Chapter 370
Lin Ling!
These words were like a pardon, causing the girl's extremely tense nerves to relax slightly, and her sobs seemed to lessen a little, but her body was still trembling violently.
She buried her forehead deeper into the soft carpet, like a fledgling bird seeking shelter, afraid to look up.
Lin Xia then took half a step forward and squatted down in front of the girl. His tall figure cast a shadow, but strangely, it did not bring a sense of oppression.
His movements were natural, without any deliberate gentleness. He simply reached out, his slender fingers carrying a sense of control and stability, and gently placed them on the girl's thin, slightly trembling shoulder, which was wrapped in a white robe.
The touch was light, yet carried an irresistible force, signaling her to get up.
The girl's body stiffened abruptly, as if she had been scalded, and then, guided by that gentle yet firm force, she obediently and laboriously raised her upper body.
She kept her head down, her long white hair falling messily, obscuring most of her face and her heterochromatic eyes, which were filled with tears and trembling with fear.
The large white robe wrapped around her made her appear even smaller and more fragile. Only her stiff white cat tail trembled slightly at the bottom edge of the robe, its tip brushing nervously across the carpet.
Lin Xia didn't force her to look up, but simply remained squatting, her gaze level with the top of her drooping hair. Her voice remained in that calm, declarative tone, as if she were asking the most ordinary question:
"What's your name?"
This question, like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, stirred up a faint ripple in the bewildered lake of the young girl's heart.
It seemed to take her a moment to understand the meaning of those words. Her body trembled again, and her head, buried in her long hair, swayed slightly and slowly from side to side.
A faint, hoarse voice, heavy with nasal tones and the result of prolonged silence, struggled to escape from beneath the hair:
"...No...no..."
The voice was so low it was almost inaudible, yet it struck the hearts of everyone present like a heavy stone.
"No name?"
Ning Rongrong couldn't help but gasp, her glass-like eyes instantly filling with tears again.
Having grown up in luxury, she couldn't possibly imagine what it meant for someone not to have a name.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling exchanged a complicated look. Although the Serpent Staff Martial Soul Clan and the Nine Heart Begonia Sect each had their own rules, their core disciples were all expected to achieve great things and had resounding reputations from a young age.
Yu Tianheng frowned. The Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex family's emphasis on bloodline and names was deeply ingrained, and the lack of a name made him feel an instinctive sense of rejection and discomfort.
Zhu Zhuqing stood quietly half a step behind Lin Xia, her cold face revealing little emotion. Only her deep cat-like eyes slightly contracted upon hearing that there was no name.
She recalled a long time ago, in the cold and desolate West Garden of the Zhu Family in Xingluo, when she was also bound by rules and driven by fate.
At that time, although she possessed the name Zhu Zhuqing, that name was more like a cold symbol, a label pointing to the Netherworld Cat Martial Soul and the identity of the Star Luo Prince's fiancée, rather than a call that truly belonged to "her".
It wasn't until her brother Lin Xia led her out of the Zhu family mansion that her name seemed to gain warmth.
At this moment, looking at this fellow human without even a symbol in front of her, a cold pity and a deeper chill intertwined in her heart.
A deeper silence fell over the private room.
Even the air seemed to freeze, carrying a suffocating heaviness.
All eyes were focused on the trembling white figure in the center, and for a moment no one knew how to break the silence.
pity?
mercy?
curious?
Complex emotions flowed silently.
Lin Xia's face remained expressionless. He showed no surprise at the girl's answer, nor did he reveal any sympathy.
He simply lowered his eyes slightly, as if he were thinking, or perhaps examining something.
His gaze slowly swept over the drooping white hair, the slightly trembling white robe, and the stiff, upright white cat tail peeking out from under the robe.
The shape and color of the cat's tail echoed the real cat's tail beneath the black cat ear hair ornaments in Zhu Zhuqing's hair in a wonderful way, yet they were completely different—one was the deep night, and the other was pure snow.
The brief pause was exceptionally clear in the silence. Time seemed to stretch out, each second carrying the breathless anticipation of the crowd and the girl's silent fear.
Finally, Lin Xia raised her eyes, her gaze still calm, yet carrying a decisive force.
He looked at the girl's low-hanging hair, his voice clear and steady, as if declaring an unalterable fact:
"From now on, your name will be Lin Ling."
The moment the word "Lin" left her mouth, the girl's body jolted violently!
The word "Ling" settled, like a clear and melodious chime, shattering all the stagnation and heaviness in the private room.
For the first time, the girl slowly and cautiously raised her head, which had been hanging down.
Her white hair, which had been covering her face, slid to both sides, revealing a pale yet exquisitely delicate face, and a pair of heterochromatic eyes that were brimming with tears but now seemed to be filled with starlight—one blue and one gold, like a frozen lake suddenly reflecting the dawn.
That light was pure, newborn, and filled with a tremendous sense of bewilderment and ecstasy!
She seemed completely oblivious, staring blankly, almost greedily, at Lin Xia's calm, expressionless face.
Those heterochromatic eyes trembled violently, churning with turbulent waves, as if trying to etch the name Lin Ling into the depths of her soul.
"Lin...Ling..."
She opened her chapped lips and moved them silently and extremely slowly, repeating the name in a breathy voice.
Each syllable carries a hesitant, awkwardness, as if trying to confirm whether this treasure that fell from the sky truly belongs to them.
"Lin Ling..."
She read it again, this time with a slightly louder voice and a hint of uncertain tremor.
"Lin Ling..."
When it was read aloud for the third time, the slight tremor in the voice turned into a strange confirmation, and the syllables squeezed out by the dry throat were hoarse but clearly audible.
She murmured the name repeatedly, over and over again, as if it were the only spell in the world that could dispel all darkness and cold.
With each repetition, the light in her eyes brightened a little, the confusion faded a little, and was replaced by an increasingly clear, almost devout sense of belonging.
Then, an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible curve slowly spread across the corners of her pale, taut lips.
It wasn't a bright smile, or even a complete smile; it was more like a tender flower bud, glistening with dew, struggling to peek out from the ruins.
The corners of her mouth twitched slightly upwards, yet it seemed to have used all her strength, carrying a fragile sense of relief after surviving a catastrophe and a cautious joy at finally grasping a glimmer of light.
This faint, fleeting smile, like a pebble thrown into a still lake, stirred up brilliant ripples in her heterochromatic eyes, instantly brightening her pale face and startling everyone in the private room.
(End of Chapter)