Chapter 531: Scorpion Gang Invasion

Upon hearing this, Ji Yuyan couldn’t help but feel a surge of worry. Ji Yuanheng’s hatred for the Saint Emperor Lineage was understandable. Anyone who learned their father had been controlled for over a hundred years and ultimately died because of it would not let the matter rest. But if the Saint Emperor Lineage could be so easily eradicated, there wouldn’t be the old saying: “The Ji, Jiang, and Zhou form a tripartite alliance, but the Saint Emperor Lineage stands supreme.”

Now, both the Jiang Family and the Zhou Family were in decline, and while the Ji Family still stood firm, the might of the Saint Emperor Lineage had never waned. From Ancient Times to the present day, they had always been this dominant. Their profound heritage and immense power were simply unfathomable!

Ji Yuanheng then spoke again in a low voice, “But rest assured, I won’t be so reckless as to drag the entire Ji Family into a war. I will plan this matter meticulously. The Saint Emperor Lineage… I will make you pay the price you deserve!”

The spirit tablet of Ji Ren, the Patriarch, was now placed in the Ji Family’s ancestral hall. The family chronicles also recorded all of his deeds, including his recent refusal to be controlled by the enemy, culminating in his self-destruction.

After paying respects to her uncle, Ji Yuyan also honored her parents. Their spirit tablets were likewise enshrined in the Ji Family’s ancestral hall, their graves having been reduced to ashes in the battle.

The site of the Ji Family Valley was also declared a forbidden area for the Ji Family. No one was permitted to enter without authorization.

But this restriction did not apply to Ji Yuyan.

She stood silently at the edge of the glacier, gazing down at the deep, dark chasm below. She let the gentle breeze stir her hair for a long while before finally sighing softly. Turning her head to Qin Li beside her, she said, “Perhaps it won’t be long before this deep valley is filled with new weeds and wildflowers.”

Qin Li nodded gently. “Perhaps some Tree Lotus seeds will drift over. If you come back to see it in a few hundred years, the scenery here will probably be beautiful.”

“A few hundred years… Perhaps I will come back to see,” Ji Yuyan said, her tone uncertain. She didn’t even know where she would be a few hundred years from now.

“Let’s go.” Qin Li took Ji Yuyan’s hand. It was a little cold, but very soft and delicate.

Ji Yuyan didn’t resist, allowing Qin Li to lead her away. With every few steps, she glanced back, leaving the Ji Family Valley, leaving the place where she had grown up.

No one from the Ji Family came to see them off. The entire family was immersed in the immense sorrow of losing their Patriarch.

Ji Chang and the other Ji Family elders had all gone into seclusion. The Ji Family was making thorough preparations for the likely-imminent conflict with the Saint Emperor Lineage.

Before Qin Li and Ji Yuyan left, however, Ji Yuanheng told her to be careful. Although the Ice and Snow Sect was in a remote location and was only a Small Sect, that didn’t mean the Saint Emperor wouldn’t direct the flames of his revenge there. After all, no one could guarantee that what had happened with the Ji Family could be kept completely secret from the Saint Emperor.

“Why don’t you leave this place with me?” Qin Li asked Ji Yuyan on their journey.

Ji Yuyan hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “The Ji Family Valley has been destroyed, and with it, my last attachment to the Ji Family is gone. But the Ice and Snow Sect is different. It’s a Sect I founded with my own two hands. For now, I don’t think I can abandon it. Besides, the fact that I am the Sect Leader of the Ice and Snow Sect is a top-level secret within the Ji Family. The Saint Emperor won’t necessarily find me there to get his revenge.”

Although Qin Li was still worried, he didn’t press the issue. After all, he held no special status in her life. ‘If I had to define our relationship,’ he thought, ‘it’s probably… somewhere between a friend and a close female confidante.’

The Saint Emperor’s men never showed up. Instead, the Ice and Snow Sect’s sworn enemy appeared at their gates, leading a large group of people!

Ji Ruyue, Ji Rubing, Watermelon, and numerous other disciples of the Ice and Snow Sect were in a tense standoff with the opposing group.

Leading the opposing side was a middle-aged man with a surprisingly refined appearance; his dress made him look more like a scholar. Behind him stood a group of about twenty young men, most of them around thirty years old. Dressed in uniform martial arts attire, they looked quite formidable.

“Leader Mo, what is the meaning of this? I’ve already told you, my Master really isn’t here. It’s not that she refuses to see you. How many times must I repeat myself before you’ll believe me?” Ji Ruyue’s face was ice-cold, her eyes blazing with fury. She cursed inwardly, ‘This toad is lusting after a swan’s flesh! If my Master were here, she would’ve kicked you out long ago!’

The refined middle-aged man smiled faintly. “I naturally believe your words, Miss Little Yue. However, even if your Master isn’t here, I am an old friend who has come to visit. Shouldn’t you at least welcome me inside for a while? Is this how the Ice and Snow Sect treats its guests? By shutting them out?”

