Translator: DavidT Editor: DavidT, Rock
"You… you… come in! Come back in!" After chasing Ling Tian out in frustration, Shui QianRou realized that she did not ask Ling Tian the biggest question in her heart. Despite her mood taking a turn for the better, she still did not know just what she should do from now on.
Ling Tian spun a white cloth around his fingers like it was a windmill and leaned on the door with a perverted smile. "Miss Shui, little princess Shui, you have to be clear on one thing. This is the Ling Family Courtyard and not your Shui Manor. For you to boss this young noble in such a manner, you would have to pay a huge price for it."
"You…" Shui QianRou stared at Ling Tian and the words which she wanted to say were held back for a moment. But after seeing the item that Ling Tian was spinning around, her face flushed bright red and an embarrassed look could be seen in her eyes. She then forgot about what she originally wanted to say and shouted, "Return it to me! You pervert!"
"Return you what? Hehe… this is the price you have to pay. Isn't it heavy?" Ling Tian continued leaning on the door frame and took a long sniff at the item in his hands as he praised, "How fragrant. What a fragrant female aroma." The tone of his words and expression on his face was truly befitting of his title of 'number one profligate'.
"You pervert… you… you're bullying me." Shui QianRou began crying out in protest and the rims of her eyes turned red as she started sobbing. Just when she wanted to jump out of bed, she realized that she was wearing body-clinging clothes and the design of the clothes wasn't hers either. She then realized that Ling Chen must have helped her change out of her tattered clothes after treating her injuries… No wonder that item was thrown out by her by accident… it turns out that she wasn't even wearing it…
Being alive for two lifetimes, Ling Tian was not afraid of the heavens or earth but only afraid of a woman crying. Upon witnessing the beauty in front of him sobbing, he immediately lifted his hands up in surrender and reluctantly handed Shui QianRou her undergarment. Shui QianRou immediately snatched it back and buried herself under the blanket like a little cat. It was far too embarrassing! She was too engrossed with her argument with Ling Tian so she didn't notice how she was exposing herself to Ling Tian! It was no wonder that fellow had such a lecherous look when talking to her with such a weird expression!
Despicable, hateful, repulsive, hoodlum lecher!
Shui QianRou curled herself up under the blanket with her face burning in embarrassment as she cursed in her heart, This darn lecher should have dropped me a few hints of my appearance at least. However, he actually didn't bother dropping me any hints and even openly took advantage of me! He even… Shui QianRou cursed Ling Tian many times over in her heart and the matter that she wanted to ask Ling Tian about was completely forgotten. Her mind was only filled with shame and embarrassment at this moment… An unmarried lady like myself was actually seen bare by a man… I don't have any face to see anyone else… wuwuwuwu…
Ling Tian scratched his head with bewilderment. Even after two lifetimes, he still did not understand the thoughts of women. Just what is going on with this lass? After I entered the room, this woman chased me out of the room like a maniac by throwing everything within her reach at me. She then pleaded for me to return and after I came back in, she hid under the blanket? Miss, we are currently in August which is the hottest period of the year. Aren't you afraid of getting heat rash?
Women are truly incomprehensible and unfathomable creatures!
"If Miss Shui doesn't have anything else, I will be taking my leave." Ling Tian was also getting a little irritated. Who do you think you are? Ordering me around as you wish! Hmph! Ling Tian waved his sleeves and wanted to take his leave.
"You… don't go… I have something to say to you." From the blanket, a depressed voice could be heard. "You… turn around first and let me put on some clothes…" Shui QianRou's voice was filled with embarrassment. Strangely, not a single tinge of anger could be heard and if one were to pay close attention, a slight tinge of satisfaction could even be heard…
No wonder this lass had such a big reaction… she didn't realize that she was almost as good as half-naked… Ling Tian shook his head helplessly. Women, if you were to say that they were careless creatures, they will be more meticulous than anyone else when they are meticulous. But if you say that she is meticulous, she can actually be careless to the point that she didn't even notice what clothes she had on… I was still wondering why she was so unconstrained previously. No wonder…
I have really lost to you, Shui QianRou.
Ling Tian turned around as he gave Shui QianRou a thumbs up in his heart.
Behind him, some rustling sounds could be heard and a shy Shui QianRou could be heard, "I'm done. You may turn around now."
