Chapter 9

That night, the Ye family of four had never been so happy together at dinner. Everyone was in high spirits. Although the engagement with the Qi family had been dissolved, they had not harbored any extravagant hopes. However, the fact that Ye Hong had been promoted from vice mayor to mayor was something they had never dared to imagine, and he had also received half of the shares of the Haiwang Group. All of this was due to the changes in Ye Tianchen.

After dinner, the family sat together to watch TV, chat, drink tea, and enjoy snacks, a scene of warmth and happiness. At midnight, when Ye Tianchen's parents and sister were already asleep, Ye Tianchen sat cross-legged in meditation. He closed his eyes tightly, and gradually, cold sweat began to appear on his forehead. He was trying to activate the strange energy within his body.

In front of Ye Tianchen, a cup of water floated in the air, emitting a faint blue energy. With the movement of his right index finger, the water would freeze and then decompose back into water. This was just the simplest application of water-based strange energy. Ye Tianchen noticed that the strange energy core in his brain was fluctuating intermittently, making it impossible to gather the strange energy in his meridians. Only during intense battles and killings did the strange energy core fluctuate significantly, allowing more strange energy to concentrate.

Currently, Ye Tianchen's strange energy had dropped from the divine level to the lord level, a fall of three levels. To restore it to the divine level, he needed to engage in many battles with strong opponents; otherwise, he could not stimulate the explosion of the strange energy core in his brain.

Suddenly, Ye Tianchen opened his eyes, caught the falling water cup with his left hand, and frowned. When he released his strange energy, he could sense the fluctuations of the natural forces around him and detected that someone had infiltrated the villa, carrying a faint aura of killing intent.

A smile appeared on Ye Tianchen's lips. It seemed that, as Canglang had said, no matter what time or era, there would always be wars and killings, whether openly or secretly. If one's strength was not powerful enough, one would only become a target for others to exploit.

Opening the bedroom door, Ye Tianchen silently walked out and sat on the sofa in the living room, smoking a cigarette leisurely.

At this moment, two masked assassins had already broken in through the window. When they entered the small villa's living room, they were startled to find someone sitting on the sofa.

"Welcome to my home to enjoy the moon!" Ye Tianchen said with a smile.

Although the two assassins were somewhat surprised, they were not frightened. They were seasoned veterans, and this time they had been hired for a high salary, far surpassing ordinary thugs. After a moment of hesitation, the two assassins simultaneously drew their daggers and rushed toward Ye Tianchen.

Ye Tianchen was relieved that the two assassins did not bring guns. It was not that he was afraid of anything; as a former divine-level strange energy master, even at the lord level, dealing with these two assassins was a piece of cake. He just feared that the gunshots would wake his parents and sister, disturbing their dreams. Over the years, they had lived in tension and worry, all caused by him. Now, Ye Tianchen absolutely would not allow anyone to disturb his family. Whoever dared to do so would pay with their life!

One of the assassins rushed over first, with decent skills. He leaped and swiftly stabbed toward Ye Tianchen's neck. Just as a smug smile appeared on the assassin's face, it froze. In mid-air, Ye Tianchen grabbed his right wrist, redirected the dagger, and slit his throat, killing him instantly without a sound.

The other assassin, who had just rushed over, found Ye Tianchen already in front of him in an instant, the bloody dagger pressed against his chest, making him too terrified to move.

"Don't, brother, spare, spare my life..." the remaining assassin was terrified, his back cold with fear, never imagining that such a powerful expert was hiding in this ordinary villa, killing his companion without batting an eye.

"Sparing your life is possible, but I want to know who sent you and what you were here to do. If you lie, you will die," Ye Tianchen said with a smile.

Now, seeing Ye Tianchen's smile, the assassin felt as if he was facing Death itself, trembling with fear. This person was no different from Death, killing his companion without a frown and always smiling, sending chills down his spine.

"I, I came to kidnap the three members of the Ye family..."

"Who sent you?"

"The, the Qin family."

Ye Tianchen frowned. The Qin family? He had heard Qi Changsheng of the Qi family mention that Qi Ruxue and Qin Heng of the Qin family had fallen in love at first sight. Why would the Qin family send assassins to his home? There must be some hidden reason.

"Why did they do this?" Ye Tianchen lightly tapped the assassin's chin with the side of the dagger, a method to scare him into telling the truth.

