Chapter 470 - 213: No Life

Chapter 470: Chapter 213: No Life

’To think she was...’

’Turned into some "Living Puppet"?’

’And even... Master couldn’t save her.’

’At best, he could only grant her a moment of "clarity"... like a final farewell?’

’What about Master?’

’His wife?’

’My senior brothers?’

’...Had they met the same cruel fate?’

’Or...’

’Did they not even have the chance to become "Living Puppets"?’

Path of Non-Birth!

Path of Non-Birth!!!

’A wave of unprecedented fury and grief threatened to overwhelm his sanity!’

His eyes were bloodshot, and his entire body trembled. The True Essence around him began to fluctuate violently, and his Profound Nether Nature threatened to surge uncontrollably. Frost even began to creep across the flagstones at his feet...

"Linyuan!"

His master’s sharp rebuke, like the tolling of a great bell, suddenly rang through his Sea of Consciousness. Qin Fang shuddered, the violent rage and grief abruptly suppressed.

"Meditation!"

His master commanded in a deep voice.

Qin Fang’s body trembled, but he only stared fixedly at the Painted Boat... For some reason, he was unwilling to visualize the Profound Nether Realm-Breaking Awl and enter that state of being utterly Unflappable.

The taste of blood filled his mouth. He just stared, and stared.

Finally, gradually, his body stopped trembling, and his True Essence ceased its chaotic surge. But his eyes, shot through with blood, remained fixed on the Painted Boat.

"Master, what do we do next?"

He asked softly via Transmission.

The master’s War Gang Avatar flickered a few times. After a moment of silence, his voice slowly sounded out, "The Three Religions are difficult to track. For you to stumble upon them today... this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I have already notified the Sect, and someone has been sent to investigate Mist Rain Tower. This Painted Boat... we don’t touch it for now. We need to follow this lead to find the Path of Non-Birth’s foothold... It would be even better if we could figure out their true purpose for coming to Canglan Prefecture..."

Qin Fang was silent. After a long while, he asked softly, "What can I do?"

"Wait," his master said softly after a pause.

Qin Fang said no more. His eyes seemed glued to the Painted Boat as it drifted further and further away, until it was completely obscured by the many other painted boats on the Great Cloud Marsh.

Qin Fang just watched in silence.

His master’s War Gang Avatar soon departed, evidently to tail the Painted Boat.

Like a stubborn stone, Qin Fang sat on the bank for the entire day.

Night fell, and still he sat there calmly.

The fishermen around him came and went, but no one disturbed him.

Until a certain moment.

"Junior Brother."

A gentle voice, belonging to his senior sister, sounded from behind him.

Qin Fang, who had been sitting motionlessly all day, slowly raised his head.

His senior sister looked at Qin Fang’s desolate face. After a brief silence, she said nothing more, simply crouching down to sit beside him.

Her presence was warm and comforting, but Qin Fang remained silent.

And after calling out "Junior Brother," his senior sister didn’t say another word.

The two of them just sat there quietly by the banks of the Great Cloud Marsh under the night sky.

...Under the night sky, Painted Boats on the Great Cloud Marsh were as numerous as threads in a tapestry. The glow of red lanterns and green wine, and the faint strains of string and bamboo music, seemed to make the night even more beautiful.

"Want something to eat?"

His senior sister suddenly spoke. She took a bamboo tube from her waist and pulled out a piece of Bee Meat.

Qin Fang didn’t take it, nor did he move.

Senior Sister Wen didn’t press him. She held the Bee Meat herself and took small bites.

The sound of her chewing was faint, but by the quiet riverbank, it carried an indescribable quality.

After finishing her piece, she gently placed another bamboo tube on the flagstone beside Qin Fang.

Then, she hugged her knees, resting her chin on them in a relaxed posture Qin Fang had never seen from her before.

"When I was little."

She gazed at the river’s surface and suddenly began to speak, her voice still gentle. "There was an old locust tree in our backyard, a very tall one. A family of birds had built a nest in it. My favorite thing to do every day was to pull up a small stool, tilt my head back, and watch them fly in and out, listening to the chicks chirp."

Qin Fang’s eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly.

"Then one day, a feral cat came. It was very fierce, and it climbed the tree."

Senior Sister Wen’s tone was flat. "The mother and father birds chirped frantically, flapping their wings to peck at it, but it was no use... The cat snatched the smallest chick and it fell from that high up... It landed not far from me, fluttered twice, and then went still."

She paused for a long time, so long that Qin Fang thought she was finished.

"I was terrified back then, and I cried so hard... I felt so useless, just watching."

She tilted her head slightly, looking at the rigid profile of Qin Fang’s face. "I cried so much that my mother had to hold and comfort me, and my father moved the nest to a safer place... one the birds might not have liked as much."

"The mother and father birds circled the old branch, crying mournfully for days, but eventually moved to the new spot. The next year, they came back and built a new nest not far from the old one."

"And later..."

"My mother and father died."

These words finally made the silent Qin Fang slowly turn his head.

His senior sister didn’t look at him. She just gazed at the dark water, her voice still gentle. "That year, a famine struck my hometown, followed by a plague. The Government Office couldn’t manage it, and the soup kitchens only served thin gruel once a day. Just as our last bit of grain ran out, a few well-dressed people came to the village. They claimed to be sent by a great philanthropist from the county for disaster relief, looking to hire some able-bodied short-term laborers to work at a southern manor. They promised food, lodging, and even money to send home."

Qin Fang gradually composed himself and listened more intently.

"My parents couldn’t bear to see me suffer with them, and they thought this was a way out, so they signed up. They signed a proper contract and affixed their Hand Seals."