The Prodigies War
chapter-1412

"Everyone, my sister will be returning to visit the family at twilight today so I’ll be leaving first."

Wang Zilong downed a cup of wine and turned to leave.

Everyone rose to send him off.

The display of Wang Zilong's influence caused the Lin Family disciples to inwardly sigh. When the Lin Family was in its heyday, they had also received such treatment wherever they went.

Now, however...they were finally experiencing what it was like to fall from grace.

Twilight was fast approaching.

A thousand-foot-long ship crushed through the clouds and entered Yujing City, causing a commotion that drew all eyes toward the Wang Family.

It was the day Wang Ziluan returned home to visit her family. Moreover, she was accompanied by the heaven pride and inner core disciple of Qingyun Sect, Huangfu Shao Yu.

That night, numerous powerful factions in the city visited the Wang Family with expensive gifts.

That night, an incident also occurred that made the Lin Family the butt of a joke.

It was because a visiting elder from the Lin Family was turned away at the Wang Family’s doorstep!

During the dinner banquet, the Wang Family Head, Wang Tianxing, who was red-faced from drinking, puzzledly asked in front of the many bigwigs present, "Lin Family? Which Lin Family? Is there still a Lin Family in Yujing City?"

The guests immediately burst into laughter.

Wang Zilong took this opportunity to share what had transpired outside the restaurant earlier during the day as a joke.

Upon hearing that the foolish young master of the Lin Family had picked up a chicken bone, the guests at the banquet nearly laughed their heads off.

Wang Ziluan was also present. After so many years, she never imagined that she would hear Lin Xun’s name again in a story about a chicken bone.

She couldn’t help but inwardly sneer. It was fortunate that she had broken off the engagement back then. It would be such a nightmare if she had become the daughter-in-law of the Lin Family.

Beside her, Huangfu Shao Yu asked, "Is it that Lin Xun?"

He wore a magnificent robe with a feather crown on his head and a thick belt around his waist. It made him look very heroic and dashing especially when paired with his handsome appearance.

"Yes." Wang Ziluan nodded as a mocking smile rose from the corners of her lips. "He’s just a fool who was born amidst a heavenly phenomenon. There's no need to pay attention to him."

Huangfu Shao Yu frowned and mused, "Although you took the initiative to dissolve the engagement back then, it's ultimately not nice to hear about."

Wang Ziluan was momentarily stunned. She approvingly said, "Husband has a point. He's a joke who I wouldn’t want to have any relation to."

Huangfu Shao Yu slowly said, "In that case, let this joke disappear forever so no one will bring it up again."

Wang Ziluan immediately understood and nodded, "I will put an end to this matter."

Huangfu Shao Yu merely grunted and said nothing else.

After all, Lin Xun was merely a fool that Huangfu Shao Yu would have never cared about if not for his slight connection to Wang Ziluan.

Although it was an almost insignificant matter to her husband, Wang Ziluan took his words to heart.

That night, she summoned Xiaocao and asked, ''Are you the maidservant who used to serve Lin Xun?"

Xiaocao's heart trembled as she hurriedly said, "Those times are all in the past and your servant serves the Wang Family now. My only desire is to serve Madame."

Wang Ziluan offhandedly acknowledged and said, ''I can give you an opportunity to show your loyalty. Tomorrow, take along some lackeys to help me with a little matter. I hope...to never hear anything related to Lin Xun in the future. Do you understand?"

Xiaocao stiffened and said in a trembling voice, "Understood!"

The simplest and most direct method to never hear about someone again was to make him disappear from the world.

How could she not understand?

Wang Ziluan nonchalantly said, "Go, I will believe in your loyalty after you accomplish this task."

Xiaocao bowed and left.

"Isn’t it kind of me to let the maidservant who used to serve you personally send you off?"

Wang Ziluan thought leisurely.

If not for the fact that Xiaocao used to serve Lin Xun, Wang Ziluan wouldn't even have recalled her dog’s maidservant.

Yes, Xiaocao was merely a maidservant who looked after her dog. Her status was far from anywhere close to Wang Ziluan's personal maidservant.

……

Snow fell and swirled in the air.

In a certain cemetery outside the city.

Lin Xun stood before two graves that seemed to silently lean on each other.

He had stood here since last night like a stone statue covered in snow.

His eyes, however, were growing clearer and clearer.

"I've known who I am since I was born but I could never believe it, so I kept wondering about who I...really am.

"I’ve endlessly pondered about it over the years, but I’ve always failed to figure it out. Like the Buddhists say, what is true is also false and everything is but an illusion.

"And I...am merely a bystander and a passerby who can’t decide whether what I see and feel is real...

"Now, I finally understand. Regardless of whether it is a dream or reality, I am who I am. I’m neither a passerby nor a bystander."

