Chapter 746: I Don't Want to Be a Dog, I Want to Be a Real Person (Part 2)
Dongfang Yi widened his eyes again.
His mind was a complete mess.
He walked to a shaded area and squatted down, drawing circles on the ground.
His master had offended the mysterious masked man of the Three Great Alliances, and his master’s master was an ambitious figure who reorganized Bai Ze Island, blatantly challenging the authority of the alliances.
So what did that make him?
He was just a lackey of these big shots.
In the era over two thousand years ago, what his master and master’s master did would be considered rebellion, a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations!
And he would be one of the exterminated generations.
Dongfang Yi always wanted to be someone significant, to do something that would make the Dongfang Family of Emperor City look at him with new eyes.
But he never thought of doing something this big.
“Master.” Dongfang Yi looked up at Xu Xingguang, who was calmly eating an apple, and hesitantly asked, “Are we planning to rebel?”
Rebel? Xu Xingguang didn’t like that word.
“Childish nonsense.” Xu Xingguang casually glanced at Dongfang Yi, whose face was full of anxiety, correcting him, “Be bolder, we’re directly going to rule the Divine Martial Realm.”
Dongfang Yi plopped down into the herbal field.
“Scared?” Xu Xingguang found it amusing.
Of course, Dongfang Yi was scared.
But his emotions were not just fear.
More so, he was thrilled, excited, and eager to try.
He sneaked a peek at Xu Xingguang, not understanding where Xu Xingguang got the confidence to say they were going to rule the Divine Martial Realm, but he was inexplicably willing to believe that Xu Xingguang could do as he said.
Dongfang Yi looked up at the sky.
After a moment, he looked at Xu Xingguang and asked, “What should I do?”
“You?” She looked at the boy’s young and tender face, smiling as she said, “With your current skills, you can be a mascot.”
Dongfang Yi was greatly provoked.
*
In the evening, Dongfang Yi returned home to find his father standing on one leg on a training post in the yard, meditating.
His father, who had lived half a lifetime, hadn’t given up on becoming an Ancient Martial Arts practitioner.
Hearing the sound of shackles dragging on the ground, Dongfang Tao’an opened his eyes and glanced down at Dongfang Yi. Seeing Dongfang Yi wanting to speak but hesitating, he frowned displeasedly, “If you have something to say, spit it out. Don’t dawdle; show some backbone!”
Dongfang Yi leaned against a nearby post and abruptly said, “Dad, isn’t there a criminal who fled to Bai Ze Island in our family?”
Dongfang Tao’an looked at him for a while before saying, “Your cousin Dongfang Ying.”
“Yes.”
Dongfang Yi had told Xu Xingguang the truth; Dongfang Ying was indeed his cousin, but what he hadn’t mentioned was that Dongfang Ying’s parents died when she was young, and she lived with Dongfang Tao’an’s family.
Dongfang Ying was Dongfang Tao’an’s cousin, but they were close like siblings.
When Dongfang Ying was used as a pawn by the Dongfang Family Master to please another big figure, Dongfang Tao’an was the first to oppose the Master’s arrangement and was punished with the family law for defying orders.
After so many years, Dongfang Tao’an’s right shoulder would still ache in rainy weather because the family law had broken one of his arms back then.
Though the arm had healed, the injury never fully recovered.
Yet, even so, Dongfang Tao’an could not protect his cousin.
To resist fate and leave the Dongfang Family, Dongfang Ying willingly accepted the family’s punishment. Her throat was slit by the Clan Leader and the others, she lost almost all her blood, and she crawled out of the Dongfang Family home on the brink of death.
All these years later, Dongfang Tao’an still couldn’t forget that scene.
Dongfang Tao’an stared into the boy’s clear eyes, seriously emphasizing, “Xiao Yi, your cousin was never a criminal.”
Dongfang Yi knew about Dongfang Ying’s ordeal and certainly knew she wasn’t a criminal. “I misspoke; cousin isn’t a criminal.”
“Yes.” Dongfang Tao’an jumped down from the post and asked him, “Why mention your cousin all of a sudden?”
Dongfang Yi licked his lips, observing his father’s reaction as he said, “Bai Ze Island has been renamed to Bai Ze Realm, and it seems cousin has aligned with the new pilot there and is working for him.”
Dongfang Tao’an paused his steps and turned back, staring sharply and surprised at Dongfang Yi. “Where did you hear this from?”
Dongfang Yi, of course, wouldn’t rat out Xu Xingguang, so he lied, “I added a friend from the Ming Family, that’s how I heard it.”
“Ming Lan’s little young master said that?” Dongfang Tao’an straightened his expression and warned Dongfang Yi, “This must not be spread; we’ve been sent to Wuyuan Town to survive after being expelled by the family and it’s already hard enough. If this gets out, our situation will be very difficult.”
“Xiao Yi, do you understand the seriousness of this?”
Dongfang Yi nodded, “I understand.”
As Dongfang Tao’an turned to enter the house, Dongfang Yi called out to him again, “Dad, you once told me that once I defeat you, you’d let me go do what I want to do. Does that still hold?”
Dongfang Tao’an knew his son had ambitions, and he never intended to sever his son’s aspirations.
But as a father, he naturally hoped for his child’s safety and peace.
He hoped Dongfang Yi would become stronger before venturing out.
Nodding, Dongfang Tao’an said, “Of course.”
“Dad, if I defeat you, I want to return to the Divine Hidden Alliance and join the Ming Family Army, I want to fight on an actual battlefield.”
Dongfang Tao’an was shocked inside.
He turned back to see the determined look in his son’s eyes, his lips moved a couple of times before he asked, “Do you really have to go?”
Dongfang Yi said, “Dad, the Bai Ze Island incident is a signal, I have a feeling the Divine Martial Realm is about to become unpeaceful. In chaotic times, heroes emerge, I want to take a chance.”
“Our Dongfang Family was a renowned Ancient Martial Family during the Xia Country Era. But look at us now, how many in the clan because they haven’t awakened a superpower have become dogs to be abused and humiliated, losing basic human rights!”
“And how many women like cousin have been made into tools of the family, sent out to be played with by those Super Power Users!”
“I don’t want to be a dog! I want to revitalise the Dongfang Family, to become a heroic youth like our Old Ancestor Dongfang Jing!”
In the past, he didn’t even have the courage to voice such bold ambitions.
But now things were different, he had met a mentor who could change his life, Xu Xingguang was a truly formidable Ancient Martial Arts expert.
In the early days of the meteorite’s descent, those true Ancient Martial Arts masters had abilities no less than those of the Super Power Users. With Xu Xingguang teaching him Ancient Martial Arts, Dongfang Yi saw hope.
If you kneel too long, you can’t stand back up.
Dongfang Yi was willing to be the first to stand out.
Dongfang Tao’an looked at his young son, for the first time realizing that his son was far more remarkable and outstanding than he had considered.
His heart was deeply shaken.
After a moment, he smiled and said to Dongfang Yi, “Then let’s go together, as your father, there is no reason to let my child fight alone.”
Dongfang Yi was stunned for a moment, then smiled too. “Alright!”