Chapter 651: Hunting
[V6C181 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
Bai Aotu stood up slowly and walked out of the tent. At this point, the entire base was already in an uproar. The Bai clan champions had rushed out of their tents to see who was so bold as to issue challenges in Bai clan territory.
They were surprised to find a young girl hovering in the air. Her countenance was suffused with an ephemeral beauty that made one’s heart ache. She was wearing a long dress, as was usual for noble ladies. She wore very little in terms of ornaments, but what truly shone was the grand-master level craftsmanship of her attire.
For a moment, the many valiant soldiers couldn’t believe their eyes. It was actually a young girl who had kicked down their door? There wasn’t a shred of origin power on her body. Not to mention origin vortices, there wasn’t even an origin node.
But how could someone without origin power hover in the air? Many people recalled how vampires and demonkin used certain methods to reverse their age. For instance, the Queen of the Night would appear in the human world as a young girl. Perhaps this person was the same?
However, most of the champions in the Bai clan were well-informed. Two of them who had recognized Zhao Ruoxi performed salutations and said, “So, it’s the Young Miss of Duke Chengen paying us a visit.”
As the current owner of the Red Spider Lily, Zhao Ruoxi’s identity in the empire was special and not at all inferior to a duke. The Bai clan champions had to greet her courteously first and foremost.
She paid no attention to the two brigadier generals and merely kept her radiant eyes on Bai Aotu.
Bai Aotu had long since figured out that it was Zhao Ruoxi, and her heart sank upon seeing the latter in such a state. She knew things weren’t going to end well.
As expected, Zhao Ruoxi had no intention to speak to her at all. She simply raised the Red Spider Lily and took aim at Bai Aotu. Red spider lilies bloomed in front of the latter, forming a mysterious connection which had seemingly locked onto her. Whether Bai Aotu chose to dodge or flee, she would never be able to escape the attack from the Red Spider Lily. All she could do was forcibly resist the blow.
Bai Aotu had never imagined Zhao Ruoxi would attack on sight and without so much as a word. She herself was unbridled and impetuous, but she wasn’t really crazy. Her expression changed drastically, and her figure flickered about continuously in an attempt to break the Red Spider Lily’s aim.
However, she stopped evading almost as soon as she had begun. Just a brief test showed her that she couldn’t escape the Red Spider Lily. Back then, even the Evernight Council Member, Ge Shitu, had to flee with grievous injuries, not to mention Bai Aotu who wasn’t even a divine champion.
Additionally, Bai Aotu saw that red spider lilies were blooming throughout the base, decorating the entire camp as though it were a land of fantasy. The scenery was beautiful, but that was a weapon of murder. If Bai Aotu were to evade, the brunt of Red Spider Lily’s power would fall onto the soldiers in the camp. Although the weapon didn’t specialize in area-of-effect damage, there weren't any true experts in the Bai clan base. The shot would likely wipe out the hundreds of soldiers who were still in the camp.
Anger washed over Bai Aotu’s face. “Such malice at a young age!”
Zhao Ruoxi’s lips rose into a sweet smile. “Anyone can criticize me, but you cannot. Just try evading and see if you can manage it. It’s fine even if you can, I’ll fire again after wiping out your men.”
Bai Aotu sneered. “You don’t dare to actually fire.”
Her words hadn’t even trailed off when her expression underwent a drastic shift. The red spider lilies around her began to wilt. At the same time, it seemed as though a floodgate had been opened inside her body. Her vitality gushed out into the void and was soon devoured by the violent origin powers therein.
In a flash, Bai Aotu was both shocked and furious. She had never imagined Zhao Ruoxi would really fire.
Even someone as arrogant and unbridled as she was felt helpless as the red spider lilies started to wither. The Red Spider Lily’s attack was mysterious, unfathomable, and indefensible. Even an Evernight Council member had suffered badly in its hands, to speak nothing of Bai Aotu.
The moment the other shore flowers started to wilt, a loud roar echoed throughout the skies, “Don’t!”
Immediately afterward, a gigantic hand covered up Bai Aotu along with the entire base. Within the colossal origin power projection, the rate with which the flowers withered was greatly delayed. However, they were withering still and every wilting petal produced a large defect in the hand.
More than half of the flowers remained, yet the hand was already on the verge of collapse. Just as the Bai clan was about to suffer grave losses, a snort suddenly appeared in the air. A shower of origin arrows rained down, striking all the flowers and effectively destroying them. Soon, all the red spider lilies had disappeared.
Only then did the Red Spider Lily’s attack pass by.
But the Bai clan soldiers had all been affected—their faces were pale and their auras, empty. Many of them could no longer stand firm and fell limp onto the ground. Even Bai Aotu felt some instability in her origin power.
A stout old man appeared in the air. His originally amiable face appeared flustered and exasperated at this moment. He hovered in front of Zhao Ruoxi and said, “The Red Spider Lily is a national treasure. How can you use it for private reasons?! You…”
Even someone of his subtlety couldn’t find the right words to describe the present situation. One could see from this just how angry he was.
Zhao Ruoxi’s hands were trembling. Attacking with the Red Spider Lily had exhausted most of her origin power, but she bit hard into her bleeding lips, unwilling to pass out.
