Chapter 130#

The Disciple’s Rebirth and Revenge#

Xiao Nian left in a very disheveled state.

After all, he wasn’t that truly emotionless and desireless Immortal Venerable. Feeling the bitter taste of the young man’s cold lips mixed with tears, Xiao Nian’s throat tightened. In that instant, he almost confessed the entire truth to Lin Xiaodong.

Fortunately, 06 remained rational and reminded him: “Sir, you can’t. This small world is already fragile enough. It’s fine if Immortal Lord Lin recovers his memories on his own, but once he is stimulated again, the lightning tribulation will surely annihilate him along with this small world.”

Xiao Nian had to bite his lower lip hard, take a half-step back, and tilt his head to avoid the kiss.

But Lin Xiaodong misunderstood, thinking he was unwilling to have any further involvement with him. Keeping the posture of embracing across the window, the young man stared at him fixedly, then suddenly withdrew his hand and smiled: “That’s fine too.”

He carelessly wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, coldly looked away, and his previous fragile expression seemed like a dream that would shatter at a touch. Seeing the redness at the corners of Lin Xiaodong’s eyes, Xiao Nian couldn’t help but say in a hoarse voice: “I didn’t…” mean to avoid you on purpose.

“Master doesn’t need to explain anything to me. I was just obsessed.”

The young man maintained a faint, distant smile. His exquisite face was like a mask firmly fastened. Though he had regained his sight, his eyes were still as empty and lifeless as before, like a bottomless abyss.

“I’m tired,” he said flatly. “If Master doesn’t want to be discovered by Elder Cheng, you should leave as soon as possible.”

Seeing him like this, Xiao Nian knew he had messed up again.

“…Alright.”

His heart was bitter, but since this body was also one of the androids created by the headquarters and he was just an inhabitant, he couldn’t make any overly expressive facial movements. Therefore, in Lin Xiaodong’s eyes, Xiao Nian had maintained a cold expression from beginning to end while talking to him. Even when suddenly kissed, his pupils only shrunk for a moment.

“I remember he used to smile,” after Xiao Nian left, he carefully pondered the man’s performance just now and said thoughtfully, “At least his expressions were more vivid than they are now. If he’s the Xiao Nian who has feelings, why has he become stone-faced?”

He suddenly remembered the information he had spent all his points to exchange earlier. Did it mention something about “androids”?

“System, you said the headquarters has stopped experiments related to androids,” his eyes lit up as he asked quickly, “Then is it possible that the one in Xiao Nian’s cabinet is an android manufactured by the headquarters? A living body without a soul… every item matches!”

The system had never considered this possibility.

Although it felt the possibility was low, hearing Lin Xiaodong say it, it also became somewhat uncertain: “Possible… but as you said, the headquarters banned this experiment long ago. Why would Xiao Nian risk such a huge danger to bring an android to a small world?”

“He said he hoped I would remember.”

Lin Xiaodong whispered.

He tilted his head back, resting it against the cold, hard wall, staring straight at the ceiling, wondering if he really had forgotten some very important memory.

But even though he thought until his temples throbbed, he couldn’t remember anything.

“Memory is something related to the soul,” the system said. “If you really are missing a part of your memory, it must be because of some kind of accident. I guess this matter is probably related to your past life. Once the mission is completed, you’ll probably remember.”

Lin Xiaodong said helplessly: “So it’s all come full circle again, hasn’t it? But with Xiao Nian in his current state, how am I supposed to get a ‘Good Person Card’ from him?”

Tonight he had been so bold, risking a character break to kiss him directly, and the result?

Xiao Nian! He actually! Avoided it!

Does he really despise him that much? Turning his back immediately after deceiving his feelings to achieve his goal—it’s despicably scummy.

…Lin Xiaodong wanted to curse a little.

But what Lin Xiaodong didn’t know was that Xiao Nian, whom he was frantically stabbing with voodoo dolls in his heart, hadn’t returned to Cold Maple Mountain at this moment.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to leave, but before Xiao Nian could depart, he was intercepted by Elder Cheng.

