Chapter 273-274 On How to Conquer System Fairies and Make Them Your Wives 273-274 |
The sky above Ziqing Province had been gloomy for days, a rare occurrence in this usually sunny region.
The dark clouds hung heavy over the land, even the mortals pausing in their daily routines to look up and point at the sky.
Atop Mount Buqi, Yu Ling knelt among the charred remains of her friends, her spirit broken, her eyes vacant.
Chen Yin stood silently beside her, his gaze fixed on the remains of Si Qing, his heart heavy with sorrow.
In the distance, behind the dark clouds, the giant with the fanged mask snorted.
“Such sentimental ants.”
“But to become the Dao Venerable’s nourishment, you ants should be honored.”
Yu Ling seemed oblivious to his words, her mind a blank canvas.
A soft footstep approached her, and her eyes flickered slightly.
She looked up, her voice barely a whisper, questioning the person standing before her.
“You… you also have a Heavenly Dao Fragment, just like them.”
…Feng Xiangling.
He was no longer the elegant young man they knew. His eyes were dark and filled with a complex mix of emotions, including a hint of satisfaction and sorrow.
He didn’t answer her question, just smiled wryly.
“You can thank yourself for this, Big… Sister.”
“You forced me down this path.”
Before he could finish his sentence, he was forced to retreat as a sword blocked his path.
Chen Yin stood before Yu Ling, his sword protecting her, his eyes fixed on Feng Xiangling.
“Feng Xiangling,” he said, his voice as cold as the depths of hell, each word heavy with killing intent.
“You knew about this all along, didn’t you?”
“The deal you made with your System… was to lure them here, to sacrifice them, wasn’t it?”
Feng Xiangling chuckled, a hint of madness in his eyes.
“Yes.”
“So what?”
“I knew. And I led them here. The System needed a location for the projection to descend, otherwise, we would have to wait for the Triennial Heavenly Tribulation. And that location,” he spread his arms wide, a manic grin on his face, “…is me.”
Chen Yin’s gaze remained cold and still, while Yu Ling’s voice trembled, filled with disbelief.
“…Why?”
“Why would you do this?”
“You were a member of the Yu Alliance! How could you betray us—”
“Don’t talk to me about the Yu Alliance!” Feng Xiangling roared, his voice filled with rage.
“That childish game! Do you think I enjoyed pretending to be friendly with those brats?! I endured it all for you! But what did I get in return? Did you ever even look at me?!”
He pointed at Chen Yin. “It was because of him! This little brat! He stole your attention, your affection! Why?! What makes him so special?!”
He screamed, his eyes bloodshot.
Yu Ling’s eyes finally cleared, a cold light flickering within them.
“Because,”
“He would never betray his friends, like you did.”
Feng Xiangling’s face twitched, then he glared at Chen Yin venomously.
Chen Yin ignored him, his voice calm.
“Do you have anything else to say? Say it now. You won’t get another chance.”
Feng Xiangling laughed, a chilling, desperate laugh.
“Hahaha, do you really think you and Yu Ling can defeat me? You’re just ants! With the Upper God here today, I’ll show you how insignificant you are!”
The giant’s voice boomed from the sky.
“The Feng family has served well.”
“As promised, your family may choose one person to ascend to the Upper Realm every Triennial Heavenly Tribulation.”
“Remember this divine grace, and continue to select quality bait for the Dao Venerable.”
“Yes!” Feng Xiangling’s eyes were filled with fanatic zeal as he knelt and kowtowed. “I will do my utmost! My family will dedicate itself to finding the best offerings for the Upper God!”
Many unanswered questions were finally answered.
Chen Yin looked at Feng Xiangling, his gaze calm and devoid of emotion.
“…Do you think he can save you?” Chen Yin asked softly.
Feng Xiangling froze, then laughed hysterically.
“Chen Yin! You’re too arrogant! You’re just an ant from the Lower Realm! How dare you compare yourself to an Upper God?!”
But Chen Yin’s gaze never left him.
He drew his sword and pointed it at Feng Xiangling.
“You chose to be their dog. You should have been prepared to die like one. I have many ways to kill you. Choose one.”
He walked towards Feng Xiangling.
Feng Xiangling’s face paled, and he stammered, “U-Upper God! Save me!”
A powerful force surged towards them, but Chen Yin casually swung his sword, cleaving the force in two.
The energy dissipated around him, leaving him untouched.
“…Huh?” The giant was surprised. “Impossible! How could someone like you exist in the Lower Realm?”
