After a long while, his tone remained calm, yet it seemed to carry the weight accumulated over endless ages:
"A disciple's failure to learn is the master's fault."
As soon as he said this, he paused, as though weighing his next words—or perhaps merely stating another simple fact:
"Your descent into madness was also partly my fault. Back then, I neglected your wishes and feelings, and failed to teach by both word and example..."
Boom!!!
Within the Abyss, his words shook the heavens.
To the Female Emperor, Tan Lin's words struck far harder than his earlier offer to "stand guard."
Like thunder from the Nine Heavens, they exploded directly within the deepest reaches of her heart!
It was I who neglected your wishes and feelings...
I failed to teach by both word and example...
A disciple's failure to learn is the master's fault.
So... that was what he thought?
So he had always taken the blame upon himself. Even though her rebellion, her attack on her master, and her imprisonment of him here for tens of thousands of years had been utterly unreasonable and unforgivable...
Yet now, he was telling her that it was he, the master, who had failed to teach her well.
That was why, throughout these tens of thousands of years, he had endured her hatred and accepted his confinement in silence, never once glaring at her in anger.
He had merely waited quietly for this lifetime to end, and when her final day approached—when she needed someone to lean on most—he said...
As your master... I will stand guard for you.
Rustle... rustle...
At that moment, silence filled the depths of the Abyss.
No one knew how long it lasted.
"You..."
Suddenly, a voice that was desperately restrained yet still leaked a trace of choking emotion