Outside the Ancestral Hall, rain poured down in torrents beneath dark, overcast skies.
Heaven and earth seemed to have fallen into eternal night. The occasional flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder only added to the awe-inspiring might of the heavens, enough to make one's heart pound in terror.
Inside the Ancestral Hall, Xi Jingshan felt a pang in his heart. Raising a hand to wipe the tears from Xi Ning's face, he said, "A Ning, don't cry. No matter what happens, Father will always be with you, whether in life... or death!"
Xi Ning took a deep breath and lifted her eyes to gaze at her father's haggard face. "Your daughter isn't afraid of death. I simply cannot bear to put Father in a difficult position, nor can I bear to let the clan suffer because of this."
An elder in gray within the Ancestral Hall said gravely, "In that case, don't make your father suffer later. End things yourself. How about it?"
Xi Ning spun around. Her beautiful, refined jade face had already regained its calm. "How should I end things? I ask Grand Uncle to enlighten me."
The gray-robed elder fell silent for a moment before saying, "Earlier, I sent someone outside to negotiate with Old Ancestor Xun Hong of the Three Purities Dao Court, in hopes that they might leave our clan a living path. The price, however..."
The gray-robed elder hesitated before continuing, "Is to hand you over."
Though Xi Ning had long anticipated this, her heart still ached.
She pressed her lips together and swept her clear gaze across the clan elders present. Seeing each of them sitting in silence, she immediately understood that all of them had tacitly approved this decision.
In the end, Xi Ning nodded. "All right."
At once, everyone visibly