You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 167 - 166: Die with Unfinished Business

Drop by drop, vitality flowed along the slender iron needle, streaming from Jing Qingfu, this dying old man, into Le Yu’s Extreme Divine Weapon.

Jing Qingfu became acutely aware that the very last remnants of life squeezed out by his fleeting resurgence were rapidly dissipating into nothingness.

He was going to die.

But compared to his impending return to the earth, what truly filled Jing Qingfu with sorrow, anger, and dread, was the heart-piercing confession his own flesh and blood uttered before him,

"The attack on Half City was meant to suppress the arrogance of the Silver Blood Association."

"Launching the Youth Daily was done to awaken the people of Dongyang."

"I would destroy everything and let White Night rebuild it all, drag the noble down into the dust, and let the humble straighten their backs."

"The Jing Family will stand at the eye of the storm, bury it all, bury itself. When the people of Xuanzhu rise up, the Jing Family will be the most extravagant sacrifice beneath their flag."

"You, you..." Jing Qingfu’s hands, pale as a chicken’s bone, clutched Le Yu’s wrist in a death grip, his nails threatening to break the skin. Though his face was brimming with rage, there was still a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

He still had hope.

He still was waiting.

"I," Le Yu replied, his expression cold, "am not your son."

"Jing Zhengwei died long ago—killed by his own caution and madness."

"I am nothing but a passerby who drew their blade at injustice... an assassin."

"Why..." Jing Qingfu coughed up a mouthful of black blood, "Why not, not keep lying to me... Right, Zhengwei, you must be punishing me, aren’t you? Telling these lies on purpose, to get back at your father—"

Le Yu lowered his head and whispered by Jing Qingfu’s ear,

"The only reason I’m telling you the truth is because I didn’t want to see you die with that contented peace on your face."

"You don’t deserve it."

"If you live in baseness and shame, you don’t get to expect a clean death."

"It’s a pity you’re dying so early. I couldn’t make you watch that moment when your precious Jing Family crumbles and falls."

"Now Jing Zhengwu should be seeing his big brother. You head down first and reunite with your two sons. I promise, the rest of the Jing Family will be down there to join you soon enough."

Jing Qingfu gripped Le Yu’s wrist in a manic clutch, his nails driving deep into flesh as he snarled, "Even if I turn into a ghost... I won’t let you off..."

"I’m looking forward to it," Le Yu said calmly, "If you’ve got the guts, come kill me."

The last trace of light vanished from Jing Qingfu’s eyes.

Despair’s void took its place.

Le Yu withdrew the needle, set Jing Qingfu back down on the bed, and checked the spot where the needle had pierced.

No blood, no scar.

"A Saint’s Relic is a perfect tool for an assassin, after all," Le Yu mused, "Not only can Divine Weapons shape-shift to their master’s will—already a frightening power—but this one can even mimic the attributes of any other Divine Weapon it’s ever touched."

"Combined with the Soul Purification evil sword from Yin Yinyin’s memories, I can quietly drain people’s very life force with just this weapon, just like I did to Jing Qingfu. Even if someone examined the corpse, they’d only think Jing Qingfu died of old age."

"A Divine Weapon made for a wandering killer... Too bad, in my hands, all I get to do is bully an old man."

Staring at Jing Qingfu’s corpse, eyes wide open in death, Le Yu let out a sigh, "a muddled tangle of feelings welling in his heart."

"Honestly, Jing Qingfu wasn’t bad to him—Youth Daily was only possible because of Jing Qingfu’s backing, he got on the patrol squad thanks to Jing Qingfu’s recommendation, and even the Patriarch position was his only because Jing Qingfu wielded his authority without regard for anyone else. Jing Qingfu even kept him safe by killing his second son and coercing the third."

"But who knows what happened to Jing Zhengfeng? Jing Qingfu never even brought him up. Maybe he’s already got a rock tied to him at the bottom of the river?"

