Qinghan anxiously stared at the bronze ring. But, after patiently waiting for a minute, his heart fell into his boots.
“Nothing!”
The ring didn’t release its familiar white smoke, as the wound on his sister’s head continued to bleed.
A short while later, something occurred to Qinghan. Hurriedly, he took the ring from his sister and put it back on his own finger. Immediately afterwards, he grabbed a black dagger and cut his left wrist.
- Chi –
Blood began to ooze out of his left wrist, and subsequently, the magic white smoke gradually emerged from the ring, as it quickly moved towards his wound. Qinghan quickly forced his sister’s mouth open, before he squeezed his blood into it.
Luckily, the healing power of the ring was overwhelmingly efficient. The wound on Qinghan’s wrist almost instantly started to scab. Qinghan frowned as he stared at the wound, not because of the pain, but because he was worried that the supply of healing blood would stop too early. Therefore, without further pondering, he grabbed the dagger again and cut through the already scabbed wound. This time, the wound was so deep, that even the color of his bones could be seen.
In order to save his sister, Qinghan kept repeating these painful and cruel movements. He cut his wrist, then he let the blood drip in Qingyu’s mouth. When the wound scabbed again, he would cut through the wound again…
During these silent moments, only the ticking sounds of blood could be heard. Despite the physical pain, Qinghan didn’t cry out, as though all of his sensual feelings were numbed by the unspeakable grief.
As this brutal process went on, Qinghan’s face grew paler, while at the same time, Qingyu'’s face began to regain her luster. Eventually, there was even the first traces of a smile emerging on her glowed face.
Gradually, after numerous drops of blood, the wound on Qingyu’s forehead started to scab. The weak breath of Qingyu made her chest slowly fluctuate.
Qinghan gently caressed his sister’s face, while he was silently crying. He felt some stirrings of remorse for his delayed arrival.
“If only I had arrived earlier… Then my sister wouldn’t have gone through this suffering.” Looking at the sleeping Qingyu, Qinghan felt a deep remorse for his actions.
He carefully wiped the blood stains off Qingyu’s mouth, before he covered her with a quilt.
Afterwards, as Qinghan slowly stood up, he sternly glanced at his surroundings. Now, the room was filled with a murderous atmosphere. He was determined to seek revenge!
……
Outside the room, Qingxie stood in the yard as ordered. The body of Ye Bao lay quietly on the ground, while the other subordinate had already rushed back to inform Qingkuang about this emergency.
Qinghan’s ruthless attack on Ye Bao did surprise Qingxie to a great extent, but it didn’t actually frighten him. Even when Qinghan had threatened to smash his father’s small city, he wasn’t intimidated in the least. The main reason that he was still here, was that he hoped that his master, Qingkuang, would send more people to help him out. On the other hand, since the arrival of Qinghan had disturbed their original plan, he had to keep an eye on him before his master arrived.
“I was told, that this piece of garbage is only in the first level of the Realm of the Elite. How did he manage to kill Ye Bao, who is in the first level of the Realm of the Commander?!” Qingxie did find the improvement in Qinghan’s speed and power quite perplexing.
However, on second thought, Qingxie reckoned that it was unnecessary to worry about Qinghan. After all, he himself had already reached the first level of the Realm of the General. Plus, once he integrated with his battle beast, his power would reach the second level of the Realm of the General. He was confident, that with this power, he would be able to keep the situation under control.
Nevertheless…
An overwhelming murderous vibe swept across him! Qingxie was shocked to suddenly find Qinghan standing right in front of him.
“Why?” Qinghan coldly asked.
“Why? What do you mean… I already told you... I don’t know why your sister has committed suicide…” Qingxie thoughtlessly spoke, but he stopped in the middle of his sentence. Because, his instincts told him to become increasingly wary of Qinghan, whose face had turned ferocious. At this moment, Qinghan very much looked like a hungry monster, who was ready to devour its prey.
“WHY?!”
Qinghan started to scream this question out loud over and over, each time in a higher pitched voice. As if Qinghan’s words were spelled by magic, Qingxie found it hard to get rid of the sound, which made him shiver in panic.
“Why am I shivering? He’s simply a piece of garbage, while I’m a strong cultivator in the first level of the Realm of the General. I have absolutely no reason to feel any kind of fear in front of him...” Qingxie thought to himself, as he was trying to find his courage.
“Ye Qinghan, I totally understand your sadness. But, I hope that you can calm down and let the family decide how to deal with this matter.” Qingxie persuasively replied.
“Integration!”
Without any warning, Qinghan integrated with his battle beast, as his body was saturated with surging Battle Qi. He stepped closer to Qingxie and snatched his collar and hollered, “Let me ask you one more time, why did you hurt my sister?”
“Integration!”
