C49 Guilt

"Knock knock knock."

In the middle of the night, Qing Bai knocked on the door of the youth's room.

"Come in."

The voice that came out of the room was somewhere between a child and a teenager. It was young and clear, yet it carried with it the inviolable nobility of a superior being. Qing Bai was not sure if the teenager was the adult Ling Yu, so he hesitated at the door and did not move.

Qing Bai heard the person in the room sigh, as if he had no choice but to compromise: "Martial Uncle Qing, I'm Ling Yu. Come in."

Qing Bai pushed the door and entered.

The room was very dark, and Ling Yu was sitting on the side of the bed with his back to the door. Qing Bai felt that Ling Yu's sitting posture was very strange, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

"Martial Uncle Qing, how have you been these past few days?" Ling Yu changed his direction, but in the darkness, Qing Bai still couldn't see his face clearly.

"I... We've been waiting for you. When you come of age..." What was the point of coming back? When he came of age, he should go to the Merfolk Sea. That was where Ling Yu truly belonged.

Qing Bai was suddenly suppressed by the powerful pressure that Ling Yu suddenly emitted. Before seeing Ling Yu, he had so much to say, but now that he saw him, he couldn't say a word.

Ling Yu laughed, "Uncle-Master is still waiting for me. I returned to the Merfolk Sea after I became an adult. Uncle-Master, don't you know how chaotic the Merfolk Sea is? Demons oppress the Merfolk, forcing males to be their slaves, and females let them have fun. They call themselves kings and divide their territories. They also designed a scheme to prevent Merfolk youths from being able to maintain the appearance of a child forever as adults. The beautiful ones were even auctioned off to humans and kept in cages as pets. To put it nicely, they were pets, but in fact..."

Something was wrong with Ling Yu, and Qing Bai subconsciously interrupted him: "Ling Yu, don't say anymore, you..."

"Martial Uncle, you called me the wrong name." Ling Yu laughed again. He raised his head and looked in Qing Bai's direction, but half of his face was covered by his long hair. "Martial Uncle, you should call me Merfolk Emperor. They all say that I am the youngest and most powerful Merfolk Emperor. Do you know how I treat those demons and devils who once bullied my Merfolk? I will skin them, burn them, eat their flesh, drink their blood, break their bones and feed them to the humans."

"Ling Yu..." Qing Bai could not help but interrupt again.

"What's wrong, Martial Uncle? Oh, is Martial Uncle afraid? I shouldn't have told you this. Don't worry about me, Martial Uncle. Sooner or later, Merfolk will become a creature that cannot be underestimated in the seven worlds."

Ling Yu stood up, sat down at the tea table, and lit up the lights. He called Qing Bai over: "Martial Uncle, are you relieved now? You don't have to wait for me anymore. You guys keep walking. You don't need me, do you?"

"What's the use of worrying about me now, Martial Uncle? Where was Martial Uncle when I was an adult and endured bone-corroding pain? Where was Martial Uncle when I saw Merfolk suffering in the Merfolk Sea?"

What appeared in front of Qing Bai's eyes was a bloody face.

...

"Ah!"

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Did he have a nightmare? " Ting Ao hugged the trembling Qing Bai, patted his back lightly, and laughed lightly: "Master was so scared when he had nightmares. If word of this got out, he wouldn't be afraid of being laughed at by the other martial uncles."

How could Qing Bai be in the mood to joke around with him? He just snuggled in Ting Ao's arms, unable to get rid of the image of Ling Yu's bloody mouth in his mind. He gloomily asked, "This afternoon, was that young man in the hall Ling Yu?"

Ting Ao paused for a moment and patted his back with a smile. "The appearance of male Merfolk will change drastically when they grow up. There are also rumors that some females are searching for strange pills in the depths of the sea in order to obtain peerless looks. I don't know if that young man is Ling Yu or not. I only know that their group does have the smell of Merfolk on them. That young man looks like the leader of those people, but if that young man is really Ling Yu, why doesn't he recognize us? "

"Maybe I'm just blaming myself for not looking for him..." In his dream, wasn't Ling Yu blaming himself for not staying by his side when he needed him the most?

Ting Ao dug Qing Bai out of his embrace and forced him to look into his eyes. "Master, how can you think like that? Merfolk are solitary creatures, and the tribulations they experience in adulthood are their path to becoming strong. How can you share the burden for Ling Yu? For thousands of years, the Merfolk have been bullied by the demons and devils, and they have almost been exterminated. If Ling Yu is not strong, how can he save his clansmen?"

"Really? He doesn't blame me for not going to find him?"

"Find him? Where can Master find him?"

In order to revive the Merfolk, they sent Ling Yu to the White Cloud Abbey to cultivate. They hoped that the White Cloud Abbey would protect them, but the White Cloud Abbey could not do anything for Ling Yu. The original Taoist Priest Qing had a cold temperament, and he reluctantly allowed Ling Yu to settle down in the White Cloud Abbey, let alone teach him a peerless mental cultivation method. If it were him, he would only give him a superficial warmth.

Should he give this superficial warmth?

"Coming of age in the Merfolk is just as dangerous as going through a cultivation tribulation. What's worse is that you will lose all your memories before you come of age." Ting Ao felt that this was the best opportunity: "Even if Ling Yu didn't forget, he will still chase after the demons and devils that are fleeing in all directions. Regardless of whether that young man is Ling Yu or not, Ling Yu has already become a Merfolk Emperor. There's nothing we can do."

What Ting Ao said was not without reason. Ever since the youth appeared, Qing Bai had been feeling a little uneasy. He knew the plot of Proud of the Firmament by heart, so why did what he had heard and seen feel so unreal? That was just a nightmare. Then why did the youth call him "Martial Uncle" this afternoon? This place was ten thousand miles away from the Merfolk Sea. Was Ling Yu chasing demons and devils here?

Ting Ao looked at Qing Bai, who had curled himself into a ball, and went over to hug his waist, deep in thought.

"Why did you come back?"

The young man sitting in front of Ting Ao didn't even bother to hide his disgust for the young man. "Where did you come from? You're so disgusting."

Ling Yu did not care about Ting Ao's bad attitude and leisurely drank his tea. "Lord Demon God, aren't you being too much of a busybody? I'm chasing a fugitive, yet you still want to interfere? Besides, I don't have the right to choose what I look like when I grow up. Don't you like it? I like my current appearance."

"I almost forgot that you're a Merfolk Emperor now. What's wrong? The war in the Merfolk Sea has already been settled. Why are you so relaxed? If you want to catch up with a fugitive, why don't you stay in a restaurant and chat while drinking tea?" Ting Ao obviously did not believe him.

Ling Yu shook the teacup in his hand and laughed, "Let them escape for a while. Only after gaining a moment of freedom will they know how precious it is. What do you think?"

"Stop pretending, Ling Yu." Ting Ao grabbed his wrist. "I don't care about little tricks like entering dreams. Do you think he'll fall in love with you just because you make him feel bad and guilty? In your dreams. "

Ling Yu grabbed Ting Ao's hand and sneered, "At least I have a place in his heart. What does it matter if he loves me or not?"