Chapter 1309: The Heart of Revenge
When mentioning "forbidden land," people instinctively think of a dangerous place filled with death and gloom. However, this Reincarnation Forbidden Land was a breathtakingly beautiful paradise that even those with tens of thousands of years of lifespan could never dream of.
Every plant and flower here possessed extraordinary vitality and spiritual energy. The Wood Spirit girl sat quietly amidst the colorful blossoms, her beautiful eyes vacant as she stared into the distance. She would sit like that for an entire day, sometimes not even responding to Shen Xi's soft calls.
During this period, this had been the case every day.
Since that day when she heard the cruel truth from Yun Che's mouth, her heart and soul seemed to have fallen into a bottomless abyss from which she could not escape.
Yun Che walked to the side of the Wood Spirit girl, but she showed no reaction. A light breeze blew from the north, yet the surrounding flowers and plants all leaned toward the Wood Spirit girl, gently soothing her broken and battered heart.
Yun Che sat down heavily, almost pressing against He Ling's body.
The physical contact finally caused He Ling to react. Her vacant gaze instinctively turned. But Yun Che was looking at the distance she had been staring at earlier, and instead of comforting her, he suddenly sighed, "This world is truly wondrous. To think that someone like Senior Shen Xi exists. Every time I see her, I feel like I'm facing a celestial fairy."
Yun Che's arrival and words finally pulled He Ling back to her senses. She said softly, "Master was always a fairy."
Yun Che glanced at her and noticed that as she spoke, her eyes were completely devoid of life. Those beautiful eyes that had once sparkled like emerald stars had become so dull in just a few days that it was suffocating.
"Senior Shen Xi not only saved my life but can also always see what troubles my heart and takes the initiative to speak words to soothe me… Has Senior Shen Xi always been such a gentle person?" he said with a smile.
"Mhm," He Ling nodded lightly. "Master is not only a fairy but also the most beautiful, kindest, and gentlest fairy in this world."
"Ah?" Yun Che looked astonished. "You have seen Senior Shen Xi's appearance?"
"Mhm," He Ling nodded again, her voice still very soft. "But you cannot see it."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because…" He Ling's eyes finally showed a hint of color—a dazed, almost intoxicated look. "If you see Master's true face, then for you, this world will no longer have any other colors."
"…" These words left Yun Che completely stunned.
"Master has not allowed any man to see her true face for many years. So it has been a very, very long time since any man was fortunate enough to see Master's appearance. Even if you wanted to see, Master would not permit it. If you were truly fortunate enough to see it…" Her words and gaze gradually grew hazy. "Perhaps you would not even be willing to look at me anymore."
Yun Che shook his head with a laugh. "Haha, how could that be? Back when He Lin told me about you, he said you were the most beautiful sister in the world, and I didn't believe him then. But after meeting you, I realized that such a beautiful girl could actually exist in this world."
He Ling looked at him and gave a very faint smile. "That sister who brought you here that day… she is more beautiful than me."
"Eh, is she?" Yun Che put on an innocent expression.
He Ling turned her gaze to the distance. "I know you want to comfort me. I'm sorry… I've worried you and Master. I'll be fine. It's just… it's just…"
In front of Yun Che, she tried so hard to calm herself down, to not make him worry for her. But before she could finish her sentence, her body and soul began to tremble violently again, unable to stop. "I can't understand… What did we Wood Spirits do wrong… for the heavens to treat us like this… What did we do wrong…"
She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, curling herself up tightly.
"You didn't do anything wrong. Never have," Yun Che said softly in consolation. He knew his words of comfort were utterly pale and weak.
She buried her head between her knees, her voice faint and her heart pained. "Since I was little, my father and mother told me that we Wood Spirits are a race protected by nature. As long as we treat everything with gentleness, love, and kindness, fate will eventually favor us."
Recalling his brief stay in the Wood Spirit Secret Realm, he sighed inwardly and said, "Your Wood Spirit race is the most beautiful and kindest race I have ever seen. Although you have experienced too much injustice and suffering, in the future… I also believe what your father and mother said, that fate will eventually favor you and compensate you doubly."
"Heh…" She shook her head, shook it forcefully. That soft gasp seemed like a laugh, a laugh of immense sorrow. "Future? Our Wood Spirit race… where is there still a future…"
Yun Che was instantly choked with emotion.
"Father and mother, who told me these things, are already dead… They protected me with their lives… but I failed to protect my clansmen, failed to protect Lin'er…"
"The Wood Spirit Royal Clan now only has me, the most useless woman… It has been completely cut off… There is no more future… All my family, my most important clansmen… are all dead…"
"Future… future…"
She murmured these words, each syllable piercing the heart.
Yun Che's brows furrowed deeply. He suddenly realized that he had completely misjudged He Ling's state… it was much worse than he had thought.
The royal bloodline was severed, all her family were no longer in this world, leaving only her alone and bitter, still harboring guilt and self-blame over He Lin's death and the severance of the bloodline…
The beliefs she had upheld throughout her life had met with the most tragic conclusion; the hopes she had always believed in and longed for had completely turned into the darkest despair.
Fate had been far too unfair to the Wood Spirit race.
After thinking for a long time, he couldn't come up with suitable words of comfort. He patted He Ling's shoulder and said with a smile, "He Ling, at least the Wood Spirit Royal Clan is not truly extinct. You are the last descendant of the Wood Spirit Royal Clan. Although you are a woman, your future children will still carry the blood of the Wood Spirit Royal Clan. So you must live well, live as the last hope of the Wood Spirit Royal Clan, and then lead the entire race, waiting for the day when fate favors you."
"Fate… favors…" she said softly. "I… can no longer believe in that…"
Yun Che: "…"
She lifted her head from between her knees. There were no tears in her eyes, only a gloom that had never dissipated. She looked at Yun Che, looked for a long moment, and said softly with a hazy gaze, "Can you… call me 'sister' once?"
