Why Are They Watching Us Die

Chasing the Wind was being chased all over the place by the ancient sword immortal's phantom.

He had already figured out why the ancient sword immortal could always catch up to him instantly... it was a divine ability.

Although he didn't know exactly what kind of divine ability it was, its effect was clear: lock onto him and then instantly appear by his side to attack him with a sword.

Realizing this, he found it slightly easier to evade.

Initially, he had focused all his energy on running to create distance between himself and the ancient sword immortal as his primary means of survival. But after discovering that the ancient sword immortal could catch up instantly, there was no point in exhausting himself running. Instead, he could focus more on avoiding attacks.

Of course, even so, he was still being chased and beaten. In no time, he was covered in wounds.

"Big brother! My dear brother..." he prayed inwardly, "If you don't come soon, I'm going to die!"

But if prayers were effective, what would be the point of striving? Everyone could just pray all day, and the heavens would naturally drop goodies.

He was struck three more times, turning his white fur red, yet Ao Yi still hadn't appeared to save him.

"Come on, killing a few Nascent Soul cultivators..." he cursed inwardly, "How hard can it be?"

He finally sensed that something was wrong and stopped leading the ancient sword immortal's phantom away from Dao Sword Sect. Instead, he turned back and ran towards Dao Sword Sect.

After paying the price of six more wounds, he returned to the battlefield near Dao Sword Sect.

As soon as he arrived, he witnessed a scene that broke his heart:

The protective mountain array of Dao Sword Sect was shattering like a cracked black ice sheet, pieces falling off. Above the shattered array, Ao Yi, stripped of his scales and covered in blood, was bound by a golden rope, his entire body weak and unable to resist. A Nascent Soul sword cultivator from Hengduan Mountain Alliance held a golden sword, stepping on Ao Yi's dragon head, raising the sword high...

"Big brother!!!"

Seeing this, he let out a desperate roar and frantically circulated the magical power within his body.

In an instant, the howling wind swept in, and darkness descended!

He completely transformed into a mass of black shadow, darting forward and instantly arriving in front of Ao Yi.

From the shadow, he extended a blood-red tiger paw, trying to block the Nascent Soul sword cultivator's Dragon-Slaying Sword.

However, Hengduan Mountain Alliance wasn't just one Nascent Soul cultivator. As he moved, another Nascent Soul cultivator struck. Fully focused on saving Ao Yi, he had no defense, taking a hit to his vulnerable abdomen and being sent flying.

The intense pain from his abdomen was numbed, as he watched the distance between him and Ao Yi widen. He saw the Dragon-Slaying Sword above Ao Yi's head, slowly descending.

He clawed forward desperately, his massive tiger paw capable of grasping the darkness of the heavens, yet unable to grasp the dragon so close at hand.

The Dragon-Slaying Sword approached Ao Yi's head...

"Puff!"

It pierced through...

Ao Yi's dragon head separated from his body.

Tears streamed from Chasing the Wind's eyes as he opened his enormous mouth, but no sound came out.

He saw Ao Yi's dragon head open its eyes, the cold vertical pupils looking at him, and a dark dragon pearl shot out from its mouth, hitting his forehead.

The white tiger stopped in mid-air, while the dragon's corpse split into two and fell into the pile of corpses below.

The white tiger's eyes widened, its mouth gaping, staring down at the dragon's corpse, yet it made no movement and emitted no sound.

"Swoosh..."

The ancient sword immortal had already caught up again, the massive sword stabbing towards his head!

"Ah!!!"

"Roar..."

Finally, a tiger's roar echoed out, and a black-and-white pearl shot from Chasing the Wind's mouth, hitting the ancient sword immortal's sword at an angle with a "Dang."

The pearl was his lifebound artifact, the... eye of his mother that Qin Ran had gotten from Sect Leader Gu Yueming.

"Retreat!!"

Chasing the Wind cried out hoarsely, shouting to the surviving members of Dao Sword Sect.

After shouting, he led the way flying towards the inside of Dao Sword Sect.

He flew fast, the black-and-white pearl keeping up with him, but his tears couldn't.

He smashed through the protective mountain array of Dao Sword Sect and helped the surviving members of Dao Sword Sect retreat inside.

The ancient sword immortal didn't pursue, returning his sword to the cloud ship of Hengduan Mountain Alliance.

