Everyone’s eyes turned toward them, and Ziqing and Jun Beiyue were startled too—this child, who never caused trouble, how could she have just…
“Dead dogs?” The white dog looked utterly stunned.
“She called us dead dogs?” the black dog spoke up too.
At once, both massive dogs released Sheng Zimo and the head of the Sheng family, turning to face Baili Xiaosheng and the others. At the same moment, everyone in front of Ziqing’s group instinctively stepped aside, clearing a path for the two dogs.
With the crowd parted, Ziqing and the others now stood directly face to face with the two dogs.
In all their lives, this was the first time any of them had come face to face with two ferocious dogs like this.
What now?
Of all people, Baili Xiaosheng—why couldn’t she have just watched the show quietly instead of becoming part of it herself! At that moment, she was still consumed by her own anger, not even sure when it had first taken hold of her.
All she knew was that the instant she’d seen the two dogs trampling the phoenix-tail sheng underfoot, fury had surged up in her—fury strong enough to make her want to kick both dogs flying.
Seeing the two dogs turn toward them, she immediately clenched her fists. Consumed by uncontrollable anger, she’d lost all sense of reason, with no idea just how much trouble she’d brought down on Auntie Qing and the others.
Anywhere else, even if the poison beasts hadn’t provoked Ziqing and her son, the two of them would likely have gone and provoked the beasts themselves.
But this was Nanzhao!
If two people immune to all poison ended up in a confrontation with a poison beast, one careless slip could expose their deepest secret—and that would be disastrous.
Wasn’t the whole reason Baili Weisheng had gone to such lengths to track down Meng Wanyue precisely to keep her from playing dirty tricks on them here in Nanzhao?
Even though Ziqing’s group had enough firepower stationed at the border, distant water couldn’t put out a nearby fire. If their true identities were exposed here on Prince Nanzhao’s own territory, the three great clans of Nanzhao would surely trap and destroy them within his domain.
The Beast Clan’s armies, the Jiaoren’s armies, and every manner of poison beast, poison Gu, and poison insect the Medicine Clan possessed—all of it would come swarming at once. Ziqing shuddered just thinking about it.
This wretched girl, Baili Xiaosheng, turned out to be a troublemaker too—did her master even know?
The two dogs advanced step by step, and especially the white one, walking straight over the fallen phoenix-tail sheng as it approached Ziqing’s group.
Ziqing and Jun Beiyue, in perfect unspoken understanding, readied themselves to flee.
If they weren’t going to deal with the beasts directly, running and dodging were their only options.
So the couple split up—one holding onto Jue Mingzi while cradling Xiong Xiaobao close, the other holding Baili Xiaosheng tight, both watchful and ready for the two dogs to pounce at any moment.
In an instant, the situation had completely reversed—everyone’s attention shifted entirely to Ziqing’s group, who had suddenly become the center of it all.
The two great dogs advanced with agonizing slowness, and time itself seemed to slow along with them. The atmosphere grew stranger and stranger by the second. Ziqing and Jun Beiyue stared fixedly at the dogs’ paws, braced for the instant they leapt.
Closer, closer—and then, suddenly, both dogs planted their front paws down and stopped.
At once, everyone tensed, hearts pounding wildly, nerves stretched to the breaking point.
They were about to pounce!
Any moment now—
But then!
At that very moment, something entirely unexpected happened.
“Dead dogs, let go of the phoenix-tail sheng!”
Baili Xiaosheng cried out sharply, wrenching herself free of Ziqing’s grip, and, seething with fury, shot forward like a loosed arrow straight at the two great dogs.
For a moment, everyone froze in shock, and the two dogs, equally caught off guard, hadn’t even had time to react before Baili Xiaosheng landed a kick square on the white dog, sending it stumbling back several steps.
Baili Xiaosheng snatched up the phoenix-tail sheng, and only then did a third of her anger finally ease.
She had no idea why, but the moment she’d heard the sheng’s sound cut off abruptly, she’d felt an overwhelming urge to cry. Seeing it trampled on the ground—especially trampled by dogs—had made her furious beyond reason.
