Chapter 59 of Book 8: Leniency for Those Who Confess

  Feng asked excitedly, grabbing my shoulder: "Lei Xiang, it's really you! They told me, but I didn't believe them. It's really you who came back! Where have you been all this time? Do you know how anxious your brothers were?"

  A strong friendship emanated from him, I reddened around the eyes and said: "Let you worry, how's your injury?"

  Feng asked with a smile: "It's nothing. What man doesn't get hurt? This is not a big deal. Hurry up and tell me, how have you been lately?"

  When he asked me that, I felt a pang of guilt in my heart. I couldn't tell him the truth, so I forced myself to repeat the lie I had made up.

  Feng Wu listened and smiled, "So to say, you really are lucky, able to escape from the Beastmen's side. I heard them say that today you single-handedly defeated four strong experts of Feng Xuan, keeping the honor of our Tian Du's First Academy intact. I'm truly proud of you! Look at me, I only won one and ended up like this."

  I smiled and said, "You're already quite good. I just got lucky. It's clear that your skills have improved a lot in the nearly year since I left. If we get the chance, let's exchange blows again."

  "Alright, it's been a long time since we brothers have clashed. When the time comes, I'll see if what they say is true or not. I won't show any mercy!"

  I laughed and said: "Me too, be careful or I'll beat you up so badly that you won't be able to get out of bed." After that, we both burst into loud laughter.

  "Alright, I won't disturb your rest anymore, let's talk again tomorrow, you take good care of yourself."

  Feng asked with a strange smile, "Are you going to accompany your sister Zixue? Zixue is a good girl, don't disappoint her. During the time you were away, Zixue was worried and sad every day, and she lost a lot of weight. Having such a beauty as a confidant is something to be proud of."

  I nodded in deep agreement, just then the sound of knocking on the door came. Feng asked, taken aback for a moment, "Who could it be at this late hour? Please come in."

  The door opened, and a girl wearing a cyan magic robe walked in. It was Cailin from the Western Academy, who had fought against Fengwu that day. Seeing me there, her face turned red as she bowed and said, "Hello, I've come to see Senior Fengwu."

  Seeing her, I was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but smile inwardly and said politely: "Hello, please come in."

  Feng Wen saw Kailin coming over and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes as he said hesitantly: "Miss Kailin, hello."

  Kai Lin smiled and said: "You still look so silly, how's your injury?"

  Feng asked, not as straightforwardly as before, stuttering: "Much better, just a little pain left in the wound." As he spoke, he gave me a look. This guy really has no friendship with the opposite sex, I chuckled and said to Kailin: "Miss Kailin, I'll leave first, you can take another look at his wound later, my magic isn't suitable for treating him. Your main magical elements are the same, maybe using the same elemental force to unblock his meridians will be beneficial for his injury."

  Kai Lin's face turned red as she nodded and said, "I'll take care of him."

  I shot a glance of encouragement at Feng Wen, turned and walked out the door. Kailin was a nice girl, always with a smile on her face, and she and Feng Wen were just right for each other - I really hoped they could end up together.

  Out of Feng Wen's room, leaving the opportunity to themselves, and I, will soon face the most severe test, whether can pass, depends on whether Ziyan, Zixue can forgive me.

  I had only taken two steps when I suddenly felt something moving around my chest. I took it out and found that it was the protective mirror. My heart skipped a beat as I pulled out the mustard seed bag, figuring it could hold objects anyway. I decided to put the mirror in it. I looked at the spell on the bag and thought of the mirror, reciting: "Mustard seed contains all, receive." The mustard seed bag automatically opened, and inside seemed to be a suction force. The protective mirror slowly floated up and gradually shrank before being stored away. Satisfied, I put the mustard seed bag away and headed towards Zixue's room.

  I stood in front of the Zi Xue Gate, hesitating and not daring to push the door open. I really loved them too much, and today's brief encounter made me feel even more unable to leave them behind. Alas, I had to face it eventually, didn't I? Since I had done something wrong, I should be brave enough to take responsibility for it. I gritted my teeth and pushed the door open.

