Are You Planning to Rebel

"Rebellion."

"Treason."

"Defecting to the rebel army and attacking Da Qian."

The room was unusually quiet.

Wu Yingxue's eyes were dim, her voice hoarse as she uttered words that left others stunned.

She told Xu Xi how, after their farewell that night, she had traveled alone along the border, hiding in the darkness, taking hidden paths to bypass checkpoints and successfully entering the heart of Da Qian.

Unexpectedly.

Wu Yingxue easily learned news about the royal mansion.

Because the news was so shocking, it had already spread across the thirteen provinces of Da Qian.

The Dingyuan King, a martial artist at the third level of the Innate Realm, had been sent by Da Qian to suppress the rebellion. But for some reason, after a brief confrontation, the Dingyuan King had turned against Da Qian, joining the rebel army in anger.

"How could this be…"

The girl's voice was filled with helplessness: "My father despises evil. How could he possibly side with the rebels?"

The rebels were evil.

The rebels would ignite war.

The rebels would bring suffering to the people.

These were the conclusions the girl instinctively drew. She knew Da Qian was not righteous, but she also felt no sympathy for the rebels.

However, after listening, Xu Xi gave this response:

"Yingxue, have you ever considered something?"

"Despising evil and aiding the rebels."

"These two things are not mutually exclusive."

The night deepened, the bright moon obscured by dark clouds, plunging the world into darkness.

In the candlelit room.

Xu Xi closed the "Yang Yuan Gong" in his hands and turned his gaze to the girl, asking her bewildered face: "Yingxue, do you understand the rebels?"

The rebels…

The girl shook her head in a daze.

Were the rebel leaders high-ranking officials or nobles?

It didn’t seem so.

Whether they were high-level martial artists or scholarly aristocratic families, they all held important positions within Da Qian. How could they possibly start a rebellion?

That would be like attacking themselves.

The answer was no longer vague; it became very clear.

"The so-called rebels are actually commoners, a group of… people who can’t survive," Xu Xi said calmly, stripping away the false facade Da Qian had woven and facing the truth.

The taxes of the Da Qian Dynasty were exorbitant.

Most people in Qingniu Town became "criminals" because they couldn’t afford the high taxes and were sent to the borderlands near the Ten Thousand Mountains.

So.

What would happen if someone couldn’t pay the taxes and didn’t want to be exiled to the border?

"Uprising, or what the government calls rebellion, arises from this."

Xu Xi spoke softly.

Helping the girl unravel her heart-wrenching confusion.

Xu Xi had never met the Dingyuan King, but he knew that someone in such a high position couldn’t have been unaware of Da Qian’s darkness.

Even if the Dingyuan King was truly the kind of martial artist who despised evil, as the girl described.

He shouldn’t have acted so impulsively, directly defecting to the rebels.

"It seems the cause of this rebellion is far more tragic than I imagined, to the point that even the Dingyuan King could no longer endure it…"

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

The cold night wind blew through the open window into the room.

It made the candlelight flicker, chilled the heart, and left Wu Yingxue’s face increasingly pale.

"Father…"

Tears fell first, followed by her voice.

Crystal tears streamed down her cheeks.

The girl felt that the world was somewhat sick.

The Dingyuan King was clearly doing something righteous, yet he was condemned as a traitor by the Da Qian court. The commoners merely wanted to survive, yet they were slaughtered by the army.

This world seemed to be full of problems.

Wu Yingxue told Xu Xi about her subsequent experiences.

Unwilling to believe her father had rebelled, she rushed to the capital as fast as she could, only to find the royal mansion cold and deserted.

Some had fled.

Others had scattered.

There was no need for the court to confiscate the property.

The once bustling Dingyuan King’s mansion now felt like a haunted house, with traces of blood at the entrance.

The girl’s parents were dead.

The Dingyuan King had been killed by Da Qian’s Immortal in the rebel army.

Her mother had been imprisoned and "committed suicide" with a smile in her cell.

From then on, the young princess was left alone, having lost both her parents and her most important family.

Wu Yingxue was in a daze, stumbling as she tried to leave Da Qian, but she was discovered by others along the way. After several life-and-death crises and exhausting all her medicinal pills, she finally arrived in Qingniu Town, severely wounded.

This was the whole story.

The reason why the girl was so badly injured.

"Rest well," Xu Xi helped the girl settle down and once again channeled his energy to help regulate the flow of blood and qi in her body.

After doing this, he stood up and left directly, closing the door behind him to give Wu Yingxue some space alone.

Unlike Xu Moli.

Unlike Krisha.

Wu Yingxue’s life was not tied to Xu Xi.

She had her own values, her own mind.

Xu Xi knew that what Wu Yingxue needed now was not comfort, but a quiet space to herself.

That was all.

"Sniff… sniff…"

Xu Xi walked away, his shoes splashing in the puddles that hadn’t yet dried, making crisp, splashing sounds.

These sounds mingled with the crying behind him.

Gradually becoming indistinguishable.

In the dangerous state of fleeing, intense emotions would remain suppressed in the heart, unable to be released. These emotions would accumulate until they broke through the person’s strong exterior.

In the quiet night, uncontrollable sobbing echoed in the courtyard for a long time.

……

[You learned about the secret passage from Wu Yingxue]

[You learned about Wu Yingxue’s entire experience]

[You were astonished by the Dingyuan King’s actions and gained a preliminary understanding of the instability within Da Qian]

[Filled with sympathy and pity, you left the girl alone in her space]

[The girl cried for a long time, until her voice grew hoarse]

[The girl remained silent for a long time, unwilling to leave her room]

[In the following days, Wu Yingxue continued to stay in her room, no longer displaying her fiery temperament. Her hollow eyes and vacant expression made her seem like a walking corpse]

What is the meaning of life?

For different people, this question has different answers.

For some, it’s family; for others, it’s friends, ideals, or beliefs.

These precious things.

Together, they form the reason for living.

Having lost her parents, Wu Yingxue lost her spirit. She knew she shouldn’t be like this, but the sorrow in her heart had numbed her body.

Xu Xi did not interfere.

He continued to practice martial arts and study the "Yang Yuan Gong" as usual.

Time passed day by day, and Wu Yingxue remained in a state of despair, her eyes dull, no longer possessing the vitality she once had.

She was confused.

She was lost.

She didn’t know what the meaning of life was now that she had lost her parents.

Until one day, Wu Yingxue belatedly noticed that while Xu Xi practiced his martial arts, he would also ponder over the simplest "Yang Yuan Gong."

"Sir, what are you… doing?"

Her lips pale, she asked in a weary and confused voice.

Xu Xi did not hide it: "I want to use the 'Yang Yuan Gong' as a foundation to develop a martial art suitable for everyone—one that isn’t limited by talent or physical aptitude, a martial art that even ordinary people can practice."

The girl was stunned: "Are you planning to rebel?"