Unseen Immortal of Three Hundred Years - Chap 59
Chapter 59
The head of the Feng family kept speaking about his son and daughter, how wonderful they were, how it was such a pity, his every word dripping with affection.
Feng Huiming gripped his sword, silently listening for a long while, until finally, there was a stir.
It started with his fingers trembling, soon the whole of him was shaking, and the sword planted in the ground clinked and clanked. It was like a stone dropped in a calm lake, ripples expanding ever outward.
Ning Huai Shan, closest to him, was the first to notice. At first, he thought it was pain from an injury. But then, he realized, Feng Huiming was laughing.
That laugh was half mockery, half rage, tinged with an indescribable madness that sent shivers down Ning Huai Shan’s spine.
“My child, my child, always my child,” Feng Huiming didn’t even lift his head, just kept tapping and repeating the head’s words in a raspy voice, then with a laugh, he shrieked, “How foolish, how stupid must I have been to hear you call me ‘my child’ and get so dizzyingly confused, not knowing up from down?”
He laughed for a long time, laughed until he choked, then said, “I actually thought those words were so precious, so sincere. To think that just by saying them a few times, you truly saw me as one of your own, I really am—”
He took a deep breath, raised his head, eyes bloodshot, looking towards the Feng family head across the crimson light, softly said, “I really am an excellent seedling, aren’t I? You’ve always told me so. I didn’t understand before, but now, I couldn’t understand it any clearer.”
“I am indeed an excellent seedling, fooled round and round by a few calls of ‘my child’. Such a fool, where else could you find one? When you took me in, you must have thought the same.”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said, “Eight is the perfect age.”
He was exactly eight when the head of the Feng family took him in, already understanding some matters of the world. So, he knew his family had fallen, he was alone, and his days should have been uncertain. But thanks to the head of the household, he found shelter from the storm; he had a home.
From that point on, he knew he owed everything to this man, as the teacher in the disciples’ hall said one must be grateful and repay kindness.
He remembered that saying for many years.
He knew he wasn’t a true blood member of the Feng family, that all the preferential treatment wasn’t his by right but had to be earned through hard work, obedience, and bringing honor to the Feng family.
They said the head of the family was not given to smiles or laughter, not a tender father, always very strict. Making him smile was as hard as reaching the heavens, and hearing a word of praise from him was exceedingly rare. For a long time, his daily wish was for the head to nod at him and say, “Acceptable.”
He worked harder than all the other disciples, wore out more training clothes and swords than anyone, and after seven or eight years, finally one day, the head smiled at him and said, “My child is a good seedling.”
That “my child” gave him the illusion of a father’s kindness and a son’s filial piety.
Back then, full of youthful vigor and sincerity, he was willing to lay his heart out, eagerly offering it to the Feng family, ready to be of use in any way. He even told Feng Shulan, “Even if it costs me my life one day, I would not hesitate.”
And then, Feng Shulan poured cold water on his enthusiasm, saying, “In fact, we and all the other disciples are no different.”
It was from that moment, perhaps, that he and Feng Shulan, this “sister” of his, began to tread divergent paths, “agreeing to disagree.”
He was ensnared by the repeated calls of “my child,” once believing that although he was an adopted son, he was no different from a biological one. He thought he was destined to take on the great responsibility of the head of the household in the future; otherwise, why would the head tell him so much about the Feng family’s past, its opportunities, even taking him into secret places no one else could enter?
He deluded himself in this maze of illusion for nearly a hundred years, until one day, he suddenly realized a faint aura of death emanating from himself.
At first, he thought he had been careless in slaying demons, inadvertently cursed without knowing.
The most foolish thing was, he told the head of the family about it.
Like a typical son mentioning a wound to his father in passing, he actually spoke of this matter to the head of the Feng family.
Feng Huiming would forever remember that day, the head’s deep concern, immediately calling for the medical elder, watching personally as the elder examined him. Afterwards, he was taken to the secret place, to draw on the power of the divine tree for healing.
And he was profoundly moved at the time.
“I was so overwhelmed with emotion back then, do you know?” Feng Huiming suddenly slapped the ground, instantly closing the distance to the head of the Feng family, his sword dragging a deep furrow in the cold stone.
The head’s brow twitched, the broken chains suddenly lifted, each broken end transforming into a sharp blade, thrusting towards Feng Huiming.
Feng Huiming exploded with a body full of sword energy, each streak of white light clashing fiercely with the blades.
In an instant, sparks flew in all directions.
Feng Huiming, as if not fearing those sharp blades at all, pressed forward a bit more, his eyes bloodshot, teeth clenched, “Back then, I would have given my heart and lungs to you, do you know that, Father?”
Hearing the word “Father,” the head’s fingers clutching the chains twitched. But it was just a twitch, the force did not lessen at all.
“The more moved I was back then, the colder my heart became when I found out the truth,” Feng Huiming moved forward another inch, his fingers bleeding under the force of his energy, but he paid it no mind, “Have you ever tasted that feeling? It’s like being stripped bare and standing in the snowfield, worse than death itself.”
The head of the family finally showed a moment of vacant expression, then deeply furrowed his brows and said, “You know, you know.”
