The instant the Dao Realm aura appeared, Ye Zhen’s gaze flickered as he looked toward a certain spot in the sky.
Just casually sending out a single Warning Talisman could draw out a Dao Realm Expert; it seemed that although this Fox Clan of Tu Mountain appeared very lax in its defenses on the surface, in reality it was loose outside but tight within.
Very soon, squads of Patrol members rushed over and surrounded Ye Zhen and his group.
Ye Zhen, however, was completely unconcerned; instead, his expression grew complicated as he looked at Hu Qingtong.
"You... are you doing well?"
Before seeing her, Ye Zhen felt there were many things he wanted to say; but once they truly met, all the questions turned into this one sentence.
"I’m fine." Hu Qingtong also gave a slight nod, then hurriedly pulled Chi Ling’er, who was tugging at Ye Zhen’s sleeve, back to her side, and shot Chi Ling’er a fierce glare. "Told you not to cause trouble!"
"Mom..." Chi Ling’er pouted in grievance.
"Qing Tong, what happened today really has nothing to do with Chi Ling’er. It was that Tu Yan who first bullied Chi Ling’er and cursed at her, and in the end even manifested his True Body to attack her," Ye Zhen said.
"Manifested his True Body to attack?" Hu Qingtong was also startled. She was born of the Demon Race; she knew very well that even for children, once they manifested their True Body, their offensive power was extremely frightening.
"Luckily I happened to be here. Chi Ling’er is very good and very brave. I like this child a lot." As he spoke, Ye Zhen paused, then asked stiffly, "By the way, Chi Ling’er’s... father, where is he?"
To be honest, ever since Xuan Hu had said that Hu Qingtong had a child, this question had lingered in Ye Zhen’s heart.
Ye Zhen really wanted to know whom Hu Qingtong had married, what kind of person he was, and for whom she had borne a child.
Beyond curiosity, what filled Ye Zhen’s heart even more was an indescribable regret and helplessness.
So, not long after they met, Ye Zhen couldn’t help but ask this question.
This question made Hu Qingtong’s gaze turn flustered.
She didn’t know how she should answer Ye Zhen.
When others asked, she always said that the child’s father was cultivating in some faraway place.
But in front of Ye Zhen, especially in front of Chi Ling’er, she couldn’t answer like that. If she said that, she wouldn’t know how to face Chi Ling’er in the future.
Although she had never told Chi Ling’er who her biological father was, Hu Qingtong knew very clearly that one day, Chi Ling’er would definitely find out who her real father was.
"The father of this bastard child, I’m afraid even this slut who’s seduced countless men can’t remember clearly anymore..." Since the Patrol had come, Tu Yan’s mother, emboldened, once again started cursing viciously with her wheezy, leaking voice, and in doing so actually helped Hu Qingtong out of her predicament.
Whoosh!
Without any warning, a streak of purple Sword Light suddenly flew out from behind Ye Zhen’s head and, incomparably swift, rested against Tu Yan’s mother’s neck.
As everyone exclaimed in shock, Ye Zhen’s voice, icy cold and brimming with Killing Qi, rang out. "If you dare spit venom again, I’ll take your dog head first!"
Tu Yan’s mother, eyes full of terror, hadn’t yet reacted when Ye Zhen’s Purple Spirit Immortal Sword lightly moved again. The edge had yet to touch her, but that razor-sharp Sword Qi had already sliced the skin of her neck, a thin line of blood flowing down.
This scene directly scared Tu Yan’s mother into a shrill scream of panic.
The Patrol members who had just arrived, especially the middle-aged red-haired burly man in the lead—Tu Yan’s father, Tu Xiong—started shouting angrily one after another.
"Stop!"
"Stop right now!"
"If you dare harm a single hair on my wife’s head, you will not leave this place alive today!" Tu Xiong roared.
"You mustn’t!" This voice belonged to Hu Qingtong.
"Qing Tong, don’t worry, I know what I’m doing!"
Ye Zhen’s gaze locked straight onto Tu Xiong. "I’ve already hurt her—what can you do to me?"
As he spoke, the Purple Spirit Immortal Sword in Ye Zhen’s hand twisted its Sword Light again, neatly slicing off Tu Yan’s mother’s long hair in one go.
"You’ve used vicious words to hurt others time and time again. Today I take hair in place of your head as a small punishment and a great warning. If you dare act like this again in the future, I’ll definitely take your dog head!" With his vast, ocean-like Divine Soul Power surging, Ye Zhen stared at Tu Yan’s mother, his gaze like a sword.
She still wanted to talk back, but once she met Ye Zhen’s gaze, which was filled with Killing Qi, she involuntarily shivered, and an indescribable terror suddenly surged into her heart.
