Chapter 264 - Wan Gufeng (1/2)

“Hahahaha! Very good! I applaud your wits to accede to the strong. There’s no point in siding with the losers, eh? It’s no surprise they call you the most powerful youngster in all of the Violet Manor!” Wan Yanyan threw his head back in a roar of laughter while sounding sardonic at the same time.

Wordlessly, Li Muxue, Luo Shangyan and the rest moved with Xiao Chen, following his lead to another side. Qin Xinyan watched with horror and despair as his final shred of hope crumbled. He could almost feel the malicious and savage aura emanating from Wan Yanyan.

The rest of the contestants around watched Xiao Chen leave. “Is he the Xiao Chen from the rumors? Did he not battled the entire household of the Zuoqiu Family and massacred them just to save a friend?”

“COWARD!” A voice broke the silence. Despite notorious for having his hands deep in blood, everyone knew that Xiao Chen wrought those savageries, only because he was forced to. He needed to save a friend. He was known as many things, a proud and honorable friend to his allies among all, but definitely not a weakling who would desert anyone in need. In a word, the one in front of them let them down.

But no one knew that Xiao Chen was struggling. His fingers were digging deep into the flesh of his skin while he tried to shut out the cries and insults pelted at him. He willed himself to continue walking. But with every step, his legs felt heavier and more reluctant.

He wanted to save those people. But the safety of his friends and loved ones mattered more to him and there was no way he could risk that.

The Forest of Illusory Moon was a test in Nature’s most primal form: the survival of the fittest where the strong preyed on the weak. The ultimate winner would take all and the losers would be left with nothing; not even their life or the right to speak for others.

He scoffed at himself, “Am I finding excuses to cover up my own weakness and callousness?”

Suddenly, he heard a voice; a voice from his distant, long dormant and lost: his teacher. The lessons she taught him, to be compassionate and courageous, came back to him like a vision. Then he remembered the tearful, pleading eyes of the girl he could have saved and the merriness everyone had shared with him during their journey to the Wuwang Wind Cloud City.

Then a realization hit him: “What about Muxue and Senior Sister Luo? What would they do?”

“WAIT!” He shouted. He stopped and turned. “Twenty Hearts for each of them, is it not? I’ll pay. I’ll take them all,” he declared, pointing at Qin Xinyan and his group.

Hope gleamed in the eyes of the hostages. They sat up, the faith of their survival once again renewed as they watched in anticipation. Zhou Li, Qingyu, and the rest looked on in silence; it was only by Xiao Chen that they managed to obtain any Hearts of Illusory Moon. No one dared to voice any objections against him.

But Wan Yanyan’s expression darkened as quickly as his mood. “You were already leaving. I suggest you walk on, unless you really intend to taste the flavor of Death yourself…”

Xiao Chen fixed him with a resolute stare. “You should not be allowed here. You’re a senior and you clearly wield powers beyond all of us. But you’d do well to heed my advice: there’s no need for you to take things above and beyond.”

Everyone was instantly shocked by Xiao Chen’s revelation. Wan Yanyan looked as old as everyone in the Forest, young and exuberant like all of them. “But why did Xiao Chen address him as Senior? Could he be…”

But their doubts were quickly answered; Wan Yanyan chuckled viciously. “So, you’ve noticed, eh?”

His magic in disguise might be good enough to hoodwink the elders watching the portal into the Forest of Illusory Moon, but it was not enough to escape the Xiao Chen’s Divine Sense. His true identity was Wan Gufeng, the grandfather of the actual Wan Yanyan.

By pretending to be his grandson, Wan Gufeng had joined the tournament in his stead and entered the Forest of Illusory Moon, hoping to achieve a good score to allow his grandson the admission into the Violet Illusory Land to study magic.

“Rest easy, Senior. I’d just say that I don’t know anything about this. But only if this is enough to convince you to change your mind. Can you release them now?”