When the Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Meets the Unbeatable Protagonist | Chapter 40

Lin Ji carried Lu Xiaobai down the mountain while listening to Elder Shuhua explain his own background. However, Lin Ji was actually not very interested and didn’t give the expected reaction, only responding with a faint "mm."

Elder Shuhua asked, “...So what do you plan to do next?”

Only then did Lin Ji lift his gaze to look at him, his tone cold: “What do you think? If someone dares to harm him from behind, they should be prepared to pay the price.”

It was normal for Long Aotian to have people around him, but being ambushed was unacceptable. Not long ago, when Lu Xiaobai released his spiritual pressure, the entire ruins were affected, so Lin Ji believed that the person who attacked wouldn’t have run far.

Sure enough, as Lin Ji and Lu Xiaobai flew around the ruins on their swords, they spotted a stranger sneaking around, trying to hide.

Lin Ji carried two swords with him; one was used for flying, while the other he wielded mercilessly, swinging it down towards the ground. The yellow sand and rocks exploded, and even though the person tried to dodge, they were still sent flying by the sword energy.

Lin Ji looked at the stranger’s back shoulder and sneered, pronouncing each word clearly: “It’s you.”

Lu Xiaobai was no pushover either; before sitting down to meditate, he had placed a counter-damage talisman on himself. Even if he encountered someone with strong spiritual power, any harm done to his body would be reflected back equally.

The stranger had used all their strength for a sneak attack and had no protective hidden light stone, so their back was a bloody mess, already severely injured by their own spiritual power.

Seeing their companion come seeking revenge, the stranger, knowing they couldn’t win, quickly knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: “I’m sorry! I was bewitched, but I really don’t want to die! Please, have mercy and spare my life…”

Lin Ji remained silent, holding Lu Xiaobai close to the sandy rocks, using his own spiritual power to create a barrier to protect him.

Then he stood up; the opponent wasn’t foolish enough to just wait around and had already flown away on their sword. Lin Ji swung his sword and knocked them down from the air, shaking his head with a hint of regret: “You were kneeling and begging for mercy, and you’re covered in injuries. I was actually feeling a bit soft-hearted and was planning to let you go.”

“After all, even if I didn’t kill you, in your current state, you probably wouldn’t be able to leave the ruins.”

“But you turned around and ran, which shows that your plea for mercy wasn’t sincere.” He paused, pretending to suddenly realize: “Oh, you almost tricked me!”

Lin Ji’s expression darkened completely, “You injured my senior brother and still want to leave unscathed? Do you think you can escape?”

The hope that had just ignited in the nameless cultivator was instantly extinguished, and the next moment, Lin Ji charged at him.

Having begged for mercy was clearly useless; they could only fight to the death. The cultivator could enter the ruins, so their cultivation level was naturally above the Golden Core stage. In a life-and-death crisis, they also unleashed their potential, becoming even stronger than usual.

However, it only delayed their death for a moment; for Lin Ji, it made no difference.

Lu Xiaobai secretly squinted and watched, feeling comforted. He had been fed healing pills by Lin Ji and had his wounds healed with spiritual power, so he only fainted for a short while.

He always knew that A Ji occasionally liked to put on a show, even if his acting skills weren’t that great.

After all these years, he had never called his senior brother until he fainted and could finally hear it.

Over there, Lin Ji was already wrapping things up. In despair, the nameless cultivator, perhaps with the mindset of dragging someone down with him even in death, struck out with a palm of spiritual power aimed at himself.

Lin Ji used an earth escape talisman to teleport in front of Lu Xiaobai, blocking and counterattacking with his sword. The opponent fell to the ground, and the battle ended.

Lu Xiaobai quickly closed his eyes, instinctively raising his arms to shield himself, but then relaxed.

Lin Ji had fought several battles in the ruins and was also injured and somewhat fatigued. He withdrew the barrier and shook Lu Xiaobai, seeing that he still showed no signs of waking up, so he had to carry him again.

After walking for a while, the hidden Elder Shuhua sighed, “Look, there are treasures everywhere. Aren’t you tempted?”

Ling Yun Immortal was so considerate; before his spiritual essence returned, he had even summoned the treasures from the ruins, and the monsters had been cleared out by him.

