A Will Eternal

“Song Que?” Bai Xiaochun was initially stunned, and it actually took a moment of thought before he realized that he had forgotten about Song Que….

“Yeah, him,” Zhou Yixing said in a low voice. “He was the… um, guy who claimed to be the nephew of Bai Xiaochun, who you picked up in the Chen Clan. Song Que.” Zhou Yixing looked at Bai Xiaochun for a moment and then cast his gaze back downward.

“Oh, him. Ai. Silly me. If you hadn't said something, I would have totally forgotten.” Bai Xiaochun actually felt a bit bad. Not only was Song Que one of his big lucky stars, as a member of the older generation, Bai Xiaochun had a responsibility to take care of the younger ones.

“Exalted one,” Zhou Yixing replied hurriedly, “you have a myriad of state affairs to attend to, and an entire nation to look after! Every decision you make is the type that can shake all of heaven and earth. You are constantly at the beck and call of all Arch-Emperor City, and spare no efforts in your duty. Your humble servant shouldn’t have bothered you with such a trivial matter as this. My apologies exalted one. Please, watch your health. I won’t bother you with things like this anymore.”

Bai Xiaochun was very pleased by the sincerity in his words, and how much they reminded him of the way he himself talked. Nodding approvingly at Zhou Yixing, he said, “Never mind all that, bring him to me.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Zhou Yixing replied loudly, then turned and hurried away. Moments later, he returned with Song Que, who he plopped down in front of Bai Xiaochun.

Zhou Yixing knew that there was some relationship between Song Que and Bai Xiaochun, and therefore, Song Que was currently not wearing the same raggedy clothes he had been back in the Chen Clan. He was dressed in a rough spun cloth garment, and had been cleaned up quite a bit. However, his eyes were just as intensely stubborn and maddened as ever.

After being thrown onto the ground, he crawled to his feet, where he stood ramrod straight as he glared at Bai Xiaochun and yelled, “If you’re that tough, just kill me!! My uncle will never let you off the hook!!”

Although Bai Xiaochun was a bit startled by how he had yelled, his words nearly caused him to laugh. However, he covered it with a dry cough. Keeping his face straight, he circled Song Que a bit to measure him up.

His gaze caused Song Que’s heart to tremble. As far as Song Que could tell, it was a gaze of terrifying profundity. However, what was worse was how Bai Xiaochun poked and prodded him a bit here and there, leading Song Que to shiver and think about what vile intentions he had. Stiffening, he once again resorted to a shout when he said, “Even if I die, I’ll never yield!”

“Alright, enough with the yelling. Allow me to ask you something. Who is this Bai Xiaochun to you?!” Inside, Bai Xiaochun was smiling broadly, but he kept his expression somber, and even made it seem like he was afraid of this Bai Xiaochun.

The truth, of course, was that he was eagerly awaiting Song Que’s response.

Song Que was a bit surprised to see the expression on Bai Xiaochun’s face. Obviously, not dying was the optimal outcome if it was possible, and therefore, the gears were already turning in Song Que’s head.

“Bai Xiaochun is my uncle!”

Blinking, Bai Xiaochun kept his smile hidden away, and instead plastered an even more serious expression on his face. “What did you just say? I didn’t hear clearly….”

Eyes glittering, Song Que raised his voice and said, “Bai Xiaochun… is my uncle!!!”

Bai Xiaochun’s heart was racing with excitement, and he coughed dryly again to keep himself from laughing. He also tried to look a bit more scared.

“Are you talking about the guy in 1st place on the Hell-Emperor Stele, the one with the shocking cultivation base, the one who countless women are enamored with, and who innumerable men admire? The man who everyone in the Wildlands is searching for? That Bai Xiaochun?”

Song Que was stunned to hear all of this, and Zhou Yixing placed his face into the palm of his hand at how obvious it all seemed… and the shamelessness of it all….

Of course, there was no possible way for Song Que to realize that the person he was standing in front of was actually Bai Xiaochun. However, he was a bit worried by the expression of fear he saw on Bai Xiaochun’s face.

“Yeah, that Bai Xiaochun….”

Bai Xiaochun wasn’t fully satisfied yet, so he plastered a look of disbelief onto his face and said, “Hold on, I want you to be very clear about this. Which Bai Xiaochun? Are we really talking about the same person?”

So far, he was feeling very pleased with the act he was putting on.

