“Go and bring your sister to the Punishment Department hall, I’ll give you an answer. And hopefully, you too, will give me an answer.”

What Ye Tianlong had said, crashed the long-established impression in others’ mind. Because the leader of the Ye Family was known for his inflexibility. In fact, everyone in the Mars Prefecture was aware of this

Ye Tianlong’s son, Ye Dao, was a genius. However, if he was born into any other prominent family, he would’ve been treated much better. If it wasn’t for his obstinate father, Ye Dao wouldn’t have behaved so disobediently. Eventually, when Ye Dao had brought Qingguan, Qinghan’s mother, home from a brothel, he had kneeled down in front of his father’s bedroom for as long as three days. However, the stubborn Ye Tianlong had neither admitted nor rejected his daughter-in-law.

Today, Ye Dao’s son had committed such crimes, and he had even insulted his grandfather. If this was the old Ye Tianlong, then he would’ve slapped Qinghan in his face. Nevertheless, instead of being mad at Qinghan, Ye Tianlong behaved rather good-tempered, and even wished to give Qinghan a proper answer.

“An answer?” Qinghan nodded his head, as he melancholy looked at his sister, “I think she’s already dead. So, I don’t need any answers.. If you could help me kill a man, however, I will give a satisfying answer.”

“Say it!” Looking at the heartbroken Qinghan, Ye Tianlong urged him.

“Help me kill the young leader of the Xue Family – Xue Wuhen! Also, please fulfill my mother’s wish, which is to be buried together with my father in the ancestral tomb.”

After pondering for a little while, Ye Tianlong replied, “I can only say yes to the latter request. As for the former, I need to know the reason and the process of the whole event.”

The straightforward reply of Ye Tianlong surprised Qinghan, especially when he learned that his mother’s last wish would be realized. As per his grandfather’s request, he explained the whole story, “I bet you’re already aware about my sister, she has a Jade Spirit Body. Wuhen, who boasts a pair of duel-pupil eyes, identified my sister’s holy body the first time he met her. Therefore, he coordinated with Qingkuang and Ye Ron, and planned to kidnap my sister to marry him. That was why my sister committed suicide by slamming her head against a wall. What happened next is self-evident. I killed Ye Qingxian and Ye Bao, before I ruined Ye Qingkuang’s cultivation. Originally, I held Qingkuang as a hostage, in order to lure you guys out. However, Ye Jian sneak attacked me. My poor sister, she sacrificed her own soul to save me.. With the mysterious power that I received from my sister, I suddenly became as powerful as those in the Realm of the Emperor. So, I killed Ye Ron. Later, you and the other two great elders arrived. That’s it!”

Strangely, no matter what Qinghan said, Ye Tianlong always kept a poker face, as only the brows above his eyes would sometimes move. Actually, after Qinghan’s long narration, Ye Tianlong didn’t reply to Qinghan. Instead, he turned to Tianqing, “ Tianqing, is what he said true? So..”

“Bullshit! How is it possible for Qingkuang and Ye Ron to help an outsider in order to kidnap a family member? Father, as far as I know, Qinghan has already been on bad terms with Qingkuang and Ye Ron for quite some time, so I guess he’s just trying to trick you.” Not even did Ye Tianlong finish his words, or Ye Jian had hastily interrupted him.

[note: The raws say Ye Tianqing interrupted Ye Tianlong, but when I read this paragraph and the next 2 I can’t help but feel he meant Ye Jian instead. So I changed it :)]

“Shut up! Or I’ll seal your mouth shut!”

Ye Tianlong’s expressionless face finally took on a furious look. The reason for his outrage was that, during his absence, the management of this family had become a complete mess. Taking a deep breath to calm down, Ye Tianlong glanced at Ye Jian shortly, before he turned his eyes back on Tianqing.

“Your Highness, I’ve arrived here just after Qingkuang’s cultivation was ruined. So, I can only confirm the latter part of his story. As for the former part, the kidnapping stuff, I really don’t have any clue about it. Oh, Qingkuang was taken away by Elder Ye Quan for healing; I think he’s probably ok now.” Tianqing replied honestly. After that, he stole a weird look at Qinghan, before he continued, “Your Highness, I have another thing to report to you. It’s closely related to the rise and fall of our family.”

“Ye Quan, go and bring Qingkuang here.” Ye Tianlong waved his hands to one of the kneeled-down elders in front of him. Realizing the severity of the thing Tianqing was about to report, he curiously said, “Tianqing, just say it.”

“What sort of thing would be the determinant to the rise and fall of our family?” Both Ye Baihu and Ye Qingniu were attracted by this newly-raised question. Both of them were now closely listening.

“Your Highness, I request to exempt Qinghan of all his wrong-doings.”

What Tianqing said stirred a storm in a teacup. Given the fact that Qinghan had killed three family members and injured another one, especially when one of those killed was an elder in the Realm of the Emperor, how could Qinghan be exempted from such a felony. Even if those who had died, had committed crimes, they still didn’t deserve to be killed.

“Give me a reason!” Although Ye Tianlong had already started to put the pieces together, he was still greatly interested in hearing it from Tianqing.