Yun Che also stared fixedly at her, but shook his head. "I am not He Lin. He is dead."
He Ling closed her eyes and said painfully, "You won't even give me a little illusion?"
Yun Che's gaze was gentle, with a hint of depth. "Perhaps you won't believe me, but once, I was like you, becoming completely destitute… including all hope. So I can understand how you feel now, and I also understand that such illusory comfort only brings temporary self-consolation and even stronger pain."
He Ling looked away and buried her head between her knees again.
Having been through a similar experience, Yun Che indeed understood He Ling's state of mind very well. However, she was a pure and flawless Wood Spirit, and still a young girl, so she was naturally far less strong than he had been back then.
After a long silence, Yun Che spoke again. "He Ling, although I am not He Lin, from now on, I will be your family, just like He Lin."
He Ling: "…"
"I don't know what I can do to help you, but at least, I will never harm you. In front of me, you can cry as much as you want. If there's anything you want to say, you can tell me everything."
He Ling was undoubtedly in the worst state at this moment. He hoped his words could break through her defenses, allowing her to release and vent all the pent-up emotions in her heart… even if only a little.
But He Ling still showed no reaction.
Yun Che pondered for a long time and was about to say something more when He Ling suddenly spoke softly… In a very faint, very calm tone, she uttered four words that Yun Che had never expected:
"I want revenge."
Yun Che's brows furrowed sharply, and a wave of intense shock and disbelief surged in his heart.
Losing all family, with the entire clan reduced to this state, it would be perfectly normal to harbor thoughts of mad revenge.
But she was He Ling… she was a Wood Spirit! Wood Spirits carry pure life force, are extremely attuned to nature, and their bodies, hearts, and souls are all pure to the utmost. They strongly reject all evil, and would never stain themselves with blood and slaughter.
Even the most ordinary flower or grass, they would be unwilling to step on or break.
They were the beings in this world least likely, and arguably the ones who should least think of the word "revenge"!
Back then, He Lin knelt before him, crying and begging to become his disciple, wanting only to "protect the clan" and "find his sister," with absolutely no thought of revenge.
But from He Ling's mouth, the words "I want revenge" came out clearly, and spoken so calmly.
Calmness meant that this thought was not a sudden flash, but had already been planted over these past few days.
As Yun Che was stunned, He Ling slowly lifted her head to look at him. The gloom in her eyes grew even thicker, and her originally emerald-like beautiful eyes now showed a grayish-green color that perhaps even Wood Spirits had never seen. "Did Lin'er and the others tell you… who it was that killed my father and mother back then, and drove our entire clan into desperation?"
"…" Yun Che shook his head. "I don't know."
Yun Che's momentary hesitation caused a violent agitation in He Ling's gaze. She suddenly reached out and grabbed Yun Che's arm. "You know, don't you? Tell me… tell me… who it really is!"
Yun Che shook his head again. "I really don't know. They had no reason to tell an outsider like me about this."
Back in the Wood Spirit Secret Realm, Qingmu, who had given him the Wood Spirit Pearl, had told him that the one who killed He Lin and He Ling's parents and drove the entire clan into true desperation… was the Fan Di God Realm!
A name against which she could never truly take revenge.
This truth he absolutely could not tell He Ling at this moment, because it was too cruel, and would only make her more desperate on top of her despair.
"No, you must know, you must know." Whether it was that she truly believed Yun Che knew, or she was forcibly grasping at that last straw, she said, "Tell me, I beg you, tell me, please…"
"He Ling!" Yun Che instead grabbed He Ling's shoulders, his brows furrowed. "Listen to me…"
"Tell her. She has the right to know."
From behind Yun Che, a voice as light as a drifting cloud suddenly came.
Shen Xi stood quietly not far from them. Yun Che had not noticed at all when she arrived. Perhaps she had already heard all the words he and He Ling had spoken.
"Master," He Ling murmured softly. Even in front of Shen Xi, she remained dejected and lost.
Full of resistance in his heart, but Shen Xi's gentle words carried an irresistible magic. Yun Che took a light breath and said, "At the place where He Lin and the others dwelled, Senior Qingmu told me that the ones who hunted you back then… came from the Fan Di God Realm."
Shen Xi: "…"
"…" He Ling's lips parted, frozen in place. No matter how naive she was about the world, she could not fail to know what the "Fan Di God Realm" was.
The foremost of the four King Realms of the Dong Shen Domain, and among all King Realms in the entire God Realm, its comprehensive strength was enough to rank in the top three.
"But aside from that, Senior Qingmu did not tell me who within the Fan Di God Realm it was," Yun Che sighed. "Although I don't quite understand why Senior Qingmu would be willing to tell an outsider like me these things, but… I believe he did not lie."
"Fan… Di… God… Realm…" He Ling murmured, closed her eyes, and her entire body trembled.
Almost touching He Ling's body, Yun Che could clearly feel her heart and soul sinking rapidly… sinking toward a bottomless abyss of despair.
"He Ling!" Yun Che's heart tightened, and he already regretted revealing this truth.
"Ling'er," Shen Xi's soft voice drifted over like a gentle breeze. "If you want revenge, there is one person who can help you… and in this world, only he can help you."
The dim beautiful eyes snapped open. Yun Che was also startled and blurted out, "Who?"
In this world, who had the courage and strength to take revenge on the Fan Di God Realm?
And who would help a Wood Spirit take revenge against an existence like the Fan Di God Realm?
Even more incomprehensible: Why would Shen Xi, who was like a banished immortal detached from the mortal world, say these words to He Ling… it almost seemed like she was encouraging and guiding He Ling toward revenge?