Best Young Master
Chapter 302 - 268: Deep Father-Son Affection

Chapter 302: Chapter 268: Deep Father-Son Affection

Despite Chu Ji’s thorough understanding of Ye Fan’s strength and sensing his unwavering conviction to win, reason told her that if Murong Sheng indeed used the Taiyin Xuan Sword, Ye Fan’s chances of winning were slim.

Realizing this made Chu Ji somewhat restless, and she asked bluntly, "When and where will the life and death battle take place?"

"Nine o’clock this morning, at Ao Xiang Villa."

Ye Fan answered truthfully, then his mind stirred, thinking of something. "Sister, please don’t tell him about this, to prevent him from worrying."

"Beep... Beep..."

The response Ye Fan got was the busy tone after the call ended.

On the other end of the phone, Chu Ji clearly understood that the ’him’ Ye Fan referred to was Ye Wenhao.

After ending the call, she immediately dialed Ye Wenhao’s private number, known only to a very few people.

In the top-floor conference room of the Jiangnan Province Committee office building.

Ye Wenhao was presiding over a secretary meeting, originally speaking from the head of the table when he heard the vibration of his phone, glancing at the mobile device on the conference table out of the corner of his eye.

Hmm?

Seeing the incoming call was from Chu Ji, Ye Wenhao’s eyebrows raised, and he decisively picked up the phone, answering, "I’m in a meeting, if it’s not something urgent, I’ll call you back after."

"Something happened to Xiao Fan!" Chu Ji’s tone was unprecedentedly grave.

Clang——

Upon hearing this, Ye Wenhao stood up in shock, the movement so abrupt that he knocked the chair behind him to the ground.

Whoosh!

In an instant.

All the politicians attending the meeting turned their gaze to Ye Wenhao, simultaneously wondering: What phone call could shake the always composed Ye Wenhao?

Ye Wenhao paid no mind to the surprise his actions might cause the politicians or to their gazes; he took his phone and walked swiftly out of the conference room.

"What... what happened?"

Once out of the conference room, Ye Wenhao asked impatiently, his authoritative face filled with worry, his heart leaping to his throat.

"Murong Gu’s son has challenged Xiao Fan, and Xiao Fan has accepted the challenge. They’re scheduled to have a life and death battle at nine o’clock today at Ao Xiang Villa."

Chu Ji explained quickly, "I’ve investigated the strength of Murong Gu’s son; he has already broken through the Innate Great Success Realm and has completely mastered the Wudang Sect’s treasured Taiyin Xuanmen Sword Technique, his strength is not inferior to an average Peak stage of Innate Martial Artist. Normally, with his strength, he would not have been a match for Xiao Fan, but if he uses the high-level Pure Yang Magical Artifact, the Taiyin Xuan Sword, Xiao Fan would be in great danger."

"If you knew, why didn’t you stop him?"

Ye Wenhao asked somewhat angrily. Although he had retired from the Martial Arts World, he knew the formidable power of the high-level Pure Yang Magical Artifact, the Taiyin Xuan Sword, and he knew that such a magical artifact was a nemesis to Magicians.

He knew that Ye Fan had managed to kill the Black Dragon Guard Shi Feng and the Shi Ling brothers with his Early Innate Realm strength, relying entirely on Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts, exerting both magic and martial skills simultaneously.

In such a situation, knowing that Murong Gu’s son might use the Taiyin Xuan Sword in a life and death battle with Ye Fan, one could imagine his feelings?

"Originally, I had an agreement with Xiao Fan that he would consider whether to accept the challenge only after I informed him of Murong Gu’s son’s strength. Instead, he went ahead and accepted the challenge without telling me."

Chu Ji’s tone conveyed a hint of self-reproach; if she had gone to Dong hai yesterday, she could have personally stopped Ye Fan.

"Why did he do that?" Ye Wenhao blurted out.

"Because of you."

