"Are you still not moving?! GO!!"
Xiu hesitated for a long mont. Venerable Elder Baii let out a cold shout. This Low Growl seed to stun Xiu further. He stared at his Master's iconic, fluttering white eyebrows; for centuries, he had cultivated by his Master's side. In all his existence, his Master had always been the calst individual in the face of crisis Xiu had ever known, calm no matter the crisis. But now, he was so incandescently furious that Xiu found him almost unrecognizable. And beneath the rage, Ah Xiu could even sense... could it be... fear?!!
"Yes, Master!" Xiu dared not utter another word, rely bowing his head in acquiescence.
Only Venerable Elder Baii was left, gazing skyward with a profound sigh. "I hope," he murmured to the heavens, "that this is not so new test orchestrated by Tian Xing... And yet, perhaps I also hope that it is."
But a mont later, the Venerable Elder's expression contorted.
He saw his disciple, Xiu, returning – not only had Xiu failed to kill Bai Rourou, but he had actually... brought her up the mountain with him! At this, Venerable Elder Baii could no longer contain his fury. In a heartbeat, he materialized beside Xiu, startling the disciple so profoundly that a cold sweat instantly drenched his entire body!
Catching sight of Bai Rourou nearby, her own brow knitted in a questioning gaze, Elder Baii's fury reached its peak, his hair practically bristling. He seized Xiu by the collar.
"What in the blazes have you DONE?!!" he roared. "You damned fool! Who gave you permission to bring her onto this mountain?! I told you to KILL her! You defiant pup! Did my instructions not penetrate that thick skull of yours?!"
"You... you want to kill ???" Bai Rourou stamred, finally understanding.
Hearing this, Bai Rourou only knitted her brows slightly; when she first ca to Azure Mist Mountain seeking an audience with the Venerable Elder Baii, she had already steeled herself for the possibility of death.
However, neither Baii nor Xiu spared Bai Rourou a thought just then. Ah Xiu was shaking like a leaf; never had he witnessed his Master consud by such fury. He was utterly flustered. "Master," he stamred, "I... I cannot bring myself to slaughter the innocent! If... if she must die... then you'll have to do it yourself!"
"You..."
Elder Baii, with his flowing white beard and hair contrasting his youthful immortal's visage, now had a crimson flush spreading across his sowhat rounded features – a clear sign of his imnse fury. Yet, he seed to master it, letting the urge to lash out pass.
His breathing grew deep and even. "Very well. Very well then," he sighed. "Your disposition, Xiu, is ultimately too soft. You do not grasp the necessity that sotis, to save a thousand, one must be willing to strike down one."
"Senior," Bai Rourou interjected, "What do you an by that?"
Bai Rourou was utterly bewildered, and Li Wei, observing from his screen, felt much the sa. When he'd heard Elder Baii order Bai Rourou's death, Li Wei had instantly focused his will, ready to intervene and save her, no matter the price. Yet now... this Venerable Elder displayed absolutely no killing intent; on the contrary, he seed almost... disheartened?
Simultaneously, however, Li Wei felt a growing sense of unease. He couldn't shake the feeling that by entering the Tian Xing Abode, his family had inadvertently stumbled upon so profound taboo. What else could explain Elder Baii's peculiar behavior?
While Li Wei was still lost in these thoughts, Elder Baii suddenly moved. He had already immobilized Bai Rourou and now placed a hand upon the top of her head. Instantly, Bai Rourou's eyes rolled upwards, showing only the whites. A vast surge of cosmic power then erupted from Elder Baii, flowing into Bai Rourou as if he were probing her very essence for sothing specific!
It all happened so fast that Li Wei had no ti to intervene, even if he had wanted to. Yet, he also found himself sighing in relief. The power of a Void Refining expert... how could one even begin to fathom its depths? He knew he couldn't have prevented it. But from the looks of it now, Bai Rourou, at least, was not in any imdiate mortal danger.
A short while later, Elder Baii removed his hand from the top of Bai Rourou's head. Instantly, she seed to recover completely, as though absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.
Glancing at his disciple, Xiu, who still wore a deeply troubled and bewildered expression as he looked upon his master, Elder Baii, then turned to Bai Rourou, making an inviting gesture.