Lin Xun muttered to himself like a raving demented person.

Then, he knelt in the snow and kowtowed with a serious expression, "Your child has been unfilial all these years!"

Toward the end, scenes from the past began to flash in his head.

He recalled his father’s ecstatic look the first time he called him father. At that time, his mother was also smiling by the side with eyes that were as gentle as water.

He recalled the looks of confusion, disbelief, pain, anger, and the sighs of his parents when he was viewed as a hopeless fool...

However, they never once gave up on him and only wished for his life to be safe and peaceful.

Their love was always present, and their doting only grew.

Even at his father’s deathbed, his father continued to grasp his hand and remind him to learn how to take care of himself and his mother...

Subsequently, his mother passed on a few years later due to depression.

On her deathbed, her most painful regret was her failure to cure her son.

She also said that he would always be her son even if he was a fool, and she could never bear to see him suffer.

Unfortunately, she was dying and could no longer continue to care for him, which left her with deep regret even as life faded from her eyes.

Lin Xun’s face was covered in tears as he kneeled before their graves. Although he didn’t make a single sound, his heart overflowed with intense sorrow.

……

"It’s finished...has he become lost in the reincarnation..." In the Omega Secret-Realm, the mysterious woman frowned.

She witnessed everything that happened in Lin Xun’s reincarnation and never imagined that he would instead gain clarity on how to completely lose himself.

How would he be able to ‘see himself’ in this state?

How would he overcome the Great Azure Cloud Path’s 9th trial?

If he failed, he would lose the qualifications to open that door!

The mysterious woman seemed to lose her composure in that moment as an indescribable emotion flooded her heart.

Was it disappointment? Not really.

However, it was very unbearable! She had watched each step of Lin Xun’s rise and knew that everything he had achieved today hadn’t come easy.

She never expected that Lin Xun would be stuck at the Great Azure Cloud Path’s 9th trial!

It was difficult to accept, and it made it impossible for her to calm down for a time.

After a long time, the mysterious woman was suddenly taken aback as a bright light blossomed in her eyes.

Wait a moment!

If he failed, the reincarnation would end, but it was still continuing!

"Interesting, I can’t believe that I was mistaken..."

The corners of the mysterious woman's lips curved upward as she decided to keep watching to see what kind of surprise Lin Xun would give her.

……

Amidst the heavily falling snow, Xiaocao led a group of lackeys out of the city and toward a certain cemetery in the distance.

She didn’t understand why the fool would go to the cemetery. Was it because he somehow knew that he was about to die and was choosing a good spot for himself?

Xiaocao looked at the sky. Snow fell like goose feathers, covering the land in coldness and ice.

She inwardly thought, "At this time of the year, that fool should freeze to death even if I do nothing, right?"

She soon caught sight of Lin Xun after entering the cemetery.

To her surprise, the other party was kneeling on the ground, motionless as a statue as if he had already frozen to death.

"Did you finally achieve enlightenment at death’s door and realize how much you've wronged your parents over the years?"

Xiaocao suddenly sneered, "Unfortunately, it's too late now."

The lackeys laughed. "Heh heh, it's quite moving to see the fool die in such a manner."

A voice suddenly rang out at this moment, "In this world, there's no such thing as too early or late, only whether one has figured it out. It isn’t too late to make up for all these years of guilt."

Xiaocao almost thought that her ears were playing tricks on her.

However, she quickly realized that her hearing was fine.

The figure kneeling in front of the graves as if it were a statue slowly stood up under the astonished gazes of the group.

Crack crack crack~

The frost on him broke apart and crashed to the ground.

He was still dressed in thin white clothes. However, his thin figure stood straight amidst the icy cold.

Xiaocao was wide-eyed. "You didn't freeze to death?"

"This fool has great cold resistance. It's a miracle that he didn't freeze to death while dressed like that."

The astonished lackeys were also unable to believe their eyes.

"Are you here to kill me?"

Lin Xun’s expression was calm. The tear tracks on his face had long since evaporated, and his eyes were so clear that they seemed capable of reflecting everything in the world.

A maidservant had brought a group of fierce-looking guards to the cemetery to find him in such weather. Their intention was already self-evident.

Xiaocao was stunned again. She didn't expect Lin Xun to see through their purpose in a single glance.

Was this still that same fool?

"Did Wang Ziluan send you?"

Alarm rose within Xiaocao when she heard this. Why did this fool...seem to know everything?

"You..."

Just as Xiaocao was about to speak, Lin Xun cut her off, ''I will only ask you this, has the Lin Family ever mistreated you all these years?"

Under Lin Xun's clear gaze, Xiaocao felt, for the first time, a suffocatingly terrifying force press down on her mind and heart, causing her to shiver as if she were in an ice cave.