Chapter 48: Second To None (10)
Chapter 48: Second To None (10)
He Yufei let go of her and took a step back unwillingly, looking extremely upset. Bai Yan did not have the time to care about her and only stared intently at Lin Dan who was in the blood pool. He was waiting for an outcome. If Lin Dan could fight it back, he would let her go again. Otherwise, he will send her straight to hell.
It was an extremely long wait and the day had passed. The sunlight that entered from the hole in the ceiling had turned into moonlight, gently illuminating Lin Dan's pale face. She did not move or breathe and the baby in her arms was quiet. The Asura Sword was devouring the blood in the pool bit by bit and the silver blade was turning crimson. From time to time, there were flashes of red on the sharp blade, giving it a demonic charm.
Bai Yan stood quietly not far away and had never taken his eyes off Lin Dan. He had rarely shown such great patience with something or someone, or even willing to spend so much time waiting for an unknown result.
He Yufei was tired after standing for a long time and was already sitting on the ground. She complained, "Look, it's clear that Lin Dan is practicing a forbidden technique! She is still devouring blood!
"Do not disturb her," Bai Yan instructed.
He Yufei stared at her master's back and got teary eyed. She was hoping that he could turn around and look at how upset she was. But Bai Yan had never turned around and look at her, he was still looking intently at Lin Dan. He knew that he would be getting an answer before dawn. He puffed up his white robe and was ready to take action.
Under the bright moonlight, Lin Dan slowly opened her eyes. She did not hurry to take a look at the Asura Sword that was glowing in red but lifted the curtain to examine the baby in her arms, before putting on a slight smile. The baby who was breathing weakly and had purplish skin was now looking tender and cute. It remained quiet and behaved obediently as it was soaked in the life aura. Although its eyes could not see yet, it could vaguely sense Lin Dan's presence and grabbed one of her fingers with its tiny hand.
The baby's grip was weak but this little action had touched Lin Dan's heart and made her gaze warmer.
It was not until this moment that Bai Yan noticed the baby's abnormality. As the baby was born prematurely and suffered from the big movements the day before, it should have been dead. But since it was kicking and alive, he knew Lin Dan had been giving it her life aura to keep it alive during the battle and meditation.
Bai Yan was shocked as he knew what would happen to Lin Dan if the life and death aura were in a state of imbalance. But He Yufei who was standing behind Bai Yan gasped and she was terrified by Lin Dan's blood-stained appearance.
Bai Yan snapped out of his thoughts at this moment. He got out of his fighting stance and slowly released a foul aura. Although Lin Dan looked like the blood-stained Asura, he also found her looking like a Buddha who was picking and smiling at a flower. He had to admit that when Lin Dan looked down at the baby and gave it a shallow smile, his emotionless heart wavered.
"If I'm not wrong, the Lord of the Timeless City is Lonely Scarlet who disappeared a decade ago. She was known as the Poison Lady who kidnapped babies to practice forbidden techniques." Seeing that Lin Dan ignored him after taking her sword and was ready to go, Bai Yan provided her the answer to the questions in her mind.
Lin Dan walked to the stone mill. She stared at the rest of the babies that had turned into a pool of blood by Lonely Scarlet and her eyes grew dimmer.
Bai Yan slowly walked to her side and sighed, "You can't save everyone even if you have exceptional martial arts skills. It's best that you don't get too bothered with this.
Lin Dan glanced at him and looked at the baby in her arms that was sucking its tiny hand. All the martial artists of the several underground palaces had fled. With the help of He Yufei, the women who had never been pregnant also left the city. The other pregnant women were placed in a secret room by her and were waiting for the news in fear.
Lin Dan did not bother and left the place immediately.
He Yufei pulled Bai Yan's sleeve and begged him to stay with her to help these women, but he refused. His priority was to watch Lin Dan and he was not interested to get himself involved in anything else. As He Yufei was eager to display acts of kindness, she had to stay behind and suppress her desire to leave these women to follow her master. In the end, Bai Yan sent a letter to his clan to clean things up in the Timeless City.
After Lin Dan had left the Timeless City, as the people in the city were not given the Timeless Pill, they soon showed their aged appearance and died one after another. It turned out that they had long been under the control of Lonely Scarlet's pills. In order to remain youthful, these people actually went around kidnapping young women and newborn babies for her. People living near the Timeless City noticed that women and babies had disappeared for no reason and slowly moved away.
Three days later, Lin Dan and Bai Yan arrived at a quiet and peaceful town and stayed in an inn. Lin Tan took a bath, as usual, changed into another set of black attire, and wandered around in the streets. She had a charming appearance and a tall figure. Holding the baby in one hand while carrying a sword in the other made her the center of attention. With Bai Yan who had a beautiful face walking behind them, it made Lin Dan even more eye-catching in the crowd.
When they were passing a shop, a woman standing behind the counter stared at the baby in Lin Dans arms with sad teary eyes that it caught her attention. The woman seemed frightened and quickly covered her face with her sleeves and pretended to use the abacus.
