"b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Idiot!" Xiong Xiaoling yelled as tears streamed down her face while Er Ming looked on in hiding from afar.
The next morning, Xiong Xiaoling departed with a small bag for her belongings.
Er Ming continued to look on in a heartbroken manner, and only after she had disappeared from view did he begin to roar with gut-wrenching pain. He had truly fallen in love with her, but she had left him, just like that.
He rushed over in a wounded frenzy and destroyed the wooden hut, then sprang up and departed from the shattered remnants of his love.
The scene concluded here, and Er Ming reverted back to his human form with a film of tears swimming in his eyes.
Even though so many years had pa.s.sed and the Yuanen surname had been pa.s.sed down through so many generations, he could still clearly recall every single detail, both sweet and bitter.
Not only were Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang stunned by what they had just seen, Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui, and Xie Xie were also at a loss for what to do, and the atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly became a little glum.
"You were wrong," Yuanen Zhentian said with a wry smile.
Er Ming faltered slightly upon hearing this. "I was wrong?"
Yuanen Zhentian replied, "That"s right. Did you ever go back there after you departed?"
An enraged look appeared in Er Ming"s eyes. "Why would I go back there? To see the pile of rubble?"
"Please wait a moment," Yuanen Zhentian said before returning to the ancestral hall, and shortly thereafter, he returned with an antiquated book.
After finding the right page, he read out loud from the book. "He really is a dumb b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Can"t he tell that I"m already bearing his child? Why didn"t he just tell me in person? What an idiot! Even if I have to give birth to a monkey for him, there"s no way I could leave him! So what if he"s a soul beast? He"s so pure and kind, and treats me better than anyone else. Without him, I"d already be dead! I can"t believe he didn"t even tell me in person!
"He told me 10 days, but why is it that I"m greeted to the pile of rubble after returning in just six days? I just wanted to visit the site of my old home, but now, my current home has been destroyed, and he hasn"t returned. Did something happen to him? Come back, A"Tai! I miss you so much!
"A"Tai, our child is about to be born, so hurry back to me! 10 days have already pa.s.sed; so many 10 days have already pa.s.sed! Why are you still not back? A"Tai, I miss you.
"A"Tai, my stomach really hurts. I think I"m about to give birth; what do I do? A"Tai, I miss you so much.
"A"Tai, I didn"t die, and our child has been born, but you"re still not back. I"ll always be waiting here for you. I"ve managed to rebuild our home to its original state; can you come back soon? Come back and see our child. What should we name him? You never even told me your surname; all you told me is that your name is A"Tai. You told me that you come from a primordial forest, and that your life is a blessing from nature, so I"ll give our child the surname of Yuanen. It"s a boy, so I"ll call him Yuanen Sitai. A"Tai, I really miss you."
Er Ming rushed over to Yuanen Zhentian before grabbing the book from him, and despite his enormous powers and musclebound body, he was trembling uncontrollably, while his face had turned completely pale.
He flicked through the pages of the book, and all of a sudden, his legs gave out from under him as he sat down onto the ground.
While listening to these diary entries, Yuanen Yehui already had tears flowing down her face, and even Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had been touched by this short and tragic story.
This was all a misunderstanding!
Xiong Xiaoling was only making a visit back to her old home, yet Er Ming had misconstrued this as an unwillingness to accept his ident.i.ty as a soul beast.
This was a completely avoidable tragedy, but who was to blame? Should Er Ming be blamed for not placing more trust in her? Should Xiong Xiaoling be blamed for departing without even leaving a message behind?
"Argh!" A heart-wrenching roar erupted into the heavens, reverberating through the entirety of Shangling.
Inside the ancestral hall, the small monkey statue also seemed to be weeping, and powerful t.i.tan Giant Ape blood essence fluctuations enshrouded the entire mountain.
At this moment, many members of the Yuanen Family were already flocking toward the ancestral hall. Such a ma.s.sive commotion had naturally drawn much alarm, and Yuanen Zhentian told Yuanen Tiandang to inform everyone that nothing was wrong, and to stop them from coming here.
Both the power displayed by Er Ming and the mental manifestations that were congruent with Xiong Xiaoling"s diary entries indicated that this man really was most likely the family"s patriarch, the true t.i.tan Giant Ape.
This was a huge shock to Yuanen Zhentian, and the mystery of the Yuanen Family"s origins was finally resolved.
Er Ming had come here br.i.m.m.i.n.g with excitement, but he was now filled with deep remorse and sorrow. He had been far too lacking in confidence and hadn"t placed enough trust in their love. He had a.s.sumed that Xiong Xiaoling had departed due to his ident.i.ty as a soul beast, and never did he consider that this could"ve been a misunderstanding.
The more he read of Xiong Xiaoling"s diary, the more gut-wrenching his pain became. If he had waited a few more days, at least until the promised 10-day deadline, this tragedy would"ve been avoided. He would"ve been able to stay with the woman he loved, and at the time, the Divine Realm still hadn"t disappeared, so he may have even been able to take her there so she could remain with him forever.
However, he had lost that chance now. Even if the Divine Realm hadn"t disappeared, he wouldn"t be able to reverse all of this. Even if he could travel back in time to that point, he wouldn"t be able to change everything as doing so would alter the course of history, and could cause the entire Yuanen Family to disappear.
As such, he could only wallow in his own pain and remorse.
After a long while, Er Ming heaved a heavy sigh as he rose to his feet and returned the antiquated book to Yuanen Zhentian.
He then strode into the ancestral hall and looked up at the plaque of Xiong Xiaoling at the very top, and his heart was filled with complex emotions.
"This statue was personally carved by our matriarch," Yuanen Zhentian said.
A wry smile appeared on Er Ming"s face. "Then let it remain here. I had always thought that I"ve never owed anyone anything in my life, but I didn"t think that I would be so heavily indebted to her. She pa.s.sed on my bloodline, but I abandoned her. She"s right; I"m an idiot and a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I"m not fit to be your patriarch; I didn"t even tell her my real name in the end. Xiaoling, my name is Er Ming, not A"Tai. I can"t alter history and I can"t go back to find you, but I promise you that for the rest of my life, I"ll never love anyone as I loved you. I"m sorry, Xiaoling. Once I take care of everything here, I"ll go back to that hut to be with you."
He then turned to Yuanen Zhentian, and asked, "Is the wooden hut still standing?"
Yuanen Zhentian nodded in response. "It is. We purchased that plot of land, and even though the Great Star Dou Forest has been very heavily damaged, that small patch of forest still exists. It"s quite a secluded location, so we were able to purchase the land there relatively easily, and that wooden hut has always been maintained. After all, it"s the origin site of our family."
Er Ming nodded in a silent response.
Yuanen Zhentian was already feeling quite apprehensive due to his granddaughter"s return, and never did he think that she would return with the family"s patriarch!
An awkward silence suddenly descended over the ancestral hall, and Tang Wulin strode over to Er Ming before patting on the shoulder, then turned to Yuanen Zhentian.
"Senior Zhentian, we came here so that Er Ming could meet all of you and also to resolve the issue surrounding Yuanen"s Fallen Angel martial soul."
He couldn"t refer to Er Ming as uncle here as it would be far too inappropriate to refer to the patriarch of the Yuanen Family as his uncle.
Yuanen Zhentian nodded in response. "Yuanen"s problem must be resolved before she becomes a t.i.tled Douluo. Otherwise, another disaster could befall our Yuanen Family."
[1] [Yuan(原) En(恩) Si(思) Tai(泰) literally translates to primordial blessing missing Tai (missing not as in lost, but as in thinking of Tai).]