139: Chapter 139 The Opportunity for Resurrection

"Siyi? Siyi!"

Zhang Wen shook her frantically, but the person in his arms no longer responded.

He couldn't feel Ding Siyi's breath or her pulse; only her gradually cooling body temperature reminded him that the girl who used to smile and call him "Brother Zhang Wen" had left forever.

"Ah—!"

A suppressed roar erupted from Zhang Wen's throat, like the mournful cry of a wounded beast in a desperate situation.

In an instant, the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder boomed, and dark clouds gathered from all directions at a visible speed, enveloping the entire Ding Family in gloom.

Purple-gold lightning rolled within the clouds like a lurking Dragon. As Zhang Wen's emotions spiraled completely out of control, a thick bolt of lightning tore through the sky.

It struck a broken wall not far away with ferocity, shattering it into pieces and sending rubble flying.

The Old Marshal's expression remained unchanged. He raised his hand casually, and that terrifying Tribulation Thunder dissipated instantly in front of his palm as if hitting an invisible barrier.

Without turning his head, he ordered, "Maintain the protective barrier and stabilize the surroundings."

Holding Ding Siyi's cold body, Zhang Wen knelt in the pool of blood, letting the Tribulation Thunder roar overhead.

In his mind, Ding Siyi's smiling face replayed repeatedly—her chasing butterflies on the school playground, her skirt fluttering;

Her holding handmade snacks and handing them to him with a blushing face;

Her carefully bandaging his wounds when he was injured, her eyes full of worry...

Those warm moments now turned into the sharpest pain, slicing through his heart like a slow execution.

After an unknown amount of time, the dark clouds gradually dispersed, and the roar of the Tribulation Thunder subsided.

Zhang Wen slowly stood up and gently placed Ding Siyi on the ground, his movements so soft as if he were afraid of breaking her.

He took off his jacket and covered her with it, hiding those shocking scars.

Then, he turned around, his gaze sweeping over every corpse in the courtyard, over the ruins, and finally landing on the Old Marshal.

His eyes were terrifyingly calm, devoid of the earlier madness, leaving only a deathly coldness, as if all his emotions had been burned out in the recent outburst.

"Old Marshal."

Zhang Wen's voice was unusually calm, yet it carried an unquestionable determination.

"From this day forth, every moment I, Zhang Wen, live will be solely to trample the Soul Devouring Hall."

His voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot, and every word seemed ground out from between his teeth. "Every drop of blood she shed... I want them to pay back a thousandfold."

Zhang Wen's fingertips still lingered on Ding Siyi's cold cheek, his pads clearly feeling the warmth fading from beneath her skin.

Just then, the crimson System interface in his consciousness flickered violently, being overwritten by a new line of text that made his pupils contract suddenly—[Mission Reward: Can designate one person who died in the Ding Family Massacre to be resurrected.]

The air seemed to be tightened by an invisible force, and even the residual humming of the Tribulation Thunder overhead came to an abrupt halt.

The purple-gold lightning that had been rolling in the clouds moments ago now seemed intimidated by this line of text, quietly retracting its edge.

Resurrection?

Zhang Wen's heart felt as if it were suddenly pulled from an ice cellar by a hand; the intense throbbing made his throat tighten, making it almost impossible to breathe.

He suddenly looked down at Ding Siyi in his arms, the sunlight falling on her pale face through the broken window lattice.

Her long eyelashes hung quietly, a tiny, undried bead of blood still clinging to the tips; they would never blink with a playful curve again.

But the familiar contours of her features, the curve of her nose, and the habitual slight upward tilt of the corners of her lips were all imprinted with the smiles from his memory.

Her smile when she ran toward him clutching textbooks, her smile when she handed over handmade snacks with a blushing face, her smile when she chased butterflies in the courtyard with her skirt fluttering.

If he could make her open her eyes, if he could hear her call "Brother Zhang Wen" once more, if he could pull her out of this pool of blood and return to the peaceful days of the past...

Even if he had to trade his life for it, even if he had to pay a heavier price, he was willing.

This reward was like a bolt of lightning, splitting the deathly darkness in his heart, yet it also brought a heavier shackle.

He looked up and scanned the corpses filling the courtyard—Old Master Ding, with his white hair and beard, who had held his hand during their last meeting to ask about his Cultivate progress and said they would celebrate properly once he achieved a Breakthrough;

The Eldest Son of the Ding Family, a man who always loved to keep a straight face but would secretly give him high-quality wound medicine when he was injured, now had half a broken blade stuck in his chest, his eyes still wide open, staring toward the hidden compartment.

Resurrect one person.

This choice was crueler than simple revenge; every cold face seemed to be silently asking him: Whom do you choose?

Zhang Wen's fingertips trembled slightly. He gently placed Ding Siyi on the ground and took off his jacket to cover the hideous scars on her body, his movements as light as if he were afraid of breaking a piece of porcelain.

The Crabapple Flower Silver Hairpin he had picked up from the hidden compartment pressed against his chest. The petals at the head of the pin were darkened by blood, and the silver chain swayed with his movements, emitting faint glints of light brighter than the stars in the sky.

"Wait for me."

He whispered to the figure on the ground, his teeth clenched hard against the sob in his voice. The taste of blood welled up from his throat, mixing with the pain in his chest into an indescribable bitterness.

The Old Marshal walked up behind him at some point, his military boots making dull thuds on the blood-stained bluestone floor.

He watched Zhang Wen's suddenly changing expression—the eyes that had been red from the rampaging Tribulation Thunder just now were now like tempered ice, yet beneath that ice hid a tiny, extremely bright light that made one's heart tighten.

"Kid, what's wrong?" the Old Marshal asked. He had only seen Zhang Wen staring blankly at the air just now, as if his eyes were looking at something through the Void Realm.

He didn't know that the crimson text was quietly disappearing, leaving only the words "Triggered Hidden Mission: Ding Family Massacre" floating silently in his consciousness.

Zhang Wen suddenly snapped back to reality, quickly suppressing all the emotions in his eyes, leaving only a chill that could crack steel.

He knew this reward must never be leaked—something that could reverse life and death, once known to the outside world, would likely attract not sympathy, but a covetousness more terrifying than the murderers who slaughtered the family.

When that time came, let alone revenge, he might not even be able to protect Ding Siyi's final peace.