Someone asked Qiu Huahui, "Sect Leader, shouldn't we take the opportunity to attack?"

Despite breaking the array, Qiu Huahui's face showed no joy, instead, it was covered in dark clouds.

She looked down at the cloud ship, where the area outside Dao Sword Sect was piled with corpses, mostly from Hengduan Mountain Alliance. To break this array, she no longer dared to calculate how many cultivators had died.

"The array is broken..." she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, "No need to rush. Regroup and then launch a full-scale assault on Dao Sword Sect.

"An all-out assault, not a single one left alive!!!"

Chasing the Wind brought the remaining members of Dao Sword Sect back inside, leading them to the main peak plaza and handing them over to Liu Boxian.

He looked at Liu Boxian, remained silent for a while, and said, "Please accept my condolences."

Liu Baixuan was not only Liu Boxian's senior disciple but also his own flesh and blood.

Liu Boxian looked up at the white tiger, seeing tears still lingering at the corner of his eyes. He stepped forward, patted the tiger's blood-soaked thigh, and said, "We'll take care of the rest. You go rest."

"Master..." Chasing the Wind opened his mouth, wanting to comfort, apologize, or say something else, but in the end, no sound came out.

"Dao Sword Sect has lost so many disciples. For the sect, anyone can die, I can die, Liu Baixuan can die," Liu Boxian said.

After speaking, he turned to arrange for the surviving disciples. Those who could still fight were given some elixirs and magical artifacts, allowed to recuperate briefly before preparing for the next battle; those who couldn't fight were sent to the Dan Peak for treatment.

Chasing the Wind watched Liu Boxian's busy figure for a while, then suddenly turned and flew toward Dan Peak.

He barged into the protective array of Dan Feng, found Qin Ran under the Old Spirit Pagoda Tree, stormed over, and lowered his huge head, glaring at Qin Ran and demanding, "Why did you do this?"

“Chasing the Wind!” Li Shiyin, holding her sword, immediately stood in front of Qin Ran, glaring at Chasing the Wind and rebuking, “What are you going crazy about?!”

Qin Ran pulled Li Shiyin aside, looked up at Chasing the Wind, meeting the tiger's furious gaze. Watching, he smiled, a smile of satisfaction.

"Shrink a bit to talk, my neck hurts from looking up," he said.

"Why didn't you support us?!" Chasing the Wind asked, his tone less aggressive, and he shrunk down to size, not too small, still eye-level with Qin Ran,

"The sect still has many combatants. We could have fought them head-on, backed by the protective mountain array. I don't believe that a sect as big as Dao Sword Sect has no other tricks up its sleeve. We could have held them off outside Dao Sword Sect.

"Why? Why did you stay idle? Why didn't you support us? Why did you watch us fight to the death?"

Qin Ran looked at Chasing the Wind, smiled, and said, "I'm glad you can think so much, son. But your tone, your attitude, your distrust... I'm not pleased with that."

He gently touched the wounds on Chasing the Wind's head, sighed, and said, "You've thought this far, why not think deeper? You don't ponder the deeper reasons, yet you doubt your father."

Chasing the Wind avoided Qin Ran's eyes, looking elsewhere, his eyes filled with tears, and he said, "Big brother is dead."

Big brother died, his flesh and blood torn apart, his head severed before his eyes!

Qin Ran stepped forward, hugged Chasing the Wind's blood-soaked head.

After a while, he sighed, "It's not that your father didn't support you, nor that Dao Sword Sect doesn't have the power to defeat Hengduan Mountain Alliance. My previous arrangements weren't about sending people to their deaths or letting Hengduan Mountain Alliance invade Dao Sword Sect.

"Hiding our strength, what's the purpose? If you think a bit more, you're so smart, you'll definitely figure it out.

"The reason is only one, the one you can easily think of... our enemies aren't just Hengduan Mountain Alliance!"

He gently stroked Chasing the Wind's wet fur, continuing, "Boundless Sword Sect only sent a small force to join Hengduan Mountain Alliance, waiting for the right moment to strike; there's also one or two hidden forces, about which your father only has rough guesses, not knowing who they are, whether they're friend or foe, what their goals are. These forces must be guarded against, must leave a hand behind."

Upon hearing the explanation, Chasing the Wind shrunk his body and nestled completely into Qin Ran's embrace, sobbing bitterly.