The moment Pi Batian entered Pi Yan’s rooms, he retrieved his scarlet whip and removed a certain book from Pi Yan’s bookshelf, unlocking a secret door behind it. Then, he strode into the secret chamber as though he were a ferocious beast ready to unleash carnage.

Yun Ruoyan was deep in cultivation when Qiuqiu suddenly woke her up, telling her that there was an unfamiliar aura drawing close to her. When Pi Batian entered the chamber, what awaited him was Yun Ruoyan’s bright eyes staring directly at him.

“Someone at last.” Yun Ruoyan stood up without breaking eye contact.

“Oh? Sounds like you’ve been pretty lonely here.” Pi Batian chuckled at Yun Ruoyan, who eyed the whip in his hands in distaste.

“What do you want?”

“What do I want? Haha!” Pi Batian chuckled coldly, glancing at his empty sleeve. Do you see this? Your man, Li Mo, took away my arm, so you’ll have to bear the punishment for his crime.”

“You’re here to torture me?”

“Scared, aren’t you?” Pi Batian cracked his whip experimentally, and the sound echoed through the small chamber.

Yun Ruoyan snorted. “Touch me and you’ll lose your other arm as well.”

The anger that Pi Batian was suppressing was instantly unleashed at these words. He drew his whip and struck at the pillar of light encasing Yun Ruoyan. Although she was trapped from within, the light was only a one-sided barrier, and it didn’t prevent any attacks coming from the outside. The whip passed through the barrier of light, leaving ripples on its surface as it did so.

Yun Ruoyan subconsciously shut her eyes. A spiritual membrane enveloped her body, shielding her from the brunt of the attack. Though the attack landed, it didn’t seem to hurt—as if the force of the attack had been completely wiped out by her spiritual membrane.

Is my cultivation that strong now? Or was Pi Batian just a weakling? 

Yun Ruoyan opened her eyes in surprise, then saw a pair of familiar, twinkling back eyes.

“Yan’er, I’m back,” Li Mo’s magnetic voice began.

“I knew you would come for me.”

“Don’t just stand here and chat! Escape!” Qiuqiu interrupted the romantic moment. 

Li Mo was holding onto the handle of Pi Batian’s whip, and he had dramatically reduced the force with which the attack hit Yun Ruoyan.

“Since you’re both here, you may as well stay.” Pi Batian’s voice echoed throughout the chamber. He was only two steps from the door, and could easily leave, shut the entrance, and trap both Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan within. That was his plan, but the moment he stepped outside, Li Mo followed suit and blocked the path in front of him.

“You as well.” Li Mo held his spirit sword against Pi Batian’s neck.

Just then, sounds of a scuffle came from outside the room. The sounds subsided quickly, and Zhuo Yifeng entered the chamber holding onto a person’s neck.

Zhuo Yifeng and Li Mo glanced at each other, then simultaneously exclaimed, “You’re here too!”

Despite their misunderstandings, both men had the same objective and had experience fighting together.

“Yan’er’s in the chamber, sealed within a pillar of light,” Li Mo explained. “The commotion you caused will surely alert Pi Yan, so we have to rescue Yan’er as quickly as possible.” 

Zhuo Yifeng nodded and took Pi Batian over, leaving Li Mo to return to the chamber. Now that they had found Yun Ruoyan, Master Shade was no longer of any use. Zhuo Yifeng eyed him critically, then shut his eyes. The next moment, his pupils were pitch black.

“No, don’t! I’m still useful, don’t kill me!” Master Shade was so frightened that he was trembling.

“Oh, you 

are 

useful.” Out of Zhuo Yifeng’s mouth came a voice even hoarser and colder than Master Shade’s. “As nourishment for me.”

Zhuo Yifeng opened his mouth and began sucking at Master Shade’s face. Black skeins of corpse energy wafted toward Zhuo Yifeng’s nose. A cold wind began to blow, causing Master Shade’s hood to fall and revealing his face, which no one present had ever seen before. His skin was withered and barklike. His nose was sunken, his brain was sunken, his jaw was sunken, his cheeks—his face was so hollowed out that it didn’t have cheeks.

As Zhuo Yifeng sucked up the black energy, the face seemed to wither even further, until all that was left of Master Shade was a skeleton wrapped up in a black robe.

