468: Chapter 468 The Girls' Feelings

Tears filled Ye Qingtian's eyes as he recalled the bullying the Peng Family had inflicted upon the Ye Family over the past half-year. He remembered the humiliation of being a dignified family head placed under house arrest, and the tragic state of his clansmen who were injured and whose businesses were seized. Hatred surged in his heart.

He gathered all his strength and struck a palm heavily against Peng Xiaofei's back.

"Pfft!"

Peng Xiaofei spewed blood violently, collapsed to the ground, twitched twice, and then went still.

Ye Qingtian looked at Peng Xiaofei's corpse, his chest heaving violently. After a long while, he slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

With his great vengeance avenged, he felt as if the massive boulder that had been pressing on his heart for half a year had finally been lifted.

In the great hall, the surviving members of the Peng Family, including the Great Elder Peng Hai, who had not dared to make a move the entire time, were ashen-faced.

Seeing that both their family head and Young Lord were dead, their last shred of resistance vanished.

"Spare us!"

"We surrender!"

"It was all forced by Peng Wanli!"

The remaining people, whether injured or not, all knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately.

Ye Tian ignored these small fries and said to Ye Qingtian, "Family Head, you and Uncle Chen can handle these people and the Peng Family's businesses outside. You decide how to deal with them."

Ye Qingtian took a deep breath, steadied his emotions, and nodded heavily at Ye Tian. "Tian'er, don't worry. We know what to do."

He looked at Chen Xuan, who also nodded, casting a complicated look at Ye Tian.

He never expected that the young lad from back then would now possess strength so great that they could only look up to him.

At the same time, he was glad he hadn't chosen the wrong side back then; otherwise, the Chen Family might have met the same fate as the former Lin Family and this Peng Family.

The subsequent matters were simple.

Although Ye Qingtian and Chen Xuan were injured, dealing with the remnants of the Peng Family, who had lost their backbone, was effortless.

The few die-hards who resisted were killed on the spot.

The rest had their Cultivation crippled and were banished from Luo City.

The vast businesses and wealth the Peng Family had accumulated over half a year were quickly taken over by the Ye and Chen families.

With Ye Tian, this god of slaughter, presiding over the situation, no one dared to utter a word of dissent.

The news spread through Luo City like the wind.

People from the City Lord's Mansion soon arrived. The one who came was a deputy commander, whose attitude was incredibly respectful.

He addressed Ye Qingtian and Chen Xuan repeatedly as "Family Head Ye" and "Family Head Chen," and even claimed the City Lord was feeling unwell and would come personally to apologize later, his words filled with overtures of goodwill and attempts to distance himself from the Peng Family.

Ye Tian merely said indifferently to the deputy commander, "In the future, when you encounter matters, you may consult with the Ye and Chen families before making a decision."

The deputy commander broke out in a cold sweat, repeatedly promising, "Certainly! Certainly! Rest assured, Young Hero Ye!"

In just over half a day, the sky over Luo City had changed.

The tyrannical Peng Family had vanished into smoke, and the Ye and Chen families had not only recovered the businesses that had been seized but also annexed the majority of the Peng Family's assets, causing their strength to soar.

Because of Ye Tian, the Ye Family held such sway that even the City Lord's Mansion dared not voice the slightest objection.

Everyone knew that the youth who had destroyed Black Cloud Stronghold and the Lin Family had returned, and his strength had become unfathomable—even Peng Wanli had been killed by him with a casual wave of his hand.

At dusk, Ye Tian found a secret chamber in the Peng Family estate.

Inside were quite a few gold, silver, and Cultivate resources; it was likely Peng Wanli's private vault.

But what caught Ye Tian's attention was an iron box in the corner.

The box was unlocked, and after opening it, he found two items inside.

One was a black bone tablet the size of a palm, engraved with a pattern that looked like both a door and a vortex.

What shocked Ye Tian the most was that the aura emanating from the bone tablet was similar to that on Yin Wujiang.

He could not mistake this chilling Death Qi that made one feel so uncomfortable.

This should be the token Peng Wanli mentioned for contacting the outer forces of the Nether Abyss.

The other item was an old map made from some unknown animal skin.

The map was very incomplete, showing only a small area, with dark red lines outlining the paths of some mountains and rivers.

In one corner of the map, an altar pattern was drawn, with two small characters written beside it: Northern Wasteland.

Northern Wasteland! It was the Northern Wasteland again!

