Against the Gods

Chapter 2068: Qingying Stabs The Heart

Yun Che had just left the sword pavilion when Hua Caili ran up to him. She grabbed his arms and looked him over thoroughly, asking, “Big brother Yun, are you… alright?”

“Of course I’m fine.” Yun Che responded with an easy smile. “It is as you said. Your father is a very gentle man. He didn’t try to force me to do anything, and he even controlled his pressure when he spoke to me.”

Hua Caili bit her bottom lip and said softly, “To tell you the truth… I heard your conversation. All of it.”

“Can you go back with Lianzhi, big brother Yun? I would like to speak with Father about… things.”

As if she had made up her mind, she looked behind him and yelled, “Lianzhi, can you please take big brother Yun back to my sword pavilion?”

Hua Lianzhi flew over and responded affirmatively. Then, she stood in front of Yun Che and said, “This way, young master Yun.”

Yun Che reminded her, “Don’t butt heads with your Father, Caili. Everything he did and chose was for your sake.”

“I understand.”

After seeing Yun Che and Hua Lianzhi off, Hua Caili hurried into the Yixin Sword Pavilion.

Hua Caili slowly walked closer to Hua Fuchen. “Father, I…”

“How long have the two of you been together?” Hua Fuchen asked.

Hua Caili answered directly, “Four months. We have been together this whole time.”

“Four months.” Hua Fuchen sounded sorrowful. “Do you know how long it takes to truly understand a person? Forget four months, four years, four hundred years… even a lifetime may still not be enough to truly understand a person.”

“To say your understanding of him is shallow would be an understatement. Forget a background or origin, even the so-called ‘master’ who saved his life only exists in his words. No one knows if he is real or not, and there is no way to confirm it.”

“I understand what you’re saying, Father,” Hua Caili said seriously. “But I believe him. I’m willing to believe everything big brother Yun says.”

Hua Fuchen’s voice grew a tad heavier. “The word ‘believe’ must never be easily granted to anyone. You may be less than twenty years old, but every man you’ve ever interacted with has been either a Divine Son or an imperial prince. They are all among the pinnacle of this world. What on earth is with that boy that you will go so far for him?”

Hua Caili did not answer him directly. Instead, she copied Yun Che’s way of speech and countered, “What do you think big brother Yun is aiming for then? To go so far as to risk his life to protect me?”

Hua Fuchen: “...”

“We were facing the Ancestral Qilin God, an existence not even Aunt could beat. From big brother Yun’s perspective, it wasn’t danger he was facing, it was death that he may not survive even if he had ten thousand lives. He did not need to risk his life to save me, but he did so anyway with his body and strength… you couldn’t have imagined the price he had to pay; the wounds he suffered for me, Father.”

She wasn’t exaggerating. For a level three Divine Master to charge toward the Ancestral Qilin God instead of running away… a million lives would not have been enough. This was one point Hua Fuchen could not deny no matter what. He could not deny the fact that Yun Che had risked his life to save Hua Caili.

Hua Fuchen’s voice softened, “I am grateful toward him. Very much so. It is why I’m willing to afford him so much patience despite all my frustration and anger. But there are countless ways to repay a favor, and—”

“It has nothing to do with favor!” Hua Caili interrupted him. “I just want… really want… to be together with big brother Yun. I cannot imagine having anyone else in this life.”

Hua Fuchen lowered his gaze. “You are still young. You are at the point of your life where your passion burns the brightest. But you must know that you have a long, long life ahead of you, and your love will occupy just a very, very small percentage of that life. You may not even remember you once possessed such a love when the time comes. You think your love may burn forever bright, but it is far more likely that it will run out in several decades at most. To change your whole life for a moment of love… you will come to regret this decision.”

“You’re lying.” Hua Caili stared directly into her Father’s eyes. “If what you say is true, then why do you still look at Mother’s portrait to this day? Why have you never set foot in your harem after I awakened my divine essence?”

Hua Fuchen’s lips quivered. It wasn’t until a long time later that he finally squeezed out, “It is precisely because of what happened to your mother and I… that I cannot tolerate you being swept up into the same uncontrollable tides, you understand?”

Hua Caili’s eyes rippled with sorrow. “So, you will not cancel my engagement with Dian Jiuzhi… even though you are aware of our determination?”

The sorrow in Hua Caili’s eyes pierced his heart like a knife, but he couldn’t back down. “You’re too young, Caili. You haven’t even understood human nature yet, much less the full truth of the Pure Land and the Kingdoms of God. Your engagement with Dian Jiuzhi has never been just an engagement. It involves things that are far beyond your current understanding. If you force yourself to be with Yun Che, if your relationship is exposed to the world, the two of you will face consequences and obstacles far, far beyond your imagination.”

