Chapter 56: Brothers at Odds, Ling Family's Grudges!

  "What?!", Xiang Xiao's face was filled with surprise, he knew that although Meteor City wasn't a major commercial hub like Lanyue City, under the Ling family's generations of rule its economy had flourished quite well. And the current city lord, Ling Yun, was said to be a man of great strategy. Could this tattered and dying person in front of him really be the same Ling Yun who had fought against Lanyue City for decades?

  He Lianuo, however, seemed to have guessed all this beforehand. As soon as he entered the hall, he discovered that although Lingyun's clothes were tattered and his spirit was weak, the intact parts of his long shirt with patches could still be seen to be made of expensive fabric. More importantly, his gestures still subtly revealed a kind of aura unique to those in high positions, an aura that cannot be faked. Moreover, this was the City Lord's Manor of Xingxing City, and someone with such an aura must be the City Lord. It was just that the old man before him must have suffered some extremely great misfortune, for his eyes were already filled with despair.

  Lingyun lightly brushed off the dust that had fallen on his collar, and smiled faintly: "How is it? Don't you think my current appearance is more like a street urchin than the lord of this city? Haha, don't just say it's you guys, even I myself have long stopped thinking of myself as the lord! Lingyun's words were laced with a hint of desolation that was palpable to all.

  He Lianuo suddenly seemed to have thought of something, looked up and asked: "Lingyun City Master, have you ever heard of the name Ling Xiao? The young man dares to ask, is there any relationship between him and you?"

  "Ling Xiao? Haha, Ling Xiao?" For some reason, when he heard the name "Ling Xiao", Ling Yun's face suddenly turned iron-green, and his beard trembled violently. "Not just heard of it, I'm very familiar with this name! Very familiar!!" The last sentence was said with a tone of gritted teeth, obviously, there must be some kind of entanglement between Ling Xiao and Ling Yun, and it's the kind that won't die down.

  Lingyun tightly closed his eyes, barely suppressing the turbulent emotions in his heart. After a long while, his tone finally became slightly calmer: "Lingxiao, he...he is my own younger brother!"

  "What?!", Hélène and Xiang Xiao exclaimed in unison, biological brothers?! The old man who was about to die in front of them was actually the biological brother of that elegant and handsome young man?! This was really too hard to believe, there was no intersection between these two people at all!

  Lingyun glanced at He Lianuo and Sang Xiao, who were both shocked, and smiled wryly: "Are you thinking that I, a dying old man, could be the brother of that handsome and elegant young master? Haha, not just you two, even I myself have almost forgotten that I have such an outstanding younger brother!"

  "My good big brother, it seems that you still hold a grudge against your little brother!", suddenly, a magnetic voice came from outside the hall, this voice sounded so familiar, Xiang turned his head to look, and indeed, standing at the door was the elegant and refined handsome man Ling Xiao!

  "Ah... Ah...", Seeing Ling Xiao suddenly appear in front of him, Ling Yun could no longer hold back the anger in his heart, a mouthful of hot blood spurted out from his mouth with a "plop", and in an instant, his already extremely unsightly face looked even more ashen.

  Khaleno couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and for some reason, the hatred in the old man's eyes touched him deeply. Seeing Lingyun spit blood and slump into the chair, Khaleno hastily ran forward and took out a Soul Origin Sacred Fruit from space, stuffing it into his mouth.

  The hall outside, Ling Xiao stepped in one step at a time, watching He Lian Nu treat Ling Yun's illness without stopping him, but only smiled slightly and said: "Big brother, you must take care of your body, the entire Meteorite City is relying on you as the city master to manage it, haha!"

  Khalinuo clearly felt the weight of Lingyun in his arms, and after hearing Lingxiao's words, he was shocked again. He hastily condensed some warm soul power in his palm and slowly transferred it into Lingyun's body.

  After a while, Lingyun finally calmed down, but his entire being was even more sluggish than before. He looked gratefully at Helianuo who was supporting him, then raised his head to look at Lingyun standing in the center of the hall, and asked in a low voice after coughing softly: "Lingyun, it's been many years since you last came to my castle. What brings you here this time? Could it be that you've come specifically for these two children?"

  "Not bad, big brother is indeed not old and muddled. I came this time for the sake of these two children. They are from the direction of Lan Yue City, and yesterday they told me that they would give a gift to Xing Chen City that would make all the people in the city accept them. I was curious, so I sent someone to follow them. Who knew they would come to your city lord's mansion today? So, I followed them here to take a look!" Ling Xiao had an expression of not caring at all, as if he was talking about something trivial."

  "What? You sent someone to follow us?" The hot-tempered Helian Nuo heard Ling Xiao's words and couldn't help but feel furious, raising his hand as if he was about to attack.