With few cultivators in the ruins, and the strong ones already killed by Lin Ji, it was as if the treasures in the ruins were now available for him to take at will.

But Lin Ji insisted, “Since others can’t take them from me, I’m not in a hurry. I still have things to accomplish.”

The thing he referred to was finding Lin Yu.

Lu Xiaobai couldn’t keep pretending to be unconscious forever. While on Lin Ji’s back, he feigned gradually regaining consciousness and called out to him: “A Ji…”

Lin Ji let out a sigh of relief but had no intention of letting him down to walk on his own. He glanced at the corner of the dark area and said slowly, “Come out.”

Lin Yu stumbled out, falling to the ground.

At this moment, Lu Xiaobai was genuinely surprised that A Ji had avenged him before dealing with his own family disgrace.

Lin Yu still refused to admit defeat, “What? Are you going to kill me? Do you want to commit fratricide? Even if I’m irredeemably wicked, killing your own third uncle is still a great sin, and you will face retribution!”

“Do you think that saying this will make me go easy on you?” Lin Ji’s expression returned to calm: “But you’re right; you are a disgrace. I don’t need to commit fratricide because you’re not worth me dirtying my hands.”

“You!” Lin Yu had acted as the head of the family and an elder for many years, and even though they had torn their faces, Lin Ji’s words still made him feel offended.

But when the person Lin Ji was carrying poked their head out and sneered at him, Lin Yu’s face turned pale with fear, and he stammered out a few unclear words: “You…?”

“How could it be you…?”

Lin Ji then noticed the strange state of the other person and couldn’t help but laugh: “You ran too fast and bumped into a rock; your face is swollen like a pig’s head waiting to be slaughtered.”

“Ha. Third Uncle.” Lin Ji didn’t expect him to still have the mind to joke, “While you can still run, you should hurry up and escape.”

“Looks like you don’t understand what it means to be brought here.”

Lin Ji set Lu Xiaobai down, changed his position to support him, and placed an invisibility talisman on each of them.

Lin Yu didn’t understand the meaning behind Lin Ji’s words, nor did he comprehend why the other party didn’t attack him and just left.

He stumbled away quickly, unaware that Lin Ji and Lu Xiaobai were following him the whole way.

He wanted to find a way out of this ghostly place but couldn’t find the exit, instead encountering many shiny treasures along the way.

Lin Yu’s eyes lit up, and he fell into excitement over finding treasure again. He took off his luxurious wide robe and began picking up treasures, wishing he could wrap up everything he saw, not wanting to leave at all.

At his happiest moment, he ran into the several loose cultivators he had previously controlled with his gu technique. They were also dazzled by the treasures but recognized Lin Yu.

“Good! So you’re here! We thought you had slipped away so quickly; turns out you want to rob us!”

Having been freed from the gu by a powerful elder, they remembered the humiliation of being used to do the bidding of mortals and surrounded Lin Yu.

Lin Ji closed his eyes and didn’t look, but the cries of despair from not far away fell into his ears one by one.

A cold hand suddenly grasped his wrist gently; Lu Xiaobai, as usual, used his spiritual power to warm Lin Ji’s hands.

Lin Ji looked at him, his feelings complicated.

But after the loose cultivators teamed up to take revenge, they turned against each other, each wanting to claim all the treasures for themselves, leading to a bloody fight.

In the end, they ended up just like the scene Lin Ji and Lu Xiaobai had seen when they first entered, with no winners.

As the dust settled, Lin Ji slowly walked forward, squatting beside a pile of corpses, finding Lin Yu among them. He took the family head jade pendant from his waist and other items that could prove his identity and stored them away.

Then, he reached out to cover Lin Yu’s unclosing eyes.

Lin Ji’s lips curled into a smile: “Third Uncle, don’t worry. Everything you have, I will inherit completely, after all, I am the only one left in the Lin family.”

After all, the foundation of the Lin family was built by his father, and now it was just returning to its original position, even if Lin Ji didn’t necessarily need it.

“...Can’t close? Then forget it.”

Lin Ji stood up and, seemingly casually, kicked the corpse hard. His grievances with his third uncle were settled.

“...”

The remaining task was to take the treasures.

