Hearing this, Ye Wen gritted his teeth and did as he was told. He raised his hand, aiming right for Niu Dali’s face.
Ever since that day, he had refused to submit, harboring a chest full of resentment. Since the Patriarch had told him to slap the living daylights out of this guy, what was there to fear?
Ye Wen raised his hand high, Spiritual Qi blossoming from his palm. Though not blindingly bright, this Dao Light was enough to clear away the gloom and inner demons clouding his path of cultivation, bringing total clarity to his mind.
"Wen, don’t do it!"
Seeing Ye Wen raise his hand, Ye Yihe’s heart tensed up. He couldn’t help but speak out to stop him.
Striking someone from Niu Family Town came with a heavy price. When the time came for retaliation, it wouldn’t be as simple as a broken leg.
But Ye Wen was a hot-blooded youth. If he had a grudge, shouldn’t he exact his revenge now? Was he supposed to save it for next year? Since the Patriarch told him to strike, he would strike hard.
SMACK!
A crisp sound rang out. It was deafening.
Though this slap didn’t inflict much physical injury on Niu Dali, the inexplicable rush of power that came from slapping him across the face made Ye Wen’s blood boil with excitement.
So the sound of a slap in the face could be this melodious! It was satisfying. So damn satisfying.
Seeing this, Ye Xuan smiled. He asked once more, "Niu Dali, what was the percentage increase you mentioned just now?"
"Eigh... eighty percent."
Ye Xuan shook his head and softly uttered two words: "Keep hitting."
Ye Wen’s eyes lit up, and he delivered another slap.
Niu Dali hastily cried out, "I already told you, and you’re still hitting me? This is too outrageous!"
"Is that so? Ye Wen, until I tell you to stop, keep hitting him."
"Yes, Lord of the Family!"
Ye Wen’s eyes gleamed brighter. His right hand fell continuously, like a barrage of shooting stars.
SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK!
In the blink of an eye, he had delivered nearly ten slaps.
"I’ll tell the truth! I’ll tell the truth!" Niu Dali finally yielded.
"Stop." Ye Xuan raised a hand to halt the beating.
"It’s sixty percent. The tribute increase is sixty percent."
Ye Xuan lowered his hand, his gaze indifferent. "Keep hitting him. Use a rock this time."
Saying this, he took the initiative to pick up a cobblestone the size of a child’s head and handed it to Ye Wen.
Ye Wen chuckled. Without another word, he took the rock and aimed straight for Niu Dali’s face. No, this wasn’t just a slap anymore—he was flat-out smashing the man’s face.
"Yikes..." The surrounding Ye Family members grimaced, barely able to watch.
"I remember now, it’s fifty percent... fifty percent!"
THUD!
With a different hardness, even the sound changed. Niu Dali’s head was knocked sideways at a ninety-degree angle.
Yet, Ye Xuan still hadn’t called for a stop!
Wielding the stone, Ye Wen swung wildly from left to right, the rock whistling through the air.
THUD THUD THUD.
Even though Niu Dali’s cultivation base was many, many times higher than Ye Wen’s, the sheer force of the blows left him dizzy and seeing stars.
They wondered why Ye Xuan still wasn’t stopping it. Could it be that Niu Dali was still lying?
"I remembered wrong! I remembered wrong just now! Forty percent... it’s forty percent!" Niu Dali finally changed his tune again.
"As expected, it can still go lower!"
"This Niu Dali is too wicked. He actually tried to embezzle sixty percent of the tribute! The Patriarch is wise indeed. But surely, he must be telling the truth now."
As the Ye Family members spoke, they all turned their eyes toward Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan, however, acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He looked up at the sky with an expression of leisurely admiring the scenery.
The weather today was quite nice. Blue skies, white clouds, and endless sunshine.
Since Ye Xuan didn’t speak, Ye Wen didn’t stop.
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD.
By now, a faint scent of blood lingered in the air. Niu Dali’s face had finally been busted open. No matter how formidable his strength was, he couldn’t withstand being brutally bludgeoned with a rock!
At this moment, Niu Dali was enraged. His Spiritual Qi surged out from his body as if he wanted to launch a counterattack against Ye Wen.
