Chapter 565: Chapter 248: Cruel Reality

"This seems to be someone’s autobiography..."

"Her name is—Suhe Xiaojin."

Fang Shuwen glanced at Suhe Lan.

"An ancestor of your family?"

"Yes."

Suhe Lan said,

"I’ve seen her name in the family registry. It said she died in a duel at the age of fourteen..."

"But she died here?"

Fang Shuwen looked at the skeleton on the ground.

Luo Shuqing’s breathing had grown heavy again. Fang Shuwen’s gaze shifted to her, and only after he noticed did Luo Shuqing speak.

"Suhe Xiaojin wrote her story on this wall. She drank tea her brother gave her.

"When she woke up, she found herself locked underground.

"She was surrounded by strange statues, and her brother and father were right in front of her.

"Her initial panic faded, since the people closest to her were right there.

"But when she saw the look in their eyes, a deep sense of unease grew in her heart..."

In a somber tone, Luo Shuqing recounted a horrifying story.

A young woman named Suhe Xiaojin woke up to find that her own father and brother were going to kill her.

They told her it was for Tingtiao Pavilion, for her brother, and even for the entire East Sea!

Her father also told her she was not the first to be sacrificed here.

For the continuation of the Suhe Family and the legacy of Tingtiao Pavilion, many, many people had died here since the Pavilion’s founding.

It was because of their sacrifices that Tingtiao Pavilion held its current status among the Eight Forbidden Lands.

Suhe Xiaojin was in disbelief. The text repeatedly described her psychological shifts between despair and shock. Just as her father and brother were about to kill her, a powerful enemy attacked Tingtiao Pavilion.

The two of them left in a hurry, locking her here for the time being.

Suhe Xiaojin managed to break free from her bonds, but she couldn’t open the door.

But she refused to just sit and wait for death.

Using a hidden dagger, she dug a tunnel at the far end of the secret chamber.

The process was filled with all sorts of emotions: pain, despair, fear, urgency, hatred...

Perhaps by the mercy of the heavens, she actually managed to dig a tunnel.

Although it was still a dead end, at least she wouldn’t die at the hands of her father and brother.

She felt her way here, only to find she had nowhere else to go.

Crushed by endless despair, she left these words, and in the end... she took her own life.

Luo Shuqing explained the writing to Fang Shuwen as concisely as she could.

In reality, what Suhe Xiaojin experienced was almost identical to Suhe Lan’s situation.

The only difference was that Suhe Lan was found by Fang Shuwen, while Suhe Xiaojin could only wait for death in despair.

Other than that, most of the writing on the wall was filled with Suhe Xiaojin’s despair and curses.

There wasn’t much that Fang Shuwen actually cared about...

Luo Shuqing had also done her best to ignore those words filled with despair.

But the account on the wall had left her feeling emotionally suppressed.

"For the continuation of Tingtiao Pavilion’s legacy... and even for the East Sea?"

Fang Shuwen looked at Suhe Lan.

"You have to kill your own daughter, or sister?

"Forgive me, but I find that hard to understand."

"That’s not important anymore."

Suhe Lan let out a sneer.

"Why they did it, what reasons they had—I don’t even want to know.

"All I know is that the father I’ve looked up to as a role model all these years, and the younger brother I’ve always doted on...

"They... wanted to kill me.

"And even... even... my older sister might have died at their hands!

"Faced with that reality, what meaning does anything else have for me?"

Suhe Lan wasn’t a fool. Her current predicament lined up perfectly with Suhe Jing’s mysterious disappearance all those years ago.

The thought of what Suhe Jing might have suffered, combined with her own situation now, sent Suhe Lan’s heart plunging into an abyss.

Fang Shuwen was silent for a moment.

Indeed, for Suhe Lan, the truth no longer mattered.

What mattered was that her world... had shattered.

Fang Shuwen had no experience comforting people and didn’t know what to say to her.

He simply asked,

"Do you want to get out of here?"

But Suhe Lan shook her head.

"Go out and face them?

"Forget it... Maybe I was never meant to live in this world, and that’s why it’s ending like this?

"To be honest, I’ve had enough of being the ’Second Miss’ for all these years.

"My personality is different from my older sister’s. She had the true air of an eldest daughter.

"Compared to her, I was much more unruly.

"It wasn’t until she was gone... that I had to force myself to be like her, to become the ’Second Miss’ in the eyes of the other disciples.

"To become the ’Second Sister’ my younger brother could rely on.

"I tried my best to change myself so I wouldn’t disappoint them...

"But now, it seems everything I did was just a joke.

"Hero Fang, I’m not leaving... I want to stay here. Dying here might be the best end for me as a successor of the Suhe Family..."

"Bullshit!!"

Luo Shuqing’s suppressed emotions suddenly erupted.

"You’re just scared! You don’t dare to face them!

"Can’t you just go out and ask them why they’re doing this to you?

"You’re his daughter, too! Why on earth would they do this?

"Legacy? The greater good?

"They spew a bunch of empty words but don’t explain why they have to take your life!

"Why are you willing to just die here?

"Like some insignificant joke?

"On what grounds!?"

The woman rarely showed her emotions so openly.

Most of the time, she would just fidget with the hem of her dress, speaking in her characteristically timid, trembling voice.

Suhe Lan stared at Luo Shuqing in disbelief.

"You... you’re speaking normally?"

"..."

Luo Shuqing took a deep breath, grabbed Suhe Lan by the wrist, and started pulling her out.

"I’ve said so much to you, and you haven’t listened to a single word.

"Come with me. We’re getting out of here. We’ll go together and ask your father and brother why they did this.

"Is it just because... Is it just because you’re a woman?"

Fang Shuwen raised an eyebrow. Seeing Suhe Lan being dragged away by Luo Shuqing, unable to break free, he shook his head helplessly.

’Did she get riled up? She’s not even bothering to pretend anymore...’

After muttering this, Fang Shuwen followed them.

Getting in had been difficult, and getting out was no easier.

The main issue was the cramped tunnel, which was truly uncomfortable.

This time, however, Fang Shuwen took the lead, with Suhe Lan in the middle and Luo Shuqing bringing up the rear to prevent Suhe Lan from backing out.

When Suhe Lan saw the door that Fang Shuwen had smashed open, her pupils trembled violently.

Previously half-reluctant, she suddenly quickened her pace.

But just as they were walking up the spiral staircase, Fang Shuwen’s eyebrows suddenly twitched.

"There’s a fire... upstairs.

"How brazen. Someone actually set fire to Tingtiao Pavilion’s ancestral hall?"

"Quick, let’s go see."

Luo Shuqing was already getting impatient.

"I, for one, would love to know who did something so satisfying."

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