Volume 2, Chapter 18 – Aftermath

When Bai Xiang came out with Bai Shengju and the other family members, she was met by a wave of thunderous cheers.

Behind her, the towering big screen still had a full three quarters of the image frozen on that last glance she cast across half the arena. The remaining quarter replayed her mid-match close-up with eyes closed.

In the still frame, her robe and hair drifted slightly, lips pressed together, eyes calm with a faint trace of appraisal. Paired with her “stunning” performance of cutting down two opponents in a row, she instantly captured a crowd of passersby, turning them into her followers for the day.

“Xiang’er really is amazing now,” Shen Xuelan couldn’t help sighing at the sight.

Strict controls on entertainment channels in Great Yu meant the lower classes lacked ways to amuse themselves; any actor or idol pushed into the spotlight almost couldn’t not get popular. But this kind of fervor, as far as she knew, wasn’t something just any celebrity could enjoy.

Among the Bai family, only she, Bai Xiang, Bai Shengju, and Bai Lianzhou could stay unaffected by the roaring crowd. Everyone else was more or less ill at ease.

Even Bai Guanshan wasn’t immune. He tried his best to project calm indifference, but in the short stretch from the entrance to the car, he still adjusted the rhythm of his arms and stride four separate times.

Once they sat down, that crushing sense of being under the whole world’s gaze finally receded. Everyone let out a breath and could at last start daydreaming about the good days ahead.

Thanks to Bai Xiang, the Bai family had passed their life-and-death tribulation. On top of that, she’d gone out and brought back the ancestral method; that wasn’t something you could just gloss over. At the very least, it demanded a big celebration within the clan.

Shen Xuelan held onto a still-shaken Zhu Ying, and the two women began discussing what to buy at the market they’d pass on the way back.

Bai Leying chattered nonstop with Bai Zhuqing, gesturing as she replayed Bai Xiang’s astonishing performance on the dueling platform.

Bai Maoxu was still swinging his shoes and playing on his phone.

Bai Zhuqing, however, was a little absent-minded.

In her mind, things were still frozen on the last moment between Bai Xiang and Liu Mengqing—fixed on the image of Liu Mengqing choosing to risk being run through just to swing one more blow at Bai Xiang.

So Sis Xiang wasn’t just scaring me…

Without realizing, Bai Zhuqing clenched her small fists, silently resolving that once they got back, she was going to train her sword seriously.

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In the first car, Bai Xiang had just connected a call. It was Cao Chuan.

“Congratulations!” Cao Chuan’s voice, for once, carried obvious emotion. “I figured you’d win, but I didn’t expect you to win that beautifully!”

Normally, for a real fight, people wore fitted, streamlined clothes.

Retro robes weren’t out of the question, but the hems were usually short and the sleeves tight.

Modern combat skinsuits had an ancient counterpart: black night-clothes made for ease of movement—the same principle.

But Bai Xiang this time! She’d worn a rather elaborate formal dress!

Wearing wide sleeves to a life-and-death ring—when he first saw it, even he was startled. His only thought was: she really doesn’t see today’s opponents as people at all.

He’d spent time around her and knew Bai Xiang wasn’t the arrogant type. Once he thought more carefully about the faction struggle behind the duel, he understood there was another layer of symbolism in that outfit.

None of that mattered.

What mattered was that she’d used the sword in her hand to turn what was in her heart into reality.

“I’m calling to bring you good news,” Cao Chuan’s voice steadied, but Bai Xiang could still hear suppressed laughter around him—likely officials from the same faction as Fang Xiaochun, or his colleagues and subordinates.

“You killing Tao Xingxuan’s man in the street could have gone either way,” Cao Chuan went on. “If you’d lost, it’d be hard to handle. But since you won, it’s Tao Xingxuan’s problem. You don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

“If I had lost,” Bai Xiang said, “even if they didn’t pursue the matter of me killing in the street—would the Bai family have survived what came after?”

“…” Cao Chuan was stunned, then gave a wry little laugh. “True enough.”

They talked for a while, and Cao Chuan shared a few key points.

First, because Bai Xiang had firmly taken a side—and because this battle had displayed the value of her talent—Fang Xiaochun and the traditionalists had finally dropped their initial neutrality. They’d decided to make her a banner for the Chilong Circuit, to put her at the vanguard and openly throw down with the New Affairs faction.

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Cao Chuan had submitted the report on the Demon-Breeding Ground yesterday, but Fang Xiaochun was never going to step in just because of a report. He needed to see things with his own eyes, so her taking the initiative was crucial.

Second: Tao Xingxuan was in for a world of trouble.

With her victory, Bai Xiang had become a rising storm figure in the Chilong Circuit overnight. The Bai family now enjoyed the protection of over half of Qizhou’s political forces. In that case, the Bai family obviously couldn’t be “in the wrong.”

