Night fell as the Ancient Island Whale started to slowly float away from the lake.
It was just like a giant floating island suspended in mid-air.
Slowly, it flew towards the Rainbow City ahead.
“What do we do next?’ The female giant was someone who usually had her own opinion, but after this battle, she suddenly felt that she was not very suited to make decisions. Becoming a leader wasn’t her forte. If there was someone else in charge of planning battle strategies and she only needed to charge ahead to the enemy’s lines, she would be able to showcase her strength better. She felt that she should discuss with Yue Yang if he was willing to be their strategist so that she could rebuild Raging Flame Chivalrous Bandit Group. Maybe he would think that this was a good idea: “Hey, do you want to join up with me and rebuild the Raging Flame Chivalrous Bandit Group? This grandpa (Shiro: Lie Yan is referring to herself as grandfather, which, in the patriarchal Chinese context means that she is the older, wiser and the leader. The ‘I’ here is similar to oresama) can listen to your wishes or orders, but the bandit group’s name must me Raging Flame. This was my father’s wish. Oh, right, my name is Lie Yan, what’s your name? And what’s that little girl’s name?”
“Don’t call yourself grandpa this, grandpa that. You are the leader of a chivalrous bandit group, not a gang leader. This annoying catchphrase of yours really needs to be changed! Furthermore, isn’t your group disbanded already? In my opinion, you shouldn’t establish your whatever bandit group already, you are not suited to be a leader.” Yue Yang was extremely direct in his speech, his words cutting and sharp.
“What?” the female giant immediately glared at Yue Yang furiously.
“Pretend I never said anything.” Yue Yang yawned as if he didn’t have any care in the world.
“Let that little girl out, this grandpa, ah, this group leader wants to talk to her. It’s a waste of my energy talking to you!” the female giant was prepared to enter via the backdoor route. She knew that it would be difficult to change Yue Yang’s mind, but she had confidence in convincing Yi Nan.
However, the thing that she completely didn’t expect was that not only Yi Nan was not convinced by her, she actually tried to advise against her.
Yi Nan advised gently: “Sister Lie Yan, although those people are your father’s subordinates, they are unworthy to be led by him. These people, other than a select few, have no loyalty at all. The only thing you will get from fighting together with these people is betrayal. You don’t have to be in a hurry creating the chivalrous bandit group, and it doesn’t need to have many people. If you can gather ten elites, it would be better than a thousand weak skeletons or millions of traitors! Right now, we shouldn’t be anxiously looking for people to establish the chivalrous bandit group. Instead, we should be training to get stronger. With your strength, you can establish the group any time.”
The female giant muttered to herself for a while: “But, Lao San and the others are still here. They are very loyal, it’s not possible for this grandpa to abandon them.”
Yue Yang smiled slowly: “Actually we are not trying to interfere with your plan of re-establishing your group. Maybe they are at Rainbow City. Even if they are not there, you can also ask them to gather at Rainbow City. I respect your suggestion, but it is very difficult to make that happen, because we have very different ideals.”
Yi Nan patted Yue Yang a little, trying to hint to him to not reject her too directly, so as to not hurt the female giant’s feelings.
She felt that the female giant didn’t have it easy.
She had been trying to realise her father’s will all by herself and becoming the pillar of the chivalrous bandit group… She was just like Madam Fu Xing last time, who supported the Hundred Flowers Valley all by herself.
The only different thing was that her aunt never asked for anything from her. She only wished for her to grow up well. This was because growing up well was Madam Fu Xing’s most important priority. At that time, even without anyone giving her pressure, Yi Nan definitely felt a lot of pressure. Leader Lie Yan who had to inherit her father’s will to revive the Raging Flame Chivalrous Bandit Group and led a few thousand people, really had it worse than her!
With regards to Yue Yang rejecting her invitation, the female giant had already expected it.
However, she still felt sad about it.
It was the first time that she felt helpless and alone. No one was willing to help her, no one was willing to support her.
The female giant felt some kind of unspeakable sadness and disappointment, but she pretended to be strong. She pretended not to care and forced a happy smile: “Everyone has different ideals, this is normal. No matter if you guys wants to join the Raging Flame Chivalrous Bandit Group, this grandpa still thinks that you are my friends, my best friends! When we reached the Rainbow City, this grandpa will give you the best marriage ceremony!”
“No need, actually, we secretly left home and planned to return after a few days.” Yi Nan stuck out her tongue naughtily and smiled apologizing to the female giant: “I shall accept Sister Lie Yan’s good intentions, but we would still require our parents blessings for a big event such as a marriage. We were just joking previously!”
