Chapter 44

Qin Lie and Ling Yushi walked side by side on a mountain path, chatting as they made their way to Ling Family Town at a steady pace.

As they entered the town, they heard the shrill voice of Du Jiaolan cursing, coming from the direction of the courtyard where the Ling Family Patriarch lived.

Ling Yushi's face changed, and she said to Qin Lie, "You go back and rest first. I need to see what's going on." With that, she hurriedly rushed to the main residence.

The Ling Family lived in the center of Ling Family Town, right next to the training ground, which was also the location of the Ling Family Ancestral Hall. This area had always belonged to the Patriarch.

At this moment, intense arguments could be heard coming from that direction, and from a distance, many Ling Family members could be seen gathered, watching the commotion.

Qin Lie was taken aback for a moment, then thought for a bit, and with a slight movement of his mind, he let his eyes become vacant and walked indifferently toward the scene.

Before long, he arrived at the site of the argument—the large courtyard of the Ling Family behind the training ground.

Upon his arrival, he noticed that Ling Feng, Ling Xin, and others had already arrived and were standing with Ling Chengye. After Ling Yushi arrived with an anxious expression, she went to her father's side and was quietly asking her sister Ling Xuanxuan to understand what had happened.

At this moment, Du Jiaolan, along with Du Qishan, Du Heng, and Du Haitian, who had brought a group of martial artists, was confronting Ling Chengye, pointing at Ling Xuanxuan and viciously insulting her.

Beside the Du family members, her youngest son Du Fei lay on a stretcher, his face as pale as paper, looking severely injured and on the brink of death.

Ling Chengye's face had several scratch marks, seemingly inflicted by Du Jiaolan's wild behavior.

The three Ling Family elders, Ling Kang'an, Ling Xiang, and Ling Bo, were also present, all with serious expressions, trying to mediate between the two sides.

Around the courtyard, many Ling Family members gathered, pointing at the Du family and accusing them, their expressions filled with anger.

Qin Lie stood in an inconspicuous corner of the crowd, listening quietly for a while, gradually understanding what had happened.

Two nights ago, Du Fei, driven by lust, had used a sedative smoke to try to take advantage of Ling Xuanxuan while she was sleeping. However, Ling Xuanxuan discovered him in time. Du Fei, who was only at the sixth level of Body Tempering, was severely beaten by Ling Xuanxuan, with several broken ribs and a potentially crippled groin.

After the incident, Du Jiaolan flew into a rage, accusing Ling Xuanxuan of defaming her son and deliberately harming him.

That night, she almost came to blows with Ling Chengye. When Ling Chengye heard that Du Fei had intended to harm Ling Xuanxuan, he was also furious, and the two had a heated argument. It was only after the three Ling Family elders intervened that they finally calmed down.

After returning home, Du Jiaolan examined Du Fei's injuries and found that they were worsening, so she repeatedly came back to cause trouble.

Including today, this was already the fourth time...

"Ling Chengye! You bully us, an orphaned mother and son, thinking we have no one to stand up for us? Fine! You just wait, my relatives will be here soon!" Du Jiaolan, like a lioness, roared, "My cousin will arrive this afternoon. I want to see how you, Ling Chengye, will still show off your power then! That little slut maliciously harmed my son and beat him up. I will never let this go!"

"You're the slut! Your whole Du family are dogs and scum!" Ling Xuanxuan, with red eyes, retorted fiercely, her teeth clenched like a young lioness.

"Your son deserves it!" After understanding the situation, Ling Yushi's face turned cold, and she glared at Du Jiaolan, shouting, "What Du Fei did, not even killing him would be too much. Xuanxuan is his sister, and what he did is worse than an animal!"

"Right, he's just an animal!"

"He deserves it! This is truly a sin, not even killing him would be too much!"

"Exactly!"

"..."

The surrounding Ling Family members, filled with righteous indignation, echoed her words.

"Good! Very good! You Ling Family people bully us outsiders, do you?" Du Jiaolan, her lungs almost bursting with anger, her eyes glowing with venom, said, "You just wait. When my cousin comes from the Star Cloud Pavilion, I'll see if you can still be so tough! If I don't get justice for my son, I, Du Jiaolan, will leave Ling Family Town and never come back!"

As soon as she mentioned Du Haitian, many of the previously loud Ling Family members suddenly fell silent.

Du Haitian was one of the five elders of the Star Cloud Pavilion, with a cultivation level of the middle stage of the Kaiyuan Realm. It was said that he would soon break through to the late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm. His own strength was already greater than Ling Chengye's, and he had three early-stage Kaiyuan Realm martial artists under his command. Moreover, Du Haitian was a close confidant of another deputy pavilion master, Liu Yuntao, and was highly favored by him.

Du Haitian's personal strength was already a notch above the Ling Family, and he also represented the Star Cloud Pavilion. If he really came, the Ling Family... would find it very difficult to handle.

"What? Not saying anything? Afraid to speak?" Seeing the mention of Du Haitian's name make many Ling Family members fall silent, Du Jiaolan became arrogant, sneering, "Listen up, I will definitely get justice for my son and make that little slut pay!" Her eyes, cold and venomous like a snake's tongue, stared at Ling Xuanxuan.

Under her cold and fierce gaze, Ling Xuanxuan felt a chill in her heart, and her body couldn't help but tremble slightly. She timidly asked, "Sister, did I do something wrong? Did I cause big trouble for Father and the family?"

After a pause, she added, almost in tears, "Du Fei is a beast! I, I really couldn't bear it anymore!"

