Night Without End
Chapter 117 - 76 The Truth is But a Veil

Chapter 117: Chapter 76 The Truth is But a Veil

In the evening, Chixia City faded from hazy twilight to merging with the true darkness of night.

In the room, the Sun Stone was nearing extinguishment. Qin Ming sat motionless, his face unclear, with only his eyes still shining.

He looked again at his fourteen-year-old self, who was sentimental, cared about those around him, and couldn’t bear to part with them in life or death.

At that moment, the fourteen-year-old Qin Ming was trembling slightly; he wanted one last look at his parents and younger brother because he knew that he might die on this journey.

When he turned around, he saw only the receding backs of his parents.

The eyes of the fourteen-year-old Qin Ming reddened, as he struggled to contain himself. He swiftly turned back around and set off with the elderly members of his family, who were of very advanced age.

As expected, they were ambushed. Though they were constantly fleeing, they were always eventually found.

The group of Cui family elders, frail and close to death, exhibited terrifying combat prowess. Coupled with their reckless disregard for life, even the Li family was momentarily fearful.

"Some of those old coots are formidable members from the main lineage of the Cui family; they grow more powerful with age. Ah, I see Cui Chonghe there, he is very likely to be the next Flag Bearer."

In the darkness, several pairs of eyes from the Li family camp were watching the fleeing members of the Cui family.

"Although Cui Chonghe hasn’t embarked on the Newborn Road, he must truly possess a special talent; he might reach Close to Immortal status in the future. There have been reliable reports confirming that he was identified at a very young age as being exceptionally suited for the path of the outsiders."

A group of Li family experts suspected that these formidable Cui family members had gone mad in their efforts to break through the lines with Cui Chonghe, to reach the Outer World, and to meet the legendary "old senior" who was to be Cui Chonghe’s future master.

Qin Ming saw a lot of blood and bones, both from the Cui family elders and the Li family experts. In the end, they broke through and fled far away, disguised and in tatters, entering a village the Cui family had prepared years in advance, where they went into hiding.

In fact, after several bloody battles, the Li family seemed to realize something, and their pursuit was no longer as urgent.

"The Li family might have found the people from our Cui family who took a different route to escape."

"Another possibility is that the ancestor who disappeared over two hundred years ago has reemerged."

Within the village, several of the Cui family elders whispered. By now, they were all gravely injured and near death, devoid of the strength for another great battle.

A group of elders with not much life left had fought until only a few remained, falling along the way.

It was precisely because they were fearless and mad that the Li family eventually grew wary and dared not engage in another bloodbath, not realizing that a little more effort could have annihilated their opponent.

The fourteen-year-old Qin Ming was silent because even the elders themselves said they had exerted their "remaining heat."

An elderly man, with white hair and a bloody face creased by wrinkles, seemed somewhat chilling as he laughed in the dark night. He looked at Qin Ming and sighed, "Your talent is truly extraordinary, extremely suitable for the Newborn path. It’s somewhat a pity that you learned the skills from the silk scripture; you won’t be able to master it."

Another elder looked at Qin Ming with a complex expression and said, "Just wait a bit longer. Uncle Cui Qi should come to save you once he hears the news."

Inside the inn, Qin Ming observed that scene intently.

Clearly, everyone in the Cui family knew that Uncle Cui Qi was the kindest to him, even the old people spoke of it.

"Are you Uncle Qi’s... grandfather?" The fourteen-year-old Qin Ming asked, observing all he had seen along the way and feeling a profound sense of loss as he recalled the past.

"Yes, Xiao Qi is my favorite grandson. He has one fatal weakness; he values affection too deeply. Come, sit beside me. Before I die, no one will be able to touch you," said the old man, patting the space next to him.

Is valuing affection truly a fatal weakness? After sitting down, the fourteen-year-old Qin Ming wondered; he was just like that.

"You old fogeys, stay away from me!" Uncle Qi’s grandfather looked up at the other bloodied elders, his attitude less than friendly.

An elder said, "We are all going to die here, but we have no regrets since we’ve killed so many from the Li family. The Li family wanted to rise by clashing with our Cui family, show their strength, gain prestige, and thus ascend to a thousand-year-old noble family, but they also have to pay a heavy price. They are destined to shed a lot of blood this time. Whether the Li family is being pushed by someone or not, they will not be the ultimate victors."

"This child is still young; he still has things undone, and he should not die here. The rest of you, go sit over there," said Uncle Qi’s grandfather.

The few elders rose and put some distance between themselves.

Back in the inn, Qin Ming reflected and turned his gaze toward the other elders.

Uncle Qi’s grandfather took Qin Ming into a dilapidated house in the village and said, "Knowing Xiao Qi’s nature, he will try to save you after finding out, but he’s likely to be intercepted. The family cannot afford to lose him, as his talent is the most similar to mine, and he is set to be one of the Cui family’s greatest warriors of the future. I believe Xiao Qi won’t give up so easily; therefore, someone will send corresponding experts to rescue you. Let’s just hope they come soon and don’t delay the opportunity. Don’t worry, the Li family isn’t foolish; by now, they’ve understood the situation. The experts are no longer focusing here and besides..."

As he spoke, his cough intensified, spewing blood from his mouth. Qin Ming quickly stepped forward to help but was unsure of what to do.

The old man gestured with his hand and continued, "My body can’t hold on any longer. Let me finish, I believe our old ancestor has appeared, and both sides have likely already started to retreat, thus no large battles are happening anymore. You might just survive."

The old man glanced outside the room and, using a secret technique, spoke in a voice that only echoed in Qin Ming’s ears, saying, "I am about to die. You must not leave this room. Just say I am healing and do not let them disturb us."

