Chapter 1152: Rambling On and On

Hei Yun said, "You humans have a good saying: a killer pays with his life!"

With his strength failing and his mind no longer as sharp as usual, Niu Youdao had been slow to react. The moment he heard those words, however, he understood what Hei Yun meant.

Why had Hei Yun left Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie unharmed? Because Kunlin Shu had killed quite a few Demon Foxes during his earlier tempering in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. His cultivation art had been especially conspicuous. The Fox Clan had evidently remembered him, or rather, had remembered the grudge.

Niu Youdao forced himself to stay alert. "A killer pays with his life. The saying isn't wrong. But there are times when exceptions must be made. Some matters cannot be reduced to law and principle and enforced absolutely. Clan Chief, you've killed plenty of human cultivators yourself. By that reasoning, what should happen to you?"

"Some matters fall under grudges and enmities instead. When something should be forgiven and put down, it should be put down."

Hei Yun said, "I am Clan Chief of the Fox Clan. I have to give an explanation to the clansmen who died!"

Niu Youdao chuckled. "Is that so?"

Hei Yun's expression darkened slightly. "You think I'm joking?"

Niu Youdao said, "Aren't you?"

Hei Yun grew angry. "You think I don't dare kill him?"

"Of course you dare. Why wouldn't you?" Niu Youdao replied. "He's fallen into your hands, he's already submitted without resistance, and I'm badly injured. I can't stop you. Whether you kill him is nothing more than a matter of lifting one finger."

"Hei Yun, you can kill him and call that an explanation to the Fox Clan. But killing one of my men right in front of me... the dead are already gone, while the living are standing before you. Shouldn't you first give me an explanation?"

Hei Yun said, "I told you already: a killer pays with his life! Before I kill him, I'm making the matter clear to you first. That itself is my explanation to you. I'm giving you that much face because we've cooperated for so long!"

"What a fine 'killer pays with his life.'" Niu Youdao's voice hardened. "All right. A killer pays with his life, does he? Then don't just say something that sounds good. Carry it through."

"I won't bother naming anyone else. If we're talking about who has killed the most members of the Fox Clan, would anyone in your clan deny that the Nine Saints are at the top of the list?"

"You, the dignified Clan Chief of the Fox Clan, have watched the Nine Saints slaughter countless members of your people. Do you have the courage to make them pay with their lives? If you can make them pay, then this brother of mine is yours to deal with as you please."

"If you can't, then behave yourself and put the greater situation first. Don't stand in front of me shouting about killers paying with their lives simply to vent a moment's anger!"

At those words, Hei Yun bared a mouthful of white teeth. He had been struck where it hurt, and embarrassment immediately turned to anger.

But Niu Youdao was not wrong. The Nine Saints had slaughtered countless Demon Foxes, and Hei Yun, their Clan Chief, truly could do nothing whatsoever about it. He had no answer.

Niu Youdao continued, "He obeyed my command, submitted without resistance, and lost every ability to fight back. If you take advantage of him now, what kind of skill is that? Is that all the dignified Clan Chief of the Fox Clan is capable of? Taking advantage of someone who cannot resist?"

"With a heart this narrow and methods this petty, no wonder the Fox Clan has fallen so low under you and can only scrape out an existence here in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands!"

"You want to kill him? I won't stop you. If you're capable, remove the restrictions on him. If you're capable, take him outside and fight him openly and honorably!"

"You want to borrow my hand to kill one of my own men without my consent, and call that an explanation worthy of the dignified Clan Chief? Are you trying to paste gold onto your own face for comfort? Even after you paste it on, your face will still be red with shame. Whether living or dead, your clansmen will look down on you!"

"If you have the ability, release the restrictions on him. Let him go outside. If you can kill him openly and honorably, I won't say another word!"

At that point, Niu Youdao broke into a fit of coughing. With a muffled groan, he coughed up blood, making Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie look on with worry.

He breathed hard for a while but still refused to give up.

