Chapter 024: Me and My Unfair Father and Brother (Twenty-Four)
The years on earth pass by in a hurry, but in the Sealed Sword Tower the four seasons are eternal.
Chen Qiaoyun has been living in seclusion here for more than one hundred and thirty years.
Early in the morning, the tower door was pushed open from the inside, and a tall figure holding a broom stepped into the sunlight. His snow-white clothes fluttered as he swept the ground, leaving it spotless.
Chen Qiaoyun raised his head slightly, and the sunlight poured down, spreading over his delicate eyebrows, eyes, lips and nose. His black hair was casually tied into a bun and hung in front of his chest, like an ancient painting that had been sealed in dust for many years and was slowly unfolding. The old and damaged cloth could not conceal the delicate and elegant brushstrokes.
He looked up at the sky, then calculated the time with his fingers, his brow twitching slightly. If nothing unexpected happened, it would be today.
"Bang……"
"Bang--"
"Bang!"
Suddenly, three dull knocks were heard from the bottom of the Sword Sealing Tower. The knocks were at equal intervals and the intensity gradually increased. The last knock was even accompanied by a huge impact, shaking the entire mountain and the tower above it.
Chen Qiaoyun stood firmly in place as if taking root, picked up the broom and knocked on the floor.
"The time has not come yet. Leaving here now will do you no good."
This time the knocking sound paused for a moment longer, and when it sounded again it was more violent and sharp than the previous two times, as if someone was scratching the iron plate with a sharp object, and it seemed that he would continue like this unless he stopped.
Chen Qiaoyun closed his eyes. Years of meditation and cultivation made him unaffected by the noise, but there were many people living at the foot of the mountain, and he couldn't disturb them all the time. Helplessly, he put down the broom, turned around and walked back into the tower.
The layout of the Sealing Sword Tower follows the old system. It is still narrow and still connected by a spiral staircase, but there is an additional slope leading to the underground.
After Chen Qiaoyun entered the tower, the noise from underground stopped. The person who made the noise seemed to be able to sense his actions and knew how to control him without touching his bottom line, so that he could act according to his needs.
There is only one person in the world who can do this.
At the bottom of the slope was a spacious stone chamber with oil lamps lit in the four corners. The light gathered in the middle, illuminating the ice coffin half-embedded in the ground.
Several half-meter-thick chains were wrapped around the ice coffin, and the entire coffin was engraved with intricate and complex array patterns. It didn't look like it was used for burial, but rather for sealing evil spirits.
Chen Qiaoyun walked closer and saw that the surface of the ice coffin was covered with fine, spider-web-like cracks. These cracks destroyed the integrity of the array pattern, and one of the chains was broken. It looked like the things in the coffin had struggled violently and destroyed them like this.
Chen Qiaoyun's expression remained unchanged. He bent down to check the condition of the bottom of the coffin. It was good, with no damage, and the several beads buried underneath were also intact.
He breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand, and the remaining chains, which seemed intact but were actually damaged, automatically fell to the ground.
The next second, the coffin lid was blown away by the huge force and fell heavily to the ground.
A black sleeve was raised, and a pale hand was clasped on the edge of the coffin. The knuckles were slender and beautiful, without any blood, revealing a strange and inhuman beauty.
The hand exerted force lightly, and the person in the coffin sat up. His black hair fell like a waterfall, like a stream pouring down in the night, flowing over his shoulders and cascading down to his waist.
The loose hair covered most of his face. He used his other hand to loosely push it back, revealing his equally pale cheeks, eyebrows like ink paintings, eyes like spring rivers, and light-colored thin lips slightly raised, revealing a cold and evil smile at Chong Chen Qiaoyun.
Chen Qiaoyun took a half step back and heard him say lazily, "My son, it's been a long time since we last met. You made me dream for such a long time. You sealed me in this sunless place for over a hundred years, and then set up a formation to heal my wounds and prolong my life. You must have worked so hard."
"It turns out that our upright and righteous leader also has selfish motives."
Chen Wenjian shook his sleeves and just as he stepped out of the coffin, a thin layer of misty demonic energy spread all over his body. The demonic energy seemed to devour the light, and the stone chamber, which was not bright to begin with, suddenly became even dimmer.
"Father." Chen Qiaoyun, seemingly oblivious to the sarcasm in his words, bowed and saluted, then slowly explained, "You did die once, slain by my sword on the final battlefield. By killing you once, I was seeking justice for the innocent victims. By saving you, I am fulfilling my duty as a son."