Chu Ji sighed softly, "Although he hates you for abandoning him and his mother all those years ago, deep down, he still recognizes you as his father. Murong Gu’s son challenging him is to erase the disgrace of your defeat of Murong Gu back then. This battle can be considered a son fighting for his father’s honor. He doesn’t want people to point at your spine and say, ’Your son is a coward!’"

Hearing Chu Ji’s words, Ye Wenhao felt as if his heart had been struck by a force of kinship. His mouth slightly agape, trying to say something but no words came. His face, usually commanding presence, was now filled with emotion.

"I called you to have you use your Yanhuang Organization connections to find out if Murong Sheng has brought the Taiyin Xuan Sword this time. If he has, you must find a way to stop this life and death battle!"

Chu Ji’s tone became agitated, "And now, the only one who can stop Xiao Fan from going through with this battle is you!"

"I understand."

Ye Wenhao snapped out of it, ended the call, and immediately dialed the number of Xing Feng, the elder of the Punishment Hall of the Yanhuang Organization.

"Brother Xing, are you aware of the life and death battle between Murong Gu’s son and Xiao Fan?" As soon as the call connected, Ye Wenhao asked straightforwardly.

"Murong Gu’s son is having a life and death battle with your son?"

Xing Feng was stunned, then said, "The Yanhuang Organization East Sea Branch hasn’t reported this matter; they just mentioned that Murong Gu and Murong Sheng, father and son, have suddenly appeared in Dong hai, and they have been monitoring their movements..."

"Brother Xing, the life and death battle is indeed happening. Could you please give me the contact of the head of the Yanhuang Organization East Sea Branch? I need to speak to him personally," Ye Wenhao said urgently, cutting off Xing Feng’s words.

"Alright."

Xing Feng agreed quickly and immediately sent the number of Zhao Meng to Ye Wenhao via text message.

Upon receiving the message, Ye Wenhao hurriedly dialed Zhao Meng’s number.

The call was answered quickly, and Zhao Meng’s deep voice came from the receiver, "Hello, who’s this?"

"Hello, Director Zhao, this is Ye Wenhao," Ye Wenhao introduced himself.

"Hello, Secretary Ye."

Zhao Meng was first taken aback, then regained his composure and greeted with a smile, his heart, however, churned with ripples: Why had Ye Wenhao suddenly called him? Could it be about the public appearance of Murong Gu and Murong Sheng, father and son?

As if to validate Zhao Meng’s guess, Ye Wenhao asked in a solemn tone, "Director Zhao, to my understanding, Murong Gu’s son is scheduled to have a life-and-death duel with my son Ye Fan at 9 o’clock this morning at Ao Xiang Villa."

"What... What?"

Zhao Meng was taken aback. In an effort to ascertain the purpose of Murong Gu and his son, Father Murong, descending the mountain, he had dispatched three members of the Yanhuang Organization to monitor them around the clock. Yet, he had not received any news about a life-and-death duel between Murong Sheng and Ye Fan, only that they had left the Wudang Martial Arts Hall ten minutes earlier.

"Director Zhao, I called you to confirm whether Murong Gu and his son had brought the Taiyin Xuan Sword down from the mountain with them." Ye Wenhao didn’t care about the shock his words had given to Zhao Meng and went straight to the point.

"Huff~"

Zhao Meng took a deep breath and gathered his wits, "Secretary Ye, according to my people’s report, Murong Gu and Father Murong indeed carried a sword with them, but I cannot confirm whether it is the Taiyin Xuan Sword."

Clang!

Despite Zhao Meng not being certain whether the sword carried by Murong Gu and Father Murong was the Taiyin Xuan Sword, hearing that they did bring a sword made Ye Wenhao’s strong heart inexplicably tremble, then his heart rose to his throat again.

Could it be that Ye Wenhao was worried about the safety of the Ye Family’s younger generation?

That was it.

