The first floor of the Auspicious Inn.
Su Yi followed their guests, Qiao Leng and Elder Wen, to a private room.
The fragrance of tea permeated the air.
Qiao?Leng?had already made their identities clear, and the gift he brought with him wasn’t stingy, either—ten stalks of tier-three spiritual medicine and a hundred second-tier spirit stones.
Su Yi sat leisurely and glanced at the stack of gift boxes laid across the table. “You can take your gifts back; I didn’t do it for your sake.”
“This is just a token of our Yu Family’s sincerity,” said Qiao Leng hurriedly. “Please, don’t refuse. No matter what, it’s thanks to you that we left the canyon alive tonight.”
“Do you have any other business with me?” asked Su Yi flatly.
“That….” Qiao Leng hesitated.
.
Elder Wen had sat there in silence all this time. His fingers drummed gently against the tabletop, and he said coldly, “Young man, since you’ve accepted our gifts, going forward, you should remember your place. You were only acting on orders, just as we are, so we’ll let this incident go. However, if it happens again, don’t blame our Yu Family for its poor manners.”
His tone was peaceable, but it carried a hint of chastisement.
Su Yi’s eyebrows shot up. He glanced at the gaunt, twiglike elder. “Might you explain what exactly you mean by ‘knowing my place’ and ‘acting on orders?’”
This is bad!?Qiao Leng inwardly cried out. “Young Lord, please don’t misunderstand. Elder Wen was just….”
But Su Yi coldly cut him off. “Let him explain.”
In response to this forceful attitude, Elder Wen narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t help but snort, “Nowadays, young people really don’t know how vast the heavens are or how deep the earth is. Allow this old man to give you a few pointers: His Sixth Highness’s status might be lofty, but not even he can act willfully here in the Imperatorial Provincial Capital. You’re still young; reaching your current cultivation can’t have been easy. Don’t think that relying on the sixth prince means you can overturn the heavens!”
This was the tone of an elder rebuking a junior, lofty and arrogant.
When Su Yi heard this, he was briefly startled. “You think I’m working for Zhou Zhili?”
“Drop the act. You can’t keep your trivial secrets from us!” Elder Wen laughed coldly, his gaze disdainful
Su Yi was vaguely starting to understand. He glanced at Qiao Leng. “So, what you’re saying is, you’ve interpreted the way I rescued you earlier today as… an act of concealed malice?”
Qiao Leng grimaced, then let out a long sigh. “Young Lord Su, Elder Wen’s words might be unpleasant, but he’s telling the truth. Surely you won’t deny your connection with the sixth prince?”
Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh.?Interesting!
I saved them in passing, yet now, they seem to think I was plotting something!
And they used gifts as a pretense to punish and warn me….
“In short, we’re not here tonight to make trouble for you, but going forward, you’d better not do anything so stupid ever again.” Elder Wen raised his cup and took a sip. Then, he said flatly, “Or else, I guarantee that not even the sixth prince can ensure your safety.”
With that, he set down his teacup, then rose and prepared to leave.
Su Yi sighed. “If I’d known it would turn out like this, I would’ve just watched as those beasts killed you people. Maybe then I wouldn’t have to deal with all this crap.”
Elder Wen’s expression darkened. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
Qiao Leng was inwardly a bit uncomfortable too. He’d warned Su Yi out of the goodness of his heart, yet the young man didn’t seem the least bit appreciative. Now, he was even saying such awful things out of anger!
Su Yi sat there, entirely unruffled, and spoke with casual understatedness. “My meaning is simple: I saved their lives, and I can take them away, too. Wouldn’t that be the end of this incident?”
Qiao Leng’s expression shifted dramatically, but Elder Wen merely grinned. “Young man, if you let your shame turn to anger, you’ll only get yourself killed. I urge you to go back and ask the sixth prince if he really dares to joke around with our young miss’s life.”
Qiao Leng couldn’t help but feel displeased too. “Young Lord, good medicine is bitter, and honest advice stings the ears. I admire you deeply; please don’t do anything foolish. Our Yu Family has towered over the Imperatorial Provincial Capital all this time; not even the sixth prince would dare offend us openly. You…”
“I saved your life. Are you grateful?” interrupted Su Yi.
“Of course,” said Qiao Leng without a second thought.
“I’ll give you one last chance. Get out of my sight this instant, and I won’t pursue this any further,” said Su Yi flatly.
Qiao Leng was stunned, but before he could respond, Elder Wen said coldly, “Qiao Leng, stand aside. I’d actually like to see just what this young retainer of the sixth prince plans to do.”
The depths of his gaze already surged with icy killing intent.
Qiao Leng’s heart shook; he realized that Elder Wen was now truly infuriated. “Elder Wen, we didn’t come here to….
But before he could finish, Elder Wen coldly cut him off. “Go outside.”
Qiao Leng glanced at Elder Wen, then at Su Yi. He sighed to himself, then turned and left the private dining room.
Elder Wen sat back into his chair, his gaze cold and gloomy. “I won’t waste words. Tell me: will you lower your head? Or you want to play with this old man first?”
A little crimson snake wove between the fingers of his left hand, raising its head and flicking its tongue. Its bright red eyes stared icily at Su Yi, flashing with bloodthirsty light.
Su Yi smiled faintly, then asked with the utmost seriousness, “How do you want to die? I’ll grant any request you’ve got.”
From his tone, it sounded like he was discussing business.