This was what people meant by a Vajra Furious Gaze, nothing more.
In the Yizhi Sand Sea, Ye Zhen’s Primordial Spirit had been tempered by the All Living Beings’ Will Power countless times, becoming Condensed Refinement and incomparably pure.
When Ye Zhen’s heart was full of kindness, his gaze was even more benevolent than that of the Heavenly God in legend.
But when Ye Zhen was filled with rage, that gaze of his contained Heavenly God’s Wrath!
Under Ye Zhen’s anger-filled gaze, after shivering several times, Tu Yan’s mother’s face suddenly flushed with extreme shame and fury.
A foul stench of urine spread out; Tu Yan’s mother had actually been scared into losing control of her bladder by Ye Zhen just now.
This was not surprising. With Ye Zhen’s Primordial Spirit Power and the Killing Qi all over him, if he deliberately stared someone down, he could even directly scare some weak-willed, low-cultivation Martial Artists to death.
To frighten a married woman into wetting herself was very normal.
The expressions of the Patrol members all turned strange, while Tu Yan’s father Tu Xiong’s face grew both awkward and furious.
But anger was anger; at this moment, he had to scruple. The Purple Spirit Immortal Sword in Ye Zhen’s hand was still resting on his wife’s neck—no matter how angry he was, he had to endure it.
"This is... an Acquired Spirit Treasure?"
A Patrol captain who had been staring intently at the Purple Spirit Immortal Sword suddenly cried out in shock.
In an instant, the faces of all the Fox Clan members present changed, and the way they looked at Ye Zhen became different.
Even Tu Yan’s father Tu Xiong now held a bit more fear in his gaze toward Ye Zhen.
The reason was simple: an Acquired Spirit Treasure itself represented powerful strength.
Especially in the Taimeng Demon Realm, an ordinary Realm King expert with one or two Suppressing Devices could treat them as Family Heirlooms.
As for Acquired Spirit Treasures, even ordinary Demon Clan Great Saints didn’t necessarily have any.
Someone like Ye Zhen, who was so young yet already possessed an Acquired Spirit Treasure, not only showed that Ye Zhen himself had formidable strength, but in the Taimeng Demon Realm it also meant that behind Ye Zhen stood an incomparably powerful clan or expert.
But at this moment, no matter how wary Tu Xiong was, he still couldn’t swallow this.
In his view, first his son had been beaten, then his wife had been humiliated. If he kept enduring it, he wouldn’t be a man.
"If you’re still a man, then let go of my wife and fight me fairly, one on one!" Tu Xiong shouted.
A trace of a sneer appeared at the corner of Ye Zhen’s mouth; the Purple Spirit Immortal Sword still lay across Tu Yan’s mother’s neck.
"You really are shameless. When I reason with you, you resort to violence against me. When I answer with violence and you lose, now you talk about being fair and aboveboard!"
Ye Zhen’s mocking voice, heard by so many onlookers, made Tu Xiong’s face flush bright red.
"You clearly relied on your strength to bully the weak—first you hit my son, then you bullied my wife. How can you twist the truth like this!" Tu Xiong yelled.
"I’m twisting the truth? You really think all these Demon Race friends here are blind? I moved against your wife because she spewed extremely vicious insults again and again and refused to stop even after repeated warnings.
A shrew like that won’t calm the public’s anger unless she’s punished; she won’t learn her lesson unless she’s punished! Ask the Fox Clan friends here—have I done anything wrong?"
"Ask this uncle who arrived first, and this sister-in-law..."
Ye Zhen pointed, and Tu Xiong’s gaze involuntarily followed toward one of them. But none of these Fox Clan neighbors opened their mouths to speak for him; instead, they all avoided Tu Xiong’s eyes one by one.
This left Tu Xiong feeling extremely awkward.
These neighbors not speaking up for him already meant they acknowledged Ye Zhen’s account.
The reason they kept silent was because, as neighbors, they were still trying to save Tu Xiong some face.
Of course, Tu Xiong himself also understood his wife’s temperament.
Back when Hu Qingtong had just moved in, he’d been attracted by her beauty. Seeing that she was single with a child, Tu Xiong inevitably had some ideas and tried to show her favor several times.
He hadn’t gotten any benefits, and instead was spotted by his wife, who cursed him out every time.
Later, whenever he exchanged so much as a few words with Hu Qingtong, his wife would storm over to curse her, and grew more and more vicious about it!
He knew this very well in his heart.
"Fine, let’s not talk about that. Then tell me, why would a grown man like you, for no reason at all, hit my son?" Tu Xiong shouted angrily.
"Hit your son? Why don’t you first hear what your son did?"
Ye Zhen looked toward another Fox Clan little girl, his gaze instantly turning incomparably gentle. "Your name is Little Mei, right? You’re Chi Ling’er’s good friend, aren’t you?"