  Ziyan and Zixue were giggling about something, when they saw me coming in, Zixue pulled me over and said: "Quickly, quickly say it, which one of us do you like more."

  I was taken aback and said, "How did you think of asking this?"

  Zi Xue said with a tender voice: "Come on, say it! Sister said you like me a bit more, but I think sister is so beautiful, you should like her a bit more."

  I smiled wryly and said, "Miss, isn't this making things difficult for me? I like you both equally, neither more nor less. What I like is the person, everything about you. In my heart, your status is just as important. Are you satisfied now?"

  "Alright, you barely passed. Now it's your turn to tell us about yourself," said Zixue, pouting her small mouth. She and Ziyuan sat on the bed, pushing me onto the sofa, saying: "Before you've finished telling us everything, you're not allowed to have any physical contact with my sisters. Otherwise...". Zixue scratched her head, unable to think of a way to punish me.

  "Otherwise, we'll just ignore him and let him go out, hehe."

  If it were usual, I might have joked with them for a couple of sentences, but now I don't have any mood for that. Sighing, I said: "This thing will be told to you sooner or later, I don't want to hide anything, hoping you can listen quietly and then think about how to punish me, okay?"

  Seeing my solemn expression, they also put away their smiling faces. Zi Yan said: "What's going on, it's so serious, as long as you're not leaving us and never coming back, just say it boldly. Whatever the difficulty is, we'll all support you. Let's discuss it together."

  I smiled wryly and said: "I'm afraid that once I say it out loud, you'll ask me to leave and never want me back again."

  Zi Xue burst out laughing and said, "Why speak so pitifully? Don't you know our feelings for you? Stop hesitating, this isn't like you. Speak quickly."

  This concerns my lifelong happiness, how can I not hesitate? I nodded and said: "Then I'll start talking. Since parting with Ziyan at the fortress last time, I returned to the Beastman Country. Ziyan, do you still remember what I told you back then? I wanted to help the Beastman Country become stronger, so relying on the knowledge I got from the Dragon God, I advised the Beast Emperor and started reforming the Beastman Country. After a period of time, I successfully made two territories submit to the Beast Emperor."

  Ziyan said: "Submission? Why say that, aren't the beastmen already under the rule of the Beast Emperor?"

  I shook my head and told the situation of the Beastman Country, and how I interacted with Jinsil and Panchon, and how I got their support. “……Just when I was excited about my achievements, 20 brothers under me were ambushed, although they were under me, but after a period of working together, I had already regarded them as my own people, and in the ambush, 19 of these 20 brothers suffered misfortune.”

  Zi Xue let out a cry and said: "They've all been..."

  I nodded and said, "They were all killed by the enemy using cruel means, not even leaving behind a complete corpse. And the ones who killed them are none other than the Fallen Angel troops of the Demon Clan. You don't have to be surprised, I think the Dragon God's side should have already known about the war between the Demon and Beast Clans. My subordinates were killed, which was the fuse that set off this incident. The Demon Clan used such a despicable method because they feared that we Beastmen would become stronger after being transformed. Five Fallen Angels came to our country, assassinating our people. In my anger, I learned from the surviving Lionman guards that this ambush was led by none other than Princess Mòyuè of the Demon Clan, Purple Swallow, you've seen her before, she's the female Fallen Angel who kidnapped you last time."

  Ziyan hummed and said: "So it was her, what happened afterwards?"

  A cold glint flashed in my eyes, "Later, with the help of Panzong big brother and Jinying, we killed four fallen angels. Mo Yue was able to escape because she had taken my Black Dragon back to the Demon Clan early on. But I could never get back the lives of those brothers of mine. It's all my fault for not returning to our agreed meeting point earlier."

  Seeing me in pain, Ziyan comforted: "Don't be like this, everything has already passed, and regret is also useless."