It matched the clues given by Han Xiao, as well as the previous appearance of the envoy from the Nether Abyss!

This Nether Abyss really did have plans in the Northern Wasteland! And this ancient altar was very likely the key!

Ye Tian picked up the black bone tablet and the animal skin map, examined them carefully, and then put them into his storage ring.

He frowned slightly. What exactly was the Nether Abyss looking for?

And what was hidden in the Ye Family's ancestral grounds?

Did all of this have any connection to the chaos bead on him?

It seemed that a trip to the Northern Wasteland was imperative.

And it had to be soon.

He walked out of the secret chamber and saw Ye Qingtian and Chen Xuan directing people to count the assets and arrange the aftermath, busy as could be, yet everyone's face wore a smile of vindication.

...

Early the next morning, on the stone steps of the Ye Family's backyard, his mother, Liu Qinglan, personally packed some dry rations and clothing and thrust them into Ye Tian's hands, muttering things like "take an extra set of clothes" and "be careful on the road."

"Mother, I really don't need these things," Ye Tian said with a helpless smile. "Once a Cultivator reaches my Realm, they are already immune to cold and heat, and I won't get hungry."

"You do need them!" Liu Qinglan stubbornly shoved the bundle into his arms. "These were all made by Mother's own hands; they aren't like those Medicinal Pills. When you are outside, eating the taste of home will put your heart at ease."

Ye Tian looked at his mother's slightly reddened eyes, feeling a pang of sorrow in his heart. He did not decline again and silently put the bundle into his storage ring.

"Auntie, rest assured, I will take good care of Junior Brother Ye," Shui Qingdie stood to the side and said obediently.

Liu Qinglan took Shui Qingdie's hand and looked her up and down, becoming more satisfied the more she looked. "Good girl, with you accompanying Tian'er, I can rest easy. This child has been stubborn since he was young; he carries everything on his own shoulders. Please keep an eye on him for me."

Shui Qingdie's cheeks flushed slightly. She stole a glance at Ye Tian and said in a low voice, "Auntie, rest assured, I will definitely..."

Before she could finish, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.

Two graceful figures crossed the threshold almost simultaneously.

The one on the left was dressed in fiery red martial attire, her figure lithe and agile, though there was a hint of weakness in her brows and eyes from her recent recovery. It was none other than Ye Ruyi.

The one on the right wore an ice-blue long dress, as beautiful as snow, with a long sword hanging at her waist. It was Chen Xue, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

Their gazes landed on Ye Tian almost simultaneously, then shifted away at the same time. When they swept past Shui Qingdie beside him, a hint of complex emotion flashed in the depths of their eyes.

The air was quiet for a moment.

"Sister Ruyi, Chen Xue, you're here," Ye Tian broke the silence first.

Ye Ruyi stepped forward and took out an exquisite peace knot from her sleeve. The weaving technique was slightly clumsy, and the silk threads were crooked in several places; it was clearly the work of someone unskilled.

She handed the peace knot to Ye Tian, pretending to be haughty as she said, "I wove this overnight. I used silk threads soaked in Mind-Calming Herb. Wearing it can soothe the spirit and ward off evil spirits... It's nothing valuable; if you don't like it, just throw it away."

Ye Tian took the peace knot. It felt warm in his hand, and he could smell a faint, herbal fragrance.

He lowered his head to look at the crooked stitches, understood in his heart, and solemnly hung it at his waist, nodding. "Thank you, I will wear it with me."

Seeing this action, Ye Ruyi's cheeks flushed slightly; she quickly turned her head away and stepped back half a pace.

Seeing this, Chen Xue bit her lip, stepped forward, and thrust a coarse cloth bundle into Ye Tian's hands, saying softly, "Ye... Ye Tian, this is the Red Flame Brew that my father has treasured for twenty years. The nights in the Northern Wasteland are cold; drink a little to warm yourself up."

Ye Tian weighed the wine jar in his hand, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "Please thank Uncle Chen for me."

"When you are outside, you must be careful."

After Chen Xue finished saying this, her eyes reddened uncontrollably.

The atmosphere became somewhat stiff for a moment.

Liu Qinglan watched this scene before her, sighed softly, and said nothing.

Shui Qingdie stood to the side, quietly watching the expressions of Ye Ruyi and Chen Xue, and a feeling that was hard to describe welled up in her heart.

She did not speak but silently moved half a step closer to Ye Tian.

Just at this moment, a lazy female voice suddenly rang out in everyone's ears: