Chapter 1312: Revenge

When people hear "Forbidden Land," they instinctively imagine a dark, dangerous place filled with death. Yet, this Samsara Forbidden Land is a beautiful wonderland beyond the wildest dreams of even those with tens of thousands of years of life.

Every plant and flower here possesses extraordinary vitality and spiritual energy. The Wood Spirit girl sat quietly among the vibrant, multicolored flowers, her beautiful eyes gazing blankly into the distance. She would sit for an entire day, sometimes not even reacting to Shen Xi's gentle calls.

This had been the case every day recently.

After hearing the cruel truth from Yun Che that day, her heart and soul seemed to have fallen into a bottomless abyss, from which she could not escape.

Yun Che walked to the Wood Spirit girl's side, but she remained unresponsive. A gentle breeze swept by, yet the surrounding flowers and plants all leaned towards the Wood Spirit girl, gently comforting her tattered heart.

Yun Che sat down decisively in front of her, almost pressed against He Ling's side.

The physical contact finally elicited a reaction from He Ling; her blank gaze subconsciously turned. Yun Che, however, looked at the distant place she had been staring at blankly. He didn't offer words of comfort, but instead suddenly sighed with emotion, "This world is truly amazing, that someone like Senior Shen Xi can exist. Every time I see her, I feel as if I'm facing a heavenly fairy."

Yun Che's arrival and words finally brought He Ling back to her senses. She softly said, "Master is indeed a fairy."

Yun Che glanced at her, noticing that as she spoke, her eyes were utterly devoid of luster. Those beautiful eyes, which had been like emerald stars when he first met her, had dimmed to a suffocating degree in just a few days.

"Senior Shen Xi not only saved my life," he asked with a faint smile, "but she also always perceives my worries and proactively offers solutions to ease them... Has Senior Shen Xi always been such a gentle person?"

"Yes," He Ling lightly nodded her head. "Master is not only a fairy, but also the most beautiful, kindest, and gentlest fairy in this world."

"Ah?" Yun Che looked surprised. "You've seen what Senior Shen Xi looks like?"

"Yes," He Ling nodded again, her voice still very soft. "But, you cannot see her."

"Uh? Why?"

"Because..." A faint trace of color finally returned to He Ling's pupils—a hazy, almost intoxicated hue. "If you were to see Master's true face," she said, "then, for you, this world would lose all other colors."

"..." These words left Yun Che utterly stunned.

"For many years, Master has never allowed any man to see her true face," she continued. "Therefore, it has been a very long time since any man was fortunate enough to see Master's appearance. Even if you wanted to, Master would not permit it. If you were truly fortunate enough to see her..." Her words and gaze gradually became hazy. "Perhaps, you wouldn't even be willing to look at me again."

Yun Che shook his head with a laugh. "Haha, how could that be? When He Lin spoke of you to me back then, he said you were the most beautiful older sister in the world. I didn't believe him at the time. Only after meeting you did I realize that such a beautiful girl could actually exist in this world."

He Ling looked at him and smiled ever so faintly. "The older sister who brought you here that day, she's prettier than me."

"Uh, is she?" Yun Che asked, looking innocent.

He Ling's gaze shifted to the distance. "I know, you're trying to comfort me. I'm sorry... for making you and Master worry. I'll be fine. It's just... it's just..."

In front of Yun Che, she tried so hard to compose herself, not wanting him to worry about her. But before she could finish speaking, her body and soul began to tremble violently once more, unable to stop. "I don't understand..." she murmured, "What did our Wood Spirit race ever do wrong... for heaven to treat us like this... What did we do wrong...?"

She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, curling tightly into herself.

"You didn't do anything wrong, never," Yun Che gently comforted her. He knew his words of comfort were utterly hollow.

She rested her forehead on her knees, her voice soft and mournful. "Since childhood, my royal father and mother told me that we Wood Spirits are a race protected by nature," she whispered. "As long as we treat everything with gentleness, compassion, and kindness, fate would eventually favor us."

