72: Chapter 72 Daughter and Father Go Together

["Qinglian... is it you?"]

[Chu Sheng's voice trembled slightly.]

[The tip of the young girl's sword stopped an inch before his throat, remaining perfectly still.]

[She looked at this man, seeing his reddened eyes, and a sudden throb of emotion surged in her heart.]

["You... how do you know my name?"]

[Chu Sheng did not answer, merely staring fixedly at her face.]

[Under the moonlight, that face looked exactly like Li Zhiyi's.]

[The eyebrows, the bridge of the nose, the shape of the lips—it was as if they were carved from the same mold. But those eyes looked exactly like his own.]

["Your mother's name is Li Zhiyi."]

[He said hoarsely, "Your grandfather's name was Li Qingshan; he died in a beast tide. The year you were born, I was in the Yan Kingdom and couldn't make it back."]

[The young girl's entire body jolted.]

["You... you are..."]

["My name is Chu Sheng," he said word by word, "your father."]

[The night wind blew past, swirling the fallen leaves on the ground.]

[The tip of the girl's sword slowly lowered.]

[She looked at Chu Sheng, her gaze shifting from confusion to shock, and from shock to complexity.]

["Father...?"]

["Yes, I am your father."]

[The sword in the girl's hand fell to the ground with a 'clang'.]

[She threw herself into Chu Sheng's embrace and wept aloud.]

["Father!!"]

[Eighteen years of longing, eighteen years of grievances, eighteen years of questions.]

[Why did others have both parents while she only had a Master? Why did her Master never tell her about her origins? Why...]

[Chu Sheng held her tightly, tears streaming down his face.]

["I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."]

[He said it over and over, "Father has failed you... Father should have returned sooner..."]

[Far off, in the Yan Kingdom camp.]

[The soldier on the watchtower rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen wrong.]

["The Marquis... why is he hugging that assassin?"]

[The news quickly spread throughout the camp.]

[Ji Yuanzhao was discussing matters in the commander's tent; hearing the report, he was stunned.]

["Chu Sheng is hugging the enemy's female assassin... and crying?"]

[He fell silent for a moment, then waved his hand.]

["Continue investigating."]

[Fairy Yunxia stood at the edge of the camp, watching those two figures from afar, her brow slightly furrowed.]

["This kid..." she murmured, "is his luck with women that good? Another Dao companion?"]

[Yue Jianli walked up to her side at some point and said softly, "Master, that person... doesn't look like an assassin."]

[Fairy Yunxia glanced at her.]

[Yue Jianli's gaze was gentle.]

["He is crying so sorrowfully. It must be someone very important."]

[Lin Wanqing stood even further away, looking in that direction with mixed emotions in her heart.]

[She remembered Chu Sheng saying he had a daughter.]

[A daughter he had never met.]

["Is it... Qinglian?"]

[In the center of the battlefield, the father and daughter finally calmed their emotions.]

["You look so much like your mother," he chuckled foolishly, "and like your father too."]

[Chu Qinglian's eyes were red, but she couldn't help but smile.]

["Father, aren't you silly."]

[Chu Sheng was gleeful, not minding at all that his daughter called him silly.]

["Right," he suddenly remembered something, "how did you end up here? That Commandery Governor Xia Nihuang..."]

[Chu Qinglian's expression stiffened slightly.]

["She is my Master," she lowered her head. "All these years, she was the one who taught me and guided my cultivation."]

[Chu Sheng went silent for a moment, then nodded.]

["Is she... good to you?"]

[Chu Qinglian nodded.]

["Yes. Although she's strict, she is very good."]

[She raised her head and looked at Chu Sheng, "Father, Master... she's actually not bad. She's just..."]

[She paused, not knowing how to explain it.]

[Chu Sheng patted her shoulder.]

["Father knows. You don't need to explain."]

[He looked toward the Tianfeng Kingdom camp in the distance with a complex gaze.]

[Xia Nihuang... this woman had taken his daughter away for over a decade.]

[But she had also nurtured his daughter into a genius of the Ju Zhen Realm.]

[How should this debt be settled?]

[Just then, a commotion broke out nearby.]

[Chu Sheng looked up.]

[A familiar figure was charging out from the crowd, sprinting toward him.]

[The Second Elder.]

[That old fellow had clearly heard the commotion of the attempt to assassinate Chu Sheng; he had specifically rushed over to help, fearing Chu Sheng might escape.]

