Ye Wanqing's words made Xu Lai take a deep breath. In his hundred thousand years, he had encountered countless people and events, but he had met few as shameless as Ye Wanqing.
"When the Ruan Family decided to make Ruan Tang abort her child and marry her off to another man, she hid in another city for nine months, barely surviving.
"It was I who led people to find Xu Yiyi, saved her wretched life, and provided her with food and clothing. Without me, she would have died long ago.
"Now, I draw one tube of fresh blood from Xu Yiyi every day. Am I going too far?
"Not at all!"
Ye Wanqing's face twisted viciously. "This child is a gift from heaven to the Ye Family. Neither you nor Ruan Tang should even think about taking her away!"
"So that's how it is." Xu Lai closed his eyes. With just a few words from Ye Wanqing, he deduced everything in an instant.
「Five years ago, in the dead of winter.」
On a bitterly cold day, with a biting wind, Ruan Tang, having just given birth, collapsed in the snow outside a dilapidated country cottage. Her blood stained the pure white snow red.
Ruan Tang cried and begged Ye Wanqing not to take her child, Yiyi.
"Ruan Tang regarded you as her only trusted friend and gave the address only to you, but you betrayed her. Not only did you forcibly take Yiyi, but you also notified the Ruan Family!" Xu Lai rubbed his temples as a killing intent began to rise.
Ye Wanqing was somewhat surprised that Xu Lai knew so many details, so she dropped her pretense.
"That's right, it was me!
"I was Ruan Tang's junior in university, her deputy in the student club. She had better grades than me, a better family background than me, and even the senior I liked was one of her suitors!
"I'm also a young lady from a prestigious family, and my looks and figure are in no way inferior to hers. So why... why did all the men only have eyes for Ruan Tang and not for me!"
Ye Wanqing made no attempt to hide the jealousy in her voice. A demonic smile flickered across her face. "But who would have thought that Ruan Tang, proud as a black swan, would have a child with some unknown man. Chased by the Ruan Family, she ended up living in a tiny, run-down country house without even a toilet.
"The woman who never bowed her head to anyone humbled herself to video call me just to borrow a thousand yuan. It's laughable. She didn't even have rice for the pot or money to fix her leaky roof, yet she deluded herself into thinking she could buy nutritional supplements for her daughter.
"I still remember her humble tone and expression when she was borrowing money," Ye Wanqing said, closing her eyes to savor the memory with satisfaction. "It's truly a delightful memory."
"You bully Mommy! You're a bad person! BOO HOO..." Xu Yiyi cried, swinging her little fists, trying to hit Ye Wanqing.
"That's right, I am a bad person." Ye Wanqing didn't deny it. Instead, she said with pride, "No one knows that I secretly raised Xu Yiyi; they all think she's just an orphan I found. I used this little wretch to continuously torment Ruan Tang.
"Want to see the child? Beg me!
"Afraid I'll leak the news to the Ruan Family? You still have to beg me!
"When a person you could once only look up to is suddenly at your beck and call, to be casually humiliated whenever you please—oh, what a joyous feeling that is!
"But what truly delights me is my accidental discovery of the magical properties of Xu Yiyi's blood, which can enhance one's Martial Dao cultivation. She's simply a human-shaped divine treasure!"
Shameless. Utterly shameless!
Although there had always been rumors that the Ye Family's Ye Wuxuan owed his Martial Dao talent to an infant's blood, hearing the story straight from the eldest daughter of the Ye Family was different. The elites and dignitaries of Hangcheng were all shocked by Ye Wanqing's cruelty and perversion.
What a venomous woman!
Seemingly aware of the subtle change in the guests' gazes, Ye Wanqing said dismissively, "Heavenly treasures belong to the virtuous. My brother, Ye Wuxuan, has the makings of a Martial Ancestor. He is a chosen one of heaven. What's wrong with him possessing Xu Yiyi, this medicinal herb? As for you wanting to take her away, that's just wishful thinking!"
