From a dark corner, the one-armed man slowly emerged. Looking in the direction Ye Xiaofan had disappeared, his eyes held shock, sorrow, and rage...
He had originally followed Zhang Dahu in secret, prepared to help Ye Xiaofan weather this calamity.
But he had never expected Ye Xiaofan to be such a monster.
Not only had his cultivation risen at an unimaginably fast pace, his combat strength was terrifying beyond measure.
In more than thirty years of life, this was the first time he had seen such a monster.
"Qingshuang, you gave birth to a fine son."
The one-armed man let out a long sigh and turned around.
Then he suddenly froze, his heart seeming to skip a beat.
Instinctively, he reached for the hilt of the broken blade at his waist.
A blurred figure had appeared before him at some unknown point, and he had not sensed a thing.
"Who?"
The one-armed man clenched the hilt with his five fingers, his entire body taut. With a grave gaze, he stared at Ye Xiaofan like a vicious wolf.
"Weren't you here with Zhang Dahu to find me?"
Unconcerned by the one-armed man's movements, Ye Xiaofan simply walked toward him.
"It's you."
The one-armed man gave a bitter smile and released the hilt. The muscles tensed throughout his body gradually relaxed.
A strange gleam flashed through Ye Xiaofan's eyes. He stopped ten feet before the one-armed man.
"Give me a reason not to kill you."
"Actually, I was your mother's fiancé."
The one-armed man fell silent for a moment. When he spoke, his words were as earth-shattering as a rock splitting the heavens.
Ye Xiaofan's pupils abruptly shrank, as though a dead soul had suddenly returned to life.
"You knew my mother? How is my mother now?"
The words nearly left Ye Xiaofan's mouth by instinct.
There had been no mother in the original owner's memories, and Ye Tianhe had never mentioned her before the original owner.
"I knew her."
The one-armed man pressed his lips together and spoke softly, his eyes filled with endless tenderness.
"Your mother, Liu Qingshuang, was the youngest daughter of the previous Patriarch of the Liu Family in Jinyang Prefecture. We were promised to each other as children. We grew up together, cultivated together..."
"Later, Ye Tianhe appeared. Ignoring the Liu Family's objections, your mother followed Ye Tianhe to Qingyang County, and then she had you."
"When you had just turned one, the old madam of the Liu Family wished to see your mother before she died. On her way back to Jinyang Prefecture, your mother encountered an attack by demons and monsters. Not even her bones remained."
Hearing that his mother had died without even a corpse left behind, Ye Xiaofan's heart violently clenched. He had been affected by the original owner's memories.
"Ye Tianhe actually didn't escort your mother back."
"Tell me."
"Didn't Ye Tianhe deserve to die?"
As he spoke, the one-armed man's entire body trembled and his emotions spiraled out of control. His eyes turned bloodshot, his features twisting as he nearly roared.
"Hahaha, do you know? When I heard Ye Tianhe was dead, do you know how happy I was? What a pity he didn't die by my hand."
"Hahaha..."
As the one-armed man laughed, a clear tear slid down his face.
Ye Xiaofan fell silent. His thoughts were in turmoil, perhaps under the influence of the original owner.
Scenes of memory flickered through his mind, as though searching for something.
No wonder Ye Tianhe had always liked to lock himself in his room and mutter to himself whenever he returned home, drinking himself into a stupor every time.
He could now imagine why Ye Tianhe had never mentioned his mother before the original owner.
It was guilt and self-reproach. He had not dared let the original owner know that his mother had died because he had failed to protect her.
"What happened to the demons and monsters that killed my mother?"
Ye Xiaofan had promised the original owner that he would avenge his family. If that demon was still alive, he would cut off its head and offer it in sacrifice to the original owner's mother.
"They're dead. Ye Tianhe and the Liu Family slaughtered every demon and monster in that entire mountain range."
"What attitude does the Liu Family have toward my father and me?"
After a moment of silence, Ye Xiaofan continued asking.
"In the Liu Family's eyes, you're nothing but a bastard. They don't acknowledge Ye Tianhe as the Liu Family's son-in-law either. That's why the Liu Family has never come looking for you all these years."
The one-armed man spoke in a flippant tone, as if telling a joke.
A stretch of silence followed.
"Kill me. I lost any reason to live long ago. If not for killing Ye Tianhe, I would have followed your mother long ago."
The one-armed man had calmed down, and his tone was flat.
