Above the Galaxy
Chapter 233 - 170: A kind person is easily bullied, a good horse is easily ridden!

Chapter 233: Chapter 170: A kind person is easily bullied, a good horse is easily ridden!

Hearing the inhuman cries coming from next door, the old man looked at Tang Fei and said, "You’re not human."

"In this life, who hasn’t been forced to do something they didn’t want to?" Tang Fei looked at the old man with a serious face, his words laced with sarcasm, "He took people’s money and did their dirty work, living a carefree and happy life... So should I just deserve to be killed by him?"

"When he ambushed me in the snow and ruthlessly tried to kill me, he should have expected this outcome... Does he have the right to kill, but others don’t have the right to kill him? Why?"

"His son is pitiable, but he is that way because of him... Besides, the son is his, what does that have to do with me?"

"You could have easily stabbed him to death, so why waste one of my Death Sentences? Drawing these symbols is quite troublesome..."

The old man looked at Tang Fei skeptically and asked, "You don’t want to kill him, you want him to live?"

He knew Tang Fei too well, just as Tang Fei understood him.

So with just a little bit of information, he could guess Tang Fei’s real intentions.

"Of course," Tang Fei nodded and said aloud, "Alive, he is more valuable than dead. A dead man is just a pile of rot, but a living one... he can bring us benefits in many ways."

"We could package him for sale whole, or cut him up and sell him piece by piece... depending on what the customer wants, we cut accordingly, just like Teochew beef..."

"But first, we need to thoroughly break his will, turn him into a waste... I also have to avenge the sword strike he gave me. After all, if Phoenix hadn’t arrived in time, I would have been killed by him... I can’t swallow this grievance without making him suffer."

The old man burst into hearty laughter, looking at Tang Fei with a satisfied expression, he said, "I was worried that once you arrived at New Star, the seductive pleasures would dull your fighting spirit and change your nature... But it seems you’re still you... you haven’t changed."

"I have changed," Tang Fei said.

"How have you changed?"

"I’ve gotten taller, sturdier, and handsomer. Haven’t you noticed at all?"

The old man looked at Tang Fei, nodded, and said, "Yeah, although Old Land provides enough to eat and wear, the environment is indeed too harsh... You really have grown taller and stronger, and you look better than before."

After a pause, he added, "At least, you’re cleaner than before, and your face has gotten a lot whiter..."

Tang Fei shrugged and said, "I was just trying to lighten the mood with a joke, and you take it seriously?"

"I’m telling the truth," the old man said. "I had my doubts before, unsure whether coming back this time was a good or bad thing for you... Now I’m sure, it’s a good thing."

"You belong to New Star, you’re suited for life among people. Because that’s where you’ll find everything you want. On Old Land, there’s nothing... just day after day of suffering..."

"It’s not all that bad..." Tang Fei looked at the old man, offering comfort, "We have enough food and warmth, and from time to time we even help out our neighbors... You taught us skills, so our lives are not too bad."

"It’s just the lack of hope, the inability to see an end to these days... I worry about spending my whole life like this, too old to walk or get out of bed, unable to wield the Dog Leg Knife, still worrying about whether I’ll have a bite to eat tomorrow, or if a predator will chop off my head..."

"That’s why you belong here, this place has everything you want," the old man said with conviction. "What’s rightfully yours, you must find a way to take back. What they owe you, they must return with interest."

Tang Fei looked at the old man, smiling, and asked, "Ling Yunxiao isn’t one of your men, is he?"

The old man’s face darkened as he stared at Tang Fei and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Don’t be angry, let’s just talk..." Tang Fei soothed the old man’s emotions and said, "I’m just thinking, is there a possibility... that you were worried my hatred for the Imperial Family wasn’t strong enough, that I didn’t have the courage to take decisive action against them and throw my life into seeking revenge... so you staged this whole self-harm act?"

"Don’t be in a rush to deny it, I know, with your personality, you would definitely do something like this..."

After staring at Tang Fei for a long time, the old man cracked a smile and said, "To be honest, because of that girl, I did consider setting up such a drama..."

"Without shattering your illusions, without filling your heart with deep hatred for them, you would always harbor false hopes for them, and always be as indecisive as you are now..."

"I didn’t expect Chen Fenglei to make the first move, their eagerness to get rid of you spared me a lot of trouble. After all, a lie needs countless other lies to cover it up, and you know me so well that even the slightest slip would allow you to guess the truth..."

He paused, looked at Tang Fei, and said, "Besides, I couldn’t bear to have someone kill you... to hurt you to that extent..."

