flstandardbreds Chapter 146 Rong Xuan's Childhood
Chapter 146 Rong Xuan's Childhood
The atmosphere inside the room plummeted to freezing point. Wen Fuyue's eyes were filled with disappointment, but Rong Yan remained calm and composed.
Rong Xuan had regained his usual composure. He sneered, "You keep saying my mother is your disciple?"
"Then what does my existence mean? You hypocrite who disregards human ethics and dares to do things but not to admit them."
Rong Xuan was deeply hurt by the phrase "a complete stranger".
He reached for his belt, and before Yun Yici and the others could react, his neat white robes slipped off his shoulders, revealing his smooth back.
Standing behind Rong Xuan, Yun Yici, the two people, and the rabbit all showed expressions of shock.
Rong Xuan's entire back was covered with densely packed artifact patterns infused with blood. These patterns formed an unknown magic array, with the array's core located right in his back.
"Xuan'er!"
Wen Fuyue couldn't stop Rong Xuan's actions, but Yun Yici was faster than her and stepped forward to put the clothes on Rong Xuan first.
Rong Xuan remained expressionless, showing neither sorrow nor joy.
He gently pushed Yun Yici away, letting his coat fall down again, and calmly said to Rong Yan, "Before I heard the news of my mother's death from you, I always held onto a sliver of hope that she might still be waiting for me."
"But I never expected that you hurt her while she was alive, and you didn't let her go even after she died."
Rong Xuan has memories from a very young age. When he was little, his family of three was clearly not like this.
At that time, they lived in an ordinary city, no different from the neighbors in the alleys.
His parents were loving and kind to him, and they would grant him any request he made. The neighborhood children all envied his parents.
There was a persimmon tree in their yard, and when the season came, the children in the alley were craving their persimmons.
Rong Qing was worried that the children would fall and get hurt while climbing the tree, so he would pick all the persimmons at night and ask him to take them to his playmates to eat the next morning.
Rong Qing often told him that he had an uncle, and that it would be nice to meet him someday.
Like any other father, Rong Yan found a job as an accountant in the city. After finishing his work each day, he would bring home some of his favorite foods or novel trinkets when he finished his shift in the evening.
After the family finished dinner, they sat in the courtyard in the evening breeze, where Rong Yan began to teach him. Rong Qing always watched them with a smile.
Later, as the neighbors in the alley learned about it, they chose to send over Rong Yan's usual playmates when he was on leave.
In return, the children would always bring small gifts when they visited, such as eggs or vegetables they grew themselves.
After Rong Qing accepted the food, she cooked it into a meal and had the children stay at home to eat.
Before the age of five, Rong Xuan's world was bustling and lively.
He genuinely believed he would grow up like his friends in the alley; he didn't even know what the word "monk" meant.
Everything changed after Rong Yan returned from one of his trips.
On his fifth birthday, Rong Yan avoided Rong Qing and took him to a cave covered with strange patterns.
His usually gentle father was unusually cold that day, as if he were a different person, and handed him a bowl of medicine to take.
He obediently took the medicine and then lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was in excruciating pain all over his body, and his back felt like it was being burned by fire.
He wanted to call out to his parents, but was met with Rong Yan's cold gaze.
That's the gaze one has when admiring an object.
Rong Yan told him not to tell Rong Qing about this.
But he was in so much pain that he couldn't help but groan in his sleep at night, and Rong Qing still noticed.
When he woke up, the good old days were gone forever.
There was no peaceful courtyard, nor any kind parents.
Rong Qing's crying and arguing became a daily occurrence.
In the end, his mother took him and fled from place to place, just to escape his biological father.
Rong Qing took him around to find array cultivators to try to break the curse behind him, but she always cried and apologized to him again and again.
After being taken away by Wen Fuyue, Rong Xuan regretted it countless times. In fact, he also wanted Rong Qing to live.
If he could truly save Rong Qing and die quietly, without Rong Qing knowing the evil deeds Rong Yan had committed, perhaps their relationship would remain unchanged.
In time, they might have a new child.
The happiness Rong Qing longed for was simply for the three of them to live together peacefully during her lifetime.
Fortunately, it's not too late to fulfill her wish now.
Rong Xuan looked directly into Rong Yan's eyes and said, "Master came to find you to save you, but I came to kill you."
"It's okay if you hate me, the three of us will always be together."
Upon hearing this, Wen Fuyue sensed that Rong Xuan intended to perish together with Rong Yan. For the first time, he lost his composure and stepped forward to try and pull Rong Xuan out of the house.
However, it was too late.
Rong Xuan moved his fingers slightly, and instantly a dozen exquisitely dressed human puppets with faces indistinguishable from living people appeared beside him, but without any expression.
Rong Yan glanced at him indifferently and said, "You think you can kill me with such trivial tricks?"
As he spoke, Rong Yan stood up, reached out and summoned his natal spirit sword, which was covered in frost.
Wen Fuyue had already stepped in front of Rong Xuan and said to Yun Yici, "Take your senior brother and leave quickly!"
Yun Yici and Ning Tinglan went up to try and drag Rong Xuan outside.
Unexpectedly, the puppets around him started moving and rushed towards Rong Yan one by one.
Yun Yici could barely see the movements of Rong Xuan's fingertips.
However, Rong Xuan, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, was still far inferior to Rong Yan.
Yun Yici didn't recognize the materials used to make this puppet, but she could guess that they were extremely rare.
But Rong Yan killed them one by one with a single sword strike, as easily as chopping radishes.
Yun Yici grabbed Rong Xuan's arm and said, "Senior Brother Rong, don't be impulsive. Listen to Master and come with us first."
Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, Rong Yan, who was about to strike with his sword, froze in mid-air.
Yun Yici looked closely and discovered that the air was filled with translucent, reddish blood lines. These blood lines intertwined and pierced Rong Yan's wrists and joints.
Ning Tinglan exclaimed in surprise, "What's going on?"
Huai Chuan had been pondering the array patterns on Rong Xuan's back, but only realized what was going on when he saw this scene.
Huai Chuan said, "The weapon pattern on your senior brother's back should have been pierced with the blood essence of Rong Yan and Rong Qing."
"He might be preparing to completely transform himself into a tool to curse and kill Rong Yan."
"Those puppets are the evidence."
"Your grandmaster was too clever for his own good. He wanted to use your senior brother to regain his path to enlightenment, but he ended up giving him this weakness."
Huai Chuan was right. Rong Xuan hid these blood threads inside the puppets and had them explode the moment Rong Yan attacked them, at the point closest to Rong Yan, to ensure success.
Caught between her master and disciple, Wen Fuyue could only watch helplessly as the situation spiraled out of control.