Chapter 129#
The Disciple’s Rebirth and Revenge#
Lin Xiaodong stayed in Hanfeng Mountain, so he couldn’t possibly be backlashed by some malevolent ghost.
Xiao Nian’s various actions during this period of time confused him, but Lin Xiaodong’s style was to strike proactively. Since poisoning and assassination didn’t work, he might as well change his method and advance by retreating.
Before this, he had asked the system to check information in this area to prepare for today.
Elder Cheng’s medical skills were indeed remarkable, seeing through the cause of Lin Xiaodong’s current symptoms at a glance. However, whether it was him, the Sect Leader, or Xiao Nian, none of them could have imagined that Lin Xiaodong had deliberately disguised himself as this weak version.
However, it couldn’t be entirely called a disguise.
Lin Xiaodong only allowed the demonic energy in his body to run wild; the other reactions were real. Otherwise, how could he have fooled his good Master?
“But Xiao Nian’s reaction is really too strange,” Lin Xiaodong lay on the bed with his eyes closed, recalling the look on Xiao Nian’s face when he saw blood gushing from his lips, calmly pondering. “I even thought that he was truly concerned about me.”
Or was it that Xiao Nian’s acting skills had reached this level?
System: “But he practices the Heartless Path.”
Lin Xiaodong was silent for a moment.
“Yeah,” he said in a sighing tone. “That’s exactly what I can’t figure out.”
Because Xiao Nian practiced the Heartless Path, all the problems became so complicated. The Immortal Venerable in white in his memory indeed used Heartless Path spells, but Xiao Nian had just personally denied his own path… Wait a minute.
Lin Xiaodong opened his eyes and suddenly had a guess: “System, you think it’s possible that Xiao Nian is actually two people?”
System: “…Huh?”
“I think it’s very likely!” Lin Xiaodong said with conviction. “Look, Xiao Nian not only reminded me he’s related to the headquarters but also led me to the wardrobe to see that dummy that looks exactly like him. But we seem to have fallen into a misunderstanding: is the man in the wardrobe really just a dummy?”
The more Lin Xiaodong spoke, the more terrified he became, his mind full of twin puppet horror movies. He even began to wonder if the person the young man fell in love with was the same person.
If “Xiao Nian” were two people, then everything would make sense!
—It must be said that from a certain perspective, Lin Xiaodong had accidentally touched upon the truth.
“But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t Xiao Nian tell you?” the system asked in confusion. “Clearly, it would be enough just to say it, and from the original plot, neither of them was indifferent to ‘your’ death.”
Lin Xiaodong looked at the ceiling: “Perhaps because of some unspeakable reasons? Like being under a restriction, or one of them being confined by the other, unable to arrive in time?”
System: “…”
It felt like Lin Xiaodong’s imagination was too big.
But sometimes, the truth is just that absurd.
“Anyway, if my guess is true, the Xiao Nian who brought me here last night should be the one who fell in love with the young man back then.” Lin Xiaodong confirmed. “Someone who truly practices the Heartless Path wouldn’t have such large emotional fluctuations. When I was held in his arms yesterday, Xiao Nian’s heartbeat almost broke my eardrums.”
As he spoke, he heard footsteps from outside and immediately closed his eyes, continuing to pretend to sleep.
Elder Cheng pushed open the door and entered the room. He looked at the young man who was still unconscious on the bed, and his brow couldn’t help but wrinkle a few more times.
He had never handled such a difficult patient. He couldn’t use liquid medicine, and nine out of ten refined pills were useless. All his life’s learning was in treating living people and the injured—at worst, dying people. Truly reviving the dead and regenerating flesh was the realm of gods!
He was just a doctor, not a saint!
But Lin Xiaodong’s situation “cleverly” remained within a range where he still had some room for maneuver. The Sect Leader found a treasure from the Yunxiao Sect’s inner storehouse that could condense yin energy. Elder Cheng planned to place it by Lin Xiaodong’s pillow, so that the demonic energy in the young man’s body and the positive energy on Nanyang Peak could reach a preliminary balance, which was conducive to his recovery.
In the end, the greatest hope was actually the other party’s self-healing ability.
This made Elder Cheng feel very frustrated, but last night he had already said he would definitely heal Lin Xiaodong… Sigh!
He let out a heavy sigh, opened the box in his hand, and carefully took out a pitch-black bead the size of a thumbnail. But to Elder Cheng’s shock, as soon as he took out the bead, it instantly turned into powder in his fingertips!
He looked up abruptly at Lin Xiaodong on the bed.
The young man still lay there unaware, his pale face looking almost transparent under the rising sun, like a fragile porcelain doll. It was a world of difference from his original sunny and healthy appearance. Seeing this weak state, the suspicion in Elder Cheng’s heart gradually receded, and he even walked quickly to the bedside to check the young man’s condition again.
After finding nothing unusual, he walked out of the room with a heavy heart, planning to tell the Sect Leader about this.
What, you say this is a rare immortal item in the world?
It was gone as soon as it was taken out. Sorry, Elder Cheng was going to settle the score with the Sect Leader!
Sect Leader: “…”
Leaving aside the storm that was about to break in the Yunxiao Sect hall, after Elder Cheng left, Lin Xiaodong finally relaxed his body, rubbed his stomach, and couldn’t help but let out a burp.
“Burp~”
What’s going on? He thought to himself. Why am I suddenly so full?
After asking the system, Lin Xiaodong found out that he had accidentally caused some damage. He immediately felt very sorry for Elder Cheng, who was working hard to save him: “Why was that bead absorbed by me?”
