Chapter 60
60 I’m never disappointed in you Part II
“Careful!!” The lieutenant-general sensed the sound of something flying through the air. His instinct honed from battle told him that danger was approaching, but the problem was that the sword was not flying toward him...It was going toward Bai Yu!
“Ahh!!!!”
Bai Yu was pulled back to reality by the scream from the two women. She could see that something was coming toward her. She calmly pulled out her hairpin and hold it in front of her.
Thunk!
The sword sank into the hairpin, suffused with red magic that enveloped her whole body. Its sharp edge went through that barrier and was a hairbreadth away from her face.
Bai Yu blinked a few times.
Suddenly, black magic took over hers and ground the sword into dust. It was Bai He who came into her view.
Bai Yu blinked again.
“Yu-er, are you alright?” His large hands took her shoulder and pulled her up. He turned her over to search for an injury. His usually gentle voice was anxious. “The sword flew too fast and I was sitting too far away from you. I was so afraid that I couldn’t save you in time.”
.....
Seeing that his sister was still silent. Bai He supposed that she might still be in shock. And so he pulled her into a hug, slowly stroking her hair in an attempt to comfort her.
Bai Yu, when on the receiving end of such a substantial amount of worry, hugged him back. She rubbed his back to tell him that she was safe. She did not even realize that the sword was flying so fast, and the fact that what Bai He said did not match her experience confused her. Was her eyesight so bad that she saw it in slow-motion? Or was her big brother exaggerating?
“Miss Bai, Master Bai, please forgive me.”
A stern voice came along with a sound of clothes rubbing together because of the wearer’s hasty action to kneel. Bai Yu separated herself from her brother’s hug and discovered that the owner of that flying sword was the man she thought was Yue Chang’s concubine’s son.
“Caution is the characteristic a soldier must have. If your duty was to protect the royals and you turned your sword toward them by mistake, taking ten lives from you would still be far from enough!”
Bai He roared like the sound of thunder. The man could not say anything in response, only bowing his head, accepting his failure. Even Yue Chang who was his father did not interfere or try to help. He knew that this nephew was furious over this major case of carelessness. Furthermore, everything that Bai He said was true.
If Bai Yu, the heart of Bai’s family, had even a scratch on her, Bai He would surely not let this man live. Yue Chang knew how ruthless and resolute his nephew was, otherwise he would not be able to achieve the title of lieutenant-general at such a young age. f𝙧ee𝘄𝐞𝚋𝐧૦ѵeƖ.c𝘰𝓶
“True, you’ve won the match. But you don’t have the quality of the royal guard!”
“Lieutenant-general, please have mercy.” Even while being pressured, the man could maintain his politeness as he begged.
“You have to be punished,” Bai Yu’s uncle said amidst the silence. No matter how enraged Bai He was, the authority in making decisions still remained in the member of the Yue family, so he stood back and quietly sent his killing intent toward that man.
“Yes, father.”
‘Yue Shi’ answered his father firmly with respect. However, he himself did not understand how his sword could change its course. He had been vigorously practicing for this match, but somehow an unexpected mistake occurred.
“Uncle, please wait.” A clear voice cut through the heavy air. The woman who just had a near-death experience walked up to join them, as graceful as ever. Everyone else on the training ground all looked at the beauty while silently admiring her calmness.
But they could only afford a brief glance before soldiers at the sparring stage felt their breaths caught in their chests. Bai He’s oppressing killing intent forced them to turn their eyes away. No one dared to look at Bai Yu except the masters within the tent, so they had to strain their ears instead.
“Before punishing him, shouldn’t we find what caused the sword to change its direction first?”
“You’re too kind, Yu-er. It is my child who was reckless and almost hurt you.” Yue Chang was grateful for his niece’s compassion, but he also saw that Yue Shi was careless and caused the accident.
“But I saw something before the sword changed its course.”
“Nonsense! Everyone saw that brother made a mistake. Biaomei doesn’t know martial arts so that’s impossible.” At Yue Huiling’s words, Bai Yu was certain that others here did not see the same thing she did. A surprise was visible on their faces, and they nodded in support of biaojie who did not stop pecking at her.
