Chapter 116: Are You Planning to Rebel?

“Rebellion.”

“Treason.”

“Defecting to the rebel army, attacking the Great Qian.”

The room was eerily quiet.

Wu Yingxue’s eyes were dim, her voice hoarse, as she uttered shocking words one after another.

She told Xu Xi that after their farewell that night, she had traveled alone through the borderlands, hiding in the darkness, bypassing checkpoints through hidden paths, and successfully entered the heart of the Great Qian.

Unexpectedly.

Wu Yingxue easily learned news about the prince’s mansion.

Because the news was so shocking, it had already spread throughout the Thirteen Provinces of the Great Qian.

Prince Dingyuan, at the Third Stage of the Innate Realm, had been sent by the Great Qian to suppress the rebellion. But somehow, after a brief confrontation, Prince Dingyuan had defected, angrily joining the rebel forces.

“How is this possible…”

The girl’s voice was filled with helplessness: “My father hated evil, how could he possibly help the rebels?”

The rebels were evil.

The rebels would ignite war.

The rebels would cause the people to suffer.

The girl instinctively reached these conclusions. She knew the Great Qian was not righteous, but she also couldn’t feel any goodwill towards the rebels.

However, after listening, Xu Xi gave this response:

“Yingxue, have you ever thought about one thing?”

“Hating evil and helping the rebels.”

“These two things are not actually conflicting.”

The night deepened, the bright moon obscured by dark clouds, plunging the world into darkness.

In the room lit by candlelight.

Xu Xi closed the “Nourishing Origin Technique” in his hand, his gaze turning to the girl, asking her bewildered face: “Yingxue, do you understand the rebels?”

The rebels…

The girl shook her head in a daze.

Were the rebel leaders high-ranking nobles?

It seemed not.

Whether they were high-level martial artists or influential scholarly families, they all held important positions within the Great Qian. How could they possibly start a rebellion?

That would be like hitting themselves.

The answer was no longer vague, becoming very clear.

“The so-called rebels are actually the common people, a group of… people who can’t survive,” Xu Xi said calmly, stripping away the false facade woven by the Great Qian, facing the truth.

The taxes of the Great Qian Dynasty were very high.

Most people in Qingniu Town became “criminals” because they couldn’t afford the heavy taxes, sent to the borderlands near the Ten Thousand Mountains.

So.

If someone couldn’t pay the taxes and didn’t want to be exiled to the borderlands, what would happen?

“Uprising, or what the government calls rebellion, arises from this.”

Xu Xi spoke softly.

Unraveling the painful confusion for the girl.

Xu Xi had never met Prince Dingyuan, but he knew that someone in such a high position couldn’t have just discovered the darkness of the Great Qian.

Even if Prince Dingyuan was as the girl said, a martial artist who hated evil.

He shouldn’t have been so impulsive as to defect to the rebels directly.

“It seems the cause of this rebellion is far more tragic than I thought, to the point where Prince Dingyuan could no longer endure…”

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

The cold night wind blew through the open window into the room.

Making the candlelight flicker, chilling people’s hearts, making Wu Yingxue’s face grow paler.

“Father…”

Tears fell first, the sound followed.

Crystal tears continuously dripped down her cheeks.

The girl felt the world was somewhat sick.

Prince Dingyuan was clearly doing something righteous, yet he was condemned as a traitor by the Great Qian court. The common people merely wanted to survive, yet they were slaughtered by the army.

This world seemed full of problems everywhere.

Wu Yingxue told Xu Xi about her subsequent experiences.

Unwilling to believe her father’s rebellion, she rushed to the Imperial Capital as fast as she could, only to find the prince’s mansion empty and desolate.

Some had fled.

Others had scattered.

There was no need for the court to confiscate the property.

The once bustling Prince Dingyuan’s mansion now had the eerie silence of a haunted house, with bloodstains at the entrance.

The girl’s parents were dead.

Prince Dingyuan had been killed by a Human Immortal of the Great Qian among the rebels.

Her mother had been captured and thrown into the dungeon, where she “committed suicide” with a smile.

Thus, the young princess became alone, having lost both parents, her most important family.

Wu Yingxue, in a daze, stumbled trying to leave the Great Qian, but was discovered by others, experiencing multiple life-and-death crises, exhausting all her elixirs, and finally dragging her severely injured body to Qingniu Town.

This was the whole story.

The sequence of events that left the girl severely injured.

“Rest well,” Xu Xi helped the girl up, once again infusing Gang Qi to help circulate the girl’s blood and energy.

After doing this, he got up and left directly, closing the door, leaving Wu Yingxue alone in her space.

Unlike Xu Moli.

Unlike Cressa.

Wu Yingxue’s life was not tied to Xu Xi.

She had her own values, her own mind.

Xu Xi knew that what Wu Yingxue needed now was not comfort, but a quiet space.

That was all.

“Woo… woo…”

Xu Xi walked away, his shoes splashing in the puddles, making crisp sounds.

Mixing with the crying behind him.

Gradually becoming indistinguishable.

In the dangerous state of escape, intense emotions would be suppressed in the heart, unable to be released. These emotions would accumulate until they overwhelmed a person’s strength.

In the quiet night, uncontrollable sobbing echoed in the courtyard for a long time.

…

[You learned about the secret passage from Wu Yingxue]

[You learned about Wu Yingxue’s entire experience]

[You were surprised by Prince Dingyuan’s actions and gained a preliminary understanding of the instability within the Great Qian]

[With sympathy and pity, you left the girl alone in her space]

[The girl cried for a long time, until her voice was hoarse]

[The girl remained silent for a long time, unwilling to go out]

[In the following days, Wu Yingxue continued to stay in her room, no longer as fiery and strong as before, her eyes hollow, her face dull, looking very much like the Walking Dead]

What is the meaning of life?

For different people, this question has different answers.

It could be family, friends, ideals, or beliefs.

These precious things.

Fundamentally construct the meaning of living.

Having lost both parents, Wu Yingxue thus lost her spirit. She knew she shouldn’t be like this, but the sorrow in her heart numbed her body.

Xu Xi did not interfere.

He continued to practice martial arts as usual and refine the “Nourishing Origin Technique.”

Time passed day by day, Wu Yingxue remained in a state of despair, her eyes dim, no longer the vibrant spirit she once was.

She was confused.

She was lost.

Not understanding the meaning of her own existence after losing her parents.

Until one day, Wu Yingxue belatedly noticed that Xu Xi, while practicing boxing, would also ponder over the simplest “Nourishing Origin Technique.”

“Sir, what are you… doing?”

Her lips pale, she asked in a bewildered, haggard manner.

Xu Xi did not hide it: “I want to use the ‘Nourishing Origin Technique’ as a foundation to develop a technique suitable for everyone, unrestricted by talent or physique, a technique that even ordinary people can practice.”

The girl was stunned: “Are you planning to rebel?”