Blood River

Mu Bai stood up and shouted angrily, "Su Zhe, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Su Zhe ignored him and turned to Bai Hehuai. "Is your mother surnamed Wen? Was her name Wen Luojin?"

Bai Hehuai was momentarily stunned by Su Zhe's imposing presence and hesitated before answering, "Yes."

"Then you are..." Su Zhe paused, then laughed bitterly. "I forgot—I never got the chance to name you."

"My mother named me Hehuai," Bai Hehuai said softly. "'White crane flying south, gazing across the Huai River.'"

"It's a good name. Your mother always had a talent for naming things," Su Zhe said with a smile.

"Like 'that bastard'?" Bai Hehuai grinned.

Su Zhe scratched his head. "Yeah, like 'that bastard.'"

"Su Zhe!" Mu Bai suddenly flung a dagger, aiming straight for Su Zhe's back.

"What an unexpected reunion. It would've been better if your mother were standing here instead," Su Zhe remarked as he turned and effortlessly caught the dagger. With a flick of his wrist, the blade shattered into seven pieces, clattering to the ground.

Bai Hehuai pouted. "Is a daughter not good enough?"

"A daughter is fine, but a wife would've been better," Su Zhe replied honestly.

"Even if she was the best wife, you never came back once," Bai Hehuai scoffed.

"I stayed away for your sake," Su Zhe murmured.

After a long silence, Bai Hehuai muttered under her breath, "That bastard."

"Yeah, when it comes down to it, I'm still just that bastard," Su Zhe nodded.

Their exchange left the onlookers utterly bewildered. Su Muyu, however, grew increasingly shocked. Earlier in the secret passage, Bai Hehuai had mentioned that Su Zhe was her father, but he had dismissed it as a joke. Now, it seemed to be true. Meanwhile, Mu Bai finally pieced it together and seethed with fury. "Su Zhe, you actually married someone from outside our clan!"

Su Zhe raised an eyebrow. "So what if I did?"

Mu Bai sneered. "Violating clan rules—you and this abomination deserve to die."

"Nonsense!" Su Zhe roared. "The entire Dark River has drawn their blades to hunt down The Head—what clan rules are left? I marry a beautiful woman outside, have a precious daughter, and you scream about breaking rules. Yet here you are, raising your blade against The Head. You deserve nothing less than death by a thousand cuts."

Su Muyu watched in stunned silence. The usually inarticulate Su Zhe was surprisingly eloquent when cursing someone out.

Bai Hehuai clapped her hands. "Well said, you bastard."

"Sweetheart, 'bastard' is what your mother called me. You should call me 'Dad,'" Su Zhe said gently.

"Bastard Dad?" Bai Hehuai smirked.

"Fine, 'Bastard Dad' is still 'Dad,'" Su Zhe declared loudly. "Su Muyu, protect my precious daughter."

Su Muyu leaped back to stand beside Su Zhe and Bai Hehuai. "Uncle Zhe, your mood swings are a bit too fast."

"Ah, come on," Su Zhe patted Su Muyu's shoulder. "We're family—no need for formalities."

Mu Qingyang sheathed his sword and retreated to Mu Bai's side. "Young Master, what should we do now?" The seven Mu Family assassins who had been knocked down earlier also got up and regrouped at the Three-Mile Pavilion. Though Su Zhe had sent them flying, none were seriously injured."Since the Su Family wants a fight, we'll give them one. Did they really think we're afraid of them?" Mu Bai sneered.

Mu Qingyang gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Su Zhe was once the top master of the Su Family, after all."

"Daughter, these people want to kill you. Let me teach them a lesson," Su Zhe said with a laugh.

Bai Hehuai stuck out her tongue. "Pah! Weren't you trying to kill me just now?"

Su Zhe gripped his Buddhist staff, gave it a light twist, and smoothly changed the subject. "Young Taoist of the Mu Family, you made one mistake earlier."

Mu Qingyang was taken aback. "Oh? What was that?"

Su Zhe slammed his staff heavily onto the ground, sending out a gust of wind that shattered the Three Li Pavilion into pieces. "I am still the strongest in the Su Family now."

The Mu Family members in the pavilion scattered like ghosts, vanishing into thin air.

Bai Hehuai blinked in surprise. "What kind of dark magic is this?"

"The Mu Family's Ghostly Void Formation. Be careful," Su Muyu warned as a thick fog suddenly rose around the three of them.

"Demons and fiends, daring to act wild before my demon-subduing staff." Su Zhe scoffed, flicking his wrist to send three Golden Rings flying into the fog. Three muffled groans echoed from within. Then he thrust his staff into the ground again, and a scream erupted from beneath.

"Pathetic!" Su Zhe punched the staff, sending all the Golden Rings scattering into the fog. The clanging of metal echoed from the mist as Su Zhe stood there nonchalantly, even pulling out his pipe to take a few leisurely puffs. Finally, he tapped the pipe, and the rings flew back onto the staff.

The fog dissipated just like that.

"The formation was broken before it even began," Su Zhe remarked with a hint of disdain.

Su Muyu turned to look at the corpses on the ground. "Uncle Zhe, when we fought the Demon Sect together, I never realized you were this powerful."

Su Zhe coughed awkwardly. "Gotta put in some effort in front of my daughter. Fighting the Demon Sect didn’t pay, so why bother going all out?"

Su Muyu chuckled and stepped forward, counting seven corpses on the ground—none of them Mu Bai or Mu Qingyang.

"Killing those two brats would take too much effort. Not worth it, and it might provoke that madman Mu Zi Zhe," Su Zhe said to Su Muyu.

Su Muyu nodded. "So, Uncle Zhe, what’s your next move?"

Su Zhe glanced at Bai Hehuai, who looked up at the sky and whistled absentmindedly.

Not far away, Mu Bai clutched his chest as he sprinted desperately. "This Su Zhe... his strength is terrifying."

"Well, he was almost made The Head once," Mu Qingyang said, following at a more leisurely pace, his injuries far lighter.

"I’ll report this to Father. This time, we won’t just kill The Head—we’ll uproot the entire Su Family!" Mu Bai growled.

"Good, good. But to convince the family head to wage all-out war against the Su Family, we still need one more trigger," Mu Qingyang said slowly.

"What trigger?" Mu Bai asked, puzzled."Your death." A hint of killing intent suddenly laced Mu Qingyang's voice.

Mu Bai started in alarm, whirling around—only to feel his footing give way as his body plummeted downward. The branch he'd been standing on moments ago had been severed by a Peach Blossom Coin Mu Qingyang had thrown. Now Mu Qingyang stood balanced on the tree trunk, deftly catching the returning coin before leaping down in pursuit.