Except for one person who had remained quiet from the start.
“I believe that grandfather saw the same thing I did.” Bai Yu turned to Yue Chen who had been watching the scene in front of him in silence. The sharp gazed toward his beautiful granddaughter glinted a slight change. Every eye focused on general Yue, waiting for him to confirm what Bai Yu had insisted.
“It is as she said.”
At his affirmation, those eyes shifted back to Bai Yu again. Right now, on her charming face was a wide smile that made two dimples visible on her cheeks. Bai Yu was overjoyed. At least that was not something only she saw, and she did not hallucinate.
“If that’s not a mistake, then what’s the cause?” Bai He asked his sister.
“If I guess correctly...” Bai Yu paused as she wrangled with her thoughts. “...It’s a concealed weapon, brother.”
Bai Yu had been watching Yue Shi fought from the start since she knew he had skills. It was his last attack that he intended to throw his sword to stop the movement of his opponent. However, it collided with something that was launched at high speed. That something was a weapon so small and hard to see that it sent the sword toward Bai Yu without anyone noticing.
“Soldiers! Apprehend every contestant and combed through the stage to find the concealed weapon.”
Yue Chang immediately barked an order without stopping to consider Bai Yu’s words. All soldiers in the vicinity promptly followed his command.
Soldiers who were participating in the match were caught as a precaution. When speaking of a concealed weapon, then that would also mean a spy. The only force in Da Yang that was allowed to carry concealed weapons was the ‘Black dragon unit’, commandeered by Ouyang Feilong. It was impossible that one of those would appear among Yue Chen’s men.
Though Bai Yu unexpected that the spy revealed themselves so easily, she guessed that there must be a reason behind it. Or this might be a scene set up by Yue Chen. At first, Bai Yu only wanted to help Yue Shi. She did not think that it would turn into such a big deal.
She and other Yue women were kept in the tent for their safety. Some soldiers were called to guard them. Bai He stood unmoving beside Bai Yu. Because this was a matter within the Yue family’s army, he had no right to meddle. It was the same with Yue Huiling who was standing next to Yue Chen, the latter seemed as indifferent as ever.
Two kes passed before a concealed weapon was found. It took a while to find since it was small and especially transparent.
“As expected. This is Da Chu’s.” Yue Chen studied the weapon in his hand.
Yue Chang frowned. “Father, you mean...”
“Lieutenant-general, hear your command.”
“Bai He is here to receive the order!” Bai He kneeled in front of his grandfather.
“Huiling is here to receive the order!” Yue Huiling kneeled in front of her grandfather.
“Pass this message to the commander general...” The important part of his words was cut off by his magic.
“We have taken your command, general Yue!” The two lieutenant-generals firmly answered. This was the first time that Bai Yu saw Yue Huiling’s serious expression. She stood up and talked to Bai He for only a few words before going the other way.
Bai He walked back to Bai Yu’s side with a face grimmer than when they had yet to find the concealed weapon.
“How did you see it?”
“I was just looking at the match like normal. I can’t see where that weapon came from, I only knew when I saw it collided with the sword.” Bai Yu told him the truth.
“You have good eyes.” A stern voice from her grandfather sounded as he moved to stand in front of her.
“Grandfather’s praising me too much.” Bai Yu humbled herself.
“Being able to see Da Chu’s concealed weapon is an ability that many skilled men can do. But being to see the speed of the attack that changed the sword’s course, that’s an ability only a few possess. You could see it as if it’s a normal thing, and you were even calm enough to stop it.” This was the first long sentence that Yue Chen spoke to her. The large, callous hand of the experienced general patted twice on her shoulder.
“Tomorrow, wait for me at your mother’s Meihua residence’s training ground.”
“Grandfather, you mean...”
“I’ll teach you how to use those eyes as a weapon.” He patted her shoulder twice, again.
Bai Yu was elated. She wanted to shout loud to express her happiness but then had to suppress tears instead. Because it seemed like all the bones in her shoulder were shattered...