Chapter 471 - 213: Wusheng

Chapter 471: Chapter 213: Wusheng

Senior Sister Wen’s profile remained gentle, but her gaze was a little vacant. "The day they left, they stuffed the last half of a flatbread mixed with bran into my hands... They told me to go to my aunt’s house in the neighboring county and wait. They said they’d come for me once they were settled and had earned some money."

"I waited for three months. There were no letters. No one came."

"Life at my aunt’s house was hard, too. I could only help with odd jobs, and every day I would stand under the old locust tree at the village entrance, watching."

"Later, a fellow villager returned from the south, limping on one leg and muttering to himself. He secretly told me there was no great benefactor. It was... human traffickers."

"Of the people they recruited, the sick and weak were abandoned on the way. Of the rest, the able-bodied were sold to the mines for hard labor, and the good-looking ones... were sold to unsavory places."

"Those who resisted along the way were beaten to death and buried on the spot. He said my mom and dad... had apparently tried to escape midway through the journey, and then... vanished without a trace."

"Vanished without a trace..."

Qin Fang’s brow was tightly furrowed as he looked at Senior Sister Wen. She repeated those four words.

"It just means they died. Died in some nameless wasteland, without so much as a grave. I never even got to see them one last time. I don’t even know how they... I don’t know anything."

"And... those human traffickers..."

Qin Fang was silent for a long time before he asked in a low voice.

"I don’t know."

Senior Sister Wen shook her head. "The villager couldn’t say which group they belonged to, only that they were ruthless and cruel, and seemed to have powerful backing... I was too young then. I couldn’t do anything. I just knew my parents weren’t coming back, and that there was no one left to wait for under the old locust tree."

She was silent for a long time before she continued softly, "Later, I left my aunt’s house. I wandered, begged for food, did whatever I had to... And then, I met Master."

Her voice finally held a trace of warmth. She turned back and smiled. "You wouldn’t have guessed, right? I didn’t get in through the Martial Arts Examination. Master was the one who brought me to the Sect... He taught me how to cultivate and gave me a place I could once again call ’home’..."

Qin Fang listened, stunned. In a daze, he recalled... ’It’s true, I feel like I can always find Senior Sister at the main hall plaza in Guiyuan Valley...’

"Junior Brother, some things, once lost, are lost forever. You can never get them back. It’s like that old locust tree. I went back to see it later. The tree is still there, but the ones who held me and comforted me beneath it are gone forever."

"You can cherish the memories, but don’t drown in them. Because there are still those who are here... The Sect, Master... and you."

Senior Sister Wen turned to look at the stunned Qin Fang, her expression gentle. "Don’t make the ones who are still here worry... okay?"

Qin Fang stared blankly at his Senior Sister. After a long, long time, he gave a slight nod.

"Mm."

Senior Sister Wen smiled warmly and said no more.

And so the days passed, one by one.

His Senior Sister’s counsel that night finally allowed Qin Fang’s thoughts to gradually settle.

He waited patiently.

One day, two days, three days...

「One month later.」

News arrived from his Master.

"We found it."

Qin Fang’s pupils constricted. "Master..."

"We’ve located a secret stronghold of the Path of Non-Birth and have sealed off the area. However, we suspect there are still masters hiding behind the scenes. To catch them all in one fell swoop and avoid scaring them off, we need some disciples to make the first move and see if we can lure them out... Do you want to go?"

"I’ll go!"

Qin Fang didn’t hesitate for a second.

"Think carefully. This is a ploy to lure out the enemy. If you go, you could be in grave danger... We can’t be sure who this hidden master is. It’s possible that even if all the experts from Within the Sect mobilized, we might not be able to take them down. You..."

His Master warned him earnestly.

"I’ll go!"

Qin Fang’s pupils were tinged with red. There was still not a shred of hesitation in him!

His Senior Sister’s comfort had calmed him greatly.

’But the blood debt for Qinghe, for my master and his wife... I have to repay it!’

’I’ve finally found the culprits. If I back down now out of fear... I wouldn’t be worthy of being called a man!’

Qin Fang had never been a hot-headed, reckless youth.

Most of the time, he was cautious... even to the point of being terrified of death and clinging to life.

...Having struggled his way up from being a vagrant, his single greatest goal had always been to simply stay alive.

But without even realizing it, he had gotten very good at the ’staying alive’ part.

Now, not only was he alive... he was living better than most people.

And when ’staying alive’ was no longer the only pressing goal... he discovered that something else had unknowingly taken root in his heart...

...Something more important than just ’staying alive’.

He couldn’t help but recall scenes from his time at True Martial.

Meeting his master for the first time when he was gravely ill; the sight of his master’s back in that dilapidated courtyard, carefully instructing the craftsmen repairing the house for him...

His master’s wife’s gentle smile; the set of coarse-spun clothes she gave him, which he still kept to this day...

His senior brother’s hearty laughter, the guidance given in the Fisherman’s Courtyard...

Monkey’s cries of ’Master Qin’...

Qinghe’s bright eyes...

Xiao Qi...

Xiao Jiu...

The rage and grief in his heart, which had seemed to subside, surged up once more!

’...If today I choose to fear death, if I choose to forget these people and these moments...’

’...it would mean I already died that night, crushed beneath the front of that great carriage!’

’The one who survived... would be nothing but a cold-blooded, soulless monster.’

’For a person like that, what is the point of cultivating martial arts? What Path is there to seek?’

Qin Fang’s eyes were bloodshot. He gritted his teeth and repeated in a low, firm voice.

"Master, I must go."

There was a long silence from the Token, then his Master’s gentle voice came through.

"Permission granted."

"Depart first thing tomorrow morning. Assemble at the Sect."

"Yes, sir!"

Qin Fang rose to his feet and shot into the air.

「The next day」

On Baichuan Plaza, scores of figures stood assembled.

"Move out."

Yue Shan’s cold, hard voice rang out.

He was the first to shoot into the sky.

In the next instant, hundreds of figures followed close behind!

Qin Fang was among them, his gaze as sharp and cold as a blade.

’Today... there will be a river of blood!’