Chapter 2773 - 2768: Kowtow

Although the Two-headed Snake Clan and the Abyss of Darkness hold extremely high status within the Clan of Darkness of the Dark World, in a case like this, where the verdict concerns a human life, they naturally had to go and seek instructions from the Clan Leader.

After all, at that time An Ye, the Clan Leader, was the true ruler of the Clan of Darkness.

Back then An Ye himself was extremely busy, with countless affairs every day. Not only did he have to handle all the internal matters of the clan, big and small, he also had to keep negotiating with all kinds of powers from other worlds, so he naturally had no mind to bother with such a case.

Since he saw that the person in charge of the Abyss of Darkness and the upper echelon of the Two-headed Snake Clan had already reached an agreement, and the evidence was already conclusive, An Ye immediately decided to sentence An Jiao to death.

Even though at the time An Ye was quite interested in the fact that An Jiao, at such a young age, could activate a Taboo Formation of such terrifying power. He felt that if this kid hadn’t committed such a vicious crime, he would definitely be a talent in the making, and might even become one of the powerful figures of the Clan of Darkness in the future.

But it was a pity: such a vile incident had occurred, leading to the deaths of two youths and one core disciple from a Noble family. And all three of these youths were students of the Abyss of Darkness.

If An Ye did not sentence An Jiao to death, not only would the Two-headed Snake Clan refuse to let the matter go, the Abyss of Darkness would not let it go either. By then things would be very hard to handle.

So, even though by that time An Jiao had already escaped the mortal danger brought by the Taboo Formation’s explosion and was still lying in a coma, in reality he had already been sentenced to death.

Just as An Jiao pressed him, asking what happened afterwards, the former close friend of his father—now an old man in his twilight years—had a look of reminiscence float onto his face, and his gaze slowly changed, as though some memory had been stirred.

Then this old man finally laid bare the truth of what happened back then.

Still lying unconscious, An Jiao had already been jointly sentenced to death by several factions. Very soon he was thrown into a dungeon, merely waiting for the appointed day of execution. By this point, virtually no one could save An Jiao anymore.

But that man appeared—An Jiao’s father, An Tian.

During the time when his son was sentenced to death, he shuttled back and forth among many powers, almost exhausting every contact and resource he had as a Samurai, ceaselessly pleading for his son.

On that rainy night An Tian arrived at the gate of the Abyss of Darkness. The deep crater in the ground left by that massive explosion that day had not yet been repaired. An Tian walked to the edge of that crater and then, with a "thud," knelt down.

Facing the entire Abyss of Darkness, he pleaded: "I beg you, please spare my son."

Then he knocked his head to the ground for the first time in his life. When he straightened up, he said again, "I beg you, spare my son’s life! I am willing to do anything to exchange for my son’s life!"

Then An Tian bent down again and knocked his head a second time. In this way he knelt there for seven days and seven nights, repeating those two sentences over and over. He kowtowed countless times. That unprecedented downpour lasted seven days and seven nights, and An Tian knelt in the rainy night for seven days and seven nights.

He also kowtowed for seven days and seven nights. This Samurai of the Clan of Darkness, this steadfast man, had never bowed his head to any enemy on the battlefield, no matter how desperate the situation in those wars against the worlds beyond. But this time, for the sake of his son’s life, not only did he kneel in front of this Holy Ground for seven days and seven nights, he also kowtowed countless times.

When the boss of the Holy Ground—the oldest elder in the Clan of Darkness—finally could no longer bear the sight, he promised An Tian, whom he had watched grow up and, step by step through his own efforts, become an outstanding Samurai of the clan, that he himself would try his utmost to save the child’s life.

Then the elder immediately sent people to help An Tian to his feet. By the time An Tian rose, his forehead was already a bloody, mangled mess. After that, this man refused the support offered by the elder’s men, and instead bowed from afar toward the elder standing at the highest point of the Abyss of Darkness.

Then he turned around and, with each step trembling, vanished into the darkness of the rainy night.

Not long after, An Tian arrived at the main gate of the Two-headed Snake Clan’s estate. He did not have anyone announce his arrival, because he knew they knew he had come.

An Tian again dropped to his knees with a thud, and then shouted toward the mansion of the Two-headed Snake Clan: "I am An Jiao’s father, An Tian. Here I beg you, spare my son’s life. I am willing to pay any price, even if it means being your beast of burden!"

Then he simply kept repeating this sentence, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing again and again to these people who oppressed those of lowly status like him, until even An Tian himself could no longer count how many times he had kowtowed.

This time he did not kneel for seven days and seven nights. On the third day someone came out, which surprised An Tian greatly. Before coming here he had already prepared himself to be treated coldly and with disdain, yet the young man who opened the door before his eyes took An Tian completely by surprise.

The young man looked down at An Tian with a smile and said, "I’ve come out specially to convey our clan’s intentions. The elders at home have spoken. We are willing to give you a chance. You are a Dark Samurai of our clan, you’ve devoted your whole life to us. We shouldn’t let you push things to this point."

"We are willing to spare your child once, as long as you agree to one condition from the elders of my clan."

No one knows what condition the Two-headed Snake Clan proposed to An Tian that day. All that is known is that after that day, An Tian went to An Ye’s residence. He had already obtained permission from both the Abyss of Darkness and the Two-headed Snake Clan, but An Jiao’s crime and sentence had already been pronounced; to rescind them, An Ye had to retract his decree.

An Tian knelt before An Ye’s residence, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Clan Leader, I am the clan’s Dark Samurai, An Tian. At the age of twenty-seven I joined our clan’s Dark Samurai Corps and have taken part in seventy-two wars, great and small."

"I have slain three thousand two hundred and twenty-three enemies. I dare not claim to have rendered great merit to the clan, but I have diligently and faithfully devoted twenty years of my life to our clan. Now I hereby beg you to spare my son’s life."

"Please retract your decree and let my son, An Jiao, go free!"

"I have already obtained permission from both the Abyss of Darkness and Great General An Zan’s clan. They have agreed to spare my son. Now I beg you to change the verdict and spare my son’s life!"

"I am willing to trade any price, even to use my life in exchange for my son’s. After that you may banish my son, condemn him never to return to the Clan of Darkness for all eternity, so long as you spare his life."

"I am willing to pay any price. I beg... you, Clan Leader, to retract your decree!"

An Tian shouted, and then slammed his head heavily against the ground.