Chapter 47, Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Summary: [The vegetable basket fell to the ground, and the vegetables, radishes, apples, and steamed buns inside rolled all over the floor.]

Xiao Xingchen whispered a curse

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The vegetable basket fell to the ground, and the vegetables, radishes, apples, and steamed buns inside rolled all over the floor.

Xiao Xingchen whispered, "A-Qing, run!"

A-Qing took off running, dashing out of the mortuary gate. She sprinted along the road for a while, then immediately changed course and turned back, tiptoeing back to the mortuary. She climbed to her most familiar and frequently used hiding place for eavesdropping, this time peeking half her head out to peer into the room.

When Xiao Xingchen saw A-Qing hiding, he was both amused and exasperated.

However, perhaps we should thank the girl for spying on us. Now that we are in a different state of mind, we might have different feelings when we hear those words from back then again.

Xiao Xingchen coldly asked, "Is it fun?"

Xue Yang slowly took a bite of the apple still in his hand, chewed it leisurely for a while, swallowed the flesh, and then said, "Fun. How could it not be fun?"

He reverted to his natural voice.

Xiao Xingchen asked, "What exactly have you been trying to do these past few years by my side?"

Xue Yang said, "Who knows? Maybe they're just bored."

Xiao Xingchen drew his Frostflower sword, ready to strike again, when Xue Yang spoke up: "Daoist Xiao Xingchen, you don't want to hear the second half of my unfinished story, do you?"

"But I'm going to say it anyway. After I've said it, if you still think it's my fault, then do whatever you want."

Xiao Xingchen slightly turned his head, his sword stance freezing.

Xiao Xingchen suddenly remembered something and raised his voice slightly, saying, "Everyone... be careful."

Xue Yang rolled his eyes. This Taoist priest was too kind.

Xue Yang casually wiped the wound on his abdomen, pressed it down to stop the bleeding, and said, "That little boy saw the man who tricked him into delivering the letter. He felt wronged but also very happy. He cried loudly and rushed up to him to tell him: The letter has been delivered, but the snacks are gone. Can you give me another plate?"

"The man seemed to have just been found and beaten by that burly man, and had injuries on his face. When he saw this dirty little child hugging his leg, he became extremely annoyed and kicked the child away."

He got into the oxcart and told the driver to go immediately. The little boy got up from the ground and ran after the oxcart. He wanted the sweet snack so badly that he finally caught up and waved to the driver to make them stop. The man was annoyed by his crying, so he snatched the whip from the driver's hand and lashed it on the head, knocking him to the ground.

He said, word by word, "Then, the wheels rolled over the child's hands, one by one!"

Ahhhh—

Cries of pain echoed through the space as the group gripped their trembling left hands, which were breaking out in a cold sweat from the excruciating pain of their bones being crushed.

Xue Yang seemed to be used to this feeling, and his expression didn't even change. Instead, he sarcastically asked the group of people crying and wailing, "Didn't Master Xiao warn you? Why are you in so much pain?"

The group: ...We can't use spiritual energy here, what's the point of reminding us!

Regardless of whether Xiao Xingchen could see it or not, Xue Yang raised his left hand to him: "Seven years old! The bones in one left hand are completely shattered, and one finger was crushed into a puddle of mud on the spot! This man is Chang Ping's father."

"Daoist Xiao Xingchen, when you arrested me and brought me to Jinlintai, you were so righteous and indignant! You condemned me for wiping out an entire family over a trivial matter. Don't you know pain just because your fingers aren't on your own bodies? Don't you know what it's like to hear a heart-wrenching scream coming from your own mouth? Why did I kill his whole family? Why didn't you ask him why he came to toy with me and make fun of me?! Today's Xue Yang is all thanks to Chang Ci'an of the past! The Chang family of Liyang is simply reaping what they sowed!"

Xiao Xingchen said in disbelief, "Chang Ci'an cut off one of your fingers back then. Even if you wanted revenge, you could have cut off one of his fingers. If you really couldn't stand the grudge, you could have broken two, ten! Or even cut off one of his arms! Why did you have to kill his whole family? Do you think your one finger is worth more than fifty lives?"

Xue Yang actually thought about it seriously for a moment, as if he found the question strange, and said, "Of course. A finger is one's own, a life is another's. No matter how many fingers you kill, it's not worth it. Fifty people are nothing compared to one of my fingers."

The space was silent. It was unclear whether it was because the excruciating pain in his hand had not subsided, or because he was at a loss for words after witnessing this scene.

At this moment, Madam Lan knew the answer to the question she had asked earlier.

It was this world that extinguished a young man's youthful desire to vanquish demons and monsters.

After the excruciating pain subsided, Jiang Yanli wiped the cold sweat from her face and turned to look at Xue Yang, who seemed unharmed.

In fact, there were quite a few orphans among the people present.

