Pitch black, unable to see even one’s own hand, utterly silent, the smell of blood so thick it seemed to solidify the very air around them.
Meng Duo’er realized that even the parts of her clothing not stained with blood still reeked of it—as if the smell were simply radiating from her own robes.
The long night stretched on and on, the entire world sunk into deathly stillness. When would dawn come, when would she see light again?
Meng Duo’er wished she could fall asleep—if she slept, she wouldn’t know anything, wouldn’t be afraid of anything.
Perhaps… perhaps once dawn broke, Baili Weisheng would wake her, and tell her what to do.
But no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn’t fall asleep.
For the first time, she discovered just how terrifying insomnia truly was—she wished she could just knock herself unconscious with a slap.
But she didn’t dare. With such a massive mess to deal with, if she passed out and Baili Weisheng didn’t wake up, who would sort it all out?
Though—could she even sort it out herself?
It was unimaginable.
That night stretched on, unbearably long and difficult, Meng Duo’er utterly exhausted, yet never once able to fall asleep.
Finally, when the first ray of sunlight slanted in through the mouth of the cave, she slowly raised her head.
Day… had broken.
Seeing the light felt like seeing hope itself. Meng Duo’er’s heart leapt, and she turned urgently. “Baili Weisheng!”
But the person beside her didn’t move at all.
Seeing this, Meng Duo’er finally came back from her brief flicker of joy, realizing that all that had changed was that the sky had brightened—nothing else at all.
Meng Wanyue was dead, Xuanyuan Lige was dead too, and Baili Weisheng lay unconscious.
What should she do?
After a night of terror, Meng Duo’er finally stopped being so childish, stopped being so afraid, and bravely faced the problem head-on.
Now it was just her—what should she do?
She was unfamiliar with everything here. If anyone found them, it would all be over.
On the way here, Baili Weisheng had led the whole time; all she knew was that they were somewhere on the mountainside, nothing more.
If she rashly went out looking for Ziqing and the others, and something happened to Baili Weisheng in the meantime, or she got lost and was spotted by someone, what then?
Wait, or go? Meng Duo’er hesitated, unable to decide. If she waited another day, would Baili Weisheng wake up?
She had no choice but to wait while trying to come up with a plan.
Meanwhile, up at the heavenly lake, the contest between Gu Mo Baochuan and Xiao Yu had grown extremely fierce. Just when everyone assumed Xiao Yu would have an overwhelming advantage thanks to the white jade xiao, it turned out that Xiao Yu couldn’t seem to draw out its power at all, leaving her evenly matched with Gu Mo Baochuan—an entire night had passed without either gaining a clear advantage.
A clash between two top-tier masters was always a spectacle, but even without top-tier skill, as long as both sides were evenly matched in strength, such a duel could be just as thrilling as one between masters!
This outcome had kept the Prince of Nanzhao’s nerves stretched taut all night, and Jun Beiyue and Ziqing likewise hadn’t slept a wink.
By now, the entire sky above the heavenly lake was filled with the flying beasts summoned by Gu Mo Baochuan and Xiao Yu, a chaotic cloud of wings blotting out the sky.
With the flying beasts locked in combat and their masters dueling in kind, the spectators had no time to comment on anything, terrified of missing even a single thrilling moment!
Only Sheng Zimo, over in another section, showed complete disdain for the two young women’s battle, calmly polishing the Phoenix-tail Sheng in his hands, utterly determined to claim the clan chief position.
Ziqing’s gaze happened to sweep past Sheng Zimo, lingering there for a moment. She liked children who were wild and unrestrained, bold in love and hate; she also liked children who were low-key and composed, giving nothing away. What she disliked was precisely this kind of child—arrogant at heart, yet outwardly courteous and refined.
Such children lacked worldliness but had plenty of hypocrisy; all they really had was petty cunning.
Such children had pride, but no backbone; they were conceited, yet not truly composed.
Just as the two combatants on the stage fought as if their lives depended on it, Xiong Xiaobao, having slept through the night in the crook of Jun Beiyue’s now-numb arm, slowly lifted his head, rubbing his sleepy eyes, mumbling groggily, “Did we win?”