“Are you guys leaving tomorrow?” The female giant was shocked and quickly looked towards Yue Yang.
“Something seemed to have happened in my hometown. I’m a bit worried so I’d like to go back to check on the situation. I will go to Rainbow City later.”
Yue Yang didn’t plan to go back to the Tong Tian Tower initially, but he received a message sent through the Three Colors Map by Hai Ying Wu in the grimoire world: “Thousand Goblin King’s substitute body seems to be moving.” If it was something else, Yue Yang wouldn’t care about it too much. However, this concerned the Thousand Goblin King, so he had to return for a while before coming back to Heaven Realm. As for accompanying Yi Nan to Rainbow City to play, he could only promise to take her next time.
Yi Nan was also not the kind of girl who didn’t know which issue was more important. Naturally, she could understand.
Of course, the matter of rejecting Lie Yan’s chivalrous bandit group was unrelated to returning to Tong Tian Tower. It was purely because Yue Yang and Yi Nan didn’t approve of the female giant’s ideals.
They didn’t mean that such ideals that upheld justice wasn’t good. It was just that if they were to live in the Heaven Realm with such ideals, it would be very difficult. Furthermore, it wasn’t easy to nurture people and it would inconvenient to carry extra burden. Not every single men had unyielding characters and not everyone were warriors that would think of dying as going home. Hence, using the female giant’s ideals to create a group would only breed more traitors and failures… Yue Yang and Yi Nan also knew that rejecting the female giant would make her sad, but they understand that rejecting her would be better than lying to her and giving her false hope!
“Turns out it’s like that, I understand.” The female giant still thought that Yue Yang was using this as an excuse to reject her, and she became sadder. She forced herself to smile and nodded: “If you and little sister get married, you must invite this grandpa. Ah, invite this group leader to your wedding banquet.”
“We definitely will, but Sister Lie Yan would probably need to wait a long time.” Yi Nan tapped Yue Yang with her hands, gesturing that he should comfort her with a few words.
“It’s getting late, everyone should go to rest early!” Yue Yang knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince the female giant by being soft. He had to become the bad person until the end. With Xue Wu Xia and Princess Qian Qian’s advise and Yi Nan as the mediator, with time, he should be able to make her surrender.
This kind of thing couldn’t be rushed.
He should let her try on her own and fail. Without hitting a wall, she would probably not give up.
The female giant’s lips trembled a little, as if she wanted to say something. In the end, she didn’t say anything, she only raised her hands a little and said goodbye to Yue Yang and Yi Nan.
When Yue Yang and Yi Nan returned into the grimoire world, she strongly patted the Ancient Island Whale, telling it to stop. She whistled to the sky, then, just like lightning flashing through the night sky, her lone figure flew away… She now knew that she was wrong, and she knew that what Yue Yang and Yi Nan said was right. However, she still couldn’t convince herself to let go of her ideals currently. After all, that was the will that her father had entrusted to her, and the ideal that she had persevered in all this time.
She wanted Yue Yang to advise her a little more, maybe she would feel better then.
However, this brat didn’t say anything…
He didn’t even said goodbye.
So infuriating!
Even if what he said was right, he shouldn’t reject her continuously like this. He was really too much.
The female giant who never cried for others before suddenly felt like crying, her eyes felt hot.
Tong Tian Tower, Soaring Dragon Continent.
In Yue Clan Castle, in the Martial Art Training Public Square, Yue Shan, who would usually sit on the chair like a dried leaf, suddenly went out to take a walk. Yue Shan’s pale face looked extremely haggard, devoid of any vitality. However, even though his cheeks were sunken, his eyes were still bright, like an undying fire in the dark. With this clear and bright eyes, other than looking sickly, he also looked wise and farsighted, which was not usually seen in him.
He looked more like a student walking under the sun, amidst the morning dew, not like a bed-ridden sickly old man.
Seeing him walking out in the morning, the various family members of the Yue Clan were a little surprised.
A few people quickly came to wait upon him, afraid that Yue Shan’s body would collapse with a single gush of wind. However, Yue Shan smiled slightly and waved his hands, telling the others not to pay attention to him, he only like to walk by himself.
Fatty Hai, Ye Kong and the others had already attained the Innate Realm, and were quietly cultivating with the old fox, the Heavenly Royal Guards and the others in the great hall.
Today, only Liu Ye, the golden elf Bao’er and the others were training here.
