[V6C205 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
If one were to listen carefully, he would hear that Zhao Ruoxi was singing, “Little white sheep, come into my bowl…”
She was like a young lady on a spring tour, floating un.o.bstructed through the wilderness. Red spider lilies would appear and wither one after the other, each of them propelling her forward.
Off in the distance, Bai Kongzhao was still running rapidly. Her speed hadn’t decreased in the slightest, and her concealment capabilities have been brought out to their extremes. She would sprint at full speed once the environment was suitable and go into concealment when it was easier to leave traces. Her innate talents for flight used to render Qianye helpless, often leaving him with nothing to show after chasing her over long distances.
Yet this time, she had met her bane. She couldn’t deceive her a.s.sailant no matter how she hid or disguised herself, and as soon as she changed directions, Zhao Ruoxi would sense it and give chase accordingly.
The latter wasn’t fast. The lack of origin power made her physical body inherently weak and unable to withstand the intense fluctuations in speed. However, her chase—under the support of the Red Spider Lily—never stopped. And once Zhao Ruoxi had locked onto a target, her terrifying intuition would always point her in the right direction, never losing track of the prey.
This was an ability born of the netherworld river—all living beings would ultimately return to the embrace of its waters, regardless of their changing fates.
At this moment, the wilderness had already become the dark race’s playground. Numerous dark race experts were hiding in all corners of the plains, waiting for opportunities to pounce at pa.s.sing humans. Many of them would feel a deep-seated chill in their souls upon seeing the flowery river and instinctively avoid her.
However, there were always a couple of them who were not afraid of death. These were existences at the lowest-level among those roaming the wilderness. They simply couldn’t experience how terrifying the netherworld flowers were. The last thing they saw as they pounced at Zhao Ruoxi was a withering red spider lily—just before their lives left them.
Even the most berserk of dark race members would sober up in the face of a comrade’s corpse. As such, a wide area around Zhao Ruoxi became devoid of all dark races.
Bai Kongzhao had done everything in her power, but the distance between her and Zhao Ruoxi only inched closer. She was indeed extremely talented in many areas, but she was still a long ways from being able to contend against the Red Spider Lily.
Bai Aotu’s figure suddenly appeared near Zhao Ruoxi, moving alongside her from about ten meters away.
The woman was, as usual, clad in a wide-sleeved robe and moving as though she were stepping on water. As her cold eyes glanced over, several dozen red spider lilies appeared around Zhao Ruoxi and blocked the former’s line of sight. Meanwhile, Zhao Ruoxi’s speed also decreased a bit.
“Eh?” Zhao Ruoxi immediately turned toward Bai Aotu, and sparks flew as their gazes collided. Neither was willing to yield to the other.
Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Ruoxi raised the Red Spider Lily and took aim at Bai Aotu. With last time’s precedent, everyone knew that she would fire without the slightest hesitation.
Yet, Bai Aotu had no plan to back down. She formed a fist with her right hand and began emitting strands of sharp, needle-like energy. If Zhao Ruoxi were to fire, she would retaliate instead of defending, resulting in a situation of mutual damage.
It was at this time that Uncle w.a.n.g’s silhouette gradually appeared in the air. The moment he emerged, Bai Aotu’s fist energy took a sharp turn and pointed toward the old man. Bai Aotu’s expression changed slightly as she realized that this strike, no matter what she did, would only land on Uncle w.a.n.g’s body. The latter would surely be injured, but Zhao Ruoxi’s shot would also take a good chunk of her life, if not entirely.
“Young Miss, please go on with your hunt. This servant will handle things here,” said Uncle w.a.n.g.
Zhao Ruoxi nodded. “Okay! I’ll go kill that little s.l.u.t first, and then come back to settle the score with her.”
Uncle w.a.n.g bowed and watched her leave while Bai Aotu stood frozen. She glared at the old man as she realized that she actually couldn’t launch an attack. He was clearly nearby, but his existence seemed both real and empty at the same time, s.h.i.+fting several times each moment. Should she attack, her fist would quite likely strike empty air.
Just from this alone, Bai Aotu quickly dispelled her contempt and recognized the other party as a powerful enemy. There was no telling how long a fight between them would last. Even if she did win, it would only be a close one, and she would die all the same once Zhao Ruoxi returned.
Bai Aotu shouted with a solemn expression, “Such ruthlessness, are you really looking to fight our Bai clan?”
Bai Aotu’s position in the Bai clan was quite high, and she could even make decisions regarding small-scale wars. However, an all-out war with the Zhao clan wasn’t something she could determine. Hence, her words were somewhat reduced in imposingness.
Yet, Uncle w.a.n.g’s reply was also beyond expectations. “This servant has received instructions from the fourth young master. I shan’t hold back from a fight with whoever disrupts the young miss.”
Bai Aotu was startled, but she quickly sneered, “Don’t tell me Zhao Jundu can decide the military affairs of the entire clan?”
“The current fourth young master can.”
Bai Aotu laughed. “Are you trying to scare me?”
Uncle w.a.n.g smiled. “General Bai is welcome to try if you don’t believe me. You must know that some act berserk and others work decisively, but the results aren’t very different.”
Bai Aotu’s fists trembled slightly and her face turned pale. She hesitated for a good while but still couldn’t make up her mind in the end. A war between the Zhao and Bai clans would certainly shake the empire, and even the imperial family would have to interfere. Now that the empire was engaging in a war of national fate, this conflict would definitely invite powerful interference and be forced into a quick conclusion. At that point, Bai Aotu would be the source of all hostility, and the Bai clan would hardly be able to protect her, no matter how important her status was. Bai Kongzhao would have no way out of this, either.