“We would naturally serve good wine and fine food to a guest. However, for an enemy, especially one with malicious intent, we feel nothing but contempt. Leader Mo, I suggest you don’t bring trouble upon yourself. Please leave!”

Ji Rubing’s words were much sharper than Ji Ruyue’s, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

A young man beside the middle-aged leader shouted, “Insolent!”

A male disciple from the Ice and Snow Sect retorted coldly, “What’s so insolent? People should know their place. Your group is completely lawless!”

“Heh heh.” The young man next to the leader first let out a scornful laugh, then said, “Our Great Leader heard the Ice and Snow Sect is full of girls, so he brought us bachelors here to find some wives! Men and women getting married, what’s so lawless about that? But your Ice and Snow Sect… one look and it’s clear the women are in charge. Hahaha! Don’t worry, brothers! Our Great Leader knows your pain, so he brought us here to solve your problem for you! We’ll take all the female disciples of the Ice and Snow Sect off your hands! From now on, you won’t have to be pushed around by women anymore!”

“Bullshit!”

Ji Rubing’s face went pale with rage. She pointed a finger at the young man and spat, “You foul-mouthed animal! There isn’t a single decent person in your entire Scorpion Gang, from top to bottom! You see our Master isn’t here today, so you think you can use force, is that it? Fine! If you want a fight, you’ll get one! Cut the crap! We wouldn’t be disciples of the Ice and Snow Sect if we were afraid of you!”

“Heh heh, little lady, you’re so beautiful. I like you a lot. So, I couldn’t bear to fight you. If you got hurt, I’d be heartbroken!”

The young man’s lecherous words sent the group beside him into uproarious laughter.

“You’re a good dog!” Watermelon, standing beside Ji Ruyue, gave the young man a thumbs-up with a look of mock admiration. “A dog like yourself that can stand on two legs and look so much like a person… truly a first in my experience! But don’t think that just because you can speak human words and wear human clothes, you’re not a dog. No matter what, you’re just a dog that only knows how to bark, not how to bite!”

The young man flew into a rage and was about to retort, but the refined-looking middle-aged man suddenly raised a hand to stop him. He said flatly, “Let’s dispense with the pointless war of words. It’s meaningless. Why have we come at this exact moment? Precisely because your Master is not here. Do you see this group of fine young men behind me? Every single one is a pillar of my Scorpion Gang! Today, I am finding them wives! Whichever one of you they fancy, you will come with us. There are no ‘whys,’ and don’t even think about resisting. In the entire Ice and Snow Sect, only your Master is worth a damn. With your pathetic level of strength, resistance is suicide!”

Ji Ruyue and Ji Rubing shouted in unison, “We’d rather die than go with you!”

“Is that so?” The refined-looking man gave a faint, mocking smile. Suddenly, he unleashed a terrifying pressure from his body. Every disciple of the Ice and Snow Sect felt as if a great mountain had slammed down on top of them, crushing them to the point of suffocation.

“He Wu, take the others and go pick them out,” the middle-aged man said, standing there calmly as if discussing a trivial matter. He had used his pressure to completely immobilize them.

As he watched that young man, He Wu, walk straight toward Ji Ruyue, Watermelon’s eyes burned with fury. But the overwhelming pressure crushed him, making his bones creak. He was completely unable to move, forced to watch helplessly as the man drew closer and closer to Ji Ruyue.

Just then, one of the male disciples of the Ice and Snow Sect suddenly roared, “I’d die before I let you have your way!”

With that, he actually broke through Leader Mo’s incomparably powerful pressure and threw a vicious punch at the young man approaching Ji Ruyue!

The distance was so short that neither Leader Mo nor the young man, He Wu, ever expected someone to be able to break through the pressure of a Thunder Tribulation Realm expert.

And so, the male disciple’s punch slammed violently into the young man’s chest. He was sent flying on the spot, landing with a heavy THUD on the hard ice. A large section of his chest had caved in, and he was constantly coughing up bloody foam. It was obvious he wasn’t going to make it.

“He Wu!”

The middle-aged Leader Mo let out a grief-stricken, furious roar. He instantly released his pressure on the Ice and Snow Sect members and rushed to the young man’s side.

He Wu’s eyes were rolling back in his head and his body convulsed. Leader Mo frantically pulled out an Elixir, stuffed it into He Wu’s mouth, and then began transferring his own Power into him.

He Wu’s eyelids fluttered open. He spoke in ragged gasps, “Great… Leader… I’m… I’m done for. Such a… regret… that I couldn’t… couldn’t snatch a… a wife… to take back… When the time comes, Great Leader… you have to burn a paper… beauty for me…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the young man named He Wu’s head lolled to the side, and he died.

Leader Mo gently laid He Wu on the ground. He reached out, closed the young man’s eyes, and muttered, “He Wu, I won’t be burning a paper effigy for you. I’m going to burn you… a real one!”

With that, Leader Mo rose to his feet. His once-calm eyes now glinted with a vicious light. He stared coldly at the male disciple from the Ice and Snow Sect who had just killed He Wu with a single punch and said slowly, “Today, I will bathe the Ice and Snow Sect in blood! Starting with you!”