Chapter 564: Forced Smile

Wang Lin left the riverbank and walked slowly through the night. The two soldiers behind him looked at each other, both seeing the confusion in the other's eyes.

In their view, Wang Lin had done nothing but stroll around and stand by the riverbank in a daze for most of the day. Now that it was dark, this person was still pacing slowly, unhurried.

In the night, Hong City was filled with flickering lights, appearing like a city that never slept.

Wang Lin walked slowly, his gaze landing on a patch of darkness in the distance, a rare sight within Hong City. There, a large complex of buildings was shrouded in an extremely oppressive aura.

This aura was filled with death and resentment.

"That is the Hong Prison, one of the four great prisons of the capital!" the soldier behind Wang Lin said in a low voice, following his gaze.

"Hong Prison…" Wang Lin nodded.

"Inside this Hong Prison are all heinous criminals. This place is heavily guarded; without an entry token, it is impossible to enter," the soldier explained.

Wang Lin took a careful look at the Hong Prison. He had already sensed it before: there were several powerful strands of Demonic Qi there. The intensity of this Demonic Qi was not the least bit weaker than Mo Lihai's. After a moment of contemplation, Wang Lin headed toward the Mo residence.

After returning to the Mo residence, Wang Lin went straight to Mo Lihai's residence. Mo Lihai was sitting cross-legged in meditation, and when Wang Lin pushed open the door and entered, he opened his eyes.

"I want to go to Hong Prison. Brother Mo, do you have a way?"

Mo Lihai was startled and glanced at Wang Lin. He did not ask for the reason but instead pondered for a moment before saying, "It will be somewhat difficult!"

Wang Lin frowned and said, "Then forget it!"

Mo Lihai smiled slightly and asked, "How long do you intend to stay there?"

"A month," Wang Lin said.

"To Cultivate?" Mo Lihai's eyes narrowed as he spoke.

Wang Lin looked at Mo Lihai and nodded, saying, "I need slaughter. Within Tianyao City, if I slaughter in large numbers, I fear it will cause some unnecessary trouble." After finishing, Wang Lin added, "If I succeed, when I assist you, my chances of success will be greater!"

Hearing this, Mo Lihai stood up, stared at Wang Lin, and said word by word, "Are you certain?"

Wang Lin did not waste words. He waved his right hand, and five strands of slaughter qi shot out from between his fingers, instantly roaring out to form five Dragons that sped toward Mo Lihai with lightning speed.

Mo Lihai laughed heartily and threw a punch with his right hand. A series of sonic booms rang out, and the five strands of gray qi immediately collapsed. However, Mo Lihai's smile froze, a strange glint appeared in his eyes, and he took three steps back.

He saw that the dispersed gray qi instantly underwent Fusion, forming five Dragons once again. A thick Killing Intent spread from them, shrouding the surroundings almost instantly. The guards within the Mo residence were alarmed and rushed over together.

At the same time, the five strands of slaughter qi roared out. Mo Lihai's eyes flashed, and he threw another punch. A series of popping sounds echoed in the air; the five strands of gray qi were as fast as lightning, instantly bypassing Mo Lihai's fist and streaking toward his chest.

The slaughter qi arrived in an instant, but it was blocked seven inches in front of Mo Lihai by a silently appearing curtain of Demonic Power, being forcibly bounced back.

Even so, the Demonic Power curtain in front of Mo Lihai shook violently.

"If this gray qi exceeded several thousand, would you still be able to block it so easily…" Wang Lin said slowly.

Mo Lihai's eyes revealed a strange light. This was not his first time witnessing the slaughter qi. Comparing the two, this time the power was much greater. He decisively said, "A month is too long, I cannot manage that, but seven days is no problem. There are tens of thousands of heinous criminals in Hong Prison, enough for your seven days of Cultivation! Wait for me; I will give you a definite answer within three days!"

Wang Lin nodded and turned to walk out of the room.

Mo Lihai pondered in the room for a long time before muttering to himself, "This Wang Lin is truly not to be underestimated. Exchanging the life of that Thirteen to gain this person's help was indeed the right decision!"

"Not to mention the power of that palm print, this gray Killing Intent alone is extremely extraordinary. These five strands of gray qi, without even unleashing their full power, could shake my Demonic Armor. Their sharpness is even more acute than some Demonic swords! This is secondary; most importantly, there is a change within this gray qi that I cannot understand, which can actually stir the life force within my body!"

"If thousands of these gray qi were allowed to form… it would be extremely terrifying! It is better not to be enemies with this Wang Lin, but to maintain the current relationship!" After a moment of thought, he immediately walked out of the room and hurried away to pull strings for Wang Lin to enter Hong Prison.

Wang Lin did not return to his room but sat cross-legged in the courtyard. Although the surroundings were quiet, faint zither music lingered in his ears.

Although the zither music was faint, it had a unique charm that did not dissipate for a long time.

That night, Wang Lin did not Cultivate, did not perform breathing exercises, and did not even think about the Slaughter Immortal Art in his mind. He just sat quietly in the courtyard, silently watching the starlight in the sky, listening… to the zither music in his heart…

His figure cast a long shadow under the moonlight, and in this quiet courtyard, the shadow appeared exceptionally desolate.