Pi Batian saw this bone-chilling sight in its entirety. He was an experienced killer, and he had even witnessed scenes crueler and more extreme than this, but only ever as a bystander or perpetrator. Whatever fear had been manufactured had been directed at the victims, and he simply enjoyed their fearful expressions and pained howls.

This time, however, the man who had just sucked Master Shade’s life away was holding onto his neck. When he had completely drained the black essence from Master Shade’s body, Zhuo Yifeng tossed his corpse away as though he were discarding trash.

Then, Zhuo Yifeng turned to stare at Pi Batian with his black, void-like eyes, so inimical to life that Pi Batian felt that, at any moment, skeletal hands would reach out of those eyes and blind him.

“You—who are 

you

? You’re not Zhuo Yifeng!” Pi Batian screamed.

“Heh.” Zhuo Yifeng cackled evilly. “I’m him, but I’m also not him. Whoever I am, it won’t stop me from eating you alive.” He then opened his mouth toward Pi Batian, but just as Pi Batian’s horror doubled, tripled, then increased tenfold, Zhuo Yifeng suddenly shut his mouth, and his pupils turned back to their usual color.

A short struggle warred over his features before he blinked and turned to Master Shade’s corpse on the ground. He felt a vile stink wash over his mouth, suppressed the disgust in his heart, and mumbled seemingly to himself, “This person’s still useful, so you can’t eat him yet.”

Pi Batian relaxed and let out a breath, only to find Zhuo Yifeng’s grip tighten around his neck. His face went from white to blue, to red, and then to purple as Zhuo Yifeng grit out, “But once he’s useless, he’s all yours.”

Back in the chamber, Li Mo infused all his spiritual energy into his fist as he prepared to strike at the mirror’s barrier. “Shield yourself, Yan’er,” he called out.

Yun Ruoyan nodded. A spiritual membrane appeared over her body, and then Li Mo struck. The entire house seemed to tremble, and the pillar of light rippled and turned transparent. Li Mo struck once more, and the quavering pillar finally blinked out of existence.

He grabbed Yun Ruoyan tightly and hugged her, caressing her cheek with a hand. There was a rather faint whip mark on it, evidence of Pi Batian’s aborted blow from earlier.

“Hurry up and leave! There’s a whole slew of people approaching from outside.” Zhuo Yifeng poked his head into the chamber.

Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan walked out of the chamber. The moment Yun Ruoyan stepped out, she made eye contact with Zhuo Yifeng. She tried to speak, but Zhuo Yifeng turned away.

“You groundhogs dare…!” Pi Yan’s voice could be heard from a distance.

Zhuo Yifeng walked out of Pi Yan’s rooms, still holding Pi Batian hostage in front of him, and Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan followed behind him. Pi Yan had gathered dozens of guards by the courtyard, and more were streaming in every second.

“Young Master, why don’t you greet Lord Pi?” Zhuo Yifeng twisted Pi Batian’s neck in the direction of Pi Yan.

“Kill me, Father!” Pi Batian’s face was purple, but he still stubbornly refused to give in.

“Let my son go, and I’ll leave your corpses unmutilated,” Pi Yan shouted.

Li Mo stepped forward and laughed coldly. “Pi Yan, it sounds like you don’t understand your current situation.” He drew his sword, stuck it underneath Pi Batian’s right arm, and sliced it off.

The sudden maiming shocked everyone present. Blood spurted on the ground as Pi Batian clenched his mouth, forcing himself to avoid screaming from the pain.

“Tian’er!” Pi Yan’s enraged shout shook the entire Pi manor.

“Pi Yan, I’ll count to three. Let us go, or I’ll chop Pi Batian up in front of you.” Li Mo placed his sword against Pi Batian’s thigh.

“One.”

“Two.

“Th—”

Pi Yan finally spoke up. “Stop! I’ll let you go, but you can’t hurt Tian’er any further.”

“As long as you let us go, I promise I won’t do anything to Pi Batian,” Li Mo replied. “Otherwise…”

Pi Yan commanded the surrounding guards to clear a path toward the entrance to the Pi manor, both those flying on their swords and those on the ground.

Yun Ruoyan, Li Mo, and Zhuo Yifeng immediately flew to the skies with Pi Batian, racing toward the outskirts of the city...

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