When Ye Zhen’s gaze turned gentle, it became the kindest, most benevolent gaze in the world.
Under Ye Zhen’s gaze, that little Fox Clan girl slowly nodded.
"Since you two are good friends, can you tell everyone about how Chi Ling’er was bullied just now, and speak up for her?"
After hesitating for a moment, that little Fox Clan girl, under Ye Zhen’s encouraging gaze, still opened her mouth and began speaking, telling everything in full detail.
After only a few sentences, Tu Xiong’s face had already turned dark.
The originally somewhat confused Fox Clan crowd, as well as the patrol members, all changed the way they looked at Tu Xiong’s family.
Craftiness was the Fox Clan’s nature, but this kind of scoundrel behavior was despised throughout the entire Demon Race!
When he heard that Tu Yan had manifested his true form to hurt someone, Tu Xiong wished he could find a hole in the ground and crawl into it.
Pa!
Tu Xiong directly slapped his own son and started cursing angrily, "You disgraceful thing, you actually manifested your true form to hurt someone! You..."
After berating his son, under the contemptuous gazes of the patrol and neighbors, Tu Xiong finally said with a face full of shame, "Sorry, we didn’t get the situation straight. Here, I’ll apologize to you!"
After speaking, Tu Xiong could only say helplessly, "I’ve already apologized. Can you let my wife go now?"
"Your son is still young. You apologizing on his behalf, I’ll accept that! But your wife, she must personally apologize to Qingtong and Chi Ling’er!" Ye Zhen shouted.
"Alright!"
Tu Xiong looked toward Tu Yan’s mother, Hu Lian, his meaning more than obvious.
At this moment, Hu Lian, who had gradually calmed down, had a face full of reluctance.
She had really lost all face today.
Seeing that his wife Hu Lian was unwilling to apologize, Tu Xiong grew anxious and glared fiercely.
At the same instant, the Sword Light of Ye Zhen’s Purple Spirit Immortal Sword suddenly moved, frightening Hu Lian into another terrified scream.
"I’ll apologize! I’m sorry, I was wrong!" Hu Lian said to Ye Zhen.
"Not to me, to Qingtong and Chi Ling’er!" Ye Zhen said coldly.
Hu Lian hesitated for a moment, then bit her lip again. "Qingtong, this time, I was wrong. You’re generous, just forgive me, I won’t dare do this again in the future."
"We’re all neighbors; there’s no talk of forgiveness. Just please, Sister-in-law Tu, be more disciplined in your words from now on."
Hu Qingtong responded without any change of expression, but in her chest and belly, there was an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
All these years, for Chi Ling’er’s sake, she had swallowed her anger and endured everything.
Only today, with Ye Zhen’s arrival, did she finally raise her head and exhale her pent-up resentment!
Stealthily glancing at Ye Zhen, who was glaring at Tu Xiong’s whole family, Hu Qingtong suddenly felt that perhaps her previous decision had been wrong!
"Just as Qingtong said, in the future, you’d better be more disciplined when you speak, lest you bring disaster upon yourself!" With a cold snort, the Purple Spirit Immortal Sword that had been resting on Hu Lian’s neck instantly flew back and sank into Ye Zhen’s body.
"Looks like this was a misunderstanding. Since it’s fine, we’ll withdraw! Everyone disperse. Also, Qingtong, treat your friend well. If there’s anything you need help with, just speak up," said the patrol leader who had rushed over earlier.
It seemed Hu Qingtong’s popularity within the Fox Clan was still quite good.
But just then, Hu Lian, Tu Yan’s mother who had just recovered her strength, suddenly jumped up, pounced on Tu Xiong, and scratched and beat him.
"You useless coward! I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to marry a piece of trash like you! You stood there and watched as someone held a sword to my neck, and you even let me apologize to him!"
"You piece of trash, how did I end up with such trash as you!" Hu Lian scratched wildly as Tu Xiong, not daring to fight back, was clawed until his face was covered in blood.
Watching this scene, Ye Zhen sighed inwardly.
Whether a child could become accomplished or not, the mother’s education was of paramount importance. Especially for the shaping of a boy’s character, the father’s image and status were also extremely important.
Now, Ye Zhen somewhat understood why that Fox Clan boy, Tu Yan, couldn’t take losing; when he lost, he resorted to shameless tricks and hurting people.
With a shrewish mother like Hu Lian and a wife-fearing father like Tu Xiong, if that little boy Tu Yan could grow up to be a real man, that would be strange!
"Qingtong, let’s go!"
"Mm!"
Hu Qingtong subconsciously responded obediently, then realized this was clearly where she lived.
Moreover, how had it already become "we" right after they met?
