What Ling Chen had just described was his past. Of course, Tian Ya was Ling Chen; Ling Chen was Tian Ya, or Number 1353. The family group that he had referred to was the Long family... only the Long family had the right to be called the most powerful family group in China. These were all blindingly obvious things that Shui Ruo understood.
Everything that happened after, Shui Ruo already knew- after all, the girl who had woken him in Zhong Zhou was her. The first time she had met him, he was wearing black clothes, lying on the unbelievably hot ground. There were many people walking past, but not a single person took notice of him. On the way home, she saw him lying on the ground, and hurriedly went to wake him up... because her father was a doctor, he had always taught her to be kind to others, and that she should do what she can to help those in need. She woke Ling Chen up, and saw an extremely pale face. He wasn’t completely awake, and definitely could not walk by himself. As such, she, her father and her mother took him home and looked after him. When they asked him about his past, he said that he wanted to forget it, and did not want to talk about it. When they asked him where his home was, he said he did not have one. When they asked him what his name was, all he said was ‘Chen’, meaning ‘dust’- he said that he was just like a speck of dust, blown by the wind, without anywhere to go.
As such, Shui Ruo exclaimed, “Then how about this will be big brother’s home? I’ve always wanted a big brother!”
Her father and mother smiled, but being mature adults, they thought this wouldn’t be too good. However, because they loved their daughter dearly, they only smiled, but did not say anything. At that time, Ling Chen’s body and mind had both taken much damage. Shui Ruo was like an angel who had saved him; her voice, her smile all caused his frozen heart to grow warm... he, who had always been rejected by, and always rejected other people, could only nod his head.
As such, he became Shui Ruo’s big brother and stayed with the family. He had a father, mother, little sister... he had a family. This was the first time he had ever had a real family. In that family, he finally understood what family love was, which caused him to gradually forget about the pain and hatred in his heart. He even wanted to forget everything that happened in the past, and forever stay in this family, protecting Shui Ruo and her parents. How wonderful would that be...
It was a pity that the heavens only allowed him to live this sort of peaceful, carefree life for three years. After three years, the father, who frequently came into contact with patients with Isrock Disease contracted the disease, and also passed it on to the mother and Shui Ruo. Only Ling Chen... who had a monstrous body that could not get sick, did not become infected. He decided to take care of this entire family by himself. After one year, the father and mother both passed away. In his life, there was only Shui Ruo left. In order to cure Shui Ruo, he went to countless places, looking for different ways to cure the disease. He even sent people all over the world to find the Mad Scientist who had disappeared... because he could easily cure the Isrock Disease. However, after three years passed, he had made no progress. That was until they had come to Beijing, and met Yun Feng.
“Big brother... why... why didn’t you tell me all this earlier.” Ling Shui Ruo tightly hugged him as she sobbed. When she had first met him, she never knew that he had such a tragic past. At this moment, she finally knew that his past wasn’t just tragic. He had suffered unimaginable pain and agony, something other people could not even imagine. Losing his mother when he was born, growing up in a bitter environment, being cruelly harmed by others, being buried alive, struggling to survive in the terrifying ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’, then finding out that his most loved person had died... those years, he had suffered much anguish and torment... Shui Ruo’s heart hurt as if it had been shredded; the feeling in her heart was much more painful than even that from the Isrock Disease. She pressed herself against him, and could not even speak as she sobbed... as her vision clouded, she could almost see her big brother in those scenes, desperately struggling against the pain in his heart, as the hatred and bitterness devoured him... she hated fate for being so cruel to him; hated that family group for doing such a thing to him; hated herself... for not being able to help him...
“Haha!” Ling Chen laughed, and used his fingers to brush away Shui Ruo’s stream of tears. He said in a comforting voice, “Don’t cry, Ruo Ruo, these things all happened long ago in the past. Fate already gave me compensation for all that... by putting Ruo Ruo by my side. Being able to meet Ruo Ruo, I’m able to forgive god who put all those other things in my life. Because if it wasn’t for those things, I never would have met Ruo Ruo, and neither would I have the power to protect Ruo Ruo. After meeting Ruo Ruo, I’ve been trying to forget about those things, and planned to never think of them again. I never thought that I’d talk about them again today, and even cause my Ruo Ruo to cry so much. Okay, Ruo Ruo, don’t cry; if you keep crying, my heart will really break.”
“Big brother... big brother... I... I... wuu....” Shui Ruo was crying so hard that she couldn’t speak. Even though everything was in the past, but her heart still hurt so much; so much that she almost couldn’t breathe.
