Chapter 286: Just Who Are We, Really?
Chapter 286: Just Who Are We, Really?
There was a large town outside Dark Fiend Valley. The people who lived inside it were all inner valley elders and relatives of core disciples. The Ling Family’s clansmen were also living inside that town.
After coming out of Dark Fiend Valley, Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan headed towards the town.
When they arrived at a huge house in the southern corner, the two sisters saw many martial practitioners dressed in red and gold roaming around the house.
“They are from Gold Fiend Valley and Fire Fiend Valley!” Ling Xuanxuan glanced at them once as her beautiful face looked angry, “They’re monitoring us!”
“Let’s go in first.” Ling Yushi sighed softly. Under the gazes of the Gold Fiend Valley and Fire Fiend Valley martial practitioners, she entered the big house with her younger sister.
“The First Miss and Second Miss have returned,” someone among the Ling Family clansmen announced loudly.
“Yushi. Xuanxuan. Did you see those people outside?” Ling Chengzhi came in from the backyard and asked with a heavy expression.
“We saw them.” Ling Xuanxuan scoffed. “What are they here for? Are they here to cause trouble?”
“Sigh…” Ling Chengzhi sighed and brought the two sisters to the backyard.
In the backyard, the Ling Family elders, Ling Feng, and many other Ling Family clansmen had actually gathered.
“Just now, Gold Fiend Valley’s Qiu Xudong came over to warn us not to leave the town during this period of time.” Ling Chengzhi’s expression was dark. “Qiu Xudong told us that the sooner we forget about escaping, the better. He says that if we dare act recklessly, Gold Fiend Valley and Fire Fiend Valley’s martial practitioners would definitely not take it lightly.”
Ling Yushi’s beautiful face turned slightly. “It appears they know that Dark Asura Hall is going to send someone to aid us.”
“What’s going on?” Ling Chengzhi frowned and asked.
“Senior Sister Lu Li sent word about us being threatened to Dark Asura Hall and Armament Sect. Armament Sect did not respond, but Dark Asura Hall replied to us. I heard that Tu Shixiong had arranged for his son to lead his subordinate commanders to aid us in leaving Seven Fiends Valley,” Ling Xuanxuan explained before saying quietly, “They’re giving Qin Lie face, which is why they are coming to assist us…”
The moment she brought up Qin Lie, all the clansmen in Ling Family suddenly turned quiet in unison.
After a long time, Ling Feng shook his head and sighed softly. Sadness and pain gushed from his eyes.
“It looks like they do know about this.” Ling Chengzhi thought for a while and also said, “Qiu Xudong also said that we should cease our unnecessary struggle. He said that no one can change the Ling Family’s fate. They say that the fact that Ling Family being able to survive until now was the biggest concession Seven Fiends Valley could make…”
The numerous Ling Family clansmen all slumped, looking helpless after hearing his words.
“Little Shi. Xuanxuan. Why don’t you… submit for the Ling Family?” Ling Family Elder Ling Bo said tremblingly, “The Ling Family is too weak and small. In a place like Seven Fiends Valley, anyone can eliminate us. After the Ling Family has gone through so many terrible things, we have already lost too many clansmen. Why not make a small sacrifice so that the Ling Family can continue to exist?”
“Yeah, how can the Ling Family possibly go up against Seven Fiends Valley? Without your master looking out for us, we have no way to survive here at all!” the other elder, Ling Xiang, also echoed.
“First Miss. Second Miss. Just sacrifice a bit for the Ling Family, okay?”
“If your father was still alive, he would do the same thing for the family’s survival.”
“Yeah.”
“……”
Many cowardly Ling Family clansmen were frightened after Qiu Xudong came over and threatened them. They even discovered that the Gold Fiend Valley and Fire Fiend Valley martial practitioners were eying them greedily on the outside, obviously harboring ill intentions.
To survive, they took the initiative to try and persuade Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan. They wished that the two sisters would obey Sheng Meilan’s arrangements and marry Li Zhongzheng and Bu Xiang as concubines.
—They did not want to die.
“Silence!” Clan elder Ling Kangan furiously glared at Ling Bo and Ling Xiang and yelled, “Haven’t Little Shi and Xuanxuan done enough for the family? If it wasn’t for Little Shi and Xuanxuan, Ling Family would’ve been made a hideous mess by Du Haitian and succumbed to his plots long ago! It is because of Little Shi and Xuanxuan that we were able to come to Seven Fiends Valley and have a safe place to rest and recuperate. It is also because of Little Shi and Xuanxuan that we have lived rather comfortably for the past few years.”
“Without the First Miss and Second Miss, the Ling Family would’ve been slaughtered down to the last man back at Icestone City.” Ling Feng snorted. “It is because Lu Li gave the First Miss and Second Miss face that she attempted to lead the Ling Family away from Icestone City and kept the Ling Family out of trouble.”
“Mn, without the two misses, the current Ling Family would not exist.”
“The First Miss and Second Miss have sacrificed a lot already.”
There were plenty of Ling Family clansmen who could distinguish between right and wrong and chose this moment to yell their thoughts, standing up against Ling Bo, Ling Xiang, and the others.
