*WARNING! The following scenes could be disturbing. Read at your own risk. But I'd like it if you're too young or too depressed, then leave! Thank you!*
Ru took a moment to voice out, "You know my family?"
And when she said 'family' she wasn't referring to the Xia clan where she grew up. She had long noticed that she wasn't Xia Longwei's daughter. Xia clan's direct descendant was only Xia Haoran. However, she never felt the need to learn about her real family either. With her twisted logic, if there was a need to know then one day, she'll eventually hear about her real family.
Because to her, Xia clan was the only family she needed.
However, she'd have never even imagined that the person to talk about her real family would be this woman. This mentally ill wretch!
"How can I not?" Ling Qiaolian's voice was laced with pride as she continued, "I murdered your whole clan after all."
Ru's body trembled in anger as her eyes widened. "You!"
"Why? Does it hurt now?"
"Ru!"
She turned around when she heard that familiar voice and looked at her brother who also found his way here after learning that Ru entered this place alone. He was worried to death!
Ling Qiaolian placed the sword at Ru's neck and warned, "Ximen Rong if you don't want me to slit her throat, stay right where you are."
Rong stopped in his track but his eyes didn't stop throwing daggers at that woman.
"I assume you wouldn't want your only sister to die right before your eyes just like your parents."
Rong closed his eyes when she reminded me of that deeply rooted memory from his childhood. He was only six but he never forgot that scene.
"If you even dared to touch my sister, I promise I'll tear you apart. I'm not that young, helpless little boy anymore."
Ling Qiaolian snickered at him, "If you had been that helpless, you wouldn't have been able to save this sister of yours from my hands. She was supposed to die, and so were you!"
"But aren't we both here? Aren't we a reminder that you failed back then?" Rong took a pause to add, "I'll never forget how you deceived my family."
She laughed like a madwoman as she said, "I deceived them? But you can't blame me. Blame it on your grandparents who raised me like their daughter-in-law and at the end, brought your mother to take the position which they promised me!"
Ru was in a daze as she stared at her brother only. The red veins in her eyes were slowly going back to normal. Even her expressions were turning from rage to calm.
"If it wasn't for your mother, Xia Xue who came out of nowhere and married Ximen Xi, why would I be driven to madness? Ximen clan's patriarch and matriarch raised me like a daughter. Why would I betray them? They brought it upon themselves when they chose to leave me aside and bring Xia Xue as their daughter-in-law. And why? Just because my clan had been wiped out decades ago and I was the sole survivor? While Xia clan was thriving? Why should I bear this loss? Why? If Ximen Xi couldn't be mine when I loved him, then Xia Xue also had no right to be with him!"
Only after listening to her, did Ru come to a conclusion. She always wondered how her enemy knew her so well? How did her enemy accumulate so much power behind the backs of so many powerful clans?
Only now she got the answer, everything Ling Qiaolian learned was from her own grandparents. and everything she had was given to her by Ru's real clan. She grew up with Ru's real father. How was it possible that she won't have such remarkable skills?
"If only our grandparents knew that they were raising a snake in their own house," spat out Rong.
"Yes, if only they knew..." Ling Qiaolian agreed. "But they didn't! It allowed me to easily poison them to death."
"Ungrateful!" Ru's voice was surprisingly calm.
"Ungrateful?" Ling Qiaolian smiled at Ru. "I think I gave them a very easy death since I had the sense of gratefulness towards them. Because you still haven't heard how I killed your mother."
Ru's hands clenched into fists. While Rong shouted, "Don't you dare bring it up!"
"Why? Are you scared your sister will be scarred for life? But so what? She should know what happens to people who are too arrogant like her mother."
"Ru, don't listen to her. Don't let her get to you!"
Ru took a deep breath as she asked, "So how did you kill my mother?"
"Oh, you're eager to know. I like this spirit of yours..." Ling Qiaolian crouched down beside Ru's kneeling figure and slowly started, "Xia Xue had a pride like no other. After all, she was the only young miss of Xia clan in five generations. Her pride and arrogance were justified. But it was an eyesore for me. So, I drugged her that night and asked someone to rape her."
Ru's body went stiff.
"Tsk... Tsk..." Ling Qiaolian clicked her tongue in disappointment. "It's just a pity that even in her drugged state, she valued her pride more than her life. In the end, the madwoman set the whole room on fire. The bitch even killed my loyal dog with herself. I hope she burns in hell as she burned to death!"
The sereneness that was starting to engulf Ru was truly dangerous. She looked so peaceful hearing all this that it made one shudder at the thought of what she was capable of doing. Or what she was planning on doing.
Ling Qiaolian lifted Ru's chin with her index finger as she went on, "I thought I was successful in killing you that night as well, Ximen Ruxue."
Ru's eyes flickered. The name that came out of her mouth sounded familiar and yet not familiar. But she was certain, that's her real name. The name people dared never tell her was; Ximen Ruxue. One of the two last direct lineages left of Ximen clan.
Ximen Rong and Ximen Ruxue!
In fact, it wasn't that Ru never heard of Ximen clan. Learning about the history, it was inevitable to come across this clan that was known as righteous. However, unlike Xia clan, Ximen clan had decided to focus more on science than martial arts in the last century. And when Ru was young she'd often tell her grandfather that Ximen clan's fall was because of this, they forgot their roots.
How wrong was she!
Only now did she learn that the Ximen clan's fall was because of their deep roots of righteousness. If they had abandoned a snake-like Ling Qiaolian when she was young, they would have escaped the calamity that fell upon them. How unfortunate of them!