She wasn’t paying the slightest attention to what the old man was saying. She merely stared at Bai Aotu and raised the trembling Red Spider Lily once more. The last bit of color on her face disappeared, and her vitality was like a candle in the wind as more red spider lilies appeared in the vicinity.
She was actually going to fire again!
A sigh rang out behind Zhao Ruoxi as a hand reached out and pressed on the Red Spider Lily. Uncle Wang appeared behind her and said, “Young Miss, you can’t use the Red Spider Lily again today.”
The gun’s radiance actually retracted under Uncle Wang’s grasp, and the other shore flowers vanished before they had been fully formed.
But Zhao Ruoxi struggled with all her might. “Don’t stop me! I must kill that bitch from the Bai clan! I’ll kill whoever tries to stop me!”
Uncle Wang looked as though his heart was aching. “Young Miss, you can’t use it again today. If you really must, it makes no difference if we come back tomorrow.”
The old man across them was startled. “This... Old Wang, although you’re with the Zhao clan now, you should still recognize past friendships, right?”
Uncle Wang pretended not to hear those words. He took the gun from Zhao Ruoxi’s hands and put it away into its box. Then, he opened up a thick blanket and wrapped it around the girl. The latter was still struggling, but she was just an ordinary girl without the Red Spider Lily. How could she escape Uncle Wang’s grasp?
Zhao Ruoxi was dissatisfied. She glared at the old man and shouted, “I know he’s a Bai clan elder.”
The old man looked awkward. “I’m not just an elder, this duke is…”
He couldn’t even finish his words when Zhao Ruoxi looked up and shouted, “He’s far from capable of stopping my Red Spider Lily! Your Majesty Prince Greensun, don’t tell me you’re working with the Bai clan to suppress our Zhao clan?!”
Immediately after these words were spoken, the entire world came to a frozen stop. No one could move! Zhao Boqian’s metallic voice rang out from the sky, “The Red Spider Lily is not yours, and this is not how it should be used.”
Many Bai clan warriors realized what had just happened. It turned out that Prince Greensun had wiped out all the other shore flowers with his ephemeral attack.
“What’s in my hands is mine!” Zhao Ruoxi had no intention of speaking reason.
Zhang Boqian didn’t show himself and only said, “If you keep causing trouble, I’ll ask Weihuang to take you back to the Western Continent.”
Zhao Ruoxi’s momentum weakened. She had no intention of going back now that she was on the void continent. Moreover, her father was the only one she had ever been afraid of.”
She said with a shifting glint in her eyes, “Your Majesty, you’re going to protect the Bai clan, is that it?”
Zhang Boqian said with a snort, “Young brat, you want to trap me with words? This matter today shall end here, your two clans can deal with this matter afterward. There’s just one thing of importance, we are fighting a war of national fate, and this monarch is in charge here. I will not be polite to whoever affects the war as a whole! At that time, no one will be able to protect you lot.”
The world was no longer frozen after these words were spoken. Everyone knew that Prince Greensun had left.
The Bai clan elder glanced over at Zhao Ruoxi and Uncle Wang with a sigh. “Fortunately, nothing happened today. Let’s stop this matter here, what say you?”
“As it should be.” Uncle Wang nodded and left with Zhao Ruoxi.
“Wait!” Zhao Ruoxi called out to Uncle Wang. The Bai clan people were apprehensive, not knowing what she was going to do. Just now, she had opened fire immediately without so much as a word. Everyone was clear that she was someone who would do just about anything.
Zhao Ruoxi paid no attention to those people. “This void continent isn’t fun. Tomorrow, I’ll go out hunting!”
Uncle Wang replied calmly, “Young Miss, what do you wish to hunt?”
Zhao Ruoxi uttered a name through gritted teeth, “Of course it’s that slut, Bai Kongzhao!”
“This servant understands.”
Zhao Ruoxi added, “This Young Miss is in a bad mood. When I’m in a bad mood, my aim goes way off. I might accidentally injure whoever appears near my prey!”
With that, she left together with Uncle Wang. The Bai clan soldiers looked at one another, not knowing what to say.
Accidentally injure? Among the Ten Grand Magnums, the Red Spider Lily was the only one that couldn’t injure anyone accidentally.
The old man gazed at Zhao Ruoxi’s receding figure and said to Bai Aotu, “Follow me, I have something to ask you.”
This fat old man was actually the current Bai clan lord’s cousin and the one who had inherited the Duke Ning position, Bai Songhe. Be it in terms of cultivation or status, he was on the same level as the two dukes of the Zhao clan. Now that he had spoken, Bai Aotu had no choice but to follow him into the main tent.
Bai Songhe took the central chair without offering Bai Aotu a seat. His smile disappeared, replaced by an awe-inspiring presence, as he said, “Speak, how far are you going to go for this Bai Kongzhao?”
Bai Aotu said with a frown, “I just wounded Qianye. So what if she has personal affairs with him?”
“Nonsense!” Bai Songhe slapped a stack of documents on to the table. “That Qianye’s identity is not that simple! This duke has long since received information that he’s actually Duke Chengen’s illegitimate son. This intelligence was issued long ago, don’t you ever look at them?”
Bai Aotu was startled. “Even then, he’s just a bastard. Besides, I’ve never been interested in these trivial clan affairs.”