Chapter 216.2
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 .
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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 .