Glancing at Qinghan, who was a little bit moved by his exemption suggestion, Tianqing replied with a tone of excitement, “Your Highness, There must be a super powerful battle beast in Qinghan’s body, which is at least an eighth-grade one, maybe a holy-grade one, or.. even higher!

“What?!”

“Oh, My God!”

“..”

The elders could hardly believe it, was this lion-nosed dog could actually really a high-ranked battle beast?! Qinghan remained motionless, as he was receiving glances from all directions. The mouths of the elders were agape, much like a group of soldiers that had run into a nude beauty during a boring march.

“Moreover, to my knowledge, Qinghan has already acquired a super powerful integration technique, which can kill anyone who’s in the same realm within a second. He actually killed Ye Ron with this technique.” Tianqing added.

Subsequently, the crowd turned silent, as everyone was trying to guess the possible rank of Qinghan’s battle beast.

“A holy-grade battle beast! No, judging by the integration technique, it could be even higher!” Like a bolt from the blue, everyone was dumbfounded by this fact.

“Is.. is this true?” Despite the calmness Ye Tianlong managed to show, the shivering of his hands betrayed him.

Qinghan lowered his head and looked at Qingyu, while he meditated for quite a while, before he replied to his grandfather, “It’s none of your business whether it’s true or not. Since my sister has sacrificed her soul, I’ve already made my decision to leave this family. Even if I die, I refuse to be a ghost of the Ye Family.. I don’t regret a bit of my decision.“

“Er!”

To their great astonishment, Qinghan had actually refused to be a member of the family, which made the atmosphere turn quite awkward. Some of the elders even choked back the words in their mouths. After several minutes, Ye Tianlong sighed and turned to Qinghan, “You refuse to be part of this family, that’s ok. And I don’t even blame you for not calling me grandfather.. But, I wish to make sure whether it’s true that you have a powerful battle beast?”

Hearing Ye Tianlong’s voice, which rendered a hidden tone of compunction, Qinghan raised his head and stared directly into his grandfather’s eyes, “Kind of.”

- Ooooo! -

The confirmation from Qinghan reignited the excitement of the elders. Throughout the history of the Ye Family, how many holy-grade battle beasts did they have? Only one! It had been summoned by their ancestor Ruoshui. The holy beast had brought the family hundreds’ years of glory and prosperity. The thriving development of the Ye Family, in a large part, had depended on this holy-grade battle beast! If Qinghan had one, together with his earth-shaking integration technique, what would it bring to the family?

“Shit! You’re all a bunch of rubbish!”

While the elders were pondering on these words, Qingniu pointed his finger towards them, while his eyes looked even more bulging than before.

“You guys are in charge of the School of Battle Beasts.. Are all of you such useless shit-eaters? Why wasn’t this reported to us earlier? Now, the situation has already escalated to such an extent.. How do you suppose we handle this situation now, huh?!”

After he had vented his anger towards the elders, Qingniu refrained from his rage. Instead, he managed an awkward smile and turned to Qinghan, “Hey, young man, I will help you to kill Wuhen. If you’re willing to follow me, I guarantee that you will earn a respected status within the territory of the Mars Prefecture. What do you think of my proposal? Oh, let us know more about your beast, I would like to hear more than your previous “kind of”, I need some specific answers from you.”

Looking at the smiling Qingniu, as well as the anxious Qingwu beside him, Qinghan hesitated for a little bit, before he replied indifferently, “It’s a soul-eating battle beast. And the integration technique is called Soul Blackout, which enables me to kill a cultivator in the same realm within a second. And.. Many thanks to you, and your granddaughter’s good intentions. However, I don’t need to think it over anymore..”

“Errr!”

Ye Tianlong and Ye Qingniu glanced at each other inquisitively. Meanwhile, Ye Baihu’s mouth quivered a little bit. On the other hand, Elder Tianqing, Elder Tianxing, as well as Ye Qiang all figured out what Qinghan meant by saying so. All of them remained silent, as they feared that Qinghan would end his own life in the next moment.

“Ye Qinghan, don’t do silly things. It’s better to be a living coward, than a dead hero. You’re still young and promising. I believe that your achievements in cultivation will be overwhelming.. You also have..” Qingwu shouted out, trying to dissuade Qinghan from committing suicide.

“No!” Qinghan interrupted hysterically, “Nothing, I have nothing left! My parents died, and now, my sister.. my dear sister is also dead. What should I live for? For whom shall I live? Maybe.. maybe I shouldn’t have been born into this world. It simply doesn’t belong to me..”

Qinghan became even more grieved as he continued. He already had cried his heart out.

“Qingyu.. you have my word. I’ll marry you in our next life..” Looking at his sister’s white hair and her blood-stained dress, he came to a halt, and stroked Qingyu’s delicate face, recalling what Qingyu had told him before she fell down.

“This is my answer.” Qinghan gazed at Ye Tianlong as he took out a black dagger.

No one rushed to stop him, as they couldn’t.

If one’s heart was already dead, then how could he be saved?