[V6C177 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
Zhao Yuying was completely fearless against the notorious Bai Aotu. “Bai Aotu, are you a rabid dog? Must you bite everyone on sight?”
Bai Aotu’s face was expressionless. “He dares trespa.s.s on our base. I’m in the right even if I kill him. He escaped with his life now, but he won’t be that lucky next time.”
Zhao Yuying was startled. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Bai Kongzhao who injured Potian and Zining. She escaped to this place.” At this point, Qianye looked up at Bai Aotu and sneered, “No wonder she fled here, she knew there would be help.”
At this time, a light breeze kicked up around them as Song Zining approached from the distance. His clothes were torn and the wounds on his body hadn’t been dressed. The two deep cuts on his face made his handsome face look somewhat sinister.
Zhao Yuying nodded. “Got it, let me handle things.”
With that, Zhao Yuying pointed at the hovering Bai Aotu and shouted, “Bai Aotu, hand over Bai Kongzhao! The matter of you injuring Qianye won’t end here. There’ll be someone to discuss this matter with you.”
Bai Aotu’s lips revealed a faint smile of mockery. “Hand over Kongzhao? For what?”
Zhao Yuying’s expression sank. “She injured the heir of the Far East Marquis Wei and Song Zining. Are you still trying to protect her? Can you afford to protect her?”
Bai Aotu sneered, “A mere Wei clan heir, what if he’s injured or even if he’s dead? There’s not one person in the entire Wei clan who is my match. If that’s all you have to say, then you can leave now.”
Bai Aotu glanced at Song Zining. “Song Seven, how are you going to suppress me? With the Song clan?”
The threat and mockery in these words were so undisguised that even someone of Song Zining’s calibre felt his expression change. However, he soon revealed a gentle smile and said with cupped fists, “How can I use such a big ent.i.ty like the Song clan? A small matter like this doesn’t require outside help. I’ll deal with it slowly, in my own way. Everything will be dealt with sooner or later.”
Bai Aotu noticed the determination in his words. She finally looked at him and said with a nod, “Not relying on the clan, now that’s rare. Very well, I’ll be waiting for you. Come find me anytime.”
These words caused Zhao Yuying’s expression to turn unsightly. Bai Aotu was mocking her for relying on the Zhao clan to suppress her. However, she was a bold character who had been playing this game for many years. How could she be frozen here? “Bai Aotu, you alone can’t handle the matter of Qianye’s injuries! If you won’t hand her over, then stand aside. This mommy will search herself!”
Bai Aotu’s calm face finally showed some anger. “I do want to see how I won’t be able to handle it.”
“Is that so? Then you can try if you dare.” With that Zhao Yuying walked toward the camp in large strides.
Bai Aotu’s face turned cold. “If you dare trespa.s.s upon our base, then I will not hesitate to kill you!”
Zhao Yuying laughed loudly. “Spare me the nonsense, these are just leftover excuses. Do it, if you have the skills. Then we’ll see if our Zhao clan will speak reason or destroy your Bai clan immediately.”
Zhao Yuying’s ident.i.ty was special. If Bai Aotu were to kill her, Duke You Zhao Xuanji would personally hunt down Bai Aotu. Moreover, the Zhao clan had always been famed for their fights against foreign enemies, not to mention Zhao Weihuang held a large army under his command. Once this matter was known, the Fire Beacon Corps would arrive on the Bai clan territory within a matter of days.
It was just as Zhao Yuying had said, the major clans couldn’t care less about such a far-fetched excuse.
However, Bai Aotu’s eyes narrowed and were actually filled with killing intent. This woman had always been a crazy character. She hadn’t held back at all against Qianye, and now, she was about to attack Zhao Yuying.
Somewhat surprised, Qianye quickly dragged Zhao Yuying behind him. He then released East Peak and drew the Twin Flowers. If they were to go all-out right now, he still had a Shot of Inception that he could use. Although the attack wouldn’t be enough to kill Bai Aotu, it could still inflict grave injuries on her, allowing the others to escape with their lives.
Song Zining grabbed Zhao Yuying and said, “Don’t be rash.”
Zhao Yuying said furiously, “That s.l.u.t Bai Kongzhao is hiding inside. I must go and see!”
Qianye shook his head. “She’s most definitely escaped. You won’t find anything even if you search the place.”
Zhao Yuying was about to speak again, but Qianye stopped her. He then turned to Bai Aotu and said, “I shall remember that punch. From today on, we have a death-feud between us. Do you still intend to let me go?”
Bai Aotu sneered, “I have too many people seeking revenge against me. I really don’t mind one more. You can seek me out anytime, but at that point, things won’t just end with a single punch.”
Qianye smiled faintly. “I might accidentally injure people while hunting Bai Kongzhao in the future. Your Bai clan people had best stay away from her.”
Bai Aotu’s brows knitted together. “I will have your life if you dare touch a single person from the Bai clan! Humph! If not for the war at hand, you people can forget about leaving.”
“Is that so?” Qianye stared deeply into Bai Aotu’s eyes. No longer bothering to spar verbally, he simply turned and left. Song Zining followed silently from behind. A highly discontent Zhao Yuying, however, raised a middle finger at Bai Aotu before leaving.
The latter had her eyes closed as though she hadn’t seen anything.
