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Spirit Stone returned to the mountain for a break, this time different from any previous occasion, because he hurried back due to both good and bad news.
Old Six has reached Golden Core, becoming the first elder of the new generation of Chu Lineage disciples in just eleven years. This honor made Spirit Stone unconsciously puff out his chest, but at the same time, he was very worried.
Since hearing about the deaths of Aunt and his sister-in-law, Li Hong went mad. At first, he didn't believe it and shouted to go down the mountain. No one could persuade him. Yun Jiuzi had no choice but to personally take him down.
Upon seeing the charred ruins of the Farmstead, Li Hong was initially silent. When he saw that there were no remains of Aunt and his sister-in-law, only a large marble tombstone simply stating their birth and death years, he lost his mind and rushed into the ruins, digging desperately, managing to excavate a ten-zhang deep pit.
Afterward, he lay motionless in the pit, wanting Yun Jiuzi to bury him with the ashes.
Yun Jiuzi, unable to handle the situation any longer, had no choice but to forcibly restrain Li Hong, locking him in his own small house at Ghost Stream.
After being locked up, Li Hong fell into despair and refused to come out, getting himself drunk every day. He would wake up and drink again; as long as Yun Jiuzi didn’t provide alcohol for a day, he would cause a scene.
Yun Jiuzi didn’t try to persuade him either, keeping watch outside while both of them silently drank their sorrows away.
Spirit Stone felt a mix of joy, urgency, and worry upon hearing this news. Others might not understand, but he knew very well why Li Hong was acting this way.
It was all that woman's fault! Hmph, it would have been better if she had died earlier!
Initially feeling a bit guilty, after hearing how Li Hong was now, that guilt vanished completely. He no longer had any good feelings towards Wanyi, only disdain and disgust.
He must find a way to help Old Six regain his spirits. With determination in his eyes, Spirit Stone did not immediately seek out Li Hong after entering the Mountain Gate. Instead, he carefully considered what to say before finally taking ten pounds of Bamboo Leaf Green from below and flying towards Ghost Stream.
********
In the dim little house, Li Hong sat dazedly surrounded by a pile of Wine Jars, nearly buried by them.
He felt a heart-wrenching pain that made it hard to breathe. Scenes from the past flashed before his eyes.
Wanyi was not a local of Lüliang, but the only daughter of a large town outside, Wuli Pu, and although her family had fallen on hard times, she had been educated from a young age and was well-known for her needlework. If it weren't for the chaos of the Song-Jin wars, she would never have married into the small mountain village of Li Family Hollow. Jiang the Old Scholar wanted to protect his only daughter from the turmoil of war, but in the end, he could not shield her.
Not long after entering the door, her elder brother was taken away by strong men, leaving her to support the household, comfort her mother-in-law, and care for her younger brother-in-law. The delicate hands that once embroidered and read were now calloused from heavy farm work. Even so, she accepted her fate and never complained. During those difficult years, she held the entire family together. It was also during that time that she began to harbor vague feelings.
The elder sister-in-law was supposed to be like a mother, but at some point, she had become a confidante. Her elder brother was a formidable hunter known far and wide, able to shoot powerful arrows in rapid succession; this was why Jiang the Old Scholar chose him as a son-in-law. But in truth, it was she who truly resonated with Wanyi. During those dark and difficult years, they would sit under a small lamp, and Wanyi taught her everything she had learned from books since childhood. They discussed poetry and literature, filling their small home with the fragrance of books.
Perhaps it was then that both began to have their own thoughts. She was only four years older than Wanyi. She was still very young.
Wanyi had just left like that. Why didn’t she wait for her? Why didn’t she give herself a little more time? How cruel fate could be!
With pent-up frustration with no outlet, Li Hong frantically searched through the pile of wine jars for leftover drinks but found nothing; they were all empty.
“Master brought you some wine.” Spirit Stone entered the small room and felt heartbroken upon seeing Li Hong.
What had this child turned into!
Li Hong was filthy and reeked of alcohol. His eyes were sunken deep into his face, his skin pale and gaunt. But he had already reached the Golden Core Stage; Spirit Stone could see that his vital energy remained intact; what was truly damaged was his heart.
Spirit Stone sighed inwardly and handed over the wine he had brought.
Li Hong looked up at Spirit Stone; a flicker of warmth crossed his eyes before he turned away, numbly lifting the wine jar to his lips and drinking deeply.
