Ye Wen Ni looked up, her face tear-streaked, yet she gave Ling Xiao a radiant smile. "From now on, I only have you!"

A dull ache throbbed in Ling Xiao’s heart. ’She said that... which means Ye Zi has no family left.’ He understood the feeling of having no family... all too well.

He reached out, placing a hand on Ye Zi’s waist and pulling her close. Ye Zi’s face flushed crimson. She could even feel Ling Xiao’s heartbeat.

"Tell me about it."

Ling Xiao spoke softly, his eyes glancing at the clown circling in the sky. Its recent landing had startled quite a few people in the base, and many were now aiming powerful crossbows at it, their faces guarded.

But the clown had already sensed their intentions. It let out a clear cry as it soared high into the air, beating its wings and flying away until it became a black dot, gradually disappearing from view.

There was no one else for a hundred meters around Ling Xiao and the other three. Uncle Fu and Li Tianluo were chatting idly some distance away.

Ling Xiao and Ye Wen Ni sat on a stone block that was over two meters long and half a meter wide, likely something used for training.

Ye Wen Ni wiped her eyes and said in a low voice, "I’m an orphan. When I was little, a man adopted me, along with many other children of all ages. I wasn’t one of the first to be adopted; there were more than twenty others before me, all of them older. After me, or around my age, there were several hundred more! Both boys and girls. When I was young, I felt very happy because I had so many companions to play with, and we were all carefree. The man would often disappear for ten days or half a month at a time, and he would always get drunk and beat and curse us, but... we were still happy!"

A genuine smile lit up Ye Wen Ni’s face as she spoke of the other children, but it quickly faded. "But all of that changed the year I turned five. That man... the father I had always respected and revered... I saw him with my own eyes. He got drunk and forced himself on Sister Xiangcao, who was seventeen at the time. Sister Xiangcao cried out and struggled desperately, and then he threatened her. He said, ’If you resist again, I’ll kill every single child here!’"

A mocking expression appeared on Ye Wen Ni’s face. "Sister Xiangcao had always acted as a mother to all of us children. She loved us dearly, so... she gave in. At the time, I didn’t understand what they... what they were doing, but I knew it wasn’t anything good. Afterward, Sister Xiangcao told me I had to find a way to get away from that man. She told me he had taken me from my real home, and that everyone there, including herself, was the same! But that man... he said we were all abandoned children that he had kindly rescued. Heh. The next day, Sister Xiangcao talked to me for the entire day. She said that when I arrived, I didn’t look like a child from an ordinary family; I was fair and pretty. Even the swaddling clothes I was wrapped in... were made of an exquisite, high-quality fabric she had never seen before! She also told me to never, ever follow that man’s arrangements. She said that once you entered the Noble Academy, you... would never be free again in your life. You might even suffer the same fate as her."

Tears streamed down Ye Wen Ni’s face again. "On the third day, Sister Xiangcao disappeared. She never came back. Later, I heard someone say they saw my ’honorable adoptive father’ carrying someone on his back in the middle of the night. It was him! He killed her because Sister Xiangcao exposed his conspiracy! That’s why he killed her!"

As Ling Xiao listened, his eyes grew increasingly calm, but his heart was churning like boiling water. ’To think... there are people in this world worse than animals!’

"That man... is... he... here?" Ling Xiao asked, looking at Ye Wen Ni and enunciating every word.

Ye Wen Ni nodded. A sudden emptiness bloomed in her heart, as if she had been living in an illusion all these years. Now that the illusion was about to be shattered, she felt completely lost and uncertain.

Then she said, "But... Ling Xiao, can we please not cause any trouble here? This is the Southern King’s territory!"

A smile touched Ling Xiao’s lips as he said softly, "A moment ago, the Southern King gifted me four magic crystal cannons and five hundred Tier Two Magic Crystals."

"Ah? Really?!"

An excited smile instantly bloomed on Ye Wen Ni’s face. "That’s wonderful! We can finally have a stronger defense force! Hmph, if anyone comes looking for trouble again, we’ll just blast them to bits with one shot!"

Ling Xiao chuckled, reaching out to gently stroke Ye Wen Ni’s smooth, flawless cheek. Then he said, "Now, I don’t want them anymore."

"Wh—" Ye Wen Ni’s head snapped up, her expression resolute. "Don’t... Ling Xiao, don’t do this. That man... he’s not worth us paying such a price! I believe he’ll get his retribution one day!"

"No."

Ling Xiao chuckled and shook his head. "Ye Zi, you don’t understand. This is a world without faith, so there is no karma, and there will be no retribution. Here, I don’t believe in retribution. I only believe... in strength! I have the power to kill him now, so why should I let a man like that live? Let him continue to threaten you? Even if he can’t threaten you, can’t he threaten others? Those children... I’m taking them."