The expression on Elder Wen’s gaunt face darkened, and the cold glint in his eyes intensified, to the point that you could almost see the icy currents surging within his pupils.
“If someone’s determined to throw his life away, there’s nothing you can do to stop him. My little snake has yet to eat its fill today. I’ll just use your flesh and blood to fill its stomach.”
As he spoke these cold, indifferent words, Elder Wen’s eyes suddenly burst with unearthly, deep blue light, like a pair of madly circulating whirlpools. His gaze seemed capable of devouring a person’s soul.
The Soul-Capturing Dharma Eyes!
This was a sinister and despotic secret art. Once the user?set?their sights on you, it wouldn’t matter even if you were a Martial Dao Grandmaster; it would deliver a blow directly to the soul, effectively shackling it. If you couldn’t break free, you’d lose the ability to fight, making you a lamb to the slaughter.
The scariest part was, this technique could activate with extreme suddenness, making it hard to defend against and easy to fall prey to.
Over the years, this secret art had made Elder Wen almost invincible, and he’d killed numerous Grandmasters with it!
“To fall beneath this old man’s trump card is an honor. You should be proud of yourself; ordinary men are unworthy of such high-level treatment,” said Elder Wen leisurely. When he looked at the red snake coiled around his hand, his gaze was doting. “Go on. Whatever else you might say about him, that young man is in the Qi Accumulation Realm; his flesh is succulent and tender. You can have yourself a proper feast.”
The thin red snake hissed, then blurred into a streak of firelight and flew directly towards the still-seated Su Yi’s throat.
Elder Wen smiled slightly.
The little crimson snake was a variant species; it had a trace Flying Fire Serpent bloodline. Don’t let its small size fool you; it was a natural-born assassin, and it could easily ambush and kill even peak Qi Accumulation experts!
But a moment later, Elder Wen’s smile went rigid, and his eyes widened in utter astonishment.
The crimson snake was quick as lightning, but before it even got halfway to its target, a pair of white, slender hands plucked it from the air and held its head fast. No matter how madly it struggled, it was to no avail.
“Raising a wicked creature like this on a diet of blood will achieve the opposite of the intended effect. When it grows scales and sprouts curled horns, you’ll be the first person it kills. Only then can it shatter its restraints and attempt to evolve into a Flood Dragon,” said Su Yi, staring at the little crimson snake. “In other words, even if I don’t kill you today, you’ll just wind up as food for this little beast.”
Elder Wen’s expression shifted erratically, and his brows shot up in surprise and alarm. “You… You didn’t feel?anything?”
Waves coursed through his heart, and he could no longer remain calm.
Su Yi glanced up at him and said, “You’ve done some research into soul arts, but with methods like that, you’re no different from a child playing around in the mud. Using a technique on that level against me is just inviting your own humiliation; it’s hilarious.”
Elder Wen snorted in cold disbelief, and his eyes flashed with intense, soul-stirring and eerie blue light once more.
“What you said earlier was true. If someone’s determined to throw his life away, there’s nothing you can do to stop him,” said Su Yi. A hint of majestic sword intent flashed through the depths of his distant, inscrutable gaze.
Bang!
Elder Wen staggered back and fell from his chair. A low groan escaped his lips, and he shrieked, “My eyes!!!”
Both eyes had exploded, and blood gushed from the sockets. His face was pallid, and his skin went transparent as the agony made him convulse.
The pain was immense, but the sheer terror was even worse!
His years of cultivation had all been spent refining the “Soul-Capturing Dharma Eyes.” Thanks to them, it didn’t matter who he fought; he was never at a disadvantage.
But now, even his strongest ability?had?lost its effect!
A mere Qi Accumulation youth had ruined it, just like that!
How terrifying was this?
Su Yi sat there, then said flatly, “Earlier, I asked how you wanted to die, but now I’ve come up with a good idea on my own….”
Elder Wen suddenly struggled back to his feet and said hoarsely, “Just now, I was blind. I humbly?reque—”
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt something smooth and slippery in his mouth, and before he could react, it slid down his throat and into his body.
It was the snake!
Elder Wen reacted as if he’d been struck by lightning. His entire body went rigid, and he shoved his hand into his mouth, then reached and searched in a mad frenzy.
But it was no use.
After just a few seconds, the seven apertures of his face leaked blood, and he felt as if something were gnawing at his organs, resulting in tearing, agonizing pain.
“No! No—!” He charged madly at Su Yi, as if intent on using the last of his strength to take Su Yi down with him.
The funny part was, his eyes had already burst, so he missed and crashed into the nearby wall instead.
Afterward, his entire body sprawled out on the floor as he rasped, “You’ve offended the Yu Family. You’re going to d—!”
Before he could even finish his sentence, he breathed his last.
Su Yi just sat there, watching this play out with cold indifference. He took a small sip of tea, then frowned; the tea was a bit too weak.
Bang!
Someone pushed open the door to the private dining room. When Qiao Leng heard all the commotion, he could no longer refrain from charging inside.
They then saw Su Yi, sitting just as he had before, unmoving, leisurely, and at ease. .
Meanwhile, Elder Wen’s corpse lay sprawled out on the ground. His eyeballs had burst, and blood gushed from the sockets. Chunks of flesh were missing, and more disappeared with each passing second, as if something were gnawing and devouring him. Before long, all that remained were bones and a shriveled hide.
Witnessing this bizarre, gruesome scene, Qiao Leng’s scalp went numb. He was so stunned, his soul almost seemed to leave his body.