Immortal Ascension Tower - Book 1: Reborn! [CH 1 - 75]

Chapter 63 - The Best Gift

The crowd trembled but Fu Yin and Xiao Wu chuckled. The girl nodded satisfied "That is the brother I know! Now go and kick that bastard snake's ass!"

Cheng Hao turned and his robes fluttered as his eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit "Oh, you needn't worry about that... I am used to do it after beating one incredibly though scaly ass of a reptile every day!"

"What incredibly tough scaly ass of a reptile are you talking about, you bastard!" Goldy gritted his teeth in indignation, but it could be seen that in his eyes was relief as well as happiness. 

'Fu Yin, Xiao Wu, thank you for easing Cheng Hao's worries. What he is worried about is not death, but was worried about you all, how you would perceive him as after he shows his true face... And what you would think if he lost!"

"By rekindling his fighting spirit, you did more than you could imagine, you made him understand that although you trust him, the responsibility is not his only to bear. Now that this is out of the way, we are going to see quite a show!'

"Wether your name is Cheng Hao or Xu Ling..." Fu Yin approached and muttered so that only Xiao Wu and Cheng Hao could hear him  "Wether this Cheng Hao is a real person or a fake identity, you are my, no, our brother. Don't worry about us! Go ahead! If you fail, no one will blame you for that, but if you win we will all feast tonight!"

Cheng Hao's eyes widened in surprise but then he smiled bitterly and sighed "I am beginning to feel as if I had taught you too much..." his eyes then lit up "Very well! Wish me luck!" He turned and a fierce expression appeared on his face "I'm going to take care of that overgrown snake once and for all!"

As he walked, he crossed Te Rin. The girl at first only watched him pass close to her silently, biting her lips. Then, she inhaled once trembling and asked just as Cheng Hao stepped by her "Why do you need to do this?"

The child stopped in his steps and his face darkened. The girl heard no reply so she continued, tears streaming down her cheeks "Why do you need to risk your life for other like that? Yu could run away, escape this madness!"

"What's more, you are doing this alone! How can you bear the loneliness? How are you this strong, how can you walk with death weighing down on your shoulders? Does your life mean nothing to you?"

Cheng Hao's shoulder shook as he turned, his eyes seemingly wrathful. Te Rin trembled when the child lifted one of his arms in the air, as if he was going to hit her.

She closed her eyes but, as she felt no pain, she saw that he was simply scratching his neck as he smiled "But I am not alone! Whenever I had been, I suffered! It was then though, when I fought that final battle, that I found out that even the harshest of situations could be faced with a smile on my face if we are together!"

"They fell like flies around me... Yet, they all turned and smiled, as if they had no enmity or bad feelings left. It was impossible, I know. Only now though, I understand! They died happily... Because they died with brothers by their side!"

He chuckled and then patted his chest "Those guys right now, we may not be able to see or hear them, but their spirit, their wishes, their dreams... They all lingers on! And it is now my turn, as the living, to help making those dreams come true!"

He looked up and a single tear streaked down his cheek "I always thought of myself as a person who loved his comrades like brothers... But I now know that wasn't it! If I had truly thought of them as brothers, then I would have died then! But now... I will spare no effort to aid them as brothers, to love them as brothers..." he clenched his fist "To see them as brothers!"

The boy stood silent for a few breaths.

"Te Rin, while I might seem like I am alone at the moment, I am only here because of everyone else. May it be a treasure they gifted me, an ability they taught me, their support, their simple existence... Wether they were a little speck of dust or a bright sun in my path, without a single one of them I wouldn't be here as I am now!"