Lin Ji and Lu Xiaobai picked and chose, generally looking down on the ordinary ones, and in the end, they filled their storage artifacts to the brim.

Of course, Lu Xiaobai didn’t forget to exaggerate his performance: “Why have all the treasures in the ruins come out! What on earth happened while I was cultivating?”

Seeing Lin Ji staring at him with a face full of speechlessness, Lu Xiaobai had to pretend… no, he revealed his discomfort, coughing while holding his wound in pain.

Lin Ji couldn’t keep a straight face with him anymore and had to walk over to check.

After the two took the treasures they were interested in, they walked out of the ruins side by side.

A surge of black gas suddenly rose from the ground, slowly climbing up, and finally silently drilled into the wound on Lu Xiaobai’s back shoulder.

Lu Xiaobai raised his hand to touch it, and Lin Ji asked him, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Xiaobai replied, “It’s nothing.” He just felt a bit strange all of a sudden.

The black gas disappeared into his body, unnoticed by anyone.

“...”

Lin Ji flew back to Yunzhou City with Lu Xiaobai on his sword. The old house hadn’t been sold yet, so they simply continued to live there; after all, there wouldn’t be any poisonous weasels harming them now.

Although Lu Xiaobai had successfully established his foundation, he had just entered this realm and suffered injuries, not having the time to stabilize his essence, ultimately losing some of his physical condition and needing to rest for a while.

Lin Ji used his spiritual power daily to heal him and help him recuperate. Lu Xiaobai was recovering relatively quickly, but his complexion remained pale, and he looked a bit weary.

Lin Ji sighed and took the opportunity to go to the pharmacy while Lu Xiaobai was resting. He described his symptoms to the doctor and brought back some nourishing medicine to brew.

When Lu Xiaobai woke up, he saw Lin Ji sitting beside him. When he tried to lean up, Lin Ji reached out to support him.

Both of them had their own thoughts, and the atmosphere was somewhat silent.

After a moment, Lin Ji brought over the brewed medicine, “Adding some earthly medicine should also help with your recovery.”

Lu Xiaobai glanced at him and took a sip, grimacing at the bitterness: “Why didn’t you add some honey? It’s so bitter! Clearly, the medicine you gave Master wasn’t like this.”

Lin Ji paused with his other hand, looking annoyed as he took out a paper bag filled with various flavored candied fruits, saying helplessly: “I was going to add it, but who told you to drink it so fast?”

The medicine had just been brewed, and he thought Lu Xiaobai would let it cool for a while, but who knew he would just drink it down without caring if it was hot!

Lu Xiaobai: “...”

Lin Ji’s emotions were unclear, and he suddenly leaned closer to ask, “Or are you feeling guilty and deliberately not wanting me to ask any questions?”

“...” Lu Xiaobai turned his head away from him: “Who feels guilty? You tell me, I haven’t done anything wrong, so why should I feel guilty?”

Lin Ji suppressed the anxiety in his heart, his voice unavoidably a bit annoyed: “Fine. You take care of your injuries. In a few days, I need to return to the Lin family to handle some matters, and I’ll come back to Peifeng Sect after I’m done.”

“Are you going to see it with me, or are you going back first?”

Lu Xiaobai was surprised: “The Lin family? By the way, how did your third uncle end up in the ruins?”

“...”

Forget it, Lin Ji lowered his gaze. He didn’t have the truth-revealing pill, and Lu Xiaobai’s reaction was like hitting a punch into cotton; it was like trying to wake someone who was pretending to be asleep. What could he do if he wanted to know the truth? Forcefully pry open his mouth or lose composure and interrogate him?

Lin Ji couldn’t do that because he didn’t know if Lu Xiaobai was pretending or if he really didn’t have that memory.

He blandly recounted what had happened at the cliff bottom, not avoiding mentioning the Mermaid Pearl, “The disaster of the Lin family was caused by a treasure.”

“In the end, I don’t know whether to blame my third uncle’s scheme or to blame my father; the result is the same. They are all gone, and I have lost my family, including my mother and them.”

“My Lin family has also become a ruin, implicating countless lives.”

Lu Xiaobai opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he could only pat Lin Ji’s shoulder and hug him: “It’s okay, those things are completely over. You don’t know about these entanglements; it’s not your fault.”