Ye Wanqing's expression grew ferocious. "I'll give you one last chance. Leave Xu Yiyi behind, get out of Hangcheng, and I can forget this ever happened. Otherwise, I will ensure your entire family dies without a proper burial!"
"You're stubbornly unrepentant." Xu Lai's voice was ice-cold. The fact that she saw his precious daughter as a mere medicinal ingredient was simply courting death. She's courting death!
He reached out his hand. Ye Wanqing's body floated uncontrollably toward him, his hand instantly closing around her neck. With just a bit more force, Xu Lai could crush it.
From the crowd, an older man and a woman shouted, "Stop! Let go of my daughter!"
They were none other than the Ye Family Head, Ye Tiannan, and his wife, Xu Ru.
"What's the big deal about drawing a little blood from Xu Yiyi? It's just a hundred milliliters a day, and it's not like she died," Xu Ru snorted coldly. "Let go of her now! If you hurt Wanqing, not even ten thousand of your lives would be enough to atone for it!"
Initially, Xu Ru and her husband hadn't paid the disturbance much mind. But seeing that Xu Lai was so powerful that even Venerate Han and President Tang were helpless—and that he now intended to harm their daughter—they could no longer remain idle.
"Just..." Xu Lai narrowed his eyes.
If it weren't for Yiyi having his bloodline and an extraordinary body, she would have died at the hands of the Ye Family long ago. The thought of his daughter being tortured daily for five long years felt like a knife twisting in his heart.
"What's with that fierce look? Are you planning to kill me too?" Far from being scared, Xu Ru sneered, "You might dare to kill Venerate Han and President Tang, but if you dare touch a single hair on my head, my son will flay you alive and pull out your tendons!"
Xu Lai remained silent.
Seeing this, Xu Ru pushed her advantage, scoffing, "Scared now? Go on, kill me! I dare you! Do you dare?!"
"What's there to fear?" Xu Lai's expression was placid as his gaze swept over her.
The next moment, Xu Ru, who had just been so defiant, became a shriveled corpse. Beside her, Ye Tiannan suffered the same fate, his blood completely drained, leaving only a wrinkled sack of skin that vaguely resembled his former self.
BOOM!
The hearts of all the guests skipped a beat, their faces frozen in shock.
Venerate Han and President Tang were, after all, outsiders. Their deaths might have left a theoretical possibility for reconciliation between Xu Lai and the Ye Family. But with the deaths of Ye Tiannan and his wife, everyone knew that from now on, it was a feud to the death.
To single-handedly confront Hangcheng's number one wealthy family, the Ye Family—what incredible bravado and arrogance.
Is Xu Lai truly not afraid of the Martial Dao prodigy, Ye Wuxuan?!
Ye Wanqing's eyes turned bloodshot. "Mother!" she shrieked. "You dared to kill my parents? Wuxuan will not let you go!"
Xu Lai, who had intended to crush her to death, loosened his grip and threw her to the ground. "I'll wait for him," he said indifferently.
Ye Wanqing's elegant red dress was in tatters, her eyes burning with venomous hatred as she stared at Xu Yiyi. Her heart was filled with hatred. If she had known this would happen, she would have chopped off Xu Yiyi's legs and left her to rot in a dark room for the rest of her life, unable to move an inch.
Amidst her seething resentment, the oppressively gloomy sky over Hangcheng, already shrouded in dark clouds, burst open in a torrential downpour.
BOOM! RUMBLE...
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky in the distance as thunder shook the heavens.
All the guests, still reeling from the death of the Ye Family Head and his wife, instinctively looked out the window. Through the curtain of rain, they saw a streak of silver light rapidly approaching.
"That streak of light... is it lightning?"
"It seems to be flying toward us..."
In the midst of the chaos, the silver light halted fifty meters above the Ye Family estate. Against the dark sky, its brilliance was so dazzling that it was impossible to make out what it was.
But as the light gradually faded, the pupils of every guest contracted.
The silver light resolved into a young man with long hair! His eyes were as sharp as swords, his face resolute, and his entire being emanated an imposing sword aura.
He was the backbone of the Ye Family.
Ye Wuxuan