Even if he could not persuade the Fox Clan to abandon its killing intent toward Kunlin Shu, he had to fight for the man to have at least one chance of survival. Once Niu Youdao had seriously promised something, he would do everything he could to honor it.

If he could at least make the Fox Clan release Kunlin Shu and grant him a fair duel, then with Kunlin Shu's Heavenly Fire Limitless Art, even the Corpse-Vine could hardly trap him. Even if he could not win, he would have a strong chance of escaping.

After catching his breath, Niu Youdao continued, "I brought him here. I was the one who ordered him to submit without resisting. If you kill him now, that is no different from me killing him myself!"

"Hei Yun, if you dare kill him, I will not let this matter end between us. Unless you kill me too, I guarantee many Demon Foxes will be buried with him!"

Hei Yun snapped angrily, "Niu Youdao, you're already in this condition and you still dare threaten me?"

He turned his head toward Kunlin Shu. The five fingers of one hand slowly curved, power condensing around them.

Niu Youdao hurriedly said, "Do you know why I have never once discussed how the Fox Immortal Fruits will be divided? Do you know why I've never worried about an unfair split? Do you know why I trusted you enough to let every Fox Immortal Fruit fall into your hands?"

Those words made Hei Yun's hand pause.

Now that Niu Youdao raised the question, Hei Yun truly did find it strange. He gradually turned his head back.

"Cough, cough..." Niu Youdao coughed and brought up another mouthful of blood. He ignored the drops running from the corner of his mouth and forced himself to continue. "Twelve Fox Immortal Fruits. So what if every one of them goes to your Fox Clan?"

"For your people, it means nothing more than gaining twelve additional Demon Foxes capable of transforming into human form. At most, it would also allow the Old Clan Chief to recover. Can that change the fate of the Fox Clan?"

"Back then, how many Demon Foxes could transform? And what was the result when they faced the Nine Saints?"

"Human cultivators are different. Our cultivation advances through realms. With a Fox Immortal Fruit, a cultivator can recast the body into something stronger, break through into the Nascent Soul Realm, and attain a far more powerful cultivation."

"The Fox Immortal Fruits are of little use in your hands. Even if you keep all of them, you still cannot change the Fox Clan's fate. Instead, more Demon Foxes will continue to die. Year after year, countless members of your clan will still meet miserable deaths."

"Compared with the fate of the entire Fox Clan, what do the few Demon Foxes he killed in ignorance amount to?"

"You know better than anyone that overthrowing the Nine Saints requires the strength of human cultivators. That is why the Old Clan Chief risked traveling to the mortal world years ago. That is why the Fox Clan of those days paid any price necessary to send her there. You hoped to find help and change the tragic fate of your people!"

"The Old Clan Chief even dug out her own vertical eye and still chose to stand with the Fox Clan. Why? Because this was the responsibility she carried. And now, Hei Yun, it is the responsibility you carry as Clan Chief!"

"But the Old Clan Chief was too naive then. She trusted the wrong people. What happened afterward? The Fox Clan has treated that lesson as a warning ever since and no longer trusts outsiders lightly."

"Even if you kill all of us, even if you hand the Fox Immortal Fruits to someone else, even if you use them to create other experts, what then?"

"Suppose those people truly overthrow the Nine Saints. Can you guarantee they will tolerate the existence of the Fox Clan afterward? Are you certain? Perhaps after struggling through an enormous circle and paying another mountain of effort, the Fox Clan's tragic fate will simply repeat itself."

"But I am different. Who my master is, what I have done up to now, and what I have already accomplished, all of you know very well. Am I not more trustworthy than other people? Do you really believe someone else is more capable of doing this than I am, or more worthy of your confidence?"

"You are the Clan Chief of the Fox Clan. If all you care about is venting one moment's anger and you make no plans for the future of your countless clansmen, are you worthy of that position? Can you face the Old Clan Chief's trust in you? Have you even asked what the Old Clan Chief would want?"