"Young woman," he said, "You wished to inquire about the Tian Xing Abode, about Tian Xing himself, and also, I believe, why I intended to have you killed?"
Without any sign of fear, Bai Rourou walked towards Elder Baii's humble thatched cottage.
He busied himself: burning incense, boiling water, preparing tea. In these simple actions, Elder Baii bore no resemblance whatsoever to the legendary Void Refining master he was reputed to be; rather, he seed just a perfectly ordinary, unassuming old man.
"I am unaware how you ca to know of the master-disciple bond between Tian Xing and ," he said, his voice calm, "but in your ignorance, you have all committed a most grievous error."
"Grievous error?" Bai Rourou's expression grew focused.
Elder Baii stated, his expression unreadable, "In truth, your family's strategy was quite astute. Knowing of the master-disciple relationship between Tian Xing and , and knowing I possess the ans to open the Tian Xing Abode, coming to with your plea ant success was almost guaranteed. Had I opened the Abode for you, it would have been an act of considerable rit on my part as well. Such an outco would have benefited us both, and your Li family might even have forged a valuable connection with through it."
Hearing his words, Bai Rourou's brow furrowed once more in concentration; his assessnt was spot on.
"When you perceived my reluctance to intervene," Elder Baii continued, "your Li family then orchestrated the arrival of these other factions to exert collective pressure, simultaneously disseminating those rumors. A clever move – that way, were I to eventually yield, I could hardly lay the bla at any one group's feet. And in the end, bowing to that combined pressure, I would inevitably have had no alternative but to open the Tian Xing Abode for everyone."
"You people don't even seem to fear ," Elder Baii continued his assessnt. "I've heard the tales – even the Wu Clan's revered Divine Bird Totem hesitates to dispatch its top masters against your Li family. So you ca here, unafraid, calculating that I wouldn't dare lay a hand on Li kin."
At this, Bai Rourou's brow visibly relaxed. The intricate plotting he described wasn't her handiwork; her own thoughts hadn't delved nearly so deep. Her sole aim had been to rescue those 'children' of her family.
"However," Elder Baii stated, "you were wrong in your calculations." A wry smile touched Elder Baii's lips. "My disciple, Ah Xiu... he really ought to have killed you. With you dead, the entanglents would have been far fewer. But that disciple of mine, he is of an inherently suspicious disposition."
Ah Xiu, who was in the midst of pouring tea, faltered for an instant.
Seemingly noticing Ah Xiu's slight falter, Elder Baii snorted dismissively. "I wasn't referring to you."
Seeing his Master revert to his customary composure, Xiu asked cautiously, "Master, apart from myself... have you taken other disciples?"
"I have." Elder Baii's face turned solemn.
"In all my long years," he said slowly, "I once took in a disciple with the poorest innate aptitude I had ever encountered. And yet... he was also the most exceptional of them all. Tian Xing. And now," Elder Baii continued, looking at Bai Rourou, "you've been brought here to by Xiu. Knowing his cautious and questioning nature in not killing you outright, I can see the current situation has beco greatly complicated... Then again... truth be told, ever since I took Tian Xing under my tutelage, complications involving him have always been substantial."
"What?!!" Bai Rourou gasped, her eyes wide. "Venerable Tian Xing... he's still alive?!!"
At Elder Baii's words, the faces of both Bai Rourou and Li Wei contorted in shock.
Though they might not have caught every nuance of his veiled pronouncents, certain core facts struck them with undeniable clarity! The good-natured Xiu, startled, gave such a violent tremor that he nearly spilled the tea he was serving.
Venerable Tian Xing – the one they all assud had achieved his final transformation ages ago – was, incredibly, still alive!
Furthermore, for reasons unknown, even this ancient figure, a man who stood at the apex of power in Eternal Sun Prefecture, capable of summoning storms across the entire Azure Dynasty, was profoundly wary of this supposedly 'departed disciple,' Venerable Tian Xing!
Elder Baii sighed. "Correct," he affird. "He is still alive. If you had died as instructed, then so be it; my only wish was to avoid raking over the embers of the past, nothing more. Tian Xing has always been of an intensely suspicious disposition. If you were to co here ..."
---
1/2
Reviews
All reviews (0)