Chapter Fifty-two: The Flower of Light

  Lei Ga pushed open a narrow gap in the iron gate and entered Xu Lingtian's residence silently.

  The courtyard is quiet and still, and the three rooms are even more invisible in the light.

  The house on the left is the alchemy lab, where Rega receives new tasks from Xu Lingtian every time, so there's no need to investigate further. The house on the right should be a storage room, where strong recovery potions and weakening potions were taken out, also not worth investigating.

  Only the house in the middle is the most mysterious, and Xu Lingtian tries to cover up something every time he enters or exits.

  Lei Ga slowed down his pace, held his breath, and walked to the middle room. He gently lifted the black curtain, and the blue magical candlelight inside was immediately projected out.

  He subconsciously drew back his foot and didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, so he quickly flashed inside.

  The blue magic candle flickered slightly, as if silently protesting this uninvited guest.

  By the candlelight, Lei Ga quickly scanned around, but did not find any trace of Xu Lingtian.

  The room is normal, just like an ordinary home. Wall decorations, tables and chairs, beds, everything that a family should have, are all here, everything is neat and tidy, in stark contrast to the cluttered alchemy laboratory on the left.

  For a moment, Lei Jia furrowed his brow and stood still, thinking he had walked into the wrong room. This place didn't look like a secret hideout of Xu Lingtian at all; it seemed to be just a memory of him and Yin Lisha's past.

  But will it really be that simple?

  Lei Ga walked over to the bedside and reached out to touch the cold quilt.

  No one has slept in it. But the bedding is clean and tidy, spotless, looking like it's been washed and arranged regularly.

  He turned around and walked to the table and chairs, stretched out his hand to touch the surface of the table, and similarly couldn't feel any dust.

  Is this really just a memory? Is Xu Lingtian so tense just because he doesn't want dust to fall on his happy memories?

  Lei Ga decided to leave the room first, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble. He walked to the door and was about to lift the black curtain when he suddenly stopped, his calm face becoming exceptionally solemn.

  He paused for only half a second, then turned and walked to the bedside, turned back, repeated this once more, and finally stopped on a loose floorboard.

  He tapped his foot lightly on the stone floor, which gave out a hollow muffled sound. He tried it again on several other flags, each of which gave out a different sound.

  So that's how it is!

  Lei Ga smiled coldly, bent down, found the gap in the loose floorboard, and lifted it up with force. A pungent smell immediately gushed out from the dark cave under the floor.

  Lei Ga held his breath quickly, but the stench still forced him to retreat several steps. He didn't have time to think much, and with a swift motion, he grabbed the magic candle on the table and jumped directly into the dark cave.

  The cave was dark and damp, the body of the cave was uneven and rough, obviously not excavated by a real craftsman. Leiga suspected that this must have been dug by Xu Lingtian himself, and the other end of the cave might be Yín Lìshā's tomb.

  But soon he realized his idea was utterly wrong...

  The end of the cave was a space as large as three rooms, with platforms of various sizes piled high with unknown medicines, pipes - and corpses emitting a foul odor.

  Lei Ga covered his mouth and nose, one by one passing in front of these corpses. These corpses were almost none intact, some missing heads, some missing arms and legs, some missing internal organs...

  The corpses were all stiff and pale white, as if they had been dead for a long time, but something seemed to have slowed down the decay process, allowing them to retain their original ferocious appearance.

  Lei Ga continued to move forward, searching for Xu Ling Tian's trail, but the next scene made him almost vomit. He saw human corpses sewn onto other animal corpses, with half a person sewn onto a horse's body, and two legs sewn onto a fish's body...

  Filthy beyond description!

  Lei's face turned iron-green, his intestines churning in his abdomen. A strong sense of anger caused him to involuntarily draw out the black giant sword, condense his fighting spirit, and strike the ground with all his might. The entire cave immediately began to shake, small rocks falling from the walls, but the cave itself did not collapse.

  Lega raised the black giant sword again, but heard a sorrowful sigh coming from the dark place behind him.

  "That's enough, let's stop here."

  Xu Lingtian walked out of the shadows, his originally pale face looking even more sickly under the faint glow of the magic candles. "I have to admit, you're the smartest and most talented person I've ever met in my life. You were able to bring back the alchemy toolbox so quickly and even find my secret cave. However, if you continue to dig like this, you'll probably end up burying yourself here too."

  Lei Ga realized that he shouldn't have been so impulsive, and slowly put down the black giant sword, panting heavily as he stared at Xu Ling Tian, trying to calm his wildly racing heart.

  "Why? Why do such dirty things?"

  "Dirty?"

  Xu Lingtian smiled cruelly, "That's because you're too young and don't understand this world. Take alchemy for example, the first alchemist in history was a murderous tyrant who poisoned his own family and friends to test his medicinal theories, killing tens of thousands of innocent people before perfecting the technique that would benefit humanity. For over 3,000 years, countless humans have been cured and saved by alchemy, so what's the significance of those tens of thousands of deaths? Not to mention anything else, the high-potency recovery medicine you drink was verified through the deaths of those tens of thousands of people. You say I'm despicable, but I'd like to ask you, in this dirty world, who can remain pure and untouched?"