“At some point in your life, you lost everything, but as long as you’re alive, there’s hope, and you can still gain new things.”

“Just like you stepped onto the path of cultivation, joined Peifeng Sect, and have a master and me; that’s what you have now.”

Lin Ji froze, feeling the warmth of Lu Xiaobai’s body pressed tightly against him.

Lu Xiaobai had always treated him this way; he would guide him when he was confused and hug him when he was sad.

But was he doing this because of his good nature, or was it the awareness of being a senior brother? That was hard to tell.

Lin Ji slightly relaxed, and at one moment, he even wanted to let go of his last guard, to live a little more freely, to relax and feel this embrace, to bury his head in Lu Xiaobai’s shoulder and express his sadness, allowing himself to be weak just this once.

Lin Ji reached out, wanting to return the embrace at that moment, and he opened his lips to silently murmur: “Senior Brother…”

But people always think at the moment they should stop thinking. Lin Ji suddenly remembered something, straightened up, and returned to his indifferent demeanor.

From Lu Xiaobai’s perspective, he pushed him away once again, even continuing to test him afterward.

“You heard it too; my family has the Mermaid Pearl, which can help you completely cleanse your spiritual root. It might even help you break through your realm.”

“But I destroyed it… will you blame me?” Lin Ji raised his eyes, seemingly eager to know how he would answer.

Lu Xiaobai leaned against the pillow and looked at Lin Ji for a long time. He had always been accommodating. As long as he wanted, he could come up with countless ways to satisfy Lin Ji.

But at this moment, Lu Xiaobai felt a bit tired; perhaps when one is sick, their temper is a bit worse than usual. He suddenly said coldly: “Even if the Mermaid Pearl were in your hands right now, I wouldn’t use it.”

Lin Ji was stunned, but Lu Xiaobai continued: “The Mermaid Pearl isn’t mine; it has an owner. Even if one day I must use it to save my life, I would borrow it from its owner. If they don’t want to lend it, would I kill the owner to take it?” Do you think I’m that kind of person?

But after saying this, Lu Xiaobai recalled various things from his past life. He had indeed used the Mermaid Pearl to enhance his cultivation and change his fate successfully, but he couldn’t be tough about it.

Although at that time, he didn’t know… Lu Xiaobai blinked, his tone calming down: “Now my spiritual root only needs to be refined once more, and I have already established my foundation, so I don’t need that item. The Mermaid Pearl is a treasure your father risked his life to obtain; it’s yours, so you can dispose of it however you want.”

“Don’t worry, A Ji, I won’t have any complaints, nor have I ever thought of taking it.”

Lin Ji was stunned and quickly explained: “I didn’t mean that, I…”

Lu Xiaobai interrupted: “I know, I’m just a bit tired.”

He lay down, “I want to rest for a bit; remember to close the door when you go out.”

“...”

After a long time, Lin Ji placed the paper bag with the candied fruits on the table and turned to leave.

At night, after dinner, the two of them went to rest.

Lin Ji regretted his poor expression; perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned the Mermaid Pearl. His original intention was to test whether Lu Xiaobai was pretending, wanting to see if there was any abnormal reaction.

But saying this to Lu Xiaobai was equivalent to doubting his intentions regarding the Mermaid Pearl, which was uncomfortable to hear.

Lin Ji could feel that he had annoyed Lu Xiaobai for the first time. He stood outside the room, pacing for a long time, wanting to knock on the door but couldn’t lift his hand.

After hesitating for a long time, he turned and left, returning to his own room to lie down, tossing and turning.

Lu Xiaobai was injured, and Lin Ji felt he shouldn’t squeeze onto the same bed with him to avoid pressing on his wounds, so they hadn’t been sleeping together these past few days.

Plus, his heart was also very chaotic and needed quiet reflection. Too many things had happened recently, especially since Lu Xiaobai always left him feeling puzzled and unable to understand.

The only thing he could be sure of was that Ling Yun Immortal had indeed appeared in the ruins that day, and he had seen his past life.

