If I Had Caught Up to Him Then

The scene shifted. On the third day of the tournament, the Team Competition officially began.

This was also the main event of the Four Clans Tournament.

However, just as the Vague Man had specifically warned her the night before, the situation was extremely unfavorable for the Speed Clan.

On the stage.

Although the few clan members beside Bai Chenxiang were not slow either,

against defensive and strength-type Soul Masters with rough hides and thick flesh, they were practically throwing themselves away.

"Ouch!"

"Bang! Bang!"

Before long, amid several muffled impacts, her teammates were tossed off the stage one after another like sacks of sand.

"It's over. The Speed Clan only has the Eldest Miss left."

"One against seven? How is she supposed to fight that?"

The Audience Seat buzzed with discussion. Everyone felt the outcome had already been decided.

"Hehe, Sister Chenxiang, you're the only one left. Just surrender!" The opposing team leader rubbed his hands as several people closed in around her.

However.

There was not the slightest trace of panic on Bai Chenxiang's face.

She took a deep breath. "Come on!"

With a sharp cry, Bai Chenxiang's figure instantly became elusive. Facing the siege of seven burly men, she moved like a butterfly flitting through flowers.

"Got her!"

"No, that's an afterimage!"

"Ouch! Don't grab me, I'm on your side!"

The stage descended into chaos. All kinds of Soul Skills flew about, yet none of them even touched the corner of Bai Chenxiang's clothes.

Instead, their own impatience caused them to nearly collide several times. Bai Chenxiang even used Borrowing Strength to Counter Strength to kick two of them off the stage.

"Phew..."

Bai Chenxiang stopped at the edge of the stage, a fine layer of sweat beading across her forehead.

She could still run, but her Soul Power was limited. Trying to knock all seven of those iron lumps off by herself was unrealistic.

Then she raised her hand, her voice clear and ringing.

"I surrender!"

The entire venue fell silent for a second.

Then applause and cheers even more Passionate than those for the victors erupted!

"Defeated, but still honorable!"

"That movement technique is terrifying!"

This battle completely reshaped everyone's understanding of the Speed Clan.

That figure dancing across the stage like an elf was deeply imprinted in everyone's mind.

And in an inconspicuous corner.

The Vague Man leaned against a pillar, watching the radiant girl onstage with a smile on his lips as he lightly clapped his hands.

On the platform.

Seeing the entire venue erupt in cheers, the expressions in the eyes of the other three clan chiefs changed.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

"Old White Bird, your granddaughter is incredible!"

Tai Tan looked full of envy. Then his eyes shifted as he leaned closer. "Chenxiang is almost sixteen, isn't she?"

Niu Gao beside him also chuckled. His booming voice made people's ears ache. "Our four clans are bound together, and the younger generation is all here."

"Old White Bird, why not take advantage of today's happy occasion and arrange a marriage for the two children?"

"I think my Niu Ben is pretty good. He's honest and can take a beating!"

"Get out of here! Does that bull of yours deserve Chenxiang? It has to be my Yang Lie!"

The old men nearly started arguing on the spot over who would get to claim a granddaughter-in-law.

Listening to his old brothers compete, Bai He felt so pleased that even his beard seemed to curl upward.

Yet he still put on a helpless expression, shook his head, and sighed as if troubled.

"Ah, my old brothers, it's not that I won't give you face."

"Kids these days have their own ideas. I've spoiled Chenxiang rotten, so for something like this, we still have to see what she wants."

"As her Grandpa, I can't make the decision!"

The award ceremony ended.

Bai Chenxiang stood in the middle of the crowd, holding the Individual Champion trophy.

First place in the individual competition, first place in the doubles competition, and fourth place in the Team Competition.

At that moment, she shone brilliantly.

"Chenxiang, you were amazing today!"

"Sister Chenxiang, that move just now was so cool!"

The moment she stepped down, she was surrounded by a group of enthusiastic youths.

