Above the Galaxy
Chapter 367 - 236, Carrying a Coffin to Find the Husband!

Chapter 367: Chapter 236, Carrying a Coffin to Find the Husband!

"Death is a release, living is torture."

The old man lived a life not quite human, not quite ghostly, unable to return home, unable to meet his daughter, enduring the agony of burning hatred every day and night...

Wasn’t that more painful than death?

But he had to stay alive.

Alive, he could take his close friend’s flesh and blood away; alive, he could pass on his skills and protect him fully; alive, he could take revenge together with him.

Only by staying alive was there hope; death meant everything reduced to nothing.

"Where’s Bai Wuxin?" Tang Fei turned to the old man, wanting to change the subject.

He knew this topic was far too heavy for the old man, so heavy that even he himself felt like he couldn’t catch his breath.

For the first time, he realized that words had such power.

Just hearing them recounted already made one feel a trembling in the body and a pain in the heart as if being suffocated.

"Who is he? Why did he come to find me? Why did you insist that I must save him?"

Tang Fei could generally guess Bai Wuxin’s identity—that his father was an old friend and colleague of his own father, and because of his father’s involvement, he was tragically killed by the Royal Family.

He became an orphan, and then was taken in by an orphanage, learned extraordinary swordsmanship, and set out to seek revenge...

This was very much like a martial arts novel.

But given how much the old man valued and protected him, it was impossible for him to expose his identity to others carelessly.

Even less likely was it that, knowing he himself was in danger, he would still tell him that no matter what, he must save that person’s life.

He seemed to hold Bai Wuxin in high regard; there must be hidden truths he didn’t know.

The old man would not easily trust others, nor would he casually place his bets on a young man he wasn’t familiar with.

This was very un-Lu Yu.

If something is abnormal, there must be a demon at work; hence, Tang Fei wanted to understand Bai Wuxin’s identity and origin, and how he should interact with him in the future.

Lu Yu lifted his head to look at Tang Fei, even straightening his back a bit, and spoke with an exceedingly solemn and respectful tone: "Back then, in Phoenix City, there was a wayward young master named Bai Shizhen. He stole chickens, snuck behind dogs, brawled, and did plenty of scoundrel deeds."

"But because he was quite gifted in cultivation, his quick swordplay was transcendent, impenetrable by gods or ghosts, and the average person could do nothing against him."

"Bai Shizhen heard that Tang Li was the top expert among the young generation of the Empire and was extremely unwilling to accept it. So, he took the initiative to provoke him, the first time, he failed. The second time, he also failed."

"The third time Bai Shizhen went to challenge, Tang Li was already somewhat impatient. He said, ’I’m going to join the military to fight for the country, if you lose again, come and be my lieutenant.’"

"Actually, Bai Shizhen was already convinced by your father’s fighting prowess, and admired his character. As expected, he failed the third challenge as well, so he enlisted with your father, and when your father became General, it was only natural for him to become your father’s aide."

"The two of them fought side by side through life and death, battling in no less than a hundred battles, they were brothers who could entrust their backs to each other."

"After your father’s incident, he was also thrown into prison. Given his relationship with your father, he originally should have been executed. But because Princess Changqing married into the Bai Family, and she pleaded with Zhong Daolong, the Bai Family also put in no small effort. Considering Princess Changqing’s face, and remembering the Bai Family’s loyalty to the Royal Family..."

"He agreed to spare his life on the condition that Bai Shizhen could no longer join the military, involve himself in politics, nor have any dealings with your Tang Family..."

"Bai Shizhen survived thanks to Princess Changqing’s and his family’s protection; it should have been a fortunate thing. However, he could not bear to see his old friend’s entire family slaughtered; their ashes humiliated and spat upon by the ignorant populace in the Imperial Square, so he planned to steal your family’s ashes to give them a proper burial..."

"..."

"However, his whereabouts were discovered by the patrol team. Bai Shizhen, not wanting to implicate his family, chose to detonate the energy bomb he carried with him. Bai Shizhen disappeared into thick smoke..."

"There was no flesh, no ashes, and even the air held hardly any trace of his DNA. He had prepared for the worst even before he did it...."

"Without any DNA trace, it’s harder for others to find the real culprit, sparing his wife and children, his parents. That was a small mercy amidst the misfortune."

"But...."

Lu Yu let out a heavy sigh, clearly troubled by what he had to share next.

"Bai Wuxin’s mother... Bai Shizhen’s wife, Li Xian, carried a coffin to Imperial Square in front of countless people, hoping to take away some of Tang Li’s ashes and a wisp of the air from the place where her husband had sacrificed himself."

"Bai Shizhen chose the powerful Thunder Bomb to conceal his identity, vaporizing his body in the explosion so thoroughly that not even bone fragments remained, thereby preventing those people from tracking his identity through blood DNA and causing trouble for his family."

"Yet, Li Xian....precisely revealed everything. How foolish, truly too foolish...."

The old man clenched his fists, crying out in anguish.

"Li Xian was arrested, and during the interrogation, when the judge asked her why she did it, she said, ’My husband was a hero. He did what he had to do. He chose to take his own life to protect us.’"

"..."

Tang Fei did not know how to describe his feelings at that moment.

After the execution by fire, they didn’t gather the ashes but scattered them carelessly over the square.

First, to make an example of him, to deter the Tang Family’s ’rebel party.’

Second, as a form of ’fishing,’ knowing that Tang Li had many loyal followers and supporters, they expected that someone would try to collect his ashes to give his family a proper burial.

Attempting to steal ashes was risky; the slightest mistake could lead to imprisonment and beheading.

From Tang Fei’s perspective, it was a high-risk move with little to gain...

Even if the ashes were those of his biological parents.

Better to keep the green hills than to run out of firewood.

To live was to seek revenge.

And yet, knowing all the dangers and possibilities, they still willingly took the risk.

Could it be that these people felt no fear at all? Was death such an insignificant matter to them?

"Li Xian said, ’I can’t let my husband die in such a humiliating and obscure way. I want to spread the story of his heroism, to make his name resound across the land. Otherwise, everything he did would be meaningless.’"

"Li Xian died, to threaten and intimidate those who secretly supported and sympathized with the Tang family, they executed her with the brutal ancient punishment of dismemberment by chariot..."

"Both of them died... all for a handful of soil, a breath of air..."

"When Zhong Daolong learned of this, he was furious... regretting why he had spared Bai Shizhen’s life in the first place, inadvertently cementing the couple’s reputation for loyalty. They began purging the Bai Family traitors, determined to completely eradicate Bai Shizhen and Li Xian’s only son..."

"Fortunately, before they could act, a righteous person took their child away..."

"Bai Wuxin is the only son of Bai Shizhen and Li Xian..." the elderly man looked at Tang Fei and asked in a grave voice, "Tell me, do we not owe him this?"

"..."