Feng Huiming began to laugh slowly again, his laughter filled with self-mockery, tinged with a bit of wretched sorrow. “Yes, every time I come to this tower, using the power of the divine tree for healing, that aura of death is temporarily concealed. But over time, even a fool would realize something’s amiss. Why act so surprised then?”
“Or do you truly think me so irredeemably stupid that I couldn’t even detect this much?”
The head’s lips moved slightly.
When this question was asked, even Wu Xingxue and the others furrowed their brows.
From Feng Huiming’s earlier reactions, it was clear he knew about the death aura on him, but they thought he had only sensed something odd or had vague suspicions.
But now, listening to him, it seemed not only did he detect the death aura on himself, but he also knew about the existence of the life-exchange formation.
Ning Huai Shan, looking at Feng Huiming, couldn’t help but mutter, “Why, have you gone mad?”
Feng Huiming hissed, “Why? I too wish to know why. I clearly could have fought back.”
He said to the head of the family, “I could have fought back, do you know? I’ve planned it over and over in my mind, imagined it countless times. Just once, if I had been ruthless, I could have killed you, could have used a hundred ways to make your life a living hell, to force you, to make you tell me what you’ve done to me.”
His sword energy advanced another inch, pressing the chains held by the head to creak, both sides trembling.
“I could even force you to transfer whatever’s on me onto yourself. I’ve thought about it countless times.”
“Then why didn’t you do it?” Ning Huai Shan asked again.
“I,” Feng Huiming’s face finally showed an undeniable distress, evoking pity. He stared fixedly at the head of the family, his lips trembling, his complexion dark, yet he couldn’t utter a single word.
Why, indeed?
Because he was indecisive, not quite a good person, but couldn’t bring himself to be thoroughly ruthless.
Whenever those dark thoughts arose, he would always remember the moment he was led to the Feng family’s door. He would remember the teacher in the disciples’ hall saying, “One must be grateful and repay kindness.”
Thus, those dark thoughts of retaliation always lingered in dreams, vanishing the moment he opened his eyes, the moment he awoke. He would subconsciously suppress those thoughts deep within his heart, burying them so deeply, pretending ignorance.
Over time, he developed an illusion as if by not touching, not asking, not truly seeing the life-exchange formation, everything would remain unreal, merely the product of his overly suspicious mind, his wild guesses.
After all, he was an adopted son, who had given his all for so many years. Even if it were just a dog one had raised, there should be some reluctance, some inability to harm, right?
He was waiting for the other party to be unable to proceed.
He even thought that by securing his position early, taking over the leadership of the Feng family before the life-exchange could be completed, he might become the most authoritative voice within the Feng family.
In such a scenario, his “father” might consider the bigger picture, might change his mind.
“I’m not incapable of saving myself, do you understand?” Feng Huiming spoke gravely, “I just—”
Just wanted to see you regret, to see you show a bit of “father-son affection,” nothing more.
He didn’t finish, but it seemed the head of the family understood his meaning.
For a moment, a very complex expression appeared on the head’s face. It almost made one wonder if he truly felt some regret.
Feng Huiming caught that fleeting subtlety, narrowing his eyes. At such a moment, his words became insincere again, “Now you’re going to show me some fake affection to deceive me again?”
The head’s expression changed several times, then slowly settled back down.
He still didn’t say the words the other wanted to hear. In the midst of their intense standoff, he said softly, “At this point, there’s nothing I can say.”
“At this point.”
“At this point.”
Feng Huiming mulled over this response.
A matter of life and death, entangled with so many years of complex emotions, was casually dismissed with the words “At this point.”
Hearing this, the last glimmer of light in Feng Huiming’s eyes quickly faded away.
It was only at this moment that he realized he still harbored a sliver of hope, hoping the man before him would show even the slightest hint of regret. At least to make his youthful one-sided affection seem less like a joke.
But alas, it was a joke.
He finally stopped hesitating, no longer unable to harden his heart. Shaking his head slightly, he then suddenly erupted.
In that moment, a powerful surge of sword energy burst forth from his body, casting a deadly white glow all around. This was the culmination of everything he had learned in a hundred years with the Feng family; his diligence, hard work, and efforts to please, all concentrated into the long sword in his hand.
The color drained from his face, and the aura of death around him intensified suddenly. This reaction only indicated one thing—he was striking with his life on the line.
The head of the Feng family, already having suffered a severe injury at the hands of Xiao Fuxuan, finally couldn’t withstand this decisive blow.
In an instant, he widened his eyes in shock, then slowly lowered his head.
Seeing the long sword, emblazoned with the character “Feng,” piercing through his body with a glowing white sword energy, the remaining chains in his hand shattered into pieces.
Then, he heard Feng Huiming’s voice saying, “I am relieved.”
Since the day he realized he was a sacrificial pawn, he had been holding back, gloomy and joyless, never truly laughing again.
Until this moment, he was finally relieved.
And it was not until this moment that Xiao Fuxuan raised his finger.
He had not intervened until now, waiting, waiting for Feng Huiming to find his own answer.
Now that the answer was found, the pitiable one was relieved.
He no longer needed to wait.
Suddenly, within the tower, a burst of golden light shone, and the massive shadow of the “Exemption” sword passed through the spirit of the head of the Feng family, piercing straight into the ground.
That was yet another questioning.
