Tians.h.i.+ Emperor had an ordinary looking scabbard in his hands but the hilt that was visible was leather and in the pommel there was a big black jade fixed and the decorative guard made of gold had two Amber crystals that resembled the eyes of a tiger. At one glance Xing could tell the name of the sword...This is Shensheng LeiDian, the Divine Thunder and Lighting sword commonly known as the Divine Sword of the Scarlet Tiger.
So this guy really left with his sword! And I really blamed Chenglie for nothing! Xing felt bad for telling him that she wanted this sword as a betrothal gift or else she won"t marry him. Poor guy would have searched high and low for the sword while it was with the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor himself.
"So I could kill Old Rong with this sword?", Xing asked. She felt her hands itching to hold that sword immediately.
"Yes, for you just one strike with this sword will end him", he replied and offered her the sword.
"One strike..? Then why did I have to go through that awful training in that cave?", Xing was confused and didn"t accept the sword. Everyone talked like it was a big task that I had to do and why is this being explained as child"s play by him?
The Tians.h.i.+ Emperor took a deep breath," This sword was specially cast in the heavens for me to avenge for my mother and it only recognised me as the Master. Even my son could not fully use this sword. So I had to prepare you with intense training if you should be chosen by the G.o.ds to kill Old Rong as I was worried you"ll lose the G.o.d Essence in you after a while. As you know your soul brother is alive and if you refuse or deemed unworthy, he"ll be chosen for this task and in that case, my bloodline will perish. So that"s why I had to be cruel towards you. But... For some reason, my sword chose you as Master when it came in contact with you and from then on it is your sword and I am only the keeper of this sword for now"
"My soul brother? So where is he? Will he oppose me? Should I be wary of him? ", Xing asked. So all her speculations were right about why he trained her except the G.o.d Essence thing.
"No", he shook his head, "He is your brother by soul and he won"t and can"t oppose you or harm you, now that you have taken the role of the divine ruler. He is a royal too and you will meet him if fate dictates. You need not know about him for now", he was firm in his words and looked like he won"t talk much about that issue and Xing decided to let it go too. It"s not like she is lacking Brothers in her life!
"Child, accept this sword", he spoke authoritatively and held the sword horizontally and presented it to her with his right hand.
For some reason, Xing felt this situation all too familiar.. This Master Yuan or Tians.h.i.+ Emperor... He hid from her all this time and now he decided to show up and explain everything to her and it seems like....
Mother..! She did the same and gave her the hairpin before she...
No.... This cannot happen again...!
"What is your name", she asked him. She couldn"t find his given name in any records.
The Tians.h.i.+ Emperor fixed his gaze on her and his eyebrows were knotted as if she had asked a weirdest thing in this world. Then he looked like he was in deep thoughts before he answered, "I don"t know... I forgot", with a smile as if he himself is realising that only now. He had lived long enough to forget his own name his mother and his wife called him!
Xing felt a tug in her heart. He took the throne really young and everyone must have addressed him as "His Majesty" and after that he seemed to have no friends as he has been hiding from the G.o.ds.
"It"s odd, isn"t it...? My life...! I grew up Pampered, lost my mother, went on a war campaign, fell in love, went on my own ways to protect her using a supremacist that ended up bad, had a son, sent him away, got cursed, then ended up labelled as weirdo by the brothers I saved because they were called weirdos by others, split everything I earned with my blood and sweat to them leaving nothing for my descendants, left with nothing, watched my descendants born and die one by one... And here I am, in front of my tenth generation forgetting my own name.... This is the Legacy of the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor! ", he chuckled with his hand fisted, hiding his mouth," The Scarlet Tiger.. The Father of the Three Kingdoms... The Mighty Warlord... The Supreme Conquerer... A Brilliant Strategist and a Genius Tactician... What a shame...! In the end I am a worthless, weak, imbecile who tortured a little girl and a coward who seeks death", he laughed mocking himself.
Xing could not bear to see him like that. This man is the one she admired from the bottom of her heart enough for Chenglie to get jealous of him and here he is... Broken and bitter!
"You are not weak and you are not an imbecile... You are a tiger who roared and instilled fear in the hearts of your enemies.. You loved deeply... You didn"t want to get hurt by losing her and you didn"t give up and found a way to save her... So what if it was the wrong way? You did succeed in having a son. What if you got cursed? You made sure your generation is protected! You are a master strategist... Look how you cheated Old Rong and the G.o.ds at the same time making them believe that I am too important. You tricked the trickster and turned him to a weapon.. Aren"t you tactful? And which human could say they met with their tenth generation? Aren"t you blessed?
You are a genius... How beautifully you made a puzzle for the tournament... The tiger with the help of the divine weapon can destroy the fire dragon... You are amazing and you will be forever my hero no matter what. ", she spoke in a firm tone from her heart that made the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor"s face warm with a smile.
This child is always kind and always comforting me... Just who is the bigger one among us? It is her... Always...
" By the way, how were you sure that only your descendant will solve the puzzle? What if someone else solved it and the Zhong family protected the wrong person?", Xing suddenly asked with her eyes wide and lips pouty. What a big risk he took!
The Tians.h.i.+ Emperor smiled seeing the mature person in front of him turning into a little girl," Who else other than my descendant would have the guts to shoot something that is divine!", he said with his chin up and Xing laughed... "That is true... Everyone thinks G.o.ds as.... Well... G.o.ds..!", she laughed hard holding her stomach.
It was then the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor noted the jade bracelet in her wrist and he held her hand to look at it.
"Why... Why are you having it?", he asked and Xing could feel his cold hands holding her wrist and he was about to pry it from her hands and he even let the sword on the ground. She didn"t expect this reaction from him seeing this.
"What is wrong with this?", she tried to pull her hand back.
"Throw this cursed thing from the Huangs away!", he still tried to get that bracelet.
"Let go!", she shouted and pried her hand from his grip and rubbed it creasing her eyebrows as it had become reddened by the force he grabbed her. "Why?", she screamed... This is the second time he is talking bad about her family. Cursed? What is he saying?
"Any woman who received this bracelet died early, within an year or two. The Huangs cursed it and it got backfired on them when Huang Bojing got it for his wife. She died really early", he sneered.
Xing took a deep breath to stop herself from cussing the one in front of her who is acting like a fool.
"This bracelet... Chenglie gave it to me before he asked my mother"s permission for my hand in marriage. So it is my engagement gift. I am not throwing it away. Even if this bracelet is cursed, I still have four months..! By the way, why do you hate my family this much?", Xing spoke in a calm tone composing herself. She didn"t want to punch him in the face again.
" Your family? You consider the Huangs as your family when you are a Lu?", he sneered making Xing"s eyebrows twitch. How childish is this guy? Isn"t he too old to be jealous like this?
Seeing her shake her head made him more angry, "If only the Huangs joined the court, I wouldn"t have met Old Rong and everything..."
"Oh! Grow up!", Xing interjected him, "Own up to your mistakes. And yes! I am a Huang since my father is a Huang. I do respect you and I humbly accept the fact that I am your descendant but that doesn"t change who my father is. I am never going to be a Lu. And another thing, since you are the keeper of this sword, keep it for me for the time being", she spoke in a crisp and confident manner making the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor freeze on the spot sensing the decisiveness in her tone.
And did she just ordered me around? His lips curved up to a smile.