Niu Ben, Yang Lie, and the Young Masters of the various clans squeezed to the very front.

"Chenxiang, you can't run off from the Victory Banquet tonight!"

Yang Lie looked at her expectantly. "You turned us down the past two days. Today, you're the star—you have to be there!"

"Yeah, yeah! Everyone's waiting to toast you!"

Surrounded by the crowd, Bai Chenxiang listened to their overlapping invitations and smiled awkwardly.

"I... um..."

She truly did not want to go. She only wanted to take her trophy and hurry off to find Brother, to hear him praise her in person.

Standing on tiptoe, Bai Chenxiang searched anxiously through the gaps in the crowd with her beautiful Big Eyes, scanning the corners of the venue.

There!

Beneath a massive stone pillar at the edge of the Arena.

She saw the Vague Man preparing to turn and leave.

As if their hearts were connected.

Just as the Vague Man was about to step into the shadows, he suddenly stopped and turned sideways.

Across the bustling crowd, across the noisy cheers.

Their gazes met in midair.

The Vague Man said nothing. He merely looked at her, raised his hand, and gave a light wave.

The movement was very gentle.

Bai Chenxiang's heart skipped a beat.

Though she did not understand why, she still instinctively raised her hand toward that direction, smiling sweetly as she waved hard.

At that moment, all the noise around her seemed to vanish.

In her eyes, there was only that blurry figure.

"Huh?"

This scene stunned Yang Lie, who had been talking to her beside her.

He followed Bai Chenxiang's gaze, but all he saw was a cold stone pillar with no one beneath it.

"Chenxiang, who are you greeting?"

Yang Lie scratched the back of his head, his face full of confusion. "There's no one over there."

"Ah?"

Bai Chenxiang suddenly came back to herself.

When she looked again, that familiar figure had already vanished, as though he had never appeared at all.

For some reason, an inexplicable sense of loss welled up in her heart.

She lowered her hand and smoothed her bangs as if to cover it up. Then she shook her head at everyone and forced out a smile.

"N-Nothing. I saw wrong."

Although she said that, her gaze still could not help drifting in that direction.

Looking at everyone's enthusiastic smiles, the words of refusal reached her lips but could not come out.

At a major family gathering like this, as the Young Master of the Speed Clan, she truly could not willfully skip it again.

"Alright, I'll go."

Bai Chenxiang sighed inwardly and became somewhat distracted.

The people around her were still excitedly discussing the match, but she did not hear a single word.

Yet her gaze once again drifted toward that empty pillar.

Her heart felt as though a cat were scratching at it, restless and anxious.

I can only go find him after the banquet ends.

He'll be there anyway. It's not like he'll run away.

Tonight, I have to tell him how I feel.

At that thought, the girl's cheeks flushed faintly, and her heart filled with anticipation again.

Outside the scene.

Seeing this, countless viewers burst into laughter.

"Her heart has already flown away, but she still has to keep up this fake smile and socialize. Just watching is exhausting."

"She definitely won't be able to drink peacefully tonight."

"Maybe this girl will drink too much and use the courage from the alcohol... hehe!"

Star Luo Empire, deep in the wilderness.

Bai Chenxiang was traveling on Grandpa's back. Looking at the scene on the Heavenly Curtain, her tears burst forth again.

That had been the night she had looked forward to most, suffered through most, and regretted most.

If only she had been more decisive then.

If only she had caught up to him...

Would things have been different?

"Big Bad Guy..."

Bai Chenxiang buried her face in Grandpa's shoulder, her body shaking with sobs.

"Why... why..."

Hearing his granddaughter's crying, Bai He quickened his pace.

No words of comfort would help now.

Only by escaping this dangerous place as quickly as possible and keeping his granddaughter alive could anything matter.

"Xiangxiang, hold on tight!"

"Once we enter the Star Dou Forest, we'll be safe!"