Chapter 688: Why Have You Wronged Me?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
With the lightest of scratches, a large piece of flesh detached itself from his body and fell to the ground. At present, his physical body was not just weak, it could only be described as horribly frail!
Ouyang Xiaoshe shrieked and clawed at himself desperately. His entire skin and flesh had been clawed away, yet, he only felt the itch instead of the pain, as if it was the only thing he could feel at that moment. Unable to endure it any longer, he dashed outwards a few feet frantically and rolled himself against the ground, rubbing his skin against the rough surface.
The places he came into contact with were left with bloodstains mixed with gory pieces of flesh.
He screamed, moaned and cursed, rolling on the ground hysterically.
"Give me a quick relief!"
"Relieve me of this misery!"
Ouyang Xiaoshe screamed and begged in desperation.
Stomp!
Yun Yang placed his foot against Ouyang Xiaoshe's neck, making him face upwards as his cold eyes gaze coldly into Ouyang Xiaoshe's disoriented ones. "Answer a few of my questions, and I shall consider granting you a salve," Yun Yang demanded icily.
Ouyang Xiaoshe could no longer hear his words clearly. The only thing he felt was the unbearable itch. Now that his neck was being stepped on, locking him in place, his whole being still struggled and writhed desperately.
The condition of Ouyang Xiaoshe's body was horrendously pitiful. There was no longer any flesh covering his abdomen, and his intestines had already spilled out of his body in tangled ropes. Yet, he still convulsed and twitched spasmodically.
In a normal situation, even an ace practitioner would not be too far off from his expiry date in a similar condition - he would have been long dead, far beyond any attempts of resurrection. However, this normal situation did not apply to Yun Yang...
As Yun Yang lifted his arm, a whiff of cool energy mixed with the air of vitality enveloped Ouyang Xiaoshe's body.
With a shudder, Ouyang Xiaoshe realized in surprise that the itch had completely disappeared, his consciousness returning as he grew more clear-headed.
He tried his best to refocus his vision and noticed a fog-like presence hovering before him. It gradually took the shape of a human as two icy glares shot out of the eyes, completely void of emotions as they fixated upon his face.
"Supreme Cloud..." Ouyang Xiaoshe mumbled. "Grant me a quick relief. I might have hurt your father, but... we have been brothers for the past seventy years after all... though I might have crossed him... this torture, and my life as a form of payback - these should suffice, right?"
His eyes were glazed with a lost, perplexed look as if he had seen something, and suddenly screamed. "Dugu! Brother, I'm sorry! I'm truly sorry..."
Yun Yang's heart twitched with a violent jerk as he delivered another wave of cool energy. He forced out the words through clenched teeth. "You're right. You and Old Dugu were brothers – that was why when he went to the Empire of Ziyou, he never attempted to look for anyone else but you! He placed his trust in you, and treated you like a true brother – but you sent him to straight to hell!"
Ouyang Xiaoshe gradually grew more lucid by the second, yet he was overwhelmed by a boundless, earth-shattering pain that came after the unbearable itch had ceased. He stayed gasping for a while, and finally, let out a forlorn laugh. "Yes, I am despicable! I deserve whatever consequences that would befall on me – please, kill me! I shall travel to the underworld to deliver my apologies personally to him, and make my amends."
"Apologize? Make amends? What do you think is the reason I spared your sorry life up until this moment? It's only to ask you a question, on behalf of Old Dugu." Yun Yang responded frostily.
He looked into Ouyang Xiaoshe's eyes deeply, and said word by word, "Why have you wronged me?"
"We were brothers-in-arms for so many years – why have you wronged me?"
"Old Dugu never had the chance to ask you this personally, and it was his greatest regret even till the end. Perhaps he's still puzzled until now. Hence, I shall ask you on his behalf."
Yun Yang stared straight at Ouyang Xiaoshe with a cold, electrifying gaze. "Ouyang Xiaoshe, tell me – why?"
Ouyang Xiaoshe had a distant expression as he stared into the night sky with a seemingly unfocused gaze. After a good while, he coughed out a bitter laugh, and tears accompanied his humorless laughter as they streamed down his face.
He remained lying on the ground in that manner. For half a beat, he did not utter a single word, and he let out a long sigh all by himself.
"That year… we set out to make a living for ourselves in the martial world. We were not friends nor allies at first. Our reputations were similar and we both have double surnames; even our first names are close to each other. As such, we were a constant topic of discussion by the nosy people of the martial world. One was named Xiaoshe (Desolation) and the other Jimo (Loneliness). It's truly depressing… Eventually, some people associated us together, surely bringing one up when another was mentioned. However, we did not even know each other back then. Perhaps, at most, we only knew of each other's existence, but that was all…"
"Back then... it was I who tried every possible way to search for him. We exchanged skills and realized that our skill level was almost the same, so it wasn't like we were disgraced by each other. From that time onwards, we became friends instead and took quite a liking towards each other as we bonded. In the end, the rumors that had been going on in the martial world became true."
"He was older than me by three years... I respectfully addressed him as an elder brother..."
"After that, we both joined forces and carried out many tasks together... making many enemies in the process. Upon returning from one last assignment, we discovered an ill fate had plagued our households – our entire family had been butchered without a single life spared..."
Ouyang Xiaoshe let out a sigh. "Naturally, both of us were fueled with immense hatred and wrath. We tried every way to find our foes and used every possible method to eradicate all of them... However, after fulfilling our vengeance, I only mulled in silence, and Dugu Jimo grew even more disheartened..."
"One day, he left without saying goodbye... There was no indication at all on where he might have gone. With this sudden departure of his, we did not see each other for a whole thirty-seven years."
"Until the year before the last, he made an appearance in Zilong City out of the blue and found me. He told me, 'Help me seek my revenge!'"
When Ouyang Xiaoshe reached this point, Yun Yang only felt a violent quiver as a sore ache crept into his heart.
"At that moment, I asked him, what was wrong? He told me, my son – he has been wronged by someone. I laughed and told him, no worries, your son is my son – I will help you without a doubt!" Ouyang Xiaoshe continued.
"After that, he started to make his move in the Empire of Ziyou, while I, the tyrant of the turf, gave him the cover and protection he needed. With the power from our joint forces – who in the whole of Ziyou Was able to fight us? We slaughtered whoever we wished to kill; even the dignitaries and sovereign of the empire could not defend themselves against our joint forces. Those so-called masters of Tenth Perfection could not even last a technique or two of ours."
"Dugu would always ask me out for a drink after every time we completed a kill; and without fail, he would pour eight goblets of wine onto the ground, and say, 'Sons, your father has avenged your death…'"
Upon hearing this, Yun Yang felt a pinch on his nose. His tears were on the brink of seeping out from his eyes.
"I remembered that time, I teased him by asking, 'Where did you get so many sons from?' He replied, 'All of them are my sons! All of them are good children – good children who were unfortunately wronged by bad men…'"
"Until later, it was after yet another round of killing and he had too much to drink that day. He held my hand and told me that something extremely important had slipped his mind. So, I asked; what was it that you have forgotten? He replied, he had a treasure map which he had forgotten to leave for his youngest son..."
Yun Yang seemed to have forgotten the situation at hand as his mouth hung wide open, taking in huge breaths, and exhaling equally deep ones.
'Old Dugu - my dear father! You...'