Transmigrated Genius: Fragile Heiress Reigns Supreme-Chapter 730 - 731: The Past (Part 4)

Xiao Yancheng laid her flat on the ground, took a deep look at her, and without saying another word, turned and quickly ran back the way he came. He needed to find a horse, he couldn’t let Danlan die, there were still many things he hadn’t done, his great revenge had yet to be avenged. He wanted her with him, she couldn’t die...he couldn’t die either!

The Third Madam turned her gaze and watched as Xiao Yancheng’s figure ran farther and farther away, the smile on her lips widening. He never truly loved her; for so many years he had been using her. Yes, how could he love her? Back then, she had used unorthodox means to cast a love poison on him, forcing him to marry her and bear Lyuzhu. She knew all these years he served the village tirelessly with the hope that one day he could lead the Miaojiang army to flatten the Central Plains, to exact his revenge and fulfill his grand ambitions. She had been the one holding him back.

The Third Madam slowly closed her eyes. She just wanted to sleep for a bit, just a while, and her husband would return... 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

She comforted herself, convincing herself that he was so eager to find the horse, so eager he didn’t even consider taking her essence blood before she died. It was because he was afraid of her passing, afraid of losing her, that he was so flustered.

The Third Madam thought to herself, her eyelids seemed as heavy as a thousand gold, slowly...slowly...closing.

Xiao Yancheng came galloping in from the other side on horseback: "Danlan, I’ve come to take you back." He leapt off the horse, jumped in front of the Third Madam, and horizontally cradled her in his chest. With one foot, he stepped back into the stirrup, but his movement to mount the horse paused. He lowered his head to look at the Third Madam in his arms, and his pupils gradually widened, filled with disbelief.

"Danlan...Danlan!" He laid the Third Madam back on the ground, reaching out to feel her pulse, but his hand stilled there.

Xiao Yancheng’s complexion slowly turned from white to gray, and then became ashen, as if all the life was being drained from his face.

He felt a metallic taste rise in his chest, an itch in his throat, and a mouthful of blood spurted out, landing among the pale, dry leaves on the ground, glaring and cold.

Xiao Yancheng sat collapsed on the ground, staring blankly at the Third Madam.

After a while, he suddenly remembered the love poison on his body... At that thought, his eyes suddenly cleared. He pulled out the dagger from his waist... Only by taking her essence blood did he have a slim hope of survival.

Raising the dagger, he was about to thrust it down without hesitation, when suddenly a figure draped in black robes stood before him. Xiao Yancheng’s hand paused, and he looked up to see Fourth Master Xiao standing with his hands behind his back, looking at him with cold and stern eyes, filled with irony: "Isn’t it too late to take it now?"

Xiao Yancheng paused—too late? Yes, it’s already too late... Danlan is already dead, how could a dead person have any essence blood left?

Clatter.

The dagger fell to the ground, and Xiao Yancheng sat there, lifeless.

After a long while, he lifted his head, sarcastically saying: "Now... are you satisfied?" He looked at Fourth Master Xiao, his eyes full of hatred: "Avenging him, what’s so great about him? Worthy of your worship? He’s just a coward!"

Fourth Master Xiao furrowed his brow, a trace of anger in his eyes. Xiao Yancheng continued, "He deserved to die, it’s all his fault. I don’t care about the truth back then; my existence is the best proof. If he weren’t greedy for life and afraid of death, how would I exist? What wrong have I done? Why should I bear the consequences of his mistakes? What wrong did my mother do? She was just an innocent woman. It’s all because of him that things turned out this way, Fourth Brother... you shouldn’t hate me, you should hate him!"

Fourth Master Xiao snorted coldly and replied, "I wasn’t aware of what happened back then. I only remember that he taught us martial arts, he taught us to recognize our first word, he taught you to play the first tune... Fatherly love is as strong as a mountain, and as a father, he owes us nothing. So, we have no right to hate him!" He paused, glaring intensely at Xiao Yancheng: "You claim to bear the pain, but have you considered him? If you were in his position back then, what would you have done? Whether he was right or wrong is not for you or me to judge!"

Xiao Yancheng clutched the dagger tightly in his hand, the blade embedded in his palm, drop by drop of bright red blood falling on the Third Madam’s chest, merging with her blood!

"Therefore, I cannot allow you!" Fourth Master Xiao said each word with conviction, leaving no room for doubt.

"Shut up." Xiao Yancheng stood up, his steps already slightly unsteady. He staggered as he faced Fourth Master Xiao, angrily saying, "What do you know? You’ve lived a life of luxury and ease, can you understand the bitterness in my heart? For so many years, the mother I’ve respected turned out to be the one who ruined my real mother’s life, and the fatherly love I cherished was just someone else’s reluctant charity..." He stepped back, despairingly shaking his head, "What do you know...you know nothing!"

"All this has taught me one thing: in this world, you can’t trust anyone. I can only rely on myself, fight for what I want with my own hands. I want to reclaim everything that belongs to me, and for those who have harmed me, I want to retaliate a hundredfold, a thousandfold!" he said through gritted teeth as if he was using all his strength: "He owes me, owes my mother, and I will get it back, get it all back!"

Fourth Master Xiao chuckled softly, asking, "And now?"

And now, so what about now...

What have you regained now, what have you gained, what have you striven for?

Xiao Yancheng’s gaze paused, his mind racing. What had he gained—motherly love? No, his mother had already died in his arms. Power? No, he hadn’t reached the pinnacle. So what had he gained?

Suddenly, he looked down at the Third Madam lying at his feet, his eyes showing confusion!

In the distance, resounding footsteps grew nearer. He knew it must be Cheng Chong capturing Prince Rong, defeating them, and coming to aid Fourth Master Xiao.

Such well-trained steps couldn’t be made by the Miao people, who lived in the depths of the mountains enduring humiliation all year round.

Xiao Yancheng took another step back, his body seemingly being gnawed from within, shrinking bit by bit...

He looked at Fourth Master Xiao, suddenly recalling the scene of them as children, practicing martial arts in the garden with their brothers. Their eldest brother, busy with clerical work, could only see him once at night. The second brother never cared for martial arts, instead always holding a book while sitting with their youngest brother by the side, accompanying them. Only he and his fourth brother practiced boxing under the scorching sun, sweating profusely.

Fourth Brother was quick to learn; he could remember a set of boxing moves after watching their father demonstrate it just once. But as for him, he seemed clumsy, always needing his fourth brother to secretly teach him multiple times before he could remember.

But he was better than his fourth brother at one thing: talking. No matter where he was, whenever he wanted, he could make everyone like him, make everyone burst into laughter.

Those times were the best, no matter what they did, they could find such joy. He suddenly wished he could return to those times...