The patriarch actually cares!?

"Sigh…"

Patriarch Bai closed the doors to his study room with a heavy heart. The scent of pine oil, and mind cleansing incense filled the room yet, none of it calmed his thoughts.

He sat slowly behind the lacquered table, his eyes falling on the cracked jade sigil of their Bai lineage.

"A fool donkey falls alone, but a fool sheep takes its entire herd," he murmured bitterly.

How fitting.

Because Bai Long, the previously praised grandson, the bloodline of Bai family, was no longer just a small fool. He had become a danger to the Bai bloodline.

One might excuse arrogance in youth. Even cruelty could be molded with discipline. But stupidity paired with power? That was fatal, not only to the Bai Long, but to everyone bearing the Bai name.

"That damned child… what did you think would happen? Playing with the daughter of the Xia family like some low brothel girl?"

His fists clenched. The Xia Clan of Hiddenmist Valley… their ancestors and elders were said to have broken through the golden core realm and above.

If this had truly been enraged the Xia family, then their Bai family was just grass waiting to be cut. How can Bai Long be so blind not to see a vast sea before him!?

Not only that, even their relationship with the powerful families of Jadeleaf expansion has been ruined. Headache after headache... The legacy of the Bai Family might end due to a sinful child.

"How could I have let things go this far? I should have sent him to a remote area long ago… even if a beast had eaten him, that would save some trouble," he said, his voice heavy with regret.

He has completely given up on Bai Long because Bai Huan has shown some great qualities and what's more, he is even favored by heaven, getting inheritance and being accepted into a diamond rank sect as Holy Son noneless.

He knew it was a mistake to keep Bai Long under their roof. He had always known it. But what else could he have done? He was the patriarch… duty bound to protect all members of the clan, even the most wayward ones.

Furthermore, previously Bai Long was protected by the elders, but now all the elders hate his sheer existence, and that is understandable.

That protection had become a poison, a poison that was threatening to destroy everything they had built over centuries.

Just then,

The door to the study room was open and a mature woman walked by.

"Father... I wish to meet with my son," Bai Long's mother asked.

"Sigh... Words spoken can't be taken back, things done can't be undone. You can't meet him, no one is allowed to meet him. He will get a meal once a day and shall cultivate earnestly. It's already a mercy..." Patriarch said without any emotion. The family rules must be maintained.

He had to take Bai Long away from all the comforts.

It was time to sever his ties with the family.

Bai Long must never see the light of day again. He should just quietly cultivate in the dark basement and when the time comes move somewhere.

After that, he lives, dies it has nothing to do with the Bai Family.

"Father, you are too harsh…" Bai Long's mother pleaded, but Patriarch Bai remained unmoved.

"I'm being too harsh? Have you forgotten the position he's put us in? You always spoil him, but see what kind of person he has become! It's too late for regrets now."

"But he's just a child, flesh and blood of the Bai family… how can you be so cold?"

Patriarch Bai's expression hardened. "A child? You call that thing a child? He has disgraced our family, brought us to the brink of ruin. If not for the efforts of his brother, Huan, we would have already been destroyed."

"See the difference between those two children, one is honest and cultivates diligently while Bai Long... He does nothing. If Bai Long had only focused on cultivation would such a day ever come!?"

His voice rose in anger, his years of frustration boiling over.

"Do you remember how many times he has been warned? How many chances has he been given? And yet, he continues to shame us at every turn. There is no hope for him."

Patriarch Bai stood up abruptly, his chair scraping against the wooden floor. "Enough! I have made my decision. He will remain in confinement until I deem him worthy to return to the family… or until he dies. That is all."

He turned his back on her, signaling the end of the conversation.

Bai Long's mother felt a surge of anger and grief. How could the Patriarch be so heartless? How could he treat her son like this?

"You heartless man!" she spat out, unable to control her emotions. "You would abandon your own grandson? What kind of patriarch are you?"

Patriarch Bai did not turn around, but his shoulders tensed at her words. "I am a patriarch who puts the well-being of the entire family above one rotten apple," he said firmly.

"If I don't take drastic measures now, it won't be long before we are all dragged down with him."

* * *

Bai Long sat in the cold basement, his arms folded across his chest and a frown on his face. The room was bare except for a few crates and old furniture, casting long shadows in the dim light.

There wasn't even a proper bed to lie on.

Nevertheless, he focused on healing his injury. That old man is momentarily blind and his mother may soon save him.

A sinister smirk appeared on his face.

Just then,

"Bai Long... COME OUT AND DIE!!!"

A loud voice enhanced by Qi, echoed like thunder across the Bai Family territory.

Needless to say, the ones who came were Yang Kai and Elder Wudi from Jade Moon Sect.

* * *

( A/N; yeah, I heard two of your comments but Yang Kai and Bai Huan are the "protagonists" so, you telling me they feels like real mc is actually a good thing for me. )