Hack at Each Other?

Ye Xing flew dozens of meters. When he hit the ground, the crack of breaking bones sounded even more grating.

Then, with a retch, he spat blood again.

He was in a wretched state.

Blood streamed from him.

Ye Qiu strode after him, his gaze fixed coldly on the boy who was already half-dead.

Back then, Ye Xing's parents had died young, and his grandfather had been good for nothing. Ye Qiu's mother, Wen Xi, had taken pity on him and raised him at her side.

Ye Qiu and Ye Xing had been together since they were three, and Wen Xi had always provided for all his needs.

Books, lessons, cultivation, resources... whatever Ye Qiu had, Ye Xing had too!

In name, he was a study companion. In truth, he had been treated no differently from Ye Qiu.

"Anyone else can speak ill of her. They have nothing to do with my mother. But you? What gives you the right?"

Ye Qiu walked up to him and planted a foot on his chest, making him cough up more blood.

"Ahhh... I was wrong, Young Master Ye Qiu, I..." Ye Xing wailed, feeling death draw near.

"Ye Qiu!" An angry shout rang out behind him, aged and commanding. A vast aura surged with it.

Ye Qiu glanced to the side and was about to speak when Ye Xing suddenly screamed, "Grandpa, save me! Kill this bastard! Kill him!"

Ye Qiu paused. Then he looked back at Ye Xing.

Ye Xing's face twisted, his mouth full of blood. Just as he was about to speak, Ye Qiu pressed down hard with his foot.

A hundred thousand units of force... no, his strength now was not quite a hundred and ten thousand, but it was close.

Splat—

Under that terrifying force, Ye Xing's chest burst open, sending blood and flesh flying.

His eyes bulged with endless terror, then froze that way forever.

"Ah!" Screams rose all around. The bloody sight struck many nerves raw.

"Ye Qiu, you... you bastard..." The old man froze, then his eyes turned bloodshot and savage.

He was Ye Xing's good-for-nothing grandfather, Ye Tianshui, an insignificant member of a branch line of the Ye Clan.

Boom—

But before he could finish speaking, an explosive rush of air sounded, and Ye Qiu appeared before him.

Ye Qiu's powerful aura erupted, snapping the old man's mouth shut. Fear welled up in his eyes.

He could not withstand that aura!

"After all these years, you're still as useless as ever." Ye Qiu looked at Ye Tianshui and raised his fist.

The old man saw the fist rise, but no matter how he tried, he could not move.

It was as though he had been pinned down.

"Ye Qiu, stop!" That commanding voice rang out again, and several people landed nearby at once.

Among them was a middle-aged man with a square face. He wore a black robe, and his gaze was as cold and sharp as a sword.

Ye Jiangshan!

Master Ye!

Ye Qiu glanced at him. Then the corner of his mouth lifted, and he brought his fist crashing down.

Splat—

Ye Tianshui's head exploded before everyone, right under Ye Jiangshan's furious gaze.

Like a rotten watermelon, like blood-red fireworks, blood and shredded flesh sprayed in every direction.

"You..."

Ye Jiangshan froze.

He stared at Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu turned and met his gaze calmly, a faint, mocking smile on his lips. There was no fear, no respect—only amusement!

That look was utterly unfamiliar to Ye Jiangshan. He seemed to be living ten years in the past... He still thought Ye Qiu was that timid child who ought to cry out for his father...

Did he still think he could order Ye Qiu around, scold him, and control his life as his father?

"Qiu'er, you're back." In the cold, rigid silence, a gentle voice suddenly spoke.

A woman approached in a violet gauze dress, expensive jeweled hairpins in her hair and her makeup immaculate.

Though she was past forty, she looked barely thirty.

Liu Xiu!

With a gentle smile on her face, she walked up to Ye Qiu. "You came to South Capital. Why didn't you come home first? Your father's been worried about you."

Just look at her. She played the part so convincingly that anyone who did not know better might truly take her for a virtuous wife and loving mother beyond compare.

Ye Qiu's mouth twitched. He looked at the pretty-faced woman and said mildly, "How did you get so old?"

The smile on Liu Xiu's face stiffened slightly. A flash of chilling murderous intent crossed her narrow eyes.

But she hid it well.

Ye Qiu looked at her and added another blow. "At least you're not as ugly as you were back then."

The murderous intent Liu Xiu had concealed surged up again. Even her breathing seemed to carry the smell of gunpowder.

Can't keep up the act anymore?

I thought you were so calculating.

