Chapter 73-Part 4

In fact, Lin Xiao wished he could have spoken just a few more words to Huangfu Jiquan. He didn’t have many friends, and not a lot of chances to meet Huangfu Jiquan. And how long does he have to live, now? Talking with Huangfu Jiquan was good. Lin Xiao hadn’t expected Ling Luo wanting to be alone with him so suddenly.

Apparently, it’s the will of heaven that he tells Ling Luo the truth quickly.

Lin Xiao was quiet the whole way, thinking of what he had to do. Ling Luo, considering how to make his confession, also said nothing.

They left Xuan Huang, crossing the border into the Nebula Country in silence.

Gritting his teeth, Lin Xiao came to a stop. “Ling Luo, I have something to say to you.”

At the same time, Ling Luo: “Lin Xiao, there’s something I want to tell you.”

They stared at each other.

“I will speak first.” Lin Xiao couldn’t wait any longer. If he hesitated any longer, he might never dare to…

Setting aside his eagerness, Ling Luo gestured for Lin Xiao to continue.

“I…” Before the words “killed your parents” could come out of his mouth, Lin Xiao was flung to one side by Ling Luo.

Due to his tangled thoughts, Lin Xiao had failed to detect a sneak attack.

“Who sent you to kill us?” Ling Luo spat out angrily. He didn’t care that the figure in front of them clearly had first-level cultivation. He had been waiting so long to share his heart with Lin Xiao, and then someone comes to cause trouble? Ling Luo fumed. Never mind if the stranger was as strong as him, Ling Luo would find a way to overcome.

“It’s not for you to know who sent me. Just know that I’m your death.” The man’s sneering tone bled through his face-covering as he brandished a qi.

Ling Luo guessed that a cultivator who had attended the assembly had sent the man. Lessors would be jealous of Ling Luo’s championship. He just hadn’t thought the fighter sent would be as high level as himself.

“I’m sorry. I got you involved in this.” Ling Luo apologized to Lin Xiao as he fended off another blow.

Lin Xiao shook his head and stayed silent. Ling Luo singlehandedly blocked all the strikes, but he was evenly matched with the assailant, and neither could gain the upper hand.

Lin Xiao knew he needed to join the fight.

Taking out his qi, Lin Xiao rushed up. Even if the disparity between levels were a chasm, the attacker was fending off Ling Luo, and Lin Xiao easily ended the man’s life.

No need to be polite to a hired assassin.

Seeing Lin Xiao’s abrupt display of spirit-power, Ling Luo gaped a little. Then, slightly sluggishly, Ling Luo asked: “Lin Xiao, you advanced to middle-rank?”

Adamantly determined not to delay any longer, Lin Xiao said: “I have something to tell you.” He hung his head, not daring to look Ling Luo in the eye.

“What’s the matter?” Ling Luo’s heart beat a little faster. Could it be that Lin Xiao liked him too, and would confess?

“I killed your parents.” Lin Xiao spat out the words, closing his eyes.

But Ling Luo chuckled. “You’re joking, right?”

Lin Xiao lifted his head. The smile on Ling Luo’s face was stiff but disbelieving. “That’s not something to joke about.” Ling Luo stepped closer and patted Lin Xiao on the shoulder.

Lin Xiao brushed off Ling Luo’s hand, calmly saying: “Come with me.”

Frowning, Ling Luo followed behind Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao took to Ling Luo to that horrid place, where the trees lay fallen. The beast bodies were long gone, probably dragged off by other monsters to eat. But traces of the pool of blood still lingered on the ground.

His brow furrowed, Ling Luo looked around the scene, and then at Lin Xiao, not knowing what to say.

Lin Xiao’s face was pale and his mouth was twitching. His memory recalling the images that haunted him.

“I advanced from xuan level, because I ate yellow spirit grass.” Lin Xiao slowly said. “When I found the heaven spirit grass that day, I also found yellow spirit grass next to it. Yellow spirit grass has the capacity to advance you to the next level…so, I ate it.”