“I knew it,” under the dim moonlight, Elder Cheng’s figure slowly emerged from the shadows. “You definitely wouldn’t listen to me.”

Xiao Nian paused and looked up ahead in silence.

“Speak,” Elder Cheng said with an unreadable expression. “What did you talk to Xiaodong about?”

“This is a matter between me and my disciple; it has nothing to do with you, Elder Cheng.” Xiao Nian naturally had little patience for the uninvited Elder Cheng. His mind was in a mess, and he just wanted to go back to Cold Maple Mountain and be alone.

“Nothing to do with me?” Elder Cheng laughed. “What a joke. Xiaodong becoming like this has something to do with the Yunxiao Sect, no, even with every cultivator in the Immortal Realm!”

Thinking of the young man’s appearance last night, curled up on the bed and trembling in pain, his gaze was icy as he stared fixedly at the expressionless white-clothed Immortal Venerable before him: “Especially you, Xiao Nian. The Sect Leader told me today that the core of the formation is about to collapse again. The residual demonic energy on the Yunxiao Sword can only last for another seven days. Tell me, what do you plan to do this time?”

Xiao Nian finally was willing to lift his eyelids and meet his gaze. Looking at the mocking smile on Elder Cheng’s face, he asked back: “Do I have any other choice?”

The corners of Elder Cheng’s mouth gradually flattened.

True, if they could have thought of any other way back then, even if it was just a glimmer of hope, the Yunxiao Sect would never have sacrificed Lin Xiaodong.

“I don’t understand,” he shook his head, his voice trembling. “Once, twice… why won’t heaven just let that child go? Clearly…”

Clearly, he had done nothing wrong.

Yet he still had to bear these responsibilities and pains, enough to make any cultivator in this world break down.

“The Sect Leader and I have reached an agreement,” after saying this, Elder Cheng looked as if he had aged decades in an instant. “This time we will tell that child the whole truth about the Heavenly Demon Body. As for what to do, it’s entirely up to him to choose.”

Xiao Nian frowned: “The Sect Leader agreed?”

If Lin Xiaodong didn’t agree, the entire Immortal Realm and Human Realm would be finished!

“We old fogies are not good people,” Elder Cheng gave a short laugh, his eyes sorrowful. “Though there is still some distance compared to someone like Immortal Venerable Xiao at the peak of the Heartless Path, both you and I, and the Sect Leader, all know Xiaodong. How do you think he will choose after knowing the truth?”

Xiao Nian remained silent.

Lin Xiaodong had only ever hated him, not the entire Yunxiao Sect.

But only Xiao Nian in this world knew that given Lin Xiaodong’s current condition, even if he were placed back into the formation core, the demonic energy he could provide would be far from enough for the formation to operate.

But it didn’t matter.

Under Elder Cheng’s angry glare, the man slowly relaxed his brow and said in a calm tone: “I understand. But please tell the Sect Leader that I am Lin Xiaodong’s master. I didn’t make it in time to see him off last time. This time, let me be the one to do it.”

“You, you… you…”

Elder Cheng pointed at his nose, his fingers trembling with rage.

So, he could only watch helplessly as Xiao Nian nodded to him and left Cold Maple Mountain in a pleasant mood.

“Not human!”

Elder Cheng squeezed out a curse from between his teeth.

How could there be a master like Xiao Nian in this world?

So, after waking up the next morning, Lin Xiaodong found it weird that Elder Cheng’s attitude towards him was so gentle it made his scalp tingle. He cared for him meticulously and even allowed fellow disciples from other peaks to crowd into the room to visit him, only looking a bit displeased when some disciples got too emotional.

“What’s wrong with Elder Cheng?”

Not just Lin Xiaodong, even the other disciples noticed something was off. But they attributed it to Elder Cheng’s love for Lin Xiaodong and the Senior Brother’s boundless charm, so they soon accepted this change happily.

