116: Chapter 116: In Tang Hao's heart, he may have love for Ah Yin, but the Clear Sky Sect must surpass all others!

"But... but..."

Wang Donger still found it hard to believe, or rather, her subconscious was unwilling to believe that human nature could be so despicable. She asked, "Ah Yin was a 100,000-year Spirit Beast, the Blue Silver Emperor! She possessed the trait of immortality. As long as her life core was not destroyed, given enough time and the right environment, she could be reborn! If she didn't volunteer to sacrifice herself, who could force her?"

Lu Jing snapped his fingers crisply, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. "Good question! So, the key lies right here—how to make her sacrifice herself voluntarily?"

"Think about it. As a 100,000-year Spirit Beast in Human Form Transformation, Ah Yin's mind might have been pure, but she was by no means foolish. Why would she fall in love with Tang Hao? Why would she willingly give up her life and spirit ring for him?" Lu Jing's gaze fell upon the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand once more, his tone carrying deep meaning.

"So you mean..."

Wang Donger's voice carried a hint of trembling. "Tang Hao... he intentionally approached Ah Yin to gain her affection, and then... used Spirit Hall's pursuit to create a desperate situation, forcing Ah Yin... for the sake of him and the child, to sacrifice herself voluntarily?"

"Even if it wasn't entirely like that, he definitely had something to do with it."

Lu Jing affirmed, "The feelings might have been real, but the exploitation certainly existed as well. As for the subsequent imprisonment in the stone cave..."

He gave a cold laugh and asked, "That's even easier to explain. Donger, do you know that in the Blue Silver Grass clan, there can only be one Emperor in the same era?"

Wang Donger shook her head blankly; her knowledge of Spirit Beasts was far less profound than that of Lu Jing and the Snow Empress.

Lu Jing continued to explain, his voice sounding exceptionally clear in the silent cabin. "The Blue Silver Emperor is the sovereign of the Blue Silver Grass clan, and she is the only one. If Ah Yin does not die, or if her life core regains its sapience and is reborn, then she remains the Blue Silver Emperor. And while her son, Tang San, inherited the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, his Blue Silver Grass Spirit would forever remain ordinary Blue Silver Grass, with no possibility of awakening as a new Blue Silver Emperor!"

"Without the enhancement of the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, the potential of Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Spirit would be greatly diminished. And without top-tier twin spirits, how could Tang Hao ensure that Tang San would have enough ability in the future to complete his grand plan of seeking revenge against Spirit Hall? Or even... to achieve certain deeper objectives?"

Lu Jing's gaze seemed to pierce through the wooden boards of the cabin, looking into the endless void. His tone carried a coldness that saw through the ways of the World. "Therefore, Ah Yin had to die, or at least her sapience had to remain dormant forever. The best destination for her life core was to become the nourishment for her son's Spirit awakening, silently sacrificing everything in the darkness until she was completely drained. Meanwhile, Tang Hao played the role of a tragic hero father who had lost his beloved wife, living in decadent forbearance, silently guarding his wife's relics while waiting for the day his son would rise. Everything seemed so natural, so full of deep affection and righteousness."

"What you heard, what you saw, those heart-wrenching stories, those praised tales of love and sacrifice..."

Lu Jing lowered his head, looking at the stunned and pale Wang Donger in his arms. He gently stroked her hair, his voice low and carrying a hint of weariness as he said, "Most of the time, it's just what some people want you to hear and see. The truth of history is often buried under carefully woven lies and calculated interests."

A long silence fell over the cabin.

Only the sound of the waves gently lapping against the hull outside and the intertwined, slightly rapid breathing of the two could be heard.

Wang Donger hugged Lu Jing tightly, burying her face in his chest, seemingly trying to draw some warmth from him to dispel the bone-chilling cold that had risen from insight into the truth.

The Blue Silver Emperor in her hand still emitted a faint yet resilient blue-gold halo, quietly, as if wordlessly recounting that buried and distorted past.

...

Inside the cabin, a long, suffocating silence fell.

Wang Donger leaned against Lu Jing's warm chest, the Blue Silver Emperor in her hand emitting a faint but resilient glow of life, reflecting her extremely complex expression at this moment.

Lu Jing's calm, clear, and logically sound yet heart-wrenching words were like a cold chisel, ruthlessly carving open the wall in the depths of her memory that had been carefully glossed over, known as the "Clear Sky Sect stories," revealing the chillingly real foundation that might lie beneath.

Her mind was in a mess, buzzing.

Those tragic and beautiful love stories about Tang Hao and Ah Yin, and the life-and-death devotion between Tang San and Xiao Wu, which had been told by her elders with reverence and reminiscence since she was a child—these formed the templates of "love stronger than gold" and "unswerving until death" in her childhood cognition. They were her earliest and most beautiful aspirations for affection.

She had wept more than once for Ah Yin's sacrifice, felt heartache for Tang Hao's patient devotion, and felt fortunate that her parents, as lovers, eventually found their happy ending.

Those stories were the most solid and warm part of her faith in her spiritual World as the Young Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect.

But now, Lu Jing was telling her that behind all this seemingly soul-stirring drama, there might be a massive conspiracy full of calculation and exploitation?

She wanted to defend the people in her memory, to find evidence that Tang Hao could not possibly have done such a thing.

However, when she tried to string these reasons together and combine them with Lu Jing's meticulous analysis and the cold, silent, life-severing environment of that stone cave, all her defenses seemed so pale and weak.

Perhaps the feelings were real, but when those feelings were entangled with more important interests, grander goals, and irresistible destiny, could they still maintain their pure essence?

Or was this "true affection" mixed with other motives from the very beginning?

"Deep affection cannot be kept; only schemes win hearts." Lu Jing seemed to see through her struggle. He let out a soft sigh, set the Blue Silver Emperor plant aside, and then used his large, warm hand to gently stroke Wang Donger's hair over and over again, trying to soothe her turbulent emotions.

"Donger, I'm not asking you to immediately and completely negate everything from the past, nor am I asking you to decide that Tang Hao must be an irredeemable villain—at least for us. The human heart is complex. Many times, even the individuals involved may not be able to fully see their own hearts or distinguish the boundary between love and calculation. Perhaps in Tang Hao's heart, his feelings for Ah Yin weren't entirely fake. The revival of the Clear Sky Sect and revenge against Spirit Hall were responsibilities that had to be fulfilled, while Tang San's future was his only hope and sustenance. When these three conflicted, or even required him to make a choice..."

He paused, his voice becoming even lower, carrying a sense of World-weary sorrow and compassion. "He might have just subconsciously chosen the path that was optimal for him and for what he considered the greater good. On this path, Ah Yin's sacrifice was inevitable, even beautified and mythologized as a great love and noble dedication. He himself might have also convinced and numbed himself within this narrative of self-moved tragic heroism, burying the exploitation and calculation deep in a corner he was unwilling to touch."

Tang Hao was the heir of the Clear Sky Sect, so naturally, he should put the Sect first. His feelings for Ah Yin might have been both real and fake; after all, Ah Yin was so beautiful and gentle, so he truly fell in love with this woman before her identity was exposed.

It was just that the subsequent 100,000-year spirit ring suppressed that feeling.

Take Tang San before his Spirit awakening, for example.

How did Tang Hao treat him then, and how did he treat him after he awakened his twin spirits?

As outsiders, they could only say that Tang Hao was cold-blooded and willing to give up everything for the Sect, but they had to admit that such a person was very suitable to be a ruler.