Bear Humiliation and Blame!?
Bear Humiliation and Blame!?
Nothing anyone said would make it the fault of Heavenly Punishment! Even if the Outsiders really succeeded in their invasion, the living environment of the Heavenly Punishment Mystic Beasts would not change at all. No outside forces had ever managed to invade Heavenly Punishment Forest. That was the case in the past, the present, and will also be the same in the future as well!
The current situation was one where if they wanted to advance, it would be impossible. If they wanted to fight, they wouldn't be able to beat their enemies. If they wanted to flee, it would be even harder! It could be said that they reached an unchangeable conclusion! The other party had arrived with formidable might and absolutely did not have any intentions of letting them off. From the looks of it, their fates were already sealed!
Mo Xiaoyao turned around and looked at the looks of despair and resignation on the others' faces. Then, he gritted his teeth, straightened his body, and walked slowly toward Mei Xueyan. His steps were heavy and resolute, and his face was cold and firm. A fierce fire burnt within his eyes!
"Brother Mo, what are you doing?" Jia Qingyun jumped in front of him. This Savage Venerable was also in an extremely wretched state. His face was sapped and pale, and he looked like an evil spirit!
Even in the most difficult and downtrodden periods of their lives, these Venerables had probably never been reduced to such a state before!
"Get out of my way! This old is going to beg for mercy!" Mo Xiaoyao's jet black hair flew lightly in the wind. Although his face was tinged with deep shame, there was actually also a profound brilliance!
"What? Beg for mercy!?" Jia Qingyun exclaimed with shock and his eyes grew wide. "Brother Mo, a man can forsake his pride, but he must have a spine! We're all brave warriors; if we have to die, so be it. How can we kneel and beg, for the sake of extending a pitiable existence by a few more days? Are our few hundred years of reputation so cheap as to not be cherished? Even if we must die a valiant death, it's better than living out a shameful life!"
"Nonsense! Is this old man a person who's afraid of death? But if you and I perished, what will happen to the War for Seizing the Heavens? If the mainland loses the war because of us, who will take responsibility for it?! We still have 84 experts right now! If we are able to make it back, we will still be able to contribute four Venerable experts and 80 Superior Supreme experts for the War for Seizing the Heavens! But if all of us died here… what use would we be?" Mo Xiaoyao roared with rage. His eyes were actually already gleaming with tears!
For an arrogant fourth level Venerable expert who'd walked unrivalled through the world for so many years to make such a decision was surely hundreds and thousands of times more difficult than dying! However, Mo Xiaoyao did not have any other options!
He could accept death, and was even more so unafraid of death. However, he couldn't tolerate himself turning into the greatest sinner of the Mystic Mystic Continent! He was completely capable of being shameless and despicable under normal circumstances. In fact, he would have no scruple about doing the most reprehensible things while strutting around like a gentleman. But, the crime of becoming a historical sinner like this was something he wouldn't be able to bear, not even if he died ten thousand deaths!
He could accept dying in battle; he could accept being killed! He could harm others or be schemed against by others. But at this point, he could not afford to die! At least, he couldn't die such a worthless death!
Because the War for Seizing the Heavens was the main goal that he had been working toward the day he entered the Elusive World of Immortals! Thus in that moment, no matter what, he had to bear the humiliation and live on!
All for the greater good that he had been working toward his entire life!
Seeing Mo Xiaoyao struggling as he walked step by step, his legs seemingly weighing a thousand jin, Jia Qingyun fell silent. He felt his eyes grow wet as well, and he nearly dropped tears! Without another word, he followed quietly behind Mo Xiaoyao, stepping forward resolutely!
Xiao Tianya stood silently and sighed deeply. Finally, he also walked over together with Qu Wu Qing!
Mei Xueyan saw the four walking toward her, but she did not feel any battle intent from them. Her heart turned complicated. But on the other side, Jun Moxie's head was filled with confusion; the first thing he thought of was: could it be… they've come to surrender and beg for mercy? But when he thought about it again, he felt that that was impossible! There wasn't supposed to be the word "surrender" in this world!
Besides, what characters were these four? They were proper Venerable realm experts! Even the weakest among them was a second level Venerable. Most likely, even an ordinary Spirit Mystic expert would find it too humiliating to beg for their lives, much less them! The pugilistic world had always viewed reputation as more important than life itself. How could a lofty expert like Mo Xiaoyao come and beg for mercy?
"Venerable Mei, this Mo has been defeated completely! We admit that we've lost this battle!" Mo Xiaoyao's face was filled with deep shame and anger. His eyes carried an intense unwillingness and grief, but he still looked at Mei Xueyan directly in the eye, confronting his humiliation as he uttered each word.
"For Venerable Mo to admit defeat with his own mouth is quite a shock for me. I presume that the Venerable still has other words to say? Please don't hesitate to say them." Although Mei Xueyan's gaze was ice cold as usual, her tone was courteous.
Mo Xiaoyao hesitated for a moment. His mouth twitched hard, his face was bleak, and his lips squirmed a few times. But he did not make any sound and simply remained standing there.
At the end of his heroic path, this expert of a generation still needed to humble himself to bow and beg; this feeling caused him to feel a sudden intense sourness in his heart, rendering him incapable of speech!
Mei Xueyan and Jun Moxie looked at him and suddenly saw a shocking scene: Mo Xiaoyao's hair, which had always been jet black for over 300 years, had with a speed visible to the naked eye, turned grey in a short moment!
