The Endless Promise

60. The Hidden Enemy

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Back at present, a heavy sadness clung to the air as Luoyin broke the 'Soul-searching' technique, and Duan Xiu remained there, calmer than ever, except for a lone tear which ran down her cheek.

'She's too pitiful.' Luoyin thought, recalling all he had seen.

Duan Xiu had left Yunchi Sect on an adventure of love and happiness, but had been cast into suffering, endless grief and rage, dying by the hands of the wicked, and then helplessly watching her own son suffer by the same hands.

And there had been more- much more that she had seen through the years.

As to why she was haunting Luoyin, it was a simple... She had been 'haunting' him from the start!

But Luoyin never saw her because after she killed Huang Su in Tian Yue temple, she became invisible again, watching her 'Son' from afar, though she knew it was someone else's spirit within him.

At Luoyin's wedding, he had touched Zhang Furen, their common enemy, which triggered the grievance on Luoyin's wrist, and Duan Xiu could suddenly appear to him.

Luoyin didn't notice her till the tournament day, but after he shattered Zhang Furen's reputation at the tournament, Duan Xiu could also move closer, and that led to the present...

Luoyin took her deathly pale hands and addressed her in a way he had never really had a chance to do, even as Yin Bailong.

"Mother..." He said, and her black eyes locked onto his face.

"Mother, you've suffered enough. Why not leave things here to me? You can go to the Sea of Fate without worry... Your Son, 'Zhang Luoyin', married the girl he loved, and is a disciple again!

"He will be fine from now on! I'll make sure I eliminate every single one of his enemies, and make sure that woman knows who led to her downfall! So please go in peace now..."

There was a moment of silence, where Luoyin wondered whether Duan Xiu even understood his words.

But then she squeezed his hand slightly. Her eyes turned normal and she beamed at him- a glorious smile which brought back her beauty.

Then she emitted a soft glow and faded away into brilliant red particles...

The golden glow of Yinying's bell faded as well, and he came over to sit beside Luoyin.

"Why are beings so wicked and greedy?" Luoyin asked into the silence.

"Of all the mysteries in this world, the heart of humans is the most difficult to understand." Yinying replied, but Luoyin shook his head.

"It used to be just humans... Demons were evil, Immortals were righteous, and the human heart could sway in any direction. But now?" He scoffed. "Now it's impossible to tell what's in anyone's heart. Aren't some Immortals performing worse acts than demons? The only ones who haven't changed are the demons themselves."

'He would know.' Yinying concluded.

In his master's lengthy life, all his misfortunes had stemmed from fellow immortals, right from his birth.

Literally!

During her pregnancy, Yin Xiaolong's mother had faced the same thing Zhang Luoyin's mother had faced... The East Sea King's first wife had poisoned her, leading to a premature labor, and she died after birthing her son.

She had left him with the name 'Bailong', and this was why he favoured the name.

Shortly after, the same First wife had kidnapped the newborn Bailong, and had him thrown into a den of sharks, far from the reaches of his father's palace.