314 Life is Hard (2/2)

Eldest Brother kept silent and no longer said anything.

Everyone was silent. The wind on the shore of Hulan Sea blew the ground and their cheeks like sharp blades. It was somewhat depressing and cold. Just like the randomly blowing wind, no one knew the end of this snatch for the Tomes of Arcane.

At this time, a voice sounded out.

”If the General wants to see the Tomes of Arcane, then why did you take my box?”

Ning Que stared at Xia Hou with curious eyes. With clear and pure eyes, he looked so innocent and naive. But he had a malicious intention hidden in his eyes, for he wanted to see the disappointed look of the other.

Only Mo Shanshan and Ye Hongyu understood what was intending to do. The rest of the people felt that his question was somewhat meaningless, for they thought that the ”Ming” Handscroll should be in the iron box. Otherwise, how could Xia Hou be willing to withstand the pressures of West-Hill Divine Palace and the Academy for that box? Ye Su coldly glanced at Ning Que. He thought that he had not seen the ”Ming” Handscroll in person since it got lost. However, Xia Hou had already gotten this box for a long time and must have affirmed the thing within it in a certain way.

Though Eldest Brother did not enter the Front Gate of Devil's Doctrine, he seemed to believe what Ning Que had said. He smiled with his soft and clean eyes and looked at Xia Hou, saying, ”Yeah. Why?”

Xia Hou looked at them and said indifferently, ”Mr. First and Mr. Thirteen. Do you think your random words could stop me? It's impossible for me to misjudge the aura of the thing in this iron box.”

The box was very common, but also very dense and heavy. It was perfectly sealed along the edges. There was a faint rust on its surface and a smooth metal luster emitted from the place Xia Hou's fingers previously had touched. It was impossible for them to judge what was inside from its weight and touch alone.

But Xia Hou could clearly feel the aura of the thing in this box. The aura was so familiar and awe-inspiring. This kind of fear arose from the deepest area of his sense of perception as if he instinctively felt frightened and reverent. He believed that as an Enlightenment Doctrine Elder, only he could clearly feel the aura.

Noting but the ”Ming” Handscroll of the Tomes of Arcane that had helped to set up Enlightenment Doctrine in this world could make him instinctively feel frightened, reverent, longing for approach yet afraid to do so.

...

...

The iron box was opened with a cluck.

There was no ”Ming” Handscroll in it, not even a sheet of paper.

There was only a box of grey ashes mixed with some bone remnants inside.

As a powerhouse in the Peak state of Martial Arts, he could stand like a steady mountain even if he held giant tripod vessels with both hands. But at this time, he began to tremble with the small iron box in his hands. His face was getting darker and darker like black iron.

Xia Hou stared at the ashes in the box and kept silent for a long time. There was no trace of anxiety on his silkworm-like brows. He tilted, furrowed and then relaxed his brows. His thick blood-like lips looked a little pale. After a long time, he squeezed out a sound that was like rusted metal surfaces scratching each other.

”What... is this?”

Ning Que looked at his face and said, ”This is the remains of Master Lotus.”

Upon listening to the words ”Master Lotus,” both Ye Su and Tang slightly changed their expressions. Even Eldest Brother could not help glancing at the ashed in the box, wondering what these children had encountered in the Front Gate of Devil's Doctrine.

Ning Que stared at Xia Hou's face and vaguely guessed that Xia Hou did have a relationship with that ghostly old monk.

Xia Hou just stared at the ashes in the box. After hearing the words ”Master Lotus”, he remained utterly still like a statue. There was no dejected look on his face, but instead, there was another peculiar expression that resembled someone on the verge of crying.

After a long while, the weird look on Xia Hou's face gradually disappeared and a slightly bitter smile showed up. He looked at the ashes and sighed gently.

The joints of his fingers holding the iron box suddenly became pale, for he seemingly tried to grasp it with more strength. However, he stopped the movement a moment later. He indifferently said, ”Since it is the ashes of the older sublime being, I'll bury it.”

At this time, the situation had changed. No one thought that the iron box, which Ning Que and others had taken out of the Front Gate and had been judged by Xia Hou as a box with the Tomes of Arcane, actually only had bone ashes in it. Everyone kept silent.

Eldest Brother looked at Xia Hou and sighed. ”Why bother?”

When Xia Hou obviously had wanted to give up and then changed his mind to snatch it, Eldest Brother once sighed and uttered the words of ”why bother”. At this time, he repeated them again. The words still sounded so slow and full of pity.

Xia Hou silently looked at the ashes in the box and murmured, ”Yeah. Why bother?”

Everything, including the seven volumes of the Tomes of Arcane, the 32 Petals, Xia Hou's attempt to stop the struggling among light and darkness and live free on his own identity, as well as his teacher, Lotus, who had calmly and happily walked amongst the light and darkness, ultimately could only become a meaningless pile of ash.

However, before becoming ashes, people always fought and argued with one another for something they believed in. If one asked ”why bother,” perhaps they could only lament that such is the harshness of life.