16. The Kui Prince
From the moment Old Leng discovered Baiyao Qin to the moment the door closed again was only a minute, but to Baiyao Sheng, it felt like a lifetime.
When the door closed, she finally broke down and cried.
Why did they have to suffer so much?
Why was the Baiyao family fated to this? Couldn’t they just live together peacefully?
“If… if it weren’t for the Baili family…”
If it weren’t for the Baili family, if she were the one on the throne, if all injustice could be eradicated by her own hands…
If… if there was a chance to make that “if” a reality!
—”Then, are you willing to offer me everything and become the servant of the Heavenly Sin?”—
The memory ended there.
Because Leng Yuli extended her hand and slowly hooked her little finger around Baiyao Sheng’s right pinky.
“There are many things I don’t remember clearly.” Leng Yuli sighed, troubled. “I only remember a father who didn’t like me very much, and a grandfather who tried his best to help me.”
“My memories of my sister are very vague, like dreams rather than real experiences.”
“But in my dreams, I always feel I have an unfinished promise, a pinky promise. Is that with my sister?”
The girl looked at her, tilting her head with a smile. “Listen to me. I promise my sister won’t have any more worries. A family should always face everything together, right?”
“Qin’er…”
That promise, the promise made in the winter snow, that she would definitely come back for her.
Although they hadn’t actually hooked their pinkies, her little sister, guided by fate, had indeed returned to this land and met her.
Now, it seemed, was the time to complete this unfinished ritual.
“Qin’er, I—”
But just then, a green light flashed!
The sudden attack was aimed not at anyone else, but at Leng Yuli.
Although Gong Yiling sensed the attack, with her current strength, she couldn’t react in time.
She instinctively threw a high-grade spiritual artifact, but it was shattered by the attack, only slightly deflecting its trajectory.
Just as the attack was about to hit the defenseless Leng Yuli, Baiyao Sheng pulled her aside, taking the full force of the blow.
It was a sharp sleeve arrow, its force comparable to a Heavenly Soul cultivator’s, but not quite.
The arrow pierced Baiyao Sheng’s body, a wave of chaos erupting within her, her meridians ravaged. And the arrow seemed to carry something else.
“Pfft!” The severe injury made Baiyao Sheng cough up a mouthful of blood, but she ignored her own pain and looked at Leng Yuli, asking frantically, “Qin’er, are you alright?”
“I… I’m fine!”
The sudden attack, just when they thought everything was settled, left Leng Yuli stunned, only able to give a dazed reply.
Miss Gong, hearing their conversation, immediately drew her sword and glared in the direction of the attack. “Will you only show yourself with hidden weapons? Dare you not show your true face?”
“Hahahaha!”
A hearty laugh echoed, and a man pushed open the door and walked in.
He wore a butterfly mask, just like Yue Huasheng, a green robe, and held a folding fan.
“Besides her, who else could react to my attack?” The man glanced at the ruins and chuckled. “If you hadn’t slightly interfered with its trajectory, this guy would be dead now.”
A slight distance, but it was the difference between her heart and other areas.
If that sleeve arrow had pierced Baiyao Sheng’s heart, she would have surely died.
“And who are you?” Gong Yiling asked, surveying the situation.
Gong Muzhi was fighting that dead puppet outside. Baili Yue was like a corpse. Most of the ministers had fled. Only a few from the Returning Heaven Sect and Tianyin Daoist Mountain remained.
Now, the only one who could be considered a major fighting force was herself.
“Who am I? Why don’t you let the one who’s coughing up blood introduce me?”
The one coughing up blood?
Who else could it be?
Gong Yiling looked at Baiyao Sheng, who nodded and bowed simply to the man. “Prince Kui.”
“Is that all?” The young man chuckled. “When I, on behalf of the Heavenly Sin, gave you a chance to live, trained you so you could pass the secret guards’ test…”
“Baiyao Sheng, you should remember whose dog you are, right?”
Leng Yuli was enraged. “Don’t you dare say that about my sister!”
“Don’t I dare? Heh.” The young man laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke. “Why don’t you ask your sister who’s been supporting her? Do you think she could overthrow the Baiyao Dynasty on her own? When did a little girl get to be so reckless in this kind of power struggle?”
“Prince Kui…”
“Sister!” Leng Yuli supported Baiyao Sheng and asked, “Who is he?”
“I only know he’s Prince Kui of the ‘Heavenly Sin’.” Baiyao Sheng explained with difficulty, “When I was at my lowest, they saved me, taught me cultivation techniques and various killing arts, and even introduced me to the path of divination.”
“With these things, I was able to quickly enter Baili Yue’s secret guard and let him see my divination talent, thus taking control of the Star Pavilion.”
This made the story more plausible.
How could Baili Yue value a starving girl? And why would he place her in the Star Pavilion?
Was it all just a way to cater to his interests?
“But Baiyao Qin, we helped you not so you could suddenly back out at the last minute.”
“‘The Heavenly Sin’ doesn’t want cowards. And I quite admire you.” The man sighed. “If you kill your sister here or hand her over to me, everything will still be on track.”