Ling Tian let out a sigh and turned around slowly, "Miss Shui, I suddenly feel like a puppet… a puppet that you are controlling with strings. If you want me to go out, I have to go out. When you call me in, I have to come in. Then, you ordered me to turn around and I have to turn around. Now, you want me to turn back again…" Ling Tian said with frustration, "Miss, can't you just spit out what you want to say? Stop playing, please. I really don't have time to play with you. There are still many more people that I cannot provoke waiting for me…"
Shui QianRou's face was still slightly pinkish and upon hearing what Ling Tian said, she could not help but be stunned. Was there anything wrong with what I just did? Why does it seem like I am so tyrannical in his description? Did I really go too far? Hearing what Ling Tian had said, Shui QianRou felt slightly apologetic and almost wanted to apologize.
Wait! There seems to be something wrong here… Right, this fellow only talked about my actions but did not talk about why he received such a treatment from me! His words are no different from him quibbling and a one-sided statement! To think he can still act as though he had suffered a huge grievance because of me… Why don't you talk about how you took such a huge advantage of me! Why didn't you talk about why I chased you out in the first place? The reason for all of that is because of that despicable mouth of yours and your lecherous eyes! Hmph!
Shui QianRou glared at Ling Tian and knew that it was impossible for her to win against him in a war of words. Thus, she ignored what Ling Tian said and continued, "This little sister has something to consult young noble Ling about. I hope that young noble Ling can help enlighten me on account of the fact that QianRou is currently in a desperate situation with my future bleak." She knew that arguing with Ling Tian was pointless and thus went straight to the main point.
Ling Tian sat down on a nearby chair and said lazily, "If not for the bad situation in your family, why would I be here today? Speak. This young noble shall help to clear up your doubts for free today. Mmm, as the saying goes, 'a master for a day, a father for life'; even though I am not so strict, you should be more respectful at the very least."
Shui QianRou rolled her eyes and upon thinking about the situation of her family, she could not help but grow depressed. She could no longer smile and asked gloomily, "With regards to the situation of myself and the Shui Family, I believe that young noble Ling is extremely well informed. Can I ask what I should do right now? What should the Shui Family do? Do we still have any hope?"
Shui QianRou tiredly sighed. "I truly feel as though I am at the end of the road. I can't take another step forward but have no paths of retreat…"
For some reason, the first person which Shui QianRou thought about when falling into such a situation wasn't her brother or father but her former enemy, Ling Tian. It seems as though she was certain that Ling Tian definitely had a way to solve her problems and it was only a matter of whether or not he was willing.
Ling Tian smiled and replied slowly, "Miss Shui, you are only trapped by your own rigid thinking. This is actually a simple problem. As long as you change your perspective, the problem will be easily solved."
"Oh?" Shui QianRou raised her head up in shock.
"In actual fact, the two questions that Miss asked are actually a single one. Miss's problem actually isn't a problem but the source of the problem lies elsewhere. As long as the problem of the Shui Family is solved, everything else would be solved along with it! Does Miss think what I say makes sense?" Ling Tian replied slowly. Since Shui QianRou was asking him earnestly, Ling Tian would naturally retract his previously frivolous act.
"Of course I am aware of this." Shui QianRou sighed. "However, the problem of the Shui Family concerns many generations and how could it be so easily solved? If the problem is truly solved, the Shui Family's foundations would definitely be greatly weakened. Regardless of the faction that emerges victorious, at least half of the Shui Family's members would be wiped out. At that time, would the Shui Family still be the Shui Family?" Shui QianRou sighed with heartache, "The Shui Family is a huge family with a thousand years of history. How have we regressed to such a state?"
Ling Tian fell silent for a moment as he thought about the Yu Family. He then could not help but add on with a tinge of mockery, "Is it only the Shui Family?" However, his voice was too soft and Shui QianRou did not hear him clearly and asked, "What did you say?"
"I said, is this very strange?" Ling Tian raised his head with a cold expression, "For the Shui Family to regress to such a state, is there anything strange about it?"
"What do you mean? Are you trying to say that it is only right for the Shui Family to regress to such a state?" Shui QianRou frowned and a tinge of anger could be heard.
"Am I wrong?" Ling Tian asked with a sneer, "Let me ask you, as a direct descendant of the Shui Family, do you know how many times such a situation occurred in the history of the Shui Family? While some situations may be less severe and others more severe, how many times has such a situation occurred?"