Spirit Stone watched him and suddenly said, “Wanyi has left behind some last words.”
Li Hong's body trembled; he involuntarily set down the wine jar, his eyes finally showing some life as he asked, “Is that true? Don’t lie to me.”
Spirit Stone spoke slowly: “That night, the Demon Sect Monster attacked both Azure Oil Temple and the farmstead below simultaneously. By the time we arrived, it was too late; everything was lost—there was a sea of fire below. Our people rushed to the farmstead to rescue others but saw no survivors. However, we heard someone singing amidst the flames; that person sat in the fire, already charred all over. It was only because they held your gift of Soul Maple that they managed to keep their last shred of clarity.”
Li Hong finally felt moved; tears streamed down his face as he choked out, “Wanyi died in the fire! Wanyi! How you must have suffered!”
"Bitterness? What does bitterness matter! The Demon Sect is so cruel that they spare not even mortals. They poisoned the Farmstead and then set it ablaze! It's infuriating; we are short-handed, and just a few days ago, we lost twenty-eight people without being able to rescue them! Three thousand lives in the Farmstead!" Spirit Stone said, his eyes flickering with a ghostly light.
Hatred gradually rose from within, and Li Hong gritted his teeth and asked, "What happened next?"
"They heard someone singing. That person sang this..." Spirit Stone paused for a moment and recited the lyrics that Wanyi sang before her death word for word:
"Do You Know the Pain of Longing?
Dreams wander thousands of miles with no place to find.
Cold Food Festival Every Morning, Nightly Rain,
Dawn Breeze cannot pass through the Vermilion Door.
Do You Know the Pain of Longing?
This life is filled with Past Life Mistake.
White-Headed Lament speaks of Parting Person,
I wish for One Heart Without Jealousy."
In the end, he said, "Alas... poor child, she knew she had no chance of survival, so she was blessing you. Child, you must listen to her words and gather your strength to take revenge for her! For her and Chuxiong's mother, and your Aunt!"
Li Hong was already stunned, reflecting on the meaning behind Wanyi's lyrics; she lamented her own suffering while blessing him and Chu Xi.
Before him appeared Wanyi's beautiful yet sorrowful face, her crystalline eyes filled with deep affection akin to the sea, full of reluctance and attachment, yet also filled with helplessness and regret.
With a crash, the wine jar in his hand shattered into pieces, splattering Bamboo Leaf Green like drops of blood tears, coldly dripping into Li Hong's heart.
He lowered his head and began to cry mournfully.
"Go ahead and cry, it will feel better once you let it out. Master still has many things to tell you. Alas, our Nine Li Sect may not survive this time..." Spirit Stone sighed heavily, slumping down as a dirty Wine Jar toppled over with a clatter.
A flash of guilt crossed Li Hong's mind. The sect was in trouble, yet I... But the heart-wrenching pain that surged within him made him cast aside that guilt. He recalled certain memories.
Wanyi... So you really came to see me...
He remembered the last emotional trial, almost certain that at that moment, Wanyi's soul had borrowed the guise of the Heart Demon to see him, but he had mistaken her for the Heart Demon and thus missed the chance. After that, no matter how many Summoning Techniques he used, that faint fragrant soul never appeared in his dreams again!
Blood tears surged from his heart, and he cried out in anguish.
At that moment, a familiar voice outside the small house softly asked, "Ancestor, is he feeling better?"
Chu Xi walked in. She looked much more haggard, her delicate brows tightly knitted, her eyes filled with anxiety and worry.
Seeing that familiar beautiful face, Li Hong suddenly felt an overwhelming hatred. He jumped up and shouted at her outside, "Get out! I never want to see you again!"
Chu Xi's face turned as pale as paper. She stammered, "Senior Brother, what's wrong? Why are you yelling at me..."
"It's all your fault! If you hadn't followed me that day, Wanyi wouldn't have thought like that!" Li Hong lost all restraint. Ignoring Spirit Stone's presence and Yun Jiuzi listening outside the door, he shouted out the secret from his heart: "I love Wanyi! I don't care if she is my sister-in-law; I only love her! It's because of you meddling that she suffered so much. Even before she died, she was blessing us! I will never be with you; she is watching from above, and I know she wouldn't want this. You forced her into this! Get out! Get out! Get out!"
