Youngest Brother and Elder Sister

After confirming that the corridor was empty, he finally let out a long breath, stepped back two paces, and lowered his voice.

"Don't worry. No one's here."

"Senior Brother, you were far too careless!" Ma Xianyang's tone carried a hint of reproach.

"..."

Knowing himself to be at fault, Feng Xiaobao fell silent for a moment before slowly saying, "It seems Junior Brother guessed correctly. That brat definitely has a secret. A fisherman's son sensing qi and blood in just over ten days—hehehe, truly..."

He did not continue. Instead, he looked at Ma Xianyang. "What should we do next?"

Ma Xianyang narrowed his long, narrow eyes and pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.

"This is an opportunity for both of us. We absolutely cannot let it slip away!"

"Though that brat has entered Bright Strength, that may not be a bad thing for us."

"Because it is highly likely that he has not yet offered that formula to Mei Shuangfeng..."

"That's right!"

At those words, Feng Xiaobao's bell-like tiger eyes suddenly lit up. He slapped his thigh. "He has already broken through to Bright Strength. Yu Zhe and Tian Erhu were surely killed by him, so there was no need for him to present the secret formula to the Mei Clan."

"And he's just a fledgling who has newly entered Bright Strength. What kind of storm can he possibly stir up against us? If he truly hides beneath Mei Shuangfeng's wings, that would make things troublesome for us instead!"

"Precisely! But if you fail to kill a snake, it will come back to bite you. I've been thinking..."

Ma Xianyang narrowed his eyes slightly. "Could we offer a price he cannot refuse and buy it from him openly?"

"Hehe, Junior Brother, don't say such childish nonsense again. We've already used such methods. If it were you... would you be willing to trust us?"

Feng Xiaobao immediately shook his head, his blazing gaze fixed on Ma Xianyang.

Ma Xianyang's breathing caught. He was silent for a long while, but in the end, the vicious glint in his eyes overwhelmed that trace of hesitation. He slowly shook his head.

"...Absolutely not!"

"Then there you have it."

Feng Xiaobao rose to his feet, his clenched fists crackling. In a chilling voice, he said, "This matter must be considered carefully. That brat has killed Yu Zhe and the others, which means we've startled the snake!"

"The situation is tense right now. Unless absolutely necessary, we must not act rashly to test him again."

"But if we must make a move..."

He paused, killing intent fully exposed in his eyes. "Then we must seize the right opportunity and strike once with the force of thunder!"

"Senior Brother is absolutely right..."

Ma Xianyang slowly nodded in agreement.

The room fell briefly silent.

After a while, Ma Xianyang suddenly raised his head and looked at Feng Xiaobao, testingly asking, "Second Senior Brother, do you think... we should report this matter to Master?"

"Forget it!"

Feng Xiaobao immediately shook his head. "Master's cultivation has already reached the peak of Dark Strength, and he is devoting himself fully to breaking through into Transforming Strength. That White Family has gone too far in bullying us. We must not disturb Master lightly!"

"All right..."

Through-the-Back Martial Hall, rear courtyard.

Beneath the main wing stood a dark secret prison that never saw daylight all year round.

At the center of the cell.

A young man with disheveled hair, naked from head to toe, had his limbs and neck shackled by five iron chains as thick as an infant's arm. Like livestock awaiting slaughter, he hung suspended in midair.

By the candlelight, one could vaguely see that not a single patch of flesh on his body remained intact.

His arms, cheeks, neck, even his palms and the soles of his feet, were densely covered in dark-red cuts as fine as ox hairs!

It was as though someone had carved them into him one cut at a time over countless years!

When everyone encounters advertisements such as "Are you a True Person?", there is no need to pay attention to them. Simply close them. Do not scan any codes or send text messages!

"...Mother, quickly tell Brother-in-law where the complete Through-Back Stance is... Your son can't endure any longer..."

"Elder Sister, Elder Sister, your youngest brother hurts so badly. Please loosen them... loosen them..."