But Chen Yin remained unfazed.
…This giant is just an Immortal, maybe a little stronger than that fake immortal, the Wu Xuan Ancestor. But I’m not the same cultivator who fought him. I’ve comprehended two Daos and reached the Grand Clarity Realm.
“You should be glad it’s just your projection here today. If it were your true body, you would die a miserable death.”
The giant fell silent.
Feng Xiangling’s arrogant facade crumbled.
“U-Upper God?!”
The giant didn’t respond.
“No… Upper God! You promised to protect me! You can’t abandon me! I can’t die! I have to find more offerings for you!”
He retreated in a panic, but Chen Yin advanced, his steps like the relentless approach of death.
“I can’t die! I can’t die!”
“Upper God, save me! System! System!”
“Don’t worry,” Chen Yin’s voice was like a whisper from the underworld.
“You will die here today.”
“No one can save you.”
“…I guarantee it.”
Feng Xiangling’s eyes were filled with terror as he saw Chen Yin approach.
He tried to call upon his System to escape, but before he could react, a sharp sword energy pierced his forehead.
He froze.
Then, his body convulsed violently, his screams echoing across the mountaintop.
“Aaaaargh!!”
“No!! Stop!!”
He thrashed on the ground, his body rotting and decaying, as if devoured by thousands of insects.
It was a gruesome sight.
But no one pitied him.
Yu Ling just stared at the ground, her eyes empty.
Chen Yin stood beside Feng Xiangling’s writhing form, his expression devoid of emotion.
Then, he turned his gaze towards the giant’s projection.
The giant was also looking at him.
“…Boy,” the giant said, his voice no longer condescending, “you are impressive. In all the worlds I’ve harvested, I’ve never seen anyone like you. If you ascend, the Dao Venerable might spare your life and allow you to serve him.”
“Tell him,” Chen Yin said calmly, “I don’t serve anyone. But I do like dogs. Ask him if he wants to be my dog.”
The giant erupted in fury. “Insolence!”
A powerful force surged towards Chen Yin, but he remained unmoved.
“You are but an ant! You have no idea of the power of the Dao Venerable!”
“…Perhaps.” The giant seemed to calm down. “But it doesn’t matter. Just wait for the Triennial Heavenly Tribulation. You won’t survive.”
“The Triennial Heavenly Tribulation, what is it?” Chen Yin asked.
“…The myriad realms must maintain balance. When a world becomes unbalanced, the Dao Venerable will send down a Heavenly Tribulation to cull the excess and absorb their essence back into the Upper Realm. This is the Triennial Heavenly Tribulation. The next one is near. I await the day you stand before me, still alive, and repeat those words.”
The giant’s form began to dissipate.
Chen Yin stood there, his mind in turmoil.
A month had passed since the tragedy on Mount Buqi.
The cultivation world was in an uproar. The rising stars of the Yu Alliance, once so promising, had vanished without a trace. No one knew what had happened. The only survivors, Chen Yin and Yu Ling, offered no explanations.
Rumors spread like wildfire, growing more and more outlandish with each retelling.
The parents of the missing teenagers, frantic with worry, demanded answers from Yu Ling, but she had locked herself away in the wooden hut, refusing to see anyone, her silence only fueling the flames of speculation and fear.
Elder Wangzhe, pressured by the grieving parents, tried to force his way into the hut, only to be stopped by a terrifying sword aura emanating from the white-clad swordsman who stood guard at the entrance, his presence an insurmountable barrier. The distraught parents could only wait outside, their pleas and curses echoing through the air.
—
“Fellow Daoist Yu Ling! Please, come out! Tell us what happened to our children!”
“Just say something! Anything! Are they alive or dead?!”
“My daughter… wuwuwu, my Qing’er…”
“Yu Ling, you monster! Give us back our children!”
Chen Yin had grown accustomed to their cries, the sound of their grief a constant reminder of his own failure.
He had erected a barrier to prevent their voices from reaching Yu Ling, who sat inside, her spirit broken.
He glanced out the window at the grieving parents, then turned away, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.
He carried a bowl of porridge to Yu Ling’s room and knocked softly.
“…It’s time to eat.”
There was no response.
He sighed again and entered the room.
The room was dim, the only light coming from a small crack in the window, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air.
The bed was neatly made, the pillows and blankets stacked at the head of the bed.