The fourteen-year-old Qin Ming nodded with tears in his eyes, watching the old man close his eyes, motionless.

In the inn, the Sun Stone had completely extinguished, and Qin Ming sat there and whispered, "Before I lost my memories... I had actually already known quite a bit."

In the dilapidated room, the fourteen-year-old Qin Ming only wrote the character for ’discard’ and then chose not to speak anymore, maintaining silence.

Because his memory was restored, Qin Ming was re-experiencing that moment’s emotions. The taste was very unpleasant, worse than when someone smashed his skull, even more unbearable than being slowly cut open in the heart and lungs with a knife. At that time, he sat there, so distressed he felt suffocated.

In the inn, Qin Ming shook his head vigorously and finally freed himself from that emotion. He reviewed the past again, as if speaking to his younger self from over two years ago, telling his past self, "Do you think you discovered so-called truths because of everything you’ve seen and heard along your journey? The truth is, that’s still just a veil."

The slightly yellowed Memory Book turned a new page, the dust cleared away, and Qin Ming looked back at the past, encountering the Feathered Robed Youth Li Qingxu again, who approached with an aloof and ethereal presence, and struck him directly.

Cui Hao’s grandfather had not been mistaken; the Li Family did not send a large group of experts to continue the pursuit, but a small team of elites leading followers from nearby cities was still enough to annihilate the village.

In the inn, Qin Ming did not skip this segment of memory, reliving the suffering of broken arms and shattered skulls, quietly reviewing all the details, because he wanted to completely lift the curtain woven from the so-called truths.

Uncle Cui Qi could not appear, and just as the old man had predicted, the man with the long arms, Cui Hong, and a woman with a red mole on her right eyebrow hurried over, whisking him away into the night. They passed by Luoyue City without entering, choosing a long journey instead.

"Where we are going is not important, any secluded place will do." Qin Ming muttered to himself in the inn. Watching Cui Hong and the woman in her early thirties, he knew why they were taking him to Black and White Mountain.

Over two years ago, beams of Heavenly Light pierced the night sky, flying towards various places, with one of them falling onto Black and White Mountain. Those two had originally planned to investigate, and given that place also met the criteria for a "remote location," it led to Qin Ming ending up in that region.

"More than two years ago, I was actually quite perceptive, having an inkling of something. Is it really because I cared too much that I was weak? Perhaps it is!" Qin Ming’s voice was very soft.

He said to himself, "I was just too young back then, and I didn’t know as much truth as I do now."

One of the most important things was that Qin Ming succeeded in Practicing Silk Scripture on his own. With that as his foundation, he underwent a complete rebirth, took the initial steps on the Newborn Road, and glimpsed a corner of the past truth.

The silk scripture was miraculous. Since his rebirth, it made his subconscious extremely active, allowing him to see himself during his ignorant years in his half-waking dreams. He was probably only about three years old at the time, and these were not the memories he lost due to Li Qingxu’s blow to his head!

Those were childhood memories that naturally faded with time; it is hard for anyone to remember things from before the age of three as they grow up.

"Oh, silk scripture, it was not in vain that I started practicing it from a young age. At the critical moment, you allowed me to see the very beginning of myself, and perhaps it is precisely because I persisted for over a decade that, in the end, it saved my life."

Qin Ming suspected that practicing the silk scripture was not without effect, maybe something had been accumulating all along. Because when he was struck by Li Qingxu, shattering his skull in three places, he should have been dead; under normal circumstances, there was no way to survive.

"My early years were not good: wearing patched clothes, shoes with holes, perhaps worse off than a common family’s child. And the elder who taught me to read and introduced me to the silk scripture was just an ordinary person, with rough hands and clothes no better than mine."

At the Cui Family, however, both the Fifth Master and Seventh Master claimed that the grandfather in Qin Ming’s memories had "cut off all burdens" and set out on his own path, going to the Imperial Capital of Great Yu Country.

The old man, who had been Qin Ming’s sole support in life, was plainly an ordinary person, yet they lied to him, saying he was a great master. If he was extraordinary, why then did the grandfather and grandson live so poorly?

Qin Ming felt a touch of sorrow for his former self, peering through the yellowed Memory Book, his gaze cast back to the past, reliving the emotions of that time.

During his time with the Cui Family, as Qin Ming grew up, his early memories naturally faded, but he still retained a hazy impression and felt there must be a very close grandfather.

"I miss him, I miss that grandfather," were the original words from the old memories, with him, his eyes reddened, longing to reclaim his own silk scripture.

But the elders of the Cui Family declined, saying the silk scripture was an ancient artifact, easily damaged, and told him to first master the preceding Xinsheng Skill before proceeding to the subsequent techniques.

After that, the very young Qin Ming practiced through wind and rain, for many years without a break.

It was all because he wanted to reclaim the silk scripture, because he missed that grandfather from his memories, that was the deepest emotion rooted in his heart.

Although, with the passage of time, his memory of that grandfather completely faded, and he even forgot about him in the end. But his practice of silk scripture had become an instinct, an inexplicable persistence that kept him going.

Clearly, at the earliest times with the Cui Family, he had been deliberately guided by others, told that to see that grandfather from his memories, he must learn this silk scripture!

Looking back now, many things for Qin Ming had traces to follow.

Did the Second Master really leak secrets in a drunken state? Was the Fifth Master’s timely guidance a bit too forceful? There were too many details.

"You do this, how can a child possibly be a match? It feels a bit like bullying," Qin Ming mused in the dim room. He thoughtfully retraced the events, finding many points that were illogical and unkind.

"All the events, the whole process, if there was one more person involved, then it would all fit together, it would make sense." He pushed open the window, looking out into the pitch-black night; if that was the case, then his situation was indeed rather pitiable.