  "Wait, young friend, in this Falling Star City, no one can rival him, don't act rashly!" Just as Helianuo was about to attack Ling Xiao, Lingyun, who had been sitting in the chair all along, suddenly stretched out his arm and pulled him back. Seeing Helianuo calm down for the time being, Lingyun turned his head to face Ling Xiao and said: "I'm afraid it's not just that, over these past ten or so years, apart from that one thing, I think nothing else can stir your interest. Are you thinking of taking advantage of this opportunity to overthrow me, this nominal city lord, and become a true city lord yourself?"

  At the same time that a major change was happening in Lanyue City, the situation in Yunxing City was not as calm as it seemed on the surface. The city master, Lingyun, had been attacked by an assassin over a decade ago and although he had managed to survive, the poison on the assassin's dagger had still caused him to lose both legs, forcing him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. After the incident, there were rumors circulating within Yunxing City that the assassin who had attempted to kill Lingyun was actually someone hired by Lingyao, who had been trying to take over as city master, but this was just a rumor and did not have any impact on Lingyao. During the time when Lingyun was recovering from his injuries, Lingyao began to expand his own power and influence, while also actively suppressing the Lingyun faction. By the time Lingyun had recovered and returned, Yunxing City was completely under Lingyao's control.

  Originally, Ling Xiao intended to eliminate Ling Yun to eliminate future troubles, but unfortunately, Ling Yun's prestige among the people of Xingxing City was too high. Ling Xiao feared that killing him would lead to large-scale resistance, so he could only preserve Ling Yun's position as city master in name, but secretly slaughtered Ling Yun's wife and children and old subordinates. From then on, Ling Yun became a truly lonely person, no longer posing a threat to Ling Xiao.

  Ling Xiao and Ling Yun, although they were biological brothers, had an extremely thin emotional connection. This was all due to the traditional intra-clan competitive mechanism of the Ling family. From birth, every child in the Ling family would be instilled with a competitive mindset by their parents. All descendants of the Ling family had to rely on competition to achieve everything from a young age. Ling Yun and Ling Xiao were no exception. Ling Yun was born intelligent and excelled at everything he did, growing up under the praise and rewards of his elders. In contrast, Ling Xiao was clumsy as a child and suffered the cold shoulder and neglect of his clan members. As a result, Ling Xiao had always harbored deep jealousy towards Ling Yun. When Ling Yun fell into his hands, he naturally endured immense suffering. To inflict mental and physical torment on Ling Yun, Ling Xiao would send people to report even the smallest matters in Xingxing City. With an extremely strong sense of self-respect, Ling Yun heard about the changes in Xingxing City every day but had no right to make decisions, his frustration was palpable. After several years, although Ling Yun was only in his early forties, he looked like a dying old man.

  At this moment, Ling Xiao was spoken out by Ling Yun what he thought in his heart, and proudly patted his palm, saying: "Clever, clever! My thoughts seem to be always seen through by my big brother! Not bad, over the years, although everyone has already recognized me as the de facto king of this fallen star city, you are still half-dead and stuck in the city master's seat. Previously, I was still concerned about your prestige among the people, but now, hum, more than a decade has passed, who still remembers the name Ling Yun that has been sealed for so long? It's time to hand over the treasure of the city master, my big brother!

  Lingyun's expression was extremely calm, as if he had expected all of this. He didn't bother with Lingxiao, who was excited to the point of madness, but instead turned his head to say to Helianuo: "I heard you're here specifically to find the master of Meteorite City. Sorry, but I'm afraid this famous-but-actually-useless city master is going to disappoint you. The true king of Meteorite City... is him!" Lingyun raised his thin and bony right hand, pointing from afar at Lingxiao.

  He Lianuo hadn't responded yet, but Sang Xiao had already reacted and quickly took off the package from his back and placed it on a red wooden table. He said loudly, "I can frankly say that our purpose for coming here is to temporarily settle down in this fallen star city and gain the recognition of its people. No matter who is the master of the city, this will serve as a meeting gift from my brother and me. I think you will definitely be satisfied!" After finishing speaking, he suddenly opened the package, revealing a bloody head that shocked everyone present.

  "This... this... is Tuoba Tao's head?!", Ling Xiang, who had been standing leisurely in the center of the hall with his hands behind his back, lost all composure upon seeing the head and darted over to it like lightning. He didn't even notice the bloodstains on the head as he grasped it with both hands and brought it up close for a careful examination.

  After a long time, Ling Xiao slowly and solemnly placed the head on the table, turned his head to face Ling Yun who was stretching his neck and looking around desperately, and said loudly: "Big brother! It's really Ta Ba Tao's head! The head of our sworn enemy, Lan Yue City Lord! ", for some reason, Ling Xiao's call of "big brother" sounded extremely sincere, without any pretence or hypocrisy as before.

  "Tuoba Tao's head, it really is Tuoba Tao's head...", Lingyun muttered repeatedly, her whole person seemed to have lost her soul, only mechanically repeating this sentence.