After Changing to the Ruthless Way, the Brothers Cried and Begged for Forgiveness-Chapter 446: I Only Wanted to Test That Woman
Xi Men Wuji and his three companions stopped before Ancestor Sui Bian and Yu Zhao with smiling faces and respectful manners. Ancestor Sui Bian, however, was not mollified. Shooing them away with a flick of his hand, he said: “The last time I only lent a hand in passing; do not try to cozy up to this old man.”
His face might as well have had the words keep your distance written across it. In truth, Yu Zhao had ed her name swiftly back then and so had earned a different look from him. Otherwise, a fellow who had lived for several thousand years like Ancestor Sui Bian disdained dealing with juniors, especially ones stuffed with schemes like these four.
Xi Men Wuji’s smile faltered and his fist tightened. Bei Ming Yan tugged his sleeve, then said to Ancestor Sui Bian with a sincerely apologetic look: “Senior, we were discourteous; we will take our leave at once.”
With that she turned to go, and the other three could only follow.
Ancestor Sui Bian huffed in annoyance: “Rare for me to do a good deed, and I nearly got treated like a gullible mark and tangled up for it; what rotten luck.”
Yu Zhao teased him: “Are you not afraid of offending those great clans?”
Ancestor Sui Bian answered loudly: “This old man walks alone in the world; what is there to fear.” Then he recalled that he now also had a junior of his own and hurriedly amended: “With you at my side, no one will dare trouble you.”
Feeling the sincere care behind his bluster, Yu Zhao smiled.
They waited nearly eight hours. At last the roar from the Death Rift cut off, and the Auspicious Beasts leapt in one after another; the Cultivators lying in wait hurriedly followed. Pitch darkness was instantly filled with a jumble of auras. With the Auspicious Beasts leading the way, no one lost their path; the crowd trailed them smoothly to the landing point on another continental fragment.
Just as people were disembarking in sequence, something went wrong. Someone took advantage of the confusion to strike at nearby Cultivators. The scent of blood spread; elusive Ferocious Beasts followed the smell and swooped in to steal Nascent Souls. Cultivators were shocked pale and fled in all directions. The whole procession devolved into chaos: some screamed and cursed, some fished in troubled waters, and others took the chance to reap lives.
It was then that Yu Zhao realized someone had locked onto her. A chill like a knife’s edge seemed to press to her back in the blink of an eye, so quick it was hard to sense. Fortunately, she wore a Heart Guarding Mirror and had layered several Defensive Arrays over herself; she did not panic.
She had not yet made a move when Ancestor Sui Bian smacked the attack aside with a single palm and roared: “Scram!”
His voice boomed like muffled thunder in the empty void; Yu Zhao’s ears rang, and the next instant Ancestor Sui Bian yanked her out of the Death Rift.
“…their skins,” he fumed.
Yu Zhao shook her head to clear the buzzing and asked: “Ancestor, what did you just say?”
Ancestor Sui Bian declared angrily: “The one who ambushed you was one of those four who were trying to cozy up to us just now; he hid quickly, I did not see which one, but it was definitely one of them. Those little brats—if I see them again, I will skin them alive.”
Yu Zhao’s gaze cooled as she swept her eyes around; there was no sign of the Nangong Clan foursome—likely they were still in the Death Rift. Whether they would make it out was anyone’s guess. She did not dwell on it and said: “Ancestor, let us mark this down for now; the pressing matter is to keep up with the Auspicious Beasts—we must not lose them.”
Ancestor Sui Bian was anxious too, but he felt that if he did not vent this anger for Yu Zhao, his prestige as an ancestor would suffer. Hearing Yu Zhao take the initiative to speak, he dropped all hesitation, took her along, and tore off after the herd. Even as he flew, he did not forget to console her: “Do not worry; the next time I see them, I will beat them till they are searching the ground for their teeth. To dare lay a hand on one of mine, they are truly bored of living.”
Yu Zhao had not been particularly angry in the first place. In the cultivation world, this sort of thing was all too common. With the ancestor grumbling at her side, she could not even hold onto annoyance; instead she ended up soothing him. The more Ancestor Sui Bian looked at Yu Zhao, the more she suited his eye; if not for the constraints of seniority, he would have taken her as his final personal disciple on the spot. Thinking of how Yu Huai Jin had failed to cherish such a fine pupil made him seethe again, and with Yu Huai Jin absent he could only pour that anger onto those four ingrates, carving another heavy stroke against their names in his mental ledger.
Not long after Yu Zhao and Ancestor Sui Bian left, Dong Fang Yue and Bei Ming Yan staggered out of the Death Rift, each dragging a burden. Nangong Jie was better off, merely spent from overtaxing his abilities. Xi Men Wuji was in a wretched state: his chest was caved in, his right hand and arm broken, and he could barely stand by leaning on Bei Ming Yan.
Frost gathered on Bei Ming Yan’s face as she snapped: “Xi Men Wuji, are you insane; why did you strike at Senior?”
She had been right beside Xi Men Wuji and had seen clearly how he ambushed Yu Zhao and was immediately blasted by the Senior in return. If not for the favor she owed his clan and the way she stepped in to intercept a little, Xi Men Wuji would not have died but he would surely have been flayed.
Trembling with pain and cold sweat, Xi Men Wuji stammered: “I only wanted to test that woman’s background.”
The scene had been so chaotic that he had thought a covert strike would go unnoticed; even if she sensed it, she would not be able to pin it on him. He had not expected that old man to protect the woman so fiercely or to retaliate with full force. He had been reckless.
“Can you hold out?” asked Bei Ming Yan coldly. “If you cannot, we will leave you here.”
Rare ruthlessness cut across her features. She had already given face to the Xi Men Clan by taking the blow for him. But if she had to forfeit a chance at the supreme treasure for Xi Men Wuji’s sake, she would never agree.
Xi Men Wuji started, looking to Dong Fang Yue and Nangong Jie. One averted his eyes; the other returned a helpless look. Xi Men Wuji once more realized how foolish he had been. Knowing that if he could not keep up he would be abandoned, he immediately produced a snow-white pill and swallowed it, saying through clenched teeth: “I can hold on.”
“Good, then we continue the pursuit,” said Bei Ming Yan, and without waiting to see whether he was bluffing she became a streak of light and shot forward.
Nangong Jie and Dong Fang Yue followed close behind. Xi Men Wuji gritted his teeth and chased after them.
After the mêlée in the Death Rift, the crowd trailing the Auspicious Beasts had thinned considerably. But this land shard was larger than the one they had been on before, which meant it could hold far more Cultivators. Within just a few more hours, the line of pursuers behind the Auspicious Beasts had grown dense once again.
Chapter 446: I Only Wanted to Test That Woman
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