It had felt as if she herself had been insulted.
By this point, both the white dog and the black dog had finally recovered from their shock.
“You little brat, you ambushed me!” the white dog snarled furiously. As the dignified poison beast of the Jade Water and Nectar Heavenly Lake, being kicked away in front of everyone by a mere child was humiliation enough to sink to the bottom of the lake.
“How was that an ambush? I did it out in the open, fair and square. Keep talking nonsense and I’ll kick you flying for real!”
Baili Xiaosheng, still in the grip of her fury, snapped back the warning—perhaps not even she quite understood what had come over her.
Not far off, Ziqing and the others watched, utterly stunned. Only Jun Beiyue managed to keep his composure, brow furrowed, ready to rush in and rescue her at any moment.
“You insolent brat, such big talk! Watch how I deal with you!” The white dog, enraged, lunged forward at once, and the black dog was equally furious. “You insolent brat, you’ll learn the price of meddling where you don’t belong!”
Both dogs lunged together. Baili Xiaosheng immediately retreated, and at the same moment Jun Beiyue swept in, grabbing hold of her and pulling her clear of the attack.
The two dogs were genuinely quick, but in the end, they couldn’t outmatch Jun Beiyue.
Still, Jun Beiyue had to watch out for their venomous claws and fangs while dodging, fighting two at once, and protecting Baili Xiaosheng all the while—he gained no clear advantage.
After several exchanges, he could avoid their attacks but couldn’t shake them off entirely.
Just as he was weighing whether to go on the offensive and, together with Ziqing, simply eliminate the two poison beasts outright, Baili Xiaosheng suddenly wrenched her arm free of his grip.
Not only that—she went on the offensive herself. Seizing the moment when the white dog was chasing Jun Beiyue and off guard, she gripped the phoenix-tail sheng and swung it with all her strength straight at the white dog’s head.
“Bam!”
Sturdy as the phoenix-tail sheng was, the dog’s skull proved just as hard—but while the sheng wouldn’t feel it, the dog certainly did.
The white poison beast, ambushed yet again, staggered dizzily, momentarily rooted to the spot.
Seeing Baili Xiaosheng break free of Jun Beiyue’s protection, and seeing his brother take a hit, the black dog let out a furious howl. “Awooo…”
It charged straight at her. But to everyone’s surprise, Baili Xiaosheng showed no fear at all. Her expression turned solemn, and she stood tall, chest out, radiating a righteous dignity, as if she had transformed into someone else entirely.
“Who says a phoenix-tail sheng can’t summon you two? I’ll make you submit today!”
The moment these words left her mouth, everyone—and both dogs—froze in shock.
The phoenix-tail sheng—this girl wasn’t even part of the Sheng family. How could she possibly play it?
How could she say such a thing?
Just as both people and dogs stood frozen in astonishment, Baili Xiaosheng raised the phoenix-tail sheng and began to play.
The moment the sound rose, it stunned everyone once more—both people and dogs.
This melody, in tune and structure, wasn’t much different from what Sheng Zimo had just played, and yet the mood it conveyed was completely different.
If Sheng Zimo’s playing had carried sorrow, Baili Xiaosheng’s carried tragic grandeur.
It wasn’t the petty, plaintive misery of a small mind, but a sorrow of lofty, far-reaching vision—grief with grandeur woven through it.
It wasn’t despair—it was the sight of perseverance glimpsed even from within despair.
It was the resolve to hold onto hope and keep pressing forward, even when there seemed to be no hope left at all.
In an instant, everyone was drawn in by the sound of the sheng. Even Ziqing stood stunned—she had never heard such a beautiful melody from this instrument.
And the tune, for some reason, suddenly made her think of Xuanyuan Lige, and of his piece “Battle Cry.”
Both people and dogs were stunned. The two great dogs, black and white, stood frozen in place, utterly captivated by the music, and in their eyes—eyes that always looked down on others—the arrogance and hostility gradually began to fade…