Father never lied to her, so she knew he was telling the truth. Still, she did not feel any fear. “Back then, you could go so far as to abandon your title as ‘Divine Son’ for Mother. If my status is what confounds you so, Father, then I am willing to make the same sacrifice.”

“Foolish girl!” Hua Fuchen rebuked her, though he lightened his tone immediately. “You mustn’t allow headstrongness to overtake good sense, Caili. Even you should’ve figured out how big a chasm exists between a Divine Child and the children of a divine regent. It is not just a matter of status, but also the right to inherit my power and possess the absolute strength to protect yourself.”

To Hua Fuchen, even a Kingdom of God’s inheritance came second to Hua Caili’s safety.

Hua Caili was still shaking her head. “Except I don’t care about any of that. Back then, Aunt chose to abandon her title and pursue her own life. Today, she is greater than anyone.”

“If you will not grant me my wish, then I will head to the Boundless Kingdom of God and request the Boundless Divine Regent himself cancel my engagement!”

She turned around to leave right after she said that.

Bang!

Hua Fuchen slammed the table and shot to his feet, yelling, “You would dare?!”

Hua Caili froze at the sudden loud noise. Hua Fuchen himself was frozen.

After all, he had never raised his voice to Hua Caili… until now.

As if he had suddenly lost all of his strength, Hua Fuchen slowly fell back into his seat. While staring at his daughter’s back, he asked in a distant voice, “If I insist on breaking you up… will you hate me, Caili?”

Hua Caili looked back at him and slowly walked to his side. Then, she knelt beside him and whispered, “I won’t.”

“Even if everyone in the world hates Father, I would never.” Tears filled her eyes, and emotion her words. “The day I was born, Father knelt before the Pure Land for seven days straight and kowtowed until your skull was shattered, and blood covered the floor.”

“I know you bear an unimaginable amount of pain every time you temper my soul for me. Aunt said that it is akin to ripping out your own heart or soul, and that it is pain no human could endure. And yet, you did it twenty times for me… Not only that, each time the procedure was complete, you would smile so brightly despite the pain… all because I was more ‘whole’ than I was before.”

“I know how good you are to me. I know how much you love me above all others. That is why I was willing to listen and obey you in everything you ask of me. I know even more that every decision you make is so I can have the smoothest, stablest future. You don’t want me to be together with big brother Yun because you are afraid that I will repeat your and mother’s mistake…”

“But I am not my mother, and big brother Yun isn’t you. This one time… just this once… please indulge my selfishness, Father… please try and believe in me and big brother Yun…”

Hua Fuchen closed his eyes and breathed heavily for a very long time. Finally, he murmured, “Leave me.”

……

Yun Che was following behind Hua Lianzhi at an even pace. Neither of them said a single word.

“You seem to have failed,” Li Suo’s voice rang inside his soul sea.

Yun Che’s focus was diverted. “Hmm? How so?”

Li Suo answered, “His will hasn’t wavered in the slightest throughout your conversation.”

“You don’t say?” Yun Che raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t actually think Hua Fuchen could be persuaded in one dialogue, did you? You have to know that I am ultimately just an outsider; one he knows nothing about. No matter how silver-tongued I am, there is no way my words could affect his will in any way.”

His gaze contracted a little then. “From the beginning, the only ones who can truly move him are Caili and her aunt.”

“I see.” Li Suo realized something. “No wonder you were behaving so calmly… a little too calmly, I might say.”

Yun Che smirked. “If even you thought I was behaving too calmly, what do you think the Heart Painter Divine Regent is thinking?”

Li Suo: “...”

The corners of Yun Che’s lips curled imperceptibly. “Sometimes, a performance that is too perfect; executed too calmly, too perfect, will induce anxiety instead.”

“What do you mean?” Li Suo did not understand his meaning.

“You’ll find out very soon.” Yun Che replied unconcernedly. “If I was only sixty percent confident before my meeting with the Heart Painter Divine Regent, now I am eighty percent sure…”

“... that he will take that step.”

It was at this moment a woman carrying a terrifying aura of the sword approached them swiftly.

Hua Lianzhi stopped in her tracks and saluted as soon as she sensed the aura. “Lianzhi greets Yaoguang Sword Sovereign.”

The woman nodded and was about to pass by them when suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and asked, “Lianzhi, I heard that Caili has successfully broken through to the Divine Extinction Realm. It is a major breakthrough, so she should be focusing on solidifying her cultivation right now, but the supreme one would not allow me to meet her… do you know why?”

Hua Lianzhi replied immediately, “That’s because Her Highness is currently occupied with other matters. Her cultivation will have to wait until she is finished. Father will call for you and the other Sword Sovereigns when it is time.”

Her answer was less than satisfactory, but Yaoguang Sword Sovereign did not pursue the matter. She simply nodded and disappeared into the distance.

“Er… who’s that senior, Princess Lianzhi?” Yun Che asked in a timely manner.

