216.2 – Gong Tianyang"s Sorrow
He looked away from Xue Qilin and gazed into the distance.
“Older Sister Xue, if I die, do you think everything will be different? Will grandfather, father, and even older sister become free? Their hearts aren"t free right now, but are firmly bound by my existence.”
Xue Qilin, who didn"t expect Gong Tianyang to have such thoughts, revealed a look of astonishment.
“Gong Tianyang, you…”
Then, the astonishment turned into a rueful sigh.
“You should know that they are happy to be bound.”
Just like Xue Qilin is willing to be bound by the Merak Temple, the same must be the case for Gong Jing and his son and Gong Tianqing.
“But, Older Sister Xue doesn"t wish for older sister to be bound by me, right? If I die, older sister won"t have to sacrifice herself anymore. People often talk about cause and effect. And I am the "cause".”
Is that true? Xue Qilin has her misgivings.
Even if Gong Tianyang died, as long as Gong Tianqing"s distorted values remain unchanged, there will be many other Gong Tianyang in the future.
Actually, the “cause” is not on Gong Tianyang, but on Gong Tianqing.
However, killing Gong Tianyang is not without meaning. It can earn Gong Tianqing more time. If there"s really no way to change Gong Tianqing, then Xue Qilin will kill a “Gong Tianyang” when she sees one.
After all, she"s a selfish person.
Gong Tianyang appears to take Xue Qilin"s silence as confirmation.
While supporting himself with the wheelchair"s armrests, he slowly and wobbly stood up, and then walked to Xue Qilin.
Xue Qilin, who was covered by a shadow, raised her head. Although Gong Tianyang, with the sun behind him, is dazzling, but he is also extremely weak. He looks like a malnourished little brat. Whether it is his arms or waist, they give off the impression like they can be easily broken.
“Older Sister Xue –“
Gong Tianyang squatted down and grasped Xue Qilin"s hands.
The force with which he grasped her hands is not intense, and is even incredibly light. Yet, it made Xue Qilin feel suffocated like she was held tightly by the neck.
“Kill me.”
With his back facing the sun, Gong Tianyang"s silhouette is outlined by dazzling light.
Everything became blurred. Only the smile of yearning for liberation on his lips was clearly reflected in Xue Qilin"s eyes.
“Kill me, and then see if everything will change or not.”
“Life” is not more important than “death”.
Whether it is birth or death, it will somewhat change the existing things, because everything in the world is closely linked.
If Gong Tianyang dies, some things would change for certain.
However, will these changes lead to happiness? Xue Qilin doesn"t know.
Because she doesn"t know, she chose to stay silent.
— silence pervaded for a long time.
Perhaps out of pity, or maybe she felt that it wouldn"t be of help.
But until the end, Xue Qilin still didn"t raise her hand to break his fragile neck.
Maybe deep down she cannot muster the thought to kill Gong Tianyang.
After staying about an hour, Gong Tianyang said that he would go home for dinner. In fact, he and Xue Qilin had just stared blankly into the s.p.a.ce in the garden the whole time.
When pushing Gong Tianyang to meet with his guards, Xue Qilin suddenly thought of something and started another conversation.
“Gong Tianyang –” Xue Qilin shook her head, “Little Yang.”
She no longer calls Gong Tianyang by him full name, but by a nickname replete of her style. This means that Gong Tianyang is no longer a dispensable stranger in her heart, but an “acquaintance”, or even a “friend”.
Gong Tianyang, who seems to have detected the meaning contained behind the change of the way the other party addresses him, shook all over. Right after, he turned his head and showed Xue Qilin a glistening smile.
— Gong Tianyang is a child really suitable for smiling.
The smile slightly dispelled the sick and pale shades on his face and added a little radiance to it.
No, in fact, children in general are suitable for smiling. That"s the expression they should make to begin with. Always carefree, smiling due to some minor things, this is how children should be like.
At this moment, Xue Qilin thought thusly.
“Yes, is something the matter, Older Sister Xue?”
His tone contained slight excitement. Is he happy because Xue Qilin called him “Little Yang”?
How childish. It"s just something trivial, yet he is this happy. Xue Qilin sighed inwardly.
“Were you healthier when you were little than you are now?”
After sweeping the disorderly thoughts to a corner, Xue Qilin got right to the point and asked so.
“Um…” Gong Tianyang crossed his arms and pondered for a while, distressed, “I don"t remember much. But I heard that I could still run a few steps when I was three or four years old.”
Sure enough, it worsened. Xue Qilin nodded inwardly.
“So, did you learn martial arts as a child?”
“Ah?”
Gong Tianyang blinked, and his eyes filled with surprise.
“I did. How does Older Sister Xue know?”
“Humph humph, the "true qi" oozing from you told me.”
“Woah, Older Sister Xue is amazing!”
Xue Qilin stuck out her chest and gave her reply. In response, Gong Tianyang eyes immediately erupted with the light of astonishment.
“I heard grandfather say that Older Sister Xue is already in the late-stage Heaven Realm. Older Sister Xue, are you really in the late-stage Heaven Realm?”
“How should I know?” Xue Qilin shrugged helplessly, “People in the temple say that I am, outsiders also say that I am, so I take it that I am. Anyway, I myself don"t know.”
Since she became a martial pract.i.tioner halfway, Xue Qilin"s martial knowledge can be described as poor.
According to common knowledge, martial pract.i.tioners are divided into five realms, namely, Human Realm, Earth Realm, Heaven Realm, Grandmaster, and Soaring Immortal.
Furthermore, even in the same realm, there are still some differences in terms of cultivation base. In order to accurately measure a martial pract.i.tioner"s realm, the realms are subdivided into three minor realms, namely “early”, “middle” and “late”. For example, those who first enter the Earth Realm are called early-stage Earth Realm experts, when they are close to the Heaven Realm and can advance to the Heaven Realm at any time, they are called late-stage Earth Realm experts, while those in the between the previous two are called middle-stage Earth Realm experts.
For major realms, the p.r.o.nounced difference in terms of breath intensity is what distinguishes them. But for minor realms, the difference is faint. Xue Qilin doesn"t have enough experience to be able to differentiate between minor realms.