But what if, perhaps Lu Xiaobai really didn’t have that memory? Maybe Ling Yun Immortal could only stay in the ruins, suppressed by his true self, only appearing in the face of danger or significant plot points, making certain deviations to change bad outcomes.

Just like during the sect selection and when saving Luo Xiang in the secret realm.

Lin Ji was naturally prone to overthinking and easily getting sidetracked. He didn’t even realize that even without Lu Xiaobai’s explanation, he could quickly piece together the logic for the other party.

On the other side, Lu Xiaobai sat in meditation and, upon seeing the shadow outside the window disappear, gave up on trying to sleep, feeling no more thoughts.

Lin Ji clearly hadn’t been able to sleep before, and after returning to the old house from the impact in the ruins, he definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Sure enough, he saw that he was completely different from his past life, and Lu Xiaobai was still brooding over the fact that Lin Ji hadn’t come to find him these past few nights.

After a moment, he sat up again. Forget it, how could he let such trivial matters disturb his mind? Had he lived two lives just to be so petty?

“Are you going to cultivate?” Elder Shuhua popped up, “You might as well try cultivating the Path of Affection as well.”

“You really are persistent.” Lu Xiaobai sighed, coming back to his senses and looking at him: “The Path of Affection?”

Elder Shuhua sighed: “Yes, the Path of Affection.”

Lu Xiaobai asked, “Weren’t you always advising me to cultivate the Path of Emotionlessness?”

Elder Shuhua floated around with a weary expression, speaking earnestly: “Do you know why so many people who cultivate the Path of Emotionlessness fail in the end?”

“That’s because they have issues! They don’t even know their own nature!”

Lu Xiaobai: “...”

Elder Shuhua continued: “Or they clearly understand their own nature but insist on going against it, trying to break through themselves and clear their confusion to attain the Dao, only to have their hearts shattered.”

“I don’t understand; the principles of cultivation clearly extend from the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Where in the I Ching does it say that a person must be flawless and without defects to attain the Dao?”

“Cultivators are all different; going with the flow and cultivating without force can lead to a long journey.”

“Emotionless people cultivate the Path of Emotionlessness, while emotional people cultivate the Path of Affection… what suits you is the best method.”

Lu Xiaobai thought for a moment and smiled: “You can say such things; you truly are the grandfather I admire.”

“...” Elder Shuhua spread his hands helplessly: “There’s nothing I can do; I wanted you to cultivate the Path of Emotionlessness, but after this, I realized you’re not suited for it.”

“Those who have opened their emotional channels can’t cultivate the Path of Emotionlessness. You’re too emotional; you should cultivate the Path of Affection.”

Lu Xiaobai lowered his gaze, acknowledging that he was emotional. What did it mean to have emotional channels…

Elder Shuhua, just like the Yan Yu Beast, could sense Lu Xiaobai’s unresisting heart and, feeling his genuine confusion, became even more helpless: “Don’t you think you’re being a bit too good to Lin Ji?”

“Is it just because you’re his senior brother? Or do you want to save a young man with an unstable temperament? Unfortunately, he may not appreciate it.”

Elder Shuhua was both helpless and watching the show with a hint of mockery.

Although Elder Shuhua was also filled with doubts about Lu Xiaobai’s background, the young man he was following was powerful and brought him no harm. At least now, he was willing to be called grandfather…

Even though he didn’t know why he was deliberately misleading Lin Ji, not wanting him to know his own identity… but aside from that, Elder Shuhua still felt that Lu Xiaobai was particularly special to Lin Ji.

Lu Xiaobai rebutted: “But I’m not just good to him; I’m good to Master too.”

Elder Shuhua: “...I can’t be bothered to argue with you!”

After saying that, the elder angrily retreated.

“...”

After a long time, Lu Xiaobai lowered his gaze, “And A Ji is also very good to me.”

Thinking about it this way, Lu Xiaobai felt better.

In the ruins, A Ji protected him, guarding the cliff bottom to prevent anyone from approaching; later, he carried him to find the person who had hurt him to take revenge.

These past few days, A Ji had also taken care of him in every way, providing for his food, clothing, and shelter, not requiring him to lift a finger, allowing him to focus on healing.

All these kindnesses were real, just like the time they had spent together over the years wouldn’t turn to foam because of their past lives.

