Chapter 013 - Who Said You Could Leave?
Everything was laid bare! The situation was dire! Yao Qingqian's face, cold as an icy ocean, had already condemned Yun Xiao to death.
"Yun Xiao," Cai Maomao spun around, his eyes wide in shock, "You killed Ye Guying's younger brother...?" He couldn't believe it. Why did the first disciple the Sword Pavilion welcomed in three whole years have to be a guy like him? "You... you're insane!"
"Senior Brother Cai, the consequences of my actions are mine alone." Yun Xiao's eyes remained calm, his voice unwavering. "I'll deal with this! So, go!"
"Senior Brother, huh...? And yet you..." Cai Maomao began, his expression shifting dramatically. He glared at Yun Xiao. "Y-you're insane. Absolutely out of your mind. I'm out. I want nothing to do with this! Clean up your own mess. Don't drag me into it!" With that, he gave a courteous bow to Yao Qingqian and turned to leave.
"Halt!" Yao Qingqian's voice echoed with a chilling smirk.
WHOOSH! With a single palm strike, a surge of power, vast like an ocean, erupted from her body. It transformed into a wave of force that viciously slammed into Cai Maomao's back. This was the power of the Divine Sea Realm! The energy within someone at the Divine Sea Realm was as vast as an ocean, its might easily shaking the heavens and earth. Its force rolled back like a reversed river, something far beyond what the Dragon Spring Realm could match.
SPLUTTER! Cai Maomao spat out a mouthful of dark blood, his face turning ghostly white, stumbling a few steps.
Yun Xiao rushed to support him. As the clotted blood from Cai Maomao's mouth dripped onto Yun Xiao's white robes, a hint of red began to seethe within Yun Xiao's eyes.
"Heh heh..." Yao Qingqian smirked, her laughter dripping with condescension. "Do you take me for a fool? Did you think I wouldn't see you were trying to get help?" With her power as a senior, she had sent Cai Maomao reeling with just one palm strike. The lad could hardly stand!
"Let me tell you something! Yun Xiao has committed a grave sin. Even if you managed to summon Zhao Xuanran's father, this young man would still meet his end under Swordking Ye's fury!" Yao Qingqian shrugged, rolling her eyes, her expression a blend of seduction and mockery. She was powerful. She was an elder. She had been cultivating for thirty years! So, here, her word was law.
"Yun Xiao!" Yao Qingqian raised an eyebrow, looking at him.
Yun Xiao was using his Dragon Spring Realm power to stabilize Cai Maomao's internal injuries while fixing his gaze on Yao Qingqian, this female elder, who had been dismissive of him even during the Heavenly Path Trial!!
"Do you know who Ye Guying is?" Yao Qingqian asked coldly.
"I'm more than aware." Yun Xiao replied.
"Then why did you kill Ye Guao?" Yao Qingqian's voice was laced with anger.
"When I decide to kill someone, I don't need a reason," Yun Xiao stated. Emerging from n0v@lbin☆, this material harbors clandestine details.
"You!" Yao Qingqian was at a loss for words, staring at him in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind? Ye Guying is the future pillar of Azure Spirit! And you dare kill his own brother?"
"Elder Yao," Wang Feng sneered. "He's just a fool, clueless about the terrifying figure he's offended!"
Yun Xiao didn't spare Wang Feng a glance. Instead, he smiled at Yao Qingqian and said, "Elder Yao, as you mentioned, that's the future. And who can really predict the future?" His words combined with that cold chuckle left Yao Qingqian and Wang Feng momentarily stunned.
"I think I get it now," Yao Qingqian said with a sigh, shaking her head as she looked at Yun Xiao. "My luck must be terrible to have run into an imbecile like you." A naive fool who had no concept of the wider world had actually managed to kill Ye Guao... At least they'd found the perpetrator. Otherwise, she truly wouldn’t know how to face Ye Guying.
"That's enough. I don't want to waste more words with you. Come with me to the Sword Prison. We'll wait for Swordking Ye to return from the Sea of Swords to deal with you," Yao Qingqian declared. She really wasn't interested in deciphering the thought process of a simpleton. Every additional word was a waste of breath!
"Move!" Yao Qingqian snapped, her gaze icy as she looked at Yun Xiao.
"Hold on." Wang Feng suddenly stepped forward.
"What is it?" Yao Qingqian's gaze softened a bit. After all, Wang Feng was a disciple of the Sword Venerable, blessed with a Comet grade talent and a future that could surpass even hers.
"Elder Yao, he killed two of my clansmen. I want a bit of retribution first," Wang Feng said with utmost seriousness.
"You want to call dibs before Swordking Ye?" Yao Qingqian raised an eyebrow.
Wang Feng gritted his teeth. "How about this? I'll take both his arms as an explanation to my clan."
Yao Qingqian thought for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, fine. Just be quick about it." She was well and truly fed up.
Yun Xiao, that greenhorn of the purest strain, had first stepped on Jiang Yue's toes and then went ahead to slay Ye Guao. Such antics made all the favors Elder Yao expected from Swordking Ye evaporate into thin air, leaving everything in a royal mess.
"Elder Yao, try to take a breather," Wang Feng said with a placating smile. But, the very second he turned to face Yun Xiao, his amiable demeanor morphed. His eyes darkened, brimming with ferocity. HUM! He manifested his Lower Comet grade Sword Soul! With five layers of Sword Aura, the desert-like Sword Soul transformed into a Palm Sword grasped firmly in his grip.