Shui QianRou was stumped for a moment as she recalled her family history. In the past thousand years, while such a situation wasn't common, such a situation must have happened at least a few times. At the very least, there were four to five times recorded in their family's history! Thinking about Ling Tian's question, Shui QianRou could not help but be puzzled. Just what was Ling Tian driving at?!
Ling Tian continued asking, "Then do you know why is it that while there were many enormous martial families over the past thousand years, only the Yu and Shui Families were able to survive? Where have all the other powerful families gone?"
Shui QianRou frowned and replied, "All of the other families have naturally regressed to the point that they eventually disappeared. What is the point of asking such a question? Could there be a special reason for their disappearance?"
"A thousand years ago, how did the strength of the Yu and Shui Families compare to the other martial families? According to what I know, the strength of the Yu and Shui Families wasn't at the peak and there were a few other families stronger than both the Yu and Shui Families. Why is it that those families have disappeared? Why was it that only the Yu and Shui Families are left behind?"
"This…" Shui QianRou did not know how to reply.
Ling Tian sneered, "Regardless of the how large the enmity between the Yu and Shui Families, one thing is for sure: the Shui Family was only able to survive for a thousand years because of the presence of the Yu Family. At the same time, the Yu Family was only able to survive because of the Shui Family. It was because of the sixty year battle between the families that allowed your families to survive through the ages!"
"Ah?" Shui QianRou was startled. Just when she was about to retort against what Ling Tian had said, she realized that what he said truly made sense. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. All along, the Shui Family always had a single goal: defeat the Yu Family and destroy them! However, this goal of theirs had never been accomplished over the past thousand years and it spurred every generation of their Shui Family disciples to fight for this goal. This was also true for the Yu Family.
Could it be that the thousand year history of our family was attributable to our enemy? Shui QianRou felt this answer to be extremely ridiculous but the truth was right in front of her eyes. All of a sudden, she did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"What is so ridiculous about that?" As though he had seen through Shui QianRou's thoughts, Ling Tian said, "One would be able to stay alive because of threats but die because of peace. This is the most basic rule of survival. This is especially true for the larger families and empires. The core reason why all the large families or empires have been wiped out was that they no longer had any opponents. Without opponents, there wasn't any more motivation or goal for them to strive for. Without any external threats, internal strife would naturally occur within a family with the various factions fighting for power and authority. With fighting, there would definitely be sacrifice and with sacrifice, there would definitely be blood. The moment there is blood, the fighting would only get more intense. Regardless of how powerful a family or empire is, they would definitely be weakened after a few rounds of fighting and at the end of the day, even an insignificant family would be able to swallow this gigantic existence. What is so surprising about that?"
"One would be able to stay alive because of threats but die because of peace...One would be able to stay alive because of threats but die because of peace…" Shui QianRou muttered this phrase under her breath and fell into a daze.
"There is also another important reason which is that both the Yu and Shui Families are similar in strength. Neither of the families has the ability to wipe out the other party and thus can only continue to fight each other. While the enmity between both families would only be deepened as the fighting continues, this deepened enmity would only spur both the families to work harder. Hehe, therein lies the secret for surviving a thousand years. In truth, this secret is extremely worthless. In fact, there must have been exceptional Family Heads of both the families that noticed this point before but weren't willing to expose the truth. This is truly a sign of wisdom!"
Ling Tian smiled, "Besides that, the most important point is the fact that both the families are on different continents and separated by a vast ocean!"
"Why is this the most important point?" Shui QianRou could not help but interrupt.
"If both of the families were on the same continent, be it Heavenly Star or Heavenly Wind, they would have probably been wiped out by each other many times over! In just a couple of decades, both the families would definitely have engaged in an all-out battle with the result being the disappearance of both families. Wouldn't it be too easy for them to kill each other if they were too near to each other?" Ling Tian chuckled, "However, both the families are on different continents and are the strongest families on their respective continents. Be it the Yu or Shui Family, neither of them would dare to boldly intrude into the territory of their opponent. At the very most, they would only dare to harass the other party. Do you truly think that your Shui Family would be able to wipe out the Yu Family on Heavenly Star with your current strength?"
"We can't." Shui QianRou shook her head with a disheartened expression. "Even if all the elites of the Shui Family were gathered in Heavenly Star, we wouldn't be able to do so. It would be good if the Yu Family didn't wipe us out. How would we dare dream about wiping the Yu Family out?! However, if we are in Heavenly Wind instead, even if all the elites of the Yu Family arrive, we will be confident of burying them all there!"
