I was reborn after cheating on the aloof and powerful man.

Chapter 179 Father and Son 2

On the rocky platform, Xiao Jianshan sat cross-legged, channeling his inner energy into the injured man in front of him.

After a long while, the injured man that Mu Qingfeng had picked up coughed up a mouthful of blood and then slowly opened his eyelids.

"Grandmaster... pfft..."

As soon as the injured man opened his mouth, another mouthful of blood gushed uncontrollably from his nostrils.

"Don't rush to speak, first circulate your energy in your dantian."

Xiao Jianshan raised his palm and once again drew up a mouthful of internal energy. The powerful internal energy flowed through the meridians of the person in front of him, desperately nourishing the person's internal organs.

After a long while, once he was certain that the person in front of him was not in immediate danger, he withdrew his palm and coughed several times.

His frail body hadn't used his internal energy so excessively in a long time, and when he stopped, Xiao Jianshan's pale face was covered in cold sweat.

Seeing this, Mu Qingfeng quickly handed over a handkerchief. After the person calmed down, she could no longer suppress her anxiety.

"Senior Xiao, do you know this person? Who is he? Ask him if he has seen my senior sister."

"He is Lian Duhan, the son of Lian Cangyue, the peak master of Tianshan Feiyu Peak."

As soon as Xiao Jianshan finished speaking, Mu Qingfeng instantly realized who she had picked up.

"Is he the traitor from Tianshan that you're talking about?"

Seeing that Lian Duhan had his eyes closed, whether he didn't want to speak or couldn't speak, Mu Qingfeng hesitated for a moment and asked in confusion,

"I remember my senior sister saying that the peak master of Tianshan has a status second only to the master of Tianshan. As the son of the peak master, why would he betray Tianshan?"

"Because his mother was from the Chunyu family, and he had the blood of a servant flowing in his veins, he was naturally unwilling to accept it..."

"Xiao Qin!" The warning voice, though containing anger, was still gentle.

But Shi Shu, who was only halfway through her sentence, obediently shut her mouth at Xiao Jianshan's relatively gentle voice.

Xiao Jianshan's gaze shifted from Ji Zhongxuan to Mu Qingfeng, the stunningly beautiful woman staring at him with a bewildered expression. A pang of pain shot through him, and with a touch of reminiscence, he began to tell a story.

“Every so often, a new master will appear in Tianshan. The old master will act as both father and teacher to the new master until he is capable of standing on his own. When the new master takes over, the old master must step down from his position as the master of Tianshan.”

"But no matter who stays in that position changes, the eight great families will be the most loyal servants of the Lord of Tianshan for all eternity."

"Once upon a time, there was a lord of Tianshan who fell in love with his servant, and the two happily married. One day, the lord of Tianshan suddenly became very curious about whether the servant who was deeply in love with him truly loved him, or only loved him because he was the lord of Tianshan."

"He asked the servant, wanting to know the real answer. But the servant didn't know whether his feelings for his master were out of obedience or genuine love for the man. The two of them gradually began to feel pain in this wavering and uncertain love."

"The more unanswered the question, the more the obsession will take root and sprout in the heart, until the unyielding thoughts bear evil fruit, and only then will a person awaken to the truth in the face of destruction."

"Whether his wife loved him or not became the obsession that the Lord of Tianshan most wanted to find out. A new Lord of Tianshan was about to take the throne, and this Lord of Tianshan, who was about to go into seclusion, came up with a plan."

"He patiently handed everything over to the new Lord of Tianshan. On the day the new Lord of Tianshan took the throne, he, in the name of his master, had the new Lord of Tianshan issue an order to his wife."

"What order?" Mu Qingfeng couldn't help but interrupt, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

Xiao Jianshan did not answer her immediately; his gaze was fixed on the distance, where the sky was clear and cloudless.

"From the very beginning until now, the Eight Great Families have never disobeyed or betrayed their master. The lady who was a servant could not refuse the master's orders. So after that incident, she broke down."

The evasive answer, concealing a suffocating fate within a gentle tone, sent a chill down Mu Qingfeng's spine. As if someone were choking her, she hesitated for a moment before managing to squeeze out three words from her dry throat:

"why?"

"She's making things difficult for herself, who can she blame? If it weren't for our master, how could our eight great families enjoy wealth and luxury for generations? I just don't understand why some people would rather not have a good life and choose to court death." Shi Shu raised her head, her face full of disdain.

As soon as she finished speaking, Lian Duhan, who was on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes and cursed through gritted teeth:

"You know nothing!"

"I don't understand? I've served my master since I was fifteen, and it's been three years now. I know better than anyone how my master treats us. You people are clearly protected and blessed by our master, yet you have no gratitude whatsoever. You simply feel that our master is hindering your freedom. But without our master, what are you in the martial arts world? What are the eight great families like ours? The truly ignorant one is clearly you!"

"You!" Lian Duhan was so overwhelmed with emotion that he almost vomited blood from Shi Shu's words. He struggled to stand up, using his hands to support his body, but suddenly realized that his right leg was missing.

He could never stand up again!

Staring blankly at the empty space, Lian Duhan remained stunned for a long time. When he looked up, he saw his master's face full of worry, and Shishu who was giving him a cold look.

That cold, hard face, its gaze lost and bewildered, unsure of where to go next:

"The lambs that stay in their comfort zones think they are happy, unaware that it's only because the butcher's knife hasn't been pointed at them yet. However, the most terrifying thing is not that the lambs will be slaughtered. It's that the lambs know the knife is about to take their lives, yet they still obediently stretch out their necks, even smiling and declaring that they are doing it voluntarily. In the face of life and death, humans should have reverence and fear. But the lambs have even been deprived of the fear of death."

Lian Duhan's words left everyone except Xiao Jianshan completely bewildered. Seeing their blank expressions, he forced a bitter smile, a smile tinged with the bitterness of being crushed by fate, and continued:

“You don’t know what it feels like to be broken. All my emotions and desires, all my feelings, when I stand in front of that man, all that’s left is obedience to him. Yet, I clearly don’t want to be like this. My soul may live in my body, but my body doesn’t belong to me. The more clearly I realize this, the more I feel as if my whole body is being torn apart.”

“Do you know what? The last thing my mother said to me before she committed suicide was, ‘It’s so good that I can die.’ A conscious person has no other way out but death.”

The last words were spoken so softly that it seemed as if all the strength had been drained from Lian Duhan's body, and the last sentence was almost inaudible.

Suddenly, his shattered face took on a resolute expression. He stretched out his hand, gathered the last bit of his inner energy into his right hand, and struck it fiercely at the top of his head.

"No!" Before Xiao Jianshan could finish speaking, a hand, faster than his words, struck out and interrupted Lian Duhan.

"Thank you!" Xiao Jianshan only had time to thank Ji Zhongxuan before he immediately stepped forward to help Lian Duhan up.

He took a spherical object from his pocket and handed it to Lian Duhan.

“Xiao Han, don’t do anything foolish! This is a keepsake left to you by your father. If you take this, Xiao Yuan will set you free.”

"His belongings? He's dead? He's actually dead!" In his shock, Lian Duhan suddenly burst into a series of almost manic laughs, his body collapsing to the ground in uncontrollable convulsions, curling into a ball.

He covered his face with his hands, and the intermittent, hoarse laughter was gradually drowned out by sobs.

"It's too late, Master, I've already killed them."