"Kill! Kill Song Yanrong! Kill Yan Xiao, that traitor who betrayed his master and ancestors! Slice that dog man and dog woman into a thousand pieces, tear their corpses into ten thousand fragments!"

The young man appeared mad. Hanging in midair, he sometimes begged in a low voice, sometimes let out shrill howls.

His wails echoed back and forth through the cramped cell, sending chills down the spine.

Yet Yan Xiao and Song Yanrong, standing several paces away with their hands clasped behind their backs, looked entirely composed.

The two could not even be bothered to spare him another glance.

Their gazes remained fixed on a beautiful middle-aged woman sitting cross-legged in the corner of the prison, her hands and feet likewise bound in heavy shackles.

Though imprisoned, her hair disheveled and her face grimy, she could not conceal her lingering grace.

Perhaps because she had gone too long without seeing daylight, her already well-maintained fair complexion had grown even paler, like paper.

For that very reason, even with fine lines at the corners of her eyes, one could not tell that she was already past forty.

"Mother, can you truly bear to watch Huatang, the Song Family's only remaining seedling, suffer the agony of being flayed and having his tendons pulled day after day?"

Song Yanrong moved with lotus steps to the middle-aged beauty's side and slowly crouched down. She reached out to smooth the woman's disordered hair at her temples, her eyes full of tenderness.

"Your daughter is unfilial. I had no choice but to act this way."

"Your daughter is merely obsessed with the martial path. I only wish to glimpse the splendor of Transforming Strength..."

"Mother, you need only tell me the Transforming Strength mental art of the Through-Back Stance. Your daughter swears to Heaven that I will immediately remove the shackles from you and Huatang, prepare generous gifts and travel funds, and send you far away to fly free! To South Township Prefecture, to Cangzhou, even to the capital, Linzi... how does that sound?"

The middle-aged beauty slowly opened her eyes.

Looking at her own daughter's beautiful face, she spoke in a numb tone devoid of any emotion.

"How many times must I tell you..."

"I never hid the Through-Back Stance. Your father hid it himself back then. While alive, he guarded against you as against a thief and trusted only Huatang."

"Unfortunately, before the Transforming Strength formula of the Through-Back Stance could be passed down, you poisoned him to death..."

"Besides, my surname is Han, not Song. Song Hengjiang could not guard against me enough; why would he tell me its whereabouts?"

Song Yanrong stared at her in silence.

After a long while, the smile gradually vanished from that peerlessly beautiful face.

"...You old bitch, you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"

She slowly stood and swept her gaze toward Yan Xiao, her voice icy.

"Give him the medicine!"

Without a word, Yan Xiao picked up the prepared bowl of medicinal broth from the table and turned toward the young man hanging in midair.

With one hand, he dislocated the young man's jaw and poured the entire bowl of medicine down his throat.

Gulp, gulp!

The medicinal broth entered his stomach.

The wounds from the knife marks all over the young man's body stopped bleeding at a visible rate, rapidly scabbed over, and grew a new layer of flesh!

The intense numb itch was like ten thousand ants gnawing at his bones, making his entire body convulse and tremble.

"Old hag..."

Song Yanrong did not turn around. Her gaze remained nailed to the Han Clan woman's face. "Do not think that just because your surname is Han, because your maternal family is the Han Clan of Xinyi Prefecture, I truly dare not touch you."

"Today is the last chance I give you. Next time..."

"It will be your turn!"

The corners of her lips slowly stretched apart, curling into a sickly, excited smile, as though she could not wait to see that scene.

Her delicate hand flipped out from her sleeve.

A small knife, snowy white and gleaming, thin as a cicada's wing, danced and spun between her fingertips.

Song Yanrong let out a coquettish giggle as she walked toward Song Huatang, who was groaning in agony as fresh flesh regenerated across his body.

"Youngest Brother, my dear little brother... Don't be afraid. Elder Sister is here. Elder Sister will come dote on you properly now... Hahahahaha!"

The next instant—

"Aaaaaaah!"

The young man's heart-rending, inhuman scream once again rang out miserably through the dungeon.