Moreover, the matter of waging war against the Zhao clan wasn’t something she could decide.
Zhao Ruoxi had already gone far away during that moment of hesitation. Bai Aotu clenched her teeth and said in a cold voice, “Fine! The Zhao clan better remember this, and you too!”
Uncle w.a.n.g replied in a tone befitting of one who had seen through the ways of the world, “This old life is worthless. If general wants it, you can take it any time.”
Even Bai Aotu could do nothing against someone like Uncle w.a.n.g. There was no lack of characters like him in the major clans, but none as unfathomable as he was. It really wasn’t worth it for a major clan scion like Bai Aotu to pit her life against this kind of warrior who had no fear of death.
The former spoke no more and immediately turned to leave. Uncle w.a.n.g’s figure also faded away once she was gone.
A tall, handsome man soon appeared over the distant horizon, one so radiant that he looked like a big boy who had just come into contact with the mortal world. He wore a baffled expression as he gazed at the surroundings and said, “That’s strange. How come there’s not even a d.a.m.ned shadow? Where did they go? We were clearly supposed to meet up here.”
This person was precisely William. He gazed over at a short but steep hill and said, “It’s definitely here. Where are the Blackback and Sharpfang tribes? How come they’re not here yet? And here I was thinking that getting lost and running late were my specialties.”
Puzzled, William sprinted toward the small hill. He felt increasingly cheerful as he ran, especially since there was no one in the vicinity and he could gallop to his heart’s content. He had raised his speed to the extremes, yet he still wasn’t entirely satisfied. He simply leapt into the air with a long howl and transformed into a giant wolf, bolting toward the small hill like a flash of lightning.
William’s entire body jolted ferociously as he arrived at the bottom of the hill. He forcibly braked his charging momentum, his claws drawing deep trails on the ground as he did so. His mane was practically standing on end as he stared at a netherworld flower that had suddenly appeared in front of him.
This flower had appeared out of the blue less than a meter away from William’s nose.
At this point, the red spider lily was trembling ever so slightly and was on the verge of withering. However, it froze miraculously at the very last moment as though time itself had stopped around the flower.
William made no movement and only stared fixedly at its stamen with bated breath, almost as though he was afraid that the flower would continue wilting.
The Red Spider Lily’s name was far more resplendent among the dark races than it was in the empire. The main reason for that was because the other sh.o.r.e flowers were the bane of the dark races but slightly weaker against humans born of daybreak origin power. Even someone as strong as William didn’t dare act recklessly.
At this moment, the werewolf’s entire body was in a state of absolute stillness—his heart had stopped beating, his blood was barely flowing, and even his body temperature had fallen temporarily to match his surroundings. This level of control over the body was truly outstanding, yet he could only freeze the withering of the flowers and not stop it entirely.
The deadlock lasted mere seconds but William was already having a hard time hanging on. Large beads of sweat slowly rolled down his nose as the flower in front of him once again started to sway. Moreover, several more spider lilies appeared in the vicinity.
While William was crying out in bitterness, a voice full of delight arrived from overhead, “What a cute dog!”
The moment he heard this voice, the werewolf knew that it was an ordinary young girl without a shred of origin power. “Oh no!” he cried out in his heart. He transitioned from the extremes of stillness to rapid movement in a flash, leaping forward and putting himself between the voice and the netherworld flowers. This movement caused the red spider lilies to wither. His fur stood on end as he let out a low growl, prepared to resist the impact of the flowers with his strong body.
Seeing that the flowers were starting to wilt, William subconsciously closed his eyes with a mournful whimper. He was all too clear as to the terror of the red spider lilies—this shot would likely leave him on the verge of death, and even then, he might not be able to save the girl behind him from the impact.
However, the frightening spiritual erosion did not appear, and the red spider lilies also disappeared all of a sudden. It was as though none of them had ever appeared in the first place. Soon afterward, William felt his mane being grabbed as a pair of small hands turned his head around. Thus did a small, beautiful face, surrounded by a faint layer of mist, appear in his vision, and those eyes of hers were so clear that it shook his heart.
“What a cute dog!” she said once more.
William’s hair stood up as he roared impetuously, “I’m a wolf!”
But he quickly realized that he couldn’t speak since he was in his giant wolf form; all that came out was a long howl. William was a proud son of heaven who hailed from the Summit of Peaks—how could he endure such humiliation? His reputation would be ruined if people were to know of this.
William thus decided to burn his boats by changing back to human form and inform the other party of the truth. Just as he was about to do so, however, he suddenly noticed the gorgeous handgun hanging from the little girl’s waist—it was the nightmare of all Evernight citizens, the Red Spider Lily. William quickly realized that this girl was, in fact, the wielder of the grand magnum, Zhao Ruoxi.
The roar that had rushed up to his mouth shrank back, and he closed his eyes resignedly.
Zhao Ruoxi, on the other hand, seemed to have no intention of letting him go just like that. She pressed his head down and rubbed it with all her might. Then she tugged at his hair while crying, “So cute! So cute! It has golden hair! What a nice texture!!!”
William finally noticed that, despite her lack of origin power, the girl’s strength was nothing to be trifled with. He hesitated for a while, but after shooting another glance at the Red Spider Lily, he chose to close his eyes and let the girl do as she pleased.
It turned out that the distance between a wolf and a dog… was a single Red Spider Lily.