378: Chapter 378 Bitter Memories

"I want this one. I don't want any others. Just this one."

At a market, a little boy tugged at the sleeve of a woman beside him, pointed at a small mongrel puppy in a cage, and pleaded with a pitiful look.

"Alright, alright. Mother will buy it for you. But you must take good care of it, okay?"

The woman chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand, took out her purse to pay, and handed the purchased puppy to the boy.

Taking the puppy, the boy nodded repeatedly, promising to take good care of it, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the little creature in his arms.

Looking at the small mongrel puppy whose eyes hadn't even opened yet, he said in a childish, milky voice.

"My name is Long Tianxing. From now on, you'll be with me."

"Since my surname is Long, I'll call you Xiao Long."

"Follow me, and I'll make sure you have the best of everything later. We'll achieve Immortal Ascension together and become ancestors."

Long Tianxing's adorable antics made the woman and the people around them laugh.

The woman stepped forward and ruffled his hair.

"Alright, little Immortal. Let's take your little Immortal dog home."

"Yeah!"

Long Tianxing nodded vigorously and hopped home with the puppy in his arms, his mood utterly delightful.

Long Tianxing carried Xiao Long home and truly treated the little mongrel as a brother from then on.

During meals, he would tear his own meat into strips, blow on them to cool them, and feed them to Xiao Long.

At night, he would place Xiao Long next to his pillow. Waking up in the middle of the night, he would always feel around to make sure it was still there.

The day Xiao Long opened its eyes, Long Tianxing was so happy he did three somersaults in the courtyard, then grabbed its front paws and shook them.

"See? This is my face. You have to remember it. Don't run off with someone else later."

Xiao Long licked his palm.

Days passed like this.

Long Tianxing slowly grew up, transforming from a child rolling in the mud into a youth practicing horse stances and martial arts.

His mother often said he had become less talkative. It wasn't that he spoke less, but there were some things he couldn't tell his mother.

Like his desire to achieve Immortal Ascension and become an ancestor.

Such words were innocent childhood talk when spoken young, but saying them as he grew older seemed arrogant and ignorant of his own limits.

Long Tianxing knew clearly in his heart: although the Long Family was a cultivation Family, his branch had only average Aptitude. Reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm would be considered a blessing from their ancestors.

He kept these words bottled up inside, only whispering them to Xiao Long on nights when he couldn't sleep.

"Xiao Long, do you think I can do it?"

Xiao Long lay at his feet and wagged its tail.

"I think I can," Long Tianxing rolled over. "When I become powerful later, I'll get you an Immortal Pill to eat, so you can become a demon too. Then we can Ascend together."

Xiao Long yawned.

"You don't believe me? Fine, suit yourself." Long Tianxing laughed and rubbed its head. "But seriously, sometimes I envy you a little."

"You just eat and sleep, don't have to think about anything."

"Sigh, not like me, forced to practice every day, getting scolded if I don't do well."

Xiao Long ignored him, already asleep.

Long Tianxing looked at it and suddenly felt this was fine too. Even if he couldn't cultivate into an Immortal in this lifetime, having this little guy by his side seemed acceptable.

Back then, he didn't know he would soon tear up these very words with his own hands.

When Long Tianxing was seven years old, he discovered a Secret Realm by himself.

That day, he took Xiao Long into the mountains to play, stepped into a void, and fell into a hidden cave.

The cave was carved with a Formation and had the aura of a Legacy. Long Tianxing's heart pounded wildly; he knew he had stumbled upon great fortune.

He placed Xiao Long in a crevice outside the cave entrance, crouched down, and held its head.

"Wait here. I'm going in to take a look. I'll be out soon."

Xiao Long whimpered twice, wanting to follow.

"Be good." Long Tianxing pushed it further into the crevice. "It's dangerous inside. You can't come. I promise, I'll come back to get you as soon as I get the thing."

Xiao Long lay down, its eyes watching him.

Long Tianxing turned and entered the cave.

The traps were far more difficult than he anticipated, but his luck was surprisingly good. Or perhaps, this Legacy was simply fated for him.

Half an hour later, without a single injury, he passed the final trial and obtained a Jade Slip.

Just as he grinned, a voice came from outside the cave.

"Listen, junior inside. Hand over the Opportunity, and I'll spare your life."

Long Tianxing froze.

He hadn't expected anyone to follow him into these desolate wilds.

"Don't pretend. I know you're in there," the voice sounded impatient. "This Secret Realm has a barrier. I really can't get in while you're hiding inside."

"But there's no food or water in there. You won't last long. You'd better come out yourself and save yourself some suffering."

Long Tianxing clenched the Jade Slip and didn't make a sound.

He still planned to wait for the person to leave on their own.

Then he heard Xiao Long's bark.

"Oh, there's a dog here too," the voice suddenly held a hint of amusement. "It's yours, isn't it? The little thing is quite protective, baring its teeth at me."

"Don't touch it!" Long Tianxing blurted out, but the distance to the cave entrance was too great; the person outside couldn't hear him.

"Come out."

The voice outside came again, icy cold, with no extra words.

Long Tianxing trembled all over.

Clutching the Jade Slip, he desperately told himself to stay calm. The barrier could block the other person. Xiao Long was outside. As long as he didn't come out, the other wouldn't dare kill the dog. Killing it would remove their bargaining chip.

"I'll give you three quarters of an hour. For every quarter that passes, your little dog will become a little less whole."

