Chapter 688: Abdication
Two drops of red tears spilled from Cao Xingchang’s eyes.
Blood tears!
“Cao Tianlong, kneel and receive your orders!” A cry came from Cao Xingchang’s mouth. His voice was sharp and harsh.
“Dong!” Cao Tianlong did as he was commanded.
Cao Xingchang’s eyes solemnly locked onto his own son. “Cao Tianlong, as the 19th head of the Cao Family, I officially abdicate and transfer the position to you. From here on, you are the head of the Cao Family. The right to kill anyone in the Cao Family is in your hands! You can kill any of us—me, your mother, even your grandpa! Do you understand?” he announced.
Cao Tianlong gave his father a few kowtows in succession. “I understand, Father! Actually, y-you don’t need to do this. Ling Yun will definitely have a way to save you…” Cao Tianlong howled.
Cao Xingchang’s eyes didn’t leave Cao Tianlong. “Family Head, this isn’t the time to say all that. I have things to tell you while I still have my consciousness. Listen well!”
Cao Xingchang immediately changed the way he addressed Cao Tianlong. There was no need to do something like this during normal times, but Cao Xingchang was forcing his son to accept his new position immediately.
“Family Head, a huge tragedy has befallen our Cao Family, and you are the only male who escaped from this terrible fate. You have to buck up!”
Cao Xingchang started to tremble, which caused his voice to shake. “You have to do whatever it takes to k-k-kill Chen Jianwei and r-r-r-return him to a-a-ashes. Save your sister, Shanshan, destroy the Chen Family, and avenge our Cao Family!”
“You cannot die before achieving this! If not, you won’t be able to face our ancestors in the Cao Family! Understand?”
It took a Herculean effort for Cao Xingchang to tell his son to kill Chen Jianwei. This was the effect of the blood oath after The Embrace.
Ling Yun had a rude shock. The Embrace was truly too overbearing. At the same time, he understood how much Cao Xingchang and Cao Junxiong must love Cao Tianlong for them to resist the urge to kill Cao Tianlong previously!
“Please rise, Family Head…”
Cao Xingchang helped Cao Tianlong up with two fresh blood tears.
“Son, our Cao Family is finished. From now on, the responsibility of the Cao Family will be on your shoulders. You… mustn’t disappoint me…”
Cao Xingchang only spoke to Cao Tianlong like the father and son they were after addressing the important family matters. His pair of dark red eyes exuded some warmth.
Cao Tianlong clenched his fists, his eyes fiery, and gnashed his teeth. “Father, rest assured. Tianlong will follow your teachings. I will kill Chen Jianwei and destroy the Chen Family at all costs to avenge our Cao Family! I swear that I’m not a man if I can’t accomplish this!”
Cao Tianlong then took out a knife in an attempt to slice his palm.
Ling Yun pulled him back and shook his head. “You can’t,” he reminded lightly.
Cao Xingchang smiled satisfactorily and nodded at his son. He then swept his gaze towards his father and his wife. His body shuddered.
Cao Xingchang felt as though he had just woken up from a lucid nightmare only to find that it was real. He and his family had become blood-sucking demons. The pain in his heart was unimaginable.
He forced himself to accept reality, though that didn’t stop his blood tears.
Cao Xingchang stood up and came to Ling Yun with a flash. He peered at Ling Yun and suddenly got on his knees in an attempt to kowtow to Ling Yun.
How could Ling Yun possibly accept that? He quickly pulled Cao Xingchang up. “Uncle Cao, there’s no need for this. This is something that I, Ling Yun, have to do.”
Cao Xingchang attempted to kowtow thrice but was stopped by Ling Yun’s immense strength. He stopped after knowing that Ling Yun wouldn’t accept it.
“So, you are Ling Yun? I heard about you from Shanshan…”
Warmth seeped out as Cao Xingchang thought about his daughter.
Ling Yun nodded with a smile. He knew that Cao Shanshan went back home specifically for their matter once before the Qingming Festival.
