to Lou Tinglan. The tea was lukewarm, which slightly calmed her restless heart.

She began to seriously recall the situation in the tower prison at that time.

After Lou Yi and Qian Zhong left, she returned to the vengeful spirit. By then, she had drawn away most of the resentment from the spirit, so it seemed to regain its clarity for a moment.

Taking this opportunity, she asked it two questions. The first question was, "Who are you?"

But the vengeful spirit answered her with several names, so many that she couldn't count them all. Although she remembered many names, she was not familiar with the owners of those names.

Only the last name, Qianxue, she had read about in countless official and unofficial histories.

Some say she is the second-best swordswoman after Qianzhong, and the Falling Snow Sword Technique, now mastered by all Qingxiao disciples, was created by her. She enjoys immense prestige among the disciples, and any request she makes will be granted.

Some say that if she were still alive today, the position of Qingxiao Sect Leader might very well change hands.

"You tell me, regarding the question of who it is, why does it mention so many names?"

Lou Tinglan listened with her eyes lowered, her hand tapping the corner of the table pausing slightly before she replied, "One possibility is that the owners of these names are her deceased friends, and she is simply... reminiscing about them."

Of course, this possibility is extremely slim.

Another possibility is that both of them had already guessed it, but were unwilling to believe it.

They had all witnessed that the vengeful spirit could devour other vengeful spirits. The fact that only that one vengeful spirit remained in the Nascent Soul Realm Tower Prison could only mean that the law of the jungle prevailed, and the largest vengeful spirit had devoured all the others.

Those names are proof that vengeful spirits once existed.

She looked at Lou Tinglan uncertainly.

“When it pronounces the name ‘Qianxue,’ it feels different from when it pronounces other names…” Ran Qinghe tried hard to capture the vague perception of that moment. “Other names seem like a simple repetition, but ‘Qianxue’ feels like… its real name.”

Lou Tinglan's voice was hoarse as she looked up at her, seemingly searching for some kind of comfort.

"And the second question?"

Her expression was serious. "The second question is, who is he?"

"And you probably already know the answer to this question."

Lou Yizhi.

“Indeed,” Lou Tinglan replied, “Every time I enter the Tower Prison, I can hear it… calling my father’s name.”

“Every single time,” he repeated.

"It pauses when it sees the Tranquil Heart Sword because this sword was given to me by my father..."

"It used to call its maternal grandfather 'Daddy'..."

"When it fought me, it seemed to be able to see through every move of my Azure Sky Sword Technique..."

With each word he uttered, his face grew paler. Clues were piecing together, pointing to an unbelievable yet undeniable possibility.

"But...it's impossible."

He further denied this, saying, "Even if all the evidence points to one answer—that the vengeful spirit is my mother—I still cannot believe that she would devour other vengeful spirits to strengthen herself."

And this mystery is the only one that remains unsolved.

"But it's a vengeful spirit, not your mother."

Even Ran Qinghe herself was stunned by these words. Was this really what she was thinking?

At that moment, the black aura surrounding her seemed to fade almost imperceptibly.

"Feel sorry."

She suddenly panicked and abruptly changed the subject, saying, "Do you know how Senior Qianxue died?"

"The grudges of vengeful spirits lie in their cause of death in life. Only by understanding this can we find the right remedy."

Lou Tinglan said, "Do you believe in fate? Qingxiao once had an elder who could predict the secrets of heaven."

Ran Qinghe immediately thought of: "Qianji Bu?"

Lou Tinglan was quite surprised that she knew this name, but she still continued, "He once calculated my father's fate. In his calculations, my father would die because of saving her."

"So, she abandoned everyone and destroyed her own spirit."

Ran Qinghe stared into his eyes, her expression hardening: "But you should also know that those who willingly face death will not become vengeful spirits."

"Who told you this so-called truth?"