  I nodded and said, "Out of resentment towards the Demon Clan, I immediately rushed back to the Beastman Imperial Capital. With my strong request and Father's support, the Beast Emperor agreed to let me lead an army to take revenge. So, I and Father led the four major legions of Bimon, Kuangshi, Wushe, and Xunlang to secretly attack the Demon Clan's Dundeh Province. In the shortest time possible, we occupied the entire province and repelled the first batch of 200,000 supporting troops from the Demon Clan. Due to the potential threat of the Dragon God, the Demon Clan ultimately had to compromise with us. The commander-in-chief of their second batch of troops, the Guardian of the Magic Emperor, also known as the other four-winged fallen angel Lucifa, decided to negotiate with us."

  Zi Xue said: "Is that all you wanted to say? Didn't everything go smoothly? And what does this have to do with us?"

  I hung my head in anguish and said in a low voice, "What I really want to say to you all, from now on, regret is useless for me. Just the night before the negotiations, after successfully completing the task, I was walking alone in the city to relax, when an unexpected guest arrived, it was the Demon Princess Mo Yue. At that time, seeing her filled my heart with anger, but for the sake of the bigger picture, I didn't make a move and ordered her to leave immediately. But she showed me this." As I spoke, I took out a handkerchief from my pocket that I had carefully treasured.

  "Ziyan exclaimed, 'Isn't this my handkerchief? I only remember losing it after being captured by Mo Yue, how did it end up in her hands.'"

  I smiled wryly: "Even you're not clear, I'm even more unclear. Mo Yue threatened me, saying that you are in her hands and can be harmed at any time. When I heard the news about you, my heart was immediately in a mess, and I didn't think carefully before following Mo Yue out of the city. She flew ahead, and I chased after her until we reached a desolate place with no one around. In order to get news about you, I begged her and threatened her, but she refused to tell me. Finally, she demanded that I remove my arm in exchange for telling me your news. She came looking for me just to avenge the grudge of being severely injured by me back then."

  "Zi Xue exclaimed: "What? She actually let you... You didn't agree to it, did you?"

  I smiled slightly and stretched out my hands, saying: "Don't worry, look at me, I'm fine. Without getting any definite news about Ziyan, how could I possibly harm myself? My patience has been worn down by her, and I finally couldn't help but take action against her. Although she's a fallen angel, compared to me, she's still somewhat inferior. However, she ambushed me with a poisonous needle, nearly killing me on the spot. When she was gloating, I relied on Tian Huangshi's ability to expel poison and slowly forced the needle out. Taking advantage of her momentary carelessness, I finally subdued her."

  Ziyan and Zixue both let out a sigh of relief as I spoke up to this point. I looked at them, then continued speaking to Ziyan: "At that time, I was extremely furious, almost to the point of killing her. But once I thought about the upcoming negotiations, and thought about you still being in her hands, I suppressed my inner fury and forced her to tell me your whereabouts."

  "Then how did she answer you?"

  Having said that, I didn't plan to hide it anymore, so I said: "At the time, she agreed to tell me your whereabouts, but asked me to lift her ban first. I was overjoyed and didn't think much about it, so I agreed. However, as soon as I lifted Mo Yue's ban, she took advantage of my momentary distraction and launched a surprise attack on me. Unprepared, I was injured by her. At that time, I felt like all the blood in my body was boiling. The hatred from when she kidnapped you, killed my brothers, kidnapped you again, and repeatedly ambushed us, all clouded my judgment at once. I...

  Zi Xue's eyes widened as she stared at me, seemingly having guessed something but unwilling to admit it. Her gaze was extremely complex as she trembled and asked, "You killed her?"

  I shook my head in pain and said, "I didn't kill her, but I committed a heinous act that's worse than an animal. I'm sorry to you both, I... I took advantage of Mo Yue... I... I raped her." The last three words were like a thunderbolt that struck Zi Yan and Zi Xue, leaving them completely stunned. Zi Xue's lips trembled, and tears fell down her face without her realizing it. "How could you do this? Are you worthy of me and my sister?" she stammered, before her body swayed and she fainted. I was startled by Zi Xue's fainting spell and rushed to help her, but was pushed away by Zi Yan, who glared at me with tears in her eyes. "Don't touch my sister!" I stumbled backward, frozen in place, staring at the two sisters. Suddenly, I felt a wave of relief wash over me - after all, I had finally spoken the truth. Now, all I could do was wait for their verdict.

