Tang Chou laughed hoarsely, "Of course I am at ease, heaven has allowed us father and daughter to et you on the road, truly... heaven has eyes!"
His laughter grew increasingly pained, and he turned around to tightly grasp Li Yuan’s clothing, saying, "Brother Li, I beg you, give the Demon Heart to Niannian, do not... let her... know the truth."
Li Yuan nodded.
Tang Chou let out a long sigh, lying on the ground for a while, his eyes watching the drifting clouds gradually closed.
"He... is gone."
Li Yuan whispered.
From behind a distant tree appeared a girl in red, none other than Tang Nian.
Tang Nian, with her face full of tears, ca over and said, "Thank you, foster father," then knelt in front of Tang Chou, kowtowing heavily several tis.
But as she kowtowed, she could no longer contain the pain in her heart, breathing heavily, sobbing and choking, unable to stop.
"Dad..."
"Dad..."
She wept bitterly.
Li Yuan squatted by her side, gently placing his hand on her frail shoulder, saying, "He is your father, he doesn’t want you to be sad; only if you don’t know can he leave with a smile.
However, compared to being happy in a lie, it’s better to suffer in the truth, and enduring the pain will bring true happiness, turning all the pain into motivation to grow stronger.
This... is your foster father’s hope and expectation for you."
Tang Nian stood up, her face full of tears and mud.
Li Yuan gently embraced her, letting her cry.
So ti later, Tang Nian finally stopped, looking exhausted, but her eyes remained wide open and red.
"Go to the back of the tree," Li Yuan said.
Tang Nian suddenly gritted her teeth and reached for the wine jar Tang Chou had drunk from before. With the strength of the Eighth Grade, she easily lifted it, seeming just about to bring the jar to her mouth, and the wine inside made a sloshing sound.
Li Yuan reached out to take the wine jar away, saying, "You’re still a little girl, you can’t drink wine."
Tang Nian said, "I... I..."
She looked at him pleadingly.
Li Yuan poured a small cup, saying, "This is an exception, just this much."
Tang Nian took the cup and drank it in one gulp, then began to cough.
She then grabbed a knife from the side.
This knife was prepared by Tang Chou, very sharp, intended for Li Yuan to use to take his heart.
"Foster father, let do it," Tang Nian said.
But Li Yuan raised his hand to press down on the knife, "This matter is not suitable for you."
Tang Nian lifted her head, her eyes red and teeth clenched, her gaze filled with a complexity not belonging to an eleven-year-old girl, with pain, farewell, cold harshness, rebellion, a journey with no return, turning away from the light to embrace the darkness.
She said, "Foster father said that compared to being happy in a lie, it’s better to suffer in the truth because the pain will turn into motivation to grow stronger...
So, please let have a more profound pain..."
Li Yuan snatched the knife, saying, "No."
Tang Nian wanted to say more, but Li Yuan instantly frowned, saying, "The pain of knowing the truth is not for you to go to extres. Do you want to beco a demoness?"
His sternness frightened Tang Nian, who softly said, "I don’t."
Li Yuan said, "Lean on my back."
Tang Nian lowered her head, ran behind him, and quietly began to sob.
Li Yuan drew the knife, quickly removed Tang Chou’s heart, which was a tal heart entwined with blood threads, but for so reason, the tal appeared sowhat translucent, with a faintly discernible mysterious pattern inside.
Li Yuan placed Tang Chou in the coffin, then gave the Demon Heart to Tang Nian.
Tang Nian clutched the Demon Heart tightly. Her father had long told her how to use it, but back then, he hadn’t told her that it was his heart...
Then, Li Yuan carried the coffin down the mountain, and since Tang Nian knew the matter, there was no need to leave Old Tang in the wilderness.
That day, a tombstone was erected not far west of Baihua Manor.
Li Yuan patted the shoulder of the girl in red, saying, "He is still here."
