Chapter 376 (1/2)
Xiao FengYang replied, ”That's right, this younger brother has the same thought. We have to cut the emotional longing inside Xue'er, or else this will result in irreparable consequences! Now that Ling Tian is being pursued by the Martial Order Medallion owner, there is more than a ninety percent chance that he can't live on! From what I discovered, experts have been sent by the secretly plotting Yu Family as well as the XiMen Family who have a grudge against the Ling Family. They're watching over the entire Sky Bearing Empire for the sole purpose of not allowing Ling Tian to return to Sky Bearing alive! In addition, the DongFang Family has also sent their people to observe the situation, just like us. Thus, it is guaranteed that Ling Tian can't walk out of this alive! If Xue'er can't get rid of her lovelorn thoughts, then I'm afraid…”
Xiao FengHan had a grave expression as he paced around, before asking, ”How did you find out about these matters? The Yu and XiMen Family are within my plans, but how did you find out about the DongFang Family's matters?”
Xiao FengYang laughed in satisfaction as he replied, ”Hehe, a few days ago, some of the DongFang Family members came over, proposing on behalf of their prince, DongFang XingChen. But I knew that elder brother was planning to leave Xue'er by your side for a few more years, and thus I pushed the matter down for you. It was precisely from their mouths that I found out about the matter of Ling Tian being hunted.”
”This matter can't be rushed.” Xiao FengHan frowned, and unhappily said, ”If we are too hasty, we will only end up causing Xue'er unhappiness.”
”Big brother, I, on the other hand, feel that if this matter were to succeed, it would be killing many birds with one stone.” Xiao FengYang grinned. ”Firstly, we can use this to cut off Xue'er's thoughts about Ling Tian. Secondly, we can win over an ally in Eastern Zhao, which can serve as a restriction for the Yu Family. Lastly, with Eastern Zhao allying with us, when we set off on conquest we do not have to worry about our backyard being set on fire!”
Xiao FengHan lowered his head, pondering about this matter. He ended up sighing, ”Let me think about it for awhile.”
A hint of a smile rose on the corners of Xiao FengYang's lips. He knew that his elder brother was already partly convinced, and didn't say anything else, bowing and leaving the room.
Xiao FengHan sat at the Windblown Pavilion alone after Xiao FengYang left, sighing every now and then. Eventually, as the night grew deeper, he too retired to his room.
It was only a long time later that a pet.i.te figure slowly stood up from the thick forests surrounding the Windblown Pavilion. Only when the faint moonlight shone could that figure be seen clearly. With peerless beauty, a delicate body, tottering on the spot, it was the little princess, Xiao YanXue!
Her purpose of coming over was actually to ask Xiao FengHan to help Ling Tian on behalf of their friends.h.i.+p, but to think that she overheard such a news instead! Her heart felt as if it was being twisted. From hatred and disgust, her opinion of Ling Tian had slowly turned positive, but it was far from being madly in love with him; she just wanted to help someone she admired. She definitely didn't want such a figure to die under various plots and schemes!
However, Xiao YanXue never expected that her two grandfathers, who had always treated her like an absolute treasure, would choose to sell her out this time! In the end, they still chose to betray her! Even after working her heart out for the family these few years, she only amounted to this much! At this point, her heart felt totally shattered...
On the second day, while the entire Xiao Family was discussing a marriage alliance with the DongFang family, Xiao FengHan received a report that Xiao YanXue had left behind a letter and disappeared, her whereabouts unknown...
At the same time, Ling Tian felt as though he was in a dream.
An earth-shatteringly huge dream!
Inside his dream, he seemed to have experienced both his lifetimes, staining himself with years upon years of mortal dust!
The endless misery in his past life, sorrowful and bitter; a thousand struggles, ten thousand types of torture!
Then he experienced the frivolity of this life, looking down on the world; surrounded by beauties and pa.s.sion, domineeringly flying upward!
The excess melancholy and low-spiritedness of his past life slowly drifted further and further away from him, and inside the dream, his experiences of both lifetimes slowly merged into a single whole, no longer separate from each other, as though he had gone through both experiences at the same time. Pain and pleasure, love and hatred, success and failure, each opposing force met without any gaps, and the resulting feeling was as though one had successfully detached himself from the mortal world, detached from the cycle of samsara.
Zhuangzi dreams of a b.u.t.terfly, but who is Zhuangzi? And who is the b.u.t.terfly? Who is in whose dreams? Or is it the b.u.t.terfly that is dreaming of Zhuangzi?!
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However, this didn't matter anymore. So long as one has experienced it, lived through it, be it dreaming or awake, fantasy or reality, what difference was there? Be it in dreams or in reality, it was good enough to have seen it!
No regrets!
In the darkness below the boulder, Ling Tian slowly opened his eyes, giving out a large grin, his entire being radiated indifference to the world! A carefree smile! If any woman in the world were to come across this smile, most likely, she would immediately fall in love and be lost forever!
The only problem with this wonderful smile was that there was n.o.body to witness it!
Ling Tian was greeted with stillness all around him, and the only sounds he could hear were the chirping of the cicadas coming from above the ground. They sounded so loud, as though they were right beside him!