Chapter 129 : Chapter 129

Chapter 129: I’m Asking You—Where Is Your Dragon Blood?

Li Xin smiled and cupped his hands toward Ai Peng in salute.

“I still have to thank Lord Ai for stepping in. I couldn’t have handled an Upper Three Ranks martial artist.”

At the end of the day, he was only Sixth Rank. No matter how skilled he was in the arts of concealment and transformation, they could not grant him actual combat power.

Ai Peng shook his head seriously.

“Lord Li has only cultivated in earnest for twenty years, yet you have already become terrifyingly strong.”

As far as he knew, Li Xin had originally entered court through the imperial examinations and become an official, while his martial skill had been mediocre at best. It was only after resigning in the wake of that incident twenty years ago that he had begun to devote himself seriously to martial cultivation.

To have achieved such results was already astonishing.

Li Xin shook his head.

“That is enough flattery. I still have to deliver something to the young master.”

With that, his figure vanished from the spot.

Ai Peng clicked his tongue in amazement again.

When it came to Cheng Yu, that was a true heaven-favored prodigy.

At twenty, he could kill a Late Seventh Rank martial artist!

Truly terrifying!

...

In the north of Great Qian, at the River-Severing Sect, Cheng Zhenjiang and Zhao Xichun listened to a servant’s report, then stared blankly at each other.

They had left Jiannan Circuit less than a month ago.

How had so many things happened already?

After a long while, once he had finally accepted the truth, Cheng Zhenjiang slammed his hand on the table in furious rage.

“That unfilial wretch has slaughtered the Jianghu again. He is utterly beyond redemption!”

“He is always finding ways to kill Jianghu martial artists! Has he truly set his heart on becoming an Imperial Hound hated by all?”

Though he was furious and beside himself with anger, there was now a different emotion mixed into it than before.

Cheng Yu’s strength had completely exceeded his expectations.

As expected of his son, as expected of the Cheng Family bloodline.

At only twenty, he was already able to defeat and kill a Late Seventh Rank martial artist!

Zhao Xichun lowered her eyes and said sorrowfully, “With Yu’er's strength, why did he need to hide it at all? If only he had told the truth back then, how could things possibly have...”

The talent Cheng Yu had revealed was enough to call him Great Qian’s foremost prodigy without exaggeration.

He was no longer the insignificant little Jinyiwei he had once seemed to be.

The moment his wife said this, Cheng Zhenjiang flushed red, as though he had truly been a man who cared only for gain and forgot all righteousness.

“With such a cruel temperament, and with no respect for his parents, what does it matter how talented he is...”

But as he spoke, he realized that he could not even convince himself.

If he had known back then that Cheng Yu possessed such strength, then matters of reputation and temperament would no longer have mattered so much.

The value of a twenty-year-old with Seventh Rank strength to both the Cheng Family and the River-Severing Sect was beyond imagination.

If only he had been more confident and taken it more seriously back then, how proud he would be now...

For the first time, Cheng Zhenjiang felt regret.

With a sigh, he said, “Blood is thicker than water. That cannot be denied. At worst, I will forgive Yu’er and give him a chance to mend his ways. That too would make for a fine story.”

“If he is willing to turn back at the cliff’s edge, then Si'er’s illness can be cured, and only then can our family truly be reunited in harmony.”

Hope appeared on Zhao Xichun’s face.

The two of them spoke of these things in their own one-sided way, as though they had forgotten everything they had once done to Cheng Yu, and as though he would surely let bygones be bygones no matter what.

“Then what should we do now? Go find Yu’er?”

After thinking for a moment, Cheng Zhenjiang said, “I do need to make a trip to Jiannan Circuit.”

Zhao Xichun’s eyes widened in delight.

“To reconcile with Yu’er?”

“How could that be!”

Cheng Zhenjiang shook his head without the slightest hesitation.

Cheng Yu had gone further and further astray and had all but descended into madness. There was no way he would lower himself and take the initiative to make peace.

“Then what are you going to Jiannan Circuit for?”

With pain in his eyes, Cheng Zhenjiang said, “Cheng Feng has been in seclusion in the River-Severing Secret Realm ever since then, refusing both food and water. That last blow hit him too hard.”

The moment Cheng Feng was mentioned, Zhao Xichun’s face filled with distress.

All the love of the husband and wife had been poured into Cheng Feng alone.

He had been held in such high esteem since childhood that, compared with Cheng Yu, who had been tempered through struggle and hardship, he was far less able to endure setbacks.

The last blow he had suffered was too great, and he had fallen completely into self-doubt.

If this continued, they did not even dare imagine what might happen.

Zhao Xichun looked at Cheng Zhenjiang worriedly.

“The cultivation of River-Severing Qi must proceed step by step. If Feng'er keeps forcing it like this, haste will only drive him further astray...”

The resources that could be used on Cheng Feng had already all been used.

If they could not find another way, Cheng Feng would have a hard time escaping the blow Cheng Yu had dealt him.

“Zhenjiang, are you planning to go and retrieve that thing you mentioned last time...?”

