Xu Ke walked to Wang Wu's side. "Uncle Wu, let's go back."

"Alright. How is your body?" Wang Wu asked.

"I'm fine. I didn't exert much effort," Xu Ke said with a smile.

Wang Wu nodded. "Good! Then I can rest assured."

At that moment, Yuan Shang came over, pinching his nose. "You're ruthless."

Uncle Qiu's meridians were all severed, Ye Fan's Dantian was shattered, and his body was gushing blood…

"It was fine," Xu Ke shrugged.

"Come by the Martial Alliance later," Yuan Shang whispered, moving closer. "This incident needs to be recorded, so remember to invent a good cause of death for them."

"Alright."

Xu Ke understood, then a thought occurred to him. "Has Wong Ting said anything?"

Now that Sun Luo had been captured, it was impossible for Wong Ting not to react.

Yuan Shang's expression froze. "He has."

"What?"

"Since it involves an Innate Martial Artist, he has requested that the Long Capital Grand Alliance intervene."

Hearing this, Xu Ke's eyes narrowed slightly.

The Long Capital Grand Alliance? Wasn't that Wong Ting's main backer? This guy is already planning to use his own power to protect his man!

"This won't be easy to handle," Yuan Shang said, stroking his chin, his expression heavy. "It seems your decision to pursue Ye Fan was the right one."

If Ye Fan had been captured in Tianhai, his life might have been spared.

Xu Ke smiled. "Indeed."

"Let's head back first." Yuan Shang patted Xu Ke's shoulder, then lowered his voice. "Heal your injuries quickly. Don't forget you still need to go to the provincial capital."

"The old man almost pissed himself when he heard you were seriously injured."

Xu Ke chuckled. "Is that any way to talk about the Alliance Hierarch?"

"Just a habit, hahaha." Yuan Shang laughed heartily and waved goodbye to Xu Ke.

***

"Ye Fan is dead, and Xiao Deng has been captured," a middle-aged man reported cautiously, standing before Wang Tianlu.

News from the harbor had traveled back with incredible speed.

Wang Tianlu's hair was still impeccably styled, but his face was as black as thunder. "What... did you say?"

"Ye Fan is dead…" the middle-aged man repeated, his voice trembling.

"Damn it!" Wang Tianlu roared.

The middle-aged man's face went white as a sheet. Trembling, he immediately fell silent.

Holding a cigar, Wang Tianlu was livid. "How could he possibly fail? Did Deng Mingjie grow up eating shit?"

"Did he rat me out?"

The middle-aged man answered quickly, "No. The people at the scene said Xu Ke questioned him, but Xiao Deng didn't say a thing."

"That's good. That's good." Wang Tianlu ground his teeth. "If he had screwed this up and still dared to rat me out, I'd guarantee his family would be in Hell today."

The only reason Deng Mingjie hadn't betrayed Wang Tianlu was because he was being blackmailed. The reward Ye Yunfeng had offered for getting rid of Ye Fan was very tempting. To ensure things went smoothly, Wang Tianlu naturally had to offer Deng Mingjie a large enough cut to sway him. Of course, beyond the lure of profit, Wang Tianlu had taken out an insurance policy for himself: he had kidnapped Deng Mingjie's family.

"Has there been any word from Ye Yunfeng?" Wang Tianlu asked the middle-aged man.

"Not yet. He probably just received the news and hasn't yet recovered from the grief of losing his son," the middle-aged man replied, shaking his head.

Wang Tianlu's eyes flickered. "Fine. Go clean up all our loose ends now. Don't leave a single trace."

"Yes!"

The middle-aged man nodded and departed, leaving Wang Tianlu alone in his seat, lost in thought.

***

「The Li Family.」

"Dad, Uncle Qiu and Ye Fan are both dead!" Li Lang exclaimed, rushing into the office with an excited expression.

Hearing the news, Li Shichuan shot to his feet in delight. "Really?"

"Absolutely certain," Li Lang nodded eagerly.

"Good, good, good!" Li Shichuan laughed, a triumphant look in his eyes. "This Xu Ke certainly didn't disappoint us."

They were, of course, the ones who had told Xu Ke how Ye Fan was planning to escape. Otherwise, Xu Ke couldn't have reacted so quickly. They had chosen to help Xu Ke because he told them that by killing Uncle Qiu and Ye Fan, all of the Ye Family's attention would be drawn to him. This meant Ye Yunfeng wouldn't have time to hunt for the mole inside his family, which would buy the Li Family more time to grow stronger.

Li Shichuan had agreed without hesitation.

We've already worked with Xu Ke once, what's the difference in working with him twice? Why not?

***

「Golden K Bar.」

CRASH! SMASH!

The sound of shattering glass bottles echoed from the private room, startling several members of the Ye Family standing guard outside.

"Young Master Chong is taking this hard."

"Yeah... Young Master Fan had just gotten into trouble, and now he's really dead..."

"First his eldest brother, then his fourth brother, both killed by Xu Ke. Now Young Master Chong only has his third brother left."

"Hush! Ye Feng is just an adopted son. How can he compare?"

"Sigh... Just let Young Master Chong drink. It's not like we're open for business yet."

Inside the private room, Ye Chong casually grabbed a bottle from the shelf and hurled it to the floor. Another bottle shattered into pieces.

"Hahaha…" Ye Chong watched the bottles break, one after another, an extremely satisfied expression on his face. "Tsk, tsk... Xu Ke, you've been a great help indeed!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door. KNOCK, KNOCK.

Ye Chong's expression shifted, and he quickly composed himself. "Who is it?"

"Second Brother, it's me," a voice came from outside.

Ye Chong's eyes narrowed slightly. "Come in."

CLICK.

The door opened. A bald man about 1.8 meters tall and wearing a dress shirt walked in. It was Ye Feng.

Seeing the broken bottles on the floor, Ye Feng sighed. "Second Brother, Dad asked me to tell you not to drink too much."

A flash of disdain crossed Ye Chong's eyes, but he put on a grieving expression. "I know. I haven't had too much."

Ye Feng stepped forward and picked up a bottle. "Come, Third Brother will have a drink with you. After this, we must avenge Fourth Brother and Eldest Brother."

"Your strength has improved by leaps and bounds recently. I'm sure it won't be long before you're stronger than Xu Ke and can kill him yourself."

The moment Ye Feng turned away, Ye Chong's eyes filled with contempt.

An adopted son has the gall to call Ye Dexian 'Grandpa Jiu'? The nerve to call Ye Yunfeng 'Dad'? And he dares talk to me about revenge?

***

「The Ye Family.」

The curtains were drawn tight, but the atmosphere in the Ye residence was still incredibly oppressive.

"Master, my condolences." A man stood before Ye Yunfeng's desk, his eyes downcast and his expression heavy.

Ye Yunfeng was expressionless, staring blankly at the wall. On a cabinet was a photograph of him with the four Ye brothers. The way the light fell happened to obscure Ye Fan's face.

"How did he die?" Ye Yunfeng finally spoke after a long, oppressive silence.

"His... his Dantian was shattered, his arm was pierced, and he had a stab wound to the heart," the middle-aged man hesitated. "The stab to the heart was fatal, but... according to the forensic analysis, it appears that Young Master Fan committed suicide."

"Suicide?" Ye Yunfeng's pupils constricted.

He took a deep breath, killing intent surging in his eyes. "Investigate. I want to know exactly who this Xu Ke is. I want his entire life story, from birth until now."

"Every single detail. I want everything."

"Yes, sir!" The middle-aged man nodded at once and exited the room.

Only then did Ye Yunfeng slowly turn his gaze back to the photograph, where it remained fixed.

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