Nine Heart Begonia

He expressed his guilt to Ning Fengzhi and said he wanted to visit Meng Qu.

"Very well. It's kind of you to think of him, young friend."

With that, they walked in the direction Sword Chen Xin had flown.

When they entered the room, they saw a begonia the size of a human head floating above Meng Qu, who lay on the bed.

Yu Tianshuang gazed at the exquisitely beautiful begonia with its nine flower hearts, and his heart suddenly jolted. An indescribable stirring rose from its depths, while the Heavenly Frost Cold Qi Martial Soul inside him churned wildly, as though it wanted to burst out and fuse with the flower. A thought surfaced abruptly in his mind: I have to protect this flower.

Walking ahead, Shui Xinrou noticed that Yu Tianshuang had not followed and was instead standing there in a daze. She was puzzled.

"What's wrong, Tianshuang? Why are you standing there like a fool?"

Just then, Sword Chen Xin, who had been standing beside Meng Qu, walked over to Yu Tianshuang.

"It's just a normal reaction to seeing the Nine Heart Begonia for the first time."

Hearing Sword Chen Xin's words, Shui Xinrou's blue eyes showed some confusion. She turned to look again at the Nine Heart Begonia floating in the air, her face full of questions.

"Dean Shui, there's no need to be curious. Only a successor of the Seven Kill Sword would feel this way. Isn't that right, child?"

Sword Chen Xin looked at Yu Tianshuang, his usually tranquil face showing a trace of excitement and unease.

"Senior, I did feel that way about the Nine Heart Begonia, but as for me..."

Before Yu Tianshuang could finish, he felt himself pulled into a broad embrace. He pushed hard a few times, but when there was no response, tears slipped uncontrollably from his eyes, falling drop by drop onto the white robes covering the chest before him.

"It really is you, child. It really is you. From the moment I first saw you, and then when you summoned your Martial Soul, I could sense it. You're Suxin's child. You've suffered all these years."

Watching grandfather and grandson recognize each other, the people around them smiled in relief without speaking.

After a time spent lamenting, Sword Chen Xin took Yu Tianshuang by the hand and said, "All these years, I searched desperately for news of you, but could never find any. I always thought you..."

"Grand... Grandpa, eight years ago, after Father and Mother entrusted me to Grandpa in Hagen-Dazs City, there was no more news of them. Where exactly are my parents now?"

Hearing Yu Tianshuang's question, Sword Chen Xin fell into thought, then slowly said, "Not long after you were born, your parents received word from the Nine Heavens Rainbow Wind Clan that Spirit Hall intended to wipe out our Lower Three Sects. At the time, I was in seclusion at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, attempting to break through to the level 95 Super Douluo realm, and knew nothing of it. Your parents left a letter and took you, less than a year old, to the Nine Heavens Rainbow Wind Clan."

"By the time I emerged from seclusion, I learned that the Nine Heavens Rainbow Wind Clan had already been destroyed by Spirit Hall, and your parents had vanished along with Madam Ye's only daughter, the successor of the Undying Sect, without a trace."

"After my investigation turned up nothing, I learned that your grandfather had publicly announced your father's expulsion from the sect and removal from the ancestral register. I went alone to Spirit City to demand an explanation, but Porcupinefish Douluo, an elder of Spirit Hall, stood in my way. After I defeated him, Qian Daoliu appeared. Fortunately, Old Bones arrived in time, and the two of us fought with everything we had just to escape."

"Why does Spirit Hall want to hunt us down?"

"That's how Spirit Hall is. Whenever a sect affects its standing, it will try every means to eliminate it. Our Lower Three Sects have always had few members. Compared with the Upper Three Sects, getting rid of us was hardly difficult."

Is Spirit Hall really so overbearing? Just because a sect might threaten its standing, it would spare no effort to eliminate it?

Lost in thought, Yu Tianshuang suddenly recalled the notice at the entrance to Ice Seal Town.

At that moment, the elderly woman in the room, leaning on a cane, slowly walked over.

"Chen Xin, your disciple is out of danger. His body was simply invaded too heavily by a freezing chill. He still needs time to recuperate."

She then raised her kindly face and looked at Yu Tianshuang.

"Not bad. I heard your Soul Power is only at level 26. To have such talent at so young an age, this generation's successor of the Slaughter Sect is quite impressive."

With that, she shakily took a jade-green pendant from her sleeve and handed it to Yu Tianshuang.

"This is a token that each generation's successor of the Nine Heart Begonia gives to the successor of the Slaughter Sect. Whenever a successor of the Nine Heart Begonia heals someone, this pendant collects a portion of healing power. It can save your life at a critical moment. Lingling's mother should have been the one to give it to you, but..."

The elderly woman's expression grew somewhat lonely.

Yu Tianshuang accepted the pendant from the kindly old woman and put it around his neck. With a solemn, earnest expression, he said, "Grandma Ye, rest assured. I, Yu Tianshuang, will use the sword in my hand to protect this flower."

"Good, good, good. To see you when my end is near truly is a mercy from heaven."

Just then, a booming voice came from outside the door. "Madam Ye, I hope you're well."

The newcomer was an elderly man dressed in green, with two girls following behind him.

"Lingling, every time I want to see you, I have to come with Grandpa when he gets treatment. When will you come study at Heaven Dou Royal Academy with me? Isn't it boring staying in these mountains every day?"

Hearing the voice at the door, Yu Tianshuang turned to look. The first person he saw was a girl with beautiful dark-blue hair, standing gracefully in the doorway. She was looking at the girl speaking beside her, then turned toward the inner room.

The moment Yu Tianshuang saw the girl's eyes, as brilliant and bright as the ocean, it seemed she was the only one in his sight. The Heavenly Frost Cold Qi inside him seemed ready to burst out of his body and stand guard by her side.

The girl also saw Yu Tianshuang not far away. She saw his handsome face, his cold, stern bearing, and his silver-white eyes, sharp as swords, staring intently at her.

As the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul inside her stirred, along with the fluttering in her heart, Ye Lingling's mind went blank.

As the two gazed at each other, it was as though time had stopped and they were the only two people in the world.