Ye Xiaofan said nothing. He glanced at the one-armed man, whose face was filled with the will to die, then turned and left.
The last time the one-armed man had come to capture him, Ye Xiaofan knew the other man had never intended to make a move.
Otherwise, how could a Body Refinement Sixth Layer cultivator possibly fail to catch a mere Body Refinement Second Layer like him?
If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching the author. It may simply have been renamed!
He had never been able to understand it before, but now he finally did.
A pitiful man trapped by love—disgusted and hateful, yet unable to bring himself to act because Ye Xiaofan was the child of the woman he loved.
Watching Ye Xiaofan leave, the one-armed man looked utterly lost, as if all strength had been drained from his body. He walked away hunched over.
Without direction, without purpose.
On the dark and desolate street, Ye Xiaofan walked slowly.
At this moment, his mind was a complete mess.
The memories he had cast into a corner surged back like a tide, eventually gathering into the vague outline of a woman.
"Liu Qingshuang... Mother!"
Ye Xiaofan murmured to himself. As though hearing his call, the blurry woman revealed a loving smile, waved at him, then gradually faded away.
"Stop! This is the Black Tiger Gang. Leave at once!"
A furious shout dragged Ye Xiaofan back to reality. Looking up, he saw—the Black Tiger Gang!
Without realizing it, he had wandered to the Black Tiger Gang's headquarters.
The guards gripped their weapons and stared nervously at Ye Xiaofan. Appearing in the dead of night, he clearly came with ill intent.
Ye Xiaofan said nothing. The moment these guards saw his face, their fates had already been sealed.
Ye Xiaofan withdrew his gaze and, before the guards' very eyes, tore off a piece of cloth from his clothes and covered his face.
The guards collectively turned to stone.
That move was simply too flashy.
"Y-you, what are you trying to do? This is the Black Tiger Gang headquarters. Don't bring ruin upon yourself."
"In your next life, don't join a gang."
"What?"
The six guards only felt their vision blur. Then their hearts hurt, and they lost consciousness.
At this moment,
It was already the latter half of the night, and the stars had hidden away.
The night grew darker!
The Black Tiger Gang was quiet, with torches burning on both sides of the road.
Ye Xiaofan strode openly through the Black Tiger Gang headquarters.
"Stop! Who are you?"
A patrol discovered Ye Xiaofan and hurriedly drew their weapons, surrounding him.
Ye Xiaofan said nothing and merely continued walking forward.
"An assassin! Hurry, send—"
The patrol captain had only shouted once before Ye Xiaofan drove his sword sheath through his heart.
The others did not dare step forward at all. Ye Xiaofan took one step, and they retreated three.
The commotion here finally awakened the sleeping Black Tiger Gang.
A large number of gang members kept arriving, surrounding Ye Xiaofan.
After Ye Xiaofan killed several minor leaders, no one dared take another step forward.
"Who dares cause trouble in the Black Tiger Gang?"
A powerful, furious roar rang out from behind the crowd.
The crowd opened a path.
Two middle-aged men walked over shoulder to shoulder.
One was a burly middle-aged man with a square face, small eyes, and sausage lips. The other was tall and heavily bearded, yet his eyes carried a hint of seductive charm.
Ye Xiaofan knew these two men.
Battle Hall's Shi Chui was at the Body Refinement Fifth Layer, while Internal Affairs Hall's Liu Dàdāo was at the Body Refinement Fourth Layer.
"Who are you, sir? Why did you break into the Black Tiger Gang at night and kill our members? If you don't give Shi an explanation, I'm afraid you won't be leaving tonight."
Seeing the corpses scattered everywhere, Shi Chui was instantly consumed by fury.
All those dead were minor leaders.
The losses were impossible to calculate.
This sloppily masked fellow before him simply deserved death!
"Heh, who I am isn't important. What matters is that after tonight, the Black Tiger Gang will become history."
Ye Xiaofan chuckled softly and walked toward Shi Chui and the other man.
When the many gang members saw Ye Xiaofan move, they hurriedly shielded the two hall masters and collectively retreated three steps.
"Arrogant! Hall Master Liu, brothers, come with me and capture this thief, then hand him over to the gang leader for judgment!"
Shi Chui roared, his aura erupting. The gang members hurriedly retreated several dozen more steps.
Hearing this, Liu Dàdāo did not hesitate. Drawing his blade, he charged straight at Ye Xiaofan.
The corner of Ye Xiaofan's mouth lifted. The Black Tiger Gang's wealth was mine.
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