The news of He Qingfeng’s suicide was known to everyone in Flying Horse Village, and He Yibo had forced Longtian to leave the village.
Seeing Longtian now, Cuihua was naturally quite surprised.
However, the most surprised person wasn’t Cuihua, but the man!
Upon hearing Cuihua call out “Sixth Master,” his body jerked violently as if struck by lightning.
Who was the Sixth Master?
In the entirety of Flying Horse Village, only the He Family’s playboy, Longtian, went by that title!
“Long…
Longtian!”
The man turned his head and, as expected, met Longtian’s handsome yet gloomy face.
“Run!” he thought.
His first reaction was to flee.
In his mind, Longtian was at the Second Layer, and he was also at the Second Layer.
Although Longtian’s combat prowess was greater, Longtian wouldn’t be able to catch him if he made a run for it.
But this time, he was dead wrong.
Seeing the man bolt, Longtian didn’t even give chase immediately.
Instead, he flashed a wicked smile at Cuihua.
“Little Cuihua, what’s wrong?
It’s been nearly half a month since you last saw your Sixth Master.
Did you miss your Sixth Master’s King’s Dominating Energy?
Don’t worry, your Sixth Master will visit Yihong Courtyard again.
But I have some business to attend to right now, so I won’t chat with you any longer.”
Only after finishing his sentence did he pursue the man.
In the span of a single breath, he materialized right in front of him, blocking his path.
“Your running speed hasn’t improved one bit.”
The man stared at the youth before him in absolute terror and disbelief.
He had clearly taken off first—how had the other party caught up so quickly?
“Impossible!
How can you be this fast?!”
Longtian snorted coldly.
“You shouldn’t be worrying about that, but rather your own pathetic life.
Tell me, who ordered you to kill me?
Of course, whether you speak or not, you will die.
But if your answer satisfies me, your Sixth Master might just be merciful enough to spare your dog life.
Don’t harbor any illusions of escaping.
If I wanted to kill you now, I could do it with a single finger.”
The oppressive aura of the Fifth Level of Mortal Realm erupted, and the tremendous pressure forced the man to his knees.
The Fifth Layer was a realm the man could never hope to touch.
The gap between the Second Layer and the Fifth Layer was simply insurmountable.
Knowing escape was impossible today, the man knelt on the ground in utter despair, kowtowing to Longtian.
“Sixth Master, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you!
But please don’t kill me.
I can’t die.”
“Hmph.
Whether you die or not isn’t up to you; it depends on my mood.
Speak.
Who sent you?”
“It was Sun San Niang from the Sun Family!
She ordered me to kill you.
Sixth Master, I was forced!
Sun San Niang threatened me with my wife, children, and elderly mother.
She has a venomous heart and locked them up.
I had no other choice, Sixth Master!”
Kneeling on the ground, the man actually started bawling his eyes out, snot and tears streaming down his face.
“Sun San Niang?
She’s the one who wants me dead?”
Longtian was taken aback.
No matter how much he had speculated, he never could have guessed that Sun San Niang was the one after his life.
“Why would that wretched woman want to kill me?
Is it because of my brother?
Right, my brother’s death must be inextricably linked to her.
She wants to pull the problem up by its roots.
“I must investigate.
I have to uncover the truth behind my brother’s death.
Strength—I must have sufficient strength for all of this.
As long as I have the power, I could simply kidnap Sun Jili and torture the truth out of him.
Longtian never had a good impression of Sun San Niang to begin with.
Now, he felt even more strongly that she was a Female Yecha, a beast in human skin.
Connecting this to Sun San Niang’s wedding with his father, he felt increasingly certain that there was something sinister about the marriage.
Yet, he couldn’t figure out what kind of tricks Sun San Niang could possibly pull at the wedding, or what she could achieve after marrying into the He Family.
“Do you know why Sun San Niang wants to kill me?” Longtian asked.
“Sixth Master, this lowly one was just following orders!
