The moment Baili Weisheng finished speaking, he pressed both large hands down, one on each of their shoulders, and instantly, a beam of golden light shot straight downward, piercing directly through the Helian mother and son’s silver scales!

Baili Weisheng’s gaze darkened as he suddenly seized a fistful of scales on Madam Helian’s shoulder.

“AHHH—” Madam Helian let out a wretched, agonized scream, her face twisting in pain, a sight so unbearable it made anyone watching wince in sympathy, as golden light erupted violently across her entire body!

Amid the golden radiance, Baili Weisheng gripped a great handful of scales and, without warning, wrenched it upward with brutal force — and in that instant, an entire human-shaped hide of silver scales tore free, as if uprooted whole, flung upward into the air!

And Madam Jinjiao — no, Madam Helian — looked like someone who had been skinned alive, her body left a raw, exposed mass of flesh and blood, a horrifying sight to behold; she had already died from the sheer agony of it.

Such brutality left even Meng Wanyue, standing nearby, shaken to her very core. In the distance, Jun Beiyue covered both Xiong Bao’s eyes and Ziqing’s eyes with his hands, watching in silence, his expression utterly unreadable.

Helian Shaoze was struck completely dumb with terror!

Truly, completely dumb! No — to put it more precisely, he had been frightened out of his mind!

“AH… AH… AH…”

He screamed like a madman, thrashing wildly, trying desperately to break free of Baili Weisheng’s grip, but Baili Weisheng paid him no mind whatsoever, repeating the exact same motion — even faster than before!

A brutal grip, a savage wrench — and in an instant, he too tore the silver scales clean off of Helian Shaoze!

Baili Weisheng was not someone to be trifled with — never had been, never would be someone people could bully freely. Don’t try claiming kinship with him over some distant clan tie — he did not acknowledge it!

He only acknowledged the people close to him!

To have dared wound Baili Xiaosheng so badly — stripping their skin off wasn’t even enough to satisfy his hatred!

Two hides of silver-scaled skin, two heaps of bloody bone and flesh — Meng Wanyue stood frozen on the spot, while Baili Weisheng, like a hunter returning from the hunt, carried both hides in hand and turned, walking toward Ziqing.

His hands covered in blood, he reached out toward her. “Let me carry her.”

Ziqing looked at the stern-faced man before her, feeling as though this foul-mouthed scholar had somehow changed — only, she couldn’t quite put her finger on exactly how he had changed.

She carefully handed over the still-unconscious Baili Xiaosheng.

Baili Weisheng didn’t take her into his arms right away — instead, he draped one of the silver-scale hides over Baili Xiaosheng’s body. The instant the silver scale settled over her, a flash of silver light burst forth, and it fused seamlessly with Baili Xiaosheng’s body, vanishing entirely.

Only then did Baili Weisheng turn his gaze toward Xiong Xiaobao. Xiong Xiaobao immediately flinched, instinctively moving to flee — but before he could, Baili Weisheng tossed the other silver scale hide straight at him, completely covering him!

“Wuuu…” Xiong Xiaobao wanted to cry but couldn’t even manage tears — he didn’t like this disgusting thing at all, but the moment the silver scale touched his body, it vanished instantly, and no matter how he tried, he couldn’t shake it off!

Seeing Xiong Xiaobao’s expression, Baili Weisheng suddenly laughed, no longer as stern as usual, and only then did he finally take Baili Xiaosheng from Ziqing’s arms.

That smile was bright and handsome, and Ziqing found herself smiling along with him without meaning to — she knew now, Baili Weisheng hadn’t changed after all. He was still that same foul-mouthed scholar he’d always been.

“We need to leave this place as soon as possible.” Jun Beiyue’s voice was pitched extremely low. Meng Wanyue was walking toward them, step by step.

“What about the Song of Parting Sorrow? That sound just now was an echo, not his roar — this echo must have some connection to this place, and I still haven’t figured out where the flaw in the sound lies!” Ziqing, too, spoke in a hushed voice. She knew something was very wrong with Meng Wanyue, but for now, they couldn’t leave yet.

After all this hardship to get here — wasn’t it all for the sake of the Song of Parting Sorrow?

“Jun Beiyue, are you afraid of your own mother?” Baili Weisheng let out a cold laugh instead. Meng Wanyue, oh Meng Wanyue — did you think Baili Weisheng’s reputation for knowing everything was just idle boasting?

There was no way the Meng Clan had been in chaos three hundred years ago!

Three hundred years ago was precisely the era of unification for the Meng Clan — precisely when that founding ancestor had unified the entire clan!

The Dagger of Flowing Light — surely it was that very founding ancestor who had forged it!