“You have a Heavenly Demon Body; yin energy and demonic energy have the same source. Although I’m not clear on the principle, it’s not surprising that such a situation occurred.” the system said. “Besides being full, do you feel any other changes in your body?”
Lin Xiaodong: “Uh… I think I can see?”
System: “Then it seems your current race is indeed more toward a malevolent ghost. You’d better be careful of immortal items with too much spiritual energy; they might exorcise you.”
“That won’t happen,” Lin Xiaodong was inexplicably confident. “All my obsession is on Xiao Nian.”
But who knows what kind of scene Elder Cheng and the Sect Leader caused in the main hall. Anyway, for an entire afternoon, Nanyang Peak was incredibly lively.
Bai Yue came by once and brought Lin Xiaodong a bunch of moonlight flowers just picked from the sect’s forbidden area. They were gentle in nature and had the effect of stabilizing the mind and nourishing the soul, suitable for helping a patient with a yin-leaning constitution. She sat by Lin Xiaodong’s bed for a while. Lin Xiaodong didn’t dare use his divine sense to observe Bai Yue, but just hearing his junior sister’s slightly sobbing breath was enough to make him uneasy.
After finally sending Bai Yue away, the group of junior brothers and sisters Lin Xiaodong had taught all swarmed in, making Elder Cheng so angry he blocked the door and cursed under his breath: “Every single one of you, are you all so idle you have nothing to do? Go back to your cultivation immediately, or I’ll leave you all here to carry buckets and water the medicine garden!”
Only then did they unwillingly put down the various condolences they had brought and left, looking back with every step.
“Elder, as soon as Eldest Senior Brother wakes up, you must notify us immediately!”
“Exactly! And if you need any herbs, just say so. If the sect doesn’t have them, we’ll go down the mountain to find them. If we can’t find them, we’ll just snatch them!”
“That’s right! Defend Eldest Senior Brother to the death!”
Elder Cheng was almost amused by these brats: Are you immortal disciples or bandits?
Still talking about snatching, just get lost!
He saw these little rascals still lingering and unwilling to leave, so he unsheathed his sword decisively, causing everyone present to scatter at once.
Lin Xiaodong, playing dead on the bed: “…”
Elder Cheng is such a good person!!!
He never thought he would give someone a good-person card one day, but Lin Xiaodong indeed gained a lot today—because his identity was exposed, he gained more than a dozen good-person cards!
If Xiao Nian weren’t a key character in the plot, he could leave this world now!
“Can’t your headquarters just combine several good-person cards into one?” Lin Xiaodong asked expectantly. “If the quality is low, use quantity to make up for it. That way, I don’t have to consider what Xiao Nian wants to do and just go straight to the last world’s mission.”
System: “…No.”
“Hmph, stingy.”
Lin Xiaodong pouted.
It seemed he still had to find a way to get the last good-person card from Xiao Nian.
Having finally gotten some peace, Lin Xiaodong just relaxed and was about to take another nap. However, in the middle of the night, it started to rain drizzlingly again. The dense raindrops drifted into the room with the night wind. The sleeping young man seemed to sense something, frowned, his eyelashes flickered twice, and he slowly opened his eyes.
He happened to lock eyes with Xiao Nian, who was standing outside the window.
Seeing the man again, Lin Xiaodong’s mood was calmer than expected. The young man struggled to prop himself up from the bed, but since the chaos of demonic energy was no joke, this action alone took all his strength, and he had to lean his head against the wall to catch his breath.
Xiao Nian didn’t speak the whole time, just stood in the deep night rain outside the window, watching him without a word. He didn’t seem surprised at all that Lin Xiaodong’s eyes were suddenly better.
The man’s hair was wet from the rain, and his spotless white clothes were stuck to his body, looking somewhat disheveled. But Xiao Nian seemed not to care about these at all. His hand hanging by his side flickered slightly, as if he wanted to touch the face of the young man by the window, but in the end, he held back.
“Master,” Lin Xiaodong didn’t look at him, but just looked away, staring at a corner of the dim room, and asked in an imperceptible voice, “Why did you come?”
Xiao Nian’s lips were tightly pursed, and he lowered his eyes.
“To see you,” he said softly. “Is your body better?”
“Does it matter?” Lin Xiaodong asked back with a smile. “I’m already dead anyway.”
Xiao Nian’s eyes dimmed for a moment: “…I know.”
“Master is always like this,” the young man chuckled. “Or do all people who practice the Heartless Path eventually become a statue? All-knowing, high above… so-called mortal emotions are just the useless struggles of ants to you.”
Hearing this, the Immortal Venerable in white closed his eyes with endurance, seemingly speechless.
The man’s stern face appeared even more handsome under the moonlight, yet just as Lin Xiaodong said, like a flawless, cold statue. Lin Xiaodong looked at him carefully, then suddenly hooked his lips, leaned over the windowsill, and gently pressed his lips against the man’s thin lips.
Xiao Nian opened his eyes abruptly.
“You…”
“Shh, don’t talk,” the young man murmured between his lips. “Just let me dream.”
Just this once, forget the past, forget the hatred.
Forget all the harm this man in front of him had once caused.
When he wakes up, Lin Xiaodong thought, he will again be that soul driven by hatred and pain, wandering in the mortal world, where only the blood of his enemy can satisfy the void in his chest and the soul’s ceaseless screaming and wailing.
“What should I do,” with rain mixed with tears, he struggled to force a stiff smile at Xiao Nian, covering his chest, which shouldn’t have felt pain but was still aching faintly, and said, “Master, I think I… still love you.”