Jinyang City

"What is your name?"

Inside the room, one man and one dragon stared each other down, eyes wide.

"I don't have a name yet."

The miniature dragon blinked his pitch-black, gleaming eyes and spoke in a childish voice.

"Then you'll be called Little Purple from now on."

After racking his brains for a moment, Ye Xiaofan looked solemnly at the miniature dragon and said this.

The miniature dragon wildly shook his head. How could such a tacky name possibly suit the status of a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon?

But for the moment, he had no idea what he should be called either. There was no record of such things in his inherited memories.

"Alright, Little Purple it is."

Ignoring the miniature dragon's objections, Ye Xiaofan settled on his name. Then he took a bottle of Blood Qi Pills from his robes and tossed it to him.

At once, the miniature dragon no longer cared what his name was. Hugging the little porcelain bottle of Blood Qi Pills, he narrowed his eyes in blissful enjoyment.

Ye Xiaofan smiled, paid the miniature dragon no further mind, and left the room.

As they drew closer to Jinyang City, more and more ships passed along the Jinyang River.

Bright lanterns drifted across the river like specks of starlight.

"Young Master Ye, you're still awake?"

A pleasant voice came from behind him. Ye Xiaofan turned around and saw Liu Ruoxue approaching with a smile, her graceful figure swaying gently.

"Miss Liu."

Ye Xiaofan greeted her but did not answer her question. Turning back, he quietly watched the river beneath the curtain of night.

Liu Ruoxue did not speak again either. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Ye Xiaofan, silently watching the dark night ahead.

On the third floor of the cabin,

Liu Xingwen stood before the window, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared at Ye Xiaofan.

Who knew how much time passed,

The river wind gradually turned cold.

Liu Ruoxue tugged at her fur cloak and was the first to break the silence.

"Young Master Ye, forgive this young woman's presumption, but may I ask your father's name?"

"Ye Tianhe."

Ye Xiaofan answered indifferently. He had no intention of concealing his background.

Liu Ruoxue felt her mind boom. She stared blankly at Ye Xiaofan's profile.

For a long while, she could not come back to herself.

"Miss Liu, why are you staring at Ye like that?"

Seeing Liu Ruoxue continuously watching him, Ye Xiaofan turned his head and asked with the corners of his lips slightly raised.

As if indulging some malicious little amusement in his heart.

"Oh, oh, it's nothing."

"Then what is your mother's name?"

After asking this, Liu Ruoxue fixed her gaze on Ye Xiaofan, her eyes brimming with anticipation.

She wanted to hear a name that had been sealed away in dust for more than ten years from Ye Xiaofan's lips.

Yet she feared that the name he spoke would not be that one.

"Liu Qingshuang."

Ye Xiaofan's tone remained calm.

Those calm words were like a massive stone plunging into a still lake.

"Impossible, impossible."

Liu Ruoxue's face turned slightly pale. Her lips trembled as she staggered several steps backward, as though she could no longer stand steadily.

"Miss Liu, are you alright?"

"Xiaofan, I'm your older sister."

Tears blossomed in Liu Ruoxue's eyes. She stepped forward, wanting to touch Ye Xiaofan's cheek.

Ye Xiaofan took a step back and bared his teeth in a grin.

"I know."

Seeing Ye Xiaofan's calm expression, Liu Ruoxue realized she had been too hasty.

She steadied herself and regained her usual composure.

"Xiaofan, where is Ye Tianhe? Why didn't he bring you to Jinyang City all these years?"

"Dead!"

"How could that be?"

Liu Ruoxue cried out in shock, unable to believe that Ye Tianhe was dead.

"He died a month ago."

Ye Xiaofan frowned slightly, not understanding why Liu Ruoxue's reaction was so intense.

According to the One-armed man, the Liu Family should have been delighted by Ye Tianhe's death.

Just then,

Liu Xingwen leaped straight down from the third floor of the cabin.

"You said Ye Tianhe is dead? Who in Qingyang County could have killed him? Even Xiao Qiaofeng could not possibly have been his match."

At these words, Ye Xiaofan's brow furrowed even more deeply.

Ye Tianhe had been that strong?

How had he not known?

"My father was only at the Body Refinement Eighth Layer..."

"Impossible! When Ye Tianhe took the girl Qingshuang and left Jinyang City back then, he was already at the Body Refinement Eighth Layer. With his talent, even if he did not break through to the Qi Condensation stage, he should at least have reached the Body Refinement Ninth Layer and undergone a second blood exchange."

Before Ye Xiaofan could finish, Liu Xingwen cut him off excitedly.

Could Xiao Qiaofeng have lied to me?

Ye Xiaofan thought to himself, then shook his head.

The man was already dead. Nothing anyone said had any meaning now.

In a few days, once he broke through to the Body Refinement Ninth Layer, his strength would surpass Xiao Qiaofeng's.

Then he could ask him face-to-face.

