琅琊榜海宴小说

Chapter 42 - Massacre King

With Bai Zhanxiong’s death, the Bai family’s goal was officially a failure.

As they had been fighting, someone from the Yang family had leaked the Bai family’s schemes to the public, which was how the various powers of Baiyang Town got to know the whole story.

If the Bai family’s plans had succeeded and they became the sole ruler of Baiyang Town, no one would have dared to condemn them for their actions. However, they had failed and an important leader of the Bai family, Bai Zhanxiong, had died. The Bai family’s reputation was now at rock bottom. At the same time, a surprising prodigy had emerged from the Yang family. At this point, everyone knew whose side they should take in this conflict!

When they saw Long Chen in the process of breaking through the Human Dragon Vein, they grew more determined in their decision.

The blood-red dragon charged within Long Chen’s body, refining the energy in Bai Zhanxiong’s blood, which had as much Qi as Long Chen had started with. With this huge input of power, a breakthrough was inevitable even though the Human Dragon Vein was longer and thicker than the typical dragon vein!

The blood-red dragon-like Qi was unstoppable. Fifteen minutes later, the dragon vein broke and a dragon roared!

Long Chen was still in his post-transformation form. His Qi was rising quickly because his body contained ten times the power of normal Qi. Although he was only at the Seventh Draconic Stage, the destructive force he held was almost on par with that of an Eighth Draconic Stage warrior!

With the support of the Dragon Soul Transformation, Long Chen’s combat powers skyrocketed. Only Long Chen could truly feel the power he held.

Long Chen had been able to kill Bai Zhanxiong even though he had only been at the Sixth Draconic Stage. Now, he was over ten times stronger! The bloodlust and killing intent radiating from him made cold sweat drip from everyone.

Long Chen had completely surpassed the younger generation and was now on par with the best of Baiyang Town. Although the Bai patriarch’s bloodshot eyes continued to glare, he accepted his fate when he saw Long Chen’s glowing red eyes.

When Long Chen stood up, there was no longer a need for the fight to continue.

The Yang patriarch and the others finally abandoned their opponents and reunited with Yang Qingxuan and Yang Xueqing. They all watched Long Chen in a daze.

Despite knowing that Long Chen would only get stronger, they were still hugely emotional.

The Yang family had no desire to continue fighting. Since the formidable Long Chen was present, a fight would only cause more casualties for the Bai family. The Bai family was furious but they did not dare act when the Bai patriarch stopped them.

The Yang patriarch looked at Long Chen and said, “Chen’er, let’s go home.”

Long Chen had thought they would kill the whole Bai family but when he saw the old man’s cold expression, he knew there was no need.

The two patriarchs had been friends for a long time. The old man was devastated after the day’s events.

The Bai family had betrayed them but the Yang family killed Bai Zhanxiong and Zhanyun, even severely injuring Bai Shichen and Bai Shiji in retaliation. There was no further need to kill.

Long Chen finally reverted back to his human form. The Qi throughout his body returned to a pale red that was only four times stronger than regular Qi.

Long Chen’s handsome looks and intelligent demeanor were completely different from the appearance of the Massacre King they’d seen earlier.

However, the Yang family felt closer to him in this form. When he walked into the circle of family members, the reverence in their gazes didn’t abate. He wasn’t used to this flattery at all.

Long Chen suddenly spotted Yang Xueqing in the middle of the group. She was watching him with a smile. When he looked at her, she lowered her head awkwardly, filled with regret. Next to her, Yang Yuntian did not speak a word. There was only pain on his face.

Yang Wu and Yang Lingyue walked up to Long Chen and Lingyue said a bit awkwardly, “Thank you so much for today. You didn’t just save us, you saved the entire Yang family. Every single one of us owes you so much. I want to apologize for all the times I hurt or humiliated you in the past. I’m so sorry. I hope we can still be close cousins like you and Lingqing! Is that okay?”

Yang Wu nodded. “I truly apologize. We all misjudged you and thought you were a blot on the Yang family’s reputation. I didn’t know you were the true hero. You taught us not to judge a book by its cover. Thank you so much!”

To be honest, Long Chen was embarrassed to be the center of attention. He had always been like this. Kindness was repaid twofold, hatred the same. “Alright, that’s enough! No need to thank me! I just wanted to take my revenge and happened to help you guys along the way.”

Long Chen’s tone and expression were comical. Yang Wu, Yang Lingyue, and the other younger relatives finally relaxed and burst into laughter.

Long Chen looked up and saw Yang Qingxuan smiling at him. He knew that Yang Wu and Yang Lingyue had approached him with his encouragement.