“Senior Brother, where were you before?” a disciple asked curiously. “The Sect Leader and the others all said you were dead.”

Lin Xiaodong smiled faintly: “I was performing a secret mission for the sect.”

“So that’s it!” Everyone suddenly realized.

Although there was a formation blocking the Immortal Realm and the Demon Realm, fish often escaped through the cracks and came to this world. If they were just mindless, fierce demonic beasts, it would be fine, but the fear was those with high intelligence and mental control abilities. They would pick some small sects in the Immortal Realm to control and brainwash, turning the cultivators of an entire sect into their puppets.

In order to find out their origin and base while preventing them from being alerted, it wasn’t strange for the sect to announce that Lin Xiaodong was dead.

But Elder Cheng and Bai Yue, who were on the side, had complicated feelings listening to this. As the only two people present who knew the inside story, the more nonchalantly the young man behaved, the more guilty they felt.

“Then Senior Brother, is your mission completed?” another person asked.

Hearing this, Lin Xiaodong paused.

His gaze swept across Elder Cheng’s tense, aged face. He lowered his eyes and shook his head slightly.

“No.”

The young man curled his lips. He leaned against the headboard, his face still pale. Those clear eyes reflected the bright sunlight outside the window, showing not a hint of the thick deathly aura lingering in his body.

“Probably before long, the sect will again announce to the outside world that I am ‘dead’. That will be because I’ve gone to perform another mission. No one needs to be sad.”

Elder Cheng’s breath hitched.

He looked at Lin Xiaodong’s profile in disbelief, thinking to himself that he clearly hadn’t had time to tell Lin Xiaodong anything yet. How exactly did he know?

And when did he know?

If he had already known the truth that he was destined to die, yet he still returned to the Yunxiao Sect, and even after his true identity was discovered, he never thought of escaping, just so calmly accepting his fate as a sacrifice again…

Bai Yue couldn’t take it anymore.

She gritted her teeth and said: “Senior Brother, I…”

But halfway through, tears had already fallen from her eyes.

Seeing the Senior Sister suddenly burst into tears, all the disciples present were stunned. They looked at Bai Yue in confusion, then at Lin Xiaodong on the bed, thinking that the Senior Brother hadn’t said anything particularly special just now, right?

Why was the Senior Sister crying so hard?

Moreover, Bai Yue was crying particularly sorrowfully, yet she basically made no sound. She just covered her mouth and slowly crouched to the ground, hugging her arms and trembling constantly.

The disciples had never seen their Senior Sister show such a fragile expression.

While the room was dead silent, the young man on the bed pulled back the quilt and slowly walked to her.

Bai Yue felt a cold hand gently stroking the top of her head. She looked up, squinting against the sunlight from the window, and through teary eyes, she saw her Senior Brother whom she had lost and regained, but would soon lose again.

The only one in this world who would treat her like a child, the best Senior Brother in the world.

“Don’t go…” she grabbed Lin Xiaodong’s hand and cried out with a sobbing voice.

But this time, Lin Xiaodong didn’t nod.

“Junior Sister,” he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“That’s right, Senior Sister Bai, don’t be sad,” the other disciples also began to persuade her. “Senior Brother will be back once he finishes the mission!”

“Exactly, then we’ll all welcome Senior Brother back together!”

“Senior Brother, don’t worry. While you’re away, we will definitely protect Senior Sister!” Someone even made a solemn vow to Lin Xiaodong.

Everyone’s tone was very light, clearly believing in Lin Xiaodong’s ability. Bai Yue just kept weeping. She buried her head in the young man’s embrace, clutching his waist, crying until she was out of breath.

Lin Xiaodong helplessly patted her back, looked up, and shook his head with a smile at Elder Cheng who was standing aside.

‘Don’t tell them,’ he mouthed.

Elder Cheng took a deep breath, turned away, and secretly wiped the moisture from the corners of his eyes.