How could I dare ask for a reason?
But once, when I went to see Sun San Niang, I overheard her chatting with her son, Sun Jili.
They seemed to mention some sort of treasure, and then they brought up He Chen’s name.
Sixth Master, I’ve told you everything I know!
I beg you, Sixth Master, please have mercy and spare my life!
I have an elderly mother in poor health, my wife is severely ill, and my child is only a month old.
If I’m gone, my family won’t survive!”
“Hmm?
A treasure, He Chen…
That damn sl*t.
She must be the one who killed my brother,” Longtian thought.
Longtian had already pieced the entire incident together.
He guessed that when his brother discovered the Mysterious Stele, Sun San Niang and Sun Jili were also present.
To snatch this potential treasure, they harbored murderous intent.
However, there was one thing Longtian couldn’t understand: since Sun San Niang had already killed his brother, why did she want to kill him too?
At that time, Longtian was nothing more than a playboy without the slightest hint of a threat.
Wanting to eliminate the root cause seemed a bit too paranoid on her part.
“A woman’s heart can be the most venomous poison of all.
I must be on guard against this Sun San Niang at all times,” he thought.
Longtian had officially listed Sun San Niang as his number one enemy.
Putting away his thoughts, Longtian looked at the man groveling like a dog.
A wave of disgust rose in his heart as he said coldly, “You can get lost now.”
Upon hearing those words, the man leaped up in excitement.
“The Sixth Master is truly merciful!
Good people will surely be rewarded!
This lowly one will take his leave right now!”
Saying that, the man prepared to leave.
But the moment he moved, Longtian delivered a vicious palm strike to his lower abdomen.
“Sixth Master, you went back on your word!”
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the man collapsed to the ground, staring at Longtian in shock.
Longtian cast a cold glance at the man.
“If I had gone back on my word, you would be dead by now.
I told you to roll out of here, yet you tried to walk.
This is just a small lesson for you.
From now on, you can go live a proper life as an ordinary mortal.”
Hearing Longtian’s words, realization finally dawned on the man.
He suddenly shrieked in horror, “You…
you crippled my two Hidden Veins!”
Ignoring the man’s roars, Longtian turned and hurried back toward his own courtyard.
Crippling the man’s Cultivation was something he had decided on from the very beginning.
If the man’s wife was truly severely ill and his son only a month old, he wouldn’t have been in the mood to carouse and seek pleasure at the Yihong Courtyard.
Longtian would be a fool to believe him.
Returning to his home and looking at the courtyard before him, Longtian’s already foul mood worsened.
“That bastard He Yibo,” he thought.
The courtyard was currently in tatters everywhere.
It didn’t look like a home at all; it was clearly an abandoned ruin.
“Looks like I’ll only be able to stay at an inn for these next few days.
Good thing my reputation precedes me; I should be able to scrounge a few nights’ stay for now,” he thought.
Cursing under his breath, Longtian made his way to the only inn in the village.
“Sixth Master!”
The Shopkeeper of the inn was both surprised and delighted the moment he saw Longtian.
“Cut the nonsense and give me a premium room.
Here is a ten-tael silver banknote.
Don’t complain that it’s too little; I’m incredibly tight on cash right now.”
The last time Longtian went out to buy medicinal ointment, he was forced to leave Flying Horse Village by He Yibo.
He didn’t have many silver banknotes on him to begin with, and now that his home had been ransacked by He Yibo, he was absolutely penniless.
The Shopkeeper didn’t get angry at Longtian’s temper in the slightest.
Instead, he looked around nervously.
Only after confirming that no one else was present did he speak up, “Oh my, Sixth Master, why have you returned to Flying Horse Village?
Second Master He is still searching for you!
He’s even offering a thousand-tael reward for any information on your whereabouts.”
It’s been half a month, and that bastard still hasn’t cooled off?
He really thinks I’m a pushover.” Longtian felt that his Second Uncle was taking things a bit too far.