Hua Lianzhi replied gently, “She is Yaoguang Sword Sovereign, one of the seven Sword Sovereigns of our Kingdom of God.”

“Seven Sword Sovereigns?” Yun Che muttered before apologizing a bit embarrassedly, “Apologies, but I hail from the backwaters far away from here. I know very little about the Kingdoms of God, and Cai… Her Highness did not mention it. Apologies for troubling you with my trivial question.”

“Don’t worry, you’re not.” Hua Lianzhi hid a giggle behind her palm before explaining patiently, “The Seven Sword Sovereigns are the strongest profound practitioners in the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God besides my father and aunt. They are all in the Divine Limit Realm, and they all command a sword region of their own. They are titled Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, Yaoguang. If you stay here long enough, I’m sure you will meet all of them eventually.”

Yun Che nodded. “Thank you for informing me about this, Princess Lianzhi.”

All seven Sword Sovereigns were Divine Limit Realm profound practitioners, not to mention Hua Qingying. This meant that the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God alone had eight Divine Limit Realm profound practitioners; existences directly below the True Gods… how terrifying.

“No need to call me princess. Just address me as Lianzhi just like elder sister, young master Yun.”

She snuck a glance at Yun Che before looking away in a hurry.

……

When Hua Qingying entered the Yixin Sword Pavilion, Hua Fuchen was sitting there with murky, disconcerted eyes.

“So?” Hua Qingying asked.

Hua Fuchen shot her a glance before sighing. “You already heard everything. You should know what my decision is.”

“What do you think of Yun Che?” Hua Qingying asked another question.

“He is a surprising kid.” Hua Fuchen commented, “I have met many Divine Masters who can stand tall in front of me, but none who maintained their composure as well as him. Once, I even tried applying some soul pressure on him. However, he quickly shook it off, not to mention that it barely affected him at all.”

“Is he really just a hundred and twenty years old?”

Hua Caili was beyond innocent, but Yun Che was… he could not help but feel concerned about the gap in their maturity.

Hua Qingying wasn’t surprised, however. “He’s far more extraordinary than you think. Now that I look back, I wasn’t surprised at all that Caili would fall for him.”

Hua Fuchen shot her a long, complicated look. “Qingying, you realize you are siding with that kid with every word you speak?”

“Of course.” Hua Qingying did not even try to deny it.

“Caili is one thing, and that boy knows nothing. But you?” Hua Fuchen shook his head deeply. “What are you thinking, Qingying?”

Hua Qingying slowly walked toward Hua Fuchen and stopped in front of him. Then, she asked him a strange question, “What is Caili to you, brother?”

“?” Hua Fuchen frowned. “Caili… is my daughter, of course.”

Hua Qingying nodded. “That's right. She is your and Wanxin’s daughter, the sole successor of her bloodline, and the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God’s Divine Daughter… you have transferred all the love and regret you hold toward Wanxin to Caili. You have paved every step in her life and carefully guided her around every obstacle and risk she might have encountered. You have even chosen and paved what you believed was the best future for her.”

“However, you seem to have forgotten that Caili… is herself before anything else!”

Hua Fuchen: “...”

Hua Qingying continued, “When you were young, you told me repeatedly that there was nothing you hated more than someone trying to interfere and shape your life. But what about Caili? She has lived her whole life inside the cocoon you weaved for her. Before the trial, you even accompanied her on every trip beyond the Kingdom of God the whole way.”

“In your eyes, you are doing everything you can to protect her life. But in Caili’s eyes, you are keeping her in a gilded cage, are you not?”

Hua Fuchen sighed. “People change over time. Sometimes, they change so much they are unrecognizable from who they were before. You know why I’m doing this. Yes, I was scared. Wanxin suffered the cruelest fate. How can I allow our daughter to suffer even a millionth of that fate? How can I bear to hurt her?”

“Is that so?” Hua Qingying closed her eyes slightly and said softly, “Back in the Endless Fog, after the encounter with the Ancestral Qilin God, I had been wondering the whole time how I should face you or separate them while there was still room to turn back.”

“However, that desire gradually disappeared as I watched them. In fact, I lost my desire to separate them by force just a few days later.”

“You couldn’t have imagined how Caili looked when she was with him, brother. There wasn’t a moment where she wasn’t brimming with happiness. I can almost see her shining with life.”

“So, I ask you this.” She opened her eyes. “As a father who supposedly can’t bear to hurt his daughter even a little, are you sure you want to rip apart Caili’s light and shut her inside the cage you have woven for her with your own two hands?”

Hua Fuchen shuddered visibly.

“Or maybe… you’re not just afraid that Caili would get hurt.” Hua Qingying’s voice slowly grew icy. “Maybe you’re also afraid that the Heaven Breaker Kingdom of God’s reputation would suffer, that your relationship with the Boundless Kingdom of God would suffer, that the Abyssal Monarch would be displeased with this. Am I right?”

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