A solitary figure…

A jar of fine wine from Ancient Demon City sat beside Wang Lin. He would occasionally pick it up to drink while listening to the zither music. The desolation in the shadow gradually spread to him, and the desolate decline seemed to melt into the moonlight, pouring over his body and reflecting into his heart…

"I, Wang Lin, began to learn the Dao at sixteen. To this day, I have long forgotten the passing of years and do not know the exact…" Wang Lin picked up the wine jar and took a big gulp. The wine flowed from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto his clothes.

Wang Lin looked at the starlight in the sky, a trace of lonely sorrow appearing in his eyes.

"Cultivators walk against the Heavenly Dao and are destined to be lonely for a lifetime…"

The zither music was silent, but Wang Lin could vaguely hear it. He wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth and muttered, "Only with a lifetime of loneliness can one have a heart that seeks the Dao… But how many people can truly taste this loneliness? It is just like this wine: spicy at the entrance, but turning into a warm current upon entering the belly…"

Amidst the starlight and moonlight, a solitary shadow with wine, listening to the zither and tasting life…

"I do not know how those ten-thousand-year Cultivators endure this ten-thousand-year loneliness, but I do know that if there is not the slightest touch of emotion in one's heart, Cultivating the Dao is merely Cultivating what one believes to be the Dao, not the Heavenly Dao!"

"Heaven and Earth are unkind. If a Cultivator who walks against the Heavenly Dao is also without emotion, then they are also unkind. To Cultivate the unkind Dao of Heaven and Earth with an unkind heart, how can this be called Heaven-Defying Cultivation? Where does the word 'defy' come from? That is merely following the path of Heaven!"

"Since ancient times, those who follow the path of Heaven are the darlings of Heaven and Earth, but behind this status as a darling lies the body of an ant! My Dao is not to follow the path of Heaven, but to use the emotions in my heart to walk against the Heavenly Dao, to Cultivate against the immortals. What I seek is not just longevity, but more importantly, to cast off that body of an ant. This is what makes it Heaven-Defying!"

Wang Lin drank the remaining wine in the jar in one gulp and threw it forward. The jar fell to the ground and shattered with a 'pa' sound. Wang Lin touched the center of his brows with his right hand, leaned to the side, and the desolate look in his eyes gradually disappeared…

The moonlight slowly deepened, like sand slipping through fingers, flowing away slowly. When the first sun rose, Wang Lin opened his eyes. That night, he was drunk…

Drunk on wine, drunk on the zither…

The moment he awoke, everything from yesterday was deeply buried in the bottom of his heart, sealed in a place that could not be touched.

Three days passed in a flash. During these three days, Wang Lin did not Cultivate. Every morning, he would leave the Mo residence and come to sit by the riverbank, waiting for the painted boat to pass by, for that fleeting zither music to echo.

That sad zither music flowed into his spirit, passing through his sealed memories and entering the depths of his heart.

Listening to the zither music and drinking the wine bought by the soldiers, Wang Lin immersed himself in it, finding a unique realization.

The woman on the painted boat did not know at all that during these three days, someone was listening carefully to her zither music. She only knew that every time the painted boat passed by here, the sadness in her mood would become more intense, and this sadness would flow along her jade hands into the zither strings, being gently plucked out.

These three days, Wang Lin spent very peacefully, far away from all disputes, far away from all traces of slaughter. He forgot the danger of Tuo Sen, forgot the appointment with Mo Lihai, and forgot his own anticipation for Soul Transformation. He had the zither music surrounding him and wine accompanying him, and in these three days, he experienced a short baptism of the heart.

He never looked at the face of that woman; a back view and a wisp of zither music were already enough…

If not for Mo Lihai handling the matter of entering Hong Prison, Wang Lin would have continued to sit like this, continuing that baptism of the heart. He did not know how long he would sit, perhaps until the zither strings snapped, until the zither music was no more…

Withdrawing his spirit from the zither music, Wang Lin stood up, took one last look at the gradually receding painted boat, turned, and left!

At the moment he turned, the woman on the painted boat turned her head and looked toward the distant riverbank. Her eyes were always in darkness, but this time, the figure of the man leaving appeared before her eyes again.

"Ming Xuan, what are you looking at?" A calm voice came from beside the woman.

The zither music stopped abruptly!

The woman turned her head and slowly lowered it, her jade hands resting on the zither strings trembling slightly. To her, this voice represented Heaven, an irresistible fate.

"Your zither music is too sad. The guest wants you to change to a different tune!" That voice, while calm, revealed an air that could not be refused.

The woman remained silent, and with her trembling jade hands, she plucked the strings. The zither music changed, as if it were the sunny spring of March. A joyous zither melody played from the strings, drifting slowly over the painted boat and the small river.

"Very good, play like this from now on." The voice from earlier came again…

The joyous zither music spread. Although the music had a joyful intent, if one listened carefully, there was no happiness inside; it was clearly a silent cry…

This crying contained sorrow and carried pain. If one were to use four words to describe it, it could only be—Forced Smile! As it drifted, the bursts of laughter and joy within the painted boat slowly contrasted with it, but this zither music never merged with them.

Behind that Forced Smile flowed a thick bitterness, which, following the zither music, was hidden extremely deep. Ming Xuan knew that the sadness in this zither music could not be understood by anyone.

This zither music followed the painted boat, gradually drifting into the distance, leaving only the ripples raised by the painted boat on the river surface, slowly pushing toward the riverbanks on both sides…

—— Are everyone satisfied with today's two chapters? Does that zither music still echo in your ears… If you are satisfied, please reward Er Gen with a monthly vote.