"The Ye Family? Impossible. They simply don’t have the capability to kill anyone." Hearing the Ye Family mentioned, Fang Lian shook her head incessantly. She knew the Ye Family’s strength all too well; they were nothing more than the Fang Family’s watchdogs.
"Miss Fang, according to my sources, the person who annihilated your family is named Ye Xuan. This brat went missing for thirteen years, but his strength has drastically increased since his return."
"Ye Xuan..." Fang Lian didn’t have much memory of him, but she vaguely recalled the name. If that was the case, the Niu Family’s information was correct.
"Sheng..." Fang Lian turned to look at Ning Zheseng, tears welling in her eyes.
Ning Zheseng understood her unspoken plea. His eyes turned icy as he declared, "Rest assured, I will definitely exterminate the entire Ye Family. I will make sure none of them die with an intact corpse."
As Young Master Ning’s words fell, Niu Tong suddenly patted his chest. "Young Master Ning, why would you need to act personally to wipe out the insignificant Ye Family? Besides, since this happened on the Niu Family’s territory, let my Niu Family vent this anger on Miss Fang’s behalf." Obviously, Niu Tong wanted to curry favor with Ning Zheseng.
Ning Zheseng pondered for a moment before replying, "Very well. Send your men to surround Hongtu Town. I want everyone in the Ye Family buried with the dead. Not a single one can be spared!" Ning Zheseng could easily wipe out a small faction like the Ye Family on his own, but he was worried someone might slip away.
"Understood. Men, pass down my order! Quickly assemble our forces and surround Hongtu Town. I don’t want even a single bird to fly out of that town! Remember, make sure it’s a massive show of force."
...
That day, the Niu Family assembled over ten thousand Cultivators. The massive army marched out in a vast, majestic procession. Before they even left their own town, they had already caused a massive uproar, sparking endless discussions among the local Cultivators.
"What is the Niu Family doing? They actually gathered so many troops. Are they going to attack another town again?"
"Anyone got inside information? I’ll offer a hundred Silver Taels for the scoop, but it has to be accurate."
"Heh, I’ll take those Silver Taels. I happen to know about this. The Niu Family isn’t launching a war with this massive lineup—they’re going to wipe out a small family."
"Nonsense. Wipe out a small family? Do they really need such a massive force?"
"That’s because this small family provoked someone they shouldn’t have. To claim the merit, the Niu Family’s patriarch volunteered to lead the troops himself."
"Someone they shouldn’t have provoked... Could it be that young master?"
"Exactly! That’s him."
"They’re seeking their own doom. Which family is so blind?"
"I think it’s the Ye Family of Hongtu Town."
"The Ye Family? Speaking of which, I actually have some ties with them. Back when I was in Hongtu Town, Patriarch Ye Zeyun and I were on pretty good terms."
"If you were on good terms, why don’t you send them a warning via carrier pigeon and tell them to run?"
"Send a warning? Only if I want my entire family dead! At a time like this, never mind being on good terms—even if they were my blood relatives, I could only let them die! Besides, the reliability of this news isn’t exactly high. It might just be an alleyway rumor."
In just over ten minutes, the news that the Niu Family was going to obliterate the Ye Family of Hongtu Town spread rapidly like a raging wildfire.
"What? They’re going to exterminate the Ye Family?"
On the streets, Tang Long also heard the news, his brows furrowing tightly. Others might think it was just a rumor, but he was certain it was true. He naturally knew that the Ye Family had destroyed the Fang Family. Although the Ye Family had intentionally locked down the news, if anyone visited Hongtu Town, it would be hard not to find out. This meant someone from the Niu Family must have gone to Hongtu Town.
What should he do? This was completely different from Ye Xuan’s plan. Ye Xuan only wanted to kill Fang Lian and Young Master Ning—and he wanted to do it quietly. Tang Long weighed his options. Should he crush the two pieces of Twin Jade and have Ye Xuan return first? But even if Ye Xuan went back, he wouldn’t know about the Niu Family’s movements. By the time Ye Xuan found out, the Niu Family’s ten-thousand-strong army would have already surrounded Hongtu Town.
