Chapter 212 - 100: This Bitter Fruit Is My Just Deserts, the Future Seen in the River of Time Explains It All

After all, hiding things forever would inevitably lead to problems. The best way forward was to mix truth with lies and lay some of the facts on the table.

"Father, Mother, you may still be wondering why I proactively schemed for the Purple Mist True Monarch’s legacy and went to retrieve the Immortal Embryo Creation Dew..."

"Do you believe that a River of Time exists in this world?"

Jiang Lan’s expression turned serious as he looked at them, speaking almost one word at a time.

The expressions on Jiang Lintian and Li Qingshu’s faces also grew solemn.

Given their current power and status, they were naturally aware of the River of Time’s existence.

However, ordinary people couldn’t even come into contact with it, let alone see it.

Only a true Immortal would likely be qualified to interact with the River of Time.

"I had a dream. In it, there was a river that flowed through all of space and time. It was silent and still, yet it shimmered with a faint light. A single wave suddenly rose up, crashed against me, and then shattered into countless fragments..."

"In one of those fragments, I saw myself. I saw the past, and I saw the future..."

Jiang Lan spoke, his voice calm.

Though he spoke in a measured, even tone, his words sent shockwaves through Jiang Lintian and Li Qingshu, leaving them deeply shaken.

They exchanged a glance, both guessing that the river he described was likely the River of Time.

At that moment, Jiang Lan’s aura and spiritual fluctuations were perfectly stable. Even the rhythm of his life force and the speed of the blood flowing through his veins remained unchanged, proving he wasn’t lying.

He had truly seen such a river.

"Lan’Er, what else did you see...?"

Li Qingshu’s voice trembled slightly, as if she’d realized something. The moment Jiang Lan said he had seen the past, her heart had given a violent lurch.

Jiang Lintian remained silent, reaching out to take her hand.

Jiang Lan suddenly smiled and looked at her. "Mother, I understand the difficult position you were in. I’ve never held it against you."

Though he was the one speaking, he knew it was the truth from both the original owner’s memories and the plot as he understood it.

Even after learning what had really happened, the body’s previous owner had never felt the slightest resentment toward his mother; in fact, he had been willing to bear the burden of those sins all by himself.

"You... You know all of it..." Li Qingshu was stunned, a bitter, self-reproachful smile touching her lips.

To prevent Jiang Lan from ever knowing, she had deliberately sealed that part of his memory. But who could have known that a strange twist of fate would lead him to uncover the truth anyway?

"I saw everything that happened back then, and I understand the difficult position you were in. You don’t have to blame yourself, Mother..."

Jiang Lan said, "What’s past is no longer important. In a Time Fragment from the future, I saw the Prime Minister’s Mansion destroyed. The Taiyi Sect, where Grandfather resides, was reduced to a pile of ruins. And I was killed by a man named Lin Fan..."

Li Qingshu and Jiang Lintian both froze.

Had anyone but Jiang Lan said it, they would have found it impossible to believe.

’The Prime Minister’s Mansion and the Taiyi Sect will both be destroyed in the future?’

’In that case, their own fates would surely be no better.’

"Lin Fan... you mean Su Qinghan’s former live-in husband?"

Jiang Lintian had ordered an investigation into Su Qinghan, so he had some recollection of her husband, Lin Fan, the one who had been branded an assassin.

A common person might truly believe Lin Fan was a remnant of the Blood Immortal Sect. But in the eyes of a man like Jiang Lintian, with the findings of multiple investigations laid before him, it was impossible to see him as such.

On the contrary, no matter how one looked at it, it seemed as if Jiang Lan had deliberately set a trap in order to kill Lin Fan.

"So that was the real reason you wanted to kill that Lin Fan, Lan’Er?"

"He’s merely a live-in husband from the Su Family of little Yu Yi City. Could he truly have such capability?" Jiang Lintian asked.

The power Lin Fan had displayed was, at most, at the level of the Fourth and Fifth Realms.

He might have had some special techniques that allowed the weak to overcome the strong, but if the Prime Minister’s Mansion was determined to kill him, they could hunt him to the ends of the earth and obliterate him, body and soul.

"I’m not sure why; the visions were incomplete. But Lin Fan himself is indeed extraordinary. He possesses the wisdom of a past life and is blessed by immense fate..."

"Father, Mother, you will understand when you see this," Jiang Lan said.

With a casual wave of his hand, a simple, ancient long sword with a mottled blade fell to the floor with a loud CLANG.

"This was Lin Fan’s companion sword. I took it after he died..."

At the sight of it, they made a casual gesture, and the long sword flew into their hands.

Although its spiritual essence had dissipated, they could still feel the terrifying sharpness it contained.

The materials used to forge it were far from simple; a single glance was not enough to determine its age.

Jiang Lintian tried to crush it in his grip, but the blade didn’t move in the slightest, not even emitting the faintest tremor.

To think that with his strength, a casual squeeze could instantly shatter even a so-called Divine Weapon.

Yet this plain, unremarkable long sword had remained completely unscathed.

’For a mere live-in husband of the Su Family from Yu Yi City to be acknowledged by such a companion sword... he was clearly no simple character.’

"I didn’t give that Lin Fan an opportunity to grow. Since he was going to destroy our Prime Minister’s Mansion in the future, I decided to find a way to eliminate him first."

"The situation at the time was urgent, forcing my hand. I couldn’t explain the matter to you and Father, and I was also afraid that the astute Lin Fan would sense something was wrong and escape, leaving a great threat to fester. That’s why I seized the opportunity to set a trap..." Jiang Lan continued to explain.