The Taiyin Xuan Sword, the Wudang Sect’s magical weapon, specifically counters magic; if Murong Sheng used the Taiyin Xuan Sword in the life-and-death duel against the Ye Family’s younger generation, the latter would undoubtedly be slain!

Seeing that Ye Wenhao was silent, Zhao Meng’s mind raced, and he suddenly guessed Ye Wenhao’s purpose for the call.

"Thank you!"

At the same time, Ye Wenhao steadied himself and quickly expressed his thanks. Then, without waiting for Zhao Meng to respond, he hung up the phone and immediately dialed Ye Fan’s mobile.

"Buzz... Buzz..."

In the villa courtyard of Ao Xiang Villa, Ye Fan had already stopped his cultivation. Seeing the incoming call from Ye Wenhao, he understood that Chu Ji must have told Ye Wenhao about his life-and-death duel with Murong Sheng. After hesitating for a moment, he still answered the phone.

"Xiao Fan, don’t compete in martial arts with Murong Gu’s son!" As soon as the call was connected, Ye Wenhao spoke anxiously.

Ye Wenhao’s words rang in his ears, and feeling Ye Wenhao’s concern, Ye Fan’s heart warmed, and he said, "I’ve already accepted the challenge."

"Admit defeat! Choose to admit defeat!"

Ye Wenhao said decisively. As someone who was once the top fighter of the Qing bang, he knew very well that once martial artists sign a life-and-death duel agreement, if one party chooses to admit defeat, the duel will not proceed.

Yet—

This was extremely rare in the Martial Arts World!

On one hand, since martial artists choose to engage in a life-and-death duel, they are basically betting their heads, disregarding life and death. On the other hand, if a martial artist admits defeat after signing a life-and-death duel agreement, they would become the laughing stock of the Martial Arts World and would find it very difficult to hold their head up high thereafter.

"Why?" asked Ye Fan.

"To my knowledge, Murong Gu and his son are carrying a sword, and it is very likely to be the Wudang Sect’s magical weapon, Taiyin Xuan Sword."

Ye Wenhao explained worriedly, "The Taiyin Xuan Sword specifically counters magic. Once he uses the Taiyin Xuan Sword to fight you, you will be in great danger!"

"Even if he uses the Taiyin Xuan Sword, I have no fear!" Ye Fan said with an undaunted face.

"Xiao Fan, I know you accepted the challenge without fully understanding the true strength of the opponent because of me—you don’t want to be a coward and avoid the fight, thereby allowing Murong Sheng’s son to wash away the disgrace of that battle years ago!"

Hearing Ye Fan’s words, Ye Wenhao was once again moved, but more so he was worried. His worry made his voice tremble, "Xiao Fan, I don’t care about so-called glory and reputation. What I care about is you! As long as you live a healthy and happy life, that’s more important than anything else!"

"Buzz..."

Ye Fan’s whole body shook violently, his mind went blank, and his heart was completely filled with emotion.

Although he had spent very little time with Ye Wenhao... very little, he knew that Ye Wenhao was a very proud man!

A proud man, to throw away his pride like feeding it to dogs, how much courage did that take?

Ye Fan didn’t know.

But at this very moment, Ye Wenhao did it for him!

This reminded him of the promise Ye Wenhao had once made to him: My child, I owe you and your mother far too much, so much that I don’t know how to repay it. I dare not hope for your forgiveness, but I will do everything I can to make up for past mistakes—even if it means giving up everything I have, carrying the stigma for life, I would not hesitate!!

"Dad..."

As he thought, Ye Fan felt warm inside, his eyes slightly reddened, and his vision blurred as he tried to say something.

However—

Before Ye Fan could finish his sentence, Ye Wenhao seemed to realize Ye Fan was determined to fight and said urgently, "Xiao Fan, if you are determined to fight, wait for me to get there. Have the life-and-death duel after I arrive, okay?"

"Dad, please trust your son."

Ye Fan spoke softly and hung up the phone.

...

...

PS: First update!

.

. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket and Monthly Ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)