After saying this, the person's foot stepped onto Xiao Long's back.

Xiao Long let out a sharp cry, its voice amplified by the person's magic power and transmitted into the cave.

Long Tianxing rushed out.

The traps were still active.

For some reason, the traps he had easily crossed on his way in now all became death warrants.

Sword Qi grazed his face; spikes pierced his calf.

He fell, got up, fell again, leaving a trail of blood.

He paid no heed to anything else.

He just wanted to go faster, faster.

When he finally crawled out of the cave entrance, he saw the person shake blood off their hand and throw a limp, soft thing onto the ground.

It was Xiao Long.

Long Tianxing knelt there, his mouth opening and closing, unable to make a sound.

Seeing his state, the person sneered and reached out to snatch the Jade Slip.

Then, a rock fell from the sky and struck Long Tianxing's head.

Before darkness surged in, the last sound he heard was Xiao Long's final whimper before death.

When he woke up, he was already lying at home.

His mother's eyes were swollen from crying. She sat by his bed, chattering incessantly about how fortunate it was that the Family's Guardian arrived in time, how fortunate that the person was scared off, how fortunate that he was alright.

Long Tianxing listened without saying a word.

His mother thought he was frightened and called a doctor. The doctor said his injuries weren't severe, but he had suffered a mental shock and just needed to recuperate.

No one knew his Dao Heart was shattered.

After that, Long Tianxing changed. He spoke little, smiled rarely, but practiced cultivation more desperately than before. His mother watched, heart aching, but thought he had simply grown up and become sensible.

Only Long Tianxing himself knew: he practiced not to achieve Immortal Ascension, but to keep his mind from stopping. As soon as it stopped, he would remember that foot stepping on Xiao Long's back, that thing thrown on the ground.

He didn't dare sleep. Closing his eyes brought Xiao Long's image.

Later, he finally slept, because he was too exhausted.

In his dream, he saw Xiao Long again.

It was crouching by his bed, covered in blood, its neck twisted at an unnatural angle, but its eyes still watching him.

Long Tianxing woke up terrified, but when he looked toward the bedside, he felt his limbs go cold.

Because there, sitting, was a figure he had seen in his dream.

It was still there. It wasn't a dream!

It just crouched there, not barking, not moving, just watching him.

Long Tianxing trembled all over. He reached out to touch it, but his hand passed right through.

It was already dead.

It was only because it wanted to stay with him that it had become like this, trapped by his side, unable to enter Reincarnation, unable to find release.

Long Tianxing felt no fear, only endless, boundless pain.

"Go away," Long Tianxing said hoarsely. "Go. Don't stay here."

Xiao Long didn't move.

"I'm begging you, can you please go?" Long Tianxing knelt down, his eyes reddening. "I'm sorry. Go enter Reincarnation. Find a good master in your next life. Don't follow me anymore."

Xiao Long still didn't move.

It just kept watching him.

From then on, Long Tianxing became completely numb.

He no longer spoke to anyone, nor did he do anything unnecessary.

Practice, eat, sleep—like a walking corpse. His mother cried, pleaded, but nothing worked.

Every time he returned to his room, he could see the little dog, covered in blood, crouching there, watching him with its appearance from before death.

It couldn't leave.

He couldn't leave, and it couldn't leave either.

Long Tianxing sat in the courtyard, holding a piece of bamboo in a daze.

He didn't know when this bamboo had grown, nor why holding it made his heart feel slightly calmer.

He just held it, looked at the sky, and thought about many years ago, when he held that little mongrel puppy whose eyes hadn't even opened, saying he would take it to enjoy the best of everything later, to achieve Immortal Ascension together.

Thinking about it, his eyes grew moist.

A teardrop fell and landed on the bamboo.

The bamboo scattered, turning into points of light and disappearing from his fingertips.

"So this is the trap, huh? No wonder they were so confident."

Long Tianxing stared blankly at the now-vanished golden bamboo and the teardrop in his palm.

It was one of his sealed memories.

Since he could now reach the Core Formation Realm, it proved he had walked out of the initial shadow of his childhood.

But many things are like this: shadows you once walked out of can offer new insights when you look back upon them.

He had always thought he had moved on, until later, when he realized his luck was terrifyingly good, did he suddenly realize.

All the tragedy back then had started because of this luck.

That Secret Realm was discovered due to good luck. The traps inside were passed due to good luck.

Even the life-and-death difficulty he faced when rushing back was because of his good luck—because those traps just happened to prevent him from charging out immediately, avoiding being killed on the spot by that Loose Cultivator.

And the price was merely sacrificing one little mongrel dog.

So, he was lucky.

And because he was lucky, even just a little mongrel dog could reappear by his side in the form of a Soul, simply because he wanted to see it again.

Even back then, when he resolved his inner turmoil, watched the little mongrel dog enter Reincarnation again, his Dao Heart recovered, his mental state improved a level, and his cultivation increased greatly.

All of this was merely part of the good luck.

It was all like a play, and he was just a ridiculous actor. Everything was already arranged. No matter how poorly he performed, someone was there to catch him.

So, when he looked back on the past again, there was no relief, only deeper heartache.

At the same time, far from Long Tianxing's battlefield, someone named Bhaga broke a piece of golden bamboo.

And the moment that piece of bamboo shattered, another piece of golden bamboo appeared beside Long Tianxing.

Long Tianxing's eyes were still slightly red. He stiffly looked at the piece of golden bamboo that had appeared again.