Chapter 502 - 499: Departure

Chapter 502: Chapter 499: Departure

"Go ahead," Bai Wanwan bluntly interrupted her near-hysterical shrieking. A cold, mocking smile touched her lips, but the amusement never reached her eyes.

Her gaze was as sharp as an ice pick, piercing straight through to the deepest fear and hypocrisy in Lan Yi’s heart. "Go on, tell him right now. Let’s see if he believes you—his ’Wife’ who spews nothing but lies, conspired with outsiders, and was cruel enough to try and kill her own daughter—or if he believes me, the daughter who awakened the Flood Dragon Clan’s Life Tree and has his, Jiao Yuan’s, undeniable blood flowing through my veins!"

’This body truly belonged to the original owner.’ The resonance and brilliant light from the Life Tree that day was a miracle witnessed by every member of the Flood Dragon Clan—irrefutable proof, more convincing than any scent of kinship!

Bai Wanwan just standing there was in itself the most powerful refutation of all Lan Yi’s accusations.

In the face of such mountain-like, ironclad evidence, any struggle or defense from Lan Yi would only be a futile exercise in self-humiliation.

But pushed to the brink, Lan Yi had already lost her reason, grasping at straws like a drowning woman.

She ignored everything and shrieked at the top of her lungs in Jiao Yuan’s direction, her voice cracking and distorting with extreme agitation. "Jiao Yuan! Did you hear that? She admitted it herself! She isn’t my daughter, Jiao Yuan! Believe me, you have to believe me this time!"

Tears and snot streamed down her face; the carefully maintained image she had cultivated was gone without a trace.

When Jiao Yuan heard her—still utterly unrepentant at a time like this, and even slandering and hurting his newly-returned daughter with such absurd reasoning in front of everyone—his expression instantly turned grim.

His broad chest heaved slightly with anger, and the last vestiges of complex emotion in his eyes transformed completely into disgust and disappointment.

"Enough, Lan Yi!" His voice boomed like thunder, filled with unquestionable authority and deep exhaustion. "You already owe Wanwan too much! You never once fulfilled your duty as a Mother, and you even let her suffer while she was lost. And now, not only do you show no remorse, but you also want to break her heart with these ridiculous lies? What is your heart even made of?"

Lan Yi shook her head frantically, pointing at Bai Wanwan with desperate urgency. "She said it herself! She said, ’I am not your daughter,’ with her own mouth! She admitted it! That must mean it’s true! Believe me!"

She tried to arm her crumbling accusations with logic.

But in the instant Jiao Yuan’s gaze fell upon her, Bai Wanwan had already, imperceptibly, changed her expression.

The cold mockery on her face vanished, replaced by a sort of detached indifference that was clearly holding back deep pain. But in her clear eyes, a thin, glistening sheen of moisture welled up—just enough to suggest she had suffered a terrible injustice but was too stubborn to let the tears fall.

She turned her face slightly to the side, as if she couldn’t bear to watch Lan Yi’s disgraceful display any longer. Her voice, carrying the despairing calm of someone who has been deeply hurt, picked up where Lan Yi had left off:

"Yes, I said it."

She enunciated each word softly, yet they carried clearly to everyone’s ears. "I am not your ’biological’ daughter—at least, not in my heart! I will never acknowledge a Mother like you. My Mother would never be a selfish, cold-hearted female like you, who would sacrifice and exploit her own flesh and blood for her own sake! I have no Mother like you!"

With these words, she had cleverly twisted the concept.

To Jiao Yuan and all the clan members, it sounded like the resolute declaration of a daughter whose heart had been shattered by her own biological mother, now severing the ties of blood and kinship in a state of extreme grief and indignation!

This was far more impactful than a direct denial, and much more effective at stirring Jiao Yuan’s guilt and fury.

Indeed, Bai Wanwan’s words struck Jiao Yuan’s heart like a heavy hammer. His expression grew even darker, an ashen pallor mixed with unconcealable guilt and heartache.

He no longer hesitated. He abruptly raised his hand, pointed at Lan Yi, and gave a direct order to the guards beside him, his voice devoid of all warmth. "Take her away! Lock her in the confinement cave! No one is to visit her without my command!"

"No! Jiao Yuan! Believe me! She really said it with her own mouth! She’s not my daughter!"

Lan Yi struggled fiercely as the guards roughly seized her by the arms, her hair falling into disarray. "Also! Also! If I’m her Mother, why don’t I feel any sense of closeness when I see her? It’s not right! Think about it, Jiao Yuan!"

Bai Wanwan watched her madness unfold. ’She’s not wrong,’ she thought. ’The shell is the same, but the core has long since been replaced.’

’You have to admit,’ she mused, ’a beast’s intuition can be terrifyingly accurate sometimes.’

To Jiao Yuan’s ears, however, these words were even more preposterous—and only added to her crimes!

"You didn’t raise her for a single day. You never gave her a shred of warmth. Instead, you plotted against her and hurt her at every turn! Why on earth should she feel close to you? And what right do you have to demand her affection? Lan Yi, if you want to retain one last shred of dignity and barely cling to your life here in the Flood Dragon Tribe, then shut your mouth right now. Do not spit out one more word to hurt Wanwan! Otherwise, what awaits you will be far worse than mere confinement!"

Lan Yi knew Jiao Yuan. Seeing the undisguised finality in his eyes, she knew he was truly furious this time, and there was no longer any room for negotiation.

A colossal sense of grievance, unwillingness, fear, and rage intertwined and churned madly within her, threatening to tear her apart.

But as she looked into Jiao Yuan’s cold, merciless eyes, all the arguments and wails that had risen to her lips were forcefully scared back down.

She bit down hard on her lip, drawing blood, but dared not make another sound, terrified that if she said one more word, she would truly be expelled from the Flood Dragon Tribe immediately and lose her last sanctuary.

Bai Wanwan stood quietly in place, a warm breeze lifting the loose strands of hair at her forehead.

She watched impassively as Lan Yi was dragged away like a stray dog.

Let this belated pain and fear be a dirge for the female who had long since faded from this world.

After Lan Yi was hauled away, Jiao Yuan personally interrogated the Chameleon males and finally learned from them that their clan’s secret technique allowed two Beastmen to exchange auras by swapping blood.

Whether it was Coral or the males themselves, they had all infiltrated the tribe by using the blood of a Flood Dragon Clan Beastman to conceal their own auras.

Jiao Yuan was furious. "Continue the search! We must find every last Beastman from the Chameleon Clan hiding in our tribe!"

The atmosphere in the Flood Dragon Clan suddenly grew very tense.

But none of this would have anything to do with Bai Wanwan. They had already packed their bags and were preparing to head back.

Jiao Yuan personally escorted them to the wide plains outside the tribe, his eyes filled with reluctance to see them go.

He crouched down, lovingly stroking the tiger cubs and Little Phoenixes that were rubbing against his legs.

"Wanwan, you really... can’t stay?" Jiao Yuan’s voice held a barely perceptible plea.

The daughter he had just found was about to leave on a long journey again.

Bai Wanwan could feel his genuine affection and reluctance, but it was a shame. She wasn’t his real daughter, and her home wasn’t here.