How Will You Choose the Scales?

Lin Ze'an did not linger long. After purchasing a few more items at the market, he and the three others—Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan—boarded the carriage prepared by the branch hall early the next morning.

Although it was not as ornate as the previous carriage, it was still quite spacious and comfortable.

The carriage traveled along a country road, the fields on both sides glowing with a golden luster under the sunlight.

Finally, I'm going home. Lin Ze'an leaned against the carriage window, watching the scenery fly by outside.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Ze'an pointed to a village in the distance and said, "That village ahead is my home. Let's park the carriage outside the village."

The three of them followed his gaze and saw a quiet little village in the distance.

Before long, the carriage slowed to a stop at the entrance of the village.

Lin Ze'an stepped down, smiling as he looked at the village he knew so well.

He wondered if his father would be happy to see him back so soon.

"This is where you grew up?" Hu Liena stepped off the carriage, looking around with curiosity.

Just then, a few children playing at the village entrance recognized Lin Ze'an and immediately ran over. "Brother Ze'an is back?"

Seeing his little friends, a bright smile appeared on Lin Ze'an's face. He stepped forward to hug them. "Xiao Hu, Xiao Hua, I'm back!"

Xiao Hu looked at him with a smile, but then seemed to remember something and hesitated. "Brother Ze'an, Uncle Lin, he..."

Before he could finish, he was sternly interrupted by Xiao Hua. "Xiao Hu!"

She looked at Lin Ze'an and asked, "Brother Ze'an, how is life at Spirit Hall? Have you been doing well these days?"

Seeing their behavior, a bad premonition welled up in Lin Ze'an's heart.

He stared intently at the two of them. "What happened to my father?"

At this, Xiao Hu lowered his head and whispered, "Brother Ze'an, go home and see for yourself... Uncle Lin, he..."

Without waiting for him to finish, and ignoring Hu Liena and the others behind him, Lin Ze'an bolted toward his home without a word.

"Little Junior Brother!" Yan exclaimed, hurriedly following after him.

Hu Liena and Xie Yue exchanged a glance and ran after them as well.

Judging by the way those two children were hesitating, it seemed something had happened at the little junior brother's home.

Lin Ze'an sprinted along the village path, his panic growing with every step.

He had already run through half the village, yet he hadn't encountered a single person on the road; this was highly abnormal.

When he finally reached his doorstep, the sight before him left him frozen in place.

All the adults of the village were gathered at his house, filling the courtyard and the doorway, standing shoulder to shoulder.

What shocked him even more was that his house was draped in white silk.

The white strips of cloth fluttered gently in the wind, appearing exceptionally jarring.

"This... this is..." Looking at all of this, Lin Ze'an's small face turned deathly pale, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The villagers looked at Lin Ze'an with expressions of sorrow and sympathy.

Someone whispered, "Ze'an is back."

"Child... please accept my condolences..."

Lin Ze'an stumbled into the courtyard, his voice trembling as he asked, "What... what happened?"

The village chief stepped forward, his aged face full of grief. "Ze'an... your father, he... was a hero."

As he finished speaking, everyone knelt toward Lin Ze'an.

Lin Ze'an looked at this scene, at a loss for what to do. He hurriedly stepped forward to help the village chief up. "No... Village Chief, please get up... what exactly happened?"

What had happened to his father? Why did everyone have such expressions?

The village chief sighed, his eyes brimming with sorrow. "Child, you know that our village is in a remote location."

He choked back a sob as he said, "A few days ago, a strange Spirit Master came into the village. At first, we thought he was just here to rest."

"Because he was a Spirit Master, we didn't dare to drive him away, so we let him stay."

"But who would have thought... he was a beast who fed on human blood! Once we discovered it, he tried to slaughter the entire village to silence us!"

Hearing this, Lin Ze'an's face turned deathly pale. "What?!"

If that was the case... then his father...

"It was your father who held him off..." The village chief wept uncontrollably. "That gave us the chance to seek help from Spirit Hall..."

He pointed tremblingly toward the house. "But by the time the reinforcements arrived... your father had already exhausted his life force, and even the Spirit Master from Spirit Hall couldn't save him..."

After entering the house, his eyes immediately fell upon the coffin placed in the center of the main room.

The wooden coffin was half-open, revealing the figure lying quietly inside.

Lin Gang lay there peacefully, his eyes tightly shut, his face covered in gruesome scars.

Deep, bone-reaching wounds... clearly left behind during a fierce battle.

"Dad..." Lin Ze'an stepped forward, shaking Lin Gang with trembling hands.

When Hu Liena and the others arrived, all they heard were Lin Ze'an's desperate cries.

"Dad! Wake up! Didn't you say you'd wait for me to come back?"

Yan hurried forward to steady Lin Ze'an. "Junior brother, pull yourself together..."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Lin Ze'an shoved Yan away and summoned his martial soul.

Mo Ruier manifested behind him, and two purple spirit rings began to spin frantically.

"I can save you... Dad... I definitely can."

With Mo Ruier's powerful life force, it had to be possible...

He raised his hand, and a dense surge of life energy poured madly toward Lin Gang.

Watching Lin Ze'an in this state, Hu Liena didn't know what to do, so she could only try to persuade him. "Junior brother..."

The dead cannot be brought back to life...

But Lin Ze'an seemed not to hear her, continuing to pour out his life force with all his might.

His face was covered in tears, his voice choked with sobs. "Dad... please, wake up..."

Yet no matter how hard he tried, Lin Gang's body was like a giant sieve.

The injected life force could not remain in his body at all, dissipating the moment it entered.

At this moment, Yue Guan and Gui Mei walked in as well.

Seeing the scene, Yue Guan stepped forward quickly and pulled Lin Ze'an into an embrace, cutting off his frantic output of power.

The dead cannot be brought back to life; if this continued, not only would he fail to save Lin Gang, but he would also exhaust his own strength to the point of collapse.

"Disciple, stop now. It is already too late..."

Yue Guan's voice was filled with deep sorrow and self-reproach. "It is all my fault. Had I let your father accompany you to Spirit City that day, this tragedy would never have occurred..."

Hearing this, Lin Ze'an wept as he hugged Yue Guan, his voice choked. "Master, this is not your fault... My father died for the sake of protection."

"It's just... I will never see him again... Master..."

He still remembered a question his father had asked him once.

"Son, if you had to choose, imagine a scale."

"On one side of the scale are the villagers, and on the other is your own life. What would you choose?"

At the time, he had said to Lin Gang, "If I have to choose, the answer is obvious, isn't it?"

"If my life could be exchanged for the happiness and peace of the masses, then of course I would do it without hesitation."

"Even if the world is decaying, no matter the time, there will always be someone who loves this world and uses their entire being to heal its scars."

He hadn't expected that his mother would make such a choice... and that his father would make it as well.