NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: As Expected He Was Not Killed
Chapter 9: As Expected He Was Not Killed
The pale moonlight squeezed through the clouds, once again spilling onto the earth.
There was dead silence around. Everyone was left speechless by Wei Changtian’s “choice.”
On one side was his own life, and on the other, the life of the woman who deeply loved him.
This choice was no less difficult than the classic life-or-death question from his previous life: “If my mother and I fell into the water at the same time, who would you save?”
“……”
Xiao Feng gritted his teeth and stared at Wei Changtian, the hatred in his eyes growing stronger.
He knew that Wei Changtian was trying to break his spirit, and Lan Jingyao’s as well.
Yet, he had no solution.
It was only at this moment that Xiao Feng deeply realized that an open scheme could be even more terrifying than a hidden one.
“Creak.”
The sound of grinding teeth was somewhat piercing, and he remained silent for a long time.
Instead, Lan Jingyao, who had just recovered from her shock, panicked and shouted:
“Young Master Xiao! Don’t worry about me!”
“If it weren’t for your rescue that time, I would have been dead long ago!”
“Seeing you today at the Wei family, I… I am already content and can die without regret!”
“Just consider this life of mine repaid to you…”
Fear of death is a human instinct; no one is truly unafraid of death.
Lan Jingyao was no different; her voice trembled with fear.
But she still raised her head resolutely and gave Xiao Feng one last look before suddenly reaching for the long sword in Wei Changtian’s hand.
Obviously, this foolish woman was afraid Xiao Feng would be troubled, so she planned to end her own life.
Sigh.
With a silent sigh, Wei Changtian slightly moved aside, causing Lan Jingyao to miss and fall to the ground with a thud.
Two observant common guards immediately stepped forward to hold her down, and Wei Changtian’s gaze turned back to Xiao Feng.
“My patience is limited. I’ll give you three more breaths.”
“If you don’t have an answer after three breaths, then neither of you will live.”
“Three… two…”
“Can you keep your word?”
Xiao Feng suddenly raised his head with a gloomy face.
Wei Changtian smiled faintly, “Of course.”
“Then fine…”
Xiao Feng took a deep breath, not daring to look at Lan Jingyao. Instead, he bowed his head and squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth.
“Yao’er, I’m sorry…”
“……”
Lan Jingyao’s face instantly turned deathly pale. She felt as if all the strength had suddenly drained from her body, leaving her unsure whether to cry or laugh.
This result was exactly what she “wanted,” but…
Lan Jingyao wasn’t surprised that Xiao Feng made such a choice, because when she failed to grab the sword just now, she clearly saw a flash of disappointment in Xiao Feng’s eyes.
An unprecedented sense of despair surged in her heart.
At this moment, she finally understood the true meaning of the phrase “I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the moon shines on the ditch.”
She closed her eyes, no longer looking at Xiao Feng.
It seemed as if something in her heart shattered…
On the other side, Xiao Feng, too, had no face left to utter any fierce words like “I will avenge you.” Instead, he slowly lifted himself from the ground, dragging his heavily injured body step by step towards the outside of the Wei residence.
He walked very slowly, seemingly unguarded against everyone behind him… In fact, he didn’t even have the ability to be on guard.
Now, if he wanted to stay alive, he could only hope that Wei Changtian would keep his promise.
“Son! Are you really going to let him go?”
Qin Caizhen, on the side, was a bit anxious.
“Of course.”
Wei Changtian smiled slightly and turned his head to look at Wei Xianzhi, “I keep my word!”
He deliberately emphasized the word “I,” and Wei Xianzhi understood immediately, laughing loudly:
“Ke ke ke ke!”
“Xiao Feng! My son may let you go, but I never said I would!”
“Prepare to die!”
“Whoosh!”
An invisible palm wind whistled towards the staggering figure, probably turning him into a bloody mess in the next second.
Watching this scene, the thoughts in the hearts of those present were different.