Even as Yao Qingqian identified him today as Ye Guao's murderer, he had never once shown fear. Now, the tables had turned, and fear consumed her. For a person of her stature, an elder from the Azure Spirit Sword Sect, to be so deeply terrorized by a mere novice... she felt her spirit shatter.
"Please..." Yao Qingqian whimpered, looking at him.
There stood Yun Xiao, right next to the beast. He glanced at her coldly, his eyes icy and indifferent. He paid no heed to her pleas. Instead, he set his sights on the six disciples from the First Sword Peak who were fleeing in horror. These remaining six were all around the Mid Dragon Spring Realm, with only two claws on their Dragon Springs.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH! Under the dim light of the night, an azure streak raced through the woods, piercing through the hearts of the fleeing disciples. THUD THUD THUD! One by one, they fell to the ground, their bodies growing cold with death.
"Yun Xiao!" The last of the disciples, seeing his nine companions dead, didn't dare flee any longer. He knelt before Yun Xiao, tears streaming, pleading, "I have family, both old and young to care for. You are a Sword Cultivator, not a murderer. I haven't done anything wrong. Please don't kill me! If you kill me, you'd be acting without honor! You won't walk the path of Immortals!"
"Fine! So just because you have a family, you can impose your morality on me? And me, an orphan, should just damn well accept my fate?" Yun Xiao roared, eyes blazing. SLASH! As the words left his mouth, the disciple's head rolled.
"If eradicating all of you makes me dishonorable, then what's the point of cultivation? If the path of an Immortal doesn't allow for vengeance, then I'll carve my own path!" Yun Xiao's angry voice echoed through the vast, dark forest. Apart from Cai Maomao, who stood petrified, no one could answer.
"Elder Yao, it's your turn." Yun Xiao held his luminous azure Sword Soul as he came walking out of the trees, his white robes stained with crimson splotches reminiscent of cherry blossoms. The night wind tousled his hair. He arrived next to Yao Qingqian, looking down indifferently at her.
"Senior Brother Cai," Yun Xiao said, lips curling into a soft smirk. "Please step back. I wish to speak with her."
"Right... Okay!" With a shudder, Cai Maomao retreated to the courtyard.
Yun Xiao crouched down, his flawless features mirrored in Yao Qingqian's blood-filled eyes. "Yun... Y-yun Xiao," she pleaded.
Yun Xiao felt the grip of her desperate hand on his own. Her hand was as delicate and white as jade, but her strength was waning. He lightly wrinkled his brow, shaking it off. Looking into her terror-stricken eyes, he smiled gently. "Still, thank you."
"For what...?" Tears streamed down Yao Qingqian's face as her body quaked in sheer terror.
"Thanks for showing me the path of an Immortal." Yun Xiao grinned. If not for the blood splattered across his face, you might even call his smile sunny.
"I... I was wrong. I was blind! I should've recognized your great talents!" Yao Qingqian stuttered in fear.
Yun Xiao chuckled, shrinking his Sword Soul back down and holding it up in front of her. "Green Lotus Sword Soul, huh? Do you think this is a mediocre Low Meteor grade Sword Soul now?"
"No... N-no," Yao Qingqian replied, somewhat at a loss.
"It was this very sword that shattered the Sword Inheritance Stone, yet you all insisted it was Jiang Yue's doing. Now, she's floating so high. If she falls during the Seven Swords Conclave in two days and dies, that's on you, Elder Yao," Yun Xiao remarked with a cheeky grin.
Fifteen minutes earlier, Yao Qingqian would have thought Yun Xiao was mad. But now... She felt her heart pounding so hard it might burst from her chest. She cried out, "Yun... Yun Xiao, you're the most terrifying person I've ever met. You're the true genius, surpassing Moon or Planet grade!" It had finally all clicked for her. And a deeper terror, vast and endless like the open sea, threatened to engulf her.
Feeling charitable, Yun Xiao whispered, "Here's another secret for you. Ye Guying and Jiang Yue once schemed to kill a mortal emperor. That was me. I've returned from the dead, taken a new body, all to settle scores."
"Ah." Yao Qingqian was practically bug-eyed, her eyes shaking as if ready to pop out of their sockets. So, he knew Jiang Yue. He knew Ye Guying. It all made sense now—why he killed Ye Guao, why he tormented Jiang Yue. If Elder Yao hadn't been at the Sword Inheritance Platform, would he have gone further and killed Jiang Yue too? The realizations made Yao Qingqian even more desperate. The more secrets you knew, the more likely you were to end up dead.
Sure enough, Yun Xiao playfully slapped her once-beautiful face with his Sword Soul, commenting, "Sadly, you won't be around to witness the thrilling finale when I face them."
"Yun Xiao!" Yao Qingqian choked back sobs, her face a picture of despair.
"Yes?" Yun Xiao asked..
"Don't kill me! I'm a woman!" Yao Qingqin pleaded weakly.
"A woman?" Yun Xiao raised an eyebrow.
"I'm beautiful too!" Yao Qingqian exclaimed, frantic.
"And?" Yun Xiao pressed.
"I have an... exceptional tongue," Yao Qingqian hinted seductively, lips parting slightly.
"Exceptional tongue? You mean, like you trained in some kind of iron tongue technique?" Yun Xiao remarked. Then, in one fluid motion, he drove his sword through her, anchoring her to the earth beneath.
"AGH! Ah...?" Yao Qingqian's eyes bulged, her neck tilting at an odd angle as she met her end.
Internally, relief washed over Yun Xiao. Had he not reacted so quickly, and she weaponized that very tongue, he might have been in a precarious situation "Not that exceptional, it seems. It couldn't even stop my sword," he quipped a hint of amusement in his voice.