But someone had to be.

The New Affairs faction had lost face on this trip. Even the faintest trickle of anger from the Central Court was more than a mere branch president like Tao Xingxuan could bear.

“Bai Xiang? Is that Bai Xiang?”

Near the end of the call, someone snatched Cao Chuan’s phone. Fang Xiaochun’s excited voice came through.

“You did great!” Fang Xiaochun was truly riding high today; he launched straight into a barrage of praise. “Ah, you should’ve seen Xu Shilin’s face at the end… and that old dog Tao Xingxuan—let’s see if he still dares to put on airs after this?”

After a bit of banter, Fang Xiaochun’s tone turned serious as he began explaining the deeper currents to her.

“Xu Shilin is from the ‘Central Court,’” he said, lowering his voice.

“That’s your standard administrative-support organ. Lord Xu can basically be counted among the top ministers of the current dynasty. On this trip he’s wearing the title of imperial inspector, temporarily representing the Imperial House’s will.”

“He’s a big official, obviously… even I don’t dare offend him, but you don’t need to worry he’ll come after you. The man’s nature isn’t bad. He’s actually pretty rigid by temperament—he only backs the New Affairs faction out of ‘concern for the nation and the people’…”

Only Fang Xiaochun.

Anyone else wouldn’t dare say that kind of thing over the phone.

He still had other matters to handle, and he’d said enough. He handed the phone back to Cao Chuan, Cao Chuan added a few more words, and then they ended the call.

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When they got home, they didn’t even have time to celebrate before Xu Shu gave them a scare.

He’d changed back into his black training uniform and knelt facing outward beneath the archway plaque. The moment Bai Shengju came up, he collapsed into a full bow, his forehead thudding against the ground again and again.

“Your disciple is dull and blind,” he looked up with red-rimmed eyes. “I actually formed feelings for that kind of treacherous woman…”

Oh…

Only then did they get it.

He was guilty over having liked Jiang Haojing.

He’d come to his senses not early, not late, but right when Jiang Haojing lost her life and her Dao. To say this show of remorse had no self-serving thoughts mixed in would’ve been a lie.

But that wasn’t the point.

Don’t forget, under Chengfeng Sword Dao’s pressure and blanket publicity, he’d been the only disciple to choose to stay at the dojo.

That was a bond forged in life and death. The Bai elders naturally weren’t going to make things hard for him. Bai Lianzhou immediately helped him up and brought him inside with the rest.

As they passed through the empty training hall, Bai Leying looked at the lone pieces of equipment scattered around and muttered, “I have a feeling…”

“There are going to be a lot of people signing up…”

As if we needed you to say it.

Zhu Ying tapped her daughter on the head, gave Bai Xiang a glance, and whispered, “Practice with your sister when you have time.”

By the time they were home it was midday edging toward afternoon, but no one had time to celebrate.

The two women of the house were busy buying groceries, and everyone’s phone was ringing off the hook.

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Calls came from every channel—old acquaintances, casual nodding terms, people they’d met once, even total strangers—all squeezing in to offer congratulations.

By afternoon, quite a few people were knocking at the gate. Some dropped off gift boxes and ran; others were eager to sign up at the dojo. At the worst point, they clogged the flagstone lane so tightly not even water could get through. They had to ask Zhang Daoming to send people over to maintain order before things calmed down a bit.

None of it had anything to do with Bai Xiang.

The biggest hero, the hottest name of the day, went home, switched off her phone, and sat cross-legged on her bed to continue her cultivation.

Dinner was lavish.

Shen Xuelan’s family was originally from Jiangnan, and she was skilled at delicate regional dishes. This time she put everything she’d learned to use, serving Jiangnan specialties like “Three-Shred Jade Rabbit,” “Lion’s Head Meatballs in Clear Broth,” and “Stir-Fried River Shrimp.”

Zhu Ying, for her part, excelled at southern home-style cooking. A “Lotus Root and Pork Rib Soup” to whet the appetite, a “Dragon Beard Noodles” to cut the grease, plus “White Lotus Chicken,” “Candied Lotus Root Slices,” and more—enough that Bai Maoxu’s eyes were shining as he ate, completely forgetting his phone at his elbow.

Halfway through the meal, there was one more surprise.

Bai Guanshan sat off to one side, sipping soup and flipping through TV channels.

That was by the old master’s order—after Bai Shengju discovered that nearly every channel was broadcasting today’s events, he’d granted Bai Guanshan the sacred right to hold the remote, telling him to change channels every so often so everyone could enjoy the spectacle.

But as they surfed and surfed, they realized the local official channel in Chilong was actually playing something else.

A closer look—

Huh.

It was a public notice from Circuit City about the “Nanling Demon Uprising.”