After confirming that the corridor was empty, he finally let out a long sigh of relief. He took two steps back and lowered his voice.
"Don't worry. No one's here."
"Senior Brother, you were far too careless!" Ma Xianyang's tone carried a trace of complaint.
"..."
Knowing he was in the wrong, Feng Xiaobao fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
"Then it seems Junior Brother guessed right. That brat definitely has a secret. A fisherman's son sensing his qi and blood in barely over ten days... Hehehe, truly..."
He did not continue. Instead, he turned to Ma Xianyang. "What should we do next?"
Ma Xianyang narrowed his long, slender eyes. After pondering for a moment, he slowly said,
"This is an opportunity for you and me. We absolutely cannot let it slip away!"
"That brat may have entered Bright Force, but that may not be a bad thing for us."
"Because there's a strong chance he never handed that formula over to Mei Shuangfeng..."
"That's right!"
At those words, Feng Xiaobao's tiger eyes, large as bronze bells, suddenly lit up. He slapped his thigh.
"He's already broken through to Bright Force. Yu Zhe and Tian Erhu were surely killed by him, so there was no need for him to offer the secret formula to the Mei Clan."
"And he's just a fledgling who's newly entered Bright Force. What kind of waves can he possibly stir up against us? If he really hides beneath Mei Shuangfeng's wings, it'll only become more troublesome for us!"
"Exactly! But if you fail to kill a snake, you'll suffer from its bite. I've been thinking..."
Ma Xianyang narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Could we offer him a price he cannot refuse and buy it openly?"
"Hehe, Junior Brother, stop talking such childish nonsense. We've already used such methods. If it were you... would you be willing to trust us?"
Feng Xiaobao immediately shook his head, his burning gaze fixed on Ma Xianyang.
Ma Xianyang's breathing stalled. He remained silent for a long while. In the end, the vicious glint in his eyes overwhelmed that trace of hesitation, and he slowly shook his head.
"...Absolutely impossible!"
"Then isn't that settled?"
Feng Xiaobao rose to his feet, his fists cracking as he clenched them. His tone was icy.
"This matter must be considered over the long term. That brat has killed Yu Zhe and the others, which means the snake has been startled!"
"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 succeed in one strike 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, testing the waters.
"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 Peak Hidden Force, and he is devoting all his strength to breaking through to Transformation Force. The White Family has gone too far in bullying others. We cannot disturb Master lightly!"
"Alright..."
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 and not a stitch on his body had his limbs and neck bones fastened by five iron chains as thick as a baby's arm. Like livestock awaiting slaughter, he hung suspended in midair.
By the candlelight, one could vaguely see that not a single patch of intact flesh remained on his body.
His arms, cheeks, neck, even his palms and the soles of his feet, were densely covered in dark-red knife wounds as fine as ox hairs!
It was as though someone had carved them into him with blade after blade over countless years!
"...Mother, hurry and tell Brother-in-law where the complete Through-Back Stance is... Your son can't endure any longer..."
"Elder Sister, Elder Sister, your younger brother hurts so much. Please loosen them... loosen them..."
"Kill! Kill Song Yanrong! Kill Yan Xiao, that traitor who betrayed his master and destroyed his ancestors! Slice that dog man and dog woman into a thousand pieces, hack their corpses to bits!"
The young man looked utterly crazed as he hung in midair. At times, he pleaded softly; at times, he howled shrilly.
His wails reverberated through the cramped cell, sending chills down one's spine.
Yet Yan Xiao and Song Yanrong, standing a few steps away with their hands behind their backs, looked perfectly calm.
The two could not even be bothered to spare him another glance.
Their gazes remained fixed on a beautiful middle-aged woman seated cross-legged in the corner of the cell, her hands and feet likewise shackled in heavy chains.
Though this woman was imprisoned and bedraggled, she could not conceal her lingering charm.
Perhaps because she had not seen daylight for too long, her already well-maintained fair skin had become even paler, like paper.
For that very reason, though fine lines had appeared at the corners of her eyes, one could not tell that she was already a woman past forty.
"Mother, can you truly bear to watch Hua Tang, the Song Family's only remaining heir, suffer the agony of being flayed and dismembered 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 behold the splendor of Transformation Force..."
"Mother, you need only tell me the Transformation Force mental method for Through-Back Stance. Your daughter swears to Heaven that I will immediately remove the shackles from you and Hua Tang, prepare generous gifts and travel expenses, and send you far away! To South Township Prefecture, to Cangzhou, even to the capital, Linzi... How does that sound?"
The middle-aged beauty slowly opened her eyes.
She looked at her own daughter's exquisite face. Her voice was numb, without the slightest trace of emotion.
"How many times must I tell you..."
"I never hid the Through-Back Stance. Your father hid it himself back then. While he was alive, he guarded against you like a thief and trusted Hua Tang alone."
"Unfortunately, before the Transformation Force mnemonic for 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, so why would he ever tell me where it was?"
Song Yanrong stared silently at her.
After a long while, the smile on that breathtakingly beautiful face faded bit by bit.
"...You old bitch, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit!"
She slowly rose to her feet and swept her gaze toward Yan Xiao, her voice cold.
"Administer the medicine!"
Without a word, Yan Xiao picked up the prepared bowl of medicinal soup from the table and walked over to 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 soup entered his stomach.
The bleeding from the knife wounds on the young man's body stopped at a rate visible to the naked eye. Scabs rapidly formed, and a layer of new flesh grew over them!
The intense itching and numbness, like ten thousand ants gnawing at his bones, made his entire body convulse and tremble.
"Old thing..."
Song Yanrong did not turn around. Her gaze remained nailed to the Han Clan woman's face.
"Don't think that just because your surname is Han, because your maternal family is the Han Clan of Xinyi Prefecture, I truly wouldn't dare touch you."
"Today is the last chance I'm giving you. Next time..."
"It will be your turn!"
The corners of her lips slowly spread into a sickly, excited smile, as though she could hardly wait to see that scene unfold.
Her delicate hand flipped from within her sleeve.
A snow-white, gleaming little knife, thin as a cicada's wing, danced and spun between her fingertips.
Song Yanrong gave a tinkling laugh as she walked toward Song Huatang, who was groaning in agony from the regrowth of new flesh.
"Younger Brother, my dear little brother... Don't be afraid. Elder Sister is here. Elder Sister is coming to dote on you properly... Hahahahahaha!"
The next moment!
"Aaaaaah!"
The young man's heart-rending, inhuman scream echoed miserably through the dungeon once more.
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