Lin Dan continued walking as if she did not mind her action. At night, Lin Dan sneaked into her shop and listened to the dialogue between the woman and her husband on the roof.
If our child had not been taken, he should probably be five years old now?" The woman said sadly.
"It's all my fault. We shouldn't have moved near the Timeless City. The doctor said my health has suffered badly and I'm no longer fertile. Cui'E, why don't I'll write up a divorce agreement so that you can remarry? You still have a chance to have your own baby. Ill leave this shop and the family asset to you. It was all my fault after all." The husband choked as he spoke.
The woman responded angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about?! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have to suffer this way! That's enough, let's spend the rest of our lives together and never talk about having children in the future! As long as we do more good deeds in this life, we can still be husband and wife in our next life and have many children together. Stop letting your imagination run wild.
The husband did not speak for a long time, before bawling his eyes out. After a while, the woman also started crying and was full of sadness.
Lin Dan stood on the roof for a while and flew away. Bai Yan who had been hidden in the dark walked out and looked at her back looking perplexed.
Lin Dan stayed in the town for seven to eight days, and gradually found out more about the couple. They moved here five years ago and were a kind and decent couple. They were always generous if they had extra money and were willing to lend a hand to anyone in need. They soon gained the recognition of the locals and were highly respected in town. Unfortunately, the couple was nearly forty years old and was lonely as they had no children.
Lin Dan inquired and observed them in secret to ensure that the couple was truly kind. At night, she placed the baby in front of the shop and smashed their windows with a stone. As the couple had been persecuted before, they were particularly alert and ran out of the house with a stick in their hand. But what they saw was a small bamboo basket placed at the door and a soft and cute baby was lying inside. It was quiet and was looking at them with a pair of large and animated eyes.
"H-Honey, look!" The man's voice was shaking.
The woman looked at the baby intently and pushed the man away. She held the baby with a pair of trembling hands and carefully checked it again and again, making sure that it was not hurt or missing a limb. She was relieved to see a note placed at the bottom of the basket that said, "This child has no parents. Please take care of him for me, thank you."
The woman looked around, her skeptical look had been replaced by ecstasy. With the baby in her arms, she quickly kneeled down and cried, "Thank you, savior. We will definitely take good care of this child! Thank you so much!" Not a million thanks could express her happiness at this moment.
When her husband snapped out of his thoughts, he also fell on his knees and kowtowed, his tears fell on the steps.
They agreed not to talk about having a child anymore, but they had always dreamed of having one. They even dreamed of picking up a baby on the streets and feeling happy about it! Now that the dream had come true, the couple started crying after experiencing the excitement. But when they saw the baby frowning and seemingly frightened, they quickly dried their tears. Rushing back to the house, they started getting busy cooking porridge for the baby. They promised to take good care of the child and treat him as their own.
Meanwhile, Lin Dan left the town and went thousands of miles away. As Bai Yan followed along, his gaze on Lin Dan deepened and became more intense. They arrived in a bustling city and asked for two suites in an inn. When Lin Dan was about to pay for the room, her face stiffened the moment she touched her purse.
"It's 20 grams of silver. Thank you." The shopkeeper grinned and spread his palm open.
Lin Dan stared straight at him with a stern face.
The two looked at each other and none of them moved.
Bai Yan chuckled and asked, "Why? Not enough silver?" This was his first time seeing a Half-step Grandmaster who was so poor that she could not afford to pay for a room.
Lin Dan glanced at him and walked out of the inn without saying a word. Without money, she could always sleep on the tree.
Bai Yan pulled her back quickly and chuckled, "Wait, I can lend you some money first and you can pay me back later."
As they were talking, there was an uproar in the inn. Someone shouted, "This Half-step Grandmaster of the Eastern Holy Sect is impressive. Not only did she injured the four elders of Lianyun City but also killed Lonely Scarlet with a single slash! You probably don't know that Lonely Scarlet is one of the top wanted fugitives. Her head costs twenty-five thousand grams of gold. She was hated by many royal families and big clans as she took their children, but they could do nothing to her as she was a Half-step Grandmaster that was full of poison. It has been a decade since someone could subdue her.
"Good lord, twenty-five thousand grams of gold? I would have been rich if the head was in my hands!" One of the listeners exclaimed.
"Look how crude you are! Is money all that you could think of? This Half-step Grandmaster left after killing her and did not care about the Lonely Scarlet's head. It was the Saintess of the Eastern Holy Sect who took the head to the World Alliance and withdrew the case without asking for a single penny. Having said that, the Half-step Grandmaster of the Eastern Holy Sect has just promoted but she is already capable of causing serious injuries to the four elders and even killed the Lonely Scarlet. You must know that these people are experienced and powerful martial artists!
"That's amazing! The younger generation is to be feared of!" As the people exclaimed, Lin Dan frowned and look at Bai Yan. She complained, "You didn't tell me that her head was valuable.
Bai Yan wanted to burst out laughing but he held it back. He said, "My bad, I'll make sure to remind you next time. To make up for my mistake, I'll pay for your expenses for the time being.
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