"It's fine, don't be afraid. You didn't do anything wrong; he deserved it!" Ling Yushi held her hand tightly, comforting her softly, "This time, we established merit for the Star Cloud Pavilion in the Tianlang Mountains. We don't necessarily have to fear Du Haitian. Don't worry too much. If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to hold back either. You don't need to feel too guilty."

After her comfort, Ling Xuanxuan visibly relaxed, her innocent face showing less guilt and worry.

Qin Lie, standing in a corner of the crowd, observed for a while and noticed that when Ling Chengye and Ling Chengzhi heard that Du Haitian would arrive in the afternoon, their expressions clearly changed.

It seemed that the two brothers, though outwardly tough, were actually extremely wary of Du Haitian.

If even they felt this way, how much more so the other Ling Family members?

Even the three elders and the other Ling Family members were now frowning deeply, and many of those who had been shouting loudly had fallen silent. It was as if the presence of Du Haitian was a mountain pressing on their chests, making them feel extremely heavy and unable to breathe.

On the other hand, Du Jiaolan and her group, with their backing, became even more arrogant, their previous weakness swept away.

The Star Cloud Pavilion was just a Qing Shi-level force, but to the Ling Family, which depended on it, it was a high and mighty existence. Du Haitian, merely an elder of the Star Cloud Pavilion, could make the entire Ling Family feel so heavy...

This made Qin Lie feel surprised and gave him a new understanding of the strict and cold hierarchy among different levels of forces in the Spirit Realm.

"We'll wait here for your uncle to arrive. They should be here soon. Then we'll settle accounts with the Ling Family!" Du Jiaolan and the others found a spot and sat down, clearly preparing for a major confrontation.

Many Ling Family members were now feeling heavy-hearted, looking at the Du family mother and son with cautious and uneasy eyes.

Ling Chengye, frowning deeply, gave a look to Ling Chengzhi, calling Ling Yushi, Ling Feng, and others back to the hall inside the courtyard, and then asked, "How was your trip to the Tianlang Mountains?"

Ling Feng, Ling Xin, Ling Xiao, and others, who had been drawn to the commotion upon their return, had not yet had the chance to report.

Now, summoned to the hall, they all looked excited upon hearing the Patriarch's question.

"It was extremely thrilling!" Ling Xiao spoke up first, "Patriarch, you don't know, this trip was a matter of life and death for us. It was extremely dangerous, all because of Qin Lie..."

"Qin Lie?"

"Qin Lie?"

"Qin Lie?"

Ling Chengye, Ling Chengzhi, and Ling Xuanxuan were all clearly surprised, looking at Ling Xiao strangely.

"Qin Lie also went? How did he get there?" Ling Chengye looked deeply at Ling Yushi, "No wonder I haven't seen him recently. He went to the Tianlang Mountains with you. What exactly happened?"

"Is that fool a burden to you? Why did he go? Did he cause any trouble for your mission?" Ling Xuanxuan, hearing Ling Xiao say "all because of Qin Lie," thought Qin Lie had caused them many problems, frowned, and said, "You really are crazy, going on a Star Cloud Pavilion mission with a fool."

As soon as she said this, she noticed that the looks of Ling Yushi, Ling Feng, Ling Xin, Ling Xiao, and others were all becoming strange...

Especially Ling Xin and Ling Xiao, who looked at her with cold faces, clearly very displeased, as if extremely dissatisfied with her words!

This made Ling Xuanxuan suddenly pause.

"What happened? Why are they all looking at me like that?" She felt confused.

"If it weren't for the fool you mentioned, we would all have died. Elder Sister and Ling Ying might have faced something even worse than death! Hmph!" Ling Xin suddenly snorted.

Ling Xiao also mocked, "If Qin Lie weren't there, we would all be dead now..."

"Little Sister, you need to control your prejudice. Qin Lie... is the savior of us all." Ling Yushi sighed, scolding her, "Don't make assumptions without understanding the facts."

Ling Xuanxuan didn't expect her casual words to provoke everyone's anger and ridicule, which left her face frozen, turning pale and then red, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"What exactly happened? Ling Feng, you explain!" Ling Chengye shouted, his eyes bright with curiosity.

"Yes, what happened that changed your attitude toward him so completely?" Ling Chengzhi also asked urgently.

"Patriarch! Patriarch! Someone from the Star Cloud Pavilion has arrived!" At this moment, a Ling Family member outside shouted in a clearly panicked voice, "Besides Elder Du Haitian, there's also Elder Ye Yangqiu, who is in charge of the Punishment Hall, and they both brought their hall masters! This is not good!"

The Ling brothers, who were still inquiring about Qin Lie, both showed dramatic changes in their expressions. They exchanged a glance and saw the fear in each other's eyes.

Just Du Haitian alone was already enough to give the Ling Family a headache, and now with the Punishment Hall's Ye Yangqiu... the two brothers were already feeling their scalps tingle.

"Why is Ye Yangqiu here? I haven't heard of him being close to Du Haitian. The Punishment Hall Elder Ye Yangqiu, when he appears in a vassal force, it often means the harshest punishment! What did our Ling Family do wrong to deserve his personal visit?!" Ling Chengye, his body trembling, shouted, his face filled with anger and panic.

"Just the matter of Xuanxuan severely injuring Du Fei is absolutely not enough to bring Ye Yangqiu here! Moreover, Ye Yangqiu is known for his strictness. In the Star Cloud Pavilion, he doesn't show favor to anyone except the Pavilion Master, not even the two deputy pavilion masters, Kang Hui and Liu Yuntao. He would never come to the Ling Family for such a trivial matter!" Ling Chengzhi also became terrified.

Ye Yangqiu, the Punishment Hall Elder of the Star Cloud Pavilion, often brought the harshest punishments wherever he went. His arrival made all the Ling Family members feel as if they had fallen into hell!

...