Desperate Situation! The Sudden Appearance of a Green-Haired Old Man (Please Follow Along~ Bookmark~ Following Is Very Important, Thank You All...

Ye Linyuan suddenly turned around.

In the once-empty courtyard,

a black-clothed, masked man had appeared at some point.

Seeing his attire, no matter how innocent Ye Youlan was, she knew something was wrong.

She instinctively stepped in front of Ye Linyuan and asked nervously, "W-Who are you?"

The black-clothed man looked at the two of them like a cat toying with mice. "Who do you think I am?"

Ye Linyuan stared at him. "Did the Duchess send you to kill us?"

The black-clothed man was slightly taken aback and fixed his gaze on Ye Linyuan. "Interesting. The little bastard is quite clever, huh?"

Ye Youlan's body trembled, disbelief appearing on her face as she murmured, "The Duchess... That's impossible..."

"I already said that I only wanted our family to be reunited. I wouldn't compete with her for the Duke's position."

"Hmph, foolish!" the black-clothed man sneered. "A lowly maid, nothing more than the master's plaything in his spare time, and you dared dream of returning to the White Tiger Duke's Mansion?"

At that, the black-clothed man paused and looked at Ye Linyuan. "But then again, you actually awakened mutated Twin Martial Souls, along with Innate Full Soul Power. That really is rather unbelievable."

"If you had only awakened trash Martial Souls, the Duchess might have spared your life."

"But Twin Martial Souls, and Innate Full Soul Power..." The black-clothed man shook his head. "Kid, blame your talent for being too conspicuous."

Ye Linyuan's expression darkened, and his heart sank even further.

The other party had come alone, clearly confident he could deal with the mother and son.

Soul Masters were rarely seen in this remote mountain village.

Even with the memories of two lifetimes, Ye Linyuan could not think of any way to save himself.

Just then,

"Linyuan, run!" Ye Youlan suddenly cried out, shoving Ye Linyuan behind her.

Then she raised the Black Tiger Dagger and charged fiercely at the black-clothed man.

Mockery flashed through the black-clothed man's eyes.

A powerful wave of Soul Power erupted from his body.

Two yellow, two purple, and one black—five Soul Rings slowly emerged.

Ye Linyuan was sent flying backward by his mother's shove.

Seeing the configuration of Soul Rings around the black-clothed man, his pupils abruptly constricted.

A Soul King!

No wonder he was so fearless!

The black-clothed man casually raised a hand and pointed forward. A dark, icy-black spear suddenly appeared out of thin air and shot toward Ye Youlan.

"Mother!" Ye Linyuan's heart turned icy as he hung in midair.

Rip!

The spear instantly pierced through Ye Youlan's chest, pinning her firmly in place as though she were being executed!

Ye Youlan spat out a mouthful of blood and used every ounce of strength to turn her head toward her stunned son.

Her eyes were filled with despair and guilt, while bloody foam uncontrollably spilled from her mouth.

"Linyuan, I'm sorry, I..."

"Run... Run quickly..."

Ye Linyuan's mind buzzed.

It was as if he had gone deaf. At that moment, every sound around him vanished.

All he could see was that pitiful woman with a spear piercing through her chest.

As a transmigrator with memories of a past life, to be honest, he had not felt especially deeply attached to this mother.

But after living together day and night for six years, he had long grown accustomed to Ye Youlan's presence.

And honestly, this young mother had truly treated him very well.

Gentle and kind by nature, pure-hearted, she had cared for him in every possible way.

Only... in the end, she had still been ruined by her obsession with love!

Ye Linyuan stared fixedly at the black-clothed man, motionless as though he had been frightened senseless.

Run?

How could he run?

Facing a five-ring Soul King, how could he, a child who had only just awakened his Martial Soul, possibly outrun him?

Was he going to die?

Ye Linyuan's eyes were as cold as black holes.

He had never expected that after transmigrating for six years, even awakening the highest-level talent,

he would die for no reason in this desolate mountain village without even being given the chance to grow!

The black-clothed man walked to Ye Youlan's side and pulled out the spear with a sharp shhk.

He could not even be bothered to look at her before casually flicking it aside.

With a dull thud, Ye Youlan's corpse was casually thrown to the ground like garbage.

The black-clothed man's teasing gaze fell upon Ye Linyuan. "Kid, that bitch told you to run. Why didn't you run?"

Ye Linyuan said nothing, his fists slowly clenching.

In the end, he let out a breath and curled his lips in self-mockery. "I never thought I'd die such a pathetic death."

"What a pity. If I had pressed Mother for answers sooner, I wouldn't have been dragged into this desperate situation."

The boy looked calmly at the black-clothed man. "Do it."

"If I can be reborn again, I'll make the White Tiger Duke repay today's debt with interest."

The black-clothed man froze.

He had imagined countless possible reactions Ye Linyuan might have:

Pain, fear, collapse, begging for mercy... but this was the one reaction he had never expected.

Meeting Ye Linyuan's cold, silent gaze, an indescribable sense of dread rose uncontrollably from the depths of his heart, even sending a chill down his back.

Was that really the gaze a six-year-old child should possess?

The gaze of a child who had watched his mother die before his very eyes?

If he were allowed to grow up, what kind of revenge would the White Tiger Duke's Mansion suffer?

The moment that thought instinctively surfaced in the black-clothed man's mind, he could not help but shudder.

As his heart turned cold, his gaze suddenly became vicious.

"Kid, you're just unlucky."

"In your next life, be born into a better family!"

The black spear turned into a bolt of lightning and viciously stabbed toward Ye Linyuan's head.

Ye Linyuan sighed softly and closed his eyes as though resigned to his fate.

However,

the expected icy touch of the spear never came.

"Heh, interesting. A Soul King sneaked into this remote mountain village to kill a village woman and a little child."

"Tell this old man, what kind of story is behind this?"

Ye Linyuan abruptly opened his eyes and turned toward the voice.

An old man was walking leisurely toward them with his hands clasped behind his back, studying him with great interest.

The old man was tall, with a head of dark green hair in an unconventional style flowing down behind him.

But amusingly, the top of his head did not have a single strand of hair, as smooth and bare as the Mediterranean viewed from above Blue Star.

His complexion was as rosy as a baby's, with scarcely any wrinkles on his face.

The only thing that revealed his age was the hidden vicissitudes in his dark green eyes, experience accumulated over at least a century.

Before Ye Linyuan, the icy spear tip was less than a centimeter from his brow.

Yet the black-clothed man holding the spear seemed to have been firmly restrained in place by some invisible force.

His entire body trembled slightly, but he could not move at all.

His pupils constricted instantly, terror filling his eyes as he glanced toward the green-haired old man from the corner of his eye.

"Y-You, who are you?"

The old man gave him an amused look, then suddenly snorted and tore away the black cloth covering his face.

"This old man hates rats that hide their heads and show their tails most of all. Speak. Why are you trying to kill this child?"

Ye Linyuan stared blankly at this green-haired Mediterranean.

To silently restrain a Soul King, just how powerful was this old man?

Hm? Wait!

Green hair, a Mediterranean bald spot, an old man with utterly terrifying strength?

Gasp—

Could it be... him!?