Chapter 1503: The Last Chance

After leaving the medicine hut, Wuxin still found it hard to believe that Yan Baoru was a mole. Or rather, a small part of him was still clinging to hope.

He was different from some people. Deep down, he was still willing to believe in the good in others.

Of course, that was also because the Ghost Doctor had not told him the truth.

He decided to search for Yan Baoru again. Perhaps there had been some misunderstanding. He called Wuxiang and Guo Man over, and the three of them searched Medicine Valley thoroughly once more.

Only after they had gone over the entire valley and confirmed that Yan Baoru truly was gone, that she really had left, did Wuxin finally feel the hollow ache of loss and accept that she had run away.

Yan Baoru had never left without a word for no reason.

The realization drove home all the more sharply how treacherous the human heart could be. He had never imagined that someone who had been so loyal, who had cared for him so diligently for so long, could actually have been a spy planted by someone else. It was a trampling of the goodness he still wanted to believe in. From then on, he became more guarded with people and no longer trusted others so easily.

Yet one doubt remained in his heart. Why had his master suddenly decided to investigate this matter?

At that moment, Niu Youdao appeared on a small, lonely island in the vast sea.

A flying mount lay sprawled among the reefs, turning its head into the wind as it preened its feathers.

The disguised Yun Ji stood nearby. Beside her sat a woman in plain clothes, none other than Yan Baoru, whose spiritual power had been restrained.

Yun Ji had already captured her. With Guo Man, that mole, on the inside, Yan Baoru had suspected nothing. Guo Man had easily lured her out of Medicine Valley, straight into Yun Ji's hands. Given Yun Ji's cultivation, subduing her without causing much of a disturbance had naturally been effortless.

Seeing Niu Youdao return, Yun Ji asked, "How did it go?"

Niu Youdao gave a slight nod to show that everything had been settled, then walked over to Yan Baoru and looked down at her, considering how to deal with the woman.

Yan Baoru, seated on a rock, raised her head. "Who are you people? I..." The instant her eyes met Niu Youdao's, her expression tightened and her pupils abruptly contracted. A trace of fear flashed across her face as she blurted, "Niu Youdao! You're not dead?"

Niu Youdao was stunned.

Yun Ji also looked at him in surprise. He was disguised, so how had Yan Baoru recognized him at a glance? Had there been something illicit between this man and woman? Otherwise, how could Yan Baoru have recognized him so easily? Just how familiar with Niu Youdao did she have to be?

Recovering from his surprise, Niu Youdao smiled. "What Niu Youdao?"

Yan Baoru fell silent. She lowered her head, her eyes flickering as though trying to avoid something.

Niu Youdao suddenly felt there was no point pretending any longer. The woman had plainly recognized him. He immediately resumed his natural voice. "You could recognize me even like this? Yan Baoru, it seems what I did to you in the Tiandu Secret Realm left quite an impression!"

Now that he had admitted it, despair welled up in Yan Baoru. She had wanted to pretend she had called out the wrong name, thinking that might give her a chance to escape disaster, and she already regretted blurting out his name. At this point, all she could do was grit her teeth, rise, and say with grief and indignation, "Niu Youdao, I've already hidden all the way out here. You still refuse to let me go?"

Niu Youdao understood. She still thought he had come to settle the old score. He could not help chuckling. "You're thinking too much. You're not worth that much effort from me. I hadn't planned to do anything to you, but then you recognized me. Now you've put me in a difficult position."

That was no lie. He had personally met with the Ghost Doctor, and some of the things they had discussed could easily expose Guo Man.

In truth, even if Guo Man were exposed, it would not matter much. The Ghost Doctor would hardly dare touch one of Niu Youdao's people. But this matter was too important; if anything unexpected happened, the consequences would be unthinkable. Niu Youdao had no choice but to leave eyes and ears beside the Ghost Doctor so that if anything changed there, he would know at once.

He had personally taken action on a matter like this. With his skill and methods, all of it was second nature. How could he casually leave a hole behind?

Put plainly, Yan Baoru had been captured to protect Guo Man, so that Guo Man could remain hidden beside the Ghost Doctor and his disciples.

Back when Guo Man had failed to stop Yan Baoru from entering Wuxin's circle, she had even requested assistance to remedy the situation. Niu Youdao had been the one to call it off and spare Yan Baoru. Once he had left the Tiandu Secret Realm, with the power and strength already in his hands, someone of Yan Baoru's caliber no longer posed any threat to him. He had left her in place partly so that, if the need ever arose, Yan Baoru could take the fall for Guo Man. It had been a contingency arranged years ago. He had not expected the day would actually come when it proved useful.

Yan Baoru said bitterly, "Guo Man is one of yours?" At this point, if she still could not see that Guo Man had tricked her into coming out, she would have to be an idiot.

Niu Youdao said, "That isn't something you need to concern yourself with. I'm not fond of all this fighting and killing, and I don't like killing people casually, especially a good-looking beauty like you. But you've put me in a difficult position now. Tell me, what should I do with you? If you can't give me a reason to let you go, then I'll have no choice but to feed you to the fish in this sea... though I suppose that's better than feeding you to the ants."

Yan Baoru pressed her lips together for a moment. "What would it take for you to let me go?"

Niu Youdao said mildly, "Give me a reason I can trust."

Yan Baoru countered, "You'll keep your word?"

Niu Youdao said, "Do you think I need to waste words with you?"

He did not. Yan Baoru fell silent for a while, then said with difficulty, "Back when I helped Tong Mo, there was another important reason. I have a son."