The entire thing had transpired in the time it took one to take a few breaths! And Mo Xiaoyao's hair had already changed so greatly!
One could see that the pain and torment in his heart at this moment and how unspeakably difficult it was to bear!
Begging for mercy… even if a common street thug lost a fight, they would very rarely be seen begging for mercy!
"As enemies, we're at a state where either you die or I perish! The winners live, and the losers die. Since ancient times, this is the natural order of things. Killing an enemy that is dangerous to oneself is a perfectly justified matter!"
Mo Xiaoyao swallowed the blood in his mouth with great difficulty. His body looked as frail as a candle in the wind, but he still looked resolutely at Mei Xueyan. "We've been defeated and do not have any more strength for retaliation! Our… life and death is already within the palms of you, Venerable Mei. There's no wrong even if we die…"
Mo Xiaoyao closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, and a hoarse voice came out of his mouth, "But this old man has come forward now to only ask Venerable Mei one thing: could you allow this old man and the rest a path of survival?!"
After speaking those words, he remained standing with his eyes closed, not moving. It seemed as if he'd turned into a statue in that instant! Two streams of old tears flowed out of his tightly shut eyes, rolling down his cheeks. In that very instant, deep wrinkles and spots appeared all over his face…
At that moment, Jun Moxie and Mei Xueyan nearly did not dare to believe their own ears!
Begging for mercy!
A fourth level Venerable was actually begging for mercy so loudly before everyone!
This was simply harder to believe than if the sky collapsed!
After a long time, Mei Xueyan finally shook her head lightly and looked at Mo Xiaoyao as she asked in a solemn tone. "Venerable's words have truly exceeded my expectations. Is this because… of the War for Seizing the Heavens?"
"It doesn't matter what the reason is. Today, this old man is simply here to beg for his life! This old man only asks for two and a half years more of life. That would be enough!" Mo Xiaoyao's eyes remained tightly shut, and his lips trembled. His face was as pale as a piece of paper, but he still uttered each word clearly. "After the War for Seizing the Heavens, if this old man and the rest have still not perished and leave with our life on the Pillar of Heavens Mountain, we will come to the Heavenly Punishment Forest on our own and die in front of Venerable Mei! We'll return our lives back to Venerable Mei!"
Mei Xueyan's expression instantly jumped. In that moment, she truly didn't know what kind of reaction she should have.
Even with her wealth of experience, this situation was still completely out of her expectations! She was already mentally prepared for any situation from the beginning, whether it be a fierce battle to the death, an easy victory where her forces overran the broken enemy, or even a situation where the opponents self-detonate to perish together—she had already prepared a response for every situation!
But the only thing she hadn't thought of was that Venerable Mo Xiaoyao would actually beg for his life!
Surely this world was too crazy?!
One must know that the three Holy Lands had always known that Venerable Mei was only a peak second level Venerable. Even Mo Xiaoyao only came to know that Mei Xueyan had somehow broken through to the third level Venerable after he came here. Even until now, he still didn't know that she'd broken through again!
But Mo Xiaoyao was a legitimate fourth level Venerable expert!
If one wanted to make a comparison, it would be similar to if a Supreme was begging a Heaven Mystic cultivator for mercy!
What kind of ludicrous matter was this! A moment ago, they were still tearing at each other's throats. But in the blink of an eye, one was begging the other for mercy…
What kind of mentality would one need for this, what kind of courage! What kind of endurance for humiliation was this!
If not for the sake of the War for Seizing the Heavens, would Mo Xiaoyao and the other proud individuals do this kind of thing? But because of the War for Seizing the Heavens, they were willing to endure the shame; for the sake of the safety of the continent and all the common people under the sky!!
Mei Xueyan understood this point extremely well. The War for Seizing the Heavens was also the sole purpose of all her efforts! Thus, she could understand Mo Xiaoyao's current emotions deeply! And for that reason, she felt exceedingly moved in that moment! In fact, she very nearly agreed in that instant!
For the sake of the War for Seizing the Heavens, Mo Xiaoyao was actually able to make such a sacrifice, discarding the reputation that he had worked so hard to build for over 300 years. If so, what was so important that she couldn't give up on? She had always viewed the War for Seizing the Heavens as more important than any other matter and the purpose of all her hard work throughout her life! Even if Mo Xiaoyao went back on his words, she had no grounds to reject him now!
"Wait!" Jun Moxie opened his mouth, his eyes as cold as ice. "Mo Xiaoyao, Wandering Venerable, do you believe that by using the name of the War for Seizing the Heavens, asking for mercy in the name of the world and bringing up the suffering of the world, that we would let you go? Furthermore, we would be moved to tears and escort you and your disgraced troops off?!"
These words were like the sharpest needle, stabbing deeply into Mo Xiaoyao's heart!
Mo Xiaoyao's entire body spasmed with pain and his facial muscles twitched animatedly. However, he still did not say anything.
"Did you think that by making such a large sacrifice, it would be right and natural that we leave you a path of life? But is it truly like that?" Jun Moxie continued coldly.
"Moxie! This matter concerns the War for Seizing the Heavens; all the secular arguments are but minor matters! Venerable Mo's request is for the sake of the War for Seizing the Heavens and the safety of the continent; his feelings… I can understand them!" Mei Xueyan hurriedly advised.
"But I cannot understand them! When men are speaking, a woman like you should shut her mouth! Go and stand to the side!" Jun Moxie remained unmoved as he scolded with a stern voice. Taking one step forward, he stood at the front of the entire troop.