Tang Xiaoyu returned to Falling Leaf Peak and came to the front door of his senior martial sister, knocking a few times, "Senior martial sister, may I come in?"
Liu Xuning's voice came through, "Come in!"
Entering the room, Tang Xiaoyu saw his pale-faced senior martial sister lying listlessly on the bed.
Tang Xiaoyu pulled over a chair to sit beside her and said, "This blow wasn't small!"
Senior martial sister turned her head away, ignoring Tang Xiaoyu.
Tang Xiaoyu was not annoyed, "Master, you should go back and rest first. I'll have a talk with senior martial sister."
Liu Xuning got up and exhorted, "Comfort her well."
"I know what's important."
After Liu Xuning left, "Do you want to hear my story?"
Seeing that she did not respond, Tang Xiaoyu started recounting his own past, "I'm considered a parentless person. I have a younger sister but only know she's alive yet don't know where she is."
"You can go look for her." Senior martial sister retorted.
"Then what if I find her? Be a good elder brother who looks after his younger sister?"
"What else?"
"If I'm someone lingering on the brink of death, should I still look for her?" Tang Xiaoyu threw back.
Senior martial sister did not speak, only turning her head back around.
Tang Xiaoyu smiled, "What kind of person do you think I am?"
Senior martial sister thought for a while, "Lively, cheerful, straightforward, kind, stubborn, sometimes a bit crazy."
"You didn't get anything wrong, but that was the past me, not the present me."
Senior martial sister was intrigued and asked, "Why the past? Isn't the present you still like this?"
Tang Xiaoyu stood up and looked out the window, "At first, I was an ordinary person who could not cultivate. My dream was only to marry and have children."
"To make a living, I mingled amongst cultivators. On the surface, we were all friends, but in private we saw through each other clearly."
"With a word, they could change my destiny, yet they never thought of letting me change my own destiny, only seeking more pleasure from me."
Senior martial sister cut in, "You could have asked them!"
Tang Xiaoyu turned back with disdain, "People who truly want to help you do so without you having to ask. People who don't want to help, even if you ask will only bring humiliation upon yourself."
Tang Xiaoyu turned his head again, no longer looking at her, "Later I joined the army. Not because I loved that country so much, only because that was my only chance then to change my destiny."
"Can't say I rose meteorically, but I did gain a decent position."
"It's just a position, doesn't bring any real benefits." Senior martial sister was puzzled.
"Because I was an entertainer, and working in places like brothels. Tell me, was my position important to me?" Tang Xiaoyu threw back.
"The biases in people's hearts are like a huge mountain. No matter how hard you try, don't expect to be able to move it. This saying speaks the truth, we have no choice but to acknowledge it."
Tang Xiaoyu went on, "After becoming a soldier, my brothers used their lives to show me the meaning of camaraderie. Only then did I know, it wasn't that there were no nice people in this world to me, I had just entered the wrong circle."
"What happened after?" Senior martial sister asked.
"After that, just when I thought I would accomplish something, cultivators came to change my destiny again. I was furious, also confused, and in the end chose to take my own life."
"It seems those cultivators saved your life in the end."
Tang Xiaoyu gave a cold laugh, "I was saved, but not by them."
Finally, he told her everything that happened, up until Three Pure Daoist Temple.
Senior martial sister sympathized, "I didn't expect you to have gone through so much, yet still able to keep your original disposition."
"My original disposition? I've only learned to act, to act well in every scene."
"Yesterday I could be perfectly serious, today I can jest, tomorrow I can be grieved and sympathizing."
Tang Xiaoyu looked at her coldly, with not a shred of emotion in his eyes. Senior martial sister panicked.
"I can even ruthlessly kill those who once humiliated me. After killing them, I can still helplessly sigh and ask myself what meaning there was in doing this?"
"Because I already have the qualifications to say such hypocritical words, and those around me will still say I'm too kind and merciful."
Tang Xiaoyu switched to a gentle expression again, "This is reality. A reality you've just experienced."
"You want revenge very much right?"
Senior martial sister woodenly nodded.
"You are furious, helpless. Furious at the darkness and indifference of this world, furious at the unbridled arrogance of those people. Helpless that you cannot change any of this. Am I right?" Tang Xiaoyu asked slowly.
Senior martial sister said agitatedly, "Why do so many people watch coldly on the sidelines? Why do even the elders of the holy land turn a deaf ear? Why are we the ones in the wrong, just because we are weak?"
"Whenever I recall their mocking looks, I hate to kill them all."
Tang Xiaoyu patted her shoulder, "Remember those looks, remember your fury now, remember even more this hatred. Bury it in your heart, and wait for the time to unleash it."
Senior martial sister said dejectedly again, "But I'm already crippled now."
"I can help you continue cultivating. Are you willing to join me in challenging the unfairness of this world?"
Senior martial sister agreed without hesitation, "I'm willing. Even if I die, I want those people to pay a price."
"Good. Then swear you will never betray or sell me out."
Senior martial sister raised her hand, "I swear..."
Tang Xiaoyu nodded satisfied and tapped her head, "This is a cultivation method. Cultivate well and wait for the day we rise."
Senior martial sister looked through the cultivation method in her mind and respectfully said, "Yes, Elder Tang."
Tang Xiaoyu smiled gently, "Rest well. Your health comes first."
"Thank you."
Opening the door, Tang Xiaoyu replied, "Save your thanks for later."
"Alright."
Everything was implicit, the meaning very clear.
Tang Xiaoyu was in no hurry to pull anyone else in. He was waiting for when their fury, dissatisfaction, despair accumulated enough, then he would toss them a lifeline.
When desperate, these people would desperately grab at that lifeline, regardless of whether it could truly save their lives.
After this incident, Liu YuXin's courage had clearly diminished.
She stuck to Tang Xiaoyu every day, only this way could she feel a little safer.
"Tang Xiaoyu, wait for me!" Liu YuXin ran over, grabbing Tang Xiaoyu's arm and not letting go.
Tang Xiaoyu comforted, "What's the matter?"
"I'm scared." Liu YuXin said aggrieved.
Tang Xiaoyu stroked her head, "What's there to be scared of? I'll protect you."
"Really?"
"Really. Not only will I protect you, I will also send every single one of them to the Western Paradise." As Tang Xiaoyu spoke, he couldn't help looking into the distance.
(Dear readers, please switch to another book first. I don't want to affect your mood for reading, but I also want to finish writing this book to summarize the experience.
So I can only ask everyone to switch to another book for now.)