Chapter 125: A gentle brush, a sweet fragrance.

Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn't waste much more time on the first floor, heading to the center of the floor the very next morning after finishing their fights. The center of the floor was a surprisingly normal looking square metal house surrounded by a wooden fence, signifying that any and all combat was forbidden within the house.

The two entered the house, stepping into a mostly empty room that seemed to occupy the entire inside of the building. The only decorations in this mostly empty room were a few potted plants and a single round table surrounded by a few chairs covered in soft fabric. There was a woman from the Fiendgod race sitting on one the chairs, drinking something from a porcelain cup. She cast her gaze onto Liang Chen and Yan Ling when they entered the room, standing up and giving them a polite bow.

"Greetings, I am Ma Wu, I am the one in charge of sending people up to the second floor. Congratulations on completing your 10 battles, Scourge King, Wolf Queen."

Information about anyone who completed their 10 battles spread quickly, so even though it was only the morning after they completed their battles, information about Liang Chen and Yan Ling had already spread over the entire first floor. The woman beckoned towards the center of the room with her four arms, smiling politely.

"Please step over here and I will send you up to the second floor. The rules there are the same as here, so there is nothing new that you must keep in mind."

The two walked over the spot that the woman pointed at, curiously inspecting the floor. The woman took out a pendant that looked like a golden eye, placing it against the ground and filling it with energy. The energy moved through the pendant and into the ground, causing golden runes to appear on the floor beneath Liang Chen and Yan Ling. The two had seen several spatial arrays before, so they recognized these runes as being part of a somewhat strange spatial array.

The array caused space around them to distort and cover them in a thick cocoon, a myriad of colors flashing past the surface of the cocoon. The cocoon only lasted for a short second before vanishing, Liang Chen and Yan Ling now finding themselves standing in a room that was slightly different from the previous one. It was a little smaller, but the plants were a bit larger, releasing a fragrant scent. There was a woman from the Undead race standing a short distance away from the two of them, bowing politely as she greeted them.

"Scourge King, Wolf Queen, I welcome you to the second floor."

The two nodded at the woman as a form of greeting and then stepped past her, leaving the house. The second floor was almost identical to the first one, the main difference they could notice was that the people they saw walking in the streets looked a bit stronger. But that was to be expected, anyone who could reach the second floor had won 10 consecutive battles on the first floor. There was no one here who was still in the Ascended Tower realm, everyone they saw was between the early and late stage of the Heaven's Gate realm, with most being around the middle or late stage.

The two walked through the streets for a bit, giving their surroundings a few sweeping glances so that they could memorize the locations of the various arenas. They didn't plan on staying here for long either, their plan was to rush to the third floor, which was most likely occupied by people at the Heaven's Gate realm and the Soaring Immortal realm.

The two found an empty house and locked themselves up inside it, planning on cultivating a bit more using the new corpses they had acquired before they started entering the arenas. The house they picked contained a bathroom, two bedrooms, a living room, and a small kitchen where they could cook. Of course, as Liang Chen didn't sleep, they only needed one bedroom.

They entered one of the bedrooms, a rather nice room that contained a bed so large it could house three people at once. There were a few potted flowers lining the walls, as well as a mirror made from polished crystal hanging on the wall. There were even a few couches and tables spread through the room, so it was clear that the previous occupants who lived here had taken great care to make this room as nice as they could.

Liang Chen looked on as Yan Ling skipped over to the various flowers and gave them all a quick sniff, seemingly enjoying their soft fragrance. Liang Chen could tell that none of these flowers were poisonous, so he didn't stop her, he simply watched on quietly. She then walked up to the mirror, excitedly checking herself out. She hadn't brought a mirror with her when they entered the Myriad Convergence, so it had been a while since she last got to do this.

While Yan Ling was eagerly checking her own appearance, fixing what she considered minor mistakes, Liang Chen walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. The inside of the house was completely quiet and peaceful, a stark contrast to just how bloody and chaotic the rest of the tower was, Liang Chen found it to be a nice change of pace.

Yan Ling noticed Liang Chen looking at her thanks to his reflection in the mirror. She stopped fixing her hair and walked over to him, jumping onto the bed and sitting down in a kneeling position behind him. She leaned his body backward, resting the back of his head onto her lap, gently brushing his hair in a calming manner.

"You don't sleep, but at least you can rest a little like this."

Yan Ling couldn't even imagine what it was like for Liang Chen to not need sleep. She loved sleep far too much, so she was certain that even when she cultivated to a state where she would no longer need sleep, she would still choose to sleep frequently. Liang Chen looked at Yan Ling, who was looking at him with a gentle and caring smile, simply doing her best to let him get some rest. Liang Chen's eyes grew a bit distant as he slowly started to talk.

"You know, I always wondered why my parents didn't just flee. They knew that they would be executed, so why didn't they just flee from the Qing clan? They would be chased, but at least they would get to continue living. So why didn't they flee? Why did they choose to accept the punishment for a crime they had never committed?"

This was one of the main questions Liang Chen had on his mind after his parents' execution. If they had just chosen to flee, they might still be alive today, his entire life might have been completely different. Yan Ling didn't say anything, quietly waiting for Liang Chen to continue his story.

"Once my mind cleared up, I realized why they didn't choose to flee. It was for me. If they fled with me, while they might have been able to escape, if they were to ever be caught, all three of us would be executed. But by accepting the punishment, they would be able to plead for my life, they could ensure that I got to keep living. When I realized this, I couldn't help but wonder, did they regret it? Did they regret accepting the punishment so that I could live? Did they regret picking me up all those years ago, as I was now preventing them from escaping?"

Liang Chen knew that these thoughts were nonsensical, but they still kept sprouting up in his mind, kept haunting him when he wasn't expecting them. Liang Chen closed his eyes, a wave of tiredness washing over him and pulling at his mind. Laying in Yan Ling's lap, for the first time in several years, he felt tired again, he felt like he wanted to sleep. But even though he felt himself get tired, he still kept talking, he wanted to finish what he was trying to say.

"I didn't find an answer to my questions for quite some time, always wondering if they regretted it. But when we faced Huang Dong, I felt like I found an answer to that question. Even if I ended up dying against Huang Dong, I wouldn't have regretted it, not if it meant that you got to escape alive. So I think I can understand what they felt when they stepped onto that scaffolding when they accepted their punishment."

He wouldn't have regretted dying for Yan Ling, so he didn't think that his parents regretted dying for him. Liang Chen could feel his mind getting pulled away, his body devoid of energy as the wave of tiredness continued to wash over him.

"But Ling'er, I am not my parents. I am far too selfish to ever be like them. I refuse to reach the same end as them, I don't ever want to leave your side, nor do I want you to leave my side."

Liang Chen knew that he wasn't the most romantic person, his EQ was also so low that it might be called laughable. But he wanted to say this, he wanted Yan Ling to know this, that he would never leave her side, that he wished for her to always stay with him. And once he finished his words, his mind was pulled away and he drifted off to sleep, the gentle touch of Yan Ling brushing his hair, her sweet fragrance tickling his nose as he slept for the first time in years. And for the first time in years, he didn't relive the memories of his parents' execution as he closed his eyes. Yan Ling continued to gently brush his hair, whispering softly.

"Sleep, Chen'er. You have worked so hard for so long, you deserve to get some rest."