Chapter 735 — Very Strange
Years of Heartflutter · Page 1 of 2
Yang Ce's bottom line was this: he would never bring harm to his own friends and family.
And Dong Jun's actions had been aimed at precisely that — at hurting Yang Ce's family and friends — only he had never succeeded. So Yang Ce had always carried within him a helplessness he could not put into words.
Yang Ce himself had said that his indecisiveness was no way to accomplish great things, but Fang Tian had also told him that it was his strength as much as his weakness.
A killer who is too heartless is no good, and one who is too sentimental is no good either. Yang Ce had managed to combine the two: utterly ruthless toward his enemies, yet warm and kindly toward his own people.
But Dong Jun stood somewhere between his own people and his enemies. It could be said that Yang Ce owed much of his present success to Dong Jun; back then, even as Dong Jun secretly plotted against him, he had also helped him a great deal. So where this senior fellow disciple was concerned, Yang Ce truly found the choice hard.
Many things hinge on a single thought, and the more one weighs them, the harder it becomes to decide...
"Dong Jun — that's the senior fellow disciple who's hurt you time and again?" Xia Xue had heard the name before; Yang Ce had mentioned it during his duel with the Right Elder. But it was a private matter of Yang Ce's sect, and she had never asked about it afterward. After all, in such things she had no right to speak.
"Yes, him. Tell me — how should I deal with him?" Yang Ce could not make up his mind, so he had come to discuss it with Xia Xue and Lan Ling, hoping to hear their advice.
But Lan Ling and Xia Xue clearly had no advice to give. Neither of them knew Dong Jun well, and in any case it was not their place to sway Yang Ce's thinking in such a matter. So Xia Xue said, "Yang Ce, haven't you already made your decision, deep down? Your hesitation proves it. You want to make this decision, but you feel it isn't right. Yet if you hold to it a little longer, you'll find that the matter is really quite simple."
"Heh—" Yang Ce nodded with a faint smile. "You're right. Actually, if I just calm down and think it over carefully, I've already made my decision... I'll give this senior fellow disciple of mine one more chance. I hope he'll treasure it. This is the last chance I give him. If he comes forward and gives me an honest, reasonable explanation, then I'll let him go. Otherwise... there'll be nothing more I can do."
Xia Xue shrugged silently and said no more. This was not the moment to interfere with Yang Ce; better to let him reach the decision himself.
"Let's go see whether Brother Liu and the others have any results!" Yang Ce rose and walked toward Liu Yan, Lin Ce, and the rest, wanting to know if they had made any progress in their study of the spring water.
"Mm!" Xia Xue and Lan Ling breathed a sigh of relief as well. In truth, they did not much like seeing Yang Ce so melancholy; better to leave those worries for later. Thinking about them now was premature.
"Brother Lin, Brother Liu, any results? What exactly is so special about this spring water?" Yang Ce asked as he came over.
"Yes!" Lin Ce said bluntly. "There's a kind of microorganism in this spring water — rather similar to the nutrient fluid secreted by the Swift Cicada Gu..."
"Then doesn't that mean this spring water might be able to replace the Swift Cicada Gu's nutrient fluid?" Yang Ce said, startled.
"Whether it can replace it is hard to say for now, but the microorganisms in this water have rather poor vitality. In just this short while, a good many have died. The conditions for their survival seem a bit too harsh, don't they? We did nothing at all — just put the water in a vessel — and the vitality faded bit by bit. It feels awfully fragile." Liu Yan shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Oh? That poor? Have you tested whether it can be used on the Mighty Strength Gu?" Yang Ce asked.