In defense, Qingxie also integrated with his beast. He currently felt, that the easiest way to teach Qinghan a lesson, would be to make him suffer a little bit. After all, he had failed to persuade Qinghan orally. So why shouldn’t he let Qinghan succumb to his mighty fists?
A second later, when Qingxie was just about to strike out with his fists, he suddenly lost his eyesight by two dazzling beams that were shot from Qinghan’s eyes. As a result, he instantaneously became unconscious.
Doubtlessly, Qinghan had used his special integration technique – Soul Blackout, which could outstrip the defense of a cultivator in the Realm of the General and attack their souls as soon as their eyes made contact. The span of the blackout would only last for a mere second. However, during a life-and-death fight, one second would be a determinant factor, which had already been proven when Qinghan had killed Xue Yi back on Fire Wolf Hill.
Qinghan turned his palm into sharp claws, and lifted Qingxie by his neck. At the same time, Qinghan pressed his right hand on the main meridians of Qingxie, before he crushed them, blocking the flow of Battle Qi in his body. Shockingly, all of this was done within that one second!
When he finally woke up, a shocked expression was plastered on his face, as he still refused to believe that he was defeated by this piece of garbage. Instead, he chose to believe that he was currently simply having a nightmare.
“You can’t avoid death today. The only question is, in which way would you prefer to die? Would you like to have a quick death, or would you rather have me slowly torture you… Until eventually, you can no longer hold on? If you care about your father and mother, who live peacefully in their small city. If you care about your brother, who I heard has recently become a key descendant. If you care about any of them, then you better start telling me the truth!” Qinghan angrily threatened Qingxie.
Looking at the furious Qinghan, Qingxie was still trying to figure out what had happened to him just now.
“I saw two dazzling beams piercing through my eyes, and… and then I fainted? I never heard of such a technique… A technique which can dazzle the minds of a cultivator in the Realm of the General!” Qingxie didn’t instantly reply, as instead he murmured to himself in confusion.
In actual combat, each fighter could suddenly lose their life. If Qinghan had grasped a technique that could directly attack one’s soul, then this would be utterly terrifying. It would even be possible for him to kill a cultivator in the Realm of the General in a mere second. Realizing Qinghan’s actual strength, Qingxie tried to exert all of his Battle Qi. However, only now did discover that all his main meridians had been broken. Now, he was like a saggy balloon, waiting for his final punishment – death.
“Ahhhhhh!”
While Qingxie was pondering, Qinghan cut off the tendons in his knees. After the initial unbearable pain, he couldn’t feel his legs anymore.
“Since it takes you so long to give me an answer, I’ll have to let you experience some torture, in order to help you make your decision.” Qinghan ruthlessly commented.
Now, Qingxie truly believed in Qinghan’s power, as well as his threats. If he didn’t start speaking up, then he would most likely be tortured to death. Moreover, his parents, together with his younger brother, would also be killed. He finally realized, that Qinghan had greatly increased his cultivation and he was now capable enough to seek revenge. Thus, he finally decided to compromise.
“I… I’ll tell you the truth. But, please… Please take your hands of my neck!” He was almost being suffocated by Qinghan’s hands, so he stammered out with difficulty.
- Bang! -
Subsequently, Qinghan loosened his hand, and Qingxie dropped to the ground like a tattered toy. Afterwards, Qinghan squatted beside the lying Qingxie, before he said in an ice cold manner, “I’ll give you one minute to narrate the whole thing. Don’t expect anyone to come and save you. Even if a family member in the Realm of the Emperor came to help you out, I would kill you before he could take even a single step forward.”
Strangely, Qingxie smiled in a self mocking manner. He had already lost his last hope for anyone to come and save him. After all, his subordinate had left quite some time ago, yet he still didn’t see the slightest sign of Qingkuang. This morning, he was told that if he successfully accomplished this task, then he would be nicely rewarded. However, if he failed, then he had to bear all the responsibility by himself. Now that his master, Qingkuang, had abandoned him, he had no choice but to tell Qinghan whatever he knew in order to keep his family from being ruined.
“The plotters of this conspiracy are Wuhen and Qingkuang. Two months ago…”
As Qinghan listened to the narration of the whole thing, the flames of fury surged uncontrollably.
“I don’t think I can stay in this family any longer. It’s… It’s too disgusting.”
After all these years, he was finally fed up with all of their insults and constant bullying. The despising glances of Qingxie... The rainy night he had kneeled down in front of the Elder Clan Hall... The attack on him on Cattle-fence Street... The giant yellow palm of Battle Qi on Fire Wolf Hill and the scarlet blood on the white wall… Images of all these scenes flashed through his mind like a backward movie. His heart had quietly sunk to its lowest level. He could no longer be silent…