The Main Branch's Gaze

Deafening cheers, like a tangible tsunami, echoed in the Su family's martial arts arena for a long time. The suppressed frustration and anger of the branch family disciples all transformed into fervor, focusing on the moon-white figure in the center of the arena. Su Qingxue's name was shouted again and again, like the beating of war drums.

Lin Xiao leaned against the cold corridor pillar, his heart pounding like a drum against his depleted chest. The [-0.8] faint light in his mind was still blinding, but the faint warmth (+0.8) that had just been injected, originating from "event influence," was like a drop of sweet dew in a parched desert, barely nourishing his soul, which was on the verge of cracking. Although the tearing pain from exhaustion had lessened, it had not disappeared, like a chronic illness. Deep within his right leg, the residual core of the dark green Viper's Kiss pulsed, seemingly colder and more greedy under the stimulation of the recovering Source Energy Points, lurking in the marrow of his bones and emitting a silent threat.

He breathed greedily, each inhale carrying the rusty smell of blood and the noisy air of the arena. His vision was still blurry, and the buzzing in his ears was like countless tiny insects flapping their wings inside his skull. He forced himself to stay upright, his bloodshot eyes piercing through the blurry light and the surging crowd, fixing intently on the center of the arena.

The Enforcement Elder solemnly announced the result, then sternly commanded, "Silence!" The voice wave, imbued with True Qi, forcefully suppressed the cheers of the branch family. Several disciples from the main branch had ashen faces and venomous eyes, but they dared not defy the elder's authority. They quickly rushed into the arena and, fumbling, lifted Su Hao, who lay on the ground like a dead dog, gasping for breath and covered in frost.

Su Hao's body was limp, and every movement of him was accompanied by the faint sound of cracking bones and pained groans. He continued to spit out bloody foam mixed with ice shards. His once sharp and arrogant eyes now held only vacant pain and incomprehensible bewilderment, staring blankly at the gray sky. Fragments of his black martial arts uniform, mixed with congealed blood clots, clung to him, making his appearance utterly pathetic and miserable.

The main branch disciples carried him as if he were a shameful piece of evidence. Under the gaze of countless branch family members, who were either indifferent, gleeful, or subtly fearful, they lowered their heads and retreated quickly and heavily towards the main branch viewing area. Wherever they passed, the crowd parted like a tide, creating a path in silence, the atmosphere oppressively suffocating.

The main branch viewing area was now like an icy hell.

Su Zhenshan still sat on his wide redwood chair, but the armrests of the chair beneath him had long since turned to dust under his unconscious grip. Tea mixed with porcelain shards dripped from his tightly clenched, white-knuckled hand, staining his expensive brocade robe with dark water marks. He lowered his head, his temples with graying hair trembling slightly. His face, usually dignified and calm, was now so gloomy it looked like it could drip water. The overwhelming rage, the bone-chilling humiliation, and the heartache for his son's severe injuries gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes, almost breaking the dam of his reason.

But he did not move, nor did he even look up at his son being carried away. He simply suppressed the erupting volcano with all his might. His fingernails dug deeply into his palm, and blood seeped from between his fingers, yet he was oblivious.

Only after Su Hao was carried away did the noisy arena, under the Enforcement Elder's suppression, return to an eerie calm.

Su Zhenshan then slowly, like a rusty machine, raised his head.

Those eyes!

Sinister, cold, like a thousand-year-old abyss quenched with potent poison! What churned within them was no longer anger, but an extreme, chilling malevolence and... inquiry!

His gaze, passing over Su Qingxue, who stood proudly in the arena, receiving symbolic commendations from the Enforcement Elder (a few pills and a token to choose a cultivation technique from the family armory), was like two invisible blades coated in venom, piercing with unparalleled precision towards the inconspicuous shadowy corner of the corridor!

The target—Lin Xiao!

That gaze seemed to penetrate Lin Xiao's lowered hood, pierce through his weak and pale disguise, and strike directly at the secret hidden deep within his soul!

Lin Xiao instantly felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar! A coldness far more piercing than the arena's chill seized his heart! His back wound seemed to split open again under the immense pressure, and cold sweat instantly soaked his inner garments! He forcibly steadied his breathing, maintaining his posture leaning against the pillar, but his fingers twitched uncontrollably.

What had Su Zhenshan seen? Was it Su Hao's strange misstep in the final move? Was it Su Qingxue's capture of an illogical yet terrifyingly precise opening in her technique? Or... was it himself, this "rascal" who should have been irrelevant but happened to be present?