"I, I don't know..." the assassin stammered, glancing at Ye Tianchen.

"I'll count to three. If you don't answer, you'll die," Ye Tianchen sighed and shook his head.

"I, I really don't know, I..."

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three..."

Before Ye Tianchen finished saying "three," the assassin spoke quickly: "Qin Heng's father also wants to become the mayor of H City, but he can't match Ye Hong's achievements, so he wants to kidnap his wife and daughter as leverage..."

"Is that so? You can go. Remember to tell the Qin family that I, Ye Tianchen, will visit them soon."

The assassin was stunned, not expecting this person to be Ye Tianchen and that he would really let him go. He nervously walked to the window, preparing to jump out, but with a "pu" sound, the remaining assassin's throat was pierced, a jet of blood spurted out, and he fell to the ground, clutching his throat in terror.

"Sorry, I think it's better to go and say it in person!" Ye Tianchen scratched his head and said.

Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself. Ye Tianchen was not a bully or a troublemaker, but he would never let anyone who bullied him off the hook, let alone harm his family. In the post-apocalyptic world, it was a world of absolute slaughter, filled with blood. If you didn't kill, you would be killed. It was that simple and direct.

Ye Tianchen threw the two assassins' bodies far away that night, erasing all traces of their presence. He returned home, cleaned up the scene, and went back to his bedroom to sleep.

The next morning, Ye Tianchen was woken up by a series of urgent knocks on the door. Opening it, he saw his sister, Ye Qianwen, and yawned, asking, "Why are you knocking on the door so early in the morning?"

"Is it early? The sun is already up. Dad called you down, he has something to say to you!" Ye Qianwen rolled her eyes at her brother.

Ye Tianchen chuckled, closed the door, got dressed, and went downstairs. When he reached the living room, he saw his father, Ye Hong, frowning as he read a newspaper. Seeing Ye Tianchen, he said, "Tianchen, sit down!"

"Dad, what's up?" Ye Tianchen asked with a smile.

"Take a look at this newspaper," Ye Hong said, handing the newspaper to Ye Tianchen.

Feeling a bit strange, Ye Tianchen took the newspaper and saw a prominent headline on the side page: "Ye Tianchen, Betrays Comrades and Kneels to Beg for Mercy!"

Although the character "chen" was slightly altered, anyone who knew a bit about the Ye family would recognize that Ye Tianchen had once been a troublemaker who joined the military and later returned. Many people had heard about the ambush of the seven special forces soldiers, but few knew the details. Clearly, someone was trying to frame Ye Tianchen, to make him look bad and damage the Ye family's reputation.

Ye Tianchen quickly read the content, which claimed that during a border operation with his comrades, he was ambushed by bandits, captured, and to save his life, he knelt and begged for mercy, betraying his comrades, leading to the deaths of five special forces soldiers. Han Jie had survived by her own strength, but this was all covered up by Ye Tianchen.

Kneeling to beg for mercy? Betraying comrades? When Ye Tianchen saw these eight words, his emotions fluctuated. In the post-apocalyptic world, Ye Tianchen had few friends, and those who fought alongside him were trusted comrades. Despite not being a saint, he would never kneel to beg for mercy or betray his friends, even if it meant death.

"Dad, it's clear that someone is targeting our Ye family and trying to frame me," Ye Qianwen said, somewhat angrily.

"Old Hong, this is suspicious and needs to be investigated," Ye Tianchen's mother, Luo Yan, added.

Ye Hong looked at Ye Tianchen and frowned, "This newspaper, though not mainstream, is the largest gossip newspaper in the capital, sold directly to major families and high-ranking officials. Many people have seen this news. I don't believe you are such a person, Tianchen, but this newspaper has damaged our family's reputation."

Ring, ring, ring... The phone rang, and Ye Hong picked it up, softly saying, "Dad..."

After that, Ye Hong's face turned pale as he listened to the phone. When the call ended with a beep, he looked at his wife and children, somewhat dejected, "It was Dad. He is very angry and said we are never to return to the old Ye family residence."

"The sun is shining nicely today. I'll go for a walk and be back soon!"

Ye Tianchen smiled and, before his parents and sister could react, opened the villa door and walked out...

[PS: Second update of the day. Thanks for the support, everyone!]

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