"So that stray has come."
"I hadn't even gone looking for him, and he's delivered himself to our door."
Gu Baosong's face darkened. Ye Bei had cut off his son's legs. He had planned to deal with him after his father's birthday banquet, but this would save him the trouble.
"I wonder whether your family is satisfied with my gift?"
Ye Bei appeared at the edge of the crowd. Instinctively, people parted to let him through.
"Is... is that the Ye family's son?" someone exclaimed when they saw him clearly.
"That's him."
"I heard he raped the Gu family's daughter that night seven years ago, and they slaughtered his whole family."
"Shh! Do you want to die, talking about that at their front gate?"
...
A stir passed through the crowd as people whispered.
"You animal! You actually dared come back!" A younger member of the Gu family pointed at Ye Bei and cursed.
Every member of the family hated him.
Slap!
Before the words had faded, a resounding slap sent the young man flying several meters. He sprayed blood from his mouth and struck the ground hard, then lay motionless.
"Is this how Jinghai's foremost family welcomes its guests?" Ye Bei wiped the blood from his hand.
Gu Baosong's eye twitched, but he forced down his rage. With so many guests present, attacking now would give people something to criticize.
"If you've come, you're a guest. Please." He stepped aside in welcome, sneering inwardly. Once Ye Bei set foot inside their gates, he would never walk out again.
With Gu Baosong letting him through, no one else tried to stop him.
Ye Bei walked forward, each step steady and firm. After seven years, the Godslayer War King had returned for one purpose: revenge.
Revenge for the blood of his parents.
"Ye Bei of the Ye family, here to offer birthday congratulations!" At the hall entrance, Gu Baosong deliberately raised his voice.
He wanted both to warn those inside and to show the guests how magnanimous Jinghai's foremost family could be.
Ye Bei would die tonight, but appearances still had to be maintained.
The lively hall fell silent in an instant.
Ye Bei strode in, tall and imposing.
Every pair of eyes widened and turned toward the door.
No one could believe it. He had fled like a beaten dog seven years ago and vanished without a trace. Now he had come to them willingly. Was he trying to get himself killed?
"Ye Bei! You dare come here of your own accord!" one of the family's direct descendants spoke first.
Hands clasped behind his back, Ye Bei ignored him. He stood proudly, his gaze fixed on Gu Changfeng in the seat of honor.
Seven years had passed, but he would never forget his parents clinging desperately to Gu Changfeng that night.
After breaking free and fleeing, he had looked back just as Gu Changfeng struck them with both palms.
Blood streamed from their mouths. They could no longer shout, yet all four hands remained locked around his legs. Holding on to their final breaths, they had mouthed two words to their son: Go. Now.
"How could the Ye family miss Patriarch Gu's birthday?" Ye Bei put aside the memory and smiled calmly, his manner courteous.
Only the Gus knew how much hatred lay behind that smile.
"I only hope you like the gift I've brought."
A butler leaned down to explain in Gu Changfeng's ear. The people in the hall still had no idea what Ye Bei had given him.
"If you're giving him a car, why dig a hole and put it in there?" a younger direct descendant asked after overhearing the butler. He could not understand what Ye Bei intended.
Ye Bei raised a brow. "For thousands of years, Chinese tradition has held that the dead find peace in the earth. How could I bury him without a hole?"
"I didn't have time to order a coffin. That car will have to serve as Patriarch Gu's."
The hall erupted.
"Ye Bei, you insolent bastard! Guards, seize him!" A family member swept out his hand.
The bodyguards moved at once, but five paces from Ye Bei, they could advance no farther. It was as though an invisible barrier blocked them.
Then a powerful repelling force burst out.
Blood sprayed.
The guards flew backward, blood pouring from their mouths.
The Gu family blanched. None had imagined that the man who had once fled like a stray could return with such overwhelming power.
Gu Changfeng stared grimly at Ye Bei. He had not believed his eldest grandson's claim that Ye Bei was a Martial Practitioner. Apparently, it was true. Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
But even if he was, Gu Changfeng was not concerned.
He was a Martial Practitioner himself, as were members of several other prominent families in Jinghai. More than that, he had reached Level 9. An ordinary Martial Practitioner was no match for him. That was the foundation of his family's supremacy.
"If you're so determined to die, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
He gathered True Qi in his palm and struck.
He put his full strength into the blow, clearly intending to kill Ye Bei in one move. The banquet was about to begin. There was no time to waste.
The blast shot toward Ye Bei like an arrow released from a bow.
Ye Bei stood unmoving.
Some of those around him were already sneering. They knew their patriarch's strength. In their eyes, Ye Bei had no hope of resisting that strike. He was certain to die.
Yet just before it reached him, someone easily blocked it.
"Old Mr. Gu, is this what you invited me here to see?" Wei Sen, his face covered in rough stubble, looked furious.
As director of the Jinghai Inspectorate, he was responsible for the city's major and difficult cases, as well as overseeing every Martial Practitioner within it.
When Martial Practitioners attacked ordinary people, the result was invariably injury or death. The Inspectorate had a strict prohibition: any Martial Practitioner who harmed an ordinary person could be executed on the spot by its officers.
"D-Director Wei." Gu Changfeng bowed and cupped his fist in alarm.
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Every member of the Inspectorate was a Martial Practitioner. Its authority far exceeded that of any family.
"Surely you know the Inspectorate's prohibition?" Wei Sen's anger was unmistakable.
He had been transferred to Jinghai less than six months ago, and already Gu Changfeng was violating the rule by attacking someone. Clearly, he held the Inspectorate in contempt.
"I do. But this man violated a younger member of my family years ago, and now he comes here insulting us. I could endure no more, so I tried to teach him a lesson." Cold sweat broke out on Gu Changfeng. If he offended the Inspectorate, not even ten prominent families could save him.
"Besides, he isn't an ordinary person. He's a Martial Practitioner too," he added.
Martial Practitioners often sparred to improve their skills. Although it was not strictly legal, the Inspectorate generally turned a blind eye if no serious harm was done.
"Oh?"
A trace of surprise crossed Wei Sen's face.
Becoming a Martial Practitioner was no easy matter. It required an innate aptitude, followed by constant practice of cultivation techniques. Without thirty or fifty years of effort, it was difficult to amount to anything.
Yet this man was already one at such a young age?
Old Gu was the head of a family. How could he tell such an obvious lie without fearing ridicule?