Ling Luo was still saying nothing, so Lin Xiao continued. “I wasn’t expecting that the yellow grass would make me lose all rationality. The last thing I saw was your parents’ faces. And they were terrified.” Lin Xiao pointed at the dried rust still staining the soil. “I didn’t know what I had done, but when I saw all the blood…”

“Where are their bodies?” Ling Luo questioned in a daze. He couldn’t believe what Lin Xiao was saying. But Lin Xiao’s tone was so grim.

No, it was impossible! Ling Luo didn’t even know where his parents were staying, how could they be found and killed by Lin Xiao?

Ling Luo desperately denied it in his heart. His parents couldn’t be dead. The words coming out of Lin Xiao’s mouth, they couldn’t be true.

“I don’t know where their bodies are,” said Lin Xiao. “When I came to my senses, they weren’t there. I only found this.” And Lin Xiao pulled out the blood-stained fragments of clothing he’d kept.

Ling Luo, seeing what Lin Xiao held in his hand, stood stock still. He recognized it. The fabric of Ling Tian’s clothes was very difficult to find on the mainland.

And the pattern. Ling Tian had liked to have that special pattern embroidered on his outfits.

Doubt started clawing up Ling Luo’s heart. He’s afraid. Afraid that what Lin Xiao said wasn’t a lie.

“You…really killed my parents.” Ling Luo weakly took the discolored fabric from Lin Xiao’s hand.

He might as well had been hit by a thunderbolt. First winning at the assembly, then anticipating confessing to Lin Xiao. Now, instead, he was hearing that his parents were dead. By the hand of the one he liked.

How had everything gotten so tangled?

“I am sorry. I didn’t know I would kill your parents. Take my life in return.” Lin Xiao was talking calmly, putting his qi down in front of Ling Luo. Composedly, he continued, “I ask you for one thing. Please don’t take revenge on my family. They had nothing to do with this.”

Ling Luo closed his eyes, not saying a word. Still trying to absorb the blow dealt him. His parents are gone? Their smiling faces, he would never see them again? He was an orphan?

He loved his parents more than anything. And he knew Lin Xiao wasn’t joking, wasn’t playing a trick. Grief and anger stormed inside Ling Luo.

“You really killed them.” Ling Luo pierced Lin Xiao with a sharp stare. One last chance. For Lin Xiao to smile mockingly and explain it was all just a bad prank.

But Lin Xiao didn’t.

Instead, he nodded heavily. “Yes. I killed them. Kill me now. Just spare my family.”

“Your family is so important? What about the lives of my family?!” Ling Luo shouted, eyes crimson. He was trying to stay rational, to think things through. But when Lin Xiao mentioned his family again, Ling Luo couldn’t suppress his rage and anguish.

“I…” Lin Xiao didn’t know what to say.

The hard truth was it was all his fault, and the only way he could atone for his sins was to let Ling Luo kill him. With a quirk of his lips, Lin Xiao laughed weakly. “Come on, kill me. Avenge your parents.”

Seeing Lin Xiao seek death so earnestly, Ling Luo smiled emptily. “Letting go of your family?”

Lin Xiao looked at Ling Luo in alarm. “Say that they are innocent!”

“Then were my parents not innocent?”

“Kill me to avenge your parents.” Lin Xiao can only keep repeating this sentence.

Lin Xiao’s words droning into his ears, the faces of his father and mother floating before him, the stink of dried blood. Ling Luo gave into the conviction that Lin Xiao really had caused his parents’ death.

A voice was running through Ling Luo’s head on a loop. “That’s him. He killed your parents. You have to kill him. Avenge your parents. Kill him…kill him…kill him…kill him…kill him…”

Ling Luo picked up Lin Xiao’s qi. His face distorted, with red eyes and a twisted mouth, as he seethed with wrath.

Lin Xiao sensed Ling Luo’s frenzy, and he was terrified for his own family. He could only bitterly hope that once Ling Luo took revenge on him, Ling Luo’s bloodthirstiness would be sated.

Closing his eyes again, Lin Xiao waited for Ling Luo to strike.

Seeing Lin Xiao’s surrender, Ling Luo aimed straight for Lin Xiao’s heart, his whole being roiling out of control.

He must avenge his parents! He must have revenge…