Xiao Feng: Damn it! If I had known this would happen, I would have acted more righteously just now!
Wei Changtian: Finally, I get to hear what that “ke ke” villain laugh sounds like!
Wei Xianzhi: Changtian is not soft-hearted, not bad! There’s a bit of my former style in him!
Qin Caizhen: Hmph! My husband actually called me old! Annoying!
Common Guards: The commander is so shameless!
Lan Jingyao: The pain is so intense I can’t breathe…
“Bang!!”
Regardless of whether the crowd was happy or sad, the void palm strike carrying the power of a Third Rank cultivator did not change. In the blink of an eye, it slammed heavily onto Xiao Feng’s back.
It was over.
Wei Changtian exhaled in satisfaction, but what happened in the next second made his eyes widen instantly.
The expected scene of blood and flesh flying did not occur. Instead, a mass of green light, which appeared out of nowhere, suddenly enveloped Xiao Feng’s entire body at the last moment, dissolving Wei Xianzhi’s palm strike into nothingness.
Everyone’s mouths hung open, staring in stunned silence at the bizarre scene they had never seen before.
“Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh!”
Without waiting for Wei Xianzhi’s command, several Common Guards sprang forward, rushing towards the scene.
However, before they could reach halfway, the green light suddenly vanished.
The place was empty, and there was no trace of Xiao Feng.
…
In a secret chamber.
Wei Changtian sat at a wooden table. Ever-burning night lamps hung on the walls, and before him lay two halves of a broken jade, the crack perfectly fitting together.
“Changtian, tomorrow I’ll order a thorough search of the archives to see if we can find any clues about this item,” Wei Xianzhi said, his brows tightly knit, clearly not recognizing the origin of the jade token.
Not only could it automatically protect its owner from a Third Rank strike, but it also enabled a “Great Teleportation.” This was practically a treasure from the legends!
Fortunately, judging by Xiao Feng’s reaction, he seemed unaware of the jade’s powerful abilities. It was likely that he obtained it by chance.
“No worries, son. Xiao Feng has already been struck by your mother’s Withered Flower Palm. Even if he managed to escape for now, without immediate treatment from a top-notch alchemist, he’s still a dead man,” Qin Caizhen consoled softly, seeing Wei Changtian’s worried expression.
“And even if he survives by some miracle, he’ll only linger on borrowed time, with his power dissipating until he dies eventually.”
But the couple didn’t know that Wei Changtian wasn’t troubled about failing to kill Xiao Feng, nor was he concerned about the jade’s origin.
At this moment, he was entirely preoccupied with one question: Where did this jade token come from?
If he remembered correctly, Xiao Feng was supposed to obtain his first life-saving artifact, an iron ruyi, in the middle of the novel.
As for this seemingly ordinary jade token… it didn’t appear in the novel until the very end, if at all!
Could it be that he forgot? After all, reading web novels at breakneck speed might blur some details.
Or perhaps… his “abnormal” actions had already created a butterfly effect?
These seemed to be the only plausible explanations.
After pondering for a while, Wei Changtian finally raised his head to look at Wei Xianzhi and Qin Caizhen.
Regardless of the situation, hunting down Xiao Feng remained the top priority.
Dead or alive, he must see his corpse!
To achieve this, he didn’t mind revealing a bit more of the plot ahead of time.
“Father, do you remember the case of the private salt smuggling handled by the Flower Wing Guard three years ago? They exterminated an entire family because of it.”
“This…”
Wei Xianzhi was taken aback, not understanding why his son mentioned this, nor could he remember such a minor case.
The Mirror Division’s three guards and three departments handled countless cases and killed numerous people each year. As the head, how could he remember every single one?
“Why are you asking this? What does it have to do with Xiao Feng?”
“That family’s surname was Xiao.”
Wei Changtian paused, then answered solemnly under the astonished gazes of Wei Xianzhi and Qin Caizhen, “At that time, when the Flower Wing Guard raided the house, Xiao Feng happened to be traveling outside…”