Long Chen had no opinions about his eldest uncle. Yang Qingxuan had always been neutral towards him. Long Chen wasn’t the type to hate anyone if they didn’t treat him unkindly.

Long Chen suddenly realized how warm his family was now that he was surrounded by such kindness. It was only his previous behavior as a spoiled brat that disappointed them.

He looked at the Yang patriarch walking in front. The old man was walking alone. Yang Qingxuan had tried a few times to comfort him but the old man rejected him. Since Yang Qingxuan’s words were ineffective, he wanted Long Chen to approach the old man. Long Chen’s position in the Yang family had risen quickly to the top of his generation.

When he walked next to the patriarch, Long Chen noticed that the old man’s eyes were red. He had just been betrayed by his lifelong brother and almost got his entire family killed. The Yang patriarch had taken a massive hit.

When the Yang patriarch saw Long Chen walking up to him, he looked at Long Chen and then at the Yang residence close ahead. The patriarch mumbled, “You don’t have to say anything. I know what to do next time. But I’ll give you a warning, kid, if you make a good friend when you’re out there on your own, you must know his heart well. You must know whether his heart is filled with poison or passion ...”

Long Chen mused, “I know your heart is filled with passion. And Old Man Bai is filled with poison.”

***

When they returned home, the Yang patriarch sat at the head of the table and pulled Long Chen over to sit next to him. Everyone took their seats accordingly. They saw Long Chen’s special position but no one objected.

The Yang patriarch took a sip of tea and said, “I am at fault for what happened today. For that, I apologize. I am your patriarch, but I almost got you all killed!”

Yang Qingxuan gripped his hand and said solemnly, “Father, you don’t have to blame yourself. We all know we cannot blame you. The only person to blame is Bai Sheng! He’s evil and vicious!”

“Yeah, Grandfather. We understand.”

The Yang patriarch was slightly relieved to see his family’s compassion. His eyes swept across his progeny. What made him happiest was that the Yang family had suffered such a huge ordeal and yet did not lose anyone. Everyone knew this was all because of one very important contributor!

The Yang patriarch’s gaze finally fell on Yang Yuntian, whose head was lowered. The patriarch’s gaze turned cold and he commanded, “Yuntian, stand up.”

Yang Qingxuan knew his father would be furious with Yuntian the moment they returned home. The old man’s face was a stony green, and it was not a good time to speak. If Yang Yuntian hadn’t attacked Long Chen, their ordeal would have ended much sooner. It was because of Yuntian that the huge battle between the two families happened. He also almost got the day’s largest contributor killed. “Yuntian. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Yang Yuntian looked up. He was extremely calm. He sighed, looked at Long Chen and the Yang patriarch and said, “I have nothing to say, Father. Today, all I wanted to do was to avenge my son but I failed. And I’ll never get another chance again.”

Slam! The patriarch banged the table and the whole room trembled in fear. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? We resolve conflict within the family! Since when do we use our enemies to kill our own kin?”

Yang Yuntian bit his lip. He did not speak.

The Yang patriarch’s temper hit the roof when he saw his son’s cowardliness. He raged, “Chen’er may be the catalyst for what happened to Zhan’er, but it was also due to the boy not having strong self-esteem. With such a weak heart, he would still die in someone else’s hands. As a father, you bear the responsibility of raising him. How could you push the blame to another person? Is that what we Yangs do?”

The Yang patriarch’s words snapped Yang Yuntian out of his haze. His eyes filled with pain as he clenched his fist. Father’s right. I spoiled Zhan’er all these years. If I hadn’t let him have his way all the time and hadn’t protected him over every minor matter, he wouldn’t have such a weak self-esteem ... Yang Yuntian, in the end, the person who killed your son ... was you ...”

This thought pushed Yang Yuntian into an abyss of grief and self-blame.

The patriarch was a father himself, so he understood Yang Yuntian’s pain. He sighed and turned to Long Chen. “He tried to hurt you today. You get to decide his punishment.”

Some of them were surprised that the patriarch would let Long Chen decide the punishment but they realized it made sense. They looked at Long Chen expectantly. After so much suffering today, they didn’t want to see anyone punished. However, Long Chen’s personality was an enigma to them and it would be natural to be resentful of Yang Yuntian.

Long Chen saw that everyone was looking at him, including Yang Lingqing. The pleading look in her eyes made his heart ache. He knew that if he wanted to live well in the Yang Residence, he had to settle this matter with Yang Yuntian once and for all.

Under everyone’s nervous gaze, Long Chen stood in front of Yang Yuntian. “I indirectly caused your son’s death. But you also almost got me killed today. We’re both family and I don’t want this enmity to continue. We’ll just call it even. what do you think?”