Ling Xiao’s tone was placid, but a boundless, chilling killing intent radiated from his every word.

Without waiting for Ye Wen Ni to reply, Ling Xiao waved Li Tianluo over. Not knowing what else to say to Uncle Fu, Li Tianluo hurried over and asked, "Brother Ling, is there something I can help you with?"

"It’s like this," Ling Xiao said. "There’s a man here who abducted Ye Zi from her parents when she was a child. He has committed countless evil acts and is a great scourge. I’m going to find him now and kill him."

Li Tianluo froze, the smile on his face stiffening. After a long moment, he said awkwardly, "Brother Ling, if this were any other matter... I could easily agree. But for something like this... sigh. Tianluo can only make a decision after consulting my father. Brother Ling, can you wait a moment?"

Ling Xiao nodded. "Then we’ll do as you say. I imagine the Southern King himself is unaware you have this kind of person in your midst."

Li Tianluo gave a bitter smile. ’Looks like this won’t be settled today unless I can give Ling Xiao a proper explanation,’ he thought. ’And the situation is definitely not as simple as he described. But... even if it is, it’s still an outrageous crime! Tearing flesh and blood apart... a man like that deserves to die!’

At the same time, Ling Xiao’s immense Spiritual Power extended outward from his body. As it passed Uncle Fu, the old man trembled slightly. His expression quickly returned to neutral, but his gaze toward Ling Xiao was filled with horror. ’I can’t believe his Spiritual Power is so vast he can project it externally!’ When that seemingly peaceful yet destructive pressure had swept over him, it had made Uncle Fu feel a sense of utter despair. It was almost the exact same feeling he’d had when facing that expert from the Sword Sect!

’No wonder the Young Master... repelled an expert of the Sword Sect’s level with a single strike! So, to some degree, he’s already reached the cultivation of a Sword Sect master! He can actually use Spiritual Power!’

Uncle Fu understood that Ling Xiao’s actual combat strength was not at the Sword Sect level, but he also believed that Ling Xiao’s control over Spiritual Power was certainly no weaker than a Sword Sect master’s!

Ling Xiao’s Spiritual Power extended out fifty meters before he felt a faint mental fatigue. Sure enough, his power wouldn’t go any further. An image appeared in his mind! Inside a barracks some forty-odd meters away, a person’s Spiritual Power was fluctuating erratically, and their aura was relatively strong!

"That’s him."

Ling Xiao glanced at Uncle Fu, who understood tacitly and followed him. Ye Zi didn’t leave his side either.

Ling Xiao walked up to that barracks and said calmly, "Since you know I’ve found you, stop hiding. Come out."

"WHOOSH!"

A figure leaped out of the window. It was the middle-aged man. He stared at Ye Wen Ni with a venomous expression, then sneered, "Good. Very good. Excellent! Hahaha, to think that I, Xu Daoxuan, have been merciful my entire life, only to raise an ungrateful little wolf like you! Ye Wen Ni, I won’t even fight back. Go ahead, kill me! Let me watch with my own two eyes... as you murder your adoptive father!" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Ye Wen Ni’s perfectly even teeth bit down hard on her lower lip, drawing a trickle of blood. Flames of rage blazed in her beautiful eyes. She was desperately trying to control her anger.

"Then tell me, how did Sister Xiangcao die all those years ago? And me... what’s my real story? Answer those two things, and I promise I’ll have him let you go!"

"Xiangcao is dead? Haha, you ignorant little girl, who told you she’s dead? She’s living perfectly well in the mansion of a great noble in the Imperial Capital! Her life... is no worse than yours! Your origin? Girl... are you confused? You were abandoned! If I knew where you came from, why would I have taken you in? Wouldn’t I have sent you back to your parents long ago? How could I, Xu Daoxuan, do such a monstrous thing!"

Xu Daoxuan put on a wronged and innocent expression, his face full of grief as he said, "So, you want to kill me over this..."

"You’re not going to talk?"

Ling Xiao watched Xu Daoxuan with an amused expression. "I’ll give you one chance," he said. "If you don’t talk, I’ll kill you."

"I... What do you want me to say? Don’t forget! This is the Second Prince’s territory! Even if you are the Lord of Penzes City, you can’t forget where you are..." Xu Daoxuan stretched out a hand, turning to gesture in a wide circle.

"This is all the Southern King’s domain!" He then shot Ling Xiao an arrogant glance before turning a pained expression to Ye Wen Ni and waving a hand feebly. "If you refuse to acknowledge me as your adoptive father, then just leave. Just pretend... I never... AARGH!"

Xu Daoxuan’s face suddenly twisted into a savage mask, his body trembling violently, and his eyes bulged from their sockets!

In a shocking, broken voice, he stammered, "I killed Xiangcao... that bitch..."