That was, provided Xiao Qiaofeng had not died at the hands of the evil.

As for Ye Tianhe's vengeance, when the time came, he only needed to kill every suspicious person, demon, or monster.

"How did he die?"

Liu Xingwen still could not recover from the news of Ye Tianhe's death.

"While carrying out a mission, he was killed by demons and monsters."

After saying that, Ye Xiaofan ignored the two of them and left alone.

Liu Xingwen wanted to call Ye Xiaofan back, but Liu Ruoxue stopped him.

"Third Grandfather, I can be certain that Ye Xiaofan is Little Aunt's child. Appearances can resemble one another, but the tremor in one's bloodline cannot lie."

Liu Ruoxue watched Ye Xiaofan's departing back and spoke in a low voice.

"Mm."

"I never expected that Ye Tianhe, who once crushed an entire generation in Jinyang Prefecture, had not improved his cultivation in the slightest for more than ten years, only to die so miserably in the jaws of demons and monsters."

Liu Xingwen nodded and let out a long sigh.

"Perhaps Little Aunt's death struck him too hard."

"However, Little Aunt's child has been alive all this time, and we never knew. We must get to the bottom of this matter."

Liu Ruoxue's face was frost-cold, killing intent blazing in her eyes as she spoke icily.

Liu Xingwen's lips trembled, but in the end, he did not say a word.

Back then, Liu Qingshuang had encountered a sudden demon attack while returning home to visit her family. The matter itself had been riddled with doubts.

The Liu Family had their suspicions, but they lacked the strength to find the true culprit.

After all, Liu Qingshuang's fiancé had been the youngest son of Jinyang City's City Lord.

The night passed without incident.

The morning sunlight was always refreshing.

At Jinyang City's docks, ships came and went while laborers endlessly hauled cargo from enormous merchant vessels.

The Liu Family Merchant Association's ship slowly docked at its designated berth.

"Miss Liu, Senior Liu, thank you for your hospitality. My friend and I have urgent matters to attend to, so we'll take our leave first. Farewell!"

After cupping his fists toward Liu Ruoxue and Liu Xingwen in salute, Ye Xiaofan turned and left.

Liu Ruoxue wanted to call Ye Xiaofan back, but in the end, it became only a sigh.

Tie Wuqing saw everything but said nothing.

After giving Liu Ruoxue and Liu Xingwen a slight nod, she followed Ye Xiaofan.

"Ruoxue, don't rush. It is enough that we now know Qingshuang's child is still alive. We can slowly make him accept us."

Liu Ruoxue nodded without speaking, merely watching as Ye Xiaofan's figure vanished into the crowd.

The docks were exceedingly lively, with people of every kind coming and going.

Ye Xiaofan and Tie Wuqing walked side by side.

The miniature dragon, Little Purple, clung to a strand of Ye Xiaofan's hair and curiously surveyed everything around him.

"Gang Leader Tie, what are your plans?"

"I'll follow you to find the Left Thousand Households Officer. I'm very interested in this legend."

Tie Wuqing subconsciously reached toward her waist, only to grab empty air. Then she remembered that after the miniature dragon snatched her Wine Gourd, he had never returned it.

Tie Wuqing glanced at the miniature dragon hanging from Ye Xiaofan's ear.

For a moment, she became curious about how this finger-thick little dragon had stored something several times larger than himself.

The miniature dragon sensed Tie Wuqing's gaze and turned to look at her, his little eyes blinking. He could not understand why this young woman was looking at him with such a strange expression.

Could she be coveting my body?

The miniature dragon shuddered all over and hurriedly hid deeper in Ye Xiaofan's hair.

That action left Tie Wuqing thoroughly embarrassed.

She had once tried to sweet-talk the miniature dragon into following her.

In the end, the miniature dragon had merely rolled his eyes at her and told her to figure it out herself.

After the two humans and one dragon left the docks, they followed the broad avenue paved with blue stone for about ten li before finally arriving at Jinyang City's eastern gate.

People streamed endlessly in and out of the city gate.

Ye Xiaofan and Tie Wuqing followed the crowd into Jinyang City.

"Little Ye, it smells so good! I want to eat that!"

All along the way, whenever the miniature dragon saw some snack, he would tug at Ye Xiaofan's ear and endlessly clamour for food.

By the time they found a decent inn, Ye Xiaofan's hands were already full of all manner of snacks.

"Are the two guests here for a meal or a room?"

Seeing Ye Xiaofan carrying so much food, the waiter froze for a moment before recovering and hurrying forward to ask.

Ye Xiaofan's eyes twitched a few times. His face slightly red, he said:

"Two first-class rooms. Also prepare a table of good wine and dishes, then send it to my room."

"Certainly. This way, honored guests."

This scene made Tie Wuqing unable to stop herself from secretly laughing.

Meanwhile, the culprit, the miniature dragon, had eyes only for the snacks and kept urging Ye Xiaofan to give them to him quickly.