The three left in silence, each with their own thoughts. Zhao Yuying soon realized that Qianye wasn’t moving very fast. She asked in a hurry, “Qianye, are you really injured?”
Qianye smiled wryly. “I have over a dozen broken bones. Bai Aotu didn’t hold back at all with that punch.”
Zhao Yuying was greatly astonished. She pounced over and began checking Qianye from head to toe. The latter’s entire body was riddled with wounds at this moment, and her careless groping caused him to let out a painful groan and nearly collapse. The former was shocked out of her wits, immediately realizing how serious Qianye’s injuries were.
Qianye propped himself to his feet and said, “I’m fine. The damage looks serious, but there’s nothing lethal. I’ll be fine in less than three days.”
Zhao Yuying felt relieved after hearing this. Soon, she began cursing Bai Aotu through clenched teeth.
Qianye sighed. “Yuying, you can’t act that way again, no matter what.”
Song Zining chimed in, “What’s the point in betting yourself against a thirty-year-old woman? She’s completely nuts. Even ten Bai Aotu’s won’t be enough compensation if you were injured.”
Both of them had noticed that Zhao Yuying was taunting Bai Aotu intentionally. If she had attacked, whether she killed Zhao Yuying or injured her, Duke You and the entire Zhao clan wouldn’t take this lying down. They would mobilize the entire clan to suppress her and force the Bai clan to give an explanation.
The aim of their advice was the same, but there was a stark difference in speaking skills. Song Zining’s words made Zhao Yuying beam. She glared fiercely at Qianye and said, “You must learn from Song Seven! You have no idea how to make your sister happy!”
The heavy atmosphere lightened up after this. Song Zining asked, “Qianye, what are your plans?”
Qianye had been thinking about this all the while. “Bai Kongzhao must be killed. If the Bai clan people wish to stop me, then I will kill them together. As for Bai Aotu, I will find her in a couple of years to settle the score. But that’s my own matter, I do not wish to drag others into it.”
Song Zining made no comment. “Sister Yuying, what about you?”
Zhao Yuying ground her teeth. “This mommy can’t wait that long! Since that crazy Bai Aotu actually went against the rules and dared to attack Qianye, we have no need to hold back against her. Be it an ambush or joint-attack, everything’s fair game as long as we can kill her!”
Song Zining praised, “I understand that feeling! But, what about now?”
Zhao Yuying glared at him. “Stop it with the boot-licking. You’re too young to be wooing this mommy. For now, we’ll use whatever method we can, of course. You don’t have any clan resources to use at the moment. Even if you can, the Song clan can’t suppress the Bai clan. Our Zhao clan isn’t the same, however. She injured Qianye, so the Bai clan must give the Zhao clan an explanation. Soon, I’ll personally have grandpa talk to the Bai clan. I don’t believe Bai Aotu will dare separate herself from the Bai clan for this. If she does, though, I’ll definitely have someone kill her!”
Song Zining looked over at Qianye with a frown. “Qianye’s public ident.i.ty might not be enough, but this is a viable method; the Bai clan will keep Bai Aotu at bay for a while at least.”
Song Zining reached for his waist at this point, wanting to open his folding fan and strike a pose of elegance and intelligence. However, there was nothing there. Only then did he recall that his life-saving fan had been destroyed during Bai Kongzhao’s ambush and began gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth in anger. He discarded all semblance of elegance and said, “Bai Aotu has offended no small number of people throughout the years. There have also been a lot of incidents regarding Bai Kongzhao. There are a lot of people who want to see Bai Aotu dead. Her crazed actions betray her desperation, and it shows that she can only rely on her unscrupulousness to control the situation. So, we might as well give her a push from behind. Sometimes, a single straw is all it takes to break the camel’s back.”
Zhao Yuying said with a frown, “Elaborate.”
Song Zining smiled. “It’s quite simple, frankly. We don’t need to hide the things that happened today. We can just let it spread.”
Zhao Yuying pondered with locked brows and gradually came to understand the reasoning. “You’re saying that our Zhao clan should lead everyone in this suppression?”
Song Zining nodded. “That’s right. It"ll be a costly victory at best with just the Zhao clan alone, and there might even be people gloating over this. But if we borrow the power of the crowd and have the Zhao clan lead the charge, it’ll hurt the Bai clan’s foundations. Even lofty mountains will eventually succ.u.mb to repeated erosions.”
Qianye realized everything only at this point. It turned out that Song Zining wasn’t targeting Bai Aotu, but the Bai clan itself. This fellow had always been ruthless, and now, that fan had really made him hostile.
After some thought, Zhao Yuying felt that the plan was feasible. “We’ll do it your way, then.”
The three were no longer fit for battle at this point, and Zhao Yuying was carrying Qianye on her back. After some discussion with Song Zining, they went back to rendezvous with Wei Potian and headed straight for the Zhang clan fleet. Zhao Yuying utilized her status to find a place on one of the wars.h.i.+ps, where they settled Qianye and Wei Potian in.
The four of them together could be considered a powerful lineup on the current battlefield, with enough power to kill even a dark race count. But now, three of them had been wounded and Wei Potian’s injuries were especially severe. This abnormal situation caught the attention of many people. Zhao Yuying was never good at hiding things, so she revealed everything after some inquiries.
In the blink of an eye, the entire Zhang clan fleet came to know that the Bai clan was actually causing internal strife and how they had incapacitated several powerful warriors at such a critical juncture.