Clang! Clang! Clang!
The crisp sounds of colliding flying swords filled the air, and before long, a cold-faced Bai Haoyu stepped forth.
Pu Jingwan and Yu Xiaomei were stunned; they’d assumed this new arrival was the Great Sage, or perhaps Yang Jian. They hadn’t expected it to be him!
“Little Yu!”
The Bai Family patriarchs were stunned too.
Cold, grim Bai Haoyu walked up to them. “Patriarchs.”
“Why are you here?” asked the patriarchs.
“It’s only natural that I'm here. Surely you didn’t think I’d lose?” said Bai Haoyu flatly.
They stared intently at Bai Haoyu, their expressions solemn. They needed an explanation.
“What happened to them?” Pu Jingwan was still trapped outside the barrier, but she couldn’t help but ask for information.
Bai Haoyu glanced at him, “They were quite good. They really were the two strongest among you. Not even I could beat them right away. However, I was more concerned about what’s happening over here, so I came over to take a look.”
“Do you want to kill him personally on Bai Yulong’s half?” As he spoke, Bai Jinsheng took a few steps back.
Bai Haoyu went with the flow and took a few steps forward. At the moment, Ye Zichen’s presence was still overflowing, and his intimidating gaze bore down on the patriarchs, unwavering and unblinking.
Even when Bai Haoyu walked right up to him, Ye Zichen didn’t so much as notice him.
“As expected.” When he saw Ye Zichen’s condition, Bai Haoyu nodded. To everyone’s astonishment, when he looked at Ye Zichen, his gaze didn’t contain even the slightest hint of enmity. On the contrary, his gaze was full of respect.
He bowed deeply to Ye Zichen, then turned to the others. What he said next made their eyes widen in shock.
“Can we let him go?”
He admired people like this, people who clung to their convictions to reveal shocking strength even in the face of death. This was someone who could all but come back from the dead for his convictions. To Bai Haoyu, it seemed like a waste just to let him die.
Bai Haoyu had come all the way here, not to kill Ye Zichen personally, but to request he be given a path to life.
Even if they were enemies, based purely on the strength of his convictions, Bai Haoyu was willing to set all former grudges aside and let him go.
Everyone who heard this was stunned.
Flabbergasted!
No one would have ever imagined Bai Haoyu would say something like this! Bai Mingli knit his brows, glanced at Bai Jinsheng, and snorted, “This is your son!”
Bai Haoyu was pleading for mercy on behalf of someone whose actions had led to the deaths of over one hundred thousand Bai Family clansmen.
Bai Mingli snorted and stepped aside. Bai Jinsheng was even angrier. He roared, “Do you even know what you’re saying? Little Yu, I understand your temperament, but even you ought to understand the situation!”
“So, we can’t?” Bai Haoyu didn’t argue. He simply sighed.
Bai Haoyu glanced silently at Ye Zichen, then his gaze landed on Pu Jingwan and Xiao Yumei. Ye Zichen’s expression instantly shifted, and he directly swung his fists.
“Is it them?” Bai Haoyu retreated a few dozen meters back and withdrew his killing intent. Ye Zichen immediately stopped chasing him. “I don’t know if this is okay or not, but…. I can kill him myself, but I’d like to spare the two women.” As he spoke, he pointed to Xiao Yumei and Pu Jingwan.
“Alright,” said the patriarchs.
They’d planned to let Xiao Yumei leave unscatched out of respect for Xiao Ting anyway. Besides, the situation here had already been settled. Letting both women go didn’t matter. Even if they bore a grudge against the Bai Family over this, it didn’t matter.
Two people, even two rulers, were helpless against a clan as large as the Bai Family. The very idea of them getting revenge was a joke.
“Thank you, patriarchs.” Bai Haoyu hefted his rapier and slowly walked up to Ye Zichen.
The thing he respected most about people who lived for their convictions, clinging to life by the sheer strength of their obsessions was that, other than their convictions, they had no other emotions.
That is to say, Ye Zichen was giving everything he had to protect those he wanted to protect, but when it came to himself, he wouldn’t so much as blink even in the face of attempted to murder.
Bai Haoyu held his sword to Ye Zichen’s neck. It sunk into the skin of his neck, and drops of fresh red blood slid down the blade. Even so, Ye Zichen stood there as if he were made of wood, not reacting in the slightest.
Pu Jingwan and Xiao Yumei relentlessly pounded against the barrier, but Bai Mingli was far stronger than them. Even doing their utmost, their attacks at most cracked the barrier, but they couldn’t break it. Furthermore, every time they made headway, Bai Mingli intentionally focused his power and healed the damage.
Bai Haoyu could clearly sense their distress. He’d come here to save Ye Zichen, even if that meant they’d be enemies again in the future.
Or rather, he wanted to give Ye Zichen an opportunity to live on.
However, he couldn’t go against the patriarch’s orders! That was what it meant to be a filial son!
He pleaded for mercy on Ye Zichen’s behalf but was refused. He didn’t argue; he was keenly aware that all he could do for Ye Zichen was protect those he wanted to protect, the source of his obsession.
“Fellow Daoist.” Bai Haoyu changed how he addressed Ye Zichen. By now, he’d already taken Ye Zichen as an opponent worthy of his respect and admiration, regardless of the vast gulfs between their cultivation boundaries.
“Protecting your two friends is the limit of what I can do for you. I can’t spare your life. The last thing I can do for you is help you to leave this world with a little less pain. Don’t blame me for this.” Bai Haoyu whispered a few words in Ye Zichen’s ear, regardless of whether Ye Zichen could hear him or not. Then he whooshed into the air. He wouldn’t torture Ye Zichen, but out of respect, he would send him off with his strongest attack.
Whoosh!
The rapier took to the skies. It vibrated, then split into two, then three, then four….
“Ten Thousand Swo-….” His attack had only just built up power and was just about to burst forth when four longswords cut through the sky and reached him. Two of them pressed against the patriarchs’ foreheads, while two pressed up against Bai Haoyu’s vitals.
In addition, a long cloth strip wrapped itself around Bai Haoyu’s sword arm.
A few breaths of time later, five figures landed beside them.
Four clutched long swords, while the other held the other end of the ribbon. She tugged the ribbon closer, tugging Bai Haoyu’s hand with it.
When they saw this, Pu Jingwan and Xiao Yumei’s eyes went bloodshot, while Thirteen rushed forward, her eyes red with tears. “Boss, you’re finally here!”
As soon as she called out, an indistinct figure stepped out of the sky, her hands carrying a divination compass. It was none other than…. Xuan Ji!