They knew about Yue Shan’s past, but due to his performance during the Underground Base, they all thought that Yue Shan was a good father and forgave him for his past. Furthermore, Yue Shan was also heavily injured because he was protecting Soaring Dragon Continent from the Black Hell Army’s invasion. When they saw Yue Shan walking out, they bowed to him in respect as a senior and also gave way to him.
“Good, good. You guys continue to train!” Yue Shan very rarely greeted them normally. Maybe he was in a good mood.
“Do you want me to call Sister Yue Yu to accompany you?” Liu Ye kindheartedly asked.
“No, let her rest a while, I just want to walk by myself.” Yue Shan waved his hand lightly, then suddenly turned around and asked Liu Ye: “Liu Ye, is your teacher’s name Mr. Zhi Ge? Speaking of that, Zhi Ge and I were classmates in the past. 20 years ago, I was an exchange student sent to Tian Luo Institute. At that time, I was classmates with Mr. Zhi Ge.”
“Mr. Zhi Ge? I don’t think I’ve heard that name before. Liu Ye’s master was Master An Ning.” Liu Ye was baffled, why did Yue Shan said that his master was Mr. Zhi Ge?
“Ah, my bad, I must have remembered wrongly. I don’t know Master An Ning, but Mr. Zhi Ge’s wife seemed to be called Ning Ke Er. Last time, I had fought together with Mr. Zhi Ge and his wife against the demon race. We were both in the same boat, we lived or died together. After that, we forged a deep friendship. Sigh, my memories has become hazy with age!” Yue Shan shook his hands, gesturing that it was nothing and left.
“Great clan master, can you tell us more about the past?” Liu Ye felt that his retreating, lonely back was quite pitiful. She caught up with him and decided to chat with him a while more.
“Actually there was not much to say, it was all in the past.” When Yue Shan saw Liu Ye’s concerned expression, he nodded and gestured for her to sit down. He sat on the other piece of rock and started to reminiscent, “It was quite an old story. I remembered at that time, it was you… it was the day you and Yue Yu were born into the world… We were ambushed by the demon race, and there were no one to help us. Father knew it was the demon races’ scheme to wage a war, so he would rather see me, the eldest son of the Yue Clan to die than to ask the emperor for help. In reality, at that time, there were no more soldiers to be deployed. Even the maids and servants from the palace and Yue Clan Castle had already been deployed to fight. There were only the old, weak, women and children… It was almost certain that we had to die. We were just waiting for the next wave of the demon legion, thinking of surviving long enough to kill a few more demons! Of course, we were also hoping for Third Brother to return. At that time, Third Brother was still very young, and his powers were very strong. Third and Fourth Brother went to the front lines without father’s knowledge. We were in a difficult situation, and we were hoping for a miracle. After all, everyone didn’t really wish to die… Then, your sister Yue Yu was born. At that time, the sky changed colour and rain started to pour from the sky. A golden light descended from the sky and purified the bloody battlefield… Even the grass below the corpses became greener, and flowers that had withered bloomed once again. The demon race became panicked, and our forces’ morale was boosted. We charged forward with all of our strength, and in the end, with much difficulties, we reunited with third and fourth brother, who were covered with cuts and bruises all over their bodies, and we escaped back together. It could be said that, cough cough cough… it was your sister Yue Yu’s birth that saved us all!”
(Last: Sister here does not mean blood-related sister)
“Sister Yu is really amazing! No wonder she is peaceful by nature, turns out that that kind of miracle happened before!” Liu Ye praised with utmost admiration.
“You are also good, you are a good child!” Yue Shan nodded with a smile.
“Great clan master, tell us another story tomorrow!” Liu Ye listened to Yue Shan because she pitied the lonely Yue Shan, but Bao’er was addicted to his stories. She asked Yue Shan to continue telling them stories tomorrow.
“Tomorrow… I might be a little busy. Let’s talk again when there’s a chance. You are both good children, you must continue to work hard and continue to be happy!” Yue Shan raised his head and looked to the sky. The sun was rising from the east. He got up and slowly walked away. Drops of golden light scattered all over his figure. After walking for some distance, he suddenly turned around, smiled sincerely and waved towards Liu Ye: “Liu Ye, please pass my greetings to Master Ling! Goodbye!”
“Yeah, goodbye!” Liu Ye nodded obediently.
A flash of confusement appeared in her thoughts. Could it be that Yue Shan really knew her master? However, this thought shortly disappeared. Forget it, it was not that important!