Ye Qiu snorted and walked past her. After a few steps, he looked back. "I wasn't lying."

Liu Xiu: "..."

Ye Qiu ignored her and walked up to Ye Jiangshan, staring into his angry, shadowed eyes. "I know you called me back in such a hurry because something unpleasant is coming. But don't tell me yet."

He held out his hand to Ye Jiangshan. "First, give me the three hundred thousand from my mother's dowry. She promised it to me for my wedding."

"You really have less and less respect for your elders!" Ye Jiangshan's voice was low.

"As you say," Ye Qiu replied flatly.

Ye Jiangshan: "..."

Then Ye Qiu shook his head. "No, I can't compare to you, great head of the Ye Clan!"

"You're the impressive one."

"You kept your wife at home while chasing women outside, then fathered an illegitimate son and named him Ye Rudí."

"My mother had been gone just one month before you rushed your mistress and illegitimate son through the door and sent your own son away. You ignored me for ten years... Such impeccable manners!"

"Shut up!" Ye Jiangshan's face flushed. Cold with humiliated rage, he released a powerful aura.

At the same time, he raised a hand, as if to slap Ye Qiu.

But as his aura erupted, so did Ye Qiu's. Killing intent blazed in his eyes.

The Black Broadsword appeared in his hand, its edge gleaming as he aimed it at Ye Jiangshan's skull.

A fighting stance!

No.

He was ready to fight to the death!

You die, I live!

You live, I die!

Ye Qiu met Ye Jiangshan's eyes without a flicker of emotion and said casually, "Come on, then. Want to hack at each other?"

Fire churned violently in Ye Jiangshan's eyes. His chest rose and fell, and even the air around him grew stiflingly hot with his surging emotions.

But for a long while, he could not force out a single word.

His raised hand slowly fell.

Ye Qiu did not relent. His killing intent remained, growing even stronger, while the blade flashed with a blinding light.

Come on.

Let's see if you dare beat me to death. Let's see if I dare cut you down.

Ye Jiangshan was shaken. He could truly sense the killing intent in Ye Qiu's eyes and in the blade.

Ye Qiu really dared to strike.

Dared to strike a killing blow!

After a long while, Ye Jiangshan drew a deep breath and let it out with the stifling heat. "I know you resent me."

"But everything I did was for the Ye Clan!"

"I am your father, but I am also the head of the Ye Clan. I bear responsibility for the greater good, for the lives of more than ten thousand clan members!"

"The Ye Clan needs a capable heir! And your aptitude... falls far too short!"

"Your younger brother, Ye Rudí, has the Heavenly King Body, something our clan has not seen in a hundred years. With him, the Ye Clan has a future!"

"I sent you away because I didn't want you to feel inferior, to..."

"Sir, times have changed. I'm not seven anymore." Ye Qiu waved a hand with a smile. "Spare me the grand speeches. I can actually understand them."

He looked at Ye Jiangshan.

"For the greater good?

For the clan?

For more than ten thousand people?

You really are hilarious!

Ye Rudí is only three months younger than me.

What, when my mother was three months pregnant with me, you already knew I wouldn't amount to anything?

So you hurried to find a mistress and start over with another son?"

"And what else was it... Oh, you sent me to South Mountain so I wouldn't feel inferior?"

"I'm impressed. You couldn't take responsibility for what you did, so now you dress it up as some noble cause?"

Ye Jiangshan's face reddened as though blood had rushed into it.

He was not afraid of Ye Qiu failing to understand.

Nor was he afraid of Ye Qiu understanding.

What he feared was Ye Qiu understanding perfectly, then putting it into words with such precision that he tore away Ye Jiangshan's dignity in public!

He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Ye Qiu cut in. "Stop trying to make yourself look noble. You just couldn't keep it in your pants!"

Ye Jiangshan: "..."

"And as for being the Legitimate Son or the Young Master, I don't care about any of that. I never planned to fight for those titles, so spare me the talk about feeling inferior... Stop inventing motives for me. I'm sick of it!"

Ye Jiangshan nearly failed to catch his breath.

Seeing him embarrassed and speechless, Liu Xiu immediately smiled. "Qiu'er, your father had his difficulties. You're still young, and there's much you don't understand. Actually..."

"Have you no manners?" Ye Qiu glared at her. "The men are talking. What's a mistress doing butting in?"

Liu Xiu: "..."

Her face visibly turned cold.

Ye Qiu did not care. He held out his hand again and stared at Ye Jiangshan. "Hand over the money. Three hundred thousand. Now."