The Way of The Dao

"Why would we have to help a cripple like you?"

Zhen Bingluo asked with an annoyed frown. Her voice was so calm and matter-of-fact, as if she was just saying something unimportant.

But when it entered Lang Qingzu's ears, it was like a horrible thunder impacting her whole small body.

Painful! Cold! Cruel! Merciless!

"M-master..."

Lang Qingzu hesitated as she looked at Zhen Bingluo, unable to understand why this beloved and dear master whom she loved very much had said that to her. Her beautiful little eyes filled with tears and rolled down her cheeks, combining with the traces of blood and further staining her face. She even forgot about the pain in her body, getting to the point where she couldn't feel any of it.

But now the only thing Lang Qingzu felt, was the intense and horrible pain in her heart, feeling it being squeezed as her master's words repeated over and over again in her mind, making chaos in her.

Her calm and natural words, felt so cold and cruel in her heart. Lang Qingzu could not understand why her master had said such things to her, when she had always received love, care and affection from her, taking care of her when her parents had abandoned her and her friends ridiculed her.

"Master..." Xuan Li carefully took Zhen Bingluo's hand, shook her head and walked towards Lang Qingzu.

"Big sister..." Lang Qingzu watched this and couldn't help but smile. However, her heart seemed to be filled with more anxiety and fear the more she watched Xuan Li's expression, not wanting to accept what she was about to witness.

"Zu'e-... Lang Qingzu!"

Xuan Li spoke, quickly correcting the way she called Lang Qingzu to call by her full name. Her eyes locked onto Lang Qingzu's eyes.

"Big sister..." Lang Qingzu looked fearfully at Xuan Li, not understanding why this big sister of hers spoke to her so seriously and directly.

Xuan Li watched Lang Qingzu for a while before she finally let out a sigh.

"For the sake of our good sisterly relationship we once had, here are some vitality pills to help you recover. Although you won't be able to cultivate like you used to, you'll still be able to live for a few dozen years and then die like any other mortal."

Opening the palm of her small hand, Xuan Li made a small bottle appear that seemed to contain several medicinal pills inside.

"Huh?"

Lang Qingzu blinked in confusion, forgetting the pain in her heart for a brief moment. It seemed that her big sister was still worried? But why is she acting cold and serious?

Xuan Li frowned but soon let out another sigh. She approached Lang Qingzu and calmly set the bottle with medicinal pills beside her, close enough for her to move her little hand a few centimeters and take it.

"Big sister..." Lang Qingzu muttered not understanding what was going on completely.

"Little Li, let's go. We don't need to worry about her anymore."

Zhen Bingluo's cold voice was heard, making Lang Qingzu's tender little heart shudder and crack.

"M-master..." Lang Qingzu cried out hoarsely, pain squeezing her heart horribly.

"Haah..." Zhen Bingluo sighed and finally she looked straight into Lang Qingzu's eyes and said, "Lang Qingzu, you can no longer be a member of the sect… you are completely crippled and useless now… you are no longer my disciple!!"

Zhen Bingluo's cold and merciless voice pierced through the last weak barrier in Lang Qingzu's little heart. It felt as if a huge, sharp blade was splitting her weak heart in half, Lang Qingzu's face paling at the sight of her master who always showered her with love.

"Aren't you happy now? From the beginning you almost didn't like to cultivate because you didn't like to be still for a long time, and you preferred to play and have fun every moment. Now you finally won't have to cultivate anymore and you can live carefree as you've always wanted..."

This time, Xuan Li's voice attracted Lang Qingzu's rigid attention, her adorable little eyes were already filled with tears flowing non-stop. The gleam of happiness and excitement that had appeared in her eyes moments ago were gone, just an empty and colorless nothingness in her sad eyes.

"Lang Qingzu, from this moment on you are no longer a member of the sect, let alone my disciple. You no longer have anything to do with us!" Zhen Bingluo said these last words and soared into the air, quietly flying away and leaving the place.

"M-master! Zu'er will no longer be rebellious and mischievous! I will listen to everything you say even if I have to cultivate for a long time! P-please don't abandon Zu'er! D-don't... don't abandon me!" Lang Qingzu shouted in a clipped voice full of pain as she watched Zhen Bingluo move farther and farther away.

But Zhen Bingluo did not respond. She also didn't turn around and didn't stop, as if she had never heard Lang Qingzu.

Xuan Li took one last look at Lang Qingzu for a few seconds before following Zhen Bingluo, flying away by herself as well.