The very instigator of it all—if not for him, would the Xiao Clan have been fighting so desperately down there?
“Almost there!” Jun Beiyue said flatly, and beside him, the Prince of Nanzhao’s face darkened another shade upon hearing it.
Indeed—almost there!
Not only was Xiao Yu failing to draw out the white jade xiao’s power, she was actually being hindered by it. If she’d used her own xiao instead, she might well have had a chance at victory!
Little by little, the outcome was becoming clear.
The Prince of Nanzhao’s hands, clasped behind his back, tightened in fury, silently cursing the head of the Xiao Clan—that girl Xiao Yu clearly couldn’t wield the white jade xiao at all, so why had he sent her out to compete?
But in front of Jun Beiyue, he could only seethe in silence—after all, it was his own greed that had gotten him into this; if he’d simply refused the bet from the start, none of this would have happened!
Ten of the Jade Water Nectar Lake’s medicinal herbs, and letting them dive in to pick them out themselves—if they ended up taking away all those thousand-year-old herbs from the lake bottom, wouldn’t that be an enormous loss!
The Prince of Nanzhao had brought this loss entirely upon himself, his face locked in a tight grimace, while down below the viewing stand, the head of the Xiao Clan wore an equally strained expression.
He’d already guessed the outcome of the match unfolding before him—what worried him was the sheng-and-xiao duet still to come!
What could he do?
He still hadn’t come up with any solution—was he really going to have to grit his teeth and go through with it regardless?
However anxious the head of the Xiao Clan felt, he had no way out, and could only take things one step at a time.
Among the crowd of spectators on the high platforms and around the competition grounds, as the outcome grew clearer and clearer, discussion had already broken out.
How could this be!
This was a real upset!
Everyone had expected the true contest for clan chief to come down to the Sheng and Xiao clans, yet no one had imagined the Xiao Clan would actually lose!
“The Sheng Clan has this in the bag!”
Someone in the crowd shouted, immediately drawing a chorus of agreement.
“Sheng Zimo is sure to win! No need to even bother with the match!”
“Sheng Zimo is unbeatable—Xiao Yu should just step down!”
…
Gu Mo Baochuan’s ability to match Xiao Yu didn’t mean Gu Mo Baochuan herself was especially formidable—it simply meant Xiao Yu was too weak.
So between Gu Mo Baochuan and Sheng Zimo, there was really no contest at all.
Even Sheng Zimo himself was rather surprised. Ever since the Second Young Master of the Gu Mo line had committed his grave crime and been locked away in the heavenly prison, losing his right to inherit the clan chief position, Sheng Zimo had been preparing for this very competition.
All of his preparations had been aimed squarely at countering the Xiao Clan’s white jade xiao.
Within the Sheng Clan, he was no direct heir, nor was he the most gifted. Everything he had achieved today had come purely from making up for lack of talent through hard work.
From childhood on, he had trod carefully, currying favor on all sides, being accommodating and socially adept in every direction, scheming and calculating his way—it was through such means that he had risen above all the direct-line heirs within the Sheng Clan, earning the clan head’s trust and exceptional cultivation.
But within the Beast Clan as a whole, he had never truly found his place. Everyone knew the Sheng Clan had a formidable figure named Sheng Zimo, yet no one really regarded him as the clan’s representative.
Today was an excellent opportunity for him to truly make a name for himself.
And the most direct way to become famous within a circle was to defeat the figure most widely recognized within that circle.
“Xiao Yu really should step down,” Sheng Zimo sneered inwardly, his face still maintaining its warm, modest expression.
Amid the crowd’s discussion, suddenly a shrill cry rang out from the sky, and the dense flock of flying beasts scattered abruptly.
A massive flying beast with a snake’s head and a bird’s body plummeted straight down, hitting the ground with a resounding “thud!” that silenced the entire arena.
That was the Xiao Clan’s flying beast.
The outcome was settled at last!
In the midst of that silence, Xiong Xiaobao’s cheer suddenly rang out from the viewing platform. “We won, we won!”
At once, everyone looked up…