235: The pain of losing a loved one

Jiang Donghua hurried through the solemn buildings of the Outer Academy of Jia Nan Academy, heading straight for the Dean's Tower, which symbolized the highest authority.

He took a deep breath, calmed his somewhat anxious heart, raised his hand, and gently knocked on the heavy wooden door.

“Dong, dong, dong.”

The knocking sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet corridor.

Almost as soon as the knocking stopped, a robust and slightly amiable voice came from inside the door.

“Come in.”

Jiang Donghua pushed the door open and entered.

The Dean's office was simply yet grandly furnished, and Dean Lei Tian was sitting behind a large desk, seemingly reading a book.

He looked up and saw that the visitor was Jiang Donghua; a smile involuntarily appeared on his stern face, and he put down the book in his hand.

“Oh? It's Donghua.”

Dean Lei Tian's tone was quite gentle.

“The champion who shined brightly in the Outer Academy competition, why do you have time to come to this old fellow today? What's the matter?”

His attitude was very cordial, clearly showing that he valued Jiang Donghua, this rising star of the academy.

Jiang Donghua did not exchange many pleasantries; he stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and went straight to the point.

“Dean Lei Tian, junior has presumptuously come to inquire about some past events concerning my teacher, Elder Mo Xuan.”

“Mo Xuan?”

Upon hearing this name, the smile on Dean Lei Tian's face instantly receded slightly, and an extremely complex look flashed in his eyes—there was nostalgia, regret, and even a hint of guilt?

He subconsciously tapped the desk with his finger, leaned back slightly, and a clear sense of awkwardness and difficulty emanated from him.

Jiang Donghua's heart immediately sank—there's something!

This old fellow really knows the inside story!

Looking at this reaction, he probably knows quite a lot!

Dean Lei Tian pondered for a moment, seemingly organizing his words, and finally, he sighed, his tone becoming solemn.

“Donghua! There are some things that this old fellow isn't not telling you, nor does he not want to help your teacher. It's just that I am the Dean of the Outer Academy of Jia Nan Academy, and my stance must first consider the stability and interests of the academy.”

“Many matters involve too much, and the academy cannot, and should not, directly intervene. Lad, don't blame me for not helping your teacher!”

His words were a bit disjointed, like he was preemptively disclaiming responsibility, and also like he was explaining his difficulties.

Jiang Donghua immediately understood the hidden meaning and quickly said.

“Dean, you've misunderstood. Junior did not come to ask the academy to do anything for my teacher. My teacher has already gone to Central State alone; his decision, this Disciple is powerless and unable to stop.”

“Junior's visit today is merely to understand my teacher's past experiences, to know what kind of existence that Netherworld Sect truly is, and what my teacher is truly burdened with. As a Disciple, if I don't even know my teacher's enemies and the source of his pain, this Disciple's heart truly cannot rest!”

His tone was sincere and firm, his gaze burning as he looked at Lei Tian.

Dean Lei Tian, hearing this, showed an expression of extreme astonishment, as if he had heard something incredible.

He leaned forward, asking incredulously, his voice slightly raised.

“Your teacher, he didn't tell you? He didn't tell you anything and just left like that?!”

The astonishment on Dean Lei Tian's face gradually turned into a deep sense of helplessness and heaviness.

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping the desk, making dull 'tap-tap' sounds, as if undergoing an intense inner struggle.

After a long while, he finally let out a long sigh, looking at Jiang Donghua with complex eyes, and slowly shook his head.

“Since your teacher chose not to tell you and left bearing all of this alone, then this old fellow, I, certainly cannot tell you. He has his considerations; he doesn't want you to be involved, and he has his reasons.”

He saw the urgency and unwillingness that instantly surged onto Jiang Donghua's face, his eyes remarkably similar to Mo Xuan's when he learned of the bad news years ago: stubborn, pained, yet with a persistent refusal to let go.

Lei Tian's heart felt as if it had been pricked; another heavy sigh, and his tone softened, carrying a helpless compromise.

“Alas~ What a stubborn mule! His Disciple is also a stubborn little mule!”

He seemed to be scolding Mo Xuan, and also referring to Jiang Donghua.

“Enough, enough!”

Lei Tian waved his hand, dispelling the heaviness in the air, then fixed his sharp gaze on Jiang Donghua, his tone more serious than ever before.

“Before I tell you, you must give this old fellow a guarantee!”

“After hearing it, you must remain calm! Don't get hot-headed and think about running to Central State right now! That's not a place for you to die! Promise me!”

“Student promises you! I will never presume upon my strength and act rashly!”

Jiang Donghua immediately nodded heavily, his voice firm and resolute.

He now only sought to know the truth.

Dean Lei Tian looked at him deeply, as if to confirm whether his promise was sincere.

A brief silence fell in the office, with only the faint sound of wind from outside the window.

The old fellow's gaze became distant and pained, his memories piercing through time, returning to the unbearable past decades ago.

He spoke, his voice low and hoarse, every word seemingly squeezed out from under a heavy boulder.

“That was a truly profound blood feud.”

“Decades ago, your teacher Mo Xuan and his childhood sweetheart Ning Ling were both exceptionally outstanding students in the Inner Academy of Jia Nan Academy. They were extraordinarily talented, deeply in love, and a couple envied by everyone in the academy.”

“After graduation, they traveled together, honing their skills. Once, they went to the Northern Region of Central State for training, but unfortunately, they were targeted by a core figure of that damned Netherworld Sect.”

Lei Tian's voice became unusually cold here, even tinged with an uncontrollable anger.

“That demon took a fancy to Ning Ling's special physique and cultivation; he, he forcibly abducted her and used her as a human cauldron for cultivating evil arts!”

He almost gritted his teeth when he said the words 'human cauldron', filled with endless loathing.

Hearing this, Jiang Donghua's heart tightened, and a chill ran down his spine; he already anticipated the extremely cruel outcome.

Dean Lei Tian closed his eyes, his facial muscles twitching, as if he couldn't bear to recall the subsequent scene, his voice trembling slightly.

“By the time your teacher, after countless hardships, finally found clues and desperately located the place—everything was already too late.”

“What he found was already a shriveled corpse, its essence and vitality completely drained!”

The air in the office seemed to solidify, heavy enough to suffocate.

Lei Tian opened his eyes, which were filled with endless heartache for his old friend.

“And at that time, your teacher was just a mere Third-Grade Alchemist, and his cultivation was even more insignificant. Facing that colossal entity, that demon who killed his beloved, he didn't even have the right to fight to the death.”

“He could only carry Ning Ling's remains, like a stray dog, flee back to the Black-Corner Region, return to Jia Nan Academy, and seal himself off. He transformed all his pain and hatred into motivation for cultivation and alchemy, improving himself almost masochistically until now, breaking through to Dou Huang and becoming a Sixth-Rank Alchemist.”

“Only then did he feel that he finally had the most basic qualification to touch that hatred.”

The truth was like the coldest blade, cruelly dissecting the past, laying bare the blood and hatred buried for decades before Jiang Donghua.

He finally understood where the deep-seated hatred in his teacher's eyes came from, and where that resolute willingness to die originated.

That was not a momentary conflict; it was the result of having his lifelong love stolen, decades of wasted time, and being gnawed by pain day and night.