If he could delay matters until Yin Ji woke, Niu Youdao was confident he could persuade her.

Because of her daughter, Luo Fangfei!

"There were many things he did not know then, and still does not know even now. Everything he did at the time came entirely from where he stood, just as you wanted to kill me at first. If I had not survived, you would not have shown mercy either. The fault is not his!"

"The reason I am protecting him is because I promised his wife that I would keep him safe inside the Sacred Realm!"

"You know what I am doing. You know everything I have done. I am opposing the Nine Saints. He is my man, and he will follow me!"

"Your Fox Clan has seen his strength. In the future, he will follow me in fighting the Nine Saints. For his own sake, and to change the fate of your clan, he will be risking his life in battle for the Fox Clan as well!"

"Is it a bad thing to have one more capable man fighting the Nine Saints? Even if you call it making amends through future merit, the Fox Clan should at least give him the chance!"

"If you kill him, the people outside who follow me will object. His wife alone will never let the Fox Clan off. If that happens, how am I supposed to unite people's hearts and contend against the Nine Saints?"

"The Clan Chief has already injured him. You've vented some of your anger and given him a warning and punishment. Whether judged by reason or sentiment, that can already count as an explanation."

"For the sake of the Demon Foxes who died, I won't argue any further on his behalf."

The Fox Clan Elders looked at one another, then all turned to watch Hei Yun's reaction.

Seeing the five fingers of Hei Yun's hand gradually relax, Niu Youdao sighed. "Clan Chief is a man who understands reason. I believe you will certainly consider the greater interests of the Fox Clan. Cough, cough..."

He coughed up blood again. His breathing had already become chaotic. He was holding himself together by force.

Kunlin Shu stood clutching his chest, staring at the blood dripping from the corner of Niu Youdao's mouth. His expression was complicated, deeply moved, and his lips were pressed tight.

He did not believe he was as important as Niu Youdao had made him sound. He understood that Niu Youdao was dragging his badly wounded body through this argument simply to protect him.

Now he finally understood what Niu Youdao had meant earlier:

I promised Fire Phoenix I would keep you safe inside the Sacred Realm!

Fox Immortal Fruits? Twelve Fox Immortal Fruits? The Wuliang Fruits?

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie were stunned. They were not even sure whether they had understood Elder Niu correctly.

Were the twelve Wuliang Fruits actually in these people's hands?

Their thoughts immediately went back to Elder Niu's series of abnormal actions inside Wuliang Garden.

And now they also understood why Elder Niu had forbidden them from attacking the Fox Clan earlier.

Hei Yun looked thoroughly irritated. He raised his head toward the stone ceiling and suddenly changed the subject. "The people chasing you saw only you. They never saw these three. Now all three of them have disappeared too. How do you plan to explain that to Misty Pavilion? Won't they become suspicious?"

Niu Youdao laughed and shook his head. The force he had gathered for the argument drained away, leaving him weak again. "You're worrying too much. There's nothing to explain. Even I was killed. Isn't it perfectly normal for the three of them to disappear too? As long as they don't show themselves, naturally something happened to them as well. Let Misty Pavilion investigate however it likes. Do you really need to worry on their behalf?"

Killed?

Qin Guan and the other two did not understand what he meant.

Hei Yun gave him a sidelong look and said with a strange edge in his voice, "If you don't hurry and treat your injuries, even if I don't kill you, you may not last much longer. Enough with the rambling. Hurry up and heal."

With that, he flicked his sleeve and walked out, looking thoroughly displeased.

The Fox Clan Elders followed him out one after another.

"How are you?" Qin Guan asked the injured Kunlin Shu.

Kunlin Shu silently shook his head. The three of them gathered around Niu Youdao, concern on their faces.

Niu Youdao slowly closed his eyes. Both palms gathered qi and pressed toward his dantian. "I can't hold on much longer. Whatever you want to say can wait."

The three exchanged looks and did not dare disturb him again.

But everything they had just heard would already take them a long time to digest.

[End of Chapter 1152]