The Qin Household Falls

"Betrayal?"

Lu Fan, hidden atop the eaves, swept his gaze over the people below, his expression exceedingly calm.

He had seen far too many things like this over the years.

Even blood brothers could fight tooth and nail over a single bite of meat, let alone relationships bound by profit.

He looked at Qin Yaxin with a trace of pity.

Having a father like that could no longer be described with the word unlucky.

With the tide already turned against him, he could have preserved his life by obediently withdrawing from Chi City. Yet he stubbornly wanted to resist, even borrowing Lu Fan's tiger skin to flaunt his power.

Never mind that he was no longer an Attendant of the Qin Household—even if he had been, knowing that the enemy had a Transformation Grandmaster, he would never have continued helping them.

Below.

"You bastard! Your Feng Household won't be smug for long! You won't... Ahem, cough cough..."

"Father, stop talking. Calm down, or else..."

Qin Yaxin hurried over, trying to calm her father. Years of illness had already eaten away at his body until it was riddled with holes. If his fury attacked his heart now, his life would be in danger.

Yet Qin Yuan had long since been blinded by rage.

"Move aside, Yaxin. I... I... Hah... Urgh..."

Before Qin Yuan could finish speaking, he failed to catch his breath. After coughing up several mouthfuls of blood, he collapsed to the ground on the spot and went completely still.

"Father! Father!"

Her eyes red, Qin Yaxin pounced forward and desperately shook her father's body.

Yet no matter how she shook him, her father showed no reaction whatsoever.

She realized something and, trembling, held her hand beneath his nose.

No breath.

Her father... was dead. He had literally been angered to death.

"Father... sob..."

Qin Yaxin could no longer suppress the grief in her heart and burst into loud sobs.

Feng Jiaqi, standing not far away, could not help letting out a mocking laugh.

"Heh, he actually got angered to death. How laughable. With a family head like this, no wonder the Qin Household has fallen to such a state."

Hearing this, Qin Yaxin raised her head. Her pretty face was drenched in tears and filled with fury as she stared fixedly at Feng Jiaqi, as though she wanted to carve his figure deep into her mind.

Facing that hatred-filled gaze, Feng Jiaqi did not care in the slightest. He turned around.

"Alright. I'll leave the rest to you."

"Young Master, how should we deal with this girl?"

Liu Attendant stepped forward and glanced at Qin Yaxin, who sat on the ground.

"Whatever."

Feng Jiaqi tossed out those two words and left directly.

To him, a young lady who had lost her family's power was utterly worthless.

As for beauty, it was even less likely to catch his eye.

Born into one of Chi City's foremost families, what kind of beauties had he not seen? Naturally, Qin Yaxin's beauty could not possibly enchant him.

After Feng Jiaqi left, Liu Attendant turned to Ma Sheng.

"Brother Ma, although the Young Master said that, how do you think this should be handled?"

"If Brother Liu finds it troublesome, why not leave her to me?"

Ma Sheng grinned, and a deep, shadowy glint flashed through his eyes.

"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Ma." Liu Attendant nodded and turned to leave at a brisk pace.

He had no interest in women. There was only one reason he had betrayed the Qin Household and joined the Feng Household: the thing Feng Jiaqi had promised him.

As long as he obtained it, he too would have a chance to enter the Transformation Force Stage, become a grandmaster, and make his name shake an entire region.

After Liu Attendant left, only Ma Sheng and Qin Yaxin, slumped beside Qin Yuan's corpse, remained in the hall.

"Hehe, now it's finally just the two of us."

Ma Sheng unhurriedly walked toward Qin Yaxin. A sadistic expression surfaced on his hideous, scalded face.

"You dead pervert! If I survive, I'll never let any of you off!"

Qin Yaxin glared at Ma Sheng with boundless hatred.

"Hahaha, that depends on whether you can survive."

"You know, I love slowly tormenting arrogant young ladies like you. First, I destroy those pretty little faces of yours. Most people go completely mad at that step alone. How long do you think you can hold out?"

Ma Sheng licked his lips, already unable to wait to begin his enjoyment.

At that moment, Qin Yaxin silently closed her eyes.

Against a Late Dark Force martial artist, she, who had only just entered Bright Force, was like an infant, without the slightest power to resist.

She had even prepared herself to bite off her tongue and kill herself. Rather than suffer humiliation at the hands of such a perverted bastard, she would rather die.

Yet in the next instant, a muffled groan echoed through the air.

Then, to Qin Yaxin's confusion, she waited for quite some time, but what she had imagined never happened.

She could not help opening her eyes. Before her stood a familiar Cracked Mask, while Ma Sheng lay off to the side, his life and death unknown.

"Old... Chen?"

Qin Yaxin stared in disbelief at the masked old man before her.

"Leave."

Lu Fan spoke calmly.

"Leave? Then..." Qin Yaxin was stunned for a moment before suddenly understanding.

This Old Chen had appeared here clearly to save her.

But what she could not understand was why this Chen Liu elder would risk himself to save her.

After all, she had only met this Chen Liu elder twice in total.

Before she could figure out the reason, Lu Fan, standing ahead of her, glanced at Ma Sheng lying there and reminded her.

"That man is only unconscious."

He did not continue.

But Qin Yaxin understood by then.

That was right. This was not the time for her to dwell on such matters.

As long as she lived, there would still be hope.

"I'm sorry, Father... I'll definitely avenge you one day!"

Qin Yaxin looked back at her father's body, then turned and quickly followed Lu Fan.

Less than a quarter of an hour after the two left.

Ma Sheng, who lay on the ground, suddenly woke with a start and instantly sprang to his feet.

What eased his heart was that there was no trace of any living person nearby. In the entire hall, there was only himself and Qin Yuan's corpse lying at his feet.

"Damn it, what happened just now? I lost consciousness?"

"No, where's that girl?"

Ma Sheng looked around, but he could not find any trace of Qin Yaxin.

"Damn it, someone rescued her?"

"Who was it? Who could knock me unconscious without a sound or a trace?"

"Could it have been... him?"

A trace of confusion flashed in Ma Sheng's eyes as he frowned deeply.

One had to know that he was a Late Dark Force expert. Only a Transformation Force Stage grandmaster could silently approach him and knock him unconscious with a single strike.

And in all of Chi City, there was one and only one Transformation Force martial artist—Li Xiao.

"Could that guy have taken a fancy to that girl?"

Ma Sheng's expression shifted repeatedly, his eyes flickering with thought.

The person who had ambushed him had clearly held back, merely knocking him unconscious rather than taking the chance to kill him.

If it was Li Xiao, then everything made sense.

After all, they both worked for the Feng Household. There was no need to strike to kill.

"Pah, what an annoying bastard. One less source of fun."

"Damn it, Li Xiao, just wait for me! Once I enter Transformation Force, I'll make you pay!"

After spitting on the ground, Ma Sheng left while cursing under his breath.

He had no intention of publicizing this matter. Even if it really reached the Feng Household, it would not affect Li Xiao in the slightest. Instead, it would only make Ma Sheng lose face.

Once he entered Transformation Force, it would not be too late to settle the score slowly.

Elsewhere, Lu Fan led Qin Yaxin silently to Shen Yuniang's shop.