  Yan Cong gathered the light elements, and consecutively used several healing spells on Zi Xue. Only then did Zi Xue's complexion gradually become rosy again, but crystal tears still hung on her delicate face. Seeing that her sister was not seriously injured, Yan Cong let out a sigh of relief. She carefully laid Zi Xue down on the bed and covered her with a quilt.

  I remained still, quietly watching her do everything.

  After a while, Ziyan suddenly stood up, her right hand shone brightly and swung fiercely, with a loud slapping sound. Five bright red palm prints appeared on my face. I was slapped by her and stumbled backwards. Just now, Ziyan had used magic, but I didn't have the slightest idea of resisting. A thread of fresh blood flowed out from the corner of my mouth. I stood still, staring blankly at Ziyan's phoenix-like eyes that were as cold as ice.

  Her piercing gaze seemed to penetrate my lungs, staring at me intensely. I casually plucked the ink-colored dagger from behind my back and handed it over with both hands, calmly saying: "It's I who wronged you, kill me if you will."

  Ziyan stretched out her hand to take the Mo Ming from my hand, but how could a weak woman like her lift such a heavy object? Ziyan's body leaned forward and Mo Ming fell to the ground with a loud clang. I instinctively supported her, and Ziyan slapped me on the other side of my face again. I looked at her calmly and said, "Mo Ming is not suitable for you to use, just use light system magic." Ziyan's full chest heaved violently, and her eyes were filled with hatred. She suddenly raised her hand, and a bright light appeared in her hand. After hesitating for a moment, she swung her right hand down, and the light slashed towards me like a whip. When it was halfway through, Ziyan's eyes flashed with a hint of bitterness, and the light deviated slightly, slashing towards my shoulder. At this time, I suddenly thought of something and raised my left hand to block her slash. To avoid hurting her, I didn't use any energy to protect myself. Ziyan's magic had improved significantly, and the sound of bone fracture echoed in the room. Due to my extremely tough skin, although my bones were broken, her slash did not cut off my arm. The huge impact force made me kneel on the ground.

  Severe pain made me break out in a cold sweat on my head. Zi Yan was also stunned, looking at my arm bent at a 90-degree angle, her face turned even paler.

  I gritted my teeth and endured the pain in my arm, saying bitterly: "Sorry, I didn't mean to stop you, I just wanted to say that after I die, please take care of Zixue for me. You're stronger than her, I hope you two can have a good future together. Also, my mother is in the Beastman Country, I won't be able to serve her anymore, so please tell your father that Lingling is at the Ruiqin Wangfu in the Beastman Country and let him figure out how to bring her back himself. I'm no longer capable of helping him. That's all I had to say, you can make your move now."

  After finishing speaking, I struggled to get up, closed my eyes and waited for Ziyan to relieve me.

  After a long time, there was no movement. I opened my eyes again and found that Ziyan's tears had already soaked through the front of her clothes. Her eyes were filled with complex emotions, staring at me steadily.

  I gave her a faint smile and said calmly, "Kill me then, use my life to repay the kindness you've shown me." Death is absolutely a relief for me. Rather than living apart from the one I love, it's better to die without any burdens.

  Ziyan's face turned pale, and she sobbed: "It won't be that easy. Do you think you can just die and settle everything? I want to make you spend the rest of your life paying back my sisters and me."

  I was stunned for a moment and said: "Aren't you going to kill me? I don't dare ask for your forgiveness, do whatever you want."

  Ziyan took a step forward, grasped my injured arm, and the intense pain made me inhale sharply. Sweat dripped to the ground, and my whole body convulsed.

  Ziyan lowered her head, I couldn't see her expression, but found that her tears and my sweat fell together on the ground, slowly merging into one.

  Ziyan gently pushed me and said in a low voice: "Sit down."

  Her words are now imperial decrees to me, I obediently sit down on the sofa, Ziyan releases her hand that was gripping my arm, uses her sleeve to wipe away her tears, and turns around to pick up Mo Ming from the ground.