"Hmph, I raised you this big, but I didn't know you could be so hypocritical." Chen Wenjian spread out his five fingers, and a thick demonic energy swirled between them. "I am still an evil demon. Aren't you worried that I will bring disaster to the world again?"
Chen Qiaoyun didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he asked, "Father, from whom do you think the life force that supports your new body comes?"
"Given your personality, it's unlikely that you'd always be talking about the people of the world. It could be some unfortunate demon, or perhaps yourself."
Chen Wenjian answered without interest, without controlling the evil energy in his body at all, allowing it to attack this new and fragile body and then dissipate in all directions.
"No." Chen Qiaoyun shook his head.
This was beyond Chen Wenjian's expectations, and it also made him curious: "Who is that? Which Living Buddha is willing to sacrifice his own life source to save me, the great devil who almost destroyed the world?"
Chen Qiaoyun smiled, a very gentle smile, which startled him.
Chen Qiaoyun waved his hand, and the rows of blue bricks on the ground were lifted up, piling up on both sides of the stone chamber like a receding tide. The flames of the oil lamps in the four corners also rose in the wind, covering up the demonic aura on Chen Wenjian.
There is no soil layer beneath the blue bricks, but another stone chamber covered with a glazed roof. The light falls on it, reflecting colorful colors.
Chen Wenjian saw his sleeping young son in a dreamy light.
Chen Yunli slept in the glass world built for him by his brother, maintaining the appearance of a young man, with grown facial features that were handsome and beautiful, and thin lips with a bright red color. Even though he had no breath and heartbeat, there was no sign of death in him, as if he was just having a long and beautiful dream.
When he saw that face, Chen Wenjian's pupils suddenly trembled. His brain, which had just woken up and was still lazy and unwilling to move, started working rapidly, and a memory... or a dream came out.
Yes, it was a dream, he was sure of it.
The dream began with a fleeting glimpse of the distant past, a fleeting glimpse that vanished before he could react. Then came the strokes of rich, vibrant color, as if heaven itself had penned the scene, adding a figure to his youth.
That person walked side by side with his lonely past self, pulling his sleeve as he walked into the world of mortals, too stunned to see his true face, yet still worried and concerned about him one-sidedly, angry at the unfair treatment he was receiving...
The dream stopped at a tender and affectionate point. The young man Chen Wenjian, who killed his master with his own hands, was no longer met with accusations and insults from people who did not know the inside story, but with the concern of someone who truly cared about him.
He called him Chen Wenjian, he called him... Yun Li.
Chen Qiaoyun retrieved the three beads from under the ice coffin. They were originally blue, but two of them have now become transparent, and only one still has a slightly silky light blue color.
"Father, the one who saved you was my life," Chen Qiaoyun said. "He's been toiling for this purpose his entire life. You said you had a very long dream. Was he in your dream?"
Chen Wenjian was shocked and felt a surge of pain that almost drowned his soul.
But his expression did not change at all. Chen Qiaoyun only saw thick demonic energy like a black cloud gushing out of his body. Before he could resist, the demonic energy flowed back and was covered under the black hem of his clothes that dragged on the ground.
Chen Wenjian touched his chest. His chest felt empty. It was not his heart that was beating, but a ball of cool light.
He frowned, feeling complicated for a moment.
Chen Wenjian had always treated this young son with mediocre talents as a pet, just like raising a cat or a dog. Because he didn't care about him, he only gave him what he wanted, but never taught him anything, allowing him to grow up crooked and deformed.
Until the moment of his death, so many people and things appeared before his eyes, but there was not even a place for his youngest son.
But in the dream that lasted for more than a hundred years, among countless bloody and dark past events, only his youngest son... no, it was the young man with his youngest son's face who dispelled some of the haze for him, allowing the light of the world to shine on him briefly.
Fate was extremely stingy to him. He was losing all his life. Even that beautiful dream came to an abrupt end when he was happiest.
"Father, what are you thinking about?" Chen Qiaoyun saw Chen Wenjian's expression becoming increasingly strange, and his eyes growing colder as he looked at his younger brother's corpse. Thinking of his irresponsible and careless doting on his younger brother in the past, his heart suddenly palpitated. Without thinking, he stood in front of him and said, "My younger brother is gone. It was selfish of me to keep his body. If you have anger, take it out on me. Stop torturing him."
Chen Wenjian glanced at him and asked nonchalantly, "The new body you created for me used his life force. It's too fragile to withstand a single full-strength attack from me. If I harm innocent people again and my body is damaged, I'll die again, right?"
