The Endless Promise

74. Bright Dawns And Warm Lights

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Under a dark sky, in the dead of night, two figures stood a short distance from the forest, their red and white robes gleaming.

"Father, must we stay in this place?" The son asked, biting into an apple. He promptly spat it out. "Urgh! You already killed that woman, so why don't we return?! This place is beneath us! Even the fruits are low-level!"

"A-Zhen, behave." The father replied. "The fruits are the same. I simply bring ours in from outside Baishan...

"And besides," He turned away, his hands behind his back. "That woman was the love of my life! I won't spare them for making me end her life!

"Nor can I ignore whatever that brat or Sect Leader Xu, or even the Sect or Xu Elders might know..."

"But why didn't we just help her escape?" The son asked.

"Do you think I didn't consider that? But then, the Wulin would have come after her, which puts them on our trail. That's also why we must abandon A-Cheng! No trail must lead to our family!"

"Tch! I don't see why we must be so careful..." The son muttered. "Don't we have people within the Wulin?"

"A-Zhen!" The father warned, and the son fell silent. "We might have people in the Wulin, but the righteous members of the Wulin are not to be taken likely, and nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is more important than the family name and reputation! Pay attention... Because I might kill you if you threaten to harm the family."

There was silence, where the son brought out another apple, deciding it was better to eat 'low-level' fruits, than to annoy his father.

"My Lord, they're here." A cloaked figure had appeared, bowing behind them, and the father smiled.

"Hao." He said, and behind them, from the forest, a large group of cloaked individuals were hiding, blending into the trees.

"This Final Stage will be memorable!"

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There was bright sunshine at dawn the next day, sending hearty sun rays into Luoyin's room as he took a leisurely bath within a large wooden tub.

"Xiaobai, must you take part in this tournament?" Yinying asked, toying with his gray beard. "Given your current level, even a Senior Disciple can't beat you, so you must be careful not to draw attention to yourself!"

"Aiyaya, if I don't go, others might say I've listened to the false rumours about my own greatness and become too proud! That would harm Weiyan and my father-in-law's reputation.

"Don't worry! I intend to lose within my opponent's first three moves."

"Hmm, hmm." Yinying nodded in agreement. "What about your father? Do you think he will give up?"

From the moment Zhang Guo had repudiated Zhang Furen and kicked Zhang Cheng out, he had instantly written a letter to the Yan house, begging Luoyin to return to the Zhang Mansion.

Luoyin had ignored it, but in the past two days, at least five more had arrived, each promising him anything from 'naming him as House Head', to 'letting Weiyan run the entire household', to 'spending all he has for their betterment'...

But Luoyin wasn't fooled, and at present he rose out of the bath. "That fellow has some sense." He said, catching a robe Yinying tossed him. "One can always count on a donkey to bray, much the same way we can bet on Lord Zhang to calculating his gains and losses...

"Right now he doesn't want the Zhang name to wither in his hands, so he wants to pull me and Yanyan in, thereby killing four birds with a single stone!" He explained, as he waved a hand, drawing all the water from his hair and directing it back into the bathtub.