“Sixth Master, his son died; it’s only natural for him to be angry.
Why don’t you head back out and lay low for a while longer?
Don’t worry, I won’t breathe a word about you coming to the inn.”
The Shopkeeper was an honest man.
Back in the day, Longtian had tipped him quite generously, so he didn’t have the heart to act against his conscience and snitch.
It could be said that if it weren’t for behemoths like the He Family and the Sun Family in Flying Horse Village, Longtian would be the most prominent figure around.
Quite a few villagers respected him from the bottom of their hearts.
In Flying Horse Village, treacherous people were always in the vast minority.
To the simple and honest villagers, if you treated them well, they would treat you well in return.
“Lay low?
Like hell I will!
I’m staying here starting today.
I’m not sure how many days I’ll be here, but if the ten taels of silver run out, just put it on my tab.
I’ll pay you back once I have the money.”
“Sixth Master, are you really planning to stay in Flying Horse Village?”
Longtian slammed his hand on the table.
“Nonsense!
Do I look like someone who just spouts hot air?
If I say I’m staying, I’m staying.
He Yibo ain’t sh*t.
If I were afraid of him, I wouldn’t have come back.”
Although the Shopkeeper thought Longtian was a real man with a sturdy backbone, he felt that sometimes being tough wasn’t enough; one had to learn to adapt.
However, since Longtian had already made up his mind, he decided not to persuade him any further.
“Alright then.
The room you usually stay in happens to be empty.
You can stay there for now.
I’ll personally deliver your food and drinks.
It’s best if you show your face as little as possible these next few days.”
“Then I’ll be heading up,” Longtian said.
He waved his hand and walked upstairs, acting as casually as if this were his own home.
“Oh, by the way, no need to send me meals.
I’m going to the He Family tomorrow.
I might not be staying here tomorrow anyway.”
The Shopkeeper froze, thinking to himself that the Sixth Master was truly audacious to dare return to the He Family.
He was as fearless as a newborn calf facing a tiger.
“Zhuifeng, you’re injured, so just rest on the bed and wait for my return tomorrow,” Longtian said.
Longtian had decided to go to the He Family the very next day.
He couldn’t wait out the fifteen-day agreement.
Zhuifeng nodded at Longtian, lying down on the bed as meekly as a little kitten.
However, its occasionally trembling body let Longtian know that it was currently in a great deal of pain.
“Tomorrow, I’ll challenge He Chao, and I will do it openly and honorably!
I want the entire He Family to know that in just half a month’s time, I have grown enough to defeat He Chao!
I’m going to blind their damn eyes!
I’ll let them know that the true chosen genius of the He Family isn’t He Tong, but me, Longtian!” he thought.
He had to be high-profile for tomorrow’s challenge.
Only by doing so could he give the He Family patriarch a legitimate reason to protect him.
That night, Longtian neither slept nor rested; he spent the entire time Cultivating.
The next day, as the morning sun rose, Longtian restored his body to its Peak state before finally leaving the room.
“Sixth Master, why have you come out?”
The Shopkeeper turned pale with fright upon seeing Longtian step out of his room.
It was broad daylight, and quite a few people were eating breakfast in the inn.
Longtian smiled faintly.
“I’m going to the He Family.”
With that faint smile still on his lips, he strolled out of the inn with an air of carefree confidence.
Along the way, Longtian drew gasps and stares from many onlookers.
Flying Horse Village was boiling over with excitement due to his return.
“It’s the Sixth Master, Longtian!
Heavens, he actually came back to Flying Horse Village!”
“The Sixth Master is back!
Where is he going?
Could it be the He Family?”
“It’s over, it’s all over!
Why did the Sixth Master come back at a time like this?
Is he not afraid that Second Master He will kill him?”
Today, Flying Horse Village was destined to be anything but peaceful.
People in every street and alleyway were discussing Longtian’s return, and many had their hearts in their throats as they worried about his fate.