"My home is over there, come with me." Hu Qingtong deliberately emphasized the word "my."
But before Hu Qingtong could point the way, Chi Ling’er cleverly stepped forward, took Ye Zhen’s hand, and said, "Uncle, my home is this way, I’ll lead you! Let me tell you, my home is really pretty."
Her small hand pulled his large hand as they quickly went ahead, making Hu Qingtong’s expression freeze. She wanted to say something, but didn’t know what.
Especially seeing Chi Ling’er so overjoyed and close to Ye Zhen, four words surged up in Hu Qingtong’s heart—meant by fate!
But just as Chi Ling’er was pulling Ye Zhen away, Hu Lian, Tu Yan’s mother who had been scratching Tu Xiong like crazy, suddenly blocked Ye Zhen’s path.
"Wait, you can’t leave!"
"You humiliated our mother and son like this today; it can’t just end like that." Hair disheveled, Hu Lian barred Ye Zhen’s way like a madwoman.
Ye Zhen’s brows furrowed, his gaze turning cold as he looked toward Tu Xiong.
The meaning was simple: Tu Xiong, you’d better rein in your wife quickly. If she kept making a scene, he wouldn’t be polite anymore.
Tu Xiong was a smart man. He immediately went forward with an embarrassed face to drag Hu Lian back. "Alian, what are you making a fuss for, hurry back with me!"
"Trash, get lost!"
Hu Lian screamed hysterically, "I really was blind back then to marry such trash as you! My father is about to arrive; I don’t need you meddling!"
"Father-in-law?"
At the same time, Hu Qingtong’s expression also changed slightly. "Elder Hu?"
Just then, a streak of flowing light appeared at the horizon, falling straight toward Xuanjia Hill like a meteor.
Ye Zhen’s gaze shifted slightly. The newcomer—this Elder Hu—was a Peak of Early Dao Realm existence.
At the instant he landed, the Dao Realm aura that had been observing from the void above fluctuated slightly, then hid again.
Almost the moment the old man landed, Hu Lian rushed over, wailing bitterly.
"Father, if you hadn’t come, your daughter would’ve been bullied to death!"
"And this useless son-in-law of yours, not only did he refuse to help me, he even spoke up for outsiders!"
"Father, look at my neck, I almost had my head chopped off, I almost never got to see you again, look at my hair..."
Hu Buding, Elder Hu, who had just landed, looked at his daughter’s miserable appearance and the strange smell on her body. His face instantly turned extremely ugly.
"How did you end up like this? Who did this? Where are the patrols, where are the patrols?"
With a few furious shouts, just as the patrols who had left hurried back, Elder Hu’s gaze fell on Ye Zhen, his expression suddenly turning cold!
"Was it them?"
"That’s right, it was this slutty vixen Hu Qingtong’s boy toy she seduced from who-knows-where!" Hu Lian pointed at Ye Zhen and cursed.
"Shrew, shut up!"
"Bastard, looking for death!"
Two thunderclap-like roars rang out abruptly, but Ye Zhen’s voice, containing the intent of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, was even louder, drowning out Hu Buding’s shout.
Almost the instant Ye Zhen’s gaze, full of Killing Qi, settled on Hu Lian, Hu Lian’s father, Hu Buding, struck out with murderous intent.
Behind Hu Buding’s head, a giant flame hand with an incomparably fierce aura Condensed Refinement out of thin air and grabbed toward Ye Zhen like lightning.
Seeing her father attack Ye Zhen without a word, a trace of smugness appeared on Hu Lian’s face.
"Trash, watch carefully how my father does things! In this lifetime, if you can learn even one-tenth of my father’s ways, I’ll be satisfied. Watch how my father stands up for me!"
Pulling the stupefied Tu Yan back into her arms, Hu Lian continued, "Son, watch closely. If you’re going to learn, learn from your grandfather.
Look how powerful your grandfather is; as soon as he arrives, he can vent our anger for us mother and son..."
But before she finished, Hu Lian’s expression suddenly froze, and even Tu Xiong couldn’t help shuddering, eyes suddenly going wide!
Rumble rumble!
The purple Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, containing countless violent Thunderclap, suddenly blasted out from Ye Zhen’s palm. It directly shattered the flame hand grabbing toward him into dust, and its remaining power continued on, blasting toward Hu Buding.
"So it’s true that like father, like daughter. Today, I have seen it! Come, take one move from me and see!"
With Ye Zhen’s loud laughter, the Purple Spirit Immortal Sword suddenly flew up, tracing an incomparably Mysterious arc as countless Sword Light fell toward Hu Buding from all directions, sealing him in completely!
Seeing this scene, even Hu Qingtong’s eyes went wide!

Comments

Loading...