Niu Youdao was surprised. "You have a son? As far as I know, haven't you always been alone?"

Yan Baoru said, "Do you think I couldn't find a man?"

Niu Youdao looked her up and down. "True enough. With your looks, men shouldn't have been in short supply. I thought you simply had no interest in them."

Yan Baoru said, "What woman has never known the stirrings of spring? I too was young, ignorant, and impulsive once. Later I discovered that the reason the man refused to make our relationship public was because he had other women outside. In a rage, I killed him. But by then my belly was already swollen and I was close to giving birth. The child was innocent."

Niu Youdao asked, "Tong Mo had your son in his grasp?"

Yan Baoru shook her head. "No. I wandered the cultivation world and inevitably made enemies. My strength back then wasn't enough for me to go wherever I pleased, so for the child's safety I secretly had him fostered by another family. Later, when he grew up, he proved to have no aptitude for cultivation. I could only watch him live like an ordinary man of the secular world, marrying and having children of his own."

She continued, "In these chaotic times, what can a household of ordinary mortals do? Can they survive just by hiding? If they were to live in the secular world, I couldn't conveniently show myself, so I needed someone powerful to look after them. I entrusted that task to Tong Mo in secret. Tong Mo only knew they were relatives of mine. He never knew that man was my son."

Niu Youdao chuckled. "Back in the Tiandu Secret Realm, when I forced you into such dire straits, you still didn't say anything?"

Yan Baoru replied, "You clearly had no intention of letting me off easily. As long as I could give you an explanation that would pass muster, why would I drag my own family into it as well?"

Niu Youdao raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you willing to tell me now?"

Yan Baoru said, "Guo Man is one of yours. That fake Niu Youdao she brought in must have been arranged by you. The rumors said you died in the Sacred Realm, yet you're still alive. That means the one who died was a fake. Even I noticed something was wrong with Wuxin and Shao Liuer some time ago; Guo Man couldn't possibly have missed it. You must have known their secret, and the seizure of Shao Liuer to use her as leverage can't have had nothing to do with you."

She went on, "Yuan Se met with disaster at Maolu Villa, and the fact that you're still alive already says a great deal. Recently, the Nine Saints have met with disaster one after another. You can't have had nothing to do with that either. With the power you hold now, even if you kill me, you have no reason to make trouble for my family, who know nothing. I don't know exactly what the Ghost Doctor and his disciples have done, but now that I've seen you here, I can feel that they've already been dragged beyond their control into the storm of opposing the Nine Saints. If something happens to them, then as one of their people, I won't escape either."

"I understand now. The Ghost Doctor and his disciples have long since fallen under your control. My life and death have actually been in your hands all along. The fact that you've allowed me to live until today shows that you have room for people." What she really wanted to say was that a man like him was terrifying.

With that, she dropped to her knees before Niu Youdao with a thud and kowtowed to the ground. "Master Dao, please show mercy. Please give me a chance. I'm willing to place myself under you, to be your slave or maidservant, to serve you with my life. Please give me a way to live. From this day forward, this life of mine is yours!"

To stay alive, she cast aside every shred of face, acting with utter decisiveness and leaving herself no retreat.

She knew very well that this was her last chance to live. If she failed to seize it, there truly would be no other chance.

"Haha, you've really made me see you in a new light." Niu Youdao laughed and looked back at Yun Ji. "Shall we verify what she said about this son of hers?"

Yun Ji nodded, giving her opinion.

"Ride the jianghu through favors and grudges, rights and wrongs. I only hope this kneeling of yours will not disappoint me!" Niu Youdao sighed with feeling as he turned away. Looking across the boundless blue sea as though gazing through the ages, he let out a long, quiet sigh. "Let's go."

...

On the grasslands, a fierce battle had erupted in full.

The Qin army turned on its ally and struck. The Qi army counterattacked in force, thousands upon thousands of men and horses thundering forward to kill.

Just as the two armies were about to smash head-on into each other, it was as though Heaven had collapsed and the earth had caved in. The leading ranks of the Qi army, charging like a rolling flood, suddenly broke through the ground beneath their feet and plunged into a trench. The cavalry behind could not rein in in time and crashed violently into their own men. In an instant, the Qi army's full-force charge dissolved into chaos.

"Kill!" Beneath the command banner, Luo Zhao drew his sword and roared.

The anti-cavalry barricades blocking the charge ahead were swiftly hauled aside. Large numbers of Qin troops surged forward along the earthen ridges that had not collapsed. With the Qi army in disorder and unable to stop them, the Qin soldiers stabbed into its formation like blade after blade.

At the collapsed trench, great numbers of Qin soldiers came running with sacks over their shoulders and threw down sacks packed with earth. The trench was quickly filled. The main army then poured across in force, coordinating with the troops that had already broken into the Qi lines and cut their formation apart, and charged in for the kill.

This was a war they had been forced to fight. Luo Zhao did not want to fight it, but he had no choice.

Gao Pin of Jin did not want to fight either, but he too had no choice.

The Jin court had begun applying pressure. Qiyun Sect had pressured the court. More precisely, the Three Sacred Venerables had pressured Qiyun Sect.

Wu Chang had been content enough to wait, but Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin had lost patience. Watching the Jin army drag matters out like this, who knew how long it intended to keep stalling or what game it was playing? They therefore imposed their will by force. Since the other two insisted on doing things this way, Wu Chang had no objection and went along with them for the time being.

For Huyan Wuhen, however, this battle had come somewhat unexpectedly.

[End of Chapter 1503]