While Wei Wuxian's suffering couldn't compare to the loss of his finger, he was still found and taken back to the Jiang family by Jiang Fengmian during the freezing cold. However, Wei Wuxian possessed an innate chivalrous heart, coupled with his natural talent and the dedicated guidance of a family like the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, which allowed him to become such a gifted young man. Regardless of how the world viewed him, he was at least one of the Four Young Masters in his youth, and even after losing his golden core, he still became a legendary master of demonic cultivation.

Lan Sizhui, having grown up running around with the elderly, women, and children, constantly on the run, became the sole descendant of the Wen clan. Fortunately, he met Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, which gave him a chance to survive, and now he is one of the Lan clan's most favored successors.

As for Xue Yang, he was simply unlucky.

Or perhaps, he met Xiao Xingchen a little too late.

Xiao Xingchen asked in a grief-stricken voice, "What about the others?! Why did you massacre Baixue Temple? Why did you blind Daoist Song Zichen?!"

Xue Yang said, "Then why did you stop me? Why did you get in my way? Why did you stand up for that bastard Chang family? Are you helping Chang Ci'an? Or Chang Ping? How grateful Chang Ping was at first? And how he begged you not to help him anymore? Daoist Xiao Xingchen, from the very beginning, you were wrong about this. You shouldn't have interfered in other people's affairs and grudges. Who is right and who is wrong? How much gratitude and resentment there is, can outsiders really tell? Or maybe you shouldn't have come down the mountain at all. Your master is so smart, why didn't you listen to her and stay on the mountain to cultivate immortality? If you don't understand the affairs of this world, then don't enter it!"

Xiao Xingchen, unable to contain himself any longer, said, "...Xue Yang, you are truly... utterly disgusting..."

Upon hearing this, the murderous glint that had long been absent from Xue Yang's eyes reappeared.

Xiao Xingchen used to think Xue Yang was unreasonable and even disgusting, but now he thinks...

I was too naive.

The affairs of this world cannot be explained in a few words. I am too fixated on calmly understanding the grievances of others, forgetting that I am just an outsider and have no way of personally experiencing the pain of others.

I used to think the Chang family was innocent, but now it seems that only the elderly, weak, women and children of the Chang family who were implicated are truly innocent.

He chuckled coldly a few times and said, "Xiao Xingchen, this is why I hate you. What I hate most is someone like you who claims to be righteous, someone who thinks they have noble character, someone like you who always thinks that doing good deeds will make the world a better place—a complete fool, an idiot, a moron, a naive! You disgust me? Very well, do you think I'm afraid of being disgusted? But do you even have the right to disgust me?"

Xiao Xingchen was slightly taken aback and said, "...What do you mean?"

A-Qing and Wei Wuxian's hearts nearly leaped out of their chests!

Feeling empathy for A-Qing and Wei Wuxian, everyone felt their hearts race and their bodies tense, even though they didn't know why.

A few people suddenly remembered that Xue Yang had made the blind Xiao Xingchen do something he could never forgive himself for.

Song Lan instinctively reached out to cover Xiao Xingchen's ears again, even though she knew he had witnessed what she had done and heard those hurtful words.

Xiao Xingchen's lips moved slightly, as if he felt a little uneasy, and he said, "What do you mean by saying this now?"

Xue Yang said, "It's nothing. It's just a pity that you're blind. You gouged out both of your eyes and can't see. Those 'walking corpses' you killed, how scared and painful they were when you pierced their hearts with your sword. They even knelt down, tears streaming down their faces, begging you to spare their entire families. If I hadn't cut out their tongues, they would have cried out loudly, shouting 'Master, spare our lives!'"

Xiao Xingchen trembled all over.

After a long pause, he finally managed to say with difficulty, "You're lying to me. You're trying to lie to me."

Xue Yang said, "Yes, I lied to you. I've been lying to you all along. Who knew that you would believe my lies, but not my honesty?"

Xiao Xingchen staggered and slashed at him with his sword, shouting, "Shut up! Shut up!"

Xue Yang clutched his stomach, snapped his fingers with his left hand, and calmly retreated. His expression was no longer human; his eyes were gleaming green, and his small fangs, which peeked out when he smiled, made him look like a demon. He yelled, "Fine! I'll shut up! If you don't believe me, go and fight that thing behind you, let him show you I wasn't lying!"

As the sword wind swept in, Xiao Xingchen instinctively used Frostflower to parry. The moment the two swords clashed, he froze.

It wasn't just that he was stunned; his entire being transformed into a withered, lifeless stone statue.

Xiao Xingchen sat there in the space like a stone statue. No matter how many times he listened, he would feel like he was in hell.

Just as Song Lan was wondering what to say to comfort her friend, Xiao Niangui's voice came again:

"Don't worry, Master Xiao, everyone in Yicheng will come back safely. They won't remember that cruel history, and they will all treat you and Aqing as family."

"Thank you, young lady." Xiao Xingchen felt as if Xiao Niangui had given him a chance to atone for his sins. Perhaps it wasn't his fault, but it was good that it could help him get out of his guilt.