"Thus, the Yu Family would not dare to go Heavenly Wind before unifying the continent!" Ling Tian smiled profoundly, "Lass, do you finally understand why both the Yu and Shui Families were able to survive up until now?"
"I do," Shui QianRou said sincerely. After a short moment, she then glared at Ling Tian. "What is the point of you telling me all of this? The key is what I should be doing and how our Shui Family can break out of the current situation. Even with the presence of a huge threat like the Yu Family, internal strife has still broken out within the family. Thus, what you have just said isn't absolute."
"You still don't understand what I mean?" Ling Tian asked with a bewildered expression, "They are two different issues. You have said it yourself that such a situation has occurred multiple times in your Shui Family. Similarly, such a situation also occurred within the Yu Family multiple times as well. Furthermore, the time when such a situation occurs would be largely similar between both families. At the very most, it would be separated by a few decades. This is something that every family has to experience. Don't you agree?"
"Has to experience? Why do you say that?" Shui QianRou was puzzled.
"The rise of a family is like the prosperity of an empire." Ling Tian frowned and explained, "The first generation will fight a bloody war to win the territories of the empire. The first ruler of the empire would understand the difficulties and tribulations of their victory and would naturally be on his guard. The second ruler would still be living in the shadows of the war and would have been through some war and thus will rule the empire earnestly. Even if the second ruler is useless, he should be able to keep the empire. From the third generation onward, everything would be different. They would be enjoying the fruits and riches of their previous generation's labor and the tales of war would be like a distant story to them. Corruption would then start and internal strife would follow… This would continue until a huge crisis strikes. At such a moment, it would either be the destruction of their empire or a talented leader would rise up to restore glory to the empire with a series of extreme measures. The result of that would not be any less bloody than the war which led to the formation of the empire. From that generation, a new cycle would begin if they are successful…"
Ling Tian said with a cold laugh, "Currently, your Shui Family is in the fourth generation or perhaps the fifth… Haha, if a leading figure is unable to shine and lead your Shui Family out of this mess, then the doom of your Shui Family is determined!"
"However, the Yu Family is different. While the younger generations of both families are extremely rotten, the Yu Family is much luckier because their Family Head is Yu ManLou! While Yu ManLou is extremely cruel, vicious and ambitious, he is definitely a wise leader and the one who will restore the Yu Family's glory! On top of that, Yu ManLou's brothers are extremely loyal to him and as long as Yu ManLou is alive, the Yu Family will be a unified piece of iron! As for your Shui Family, a figure like Yu ManLou is lacking. Even your father cannot be compared to Yu ManLou! On top of that, he does not have brothers to support him but only brothers who will fight with him for authority!"
Saying that, the tone of mockery in his voice became obvious, "Originally, your Shui Family had an advantage over the Yu Family in terms of the younger generation. Of Yu ManLou's three sons, the most capable one is dead and the other two remaining ones aren't a cause for concern. In terms of the younger generation, your Shui Family definitely had an advantage because of you and Shui QianHuan. More accurately, Shui QianHuan's abilities are far greater than Yu ManLou's two remaining children. Thus, even if the Shui Family will be on the losing end for the next few decades, as long as the Shui Family waits patiently, it wouldn't be impossible to turn the situation around. However, such a talent was actually killed by your three profligate cousins… Thus, it can be said that your Shui Family is destined to be destroyed! Your Shui Family is going to be destroyed because of self-destruction! While Shui QianHuan can't be considered to be an exceptional talent, he is definitely considered outstanding when compared to the younger generation of the Shui Family."
After going one big round, Ling Tian finally brought the topic back to the main point, "Thus, the Shui Family is suffering from both internal and external conflicts but does not have an outstanding figure to clean up the mess and turn the situation around. It can be said that your Shui Family has never been in such dire circumstances and the destruction of your family is imminent. Even if you are able to resolve the internal struggles of the Shui Family, if the losses are too great and there isn't a figure capable of intimidating all other parties at the helm, how would the other powers give you a time to catch your breath? Even without the presence of the Yu Family, the situation of your Shui Family is dire. Furthermore, there is an ambitious character like Yu ManLou eyeing covetously from the side."
Shui QianRou clenched her teeth and fell silent. Thinking about her brother who was left with a single breath, a boundless hatred exploded forth from her heart! Could it be that the thousand years of our Shui Family's legacy will be destroyed in the hands of those degenerate cousins? Could it be that my father's faction has to admit their defeat?