Yang Mingyou Takes His Own Life

Yang Mingyou said nothing. Or rather, he didn't dare speak.

He knelt on the floor, trembling uncontrollably, sweat dripping from his forehead.

Beside him, Yang Xiaoran had already frozen in shock.

Disbelief filled her small face. Her mouth hung wide enough to fit an egg, and her eyes looked ready to pop out.

Li Yao didn't even look at her.

When Yang Mingyou failed to answer, Li Yao turned to Lin Yun.

"Since he doesn't dare say it, you tell me. You were going to kill me, so shouldn't I kill you too?"

At those words, a glimmer appeared in Lin Yun's eyes. He had thought he was certain to die.

A fawning smile instantly spread across his face, making him look like an eager lapdog.

"Li Yao, Young Master Li, Grandpa Li! Please have your protectors withdraw their pressure. I have something to tell you!"

"Oh?"

Li Yao gestured for Uncle Fu and Uncle Ming to lift the pressure bearing down on Lin Yun.

He wanted to see what trick Lin Yun would try next.

The moment the weight vanished, Lin Yun leaped forward and landed on his knees before Li Yao.

Yes, he jumped straight into a kneeling position.

The movement was so crisp it would have put a gymnast to shame.

Everyone present stared in astonishment.

Lin Yun couldn't afford to care.

Once on his knees, he began kowtowing.

He even burst into loud sobs as he did it.

"Grandpa Li, I was tricked! It was all Yang Xiaoran's fault! She did this!"

He caught his breath and continued.

"Grandpa Li, I know I was wrong. I never should have fought you over a woman. That bitch Yang Xiaoran seduced me and made me oppose you."

"Please spare me, Grandpa Li! I'll never set foot in the Yang Family again. I'll never appear before you again. Spare me, and I'll do anything you say, Grandpa Li!"

Then he resumed banging his forehead against the floor.

The sound alone was painful to hear. He even cracked the floor.

Even Li Yao was stunned.

This guy would do anything to stay alive. He had the makings of a true ruthless schemer.

If Li Yao hadn't caught the flashes of murderous intent and hatred in Lin Yun's eyes, he might have believed the man was genuinely terrified.

But Li Yao had never intended to kill Lin Yun.

For one thing, he couldn't bring himself to kill. He might be the grandson of a Martial Saint and the son of a Martial Emperor, but he was still Li Yao, who had come from a peaceful era.

If it came down to it, he couldn't make himself take a life.

For another, he could trade Lin Yun back to the Lin Family for something valuable.

To put it bluntly, Lin Yun was a hostage now.

Seeing that Li Yao showed no sign of relenting, Lin Yun steeled himself.

He got up and walked over to Yang Xiaoran.

Yang Xiaoran's mind was still blank.

Everything had turned around too quickly for her to process.

One moment, she had watched Lin Yun humiliate Li Yao. The next, Li Yao had summoned a Martial King. A moment after that, her dear Lin Yun was on his knees begging for mercy.

The reversal was faster than one of those twist videos on Douyin.

When she saw Lin Yun approach, she instinctively reached out, thinking he had come to help her up.

But then—

Smack!

A sharp crack rang out.

Yang Xiaoran's head snapped to the side, and her right cheek swelled red before everyone's eyes.

She slowly turned back, as though she couldn't understand why her dear Lin Yun had hit her.

She tried to speak, but Lin Yun gave her no chance.

He dragged Yang Xiaoran across the floor like a dead dog and hauled her before Li Yao.

Then he kicked her hard in the thigh.

"Apologize to Grandpa Li! Now!"

Yang Xiaoran already couldn't stand under the pressure bearing down on her.

The kick made her whole body shudder. He had put real force behind it.

She looked up at Li Yao, tears streaming down her face.

"Li Yao... I..."

Li Yao watched in silence.

He neither stopped Lin Yun nor helped Yang Xiaoran up as she tried to apologize.

But in his mind, he marked Lin Yun down as someone ruthless.

Lin Yun had gone this far, yet Li Yao remained unmoved.

He threw himself onto his knees again and resumed kowtowing, begging for mercy.

"Grandpa Li, please let me go! Please, just treat me like a fart and let me pass!"

"Ah."

The sight of Lin Yun and Yang Xiaoran filled Yang Mingyou's eyes with pity.

"Young Master Li, could you give the Yang Family one more day? We're willing to pay ten thousand Spirit Stones in interest. I only ask that you show mercy and spare my daughter and my nephew Lin."

"Oh? Now you remember you owe me?"

"Why didn't you bring that up earlier?"

Li Yao gave a short laugh. He knew exactly what Yang Mingyou was thinking. Earlier, Li Yao had been the one at a disadvantage.

"I gave you four days to gather the Spirit Stones, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and Spirit Artifacts. You wasted your chance. You don't get another."

Yang Mingyou fell silent.

"Uncle Fu."

Uncle Fu understood. His pressure descended on Lin Yun once more.

Still kowtowing, Lin Yun collapsed flat onto the floor with a thud.

I can't bring myself to kill anyone, but I can still break his limbs.

That was what Li Yao told himself.

After all, Lin Yun would still be alive with four broken limbs. Li Yao could still go to the Lin Family and get something out of them.

"Oh, right. Two more."

His gaze shifted toward the doorway, where two people remained half-kneeling—the only ones in the room to do so.

They were the Lin Family's tall and short elders.

"Uncle Ming, sorry for the trouble. Break their limbs and seal their Dantians."

Uncle Ming immediately followed Li Yao's orders, breaking the limbs of both elders and sealing their Dantians.

Their screams rang out without pause.

As for Lin Yun on the floor, Li Yao intended to break his limbs himself.

But just as Li Yao was about to act, that weakness swallowed him again.

He forced himself to stay upright.

Then he spoke to Li Wenbin behind him.

"Uncle Bin, the same goes for this one. Break his limbs and seal his Dantian."

Li Wenbin stepped forward and, with several sharp cracks, crippled Lin Yun's limbs.

Yang Xiaoran still lay on the floor, sobbing.

The sound grated on Li Yao's nerves.

He was about to tell her to be quiet when Yang Mingyou suddenly spoke.

"Young Master Li, I, Yang Mingyou, willingly accept my death. I only beg you to spare my daughter!"

Then he went on.

"Xiaoran, after I die, do not hold a grudge against Young Master Li. Sell whatever property you must and repay everything we owe him on the ledger, every Spirit Stone and all the rest. I'm going ahead to join your mother!"

Before anyone could react, Yang Mingyou forced energy backward through his meridians. Explosions sounded throughout his body.

He spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yang Mingyou died on the spot.

After his death, the framed photograph that had stood behind him fell without warning, landing beside him.

The frame shattered. The woman in the old photograph still wore that same gentle look in her eyes as she gazed at Yang Mingyou.