Doubt! Like maggots clinging to bones!

That cold gaze lingered on Lin Xiao for only a brief moment, as fast as an illusion. But Lin Xiao knew it was not an illusion! That old fox, Su Zhenshan, had firmly planted the seed of suspicion on him!

"Niece Qingxue," Su Zhenshan's voice finally rang out, hoarse and deep, like sandpaper rubbing against rotten wood, betraying no emotion, "Well done. You hid it deep enough. Hao'er... was outmatched and lost fairly." He slowly stood up, his tall figure exuding a heavy pressure, "Enforcement Elder, according to the rules, the rewards that Niece Qingxue deserves, the main branch... will not be shortchanged by a single bit!"

He deliberately emphasized the words "main branch," and his cold gaze swept across the branch family area, carrying an undisguised warning. The recently rising cheers of the branch family were instantly suppressed, and many people instinctively avoided his gaze.

"Thank you... Uncle." Su Qingxue accepted the token and pills handed to her by the Enforcement Elder. Her eyes, like a clear spring, met Su Zhenshan's unfathomable gaze, her voice clear and calm, without any ripple. But Lin Xiao keenly noticed that the fingertips holding the token tightened almost imperceptibly for a moment.

"Hmph." Su Zhenshan let out an unclear snort from his nostrils. He no longer looked at Su Qingxue, but his gaze, as if unintentionally, swept over the corner where Lin Xiao was located again. Then, he turned and, with the main branch disciples, whose faces were grim and who dared not speak, left the viewing area like a heavy dark cloud, heading towards the inner chambers. The heavy footsteps seemed to land on everyone's heart.

With the main branch departing, the tense atmosphere in the arena slightly relaxed. The branch family disciples surged towards Su Qingxue again, surrounding their hero, with congratulations, admiration, and questions erupting one after another. Su Qingxue was at the center, her face still calm, but beneath that calmness, there seemed to be a trace of imperceptible fatigue and distance.

Taking advantage of the crowd's commotion, Lin Xiao, enduring the exhaustion of his soul and the cold numbness in his right leg, silently shuffled backward along the shadows of the corridor pillars. He had to leave quickly! Su Zhenshan's final glance, like the flick of a viper's tongue against the back of his neck, sent a chill through him.

"Lin Xiao."

A clear voice, like flowing spring water, abruptly sounded amidst the noisy background, reaching Lin Xiao's ears distinctly.

He stopped in his tracks, did not turn back, merely turned his face slightly.

Su Qingxue had somehow broken free from the crowd and stood a few steps away. In her hand, she held a small brocade box emitting a faint sandalwood fragrance. She did not look at Lin Xiao, her gaze seeming to fall on the falling withered leaves in the distance, her voice calm and unwavering, "Take it. As promised."

She extended the brocade box forward, her movements crisp and decisive, without any hesitation.

Lin Xiao paused for a moment, then accepted it without politeness. The brocade box felt warm and slightly heavy in his hand, and he could feel the pure energy fluctuations within even through the box. Three medium-grade Energy Stones!

[Detected medium-purity energy source (3 units)... can be absorbed... estimated replenishment: 0.3~0.5 points...]

The cold prompt carried a hint of temptation.

"Don't forget your promise," Su Qingxue's voice sounded again. She still didn't look at Lin Xiao, but her spring-like eyes clearly reflected Lin Xiao's pale and tired profile, "Three days later, same place. We'll 'research' my Jade Balance Hidden Meridian."

Her voice was very soft, yet it carried an undeniable, cold sense of contract. After speaking, she did not linger. She turned, her moon-white figure merging back into the throng of branch family members, like cold jade thrown into a lake, quickly disappearing.

Lin Xiao tightly gripped the warm brocade box in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force. This box of Energy Stones was both a lifeline and a death warrant! Su Qingxue's "Jade Balance Hidden Meridian"... that would be no pleasant research process!

He cast a final glance in the direction Su Qingxue had disappeared, then warily scanned the direction the main branch had departed from the inner chambers, as if he could still feel Su Zhenshan's sinister gaze hanging over him like a tangible entity.

This place is not safe for long!

Lin Xiao tucked the brocade box close to his body, pulled down his hood, and like a ghost melting into the shadows, dragging his increasingly cold and heavy right leg, he moved quickly and silently towards the direction of the Su family gate.

Every step felt like treading on invisible blades.