“Whew...” Ling Chen let out a breath, and stroked Shui Ruo’s hair, waiting for her to calm down. After being with Shui Ruo, he really did try to forget about the past, and sealed Dia Wu away in his memories. He didn’t even think of the hatred in his heart- as long as he had Shui Ruo, nothing else mattered. When Shui Ruo contracted the Isrock Disease, he felt as if his whole world was collapsing, so to him, he would be willing to pay any price for her to become well again... as for the hatred, he didn’t have the time or energy for that.
However, with Shui Ruo now healthy again, his heart was no longer heavily burdened. Upon entering the Mystic Moon world, he had heard of the surname “Long”... and just like that, a small tongue of fire began to burn within Ling Chen’s heart, igniting the hatred inside. As such, he started to plan how to take revenge against the Long family.
Am I being a bit too greedy? I know that doing such a thing could disturb Ruo Ruo and my peaceful life together...
The hatred that had kept him alive after being buried alive for two days; the hatred that had supported him in those three years in ‘Heaven’- how could it be so easily forgotten? The hatred that he had been trying to suppress and forget had not been forgotten at all. Rather, it had been sleeping like a dormant monster in his heart- the slightest stimulation would cause it to awaken, unable to be contained.
After a while, Shui Ruo finally began to calm down. She tightly hugged Ling Chen, wanting to be able to protect him... she blinked the tears out of her eyes as she sobbed, “Big brother, you still haven’t told me... why you suddenly became upset... is it because... you thought of those things... from the past?”
Ling Chen had told Shui Ruo everything, and he didn’t want to hide anything from this girl who he wanted to be with forever, “Because... because the Sword Emperor... She might be Dia Wu...”
“Ah!” Shui Ruo let out a cry of surprise, as her eyes widened in shock and surprise
Ling Chen slowly said, “Earlier when we fought, when our bodies touched, I accidentally found out that she is a woman... and that last sword technique she used... that sword technique was exactly the same as the one I created with Dia Wu... that sword technique let Dia Wu slash out many illusory blades while in the air, making her seem like a butterfly. It was very beautiful to look at, but it wasn’t much more than that- it was much weaker than the thirty six sword techniques passed down from her family group. We called that sword skill ‘Heaven’s Edge, Butterfly’s Dance’ (Tian Ya Dia Wu). Back then, Dia Wu would often show me that skill, to let me appreciate the beauty of it... the skill that the Sword Emperor used was almost exactly the same as Dia Wu’s, but with one difference- the Heaven’s Edge, Butterfly’s Dance of that year was incomparably beautiful, whereas the one the Sword Emperor used was unimaginably powerful, just like a proper sword skill.”
“She... she’s really... but... didn’t she... already...” In her shock, Shui Ruo forgot about crying, as her heart rate suddenly sped up.
Ling Chen shook his head, “I don’t know if it’s her or not. Perhaps the sword skill was just similar, or maybe Dia Wu taught that skill, Heaven’s Edge, Butterfly’s Dance, to someone else... maybe I’m just thinking too much...”
“No... definitely not! That was something that only belonged to you two, how can she teach it to someone else.” Shui Ruo vigorously shook her head, “Big brother, at the time, why didn’t you... why didn’t you call her name; why didn’t you tell her who you were... that way, you would’ve know if she was big sister Dia Wu...”
“I... couldn’t...” Ling Chen bitterly shook his head, “The Dia Wu in my heart already died 13 years ago. After suddenly finding out that she might still be alive, and might even be right in front of me, my emotions spun out of control. I didn’t dare to call out her name, because if she wasn’t Dia Wu, I would once again have to suffer that pain, but if it was her... if it really was... I wouldn’t know what to do...”
Shui Ruo’s eyes became clouded again. Of course, she knew what Ling Chen meant by that he wouldn’t know what to do, “... Is it because of me? Big brother’s worried that if she really was Dia Wu, you wouldn’t know how to face both of us, right?”
“Ruo Ruo, I said that I will be with you forever. Ruo Ruo will not leave me, and I will not leave Ruo Ruo.” Ling Chen softly said.
“Then, what if she’s really big sister Dia Wu? When big brother was abandoned by everyone, she was determined not to leave you, and was even willing to become your wife... from that night, big sister Dia Wu was already big brother’s wife, with the bright moon and stars as witnesses. If that really is big sister Dia Wu, how can big brother just abandon her, his own wife? She loved big brother so much, so I’m sure that she has always been waiting for big brother to come back, and has been waiting for many, many years.
Ling Chen: “......”