When the Nine Serenities King got the information via jade slip, he frowned. He didn't care much that Zhou Wudao and the Miao Clan patriarch had been killed. The only reason he had helped them to begin with was because it benefited him. Although he didn’t particularly care for Bai Xiaochun, he viewed him like an ant whose life or death didn’t matter at all.
However, he did care about the fact that a heavenly marquis pagoda had been destroyed.
“Strange….” he murmured.
Meanwhile, in another part of Nine Serenities City, Prince Zhou Hong heard the news and immediately broke out into delighted laughter.
“Bai Hao, ah, Bai Hao. How will you possibly avert disaster this time!?”
Virtually everyone felt the same, that the situation was completely unresolvable.
As the Wildlands was shaken by the news, Bai Xiaochun was back in the Inspections Manor, where he had gone immediately after the events in the Zhou Clan.
He tossed his inspections commissioner medallion into his bag of holding, and dismissed Zhou Yixing with orders to lay low until things calmed down. As for his corpse troopers, they stood in ranks, motionless.
At the moment, the only thing Bai Xiaochun cared about was Bai Hao, who lay in his soulhoarding pagoda, slowly recovering. Eventually, his eyes fluttered open, and the first thing he saw was his Master, looking very haggard.
“Finally awake!” Bai Xiaochun said, a smile on his face. “You need to be more careful in the future. Come, come. Let Master tell you what's happened in the last month. Hmmmphh! You have no idea how awesomely your Master handled things. No one dared to provoke me! I even went and accused devas!”
Smiling, he went on to explain everything that had happened. To him, things already seemed like they had been a month before, with he and Bai Hao together, depending on each other for survival.
However, the more he talked about everything, the more Bai Hao’s eyes began to glaze over.
“Master….” he said, trembling. When he heard that his Master had enacted the Proclamation of Universal Grace for him, and then learned of everything after that, he was suddenly struck deeply with a feeling of warm gratitude. Eventually, he flew out of his soulhoarding pagoda and dropped to his knees to kowtow to Bai Xiaochun.
“I never thought I would see you again, Master….” he said, his heart surging with emotions that he couldn’t even express. After being captured, he had endured a month of torment, and yet had never revealed any of his Master’s secrets. As of this moment, it all seemed worth it!
After all, the person Bai Hao cared about most in his heart was his Master!
To Bai Hao, the past month had been one of endless darkness and pain. He had felt himself being slowly burned away as the Miao Clan patriarch refined him. There had even been times when the patriarch attempted to soulsearch him. The Miao Clan’s flame conjuring techniques required that they soulsearch and torment the intelligent soul until it submitted. Only then could the flame be conjured successfully. It was only possible to imagine how much pain Bai Hao had experienced!
During that time, he had been completely powerless to do anything. There were times when he had almost wished he could die, but in his determination, he had refused to give in. His Master had not yet conjured nineteen-colored flame, and in fact, he had not yet seen him succeed with eighteen-colored flame! And he had sworn an oath that he would make sure his Master fulfilled his dream of becoming a heavenly necromancer.
Therefore, he couldn't die. Nor did he want to! Maybe he would die one day, but it would only be after he helped his Master accomplish everything he needed to. Only then could he close his eyes in that final rest.
There were just too many things left to be done. Furthermore, he was also worried about what his Master would do without someone to watch over him. Presumably, he would get himself in all sorts of dangerous situations, and Bai Hao knew he needed to be there to give advice, and to help solve the problems!
That was his focus and determination, and it kept him going the entire month. He wasn't sure how much longer he would have been able to hold out, and eventually, he simply lapsed into unconsciousness. And then, he opened his eyes to see… his Master.
When Bai Xiaochun saw the look in Bai Hao’s eyes, he felt very pleased with himself, and mused that he really was a trustworthy and inspiring Master. Tousling Bai Hao’s hair, he said, “Hahaha! Moved? Well, didn’t Master tell you that after you become his apprentice, you wouldn’t regret it…?”
Bai Hao immediately kowtowed deeply and said, “Master, you have shown me incredible kindness. You saved my life! I will never forget this for the rest of my life!!!”
It was almost exactly the same as the scene which had played out in that mountain cave when he had just regained his mind after being a vengeful soul…. He kowtowed with no regrets and with full sincerity!
Bai Xiaochun stuck his chin up and flicked his sleeve.
“You’re my apprentice,” he said grandly, “and if anyone dares to lay a hand on you, they’re basically slapping me in the face! Proclamation of Universal Grace? Ha! If that hadn’t worked, my next plan was to get the lands of Heavenspan to invade the Wildlands to save you!”
As of this moment, he didn’t look at all like the cold and ruthless person he had been in the past month. He was finally back to normal!
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