  Although I didn't understand what she was going to do, my heart is now filled with guilt, and no matter what she does, I won't resist. Unexpectedly, Ziyuan's hands barely lifted up Moming, but instead of hitting me, it was the wooden small cabinet at the head of the bed. Although she didn't have much strength, Moming's weight plus inertia still shattered the cabinet into pieces, with a loud cracking sound, scattering wood chips all over the floor. Ziyuan dropped Moming and squatted on the ground to find two roughly equal-sized wood chips, then walked over and sat down beside me. She didn't say a word, and I didn't dare ask either.

  She grabbed my arm again, I bit my lip to prevent myself from making a sound. Ziyan touched the fracture on my arm, and with a swift motion, she connected the broken bones. Her movements were extremely quick as she swiftly placed wooden splints on both sides and tore strips of cloth from her skirt to tightly secure them in place. So, she was going to treat my injury? Wasn't she mad at me anymore?

  After finishing all this, Ziyan raised her head and looked at me with tearful eyes, saying: "What do you plan to do?"

  I was taken aback and asked: "What's going on?"

  Ziyan wiped away her tears again, her nose red with anger, and said in a low voice: "Of course it's about the person you raped. What do you plan to do about it?"

  I sighed and said, "The mistake has already been made and cannot be undone. If you don't kill me, I want to go to the Demon Clan to find her. My mother's lifelong happiness was ruined by my father's rape of her. I won't let the same thing happen again. Maybe Mo Yue will kill me too. But I won't run away anymore, I have to take responsibility for what I've done."

  Surprisingly, Zi Yan didn't get angry this time. A hint of appreciation flashed in her eyes, "And what about us? If you're killed by her, what will happen to me and my sister?"

  "I exclaimed in surprise: 'You guys? I've done such a despicable thing, what can I ask for? Can only secretly bless you silently in the dark, hoping you have a good ending.' After finishing speaking, I couldn't bear the pain in my heart anymore, and two lines of hot tears flowed down my cheeks."

  Ziyan hummed and said, "It's not that easy, do you think you can just walk away like this? Have you forgotten what I said earlier? I want to make you spend the rest of your life making up for the mistakes you've made. From now on, you absolutely cannot bully me and my sister again, and you have to take care of us for the rest of our lives, not letting us suffer any more harm."

  I was taken aback at first, but then I was overjoyed in my heart and stuttered: "Y-you're saying... you'll forgive me?"

  "Of course it's not that cheap, I said you'll have to spend your whole life paying me back. The slap I gave you just now was just my share, and my sister hasn't even punished you yet."

  Although she said that, I couldn't hide the excitement in my heart and exclaimed: "It doesn't matter, you can punish me as you like, as long as you are willing to be with me. Even if you break all four of my limbs, it's okay. Ziyan, Ziyan, I really can't live without you. Do you know? These days, the pain and guilt in my heart almost drove me crazy. Ziyan, I really love you so much."

  Her eyes were dazed for a moment, and she said, "This is the first time, and it's also the last time. If you make such a serious mistake again, my sister and I will absolutely not forgive you. Do you understand?"

  I nodded vigorously, and with a swoop, I pulled her into my arms. A surge of intense love flooded my heart. Zi Yan closed her eyes, contentedly nuzzling against my chest. I thought to myself, she must have been hoping to fall back into my arms again too. Lowering my head, I carefully and gently kissed her fragrant lips. Zi Yan exclaimed, "Don't!" But she was a step too late, the second half of her sentence was abruptly cut off as I successfully landed a kiss on her tender cherry lips. A powerful burst of light elements with a sacred aura suddenly erupted from Zi Yan's body, accompanied by a loud crash. The sofa was crushed under the massive impact, and Zi Yan bounced up into the air. As for me, I sat amidst the "ruins" of the sofa, another trickle of fresh blood seeping from the corner of my mouth. This collision was many times more intense than before.

  Ziyan hurried over and scolded: "How can you be so careless, have you forgotten? This annoying power is really..."