Yu Ling sat huddled on the floor, her back against the wall, her gaze fixed on the window, her eyes vacant and lifeless. Her long eyelashes were dusted with a fine layer of grime, her once vibrant face now pale and gaunt.
She looked like a broken doll, her body motionless, her arms wrapped around her knees.
Chen Yin’s heart ached at the sight of her.
…Outside, the bodies of the Yu Alliance teenagers were buried, their graves marked with simple tombstones.
Luo Xiaoxiao. Hu Li.
Si Qing. Hua Yulian.
Seventeen graves in total, each one a silent testament to his failure.
Since their return a month ago, Yu Ling had been like this, refusing to eat or drink, her only interaction with the world outside being the silent vigil she kept by the window, her gaze fixed on their graves.
“…It’s time to eat,” Chen Yin said again, placing the bowl on the table.
Yu Ling didn’t move. Her lifeless eyes flickered towards him, then back to the window.
Chen Yin sighed.
“Even if you starve yourself, they won’t come back.”
Yu Ling turned to him, her eyes red-rimmed, then lowered her head.
“…I can’t eat,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
“You have to.”
Chen Yin sat beside her and gently put his arm around her. “Even with the ‘Forgotten Everlasting Heart Sutra,’ you can’t live without food forever. You’ll wither away. Is that what you want?”
Yu Ling leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder.
He knew she was still haunted by that day, the memories of their deaths a constant nightmare.
He didn’t want to pressure her, but she showed no signs of recovery.
“This isn’t helping anyone.”
“If you’re sad, talk to me. It might make you feel better.” He gently stroked her hair.
Yu Ling pressed her face against his chest, then whispered,
“I… I’m sorry. They trusted me… they believed I could protect them…”
She remembered their confident smiles, their unwavering faith in her, their cheerful voices:
…Don’t worry! Big Sister is here! We’re not afraid!
…Big Sister can handle anything!
They had trusted her implicitly.
As if she could shield them from anything.
“Now, whenever I close my eyes, I see Luo Xiaoxiao… begging me to save him… I saw him… decay… turn into dust…”
Yu Ling’s body trembled, and she buried her face in her hands, her voice choked with sobs. “It hurts so much… why couldn’t I save them…?”
Chen Yin remained silent, his own heart heavy with grief. He remembered Hua Yulian’s warm embrace, her playful smile. He remembered Si Qing’s bright eyes, her shy confession, the pendant she had given him. …Read and burn. He remembered every detail of her, her laughter, her tears, her final moments.
He remembered them all.
“It’s my fault… I killed them…” Yu Ling sobbed, her voice muffled against his chest. “I’m not a good Big Sister… I couldn’t even protect them…”
Chen Yin held her tighter, his own eyes stinging with unshed tears. She was trying so hard not to cry, as if their deaths would become a reality if she did.
“Here,”
Chen Yin said softly, “eat your porridge. And then I’ll tell you how we’re going to avenge them.”
Yu Ling’s body trembled, and she looked up at him, her eyes widening slightly, a flicker of hope in their depths.
“Avenge… them…?” she whispered, her voice hoarse.
“Yes.”
“We won’t let this go.” Chen Yin’s expression hardened.
The giant’s words had finally revealed the truth.
He now understood what had happened.
…The Triennial Heavenly Tribulation.
A supposed cleansing of unbalanced worlds,
But in reality, a harvest of their essence.
That was the true purpose of the Heavenly Dao Fragments, the bait used to lure in the most talented cultivators, turning them into offerings for the Upper Realm.
The Chosen Ones were a lie. The Fragments were nothing but bait.
It was all a grand deception, a cosmic hunt orchestrated by the Upper Realm.
“They see us as nothing but livestock, as playthings,” Chen Yin’s voice was cold and hard. “They’ll pay for this.”
A spark ignited in Yu Ling’s eyes.
“…Revenge…”
“Yes, revenge.”
She murmured, her voice filled with a newfound determination, “The Upper Realm… the Dao Venerable… The Triennial Heavenly Tribulation… the Heavenly Dao Fragments…”
“I’ll cultivate. I’ll become stronger. I’ll ascend. And then I’ll kill them all! I’ll avenge Xiao Luo and the others!”
“Then the first step,” Chen Yin said, holding out the bowl of porridge, “is to eat.”
Yu Ling stared at the porridge for a moment, then grabbed it and started eating, her movements swift and decisive.
Chen Yin watched her, a faint smile on his lips.
That’s it.
Don’t give up.
We have a long way to go.
He would never forget them.
He would avenge them.