"That makes sense," Tang Fei nodded, twisted open a bottle of mineral water on the table, took a gulp, and asked, "Does Zhong Daolong know my identity?"

The old man thought for a moment and said, "He shouldn’t, if he knew your identity, you wouldn’t be facing someone like Ling Yunxiao, but rather even stronger masters, possibly even a Great Grandmaster level figure..."

Tang Fei’s eyes widened as he looked at the old man and said, "They value this poor kid that much?"

"It has nothing to do with you," the old man said bluntly. "The person he fears the most in his life is your father. If he knew you were his flesh and blood, no matter the cost, he would find a way to deal with you."

"..."

"Your father has been dead for so many years now, his loyal followers and direct descendants have been purged round after round... But to this day, any information related to your father is immediately and utterly erased... They’ve truly taken the words ’eliminate without mercy’ to the extreme."

Tang Fei looked at the old man and asked, "If they don’t know my true identity, why would they still send someone to kill me? Just because I’m somewhat close to their princess?"

"Is that what you call being somewhat close? Who knows how many times the sheets have been changed, huh?"

The old man’s face was full of contempt as he said, "If I were Zhong Daolong, I would have castrated you hundreds of times by now... Why should the little princess of the Phoenix Empire favor a poor boy from the Old Land like you?"

"Do things really need to go this far?"

The old man looked at Tang Fei, sighed softly, and said, "What extent is this extent? To us, it’s a matter of life and death; to them, isn’t it just a trifle they can deal with at the flick of a wrist? Didn’t Ling Yunxiao just say it? They thought it was a surefire sniping attempt..."

"For a mere Tongyou Realm like you, they even sent a top figure like the Extreme Cold Sword... That’s quite the high regard they have for you."

"If they could deal with it once and for all, why wouldn’t they? Should they let you develop like this, wait until your feelings deepen or when there’s a child conceived in secret before they act?"

"Besides, dealing with a poor boy is nothing to the Royal Family, right? When the emperor is angry, a million corpses lie... The number of people who die daily for a single thought of his... What’s one more or one less?"

"..."

These words were unpleasant.

But Tang Fei knew the old man was speaking the truth.

He was the lifesaver of Phoenix, which might mean a lot to Phoenix.

But what was that to the Imperial Family or to Zhong Daolong personally? So many people die for them every day; what’s one more or one less?

If after saving Phoenix, he had just accepted their reward and lived as a no-trouble small-town citizen, they might have been willing to let him live in peace for his whole life.

But he just had to be close to the Royal Princess...

Conscience of heaven and earth, he and Phoenix had truly never rolled around in bed.

But would Zhong Daolong believe it?

Even the old man who had been with him for so many years didn’t believe he could remain unmoved by temptation; would Zhong Daolong think his daughter and himself were pure and innocent?

Ridiculous!

Once doubt sprouts, the accusation is already established.

Zhong Daolong, to follow his own heart, or to say to stop the suspicion once and for all, to cut off all future possibilities...

A nod or a hint of a glance to Chen Fenglei and wouldn’t the matter be resolved?

What they did not count on was that Tang Fei was more formidable than they had imagined.

And his luck was a bit better...

If Phoenix hadn’t driven back to pick him up, he would not have escaped death.

Tang Fei turned to the old man and asked, "What are your thoughts on what comes next?"

The old man looked at Tang Fei and asked in return, "I need to understand your thoughts first. If you still have illusions, or think things aren’t as bad as you imagine... I can pretend nothing happened."

Tang Fei shook his head and said, "I don’t want to die."

He added, "If I die, Little Fatty won’t survive either... It could implicate many innocent people."

"Don’t make yourself sound so noble; you just don’t want to die. That’s reason enough." The old man knew Tang Fei’s nature all too well and said, "If you want to live, and even live with dignity... then you’ll have to fight back even harder."

"What should I do?" asked Tang Fei.

He also felt that he needed to do something.

Good people are the easy targets, good horses are ridden.

He might let others ride him, but he was not willing to be bullied.

"We need to stir up chaos in the Royal Family," said the old man. "If they are united, they will focus more attention on you... You don’t need that kind of focus, you need more time to grow..."

"Such as?" Tang Fei asked.

"You say..." The old man looked at Tang Fei and said, "How about getting your little girlfriend involved in the struggle for the throne? Doesn’t she have any thoughts about that position?"

(ps: My beautiful girls and boys, do you have any monthly tickets?)