“Shanshan told me that you had just broken through your physical limits. She said that she wanted to decide her own marriage and she wanted to marry you. I didn’t accept, nor did I reject her. I wanted to see how you two progressed. Never did I think that my Cao Family would be destroyed right after the Qingming Festival…”
Ling Yun lowered his head, and images of Cao Shanshan flashed in front of his eyes. He thought back to how she changed her seat right beside him after she came back. A twinge of pain flashed in his eyes. It seemed like it was only yesterday.
“It’s also beyond my wildest imagination that you were able to improve so much in a matter of three months. You saved our Cao Family from that demon. I don’t think I, Cao Xingchang, can ever repay this debt. I can only get Cao Tianlong to be at your beck and call!”
Ling Yun’s heart paused. “Uncle Cao, do you perhaps remember everything that happened just now?”
Cao Xingchang nodded. “Yes, I do. We remember everything Chen Jianwei did to my family. It’s just that the power of The Embrace was too overbearing, we couldn’t overcome it…”
Ling Yun was elated. “If that’s the case, please tell us all about it later. I’ll help them all to regain their consciousness!”
Cao Xingchang shook his head decisively this time. He gave a huge sigh. “There’s no need to wake them up. It will only add to their pain…”
Cao Tianlong grabbed Cao Xingchang’s arm and shook it defiantly. “Father, don’t think too much. Ling Yun said he would definitely find a way for all of you to recover completely!”
How could Ling Yun and Cao Tianlong not know that Cao Xingchang was seeking death from the way he was behaving?
Ling Yun smiled as well. “Uncle Cao, you might not keep your consciousness for long, so let me give you my opinion now. While I think that it was the right thing for you to abdicate your position to Cao Tianlong, I won’t agree to you trying to end your life here.”
Pain and sorrow flashed through Cao Xingchang’s eyes. “We haven’t avenged the Cao Family, and Shanshan is still in their hands. I won’t die now if there’s a way not to die. However, we were Embraced by Chen Jianwei. I have to resist the power of the blood oath, even as we speak. We are also unable to live like normal human beings. It’s probably better to destroy us completely…”
Resistance to the blood oath was a hundred times more difficult than quitting drugs. The pain that Cao Xingchang was going through now was unimaginable.
Ling Yun smiled. “Uncle Cao, don’t worry. These aren’t problems. Chen Jianwei isn’t dead, so how can we be? I’ll definitely find a cure for you within a month!”
Ling Yun gave Cao Xingchang some assurance so that he would forget about dying. “Moreover, you can ponder about living or dying after we rescue Shanshan and after seeing Tianlong and I kill Chen Jianwei!” Ling Yun said heroically and ambitiously!
Cao Xingchang was influenced by Ling Yun’s passion. “Good lad, my Shanshan wasn’t wrong in her judgment!”
“Uncle Cao, this was the first treatment. I’m surprised at how effective it was. I’ll treat you once a day from now on to see whether we can completely remove the effect of the blood oath from your body. Everything else will be a small matter if that can be removed…”
Ling Yun was right. As long as the effect of the blood oath could be removed, then they would be free of Chen Jianwei’s clutches. The only difference was that they had to drink blood. It wasn’t as scary as they thought.
Cao Xingchang finally started to accept this notion. He lowered his head in consideration. Ling Yun gave Cao Tianlong a pointed look to get him to persuade his father as well.
Cao Tianlong begged his father to do what Ling Yun said. They hugged and cried their hearts out. In the end, Cao Xingchang dismissed the notion of dying.
“Yes, Ling Yun’s right. I have to see Chen Jianwei and the Chen Family destroyed before I die!” Cao Xingchang declared angrily.
“That’s right, I’ll start their treatment now…”
Ling Yun treated Cao Junxiong and Shi Menghua, Cao Tianlong’s mother, next.
Ling Yun couldn’t bear the sight of the four of them bawling their eyes out, so he slipped out of the basement and went to the other basements to dispel the Evil Eye.
The basement was filled with painful cries. Some of them lost their parents, some lost their children, some lost their husbands, and some lost their wives…
And they themselves became a hideous existence in between human and demon.
Ling Yun’s divine sense was activated the whole time. He was afraid that one of them might lose consciousness and bite Cao Tianlong.
“Chen Jianwei, you are going straight to hell!”