“If it wasn’t for the Ling Family still being here, Little Shi and Xuanxuan could’ve chosen not to come back.” Ling Kangan glared at the people who had shouted earlier. “One of the reasons they came back was to mourn Jiu Liuyu and return their master’s favor. They also came back to protect the clan. If they hadn’t come back, everyone here would’ve been slaughtered by Seven Fiends Valley long ago!”
Hearing these words, many of the Ling Family clansmen became silent. The people who were calling for the sisters to sacrifice themselves also went silent, bowing their heads in shame.
“Little Shi. Xuanxuan. Y-your hair…” Ling Chengzhi looked surprised.
He realized that, after Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan lost control of their emotions, their brilliant, black hair would gradually change colors… They would become a very strange, deep purple.
Even the pupils of the two sisters glowed a faint purple hue. It was incredibly rare.
He had even assumed that the two sisters cultivated some rare spirit art.
“The color of my hair, is it?” Ling Xuanxuan picked up a wisp of hair and said casually, “I don’t know why, but as of late, the moment I lose control of my emotions, my hair becomes purple in color. I… I already thought it was a bit odd back at Armament Sect. It happened out of nowhere and I don’t know why …”
“Little Shi, you too?” Ling Chengzhi asked in surprise.
“Mn. When Qin Lie pulled out the spirit pattern pillars back at Armament Sect, causing the evil nether passageway to open and the nether demonic energy inside to spread out, I already felt somewhat uncomfortable. It was as if… as if my blood was boiling…” Ling Yushi thought carefully about the situation and described while frowning, “My hair turned purple at that time.”
When Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan had spoken up to this point, the crowd realized that Ling Feng had abruptly shuddered as his eyes suddenly shone with an intimidating light.
They subconsciously looked at him, then realized that Ling Feng’s short, inch long hair had actually turned faintly purple as well!
“Ling Feng!” Ling Chengzhi screamed. “Why are you like that as well?”
“M-me too?” Ling Feng seemed to be recalling something just now and suddenly lost control of his emotions. However, he did not seem to realize that his own hair had become purple in color.
After Ling Chengzhi pointed at him and cried out, he suddenly came to a realization. He realized what happened from the people’s shocked eyes.
“How can this be… how can this be…” the clan elder Ling Kangan murmured in confusion.
“Ling Feng, when Little Shi and Xuanxuan talked about the changes of their hair, why did your expression change so greatly?” Ling Chengzhi exclaimed.
“I recalled something Qin Lie’s grandfather told me in the past…” Ling Feng suddenly said.
“What is it?” Ling Chengzhi asked.
“It’s been so many years. At the time, my Fire Cloud Hammer had broken and I went to Grandpa Qin Shan have it fixed.” Ling Feng concentrated hard to recall the past memories. “When Grandpa Qin Shan helped me repair my Fire Cloud Hammer, he asked me to draw blood from my finger and drip it on the Fire Cloud Hammer. At the time, Grandpa Qin Shan had stared at the few drops of blood with an incredibly odd expression. He then told me something strange…”
“What is it?” Clan elder Ling Kangan questioned urgently.
“He said that I have no idea who I am at all. He also said that all the Ling Family clansmen have no idea who they are. He said that the reason he came to Ling Town and stayed at Herb Mountain was to look for something and confirm a certain matter. He said that he hadn’t found the thing he was looking for, but seeing my blood, he said that he had finally confirmed what he wanted to confirm…”
“What did he confirm from your blood?” Ling Kangan asked in surprise.
“I also asked him this, but he neither explained this to me, nor did he say what he confirmed.” Ling Feng worked hard to remember. “He only told me that, one day, my hair and pupils may turn purple. He said that, if that day truly comes, I have no need to panic.”
Once Ling Feng said everything up to this point, all the Ling Family clansmen had turned pale with fright.
“H—how… how did he know this would happen? How did he know?” Ling Kangan said, scared out of his wits.
Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan had also noticed that something wasn’t right. They also grew worried and uneasy as they looked deeply at Ling Feng.
“At the time, I had only assumed that he was blabbering nonsense and that he was going senile, so I didn’t treat it as anything important at all. I also quickly forgot the things he said then. It is only today, when the hair of the First Miss and Second Miss turned purple that I suddenly remembered this—remembered his words.” Ling Feng subconsciously pulled at his own hair with a dark expression. He thought hard like a trapped beast, trying to search for the old memories.
“The reason Qin Shan came to Ling Town was definitely not so simple! If he said that everyone in Ling Town does not know who they really are, then he must know! He chose to come to Ling Town, so he must know the uniqueness of the Ling Clan. Yet why did he never tell us anything?” Ling Kangan was distressed, as if he was on fire. He stared fixedly at Ling Feng. “What else? What else did he say?”
“I can’t remember anymore. At the time, I thought he was just blabbering nonsense, so I did not pay attention to what he said back then! Dammit, I can’t remember. I just can’t remember no matter how much I try!” Ling Feng hugged his head and cried out in pain.
His short hair had already turned from faint purple to a deep purple color just like Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan.
“Qin Shan! Just what was Qin Shan’s objective for staying in Ling Town for five years?!” Ling Kangan’s breathing was rapid. “Why was he able to predict that your hair and eyes would one day turn purple? Why did he say that all of the Ling Family have no idea who they are?”
“Just who are we, really?”