"Goodbye, Zu'er."

These were Xuan Li's last words, vanishing along with Zhen Bingluo in Lang Qingzu's sight.

Lang Qingzu tried to speak, her little mouth opening but unable to say any words. Her gaze lay on the horizon where her big sister and her master had disappeared.

However, Lang Qingzu did not move, only staring blankly at the place where the two people she loved most had disappeared.

A distinct sound of footsteps approaching was soon heard and echoed mysteriously, but Lang Qingzu did not turn around, let alone move.

Lang Qingzu's eyes were empty, lifeless and emotionless.

"They left you?"

A familiar voice suddenly shook Lang Qingzu's mind, causing her to shake her head stiffly.

"B-big brother...?"lights

Lang Qingzu's trembling voice came out of her small mouth at the sight of Ling Tian. A hint of light-filled relief washed over her.

This person is the ancestor of her sect!

"Big brother, I..."

"You don't need to say anything else."

Lang Qingzu tried to speak quickly but was interrupted by Ling Tian, who looked at her with those same eyes that Zhen Bingluo had.

"If you can't move, let alone walk, then there's nothing you can do." Ling Tian looked at her with utmost indifference.

"B-but..." Lang Qingzu looked on in despair, feeling pain in her heart as evil thoughts attacked her again.

"You are no longer a member of the sect, so there is no point in my helping you. You no longer have any value in my eyes."

Ling Tian interrupted her again, and this time, his voice was much colder and merciless, breaking her little heart even more than it already was.

"You are no longer Little Bingluo's disciple, so you are no longer my grand disciple!"

At once, Ling Tian walked in the direction of where Zhen Bingluo and Xuan Li had gone. He didn't even give Lang Qingzu one last glance, only leaving a few cold words before disappearing.

Time passed, seconds, minutes and hours, and Lang Qingzu was still lying on the ground in the same position without moving.

"M-Master... big s-sister... Zu'er will no longer be mischievous and rebellious... she will cultivate every day without complaining..."

"Please... d-don't leave me..."

"I-I promise I'll be a g-g-good girl..."

"B-b-big brother... Z-Zu'er will no longer be rude and I will respectfully call you Ancestor..."

"D-don't leave me... I b-beg you..."

A weak, hoarse voice filled with much pain and sadness barely came out of Lang Qingzu's small mouth. Her thin, small lips barely moved, letting out her light voice.

Her small and tender hand, which had somehow managed to move, opened her fingers with much effort and slowness, directing it to where her loved ones had disappeared.

The sky darkened as if it were getting dark. A chill filled the place, covering every inch of ground, but this did not affect Lang Qingzu. She didn't even seem to feel the horrible cold. She no longer felt her heart either.

The place was empty and lonely, with no presence nearby, leaving Lang Qingzu alone in this dark place.

In her empty eyes there was no longer any glow, no emotion that could be seen, totally opaque and lifeless. Only her mouth was faintly moving, but gradually she was running out of strength to even move her lips.

"D-don't leave me..."

Lang Qingzu's empty and emotionless voice could barely be heard.

Her mind gradually plunged into darkness. The pain in her body from becoming a cripple had vanished since she heard those cold words from her master and big sister, with only her heart filling with a horrible, ugly pain that prevented her from even breathing.

Time passed, with the place totally darkened, like a strange dimension, but totally empty and dark, enveloping Lang Qingzu completely.

'You are a foolish girl...'historical

'You are useless...'

'I'd prefer a trash who will listen to me instead of you...'

'Nobody loves you...'

'What are you in that place for? If you don't even care about cultivating and just play around all the time...'

'Don't come back...'

'You just get in the way and take resources away from the rest of us who really do need them...'

'I hate you...'

'It's better for you to die...'

Somehow, Lang Qingzu had curled up into a little ball, in a fetal position. Her small arms hugged her legs with what little strength she had left, cringing as she kept mumbling faintly, calling out to Zhen Bingluo, Xuan Li and sometimes even Ling Tian while many voices kept echoing in her mind, accusing her and telling her many things.

Unknown to her, a somewhat blurry figure appeared at Lang Qingzu's side amidst all the eternal cold darkness.

"The world is cold, the reality is cruel, the path is lonely and painful, but the purest feeling in your small but huge and strong heart is what matters most and that you should never forget, it is the absolute truth that can break all falsehoods... if you manage to feel your heart to the fullest extent and not be carried away by the deception of the world, the reality before your eyes will be different..."