Chapter 116: Do You Intend to Rebel?

"Rebellion."

"Treason."

"Defecting to the rebels and attacking the Great Qian."

Inside the room, the atmosphere was exceptionally quiet.

Wu Yingxue's eyes were dim, and her voice was hoarse as she uttered words that were shocking to hear.

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

Unexpectedly.

Wu Yingxue easily gathered news about the Prince's Mansion.

It was simply because the news was too shocking and had already spread across the Thirteen Provinces of Daqian.

Prince Dingyuan, a Martial Artist of the Xiantian Third Realm, had been dispatched by the Great Qian to suppress the rebellion. However, for some reason, after a brief confrontation, Prince Dingyuan actually defected, turning his anger to help the insurgent rebels.

"How could this be possible…"

The young girl's voice was full of helplessness: "My father hates evil like an enemy; how could he possibly help the rebels?"

The rebels were evil.

The rebels would ignite the fires of war.

The rebels would cause the people to live in misery.

The girl subconsciously reached these conclusions; she knew the Great Qian was not righteous, but she felt no sympathy for the rebels either.

However, after listening, Xu Xi gave this response:

"Yingxue, have you ever thought about one thing?"

"Hating evil like an enemy and helping the rebels."

"These two things are not actually in conflict."

The night grew deep, and the bright moon was obscured by dark clouds, plunging the world into darkness.

Inside the room lit by candlelight.

Xu Xi closed the copy of the Yangyuan Technique in his hand, turned his gaze to the girl, and asked that bewildered face: "Yingxue, do you understand the rebels?"

The rebels…

The girl shook her head in a daze.

Were the leaders of the rebels high-ranking officials or nobles?

It didn't seem so.

Whether they were high-Realm martial arts experts or the Aristocratic Clans that dominated Academia, they all held key positions within the Great Qian. How could they start a rebellion?

That would be like fighting oneself.

The answer was no longer blurred; it became very obvious.

"The so-called rebels are actually the common people—a group of… people who can no longer survive," Xu Xi's voice was calm as he stripped away the false facade woven by the Great Qian to face the truth.

The taxes of the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty were very high.

The vast majority of people in Qingniu Town became 'Sinful Citizens' because they could not afford the exorbitant taxes and were sent to the border bordering the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

So.

If someone could neither afford the taxes nor wanted to be exiled to the border, what would happen?

"An uprising, which the government declares a rebellion, is born from this."

Xu Xi spoke softly.

He unraveled the girl's painful confusion.

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

Even if Prince Dingyuan was truly a Martial Artist who hated evil like an enemy, as the girl said.

He should not have been so impulsive as to directly defect to the rebels.

"It seems the cause of this rebellion was far more tragic than I thought, to the point where even Prince Dingyuan could no longer endure it…"

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

The night wind was cold, blowing into the room through the open window.

It made the candlelight flicker, made one's heart turn cold, and made Wu Yingxue's face grow even paler.

"Father…"

Tears flowed first, followed by her voice.

Crystal tears continuously dripped down her cheeks.

The girl felt that this world was somewhat sick.

Prince Dingyuan was clearly doing something righteous, yet he was sentenced for treason by the Great Qian Imperial Court. The common people only wanted to survive, yet they were to be suppressed and killed by the army.

This world seemed to be riddled with problems everywhere.

Wu Yingxue told Xu Xi about her subsequent experiences.

Unwilling to believe her father had rebelled, she rushed to the Imperial Capital at the fastest speed, only to see a desolate and lonely Prince's Mansion.

Those who could flee had fled.

Those who could scatter had scattered.

There was not even a need for the Imperial Court to confiscate the property.

The Prince Dingyuan Mansion, which was once incredibly bustling in her memory, now had the deathly silence of a haunted house, with mottled bloodstains at the entrance.

The girl's parents were dead.

Prince Dingyuan was slain among the rebels by a Human Immortal of the Great Qian.

Her mother was thrown into the Celestial Prison and 'committed suicide' with a smile in her cell.

At this point, the young commandery princess became all alone; she had lost her parents and her most important family members.

Wu Yingxue was in a trance, stumbling as she tried to leave the Great Qian. On the way, she was discovered by others and went through multiple life-and-death crises, exhausting all her Medicinal Pills before dragging her heavily injured body to Qingniu Town.

This was the beginning and end of the matter.

The sequence of events that led to the girl being heavily injured.

"Rest well," Xu Xi helped the girl settle down and once again channeled his Protective Aura, helping to clear the Qi and blood within her body.

After finishing this, he stood up and left directly, closing the door to leave Wu Yingxue a space entirely her own.

Unlike Xu Moli.

Unlike Klisa.

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

She had her own outlook on the world and her own intellect.

Xu Xi knew that what Wu Yingxue needed at this moment was not comfort, but a sufficiently quiet space.

Nothing more.

"Sob… sob…"

Xu Xi walked away, his soles stepping on undried puddles, making crisp splashing sounds.

They blended with the sound of crying coming from behind him.

Gradually, they became indistinguishable.

In a dangerous state of flight, intense emotions are always suppressed in the heart, unable to find release. These emotions continue to accumulate until they break down a person's strong outer shell.

In the quiet night, the sound of uncontrollable weeping echoed in the courtyard for a long time.

…

[You learned of the existence of the secret passage from Wu Yingxue]

[You learned of 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 a space entirely her own]

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

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

[In the following days, Wu Yingxue continued to stay confined in her room, no longer possessing her former fiery temperament. Her hollow eyes and dull face made her look 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.

Together, they construct the meaning for a person to live on.

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

Xu Xi did not interfere.

He continued to practice martial arts as usual and deduce the Yangyuan Technique.

Time passed day by day, and Wu Yingxue remained in a state of desolation, her eyes dim, lacking her former energy.

She was very confused.

She was very lost.

She did not understand where the meaning of her life lay now that she had lost her parents.

Until one day, Wu Yingxue belatedly noticed that in addition to his boxing practice, Xu Xi would hold the most basic Yangyuan Technique and contemplate cultivation.

"Mister, what are… you doing?"

Her lips were pale, and she asked in a daze with a haggard appearance.

Xu Xi did not hide it: "I want to use the Yangyuan Technique as a foundation to deduce a Cultivation Technique suitable for everyone—one not restricted by Comprehension Ability, not bound by skeletal structure, a technique that even ordinary people can practice."

The girl was stunned: "Do you intend to rebel?"