Recalling his brief stay in the Wood Spirit Secret Realm, he inwardly sighed. "Your Wood Spirit race is the most beautiful and kindest race I have ever seen," he said. "Although you have endured too much injustice and suffering, I firmly believe what your royal father and mother said: that fate will certainly favor you and compensate you doubly in the future."

"Heh..." She shook her head forcefully, her soft gasp like a terribly mournful laugh. "Future? Our Wood Spirit race... where is our future...?"

Yun Che choked.

"My royal father and mother, who told me those words, are already dead..." she continued. "They protected me with their lives... But I failed to protect my people, failed to protect Lin'er..."

"Of the Wood Spirit royal family, only I, the most useless woman, remain... The line is completely broken... There is no future left... All my loved ones, my most important kin... they are all dead..."

"Future... future..."

Her soft murmurs were like daggers to the heart.

Yun Che's brows furrowed deeply. He suddenly realized that he had completely underestimated He Ling's state; it was far worse than he had imagined.

The royal bloodline was severed, and all her loved ones were gone. Only she remained, desolate and alone, still carrying the guilt and self-blame for Lin'er's death and the severed bloodline.

The beliefs she had always held throughout her life had led to the most tragic outcome; the hope she had always believed in and yearned for had completely transformed into the darkest despair.

Fate was truly too unfair to the Wood Spirit race.

After a long time, he couldn't think of any suitable words of comfort. He patted He Ling's shoulder and said with a faint smile, "He Ling, at least, the Wood Spirit royal family has not truly been extinguished. You are the last descendant of the Wood Spirit royal family. Even though you are a girl, your future children will still carry the blood of the Wood Spirit royal family within them. Therefore, you must live well, live as the last hope of the Wood Spirit royal family, and then lead your entire race, waiting for the day fate favors you."

"Fate... favors..." she whispered softly. "I no longer... believe in it..."

Yun Che: "..."

She lifted her head from her knees. There was no mist of tears in her eyes, only the persistent gloom that had never dispersed. She looked at Yun Che for a long while, her gaze hazy as she softly murmured, "Can you... call me older sister?"

Yun Che looked steadily back at her but shook his head. "I am not He Lin. He is already dead."

He Ling closed her eyes, saying painfully, "Are you unwilling to even grant me a little illusion?"

Yun Che's gaze was gentle, subtly profound. "Perhaps you won't believe it," he said, "but once, like you, I also lost everything... including all hope. Therefore, I can understand how you feel right now, and I also understand that this kind of illusory reliance only brings brief self-comfort, followed by even more intense pain."

He Ling's gaze shifted away, and she buried her head in her knees once more.

Having a similar past, Yun Che truly understood He Ling's current state of mind. However, as a pure and untainted Wood Spirit and still a young girl, she was naturally far less resilient than he had been back then.

After a long silence, Yun Che spoke again. "He Ling, although I am not He Lin, from now on, I will be like He Lin, your kin."

He Ling: "..."

"I don't know what I can do to help you, but at least, I will never harm you," he continued. "In front of me, you can cry as much as you need. Anything you want to say, you can tell me everything."

He Ling was undoubtedly in her worst state at this moment. He hoped his words could break down her emotional barriers, allowing her to release and vent everything pent up in her heart—even if just a little.

But He Ling still didn't react.

Yun Che pondered for a long time. Just as he was about to say something more, He Ling suddenly spoke softly. She used a very faint, calm tone to utter four words Yun Che had absolutely never expected:

"I want revenge."

Yun Che's brows furrowed sharply, his heart filling with intense surprise and disbelief.

Losing all loved ones, with the entire race scattered to such a degree, developing a mad desire for revenge would normally be a very natural thing.

But she was He Ling... she was a Wood Spirit! Wood Spirits possess pure life energy and are extremely close to nature. Their bodies, minds, and souls are pure to the extreme; they intensely repel all evil and would absolutely never stain themselves with blood or slaughter.

They wouldn't even willingly step on and break the most ordinary flower or plant.

