Previously, Zhao Shuning had no idea that the Viper was actually Xie An. If Xie Yu hadn't kept mentioning it in her ear all these days and said that Xie An was the Viper of the Misty Rain Tower, she might still be in the dark about the fact that Xie An was little An.
Now that she knew the Viper was little An, all the following things would become much simpler.
Zhao Shuning had talked to the Viper before. She knew that deep in little An's heart, there was an indescribable sentiment towards the so - called Xie Family. The reason he hated to mention the Xie Family might be that he didn't want to have any connection with it from the bottom of his heart.
Little An had a knot in his heart that he couldn't untangle, and Xie Yu also felt uneasy about things in his youth. If the two of them had a good talk, maybe little An wouldn't be so withdrawn in the future.
Time really flew by. In a blink of an eye, three days had passed.
As usual, the Xie Family had set up the arena early, waiting for Xie Yu and the Viper to have a match.
Zhao Shuning sat upstairs. Pushing open the window, she could see the view below.
By the time, little An should be arriving soon. In a few days, it would be the Joint Disciples' Tournament. On that day, little An would surely participate as the most outstanding disciple of the Misty Rain Tower.
It was likely that he came back to the Xie Family out of necessity, because this tournament would be held in the territory of the Xie Family, south of the Huai River.
Sure enough, not long after, a man appeared. He was dressed in plain clothes.
He looked a bit more mature than before.
Zhao Shuning pursed her lips and smiled. After such a long time, she wondered how much little An had improved.
As soon as Xie An showed up, he went to pay respects to Xie Yuan first.
Xie Yuan nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the young man in front of him. He even reached out his hand, intending to pat the Viper on the head.
Unexpectedly, Xie An dodged.
"Viper, when the family head touches you, how can you dodge? You're such an unfilial and ignorant child!"
Zhao Shuning looked over and saw that the one who said this was a woman.
Beside the woman stood a middle - aged man in his forties. Judging from his eyebrows, he bore a slight resemblance to Xie An.
These should be the parents that little An had mentioned.
Zhao Shuning frowned. It seemed that little An was right. His parents no longer saw his existence in their eyes.
Hearing this, the Viper was obviously displeased, but he still kept silent.
It was Xie Yuan who spoke up.
"It's okay. This child, Xie An, has been like this since he was a child. He's not very close to others. Don't blame him."
"Thank you, family head, for your magnanimity."
Xie An's parents reached out their hands to pull Xie An, but he brushed them off.
"Xie An, what are you doing? I'm your mother. Just touching you, and you're so impatient?"
The Viper didn't say a word and directly stepped over them onto the arena.
"Sigh—"
Zhao Shuning sighed. This couple of parents might have been competent in the past, but now, they had really done too little and wrongly.
All little An wanted was a bit of parental love, that's all.
But now, just as the Viper had said before, his parents no longer saw him as their child. They just regarded him as a tool to curry favor with the powerful.
"Xie An, I have something to tell you."
Xie An showed no intention of responding. His father then smiled apologetically and climbed onto the arena. He pulled Xie An down and walked to a secluded place, which was right under Zhao Shuning's building.
Zhao Shuning thought that this father might be warning Xie An to be careful when dealing with Xie Yu and not to get hurt. However, what she heard was the following conversation.
"Xie An, what's wrong with you? Do you really think you've grown up and can fly on your own? Let me tell you, in today's competition, just like before, you're only allowed to lose, not win. No, you're no match for the young master anyway. So this time, lose even more miserably. Maybe the young master will be in a good mood and reward you with a lot of spiritual stones."
Xie An didn't say a word.
"Are you listening to me?"
Xie An still didn't say a word.
"Xie An, I'm telling you, the honor of our whole family depends on you. You mustn't act on your own and break the rules. Just bear the pain and don't hurt the young master."
Zhao Shuning was shocked.
Throughout the conversation, little An's father didn't say a single word of concern for him. After so long not seeing each other, he didn't even ask how he was doing. All he said was that he hoped little An would do things well and not let the Xie Family kick them out.
"Father."
"What?"
The man, who had been rambling on, stopped and looked at him when he heard Xie An's words.
"Father, aren't you worried about me getting hurt? I'll feel pain too when I'm injured."
The man was obviously stunned for a moment, then he smiled and said, "Xie An, you're the Viper. Remember, we're all from poor families. You've suffered a lot since you were a child. Just think of it as taking a beating. It's nothing."
Xie An smiled, but no one knew how much bitterness was hidden in his smile.
"Do you understand?"
After saying this, the man repeated the question to make sure.
Zhao Shuning tightened her grip on the cup in her hand. With a bit more internal strength, the cup might shatter on the spot.
Little An's experience was much worse than what he had said.
But when he was in the Dark Abyss, in order to comfort her, he could describe those things so lightly. What kind of mood must he have been in when he said those words?
"I won't let him off."
"What?"
"I said, on the arena, I won't hold back. Whether he can win or not depends on his own strength."
Xie An's father, who had been smiling all along, stood beside Xie An in disbelief because of this sentence. He reached out his hand and was about to hit Xie An.
Xie An didn't move. He actually took a hard slap from his father.
"Unfilial son, say that again!"
Xie An turned his head.
Maybe there were tears in his eyes.
Zhao Shuning could actually see that when the man called little An down from the arena earlier, there was hope in little An's eyes. He might have been expecting that this father could care about him more.
But all he got was this slap.
"Xie An, can't you just do it for me as your father?"
Xie An didn't say a word. He turned around and leaped onto the arena.
Zhao Shuning thought that if the man hadn't made such a request, maybe little An would have held back.
He would have compromised for the sake of his parents and deliberately lost to Xie Yu. But after the man said that, with little An's stubborn temper,
how could he let it go so easily?
The great battle on the arena was on the verge of explosion.