Chapter 287: Responsibility

Hearing Song Qingming's words, Song Qingyu raised her eyes and looked at Song Qingming with some confusion, seemingly not understanding his meaning.

"Seventh Brother... did I do something wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong. In that critical situation, others might not have done better than you. It's just that you take your own safety too lightly in your heart. When there is no longer much certainty of holding the marketplace, you must first think about how to protect yourself. Even if the marketplace is breached, as long as you are safe and sound, none of this matters." Seeing that Song Qingyu was still blaming herself, Song Qingming hurriedly shook his head and explained with a smile.

Song Qingyu bit her lip and said softly: "I know Seventh Brother is worried about my safety, but there wasn't just me in the marketplace at that time. For the sake of Thirteenth Uncle and Second Sister, I had to stand up and find a way to buy them a little more time."

After hearing her words, Song Qingming's face gradually began to turn serious.

"Qingyu, perhaps you will feel that what I am about to say is cruel, but I still want to tell you that if you encounter such a situation in the future, you must prioritize your own safety, not others."

"You are the Foundation Establishment elder of the family and the family's greatest pillar. Your safety is more important than anyone else's. Even if everyone in the marketplace had fallen that day, as long as you could escape, even if the family suffered heavy losses, these are things we could bear."

"I hope you understand your responsibility. What you carry on your shoulders is not just these people in Qinghefang, but the safety of our entire Song family. If something happens to you, even if Thirteenth Uncle and the others survive, everyone's days ahead might not be easy."

"It's not as serious as you say. Even if the family didn't have me, isn't there still Seventh Brother? You are the pillar of our Song family, okay?" Song Qingyu pouted and muttered.

"For so many years, I have achieved what I have today after experiencing many life-and-death trials. But one always puts oneself in danger, and one's luck always runs out. Precisely because of this, I hope you don't take risks easily like I do."

"At that time, facing these dangers, I indeed sometimes had no choice but to take risks. But you are different now; you still have a little room for choice, but you didn't choose to put your own safety first."

"Facing the blood ties of the same clan, I know it is difficult for anyone to let go and make a choice. I don't want you to become a cold-blooded and ruthless person. What I want to tell you is that when facing a crisis that you cannot solve, protect yourself first. You have now become a pillar of the family. Although these choices are difficult, they are things you will have to face sooner or later, which is why I am reminding you so directly today. No matter how difficult it is, you cannot let your emotions dictate your actions at the expense of your own safety."

After a long time, the somewhat dazed Song Qingyu finally came to her senses and nodded firmly to Song Qingming.

She had heard what Song Qingming said before, but there was a big difference between saying it and actually doing it.

To abandon the lives of so many clansmen just to save her own life—among them were many elders who had been very kind to her since she was a child and had watched her grow up step by step—Song Qingyu had never been an extremely rational person, and such a choice was indeed too difficult for her.

After Song Qingyu broke out from the south of Qinghefang, she herself understood that she had the opportunity to escape by sword at that time. Even if the other party came to chase, as long as Song Qingyu ran in the direction where Song Qingming and the others were supporting, there was a high probability that she would run into them and escape successfully.

It was just that she hesitated again and again at that time and couldn't bring herself to abandon the blood ties in the marketplace, choosing to help them buy more time. She wanted to contain the two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the other party for a period of time, but the result of doing so was to hand her fate over to heaven. Once she was calculated by the other party in the battle, it would be difficult for her to have another chance to escape.

But as Song Qingming said, if Gao Yubai hadn't arrived in time that day, Song Qingyu, who had been hit by Chen Zicong's poison needle, would indeed have had no chance of survival. The result would have been her death, and Thirteenth Uncle Song Changxiong and the others in the marketplace would still not have been able to escape the fate of being killed. Under those circumstances, the probability of them surviving was almost equal to zero.

On the path of cultivation, life and death sometimes lie in the moment one makes a choice. The higher one walks on this path, the more destined one is to be lonely.

——

In a forest a few dozen miles below Eagle Nest Ridge, nearly a hundred people were densely hiding. They were all elite cultivators from Qinghe County who had come to conquer Eagle Nest Ridge this time.

After discussing it in Qinghefang, each family immediately returned to prepare for battle. Song Qingming once again recruited a total of ten late-stage Qi Refining cultivators from vassal families to participate in this operation.

This gathering of cultivators was also quite rushed, with a total of only two or three days given. Fortunately, each family attached much more importance to this expedition than the last time, not only bringing more cultivators than last time but also arriving at Mount Funiu before the agreed time.

Just as everyone had gathered and was not yet ready to set out, the Cao family of Pingyang County also sent thirty late-stage Qi Refining cultivators and one Foundation Establishment cultivator to assist. Fearing that there might still be eyes and ears of Eagle Nest Ridge in Pingyang County, Lu Yuanfeng asked them to rush south to Mount Funiu first to act together.

In this way, the team of over a hundred people traveled light and walked for more than ten days to reach Eagle Nest Ridge.

After Song Qingming and the others had waited here for more than half a month, Gao Yubai, who was responsible for scouting the situation, finally returned.

"Those bandits seem to have just returned not long ago and are still celebrating on the mountain. They haven't discovered us yet." Gao Yubai shared the situation he had just seen with the many Foundation Establishment cultivators present with a smile.

Hearing this news, Lu Yuanfeng immediately laughed and said: "Haha! Heaven truly helps me. This time we can finally wipe out this gang of bandits in one fell swoop."

Under Lu Yuanfeng's arrangement and dispatch, everyone was divided into two teams, east and west, and surrounded Eagle Nest Ridge from two directions.

After Eagle Nest Ridge breached Qinghefang this time, they killed dozens of cultivators and hundreds of ordinary mortals in the marketplace. These people were local cultivators in Qinghe County and were also the relatives and friends of the many cultivators who arrived here today. Facing these bandits who had killed their relatives and friends, they had long been harboring a fire in their hearts.

After sending a sound transmission to the other party, at Lu Yuanfeng's order, everyone rushed toward Eagle Nest Ridge.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 288 =====