NOVGO.NET Chapter 288 The Bet Comes Due
Chapter 288 The Bet Comes Due
The news about Bai Xueqing winning the Dragon and Phoenix Competition spread quickly.
Many thought it was only natural, as Bai Xueqing was the favorite to win-and she proved why she was considered the Number One talent of the Desolate Heaven Empire.
Others felt it was a pity that Nie Fengzhuo couldn’t seize victory and make history as the first to win the Dragon and Phoenix Competition without backing from a major sect or clan.
On the other hand, those who had staked their savings on Bai Xueqing came out triumphant.
Their cheers and laughter rang out without restraint as they celebrated their winnings.
Meanwhile, others like Bai Zihan, who had lost all their savings betting on someone else, could only cry in a corner.
Bai Xueqing wasn’t going to stay in the Capital. Having finished with the competition, she was to return to the Bai Clan.
Of course, along with her, she also brought Bai Zihan on the Bai Clan’s flying ship.
Bai Zihan also brought Kong Zhanghong and Jin Yuelin, who had stayed away from the battleground previously.
Jin Yuelin stayed behind Bai Zihan while Bai Xueqing stared at her, making her
more nervous.
“Who is she?”
Bai Xueqing asked, a bit of anger in her tone.
Of course, she would be angry, since Chu Ziyan was also with her, and as her friend, she wouldn’t allow Chu Zlyan’s fiancé-who also happened to be her brother-to cheat on her.
Although Chu Ziyan stated that she didn’t care much about it, Bai Xueqing wasn’t going to let Bai Zihan get away with it.
“Dear sister, can you stop glaring and scaring her away?”
Bai Zihan began.
“She is the sister of someone I know. She is talented and has been accepted into the Bai Clan recently. You can ask father if you doubt my words.”
Bai Zihan replied.
Bai Xueqing listened with skepticism.
Jin Yuelin was just too close with Bai Zihan to be merely the sister of someone he knew.
Even if she were talented, that didn’t explain why she had to be with Bai Zihan and hold his hand all the time.
“Hmph! Sister of someone you know? Then why was she holding your hand?” Bai Xueqing asked.
“She is just nervous. She has been sick since childhood and has never seen such a big crowd.”
Bai Zihan answered calmly.
Bai Xueqing narrowed her eyes but saw no lies in Bai Zihan’s expression.
Well, he had always been good at lying, and even if he did lie, it would have been impossible for her to tell.
Bai Xueqing did not back down. Her silver-blue eyes, colder than frost, shifted from her brother to the timid girl at his side.
The air on the deck seemed to tighten as her presence pressed forward.
She stepped closer, her voice clipped but not without a thread of courtesy.
“And you, lady…?”
Jin Yuelin flinched faintly under the weight of her gaze but straightened her back, forcing her voice steady.
“J-Jin Yuelin! That is my name.”
The sound of it struck something in Bai Xueqing’s memory.
Jin… Jin Yuelin? The syllables rolled in her mind like distant thunder. Her brows furrowed as fragments of memory aligned.
“Jin…” she murmured, before her tone hardened. “Jin Yuanzhan! What is your relationship to him?”
There was no way to miss that name, since Jin Yuanzhan was the prized genius of the Azure Sun Holy Sect.
(Is he the one Bai Zihan is saying he knows?)
She wondered.
“He is my elder brother.”
Bai Xueqing widened her eyes in confirmation.
(Indeed, it was Jin Yuanzhan. How did Bai Zihan know him?)
As far as she knew, there shouldn’t have been any contact between the two.
Rather than being friends, she would have accepted it if it were said they were enemies since Jin Yuanzhan had harmed Lin Xuan, who was apparently still serving Bai Zihan like his master.
But what was with Bai Zihan looking after his sister?
More importantly, she was reminded of the very conflict between her brother
and the Azure Sun not long ago.
(He said it was a small misunderstanding, but it seems like it has something to do with Jin Yuanzhan and his sister.)
Her gaze darted toward Bai Zihan.
“So, you were fighting with the Azure Sun Holy Sect… because of her?”
Bai Xueqing asked.
“You can say that.”
Bai Zihan answered.
Though the answer wasn’t the full truth, it wasn’t far off either. And he had no
interest in explaining everything to Bai Xueqing.