In human relationships, how could there always be smooth sailing without conflicts? They wouldn’t always only see each other’s strengths and tolerate each other’s weaknesses.

Thinking from A Ji’s perspective, he had gone to great lengths to hide things from him, so he must be very confused, troubled, and unhappy. It was only natural; no one wanted to live in a reality where truth and illusion were indistinguishable.

Lu Xiaobai convinced himself and stopped feeling gloomy.

He lay back on the bed, pondering whether he should really tell him. Could their friendship in this life truly overcome the hatred and barriers of their past lives?

Now that the window paper hadn’t been pierced, even if they both knew in their hearts, they could still barely maintain the status quo. It was completely different from openly discussing things.

Lu Xiaobai thought a lot, still feeling uncertain in his heart. At least he couldn’t be direct; he had to take it slow.

The next morning, Lin Ji was in the courtyard washing his face with water, seeing his reflection in the basin looking extremely dispirited; he hadn’t slept well again last night.

Lu Xiaobai walked over, tilting his body to look at him: “What’s wrong?”

While Lin Ji was in a daze, Lu Xiaobai held his face, looking left and right, “What a handsome guy, why do you have to ruin your own face?”

“A Ji, why are you being so hard on yourself?”

Lin Ji, who had been feeling suspended all night, let out a heavy sigh of relief upon seeing Lu Xiaobai acting as usual: “...What are you talking about?”

Lu Xiaobai released his face and smiled: “Every day you dress up in fine clothes and take care of your hair; isn’t that you? But you still need to take care of your face. Even if you’re naturally beautiful, you can’t withstand staying up late; if you ruin your foundation, it won’t be good.”

He always thought Lin Ji’s features were striking, but he was too particular, with long, black hair that made him look like a great beauty.

Lin Ji wanted to ask Lu Xiaobai if he was no longer angry, but no matter what, he couldn’t open his mouth, so yesterday’s unpleasantness was lightly brushed over.

In many cases, people don’t understand how to soften their stance, so they can only take the initiative to start a conversation or quickly respond to express goodwill: “I’ve always been like this; it’s not intentional… So why do you go around without any accessories every day?”

Lu Xiaobai hissed in response, retorting unhappily: “I’m returning to simplicity.”

Indeed, there were very few cultivators in the cultivation world who dressed as simply as Lu Xiaobai, which made it difficult for Lin Ji to find anything on him to identify his spiritual power when he wanted to use the Soul Chasing Arrow.

In fact, in this world, regardless of gender, very few people don’t care about their appearance and how others evaluate them.

Everyone, to some extent, will dress themselves up, not just to please others but also to please themselves.

But Lu Xiaobai said: “Because carrying things on you, don’t you think it’s cumbersome? It’s not smooth in a fight, and you’re always worried about whether your things will be knocked off, which creates a lot of distractions and prevents you from focusing on the battle.”

He had seen cultivators in battle before, with their parents’ relics or their partners’ tokens suddenly falling off, and if they got distracted, they could be killed.

Or after barely escaping, they would realize they had lost their cherished items and would have to go back to pick them up, either getting themselves killed or causing others to die, leaving bystanders speechless.

“I think as a cultivator, you should be flexible; either don’t wear accessories or wear those that you wouldn’t mind breaking. Don’t you think so? Just like you don’t lack money; even if you wear gold and silver, it doesn’t matter.”

Lin Ji: “...”

Lu Xiaobai placed the basin on the ground and washed his face.

“I don’t like to carry my weaknesses on me, and I don’t think it’s necessary, so I don’t wear anything.”

Another reason is that he was still quite poor, haha… He needed to save money to buy a big house in the mortal world after retiring, and he couldn’t save up for spirit stones because he needed to buy materials for body training and spiritual root cleansing, so he had no heart to buy anything else.

Lin Ji looked down at him, feeling a stir in his heart.

What he said made sense. Lu Xiaobai was just following the principle of simplicity; he wasn’t being unkempt.

He was dressed neatly, loved cleanliness, and was becoming more and more handsome… natural beauty had its own charm.

Lu Xiaobai suddenly looked up at him, smiling: “Why are you staring at me?”

Lin Ji quickly turned his face away, his throat inexplicably moving.