Li Hong shouted "get out" three times in a row, crazily pointing at Chu Xi and cursing her. The fire in his heart had nowhere to go; for some reason, he desperately wanted to hurt this girl before him.
Tears streamed down Chu Xi's face like rain. Unable to stay any longer, she turned and rushed out the door, her heartbreaking cries fading into the distance.
Spirit Stone frowned slightly, realizing something was wrong. He had intended to stir up Li Hong's anger towards the Demon Sect Monster to motivate him. How could it be that when Chu Xi came in, all that anger was directed at her? His face turned pale and then green as he stood there stunned.
After a moment of hesitation, he decided to advise Li Hong: "Old Six, Chu Xi is a good girl; you shouldn't blame her like that. How can this be her fault? Wanyi..." He wanted to say Wanyi's name but found it difficult to speak. Instead, he hesitated and rephrased: "Your sister-in-law has passed; there's no bringing the dead back to life. You should cherish those who are still here."
"Master, you don't need to say anything." Li Hong slowly stood up. "This time, it was Chu Xi who deceived me, saying that I would only need a month to form a Golden Core, but it took me five years! Hmph! It was these five years that made me miss so many things, even causing Aunt and my sister-in-law to die. If I had been there, perhaps they..."
"Enough!" A loud shout came from outside the door as Yun Jiuzi walked in, his face dark with anger. "Li Hong, I have always regarded you as a friend and have never spoken ill of you, but this time you have gone too far! The Cosmic Vitality Pill and Jade Liquid were given to you by Chu Xi at my request. Are you going to blame me too? Fine! Blame me if you want; I admit I misjudged you!"
He coldly waved his hand. "Spirit Stone, you can leave too. Let him sit here and complain about everything! Perhaps he will even say it’s your fault for bringing him into the immortal path; if he hadn’t become an immortal, he could have been with that woman!"
"You!" Li Hong suddenly stood up, glaring angrily.
"What about me? I can't stand by any longer! Heartbreak eventually comes to an end; you know very well that there is no possibility with Wanyi! Why deceive yourself and others?" Yun Jiuzi said wearily, shaking his head as he walked out. Before leaving, he added, "Think about it carefully!"
Only Li Hong remained in the small room, his mind in chaos. Can he really blame anyone else? He could only blame himself.
Everything is in disarray... He squatted down dejectedly on the ground, holding his head in despair.
Three days later, Li Hong finally emerged from the room.
Seeing Li Hong come out, Yun Jiuzi looked up and calmly asked, "What are you thinking now?"
Li Hong already had an answer; he simply replied with a short phrase: "I want revenge."
"Good. What are your plans?"
"Please teach me practical combat." Li Hong said quietly.
The pain inside him still lingered, but there were more important matters to attend to.
"Alright. My cultivation level is too high to train you directly; I will find someone else to train you." After saying this, Yun Jiuzi transformed into a beam of yellow light and disappeared.
When he returned again, he brought along another person: Ling Yi Zi from Nine Beam Peak.
The most experienced person in the entire Nine Li Sect is currently at the late stage of Transmutation, neither too high nor too low, perfectly suitable for training Li Hong's practical experience. The only one in the Nine Li Sect who can be invited to train Li Hong is Yun Jiuzi.
Ling Yi Zi, with a cool and proud demeanor, looked coldly at Li Hong and said loudly, "If you want to learn practical combat from me, you must not fear hardship, exhaustion, or pain!"
Li Hong replied coldly, "I fear nothing; I just want you to train me as quickly as possible!"
Seeing the equally cold and proud Li Hong before him, Ling Yi Zi felt a sense of camaraderie. The previous Li Hong was not someone like him; back then, Li Hong was enthusiastic and amiable. Now, however, he was much more to Ling Yi Zi's taste—equally proud and exuding a murderous aura.
A hint of a smile flickered in his eyes, but Ling Yi Zi's expression remained unchanged. He said lightly, "Follow me; we need to find a suitable place."
A red and a golden light swiftly darted away.
Yun Jiuzi let out a soft sigh, finally feeling relieved. He walked back to the small house, frowning slightly as piles of Wine Jars silently turned to dust, scattering outward. In an instant, the small house returned to its clean and empty state, except for the lingering smell of alcohol… Yun Jiuzi thought to himself that it would probably take ten days or half a month for it to dissipate.
At that time, what changes would Li Hong undergo? Would the wounds in his heart heal?
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