Although Chen Qiaoyun didn't understand why he suddenly asked this, he answered truthfully, "Indeed. Your soul was severely damaged after that great battle, and now it's only patched together by the demonic energy and my life force. Once you lose this new body, your soul will disintegrate, and you won't have a second chance at resurrection."
"……Oh."
Chen Wenjian sneered: "Is this the shackle you put on your father?"
"Saving you is my last wish. Although he doesn't regard me as a brother, I recognize him as a brother, so naturally I have to make up for his shortcomings. Despite this, I also have to consider the people." Chen Qiaoyun said lightly.
"My son is indeed still the pillar of righteousness."
Chen Wenjian glanced at the beads in his hand, then suddenly picked one up and held it in his hand.
Chen Qiaoyun was stunned for a moment, not knowing what was going on. Then he saw his demonic energy burst out, and dark clouds flowed down his arm and poured into the bead. After a while, the entire bead was dyed pure black.
He threw the bead casually towards Chen Yunli, and the glass roof shattered with a clang, and colorful fragments fell like rain. The black bead quietly merged into the boy's chest which had stopped rising and falling.
"I don't like being bound, so wake up, Wu... Yunli."
He pronounced the last two words very softly, with a hint of illusory tenderness.
…
After finally making it to work time, Chen Yunli sat down at his workstation at 8 o'clock. After signing in, he immediately logged into his email, turned to the first unreviewed paper, clicked the label behind the title, and started the second round of review.
The whole process took thirty seconds and was completed in one go.
There's a thirty-second countdown before the second stage begins. The system gently reminds you: "After starting the second stage review, the reviewer will enter the original timeline and become Chen Yunli, the second son of the protagonist Chen Wenjian, integrating all of his memories and experiences. This process will last approximately ten minutes, and the reviewer will be fully immersed in the role. Please maintain your concentration and don't get lost."
"clear."
Chen Yunli agreed readily, and the system stopped talking nonsense. As soon as the countdown ended, his eyes went dark, and then he entered a brand new body with the illusion of his soul leaving his body, and began to merge... or to experience his life firsthand.
He was born on a cold and snowy night. Because there were too many children in the family, his parents abandoned him on the roadside. He was saved by several beggars, and he himself lived as a beggar until he was five years old.
When he was five years old, a snowstorm hit his border town, freezing hundreds of people to death overnight, including several of his family members. As he huddled among the bodies of his relatives, waiting to die, a clean, beautiful hand reached out and lifted him up like a kitten.
The man was very handsome and was holding a pretty boy's hand with his other hand.
Then came the gains and losses that lasted for more than a hundred years.
Chen Yunli was doted on by Chen Wenjian, and his brother gave in to him a lot, but he only liked his father and not his brother, because his father always praised his brother and only indulged and spoiled him like a pet.
Later, his father died and his brother left. He walked the world with an obsession, doing things that everyone dismissed as wishful thinking.
His brother thought the same and was still urging him to let go until his death.
But he didn't let go, and this time it was still his brother who compromised.
Just like when he was a child, he was willful and spoiled. On a snowy day, he wanted to eat snacks from Baixiang Shop ten miles away. His eleven-year-old brother also braved the snow to buy them for him.
Just like he wanted to kill his brother, his brother had been secretly sending people to protect and look after him.
Just like when he asked his brother to use the method he found to resurrect his heinous father, and his brother silently agreed...
The second before closing his eyes, Chen Yunli felt that he was such a fool. He had lived a mediocre life and had been protected under the wings of others all his life. He had better choices, but he chose to take the most difficult path.
The courage and persistence to do something knowing it is impossible should not be used in these places.
But damn it, why didn't he feel any regret?
Yeah? Why doesn't he regret it?
As his consciousness gradually returned, Chen Yunli was so angry that he wanted to kick Chen Wenjian from the original timeline, stuff him into a wooden barrel, and throw him off the top of the Sword Sealing Tower.
Then, just before waking up, he actually heard Chen Wenjian's voice:
“…Wake up, Yunli.”
…
…
…
He actually has the nerve to call me Yun Li!
Chen Yunli suddenly opened his eyes, and fragments of colored glass reflecting colorful light fell from above his head like a pouring galaxy. Chen Wenjian, dressed in black, walked towards him in the direction of the flowing galaxy.
There was a handsome man in white standing next to him. For some reason, he looked at Chen Yunli with surprise and joy, and opened his mouth as if he was about to say something.
Chen Yunli was not interested in these things. He jumped up with his hands on the ground, and a tremendous demonic energy burst out from his body, turning into clouds and mist that swirled around him.
Looking at Chen Wenjian who had already walked in front of him, he sneered and raised his leg——
With a "click", he kicked his knee.
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