But Ye Xuan merely glared at him, his Divine-Demonic Overlord Body manifesting once again. That icy gaze seemed to scream that if Niu Dali dared to make a move, he would kill him without hesitation.
Ultimately, Niu Dali retracted his Spiritual Qi and cried out with a miserable expression, "I’ll tell the truth! I’ll tell the truth, okay?! Thirty percent. The Town Mayor told us to collect an additional thirty percent! This is the absolute truth! If I’m lying, may I, Niu Dali, be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"
"He swore an oath! Such a venomous oath means it’s definitely the truth now."
"This Niu Dali actually wanted to pocket seventy percent all for himself! His heart is beyond black. The worst part is that it took him this long to finally tell the truth."
"An additional thirty percent... If we scrape it together and borrow a little from our subordinate families, we should be able to gather enough."
The Ye Family members finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Following that, they looked at Ye Xuan again, only to find that he still hadn’t called for a stop.
What was going on? Did Ye Xuan still think Niu Dali was lying? But that couldn’t be. The man had already sworn a deadly oath.
"Patriarch Ye! Hurry up and tell him to stop! I’m telling the truth! The absolute, heavens-honest truth! Ouch! Ah!"
"It hurts... it hurts!"
"My face is being mashed to a pulp... Even my beard is getting smashed off..."
THUD THUD THUD.
Ye Wen was getting more and more enthusiastic with his strikes. More and more blood stained the cobblestone.
"Twenty percent! Twenty percent! I’ll make up the missing ten percent myself!" Niu Dali roared at the top of his lungs, his voice tearing.
He couldn’t take any more beatings. If he took another hit, this manly face of his would be completely ruined.
As soon as those words left his mouth, Ye Xuan finally smiled. He reached out a hand, signaling Ye Wen to stop.
"I’ve always been fond of honest people. Oh, Lord Niu, we haven’t looked at each other for just a moment, so why is there so much blood on your face?"
Niu Dali was rendered completely speechless. He wondered if Ye Xuan was mocking him, seeing as he was the one who had ordered the beating.
"Patriarch Ye, just give me the tribute, and I’ll leave immediately."
"Sure. Grandfather, can we still scrape together a twenty percent tribute?"
"Yes, we’ve already gathered enough," Ye Zeyun replied.
"Good. Give it to Lord Niu."
"I’ll go get it right away."
Before long, Ye Zeyun walked out, personally carrying a large chest on his shoulder.
By this time, Niu Dali had snapped the bones in his legs back into place. Although walking was a bit strenuous, he still managed to stand up.
"Lord Niu’s legs still haven’t fully healed. How about this? I’ll personally place this on your carriage to see you off."
Ye Xuan took the large chest, taking the initiative to carry it out. His profound eyes were like the starry night sky—mysterious and utterly unfathomable.
Niu Dali gritted his teeth and closely followed Ye Xuan.
After leaving the Ye Family estate, Ye Xuan finally spoke.
"Lord Niu, you harbor deep resentment toward me. You’re probably itching to eat my flesh and drink my blood, aren’t you? Are you still pondering over what method you can use to kill me and destroy the Ye Family?"
Ye Xuan’s words made Niu Dali’s heart leap in shock. Along the way, he had indeed been thinking exactly that. If he didn’t avenge this grievance, he wasn’t fit to carry the Niu surname.
Without waiting for Niu Dali to answer, Ye Xuan’s eyes suddenly turned cold as he continued.
"I advise you not to seek your own doom. Perhaps it truly would be easy for the Niu Family to wipe out my Ye Family, but don’t forget—it is also very easy for me to kill you.
"Most importantly, arbitrarily raising the tribute by seventy percent for your own gain is a grave crime within the Niu Family, isn’t it? But don’t worry, I won’t expose you. As long as we mind our own business and stay out of each other’s way."
It was unclear whether Niu Dali took Ye Xuan’s words to heart. Without a single word, he drove his horse carriage and swiftly sped away.
Ye Xuan watched the gradually disappearing carriage, seemingly deep in thought. However, he still couldn’t put his mind at ease.
He turned to the disciple guarding the gate and spoke. "I’m heading out for a few days. Pass the word to my clansmen and tell them not to worry."
As soon as his voice faded, he had already vanished.