“Hmph! Seems like she is more than just the sister of someone you know.”
Bai Xueqing said with a sarcastic tone.
“Bai Zihan, you are already engaged. Do you have any idea how Chu Ziyan must feel-watching you so close with another girl?”
Her tone cracked like a whip, carrying the weight of both sisterly authority and
personal indignation.
Chu Ziyan, who had been silent the whole time, flinched slightly.
A soft blush crept up her cheeks as all eyes turned toward her. She waved her
hands hurriedly.
“Xueqing, L… I never said anything like that. You’re speaking on your own!”
Bai Xueqing turned her gaze on Jin Yuelin, who stiffened as though caught in a storm’s eye.
“As for you, young lady,” Bai Xueqing said, her voice crisp as a blade of ice,
“Even if you are sheltered and timid, as a young lady you should know how to protect your dignity and keep your distance from men-especially Bai Zihan. You don’t want your reputation ruined by getting entangled with someone like
him.”
“Oie, oie,” Bai Zihan cut in. “Don’t talk as if my reputation is bad.”
Bai Xueqing arched her brow, her silver-blue eyes glinting with sarcasm.
“Heh? Is it not?”
Bai Zihan clicked his tongue, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
“My reputation is good. Very good. People used to call me the Number One genius of the Desolate Heaven Empire, you know. They praised my brain, my wit, and my talent. What would you know?”
He leaned back casually, as if basking in the memory of those praises.
Bai Xueqing’s gaze sharpened, cold enough to cut through his nonchalance.
“Used to, yes. But times change, dear brother. That brilliance of yours? It’s already stained. Now people whisper that you’re a coward, a trickster who hides behind schemes and smooth words. A con man who only knows how to
deceive”
Her words struck with merciless precision, like icicles driven into the heart.
Indeed, last year, people had changed their opinion of Bai Zihan, and his reputation could be said to be at an all-time high, with people saying his talent was greater than Bai Xueqing’s.
After all, there was news about Bai Zihan having defeated Bai Xinyue, who at
the time was in the Spirit Severing Realm.
With him being able to threaten both Evil Cultivators and other Major Powers
to let Bai Xueqing walk away with the Immortal Emperor’s Inheritance, everybody agreed that no one could match his schemes.
But of course, over the years, doubt began to grow when Bai Zihan kept quiet
and just cultivated.
To add salt to the wound, he also didn’t participate in the Dragon and Phoenix Competition, which made people convinced that Bai Zihan was just a con man spreading fake events to boost his fame.
Kong Zhanghong, standing a little behind, felt a pang of discomfort but dared
not speak.
He knew very well just how powerful Bai Zihan was, and that those rumors about him were all the work of the Li and Zhao Clans to discredit him. But talking back to Bai Xueqing was something he wasn’t foolish enough to do. Bai Zihan only chuckled softly, his eyes flashing with an inscrutable light. “Coward, con man… If that’s what they choose to call me, then perhaps they’re right. After all, the sheep must label the wolf somehow, don’t they?”
Bai Zihan still didn’t seem to care. With his reputation always being low, there
was no way he would be shaken by anyone’s opinion now.
Bai Xueqing only shook her head.
As someone who had known Bai Zihan all her life, she was well aware-her
brother had never cared about what others thought of him. If he did, he would have changed years ago.
A brief silence passed before Bai Xueqing leaned forward, her tone shifting. “Now then… shall we discuss our little bet, my dear brother?”
Her voice took on an unsettling edge-playful yet sinister-uncannily similar to
Bai Zihan’s own.
So alike, in fact, that even Chu Ziyan and Bai Zihan himself felt a shiver run
down their spines.
Affectionate in sound, malicious in intent… that was exactly how Bai Zihan usually spoke and now it was how Bai Xueqing sounded. “You didn’t think you could run away, did you?” Bai Xueqing pressed.
“There’s no way I would,” Bai Zihan replied smoothly. “I’m a man of my word.
How could I lie?”
Of course, it was a lie through and through.
If not for being caught by Elder Wu, he would have long since fled and avoided
honoring the bet altogether.
But now… he had no choice but to do whatever Bai Xueqing demanded.
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