Tang Nian nodded, leaning against Li Yuan, overwheld with exhaustion, she swayed and almost fainted from sleep.
Li Yuan picked up the little girl and walked to the inner residence.
Lady Yan was holding Li Rui’s hand, walking.
The little girl held her mother’s hand with her right hand, and her left hand clutched a small cane, tapping the ground with a "thud, thud, thud" to maintain her balance.
This ti, there were two ravens with frenzied eyes perched on her shoulders, one more than last ti.
Li Yuan was montarily stunned and called out, "Zhuzhu, can you control two ravens?"
The raven on the left shoulder and the one on the right shoulder both made sounds, "Abba... baba... ababba..."
And from the abundant foliage above, there was a sudden flapping sound, as another raven flew down, circling overhead of the girl with the cane, calling "ababba," as if saying, "It’s not just two, it’s three."
Li Yuan was slightly shocked...
For it wasn’t only the number; even the power had changed.
Previously, the ravens’ combined strength was only "0~3," but now these three had beco "2~5."
This mutation was quite unusual.
Lady Yan smiled with a sigh at her man, then fondly caressed the little girl’s hair, her eyes showing concern, because she also didn’t know if this was a blessing or a curse.
If she could choose, she naturally hoped Zhuzhu could grow up safely without these bizarre powers.
At this mont, she glanced at the girl in red in Li Yuan’s arms.
Li Yuan had already ntioned the situation to her, so she knew what the little girl had gone through and why Li Yuan was carrying her here.
Lady Yan said, "We still have a room in our ho, let her move in. From now on... I’ll treat her as my own daughter."
Then she lowered her head to tease her daughter, "Zhuzhu, do you think it’d be nice to have another sister live with us?"
The ravens: "Abba... ababba... baba..."
...
A few days later.
The innkeeper found Li Yuan a route to Qiutang County.
It was the young lady of the Mountain Gang from Qiutang County who had escaped.
Qiutang County is located in the south, and further south are vast mountains, just like how Shanbao County is to the west.
But unlike the west of Shanbao County, which has mostly common forests and trees, south of Qiutang County often possesses unique plants, those plants even worthy of being called Spirit Flowers and Herbs.
This is because Qiutang County’s southern mountains lead to the Sunset Rainforest.
The Sunset Rainforest is a haven for Demon Beasts.
Places that can breed Demon Beasts are naturally treasure troves of feng shui.
Perhaps because of this feng shui, the mountains are abundant with rare plants.
The Mountain Gang is a group that goes into the mountains to gather Spirit Flowers and Herbs, a force even stronger in Qiutang County than the Blood Saber Sect in Shanbao County.
But no matter how strong, without the Sixth Grade, they were ultimately defeated by Zhao Xiantong and others.
However, the Mountain Gang did make Zhao Xiantong and them spend a lot of ti and energy in conquering Qiutang.
After all, not all Spirit Flowers and Herbs are for healing; so are... poisonous.
When strength is lacking, poison cos into play.
This is the specialty of the Mountain Gang.
The young lady of the Mountain Gang, fortunately, was out just before its downfall, narrowly escaping, and now with the gang gone, she has dispersed her wealth and dicinal resources, broadly inviting masters, saying she wants revenge in Qiutang.
As for how to seek revenge, the young lady only stated she would take action herself, while the other masters just needed to protect her to Qiutang.
The young lady sought out the Chenghua Sect, Frost Sword Sect, and then the Blood Saber Sect, but no one wanted to involve themselves.
Thus, the young lady then settled for finding Wild Honored Guests and Independent Practitioners, and a few agreed.
The innkeeper, having learned of this, asked Li Yuan.
Seeing this as a perfect opportunity, Li Yuan agreed.
Originally, he was worried about how to find Zhao Xiantong’s group once in Qiutang or Cyan Pool, but now it’s solved, with soone directly leading the way.
This kind of opportunity, he would be willing to pay for, and now, others are paying him.
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