32: afterwards

As the commotion at the Mittel Auction House settled, the twilight over Wutan City was tinged with a restless golden-red hue.

In a secluded pavilion in the Xiao Family’s back mountains, Xiao Xuner stood leaning against the railing.

The twilight outlined her slender and upright figure, dressed in a light green dress, as elegant as a new bamboo shoot in early spring, its hem swaying gently in the wind, brushing against her smooth, porcelain-like ankles.

Slightly tilting her head, she gazed at the setting sun in the sky, her profile as exquisitely detailed as a master painter’s meticulous brushwork, her nose bridge straight and delicate, her lips a very faint cherry pink, slightly pursed, revealing a calmness unbefitting her age.

Her clear, limpid eyes, now reflecting the rosy clouds in the sky, seemed to hide two unfathomable cold pools deep within.

The air rippled silently like water, and a blurred black shadow coalesced behind her, like an ink drop separating from the twilight.

The black shadow bowed respectfully, his posture deferential, making no sound whatsoever; it was her guard, Dou Huang Ling Ying.

"Miss," Ling Ying’s voice was low and hoarse, like sand rubbing together, "Young Master Xiao Yan has safely returned to the Xiao Family, it’s just…"

Xiao Xuner did not turn around, her gaze still fixed on the horizon, her voice clear and crisp like shattered jade: "Just what? Did Brother Xiao Yan encounter any trouble?"

"Young Master Xiao Yan is unharmed; the trouble lies with someone else."

Ling Ying's voice uncharacteristically carried a hint of solemnity, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, "I was originally following Young Master Xiao Yan in secret, as per Miss's instructions, but in an alley, I witnessed the Jia Lie Familycontainment the three of them."

Xiao Xuner's slender eyebrows subtly twitched, almost imperceptibly, and she finally turned around slowly.

The lingering afterglow of the setting sun fell upon her smooth forehead, her long eyelashes casting a small fan-shaped shadow beneath her eyes, concealing the confusion within them.

"Oh? What was the outcome?"

Her voice remained calm, as if she were inquiring about a trivial matter.

Ying raised his head, his face beneath the cloak indistinct, but his eyes were unusually bright, filled with deep shock: "The outcome… General Manager Jia Liejie, a Samsung Dou Shi of the Jia Lie family, was killed head-on by that eight-year-old child, and the remaining ten or so Dou Zhe either died or fled."

A brief silence fell over the pavilion. Only the rustling of the evening wind through the bamboo leaves could be heard.

Xiao Xuner stood quietly, like a perfect jade sculpture.

But Ling Ying could clearly sense an extremely subtle yet soul-freezing chill quietly spreading from her.

Her slender, jade-like fingers, resting on the cold stone railing, twitched slightly at the tips.

"Eight years old, killing a Samsung Dou Shi head-on…" Xiao Xuner's voice was very soft, as if she was talking to herself, or perhaps chewing on this astonishing fact.

Deep within her clear eyes, for the first time, a strong sense of doubt and scrutiny clearly emerged. "Elder Ling, you witnessed the entire process; did you notice any clues? The origin of the power that child used… did it have the aura or methods of the Ancient Seven Clans?"

Ling Ying was silent for a moment, seemingly recalling the brief but thrilling battle scene in detail.

Finally, he slowly shook his head, his voice firm: "Reporting to Miss, your subordinate investigated carefully. That pale yellow flame was overbearing and profound, containing the aura of the earth's origin. It should be the Xuan Huang Flame, ranked twenty-third on the Heavenly Flame List."

"However, his cultivation techniques and Dou Skills bear no resemblance to the core inheritances of any clan known to your subordinate."

"It's not the Ancient Eight Clans…"

Xiao Xuner repeated softly, her fingertips unconsciously tracing light marks on the cold stone railing.

Her autumn-water eyes, at this moment, seemed like a deep pool into which a stone had been cast, stirring up ripples of genuine curiosity and inquiry.

An eight-year-old Dou Zhe, possessing the Xuan Huang Flame, capable of killing a Samsung Dou Shi head-on across ranks… What kind of secret was hidden behind him?

Was it a scheme like her own, to obtain the Ancient Jade of Tuoshe, or was there some other purpose?

This small Wutan City was far from as peaceful as it appeared on the surface.

