area51novel Page 120
Page 120
Whether she lives or dies is up to fate!
Don't let their blood stain my place. "Mei, I'm busy, Lin, you're not here..."
"Yes!
"Master!"
The two strong maids responded with a roar, and pounced on them like wolves.
One of them, like a dead dog, was clinging to one of Master Jing'an's legs.
A long trail of blood was left on the ground.
The other one went to Wu Qingying and pushed her out of the backyard.
Wang Meng then embraced Li Qingluo's plump and soft waist.
His face regained that ambitious and triumphant smile, as if he had just dealt with two insignificant insects.
"lady!"
He lowered his head and kissed her cheek, which was full of mature charm, deeply: "Now, all the annoying flies are gone."
"Let us continue to appreciate our future...land."
Chapter 53: The Alluring Voyeur!
It has been almost half a month since the fire in Canhezhuang.
The grain supplies for Jiaxing are almost complete.
Several urgent letters also arrived from Xiangyang City, urging them to expedite the process.
The food there will only last for a little over a month at most before they have to slaughter horses to feed the starving.
The wealthy merchants and chivalrous figures from all over the country who frequented Mantuo Manor have mostly left.
The vast majority of the goods have already been transferred away.
Only a few transactions remain, as there have been some transportation issues with the goods, and the goods have not yet been handed over.
But even so.
Mantuo Villa has finally become completely quiet.
It's night.
Wang Meng, holding Li Qingluo in his arms.
He examined the teardrop-shaped gemstone lying quietly in his palm.
"Linglongxin, why is it called that?"
The teardrop-shaped gemstone lay quietly in his palm.
The candlelight, shining through the crystal-clear gemstone, refracted a rainbow of colors, like a solidified, radiant teardrop.
Compared to the rough, vibrant skin on Wang Meng's palm.
This "exquisite heart" appeared increasingly cold and delicate, as if it did not belong to this mortal world.
He recalled his conversation with Li Canghai not long ago.
"Linglongxin, why is it called that?"
When he asked that question, he wasn't looking at Li Canghai.
They were also intently gazing at the gemstone in their hands.
In the courtyard, for a moment, only the rustling sound of the wind passing through the bamboo forest could be heard.
Li Canghai seemed not to hear his question.
Her slender, jade-like fingers slowly turned a page of the book in her hands.
The yellowed paper made a soft, almost inaudible cracking sound.
After a long while, just when Wang Meng thought she wouldn't answer, her clear, slightly languid voice, like pearls falling onto a plate, slowly drifted out from behind the book.
Her voice was very soft and faint.
Yet it was like the finest feather, precisely scratching the most itchy spot in people's hearts.
“In our own field, a thick and large purple eggplant grows. If you want to call it ‘pillar of heaven,’ it will be called ‘pillar of heaven.’ If you want to call it ‘garlic pounder,’ it will obediently be called ‘garlic pounder.’”
You can't just call it "that craving-satisfying thing" because the neighbor's wife, who's been a widow for ten years, saw it and started drooling with envy, can you?
These words are crude, vulgar, and full of the most primitive and naked carnal flavor of the countryside.
But when Li Canghai said it, there wasn't a trace of lewdness in it.
Instead, it carries a kind of helpless, insightful, and ironic understanding of the world.
"This stone, on its own, cannot speak."
It was buried underground for thousands of years and never thought about what it should be called.
Until one day, someone dug it out of the ground.
That person thought it was beautiful, crystal clear, and that it seemed to have seven orifices hidden inside, so they named it 'Exquisite Heart'.
"From that day on, its name was 'Linglongxin'."
If the first person to dig it up had been a butcher, he might have thought it resembled a translucent pig's heart and called it a 'glass pig's heart'.
If the first person to unearth it were an emperor, he might have felt that this object symbolized his eternal empire and called it 'The Tears of the State.'
"As for who's the first to dig it up, if it's you..."
Li Canghai said this.
Finally, he slowly closed the book in his hands.
She sat up straight, and her loose, sky-blue silk robe slipped down a bit with the movement, revealing her graceful, swan-like neck.
And that patch of even more dazzling, snow-white skin.
She casually placed the ancient book on the stone table beside her.
Then, he fixed his gaze firmly on Wang Meng's face once again.
This time, there was no longer any mockery or languor in her eyes.
What remains is only one kind, an extreme sharpness as deep as an abyss, capable of seeing through people's hearts.
If you were the first to discover it, what would you call it?
She asked softly, "You'll call it 'Heart of the Overlord'?"
Or is it the 'courage to slay dragons'?
Or perhaps you feel that it doesn't deserve any name.
All I will do is crush it in one swift motion.
Because it's blocking your way?
Wang Meng fell silent.
A name is always just a code.
A label bestowed by the victor upon the vanquished.
Li Canghai's voice returned to its usual cool and indifferent tone.
It's as if it's proclaiming an undeniable truth, like the rising and setting of the sun.
"When the Murong family was around, they were called 'Murong of Gusu,' a 'martial arts family,' the 'surviving members of the Great Yan,' and an indispensable force in the martial arts world."
But now, they've become nothing more than a pile of bones destroyed by the Mantuo Manor… a stepping stone on your path to rise, Wang Meng, just another ordinary chest of gold and silver among the treasures in that courtyard.”
There was not a trace of pity in her voice, nor the slightest hint of pleasure.
This is simply stating a fact that has already occurred.
"In a few years, when the rumors in the martial arts world have faded a bit, a new generation of young people will have grown up."
By then, in the stories they hear, the name "Murong of Gusu" will likely only be a vague and easily defeated opponent in the opening chapter of your legend, Wang Meng. People will say, "Have you heard?"
That overlord who appeared out of nowhere, upon arriving in Jiangnan, wiped out that... right, that Murong family overnight!
They might not even remember how to write the characters 'Murong'.
They will only remember that you are the new master of this land!
Li Canghai seemed oblivious to the slightest change in his emotions, and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
Her gaze was distant and ethereal, as if it had pierced through the past few decades and seen into the more distant future.
"What about in another thirty or fifty years?"
By that time, the martial arts world had already changed several times over.
Today, you two are a loving couple.
Tomorrow, perhaps, only bones will remain.
Today's irreconcilable enemies.
perhaps.
Their descendants have long since become close friends, sharing drinks and laughter.
By then, the story of the Murong family may only be those few remaining.
In teahouses and taverns, even a storyteller with flowing spittle might occasionally mention it for a few coins.
"In their stories, Murong Fu, who once stirred up the winds and clouds of the martial arts world, might be portrayed as an ambitious but foolish clown."
Murong Long, who is single-mindedly devoted to restoring his country, may turn into a treacherous and vicious traitor who secretly colludes with foreign powers.
All their struggles, all their resentment, all their deep-seated hatred will be erased, simplified, and distorted into a cheap backdrop specifically designed to highlight how wise, powerful, and decisive you, the "destined" Son of Heaven, are.
"Their century-old foundation and their family glory, in the end, couldn't even compare to the cheap cheers from the audience after the storyteller slammed his gavel."
"As for what will happen a hundred years from now!"