Ye Feng couldn't believe it. The na of the murderer that ca from Xu Ke's lips was his own father, the man he had regarded as his own flesh and blood.
"Read the letter," Xu Ke said, not bothering to argue. "Li Shichuan had soone deliver it to . It was only after reading it that I deduced your father might try to kill you. That's why I went to the back mountain of the Ye estate to save you." There was no point in arguing. Speaking to soone as intelligent as Ye Feng saved a lot of trouble. After reading the letter, he would see the truth more quickly than anyone.
He stared at Xu Ke, his pupils showing signs of dilating. His burnt, charred face was completely wooden, and his lips quivered slightly. "You're joking, right?"
A person's subconscious actions don't lie. Even though Ye Feng couldn't accept Xu Ke's words, not on an emotional level or a rational one, his subconscious was screaming at him that it was all true. The letter was real.
And for that exact reason, he felt no agitation or anger. Only numbness. It was the deathly stillness of soone approaching a terrible truth.
Ye Feng stopped seeking answers from Xu Ke. His gaze dropped, landing on the first word of the letter. For a mont, his eyes flickered with avoidance and panic, but in the end, his hand reached out, took the paper, and lifted it.
He read one line.
Then another.
And another.
He read very slowly. As he did, two grimy tear tracks, mixed with dust, traced paths from the corners of his burned eyes down his expressionless face.
After a long ti, Ye Feng quietly put down the letter and stared blankly at the wall. The pale white of the wall seed to drain all sound from the room. Xu Ke and Tang Yingchang were both tense, worried Ye Feng might collapse from the psychological strain at any mont.
No one could be expected to accept such a truth. But Ye Feng didn't faint. He only murmured softly, his voice full of a bewildered disbelief, "Is it true?"
He seed to be asking Xu Ke, but at the sa ti, he wasn't.
"It's true," Xu Ke said softly. It was the first ti he had ever spoken so slowly and gently, as if he feared the slightest disturbance would cause Ye Feng to collapse. "Your father went to the icehouse to see you. He touched your face and acted like a father devastated by grief, but I knew he was just confirming whether you were dead or alive. Moreover, Elder Tian was hired through Li Shichuan's phone, and Li Shichuan has been under the Ye Family's surveillance for days. If Ye Yunfeng wasn't controlling the phone, it would have been impossible for Li Shichuan to so brazenly hire soone to kill you."
"I see," Ye Feng murmured. The next second, tears stread down his face, but a glimr of light began to coalesce in his vacant pupils—a light filled with confusion, bewildernt, and pain.
He turned to look at Xu Ke, his voice starting to tremble. "Xu Ke, tell ..."
"Go on," Xu Ke responded, his expression hardening.
Ye Feng's voice trembled more violently, like the whimper of a dying beast in a desolate wilderness. "Was it my fault my parents died? Was it my fault my sister was hard? Was it?"
"No. It was Ye Yunfeng."
"But he went after my parents because of ! He targeted my sister because of ! It's all my damn fault!" At this, Ye Feng finally broke down, sobbing. "It's all my fault... It's all my fault... It's all my fault..."
Xu Ke said no more. He simply held onto Ye Feng, his expression grim.
As if a dam had burst, Ye Feng clutched at Xu Ke's clothes. His sobs slowly morphed into the sound of grinding teeth as tears stread down his face. His voice squeezed out from between clenched jaws, "I should have known... I should have known my parents' deaths weren't an accident. I should have known the one who wanted to harm my sister wasn't one of the three Ye brothers... It was him."
"It was all him!!!"
* * *
In the end, Ye Feng didn't fall back into unconsciousness. His constitution as a Martial Artist was excellent, so even though his mind and spirit were completely shattered, his body could withstand the blow.
But Ye Feng wished his talent as a Martial Artist was weaker. If it were weaker, maybe he could have just passed out, escaping this heart-wrenching pain of realizing he had acknowledged a monster as his father—a mistake that had ultimately led his family to their deaths. If his talent had been weaker, perhaps... perhaps his parents would still be alive...
* * *
Seeing Xu Ke erge from the room, Tang Yingchang couldn't help but ask, "Is Third Young Master Ye all right?"
"He's fine," Xu Ke said. "He's an adult. He'll get through this."
After his breakdown, Ye Feng had fallen into a deathly silence. He had simply wiped away his tears and asked Xu Ke to leave him in the room, saying he needed to be alone to calm down. Xu Ke had agreed.
"But if he's in there alone... he won't do anything rash, will he?" Tang Yingchang asked, worried. He was filled with sympathy for Ye Feng. To have been so loyal to the Ye Family, only to discover that the ultimate betrayal ca from the very father he had always respected and loved. Anyone with a weaker will would have probably killed themselves by now!
Xu Ke smiled. "He won't. You can rest assured."
Hearing this, Tang Yingchang was imdiately reassured. Even though Xu Ke didn't explain why, Tang Yingchang had reached a point where he would believe Xu Ke if he said the sun was about to fall out of the sky.
* * *
That evening, Xu Ke specifically had Qin Yu cook a al and bring it over. He didn't let her co inside, simply telling her to leave the food at the door. Qin Yu naturally obeyed without asking why.
When Qin Yu returned to her room, she couldn't help but ask Feng Wei, "Is Mister Xu taking so kind of dicine? There's such a strong dicinal sll."
Feng Wei's eyes darted around as he feigned ignorance. "Maybe. It's better not to ask so many questions."
"All right, then," Qin Yu nodded.
anwhile, Xu Ke placed the al Qin Yu had prepared in front of Ye Feng. From the mont Xu Ke had left him alone until now, Ye Feng hadn't moved an inch, his posture fixed as he gazed out the window.
"Eat sothing," Xu Ke said, setting down the food.
"Thank you." Ye Feng had no appetite, but Xu Ke was looking out for him. He couldn't refuse such kindness just because his own world was collapsing.
However, when he turned his head and saw the al, he froze. He looked back at Xu Ke and said blankly, "Xiao Yu made this, didn't she?"
"Yes," Xu Ke nodded.
Ye Feng's face remained stiff, but he suddenly forced a smile. "Do you know how I can tell?"
"Why?" Xu Ke asked.
Ye Feng's voice was soft. "Because my mother used to scold her for sticking her chopsticks upright in her rice bowl. She always did it anyway. After Mom passed away, she'd still do it subconsciously. Then she'd rember what my mother said and pull them out. But there would still be rice grains stuck to the chopsticks, and a little hole left in the rice. It looks so ugly, haha..."
When Ye Feng finished, Xu Ke looked at him for a mont before glancing down at the food. He smiled. "It is a bit ugly."
Ye Feng seed genuinely amused by this and chuckled. "Right? I think so too."
But after he said that, Ye Feng's brow furrowed tightly. He sniffled, his face turning beet red from the effort of holding back his emotions. He grabbed the chopsticks and began to frantically shovel the food into his mouth.
Outside the window, the night was deep. The wind made the curtains flap and rustle.
"Live. I'll help you get your revenge, and you'll help kill Ye Yunfeng."
"Okay."
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