Cheng Zhenjiang nodded.

“This trip to Jiannan Circuit is for exactly that. Those descendants of Prince Qing have proven incapable of success and good only for ruining things. I must go and see for myself!”

As long as he could bring back the treasure of Ancestor Cheng Yuan, then Cheng Feng’s martial cultivation would have hope of advancing by leaps and bounds beyond all expectation, and only then could he escape the heart demon tormenting him.

The moment she heard that her younger son might have a chance to stop being like this, Zhao Xichun was instantly filled with excitement and joy. Over these past days, every time she had gone into the secret realm to see Cheng Feng, the sight of him gritting his teeth and cultivating like a madman had filled her heart with pain.

“And Si'er’s illness...”

Cheng Si had already awakened, and her condition had been temporarily suppressed by the Master of Tianji Tower.

But treating the symptoms without treating the root cause could never be a long-term solution.

They could not bear to make Cheng Feng pay too great a price to help his younger sister, so the only hope left was to find one through Cheng Yu...

Cheng Zhenjiang let out a sigh.

“On this trip, I will give that unfilial wretch a chance to return to the right path. I only hope that he still has enough humanity left in him to be willing to save Si'er.”

Thinking of Cheng Yu’s previous attitude, Zhao Xichun could not help growing worried.

“I’m afraid Yu’er won’t agree...”

Cheng Zhenjiang glared.

“Whether he agrees or not, it makes no difference! The Cheng Family’s blood flows in him! No matter how strong he has become, it is still because of the Cheng Family bloodline. Can he deny that?”

“At worst, I’ll drag him back and discipline him myself. I’ll bear all those charges and faults!”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xichun threw herself into Cheng Zhenjiang’s arms.

“This has put you in a difficult position, Zhenjiang.”

If Cheng Zhenjiang sacrificed his reputation to take Cheng Yu back in, it would deal a tremendous blow to his standing as a great hero.

It was truly no easy concession.

Such great fatherly love needed no further words!

“I only hope Yu’er can be a little more sensible and understand his parents, instead of continuing to act out of stubborn pride.”

“Our family has been separated for so many years. It is time for us to be happily reunited.”

...

In Jiannan Circuit, undercurrents were surging through every faction.

No one knew just how chaotic things were about to become, or what would happen next.

On a bitterly cold night, in a small courtyard in the outer city of Jiannan City whose owners had already fled Jiannan Circuit as refugees, Xiao Qian did not dare seek out the informants in the city for fear of walking straight into a trap.

She could only hide there.

The Internal Energy she had recovered earlier had all been spent concealing her aura when she escaped the Thousand-Household Office.

Now she was already at the end of her rope. She no longer had the strength to slip beyond the city walls, much less pass through the tightly controlled city gates.

So she used a secret method to contact the others of the Heavenly Fate Lineage and waited for someone to come rescue her.

At midnight, beneath a bright moon and sparse stars, an almost imperceptible sound arose outside.

Xiao Qian looked out.

“Who is it?”

“Little Sister, it’s us!”

The figures of Xiao Lin and Xiao Xiu appeared, and Xiao Qian was overjoyed.

Her eldest brother and second brother had come to save her!

The three of them said nothing more. With the help of her two older brothers, Xiao Qian quietly slipped out of Jiannan City.

Then they mounted horses prepared in advance and rode toward Iron Halberd Mountain.

Along the way, they did not dare unleash their Internal Energy to hurry onward. Instead, they remained cautious every step of the way, wary of pursuers behind them.

Only at dawn, when they entered the territory of Lingdong Prefecture and saw that Iron Halberd Mountain was already close at hand, did the three of them finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Here, they no longer had to worry about the Jinyiwei suddenly attacking from behind.

Xiao Lin, who had been using his Internal Energy to muffle the sound of the horse’s hooves, finally withdrew it and gently looked at his younger sister, who was riding the same horse in front of him.

“Little Sister, you’re all right... Wait. Little Sister, where is your Dragon Blood?!”

As she turned back and saw the gentleness on her elder brother’s face vanish, replaced by utter disbelief, Xiao Qian’s heart clenched at once.

“It’s a long story. Let’s return first...”

Xiao Lin and Xiao Xiu simply could not imagine such a thing as losing Dragon Blood.

For a moment, neither of them could accept it. They immediately reined in their horses and roared, “Explain first! Where is your Dragon Blood?!”

I don’t know either!

Xiao Qian’s eyes widened. Her brothers had never shouted at her like this before.

In her mind flashed Cheng Yu’s words from back then.

There was no such thing as the Righteous Path of Heavenly Fate. There was only a pack of lunatics who recognized nothing but Dragon Blood!

If she lost her Dragon Blood, how would the others treat her?

The answer was right in front of her.

When Xiao Lin and Xiao Xiu saw that Xiao Qian was not speaking, they grabbed her by the collar in agitation.

“I’m asking you—where is your Dragon Blood?!”

At that moment, a cold voice rang out from nearby.

“If she won’t say it, why not ask me? I was involved too, you know.”