But Bai Yu had said he would only take a little while to replace Grandma. Why hadn’t he returned yet?
The food had already cooled. There was no steam rising, and a layer of fat had formed on top of the chicken soup.
Weisheng Xuan noticed this as well. Her brow furrowed slightly as she gazed into the distance.
“Why hasn’t he come back yet?”
Sang Dai felt a slight unease in her heart, but she couldn’t leave Weisheng Xuan, so she could only sit and wait with her for a little while longer.
Weisheng Xuan stood up and walked toward the door. The fence was low, only reaching her waist. Standing in the courtyard, she could see the road ahead, where a person was rushing toward them.
Sang Dai immediately stood up.
“Head of the family, head of the family!”
The newcomer was a young girl, looking only about ten or so years old. Her white dress was covered in blood, and the hem was muddied.
Weisheng Xuan’s expression changed. “Ah Jin, what happened?”
The girl, named Ah Jin, pushed open the gate and grabbed Weisheng Xuan’s hand, trying to lead her out. “The barrier at the foot of Kunshan has been destroyed. The invaders hypnotized the spirit beasts in the mountains and learned the location of the Weisheng family. Grandma died in battle, and Bai Yu couldn’t contact you. He sent me to escape and deliver the message, telling me to take you and leave. On the way, I sent a jade token to Lord Ying Heng, who is exorcising evil near Kunshan! He’ll come to help us!”
Sang Dai followed closely behind Weisheng Xuan. She finally understood what day it was.
Weisheng Xuan staggered and nearly fell backward. Sang Dai instinctively stepped forward to support her, but her hands passed right through her body.
“Head of the family!”
Ah Jin hurriedly helped Weisheng Xuan up.
Weisheng Xuan quickly regained her composure. “Let’s go, Ah Jin. The ones who came are certainly after the child in my womb. The bloodline of the Weisheng family cannot be lost. I’ll go out and find a place to give birth immediately, and you take it and leave.”
She did not ask about Bai Yu’s current condition, nor did she inquire about the other members of the Weisheng family. As the head of the family, her responsibility should have been to protect them, but as the head, her heavier duty was to preserve the Weisheng family’s bloodline.
To protect the Weisheng family’s seal.
Weisheng Xuan grasped Ah Jin’s hand and started to walk back. “We’ll take the back mountain route!”
Sang Dai intended to follow them, but suddenly, a chilling killing intent swept toward her from behind. Her gaze turned icy, and she instinctively drew her sword, spinning around to strike.
But she forgot that she was merely an illusion now. Her sword light collided with the incoming blade light, only to pass right through it.
Sang Dai quickly turned her head. “Mother!”
Weisheng Xuan shoved Ah Jin aside, unsheathing the soft sword at her waist and striking forward. The powerful spiritual energy collided with the incoming blade’s light, and the ensuing shockwave knocked the food on the stone table over.
Dozens of figures descended from the sky into the courtyard. Ah Jin quickly reacted, scrambling to her feet, pulling the wooden hairpin from her head, which then transformed into a long sword.
“Head of the family, I’ll hold them off. You go first!”
Weisheng Xuan glanced calmly at the people around her. “We can’t escape. These are all Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation cultivators. You can’t stop them alone.”
Ah Jin hurriedly spoke, “I’ll self-destruct my Golden Core. I can hold them off for fifteen minutes. You go ahead!”
Weisheng Xuan drew her sword and charged into the heart of the battle formation. “In fifteen minutes, I won’t be able to escape either. Ah Jin, we have to kill them to leave!”
Sang Dai couldn’t be of any help, only watching as the two fought among dozens of assassins.
Her breathing was rapid. She already knew the outcome of this fight. Both Weisheng Xuan and Ah Jin would die, but witnessing it firsthand still felt cruel.
Weisheng Xuan was indeed powerful. Ying Heng had told her that Weisheng Xuan’s cultivation was high.
But the pregnancy had drained too much of her energy. The attackers seemed to be organized, relentlessly targeting Weisheng Xuan’s abdomen. She had to protect the child while also fending off her enemies.
What had happened in the past could not be changed. Sang Dai forced herself to calm down and watched the battle closely.
The attackers were all dressed in black and wore masks. Their moves were ruthless, each strike imbued with murderous intent. These people were highly skilled cultivators, mostly Yuan Ying-level practitioners, with a few even at the Soul Transformation stage.
However, ever since the depletion of spiritual veins, the tribulation had not occurred again, and only two people had reached the Grand Ascension stage, with only a few at the Soul Transformation stage. So why were there so many of these advanced cultivators among the thirty or so attackers?
Over a hundred years ago, when Sang Dai had not yet been born, Ying Heng had told her that back then, even the Soul Transformation cultivators numbered only seven or eight.
Their killing moves were terrifying, and they fought in a completely reckless manner.
Reckless…
Sang Dai suddenly raised her eyes to look into their eyes.
Their gaze was merciless, their pupils faintly scattering, and they looked completely ruthless, with a faint blood-red aura surrounding them.
She suddenly remembered the image of Su Xuan in the dream she had seen.
Su Xuan’s humanity had been devoured by the Four Sufferings, gradually turning him into a killing tool controlled by the Four Sufferings. He, on the brink of madness, resembled these people.
Sang Dai gripped her sword tightly. So this was it, so this was how it was.
These cultivators had their humanity devoured by the Four Sufferings, and their souls had long been consumed, leaving behind only a body completely taken over by the Four Sufferings.
And their martial arts…
They practiced the blade, with a style that was as fierce as a swimming dragon, and the blade light shone in a dark purple color.
