Azure Heaven Saber

Chapter 68 - 68 56 Fresh Blood in Hands Pure Land in Heart

?Chapter 68: Chapter 56: Fresh Blood in Hands, Pure Land in Heart Chapter 68: Chapter 56: Fresh Blood in Hands, Pure Land in Heart “Little brother, your life… It’s been really tough, hasn’t it?”

He Xiangming spoke with deep sentiment.

“It’s not easy…”

Feng Yin was startled for a moment, then chuckled bitterly and sighed, speaking in a low voice: “In this world, who has it easy?”

These words immediately resonated with He Xiangming, prompting her to sigh deeply.

Indeed, who has it easy?

Even herself, a member of a super sect, seemingly a favored child of heaven, aloof and lofty, but… is it truly that easy?

If it were that easy, why would she be in the desolate Tiannan District instead of governing a place in Capital City?

“It’s not easy…”

Not long after, He Xiangming left. She was afraid she might shed tears and lose her composure.

The Feng Yin in her eyes, the young man’s experiences, were truly heartrending.

It’s even more incredible that he remains so strong, so honest, so persistent. His personal bottom line… He is truly rare!

Such a youth, He Xiangming had only met one in all these years.

“What a good boy.”

“I must do my best to help him. I can’t let the filth of this mundane world taint his innocent heart too early.”

Even after returning to her dwelling, He Xiangming was still emotionally moved and had secretly made up her mind.

Though her actions today were influenced by emotion, this boy Ling Yunduan truly isn’t bad.

He’s worth helping.

Treat it as a good deed then!

Back in her chamber.

He Xiangming immediately summoned her maid and casually ordered: “Look into the background and past actions of this person…uh, this youth Ling Yunduan.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Look into it carefully… I hold no malice.”

“I understand, Miss.”

“Go.”

…

…

The night was deep.

The ‘honest and upright child’ He Xiangming spoke of, the ‘resilient child’ worth helping — was at that very moment cloaked in black, taking advantage of the moonlight to carry out the business of killing.

His moves were swift and merciless.

The flash of his blade caused heads to roll, blood to spray.

Feng Yin took advantage of the wind and disappeared into the night.

He was like an Asura of the twilight, a god of death amidst the wind.

“Puff!”

One strike and blood sprayed everywhere.

In a blink, two Bronze Badge tasks had been accomplished.

Heavenly Judgment, Feng Yin’s exclusive badge, subtly changed color. Even its material had transformed, becoming the color of glossy, yellow brass. A Bronze Badge.

Bronze Rank Assassin, Gentle, Ranked, 29,876th.

The famous assassin Gentle had once again advanced in rank.

The reward this time, besides the daily steamed buns, martial arts techniques, and basic combat skills, was a ‘Low-grade Innate Breaking Realm Pill’ – an award for officially reaching Bronze Rank.

The purpose of this pill, as the name suggests, is clear.

When you reach the peak of the Innate Ninth-grade and want to break through to the Innate Eighth-grade, taking this pill can increase your chance of successfully breaking through by fifty percent!

Fifty percent is already a big probability.

The reason is simple, anyone capable of advancing to the Innate Realm must have a considerable degree of talent. Breaking through to the Innate Eighth-grade is just the preliminary breakthrough of the Innate Realm, which should be at least seventy to eighty percent successful. An additional fifty percent on top of this base rate ensures the success rate is nothing short of a hundred percent!

Which is as good as saying that breakthrough is guaranteed.

However, this pill is only provided as a reward when upgrading your rank, and does not appear at other times.

Upon receiving the pill and looking at the distance to the other targets, they seemed too far away.

Feng Yin did not want to fatigue himself, he understood the doctrine of haste makes waste.

“I couldn’t possibly reach Gold Rank in one night anyway. Instead of exhausting myself, I’d be better off practicing the Spiritual Transformation Technique for a bit.”

Looking at the Bronze Badge, Feng Yin felt quite moved.

The goal of a Gold Rank, has grown one step closer.

At the same time, he felt something else.

“In this world, there really is no end to wicked people.”

The second target of the night, originally, was a good man. Indeed, he once was a good man.

“Lv Zhenliang, originally a martial artist from Yuezhou, had a dutiful wife and an obedient son, living a blissful life; he did no harm to others, earning a living as a martial arts instructor. However, disaster struck overnight, his family destroyed, his son brutally murdered, his wife violated by another, whom he later killed. He lost his wife and son in one night and his disposition changed drastically. He became a nighttime sex offender, venturing out every night to break into houses and bring fatal harm to innocent, weak people. He violated their wives and daughters, and even killed them. Six families have already fallen prey.”

“Personal suffering is neither an excuse for vice nor the foundation of evilness. Therefore, it is decreed that the Heavenly Judge execute him, to report to heaven above and bring peace to the people below.”