"You can’t say Le Yu didn’t feel moved by Jing Qingfu’s care. Most people would probably accept it all without guilt, take the gifts, the encouragement, and the trust, stir up political storms and grab for power as a big capitalist, maybe even call him ’Dad’ without the slightest regret."

Le Yu used to be like most people, but "Dying and Living as a Substitute" robbed him of any appetite for cheap pleasures.

In just a few short months, Le Yu swapped between three bodies, living three different lives—even if he still hungered after carnal desires, he was a new man in his heart, apart from the rest.

"All the fame and fortune everyone else spent their whole lives chasing were, to him, nothing more than character equipment on a throwaway account."

"The massive family assets Jing Qingfu managed, all those careful preparations to reach for power—he just saw them as quest items needed to clear the main storyline."

"In a world where identity, gender, and even his name could change at any moment, the only thing he could hold onto as real, as himself, rather than a phantom conjured up by Jing Zhengwei, Yin Yinyin, or Qian Yuliu, was the moral compass he brought from Earth."

"Because I believed the people of Xuanzhu shouldn’t have to live like this, I had to change this place."

"Even if I was Jing Zhengwei."

"Even if I was the Jing Patriarch with all that wealth."

"Even if I was a permanent member of the Silver Blood ruling class."

"My heart is not stone, it cannot be turned."

He saw plainly that all kindness Jing Qingfu showed him was only because he was Jing Zhengwei, because he could inherit the path, because he would take his place as one cog in the Jing Family machine.

"If it weren’t by chance that he happened to fit Jing Qingfu’s selection criteria, it would probably have been Le Yu’s turn to ’kill himself in disgrace’ by now."

"Of course, that hypothetical was pretty pointless—after all, Le Yu took his kindness and turned traitor in the end. He told himself this just to find a reason he could live with."

Most important of all, Le Yu couldn’t accept Jing Qingfu dying peacefully in bed.

"It would piss him off."

"He thought of the workers at Red Moon Fortress, thought of the slaves trafficked by Bai Yulan, thought of Frost Leaf, thought of that Jing Family servant who slapped themselves in the face, and of many others."

"So no matter how moved he was, he couldn’t let Jing Qingfu die at peace."

But of course, Jing Qingfu wasn’t the only one to blame, so after thinking about it, Le Yu looked at Jing Qingfu’s body on the bed and said,

"I’ll try my best to make sure everyone else dies worse than you—family ruined, wives and children scattered, maybe not even dead—forced to spend their remaining years atoning for it."

"Yeah, I’ll try my best," Le Yu said, a little sheepish.

"Honestly, everything he’d just told Jing Qingfu was just bluster. He was making it up as he went, even bringing down the Silver Blood Association was an improvisation—never mind instigating infighting in the Heyang Army or overthrowing the Governor’s Manor, he didn’t have the faintest clue how he’d do that."

"The Jing Family was bound to fall—but who knew, maybe he’d break the Silver Blood Association before they even got there."

"Forget it, at least I finally took down a big boss. Time to get out and celebrate a little..."

Le Yu pushed open the door and stepped out, shouting,

"Medical Officer? Medical Officer? Medical Officer!? Get in here! The Patriarch isn’t breathing!"

...

...

In Heming Court, Qin Leyin looked at her second brother as he entered and asked, "What happened to her?"

Qin Yueyang said, "She made quite a scene, smashed a lot of things."

"Let her do what she wants—as long as it’s her stuff she’s destroying. Make sure she gets three meals a day, as usual." Qin Leyin sipped her wine, "Any word from the Jing Family?"

"Jing Qingfu seems to have died."

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Seeing that his older brother had no other instructions, Qin Yueyang quickly left and shut the door behind him.

Qin Leyin had a few more cups, then suddenly pulled out an empty glass, filled it with wine, and poured it on the ground.

"Teacher, your closest friend went to join you."

"I never had a chance to tell him, you didn’t really forget your promise to him."

"But that’s fine, the promise you made will be carried on by the next generation."

"By me."