[But he found Chu Sheng talking with the Commandery Governor's disciple, looking very close.]

[Instinctively, he felt something was wrong.]

["Traitor!" He pointed at Chu Qinglian and shouted sternly, "How dare you collude with the enemy!"]

[Chu Sheng's gaze turned cold.]

[Just as he was about to act, Chu Qinglian stopped him.]

["Father," she said softly, "who... is this person?"]

[Chu Sheng looked at her and said in a deep voice.]

["The Second Elder of the Hall of Punishments of the Qinglan Sect. Back then, he hunted your father, forcing us to leave our home, and caused the destruction of the Li and Lin families. Your mother's flight and your grandfather's death in battle are all inextricably linked to him."]

[Chu Qinglian's gaze gradually grew cold.]

[She bent down and picked up the sword from the ground.]

["Then today, daughter and father go together."]

[Chu Sheng looked at her, a surge of pride rising in his heart.]

["Good!"]

[The two of them dashed out simultaneously, one from the left and one from the right, pouncing straight at the Second Elder!]

[The Second Elder's pupils shrank.]

[He had originally thought Chu Qinglian was one of Commandery Governor Xia Nihuang's people, and from the scene just now, he thought Chu Sheng had used some means to bewitch her.]

[Now that the two were charging together, he finally realized something was completely wrong.]

["You... you two!" he shouted, "What is your relationship!"]

[Chu Sheng sneered.]

["My daughter."]

[The Second Elder was stunned.]

["Daughter?"]

["Chu Sheng's daughter?"]

["That eighteen-year-old monstrous genius of the Ju Zhen Realm is Chu Sheng's daughter?!"]

["Impossible!" he roared, "How could you possibly father such a—"]

[Before he could finish, Chu Qinglian's sword had already arrived.]

[The sword light was like a rainbow, carrying a faint phantom of a green lotus, piercing straight toward his throat!]

[The Second Elder hurriedly dodged, while simultaneously raising a hand to strike a palm toward Chu Sheng!]

[Chu Sheng neither dodged nor avoided it; his Copper Mirror radiated light, blocking the palm wind, while his Jade Ruler whistled out, smashing toward the elder's face!]

[The Second Elder dodged wretchedly, his heart filled with extreme horror.]

[This father and daughter duo were each more difficult to deal with than the other!]

["Help!" he shouted toward the distance, "Someone come! There are traitors here!"]

[But no one responded.]

[The Tianfeng Kingdom soldiers in the distance all stared blankly at the scene, not knowing who to help.]

[Chu Qinglian was the Commandery Governor's person; they didn't dare move against her.]

[Chu Sheng was an enemy general, but they wouldn't win even if they rushed up.]

[In the moment the Second Elder was distracted—]

[Chu Qinglian's sword arrived.]

[The moment the sword tip pierced his throat, he hadn't even been able to react.]

["You... aren't you an ally..." His eyes widened, his voice raspy.]

[Chu Qinglian looked at him, her gaze icy.]

["You talk too much nonsense."]

["Daughter and father go together, didn't you hear?"]

[The sword blade twisted.]

[The Second Elder's head flew high, blood spraying out.]

[The corpse crashed to the ground.]

[Ding! Completed Golden Achievement: Father and Daughter of One Heart!]

Chu Sheng watched this scene, so excited he slapped his thigh.

"Beautiful! This daughter is too capable! Beheading with one sword strike, clean and efficient!"

He looked at the father and daughter standing side-by-side on the screen, his heart full of gratification.

"The plotline of the Second Elder has finally come to an end."

[Far off, on the highest watchtower of the Tianfeng Kingdom camp.]

[Xia Nihuang stood there, motionless.]

[She watched those two figures in the center of the battlefield, watched Chu Qinglian throw herself into Chu Sheng's arms and weep, watched them kill the enemy side-by-side, watched the Second Elder's head fly...]

[Her expression grew colder and colder.]

[Cold as frost.]

["Qinglian..."]

[She murmured, her voice barely audible.]

[Behind her, a black-clothed guard said softly, "Commandery Governor, should I..."]

["No need."]

[Xia Nihuang interrupted him, her voice devoid of any warmth.]

[She took one last look at the father and daughter, then turned to walk down the watchtower.]

["Return to camp."]

[Her back appeared exceptionally lonely under the moonlight.]

[The night wind howled, swirling the dust on the ground.]