YM778.TV Chapter 105 - 105: 105: The Truth about Ao Cangtian
Chapter 105 - 105: 105: The Truth about Ao Cangtian
He sported gray hair, but no beard, and his physique was notably robust.
The very moment the old man emerged, Jiang Xiaobai narrowed his eyes.
The man was at the late stage of Dividing the Gods in his cultivation!
However, Jiang Xiaobai could sense that the old man’s aura was highly unstable, suggesting that he was seriously injured and persistently suppressing his condition with spiritual power.
Alerted, Jiang Xiaobai speculated if this was intentional on the burly man’s part, intending to use this old man to kill him.
Hence, Jiang Xiaobai remained extremely alert. Noticing the slightest abnormality, he was prepared to flee immediately.
His escape technique was exceptional, and these two men were yet ill-equipped to capture him.
“Is it Lao Qi?”
With an indifferent expression, the old man nodded in Lao Qi’s direction before his gaze turned to Jiang Xiaobai.
“Lao Qi, who is this?”
Within moments, Lao Qi wandered away from Jiang Xiaobai and muttered a few secret words into the old man’s ear.
Jiang Xiaobai immediately readied his sword, Yuanhong, on guard.
The atmosphere around the courtyard felt tense; Jiang Xiaobai even made preparations to run away.
Despite the severity of the old man’s injury, he didn’t consider himself tough enough to confront him.
Even an emaciated camel still outweighs a horse, a warrior in the late stage of Dividing the Gods wasn’t an adversary he, as one in the late stage of the Yuan Infant, could collide with.
In the legends, it is possible to defeat a more potent rival. Still, overcoming an adversary of a realm superior to one’s own is notoriously challenging!
Even downright impossible!
After Lao Qi finished speaking, he turned to Jiang Xiaobai with caution in his eyes.
Slap!
At that instant, the old man slapped Lao Qi on the back of his head, making him reel with shock.
“You wretched fool! How many times have I told you not to approach people from that lineage! Do you think my instructions are a mere waste of breath?”
The old man was livid, his eyes blazing with anger.
Lao Qi dared not breathe loudly, only hanging his head low.
It seemed, he held deep respect for his master.
“My sincere apologies to Master Jiang. It’s my disciple’s fault,” the old man apologized to Jiang Xiaobai.
With a cold chuckle, Jiang Xiaobai replied, “You don’t need to apologize to me. From my perspective, the deeds you’ve done are no better than those of your disciple.”
“You!”
The old man stood dumbfounded on the spot.
Meanwhile, Lao Qi, at the sideline, retorted furiously, “How dare you to speak to my master that way!”
“What way?”
Jiang Xiaobai laughed coldly, “You must realize that if I want to leave, half-dead as your master is, he wouldn’t be able to hold me back. If it’s reported to Ao Cheng, do you have any idea what fate awaits you and your apprentice?”
“You bastard!”
“Hmph, if you can celebrate the first of the month, why can’t I celebrate the fifteenth?”
With a light chuckle Jiang Xiaobai snapped, “Did you think such tricks would work on me? Even if you had done nothing, as long as I safely return, the Dragon Valley wouldn’t spare you.”
“If you want to save yourself, you better tell me the truth about how Ao Cangtian was framed!”
As his words ended, the surroundings sank into silence.
Lao Qi’s body trembled uncontrollably, his eyes revealing a complexity of emotions.
Next to him, the old man’s face slowly contorted in pain.
“Master Jiang, this is indeed my fault, but my disciple was completely unaware of it,” interjected the old man abruptly.
“I indeed participated in the events of the past and managed to survive, but my disciple had no idea at all.”
“If you want to know the truth, Master Jiang, you must promise to keep my disciple unharmed.”
Jiang Xiaobai raised his eyebrows, “I promise. Can you tell me now?”
“Master, we can’t do this, what will happen to you!”
Lao Qi became anxious. He knew well what effect the disclosure of this incident would have.
The Dragon Valley would absolutely not spare the master and disciple.
“No matter, the debts of the past have already made me lose sleep for decades.”
The old man guffawed, a look of relief on his face.
“Come, Master Jiang, please sit,”
During these exchanges, the old man gradually walked over to a stone table in the courtyard, served tea, and Jiang Xiaobai, hesitating for a moment, walked over to sit.
The tea had a delightful aroma, listening to the surrounding sounds of birds and the flow of water, it felt extremely pleasant.
“Start from the beginning?”
Jiang Xiaobai feigned casualness, but his heart remained alert, ready to escape at the first sign of trouble.
Then, the old man let out a sigh, his eyes vacant, as if lost in past memories.
Hearing the old man’s recounting, Jiang Xiaobai couldn’t help but clench his fists, feeling annoyed on behalf of Ao Cangtian.
The elderly man turned out to be one of Ao Cangtian’s followers in the past. What’s more, Ao Cangtian treated him like a brother with great trust over time, a fact well known to many people.
And the Ancient Clan exploited this.
They directly targeted the old man’s family members, taking them hostage to manipulate the old man into serving them.
The old man had no alternative, and the task the Ancients assigned him was rather simple – to deliver a storage ring to Ao Cangtian.
At that time, the old man had no idea of the contents of the storage ring. Coerced into carrying out the task, that’s precisely what he did.
Since Ao Cangtian had profound trust in him and exhibited little interest in other treasures, the old man took an opportunity when Ao Cangtian was having drinks with his brothers to present the storage ring.
Ao Cangtian accepted the ring without even looking at it.
And just like that, several Ancient Clan tokens were discovered on Ao Cangtian, providing definitive evidence of his treason, and against such compelling evidence, Ao Cangtian stood helpless.
“I did not know the details back then. Out of guilt, I did not show up when Ao Cangtian was accused, ” the old man confessed guiltily as tears trickled down his face.
“I knew that when the storage ring was found, Young Master Ao must have known it was my doing, but he didn’t object or let anyone come looking for me.”
“Because of this, I’ve lived all these years in remorse.”
Jiang Xiaobai averted his gaze. He was at a loss for words.
Could one really accuse the old man of being in the wrong?
He wanted his family to remain safe, much like Jiang Xiaobai, who merely wanted to stay alive now.
The devious conniving of the people from the Ancient Clan was responsible for all of this.
“What happened to your family eventually?” Jiang Xiaobai asked, raising his brows.
“They are all dead. The Ancients killed them all when they seized them. I couldn’t even find their remains,” the old man replied with a bitter smile.
“That’s why I am filled with hatred. I wanted to avenge them, but the Ancients are way too powerful. It was merely a stroke of luck that I survived my first attempt at revenge.”
“The wounds that I got back then are the same that I bear today.”
Jiang Xiaobai raised an eyebrow, “If that’s the case, why didn’t you approach the Dragon Valley and clarify things back then?”
“To tell you the truth, I originally planned to do that, after which I intended to commit suicide.”
“But then, one of Young Master Ao’s confidants found me and insisted that I must survive and wait for the right time…”