This was the second target of the night.

Feng Yin knew these kinds of people well: those who abruptly encounter a calamity and lose all reason, extinguishing their humanity and beginning to take revenge on society.

Understanding them is one thing, sympathizing with them another. But he was no softie.

So he was the first one to make a move, capturing this Lv Zhenliang and hiding him away.

Then, as per the Heavenly Judgment bounty, he killed another sexual predator in the Yuezhou City; this man followed the same path, and Lv Zhenliang’s wife had been his victim.

The battle was not an easy one.

A sexual predator who had committed numerous offenses, not subdued by any bronze-ranked assassin, must be more powerful than he seemed. For Feng Yin, it was a grueling battle.

And the situation was far from rational.

But Feng Yin went on anyway.

His surprise attack failed, leaving only minor injuries, so he chose to confront his enemy head-on.

Feng Yin used all his resources, and in the end, relying on the constant replenishing power of the Spiritual Transformation Technique, he killed the sexual predator!

He decapitated the enemy and brought the head back.

He placed it in front of Lv Zhenliang, and woke him up.

“I have slain your nemesis for you. This head belongs to the man who killed your wife and son.”

“But for the evil deeds you’ve committed, you must also receive a blow from me.”

“Your family was ruined, and it was within your rights to seek out the killer and exact your revenge. But what bravery is there in laying hands on innocent people?”

“Lv Zhenliang, today you will suffer a blow from me. In the afterlife, will you dare to face your wife?”

Tears streaming down his face, Lv Zhenliang knelt upright on the ground, surrendered all his possessions, and entrusted them to Feng Yin.

A sword fell.

A head fell.

Blood splattered.

Feng Yin ran another round, dividing Lv Zhenliang’s property into six parts and quietly leaving each part with one of the six families. He didn’t say anything, nor did he leave any explanatory note.

No matter how one might try to explain, someone like Lv Zhenliang would never be forgiven.

But this did not stop Feng Yin from doing what he believed in.

“As an assassin, I wield a blade meant to kill. I walk in darkness and slaughter in the long night. Countless souls have perished at my hand, a river of blood flows under my blade. But in my heart, there is a pure land bathed in sunlight. Despite walking in darkness, I am still the man I was before.”

“I am Feng Yin, but I am also Feng Xiaoyin. I continue to believe in the brightness of the world and the beauty of humanity. Good deeds will be rewarded, evil will be punished. If not, then I will step in.”

“Even if thousands condemn me, what’s wrong with remaining true to myself?”

Feng Yin knew in his heart that he was being slightly meddlesome and overly righteous. If word got out, countless people would say he was putting on airs.

They would call him contradictory and pretentious.

Many would say, you’re just an assassin, why pretend to be saintly?

So he didn’t plan on telling anyone and kept his actions to himself.

How I conduct my affairs is not for others to judge.

I am alone in this world. I’ll do as I please! What right do you commoners from the other world have to comment on me, one of Yan-Huang’s descendants?

So he was quite at ease.

Regardless of the situation, he acted according to his own moral standards, even if it meant going the extra mile or putting in extra effort—as in the case of Lv Zhenliang’s enemy. Feng Yin didn’t need to get involved at all.

By merely killing Lv Zhenliang, he would complete the mission. But Feng Yin chose to take an extra step.

The price he paid was a sword wound on his leg, one on his shoulder, and a punch to the chest. The injuries were neither too severe nor too light.

But he had no regrets.

Nor did he want to discuss or ponder why good people turned bad, whether it was societal or psychological factors or anything else…
That was none of his concern.

All he did was complete the tasks he wanted—and was able—to do. Everything was OK!

Overnight, he had eliminated two targets.

And they were interconnected.

Not only did Feng Yin succeed in getting himself injured, but he also fell into a depression.

His mood was extremely low.

Even the sense of pride that usually accompanied the completion of a task, the sensation of ‘enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens and eliminating evil to protect the innocent,’ didn’t surface this time. Instead, he felt strangely oppressed.

Gazing up at the sky, he got the feeling that it was very close, as if it was about to press down on him.

So he didn’t look at any other tasks.

He simply headed home under the moonlight. The Spirit Gathering vortex was almost fully formed again.

This time, Feng Yin didn’t plan on giving Feng Ying another upgrade, since the last one had been so recent.

Just after the second upgrade, the third one… Feng Ying needed some space for growth.

Even if Feng Yin didn’t fully understand the complexities involved, even if he was eager to explore the changes, he wouldn’t blindly experiment on the little one.

On this matter, he was extremely cautious.

Didn’t he have new family members at home? If the little one couldn’t be experimented on, they certainly could!

The Cloud Piercing Eagle, the Sky Splitting Falcon.