  "So you just go with the flow and use even dirtier means to prove that you're still alive in this world?"

  Lei Ga raised his voice in inquiry and couldn't help but raise the black giant sword again.

  "Put down your sword."

  Xu Ling Tian sighed, "I'm just a mediocre alchemist, you don't need that clumsy sword to kill me. To be honest, Leiga, I admire you, if it weren't for fate, I would definitely help you pay off the debt to Xie Pu and pass on all my knowledge of alchemy to you. With your intelligence, you will become the youngest and most talented alchemy legend in the history of the Four Kings Continent."

  "I don't care."

  Lei Ga's face turned cold and arrogant, "Moreover, what I owe Boss Xie is not something that can be repaid with just money."

  Xu Lingtian nodded gloomily, "You're a sentimental person, and so am I. Unfortunately, we met on the same road, but ultimately have to head in different directions. Your path is boundless radiance, while I'm destined to walk into the grave."

  Lei Ga suddenly understood the meaning of Xu Lingtian's last sentence, "You're going to walk into Yín Lìshā's tomb and revive her again, right?"

  "No, I'm just saying I'll be dead soon..."

  Xu Lingtian's voice trembled, not with fear, but with excitement. The corners of his mouth slightly curled up, and his gray eyes sparkled. "Come on, let's end this tedious task. You hand over the alchemy toolbox to me, and I'll give you the Moon Demon Grass. We can then head in our respective directions."

  Lei Ga took out an alchemy toolbox from behind him, but didn't hand it over to Xu Lingtian in a hurry. "Moon Demon Grass."

  Xu Lingtian smiled faintly and pulled out a transparent container from his wide sleeves, inside which was a plant with black petals that emitted a natural glow at its center, looking like a bright moon in the dark night from afar.

  "The Sisters of the Sacred Light deliberately use the name 'Moon Devil Grass' to mislead people, making them think it's a grass, but in fact it's a flower, a flower that blooms with light in the darkness. Do you know? There is too much falsehood in the daylight, only the light of night is true."

  Xu Lingtian gazed lovingly at the Moon Demon Grass in his hand, as if looking at his own child. "This world has too many lies and too many hidden truths. Darkness is not darkness, light is not light. I hope that when you have the ability to understand them, you will still remember my words of advice."

  He handed out the Moon Demon Grass in his hand, "One hand exchanges for the Moon Demon Grass..."

  "One-handedly handed over the toolbox." Lei Ga replied, and immediately passed the alchemy toolbox to Xu Lingtian.

  "Then... let go at the same time."

  Xu Lingtian felt Leiga relax his alchemy toolbox and also loosen the Moon Demon Grass.

  Lei Ga received the Moon Demon Grass and quickly put it in his bag. A pair of cold black pupils stared tightly at Xu Ling Tian.

  Xu Lingtian opened his alchemy toolbox, and his gray pupils suddenly contracted. "My...my things?!"

  He frantically rummaged through the toolbox, finally slamming it heavily to the ground. His pale face revealed a hideous purple vein, "Rega! Return everything in the box to me!"

  Lei Ga's mouth curled up in a sly smile, "You only said you wanted the alchemy toolbox, didn't mention there was something else inside."

  "You..."

  Xu Lingtian's whole body trembled, "You don't understand, you fundamentally don't understand what you're taking away! If you're not careful, you'll destroy the entire Four Kings Continent!"

  "I know."

  Lei Ga said faintly, "I took away the medicine that revived Elisa. Give up, alchemist, your love has surpassed the laws of nature, you've already had one tragedy, don't you realize it yet? Do you still want to see Elisa being nailed into a coffin again as an evil thing?"

  "Don't... don't mention it..."

  Xu Lingtian painfully collapsed to the ground, "I just want to save my wife, I don't care what she becomes, I don't care..."

  "Give up, alchemist."

  Lei Ga held the black giant sword and walked to Xu Ling Tian's side, "This is my last warning. Give up, if you still don't come to your senses, I will cut off your head."

  "No, I won't give up..."

  Xu Lingtian lifted his tear-stained face, and his originally weak tone suddenly became as ruthless as a winter night: "I not only want to revive my wife, but I also want to take revenge on the entire Dusk Village, let them pay the price they deserve for hurting Yulin Lisha!"

  Lei Ga shook his head in disappointment and slowly raised his black giant sword. "Alchemist, you still have one chance to plead your case."

  "What's your excuse?"

  Xu Lingtian's mouth twisted into a sinister arc, "I only have one reason to live: everyone who hurts my wife deserves to die!"

  "No defense..."

  The black giant sword had yet to fall when a strong dizzying sensation suddenly knocked Rega to the ground!