Chapter 342: What Punishment?
Yang Ru had never felt so miserable in his life. He’d known that he had little chance to fix whatever mistake he’d made with Kang Lin, but neither had he expected her rejection to be so absolute.
He tried to separate himself from his emotions. Even during the worst time in his life, when he and Yang Xiu fled their home without even properly burying or mourning their parents, he could set aside the negativity somewhat to view things logically instead of giving into despair.
For some reason, that ability to coldly analyze his feelings wouldn’t materialize, though. Instead, each emotion stabbed at his heart, unmitigated by the icy dispassion he usually could eventually achieve.
The bitter sadness of loss. The sharp stab of betrayal. The empty abyss of loneliness. He just wanted them to go away.
As he struggled to manage his reactions as he always had, a new sensation tugged at his soul. The more he concentrated, the clearer his perception of the pull became.
“Don’t bury your emotions in a frozen grave. Use them to move forward. Determine a goal and channel them into your efforts to achieve it. Turn your pain into passion,” a voice deep inside him urged.
The message resonated with him. He would burn the sadness, betrayal and loneliness on a pyre and use it to fuel his fury. His steps would move forward, always.
He’d be unstoppable. Undaunted. His unwanted feelings would form the foundation he’d use to trample and bury anything in his path. To crush all foes.
Even if those foes used to be friends. Or if he’d hoped those foes would become more than friends.
Kang Lin kowtowed, burying her face on the floor, as her grandfather walked into the study. “This lowly one has erred, Esteemed Elder.”
Silenced stretched as she kept her forehead flat against the cold bamboo flooring while she waited. Which wasn’t a good sign. If she were overestimating just how much trouble she was in, he would have told her to rise. Not speaking meant she might actually have underestimated the magnitude of her failure.
“By all rights,” Grandfather eventually said, “today should have been a celebration for the Kang family. One of our members recently jumped from the peak of Qi Gathering to the third minor realm of Foundation Establishment more rapidly than the most feted geniuses in Sect history. Throughout the tournament, that family member displayed poise in combat and a mastery of multiple powerful techniques. Advancing to the top eight should have solidified her status as a rising star.”