Chapter 925: Love Between Father and Daughter
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[Gu Yifan, you’re finished. The old man’s going to kill you!]
They all watched, sighing helplessly and stunned. This kid had such a gall on him that he’d go and just slap a Genesis Stage expert’s face, literally.
Second elder had his mind black for a second there.
But the feel of his scorching sting on that cheek made his face twist in fury as he howled. He unleashed all his power filled with bloodl.u.s.t, thinking only about killing Zhuo Fan as he went to smash his brains out.
“You G.o.dd.a.m.n punk, now you’ve done it!”
“Why not? The question is, what are you going to do about it, hit me back?”
Zhuo Fan jabbed, “Did your atrophied mind already forget about the Soaring Sword? Kill me and you can say goodbye to it. You’ll be the shame of the clan!”
The sudden palm attack stopped just as fast as it started, though it kept shaking for some reason. Second elder glared at Zhuo Fan with bloodshot eyes, but his only option was to grind his teeth, stop with his attack midway and come to terms to reality.
Zhuo Fan’s words cut right where it hurt the most. They came all the way here, to the central area, just for that particular sword. If, say, they failed because of his lousy temper in offing the kid, he’d end up destroying all his clan’s sacrifices and hard work so far.
Second elder’s every fiber screamed to just let go and do it, but he reined in all the fury, thinking about who he was doing it for. But the rage was bouncing around in his skull with nowhere to go and affecting his mood.
“Rotten punk, just you wait. If it weren’t for the clan…”
Pa!
Zhuo Fan gave a quick response in the form of another quite resounding slap on the other cheek, just to match, “Why wait? Geezer, enough of playing your seniority card. I already said that I’m using the Soaring Sword for your lives. Haven’t you come after this thing anyway? Forget about those meager slaps, even killing these two at my feet still won’t give you any worth to haggle with me!”
“You!”
Second elder’s heart jerked, pointing at him but his mind was so overwhelmed cursing came hard.
The brat was too obnoxious and insufferable in his gloating. It was even worse knowing he could get away with it too, mocking the other as much as he wanted since the victim had to just sit there and take it.
So he huffed and puffed for a while now, but that was it.
Everyone else was dumbfounded. Their second elder, who was always like a powder keg, just got manhandled by a kid!
The same kid had the Soaring Sword, granted, but the other was a veteran who fought in hundreds of battles. Was it that easy to just deflate him?
The three venerables nodded with hard faces.
[What a shrewd tactic. It’s only more obvious he’s capable of it since he beat Baili Jingwei…]
Ignoring second elder popping a vein there, Zhuo Fan walked over to the cave like the others weren’t even there, “I’m going in to pick the men and I’ll be gone.”
The other looked from him to the still fuming second elder with dumb looks.
Shangguan Qingyan was stunned by this new side of Zhuo Fan. That he’d have the nerve to mess with a Genesis Stage expert. It only worked to make her heart race faster…
“A Demon Archon!”
A whisper traveled, completing her thought.
[Savage as a demon and dominating like a king.]
There was no other explanation.
She turned to see who it was that said it and found it to be her own father.
Only to find his face solemn.
Feeling her gaze, Shangguan Feixiong told the elders, “Go and watch the kid. Read his pattern, but don’t incite him. He is shrewd and brave, with a subtle mind and having the one thing we want the most. What’s worse, he doesn’t fear us at all.”
“Alright, Feixiong, we will. At the very least, we won’t get slapped out of nowhere by a kid, ha-ha-ha…”
Glaring at second elder, the venerable mocked. Then he turned serious and led the men into the cave after Zhuo Fan.
For all intents and purposes, the kid was just that, a junior, but his twisted mind and subtleties left these men of power seeing him as nothing less than a fearsome character, their equal.
As for second elder, he got coaxed by other elders to come along, recalling at the last minute there were two disciples Zhuo Fan thrashed and picked them up to heal them.
The place was soon left to Shangguan Feixiong and his daughter.
He called to her as she was leaving, “Hold on, Yan’er.”
“What is it, father?” Shangguan Qingyan asked.
Shangguan Feixiong paused in hesitation, but spoke honestly, “Yan’er, now that we’re alone, I want to apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“Yeah.”
Shangguan Feixiong sighed, “Yan’er, your mom pa.s.sed away early and I have remarried many times to cultivate our art, but you’re the only daughter I ever had, and no one can replace you in my heart. I have said those words, of exchanging your life with others, but it was only part of the plan, not actually feasible. What parent on this heaven’s green earth would have the heart to give his child away? Even for ten or a hundred, no one will.”
Shangguan Qingyan shook and her eyes shone with hope.
Shangguan Feixiong sighed, “I only said it to chip away at Gu Yifan’s stance in the negotiations and take the initiative. I could not let him, just because he saved my daughter, offer everything on a silver platter, even paying with our people’s lives. Saying some falsehoods is natural in negotiations. Maybe you think I’m a hypocrite instead of open and direct, ruining Shangguan Clan Head’s righteous name, but this is the world we live in, Yan’er. If my words hurt you, then I want to apologize. A father can always see his daughter’s tears no matter where you are.”
“Father!”
Shangguan Qingyan was overjoyed as she went to hug him, tears gus.h.i.+ng, “I knew that father cared about me the most. No matter how stubborn I was or how I always annoyed the aunties, father won’t ever change. I knew father loved me the most. Father may not be the most righteous man, but you’re the best father a daughter could have.”
Shangguan Feixiong smiled and nodded, “I’m glad you understand. I thought you’ll no longer respect me after seeing me lying. Now, ha-ha, that it’s out in the open, I feel so much better…”
“Father, you said it was only a trick to switch the negotiations in your favor. Did it work?” Shangguan Qingyan looked at him in curiosity.
Shangguan Feixiong’s face twitched and he sighed, “Uh, the kid’s too cunning and I wasn’t able to get any advantage, crus.h.i.+ng me at every step. Did you not see his outrageous arrogance? He even dared mock me! He now holds all the cards in this deal while I’m the loser. I just want to get him to finish his goal and get the sword from him. With his c.o.c.ky att.i.tude, if he stays for too long, something’s bound to happen. He really is the devil!”
“Oh.”
Shangguan Qingyan nodded with a bright smile.
Shangguan Feixiong noticed the sparks in her eyes and sighed.
[She’s all grown up and a man is going to take her from me. The day is fast approaching. But he’s just too dangerous.]
Shangguan Feixiong took a deep breath. Feeling for the first time that even as the Clan Head, he could not a.s.sure her happiness.
For the man she had her eyes on was uncontrollable…
Zhuo Fan walked around the cave like he owned the place, with the elders and venerables in tow. It was as if an emperor went out on a stroll with his guards.
The other clansmen there were struck dumb, especially the juniors.
[Isn’t that Gu Yifan, the traitor? Why does it look like the elders are catering to him like a Clan Head in this secret base?]
They all wore goony looks as Zhuo Fan pa.s.sed them…