Chapter 178: Chapter 175: True Brothers
It’s not so bad to run into a powerful expert. But running into one who’s not afraid to die? That’s a real problem.
The middle-aged man was exactly that kind of person.
Daring to provoke four of the Six Great Clans of the Imperial City at once—you’d be hard-pressed to find another person like that in the entire Mountain and Sea Empire.
There was no way Mo Qi was going to throw away his Dark Horse-level Token.
It was his key to survival.
Even though the man had only undone ten percent of his seal, his strength was on par with someone at the Peak of the Void Realm.
Without the Token’s protection, the man could kill Mo Qi with a single breath.
But Mo Qi couldn’t just stand by and let Qian Duoduo and the others be killed.
’What should I do?’
This was a situation where the Pig Emperor’s ability was completely useless.
Trying to "stare" the middle-aged man pregnant would only infuriate him and hasten the deaths of Qian Duoduo and the others.
Hm?
Just then, Mo Qi spotted a small, pale yellow flower peeking out from the man’s tattered Armor.
"I don’t have time for you to think about it," the man said impatiently. "I’ll ask you one last time: are you going to toss it or not?"
But Mo Qi’s attention was now completely captivated by the small flower. He was consulting the information provided by the Chaos Scripture and didn’t hear the man’s words at all.
Seeing this, the man’s expression grew cold. He looked over at Qian Duoduo and the others. "In that case, you can all just die!"
"Wait!"
Mo Qi snapped out of it at the critical moment, shouting to stop the man.
"Hah!" The middle-aged man sneered. "And here I thought you really didn’t care whether they lived or died."
Mo Qi spread his hands in resignation. "You win."
"Bro, don’t worry about us! Just go!" Qian Duoduo cried, his face fraught with anxiety, all traces of his usual sleazy demeanor gone.
"You old convict! If you’ve got the guts, then kill your Grandmaster Qian right now! Ptui!"
Qian Duoduo spat out a thick glob of bloody phlegm, but his injuries were so severe that he couldn’t muster the strength to hit the man.
He was trying to provoke the man into attacking him, hoping it would free Mo Qi from the threat.
But the man acted as if he hadn’t seen or heard a thing. He had no desire to provoke the Six Great Clans of the Imperial City unless it was absolutely necessary.
Qian Duoduo’s actions warmed Mo Qi’s heart.
’This guy’s actually pretty loyal when it counts.’
"Alright, stalling any longer won’t change your fate. Hurry up and toss out the object that’s stirring the Dragon Vein!" the man urged.
Mo Qi took out the Token. "I can throw it away," he said, "but before I do, I have three things to say. I hope you’ll hear me out. After I’m finished, I’ll be at your mercy."
The middle-aged man nodded in agreement.
"First, that Spiritual Object in your possession is called a Little Yellow Spring Flower."
"Second, you carry the aura of the Cold Cicada Bloodline, but it’s not your own. If I’m not mistaken, this aura comes from your wife, passed down through her ancestors. For those with this bloodline, women flourish, but men are doomed to die."
"Third, the Little Yellow Spring Flower can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. But... I can."
"Alright, I’ve said my piece. If you want to kill me, go ahead."
With that, Mo Qi tossed his Token aside, spread his arms wide, and faced the man without fear.
"No! Bro, you can’t do this!"
Qian Duoduo was stunned when he saw Mo Qi throw away the Token.
He didn’t know what Mo Qi meant by those three statements, nor did he know if they would be enough to change the man’s mind.
But one thing was certain: to save him, Mo Qi was gambling with his own life!
In the Martial Arts World, it was every man for himself.
What was the most important thing? Life, of course!
Life was the foundation of everything.
Without your life, the Martial Dao, strength, wealth—it all amounted to nothing.
Saving someone’s life was a great kindness, but what was even more moving was trading your own life for someone else’s!
Previously, Mo Qi had removed the Soul-Draining Mother Spider for Qian Duoduo, for which Qian Duoduo had been deeply grateful.
Even though Qian Duoduo had been calling him "bro" over and over, their relationship was really just that of a benefactor and a beneficiary.
But now, seeing Mo Qi toss away the Token for his sake, Qian Duoduo truly saw him as his brother.
The word "brother" wasn’t something you could just throw around after a few drinks and meals together.
Nor was it merely a sense of obligation, a thought like, "You saved me, so I must repay you."
True brotherhood had to be pure, a selfless devotion that came willingly from the heart!
Mo Qi had no idea that Qian Duoduo’s feelings for him had undergone such a profound change in such a short time.
He kept his eyes locked on the middle-aged man. When he saw an expression of stunned surprise on the man’s face, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
’Looks like the first half of my gamble paid off.’
The man had, after all, once been a figure who dominated a region, and he quickly composed himself.
Mo Qi’s words had certainly shocked him, but they weren’t enough to completely change his mind.
"What else do you know?" the man asked in a low voice.
When the man asked that question, Mo Qi knew he had won the other half of his gamble as well.
As long as he could pique the man’s curiosity, Mo Qi would control the flow of the entire confrontation.
"As I said, the Cold Cicada Bloodline is passed down through the generations: women flourish, and men are doomed to die."
"The Cold Cicada aura within you was left by your wife, Senior. You’ve collected a Little Yellow Spring Flower and are desperate to get out of here. If I’m not mistaken, you have a son living on the outside, and the day his Cold Cicada Bloodline is set to activate is fast approaching."
The man’s expression finally changed, his face a mask of utter disbelief.
"How... how could you possibly know that?"
This was a secret the man had kept buried in his heart for hundreds of years. He had never told another soul.
He had committed a crime and allowed himself to be caught and imprisoned Within the Pass for one reason: it was the only place in the entire Mountain and Sea Empire where the Little Yellow Spring Flower grew.
"I deduced it from the Little Yellow Spring Flower and the Cold Cicada aura in your body," Mo Qi admitted freely.
"Unfortunately, I’m sorry to tell you that the Little Yellow Spring Flower cannot cure your son. At most, it can grant him a reprieve of ten to twenty years. Once that time is up, he will still die."
"Impossible!" the man roared. "That’s what the boy’s mother told me before she left! She wouldn’t lie to me!"
"I see!" The man’s eyes widened in sudden realization. "It’s you! You’re just saying these terrifying things to scare me into sparing your life!"
Mo Qi sneered. "Then why haven’t you killed me yet?"
"You think I don’t dare?" The man glared at Mo Qi, his voice rising, but he made no move to attack.
"You don’t dare," Mo Qi stated with conviction.
Once the Chaos Scripture had informed him of the Little Yellow Spring Flower’s properties, Mo Qi combined that knowledge with the Cold Cicada aura in the man’s body and was able to piece together most of the story.
"The Little Yellow Spring Flower is rare, but not impossible to find. If the Cold Cicada Bloodline could be cured so easily, wouldn’t that make the saying ’women flourish, but men are doomed to die’ a complete joke?"