Song Que was starting to get a strange feeling, but he proceeded with another explanation. “I'm talking about the guy in 1st place on the Hell-Emperor Stele, the one with the shocking cultivation base, the one who countless women are enamored with, and who innumerable men admire! The man who everyone in the Wildlands is searching for. That Bai Xiaochun!!”

By this point, he was starting to feel like maybe they actually weren’t talking about the same person.

However, this was when Bai Xiaochun gasped and backed up a few steps. Eyes wide, he pointed at Song Que with disbelief. “Heavens! I can’t believe that you’re actually the nephew of that Bai Xiaochun!!”

Zhou Yixing stood there in a near daze, staring at Bai Xiaochun. However, he quickly looked down again, unable to keep watching….

Song Que was now starting to get a bit excited.

“That's right! I am Bai Xiaochun’s nephew, and his only nephew at that. He really likes me, and has a lot of hopes for me for the future. He’s my aunt's Daoist partner, so he’ll definitely be coming to save me. If you touch a hair on my head, my uncle will definitely get revenge for me!” He couldn’t have stated it any clearer. Anyone who was listening would be very certain that Bai Xiaochun cared a lot about him. Furthermore, anyone who was interested in catching Bai Xiaochun would obviously not want to kill Song Que.

That in turn would make things a bit safer for him.

Although Bai Xiaochun had no idea what anyone else might think of what Song Que said, as for himself, it made him incredibly happy.

“How could I ever have guessed that, contrary to all expectations, you were actually telling the truth! Your uncle is none other than the heaven-shaking, earth-shattering Bai Xiaochun, whose cultivation base is matchless in all creation…. Well, in that case… alright. Yixing, let’s keep this guy here in the Inspections Manor. Start him out as a servant. And give him some resources to practice cultivation.

“Hmph. With him around, the notorious Bai Xiaochun, who is the ultimate chosen in the world, a person that countless individuals are infatuated with, will definitely walk right into the trap I'm planning for him!” He emphasized his righteous, sincere words with the flick of a sleeve.

When Song Que heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief. Although he still had a strange feeling about the whole situation, he still couldn’t put his finger on what exactly it was. Before anything else could happen, Zhou Yixing grabbed him and hauled him away.

With that, Bai Xiaochun closed his door, sealed the place up, and then let loose a stream of uproarious laughter.

“Oh, Que’er! I can only imagine the look on your face if you ever find out who I really am….” The mere thought was exciting, but Bai Xiaochun also decided that he definitely couldn’t ever let that happen.

After all, he was a circumspect person in general, and also had to be on guard against Song Que. Considering that he was deep undercover, he obviously couldn’t reveal the truth to anyone. Besides, it was wonderful to hear Song Que lavishing Bai Xiaochun with praise. From now on, if he was ever in a bad mood, he could simply call Song Que over, scare him a bit, and then bask in the resulting praise.

Now that Song Que had been taken care of, though, Bai Xiaochun thought about Master God-Diviner.

“I wonder where he is now…. Probably somewhere else in the Wildlands, I suppose.” It was another mission on his list. After all, Master God-Diviner had been one of his followers, and was likely in a horrible situation. Therefore, it was definitely important to find him and save him.

Unfortunately, he had absolutely no clues to work with. After thinking about the matter for a bit, he sighed and put the matter to rest temporarily. Just when he was about to start working with eighteen-colored flame, his expression flickered, and he looked down at his bag of holding. Eyes lighting up, he produced the Eternal Parasol.

The canopy of the parasol had been destroyed by Chen Haosong, leaving behind only the shaft. Thankfully, the beast hide he had found when shaking down the Li Clan had been a perfect fit.

Now, it was completely recovered. As soon as it was out in the open, it glowed with black light. As for the beast hide which formed the new canopy, it caused the parasol as a whole to emanate fluctuations which were many times more powerful than before. As of this moment, the parasol seemed completely different from before.

As he held it, he could sense an incredible, shocking power inside of it. Unable to contain his excitement, he snapped it open.

Rumbling sounds filled the room, and at the same time, the ghost face appeared on the canopy, with its enigmatic smile, and half-laughing half-crying ghost face.

The ghost face was much clearer than before, and was actually a bit frightening to Bai Xiaochun. However, upon rotating his cultivation base, the feeling went away.

“My Eternal Parasol is finally fully repaired!”