"No! Ye Xuan must know about this. Otherwise, his entire family will die!" Without pausing, Tang Long rushed back toward Hongtu Town at top speed.
Five hours later, as the sky gradually darkened, Tang Long arrived at the main route. This road was extremely long, stretching for miles. Worried that Ye Xuan might be hiding and wouldn’t see him, Tang Long could only run and shout along the way.
"Ye Xuan... Ye Xuan..." He shouted for so long that his voice grew hoarse.
Finally, Ye Xuan responded. "Tang Long..."
In the distance stood Ye Xuan, clad in white.
"Thank... goodness... I finally... found you." Tang Long came to a halt, panting heavily. His face was slightly pale, and the Spiritual Qi in his body was almost completely drained.
"Tang Long, why did you come looking for me? What happened?" Ye Xuan frowned. This wasn’t part of his plan.
Tang Long took a few deep breaths before replying, "Hurry back to the Ye Family and take your family away."
"What’s wrong?"
"The Niu Family is leading over ten thousand men to slaughter the Ye Family. Miss Fang already knows that the Ye Family destroyed the Fang Family. To claim the merit, the Niu Family volunteered to encircle and annihilate the Ye Family."
Hearing Tang Long’s explanation, Ye Xuan’s expression turned exceedingly grim. He had stayed here originally to wait for Young Master Ning and Fang Lian. Who could have expected that ten thousand Niu Family members would suddenly get involved? Even if he was still confident he could kill Young Master Ning and Fang Lian, what use would it be? Killing the two of them now would only expose him. By then, he would offend the entire Ning Family.
But what could he do? Not kill them? Wasn’t that just waiting to die? Ye Xuan suddenly felt that the world was truly cruel. It seemed the heavens would never let ordinary people live in peace. No matter how smart you were or how well you planned, what did it matter? Things in this world rarely went as desired. Human calculation truly fell short of heavenly design.
"Ye Xuan, what are you standing there for? Hurry back and flee with your clan overnight. Once tonight passes, it might be too late!" Tang Long’s voice rang out again. He had run for his life with everything he had just to deliver this message, so why was Ye Xuan spacing out?
Hearing this, Ye Xuan exhaled heavily to calm himself down. Even though he had encountered such a massive tribulation, he couldn’t let it defeat him. He had already tasted the extreme bitterness of love, what other hardships couldn’t he endure? What other difficulties could break him?
"Tang Long, thank you." Ye Xuan thanked him from the bottom of his heart. He knew that Tang Long had pushed his Spiritual Qi to the absolute limit to run all this way; his sweat-drenched clothes made that obvious.
"Don’t mention it. Hurry back. I can’t run anymore, and my Spiritual Qi is almost dried up. I’ll meet up with you later."
"Your Spiritual Qi is dried up?" Without another word, Ye Xuan took out an Elixir Bottle. "This is a second-tier, high-grade Spirit Revitalizing Pill. Take it first."
A Spirit Revitalizing Pill was an Elixir specifically used to restore Spiritual Qi. These Elixirs had all been obtained when he robbed the tributes.
"Alright." Tang Long didn’t stand on ceremony. He took the Elixir and swallowed one, and the depleted Spiritual Qi in his body was rapidly replenished. Tang Long wanted to return the remaining Elixirs to Ye Xuan, but Ye Xuan waved his hand. "Keep them. You’ll need them later."
With that, Ye Xuan turned and left. Under the moonlight, he and Tang Long ran swiftly, one after the other, their bodies blooming with Spiritual Light.
Two hours later, they arrived back at Hongtu Town. Hongtu Town was exceptionally quiet; almost everyone had fallen into dreamland. The moonlight fell upon the earth like silver. It should have been a beautiful scene, but for some unknown reason, it now carried an added touch of desolate sorrow.