They were the beings least likely, or rather, should be the least likely, to ever harbor thoughts of "revenge"!

Back then, when He Lin knelt before him, crying and begging to become his disciple, he only asked for "protection for his people" and to "find his sister." There was absolutely no thought of revenge in his mind.

But He Ling had clearly uttered "I want revenge," and she had said it so calmly.

That calmness implied that this thought wasn't a sudden flash, but had already begun to take root over the past few days.

As Yun Che was stunned, He Ling slowly raised her head to look at him. The gray hue in her eyes became even deeper; her beautiful, originally emerald eyes now showed a grayish-green color that perhaps no Wood Spirit had ever seen. "Did Lin'er and the others tell you who killed my royal father and mother back then, and drove our entire race to despair...?" she asked.

"..." Yun Che shook his head. "I don't know."

Yun Che's momentary hesitation caused He Ling's gaze to tremble violently. She immediately reached out and grabbed Yun Che's arm. "You know, don't you? Tell me... tell me... who was it?!"

Yun Che shook his head again. "I really don't know. They had no reason to tell an outsider like me about this."

Back then, in the Wood Spirit Secret Realm, Qing Mu, who had given him the Wood Spirit Orb, told him that the ones who killed He Lin and He Ling's parents and drove their entire race to true despair... were from the Brahma Monarch God Realm!

A name against which she could never truly seek revenge.

He absolutely could not tell this truth to He Ling in her current state, because it was simply too cruel; it would only make her even more desperate on top of her despair.

"No, you must know, you must know." It was unclear if she truly believed Yun Che knew or if she was desperately clinging to her last straw of hope. "Tell me, please tell me, please..."

"He Ling!" Yun Che gripped He Ling's shoulders in return, his brows furrowed as he said, "Listen to me..."

"Tell her. She has the right to know," a voice as light as a floating cloud suddenly came from behind Yun Che.

Shen Xi stood quietly not far from them. Yun Che hadn't noticed when she arrived. Perhaps she had heard everything he and He Ling had said.

"Master," He Ling murmured softly. Even in Shen Xi's presence, she still seemed utterly lost.

Though intensely resistant in his heart, Shen Xi's gentle words carried an irresistible magic. Yun Che took a shallow breath and said, "In the place where He Lin and the others took shelter, Senior Qing Mu told me that the ones who pursued your people back then... were from the Brahma Monarch God Realm."

Shen Xi: "..."

"..." He Ling's lips parted, and she froze. No matter how naive she was about worldly affairs, she couldn't possibly be unaware of what the "Brahma Monarch God Realm" represented.

It was the foremost of the Four King Realms in the Eastern Divine Region, and its comprehensive strength was enough to rank among the top three of all King Realms in the entire God Realm.

"But apart from that, Senior Qing Mu didn't say who specifically from the Brahma Monarch God Realm it was," Yun Che sighed. "Although I don't quite understand why Senior Qing Mu would be willing to tell an outsider like me this, I believe he wasn't lying."

"Brah...ma... Monarch... God... Realm..." He Ling whispered, then closed her eyes, trembling all over.

With his body almost pressed against He Ling's, Yun Che could clearly feel her heart and soul rapidly sinking, plummeting into a bottomless abyss of despair.

"He Ling!" Yun Che's heart tightened. He already regretted revealing this truth.

"Ling'er," Shen Xi's gentle voice drifted over. "If you wish for revenge, there is one person who can help you... In this world, only he can help you."

He Ling's dim beautiful eyes suddenly snapped open. Yun Che also froze abruptly, blurting out, "Who?"

In this world, who would have the courage and power to seek revenge against the Brahma Monarch God Realm?

And who would help a Wood Spirit seek revenge against an entity like the Brahma Monarch God Realm?

What was even more incomprehensible was why Shen Xi, like an exiled immortal from another realm who never touched the mundane world, would say such words to He Ling... it clearly seemed like she was encouraging and guiding He Ling toward revenge?