This was—
The style of Cangwu Taoist Temple.
When Sang Dai was seven years old, Cangwu Taoist Temple had not yet been wiped out. She had seen the disciples of Cangwu Taoist Temple. As the sect responsible for guarding the Guixu Immortal Realm, they were able to enjoy the most spiritual veins, and the disciples within had high cultivation levels. Several successive abbots had all awakened Heaven-grade spiritual roots.
After the Great Wild, Cangwu Taoist Temple was ordered to protect the Guixu Immortal Realm. The disciples of the sect practiced the blade, and their robes were dark purple. The blade light was entirely purple, a result of the cultivation techniques of Cangwu Taoist Temple.
Sang Dai was still reeling from the shock when a muffled grunt reached her ears. A person was violently knocked to the ground.
She quickly looked over.
“Head of the family!”
“Mother!”
Weisheng Xuan had fallen against the door of the bamboo house and collapsed onto the ground, coughing up large amounts of blood while tightly clutching her abdomen.
Ah Jin momentarily froze, and someone behind her thrust a blade through her waist and abdomen.
“Ah Jin!”
Ah Jin clutched her abdomen, coughing up large amounts of blood. “Head of the family…”
Her life force had already been cut off.
“Ah Jin…”
Weisheng Xuan struggled to get up.
Knowing she couldn’t change the outcome, Sang Dai still rushed forward, trying to help Weisheng Xuan leave this place.
But her hands repeatedly passed through Weisheng Xuan’s body.
No matter how much she called or how much she touched, they still couldn’t make contact.
Weisheng Xuan steadied herself with her sword, standing up, while Sang Dai crouched on the ground, watching the blood stain the hem of her dress.
She had killed for too long and had been heavily injured. Now, it seemed…
Her delivery was imminent.
The pain was unbearable, beads of sweat dotting her forehead, yet not a single cry escaped her lips. She gripped the soft sword tightly, her gaze cold and resolute.
She knew that if she could hold on for just a while longer, Ying Heng or Bai Yu would arrive.
Weisheng Xuan swung her sword and leaped down the stairs, the sharp blade light descending from above, sending a wave of energy that sent the black-clad men in the courtyard flying.
“Ah Xuan!”
Bai Yu appeared, looking in bad shape, covered in blood. He had protected Ah Jin while escaping, staying behind to fend off the attackers. Now, after breaking through the battle, he had returned home.
His purple robes were tattered, his body covered in blade wounds. A deep gash on his neck had nearly severed his artery.
Weisheng Xuan held her abdomen, sweat pouring down her face, but seeing Bai Yu’s arrival, she couldn’t hold on any longer. Her body began to collapse, and Bai Yu rushed up the steps with three swift steps.
“Ah Xuan! You’re injured!”
Weisheng Xuan grasped his hand, her gaze falling to Ah Jin’s lifeless body in the courtyard. She closed her eyes briefly and whispered, “I… we may not make it… Brother Ying Heng… Brother Ying Heng is coming soon… Husband, after I give birth to the child, you and I will protect Brother Ying Heng and take him away…”
Bai Yu held back his tears, smiling as he said, “Alright, Ah Xuan, you’ve worked hard.”
They both knew today would be their final day. With no reinforcements for the Weisheng family, Bai Yu was covered in wounds. Those who could kill Weisheng family’s matriarch, severely injure Bai Yu, and shatter the barrier, were no doubt no fewer than a thousand in number.
Weisheng Xuan trembled as she clasped her hands together, pressing them to her lips before releasing a long, clear whistle.
The ground shook, and the spirit beasts from Kunshan, who had not been hypnotized, rushed in from all directions.
Bai Yu drew his sword, pushing the attackers back out of the courtyard.
The spirit beasts leaped into the courtyard, surrounding the bamboo house for protection.
Sang Dai pressed her hand to her mouth, holding back her sobs, seeing hundreds of cultivators approaching from the forest in the distance.
These cultivators were reckless, many of them were stopped by Bai Yu, while some leaped into the courtyard, only to be torn apart by the spirit beasts guarding the house.
Weisheng Xuan moved slowly, step by step, back to the house, and Sang Dai followed inside.
She watched as Weisheng Xuan bit down on a silk cloth, channeling spiritual energy into her abdomen, urging the child to be born. She knew that crying out would distract Bai Yu, so despite the pain, she kept silent, tears silently falling from her eyes.
She had bled too much. Several pieces of cloth had already been used and discarded on the ground. Weisheng Xuan was in a hurry, using her spiritual energy to force the premature child out.
Half an hour, only half an hour, and the child was born.
She suddenly collapsed onto the bed, gasping for air, and Sang Dai turned away, unable to watch.
There was no crying in the room. Weisheng Xuan shakily lifted the child she had just given birth to, passing her remaining spiritual energy to the infant.
She wiped the blood from the child’s forehead and kissed her brows. The baby was too weak to even cry. Weisheng Xuan could only pat her gently, trying to coax her to cry.
Once the loud wail filled the room, Weisheng Xuan herself began to cry.
“So you’re a girl…” Weisheng Xuan kissed the baby’s forehead. “Child, your name is Weisheng Sang. You are the Weisheng family’s Sang generation, the ninety-seventh head of the Weisheng family. Child, I’m so sorry.”
Weisheng Xuan’s clothes were drenched in blood, and the jade hairpin fell from her hair, landing beside the pillow. She took the jade token from the small cabinet beside the bed and hung it around the baby’s neck. Holding the child, she stood up, but just then, the window was forcefully slammed open.
Sang Dai turned to look, and a white-clad sword cultivator appeared, his face filled with shock.