  Although my whole body ached unbearably, I was exceptionally happy in my heart. The warmth of Ziyan's lips still lingered on mine, and looking at her, I said foolishly: "It doesn't matter, being able to kiss you is worth dying for."

  "Ugh, don't talk nonsense, this is your punishment for speaking on behalf of my sister. Get up quickly." She carefully helped me up and checked my broken arm, fortunately it hadn't fractured again due to the impact. She let out a sigh of relief and had me sit on the edge of the bed, saying in a low voice: "This time, although you did something wrong, the reason was because you were concerned about my safety." Ziyan's face turned red as she continued: "So, I forgive you. Now there are two problems in front of you. First, you must get your sister's forgiveness on your own, I won't help you. Don't look at how gentle your sister usually is, but when it comes to this kind of thing, her reaction is even stronger than mine. Your sister loves you deeply, and as the saying goes 'the deeper the love, the stricter the blame'. You must use your true heart to move her."

  I nodded, having obtained Ziyan's forgiveness. With regards to winning over Zixue, my confidence increased greatly. "I will. What is another question?"

  Ziyan's face turned cold, and she said, "There's one more thing, it's about the demon tribe princess Mo Yue. You have to give her an explanation, even if you're from different tribes. I can understand the pain of being raped, what you said is right, you have to take responsibility for your own actions. So, you must go to the demon tribe as soon as possible, no matter what method you use, you have to make her forgive you too. However, I have a request, you must come back safely. You have to remember that there's me and my sister waiting for you here, if you die, we won't survive either. Do you understand?" As she spoke, Ziyan gently wiped the sweat from my forehead with her sleeve, her movements were very gentle, making me feel comfortable and at ease.

  A warmth rose in my heart as I wrapped her in my arms, quietly savoring the tenderness after liberation.

  After a long time, Zi Yan gently pushed me away and said: "Sister is about to wake up, I'll go back to my own room. How you move her will depend on yourself, if it's really not working out, then come find me."

  I was reluctant to see her leave and hastily said: "Don't go, okay?"

  Ziyan shook her head and said, "I understand my sister's temper very well. If I were there, she would be even less likely to compromise because of her own pride. Use your true heart, do you know?" After finishing speaking, she stood up, lightly pasted the powder on my face, turned around and left.

  Ziyan left, I turned my head to look at Zixue beside me, she slightly furrowed her brow, her body tense, as if even in sleep she couldn't find peace. I carefully combed her long hair, lay down beside her and used my hand to smooth out her brow, softly saying: "Xue'er, it's all my fault, from now on I will definitely love you more, make up for what I've done."

  Zixue seemed to have heard me speak, her body shifted towards me, and I felt a surge of joy, pulling her into my arms. Holding her, I felt extremely satisfied. Zixue seemed to share the same feeling as me, her eyebrows relaxed, she wrapped her arms around me, buried her head in my chest, and her breathing became more even, her body gradually relaxing, sinking into a deep sleep.

  A day of hard work, combined with the recent injury, in this warm environment, my eyes gradually became blurry, and my consciousness gradually became fuzzy. Unbeknownst to me, I also snuggled into the blankets, embracing Zixue and finding a comfortable position, falling fast asleep.

  ……

  Early in the morning, I woke up first, and Zixue was like a lovely little cat, tightly snuggled up against me. My heart was filled with deep tenderness. If every morning when I wake up, I could see Ziyuan and Zixue, it would be such a wonderful thing. So I just looked at Zixue, admiring her captivating sleeping posture.

  Zixue's long eyelashes fluttered, and her big eyes slowly opened. Due to just waking up, her gaze was still a bit dazed. Gradually, she noticed that she was in a warm embrace, looked at me once, and then contentedly leaned against me again, closing her eyes, seemingly wanting to sleep some more. Yesterday's blow to her was too great, so letting her sleep a bit longer was also good. I hugged her tightly, thinking of giving her a bit more warmth. Just as I did, Zixue's eyes suddenly snapped open, and the daze disappeared, replaced by clarity. Her eyes were wide with wonder, staring blankly at me.