"Elder Ling, I do not wish for this news to reach my father's ears."

Ling Ying hesitated for a moment, but ultimately nodded: "Understood, Miss."

At the same time, deep within the luxurious but gloom-shrouded mansion of the Jia Lie Family.

A strong smell of medicine mixed with blood permeated Galeo's recovery room.

On the expensive silk bedding, Galeo lay sprawled like a dying maggot.

His face was swollen and twisted, bruised and purplish, blood still oozing from the gap where his front teeth were missing, his right arm in a thick splint, wrapped in bandages, making him look utterly miserable.

Excruciating pain and humiliation gnawed at his nerves day and night like venomous snakes.

"Father! Father! You must avenge me! Avenge me!"

Galeo shrieked hoarsely, his voice like a broken gong, filled with bitter malice, his eyes bloodshot from congestion, staring intently at Jia Lie Bi, who stood by the bed with a pained expression.

"That little bastard! I want him dead! I want to tear him to pieces! And those two hussies! I want them to wish they were dead! Wish they were dead, Father!"

Galeo struggled to sit up, but it pulled at his wounds, causing a heart-wrenching fit of coughs, and fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"Enough!"

Jia Lie Bi let out a sudden low growl, like the roar of a wounded beast, making the room vibrate.

His facial muscles twitched violently, his eyes so sinister they could drip venom.

Looking at his son's half-human, half-ghostly, wretched state, and recalling the news just reported—the family's elite, cultivated with heavy investment, were almost completely lost, and General Manager Jia Liejie, his trusted right-hand man, was killed—the immense humiliation and towering hatred almost consumed him.

"Revenge? Of course, there will be revenge!"

Jia Lie Bi's voice sounded as if it were squeezed from ice water, chilling to the bone, carrying boundless killing intent.

"If this revenge is not exacted, how can my Jia Lie family stand in Wutan City? How can I, Jia Lie Bi, have any face to continue living in this world!"

He gasped, forcibly suppressing the furious rage in his heart, his eyes glinting with a merchant's ruthlessness and calculation: "That little beast… his strength is terrifyingly strange; at eight years old, he can kill a Samsung Dou Shi. Behind him… there might be a significant background."

"Either he is a direct disciple of some reclusive Old freak, or he has had an incredible fortuitous encounter. Whichever it is, it means endless trouble."

He walked to the window, looking at the deepening twilight outside, his fists clenching with a cracking sound:

"But precisely because of this, we must eradicate him. While his wings are not yet fully grown, while the forces behind him may not yet have reacted, we must completely nip him in the bud. Otherwise, given time, once he grows up, my Jia Lie family… will surely face utter destruction!"

"Father, what are we waiting for? Send people now; they are still in Wutan City. Send all the family's experts to surround and kill him."

Galeo was hysterical on the bed, his eyes filled only with mad hatred.

"Idiot!" Jia Lie Bi suddenly turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife, glinting with sinister light.

"I just spent a huge sum of money to acquire that Xuan-tier high-grade cultivation technique, Wind Scroll Technique, through a special channel. This technique is extremely powerful; if I can initially master it, my strength will surely advance another level. But this technique is domineering and requires time to comprehend and integrate."

His gaze swept over his son's resentful face, his voice dropping even lower, "Ao'er, you should rest and recover. Your father needs some time to initially grasp the essence of the Wind Scroll Technique. At the same time, I will contact that old fox, Ouba Pa. The Xiao Family is powerful; our two families must unite to contend with the Xiao Family in Wutan City, and only then will we have the spare capacity… to deal with that little beast!"

"Contact the Oba family?" A hint of unwillingness flashed in Galeo's eyes, but it was immediately drowned by deeper malice, "As long as that little bastard can be killed, and those two hussies can be made to wish they were dead… anything goes!"

"Have someone keep a close eye on their every move."

A sinister smile appeared on Jia Lie Bi's face: "Don't worry, your father will devise a foolproof plan, a trap that will make it impossible for him to escape, leaving him without a burial place. The day your father succeeds will be the day that little beast dies."

Inside the room, only Galeo's heavy, malicious gasps and Jia Lie Bi's low whispers, suppressing insane killing intent, remained.

The poisonous flame of revenge was quietly ignited deep within the twilight-shrouded Jia Lie mansion.