Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 107: Chapter 104: The Heartless Are Often Scholars, Grudges of the Past

Jiangnan Region, Ancient Wind City.

The Yi Family Estate.

Two days had passed since Yi Wulin and his sister, after traveling nonstop, returned from Baiquan Town to Ancient Wind City.

It was now nighttime.

The sky was a hazy gray, with neither moon nor stars in sight.

Inside the Yi Family estate, however, it was brightly lit.

”Number one on the Famous Family List, Ning Jiang of the White Head Sword Sect.”

There were four people in the courtyard. A middle-aged couple among them looked utterly shocked after hearing what Yi Wulin and his sister had to say.

”A sixteen-year-old of the Sword Sect. Ye Chenyu’s childhood sweetheart is truly something else.”

The middle-aged woman snorted coldly. Dressed in opulent finery, her mature beauty was still striking. Her name was Yi Hongfeng, the mother of Yi Wulin and his sister.

The middle-aged man beside her was her husband, Nie Changming.

Nie Changming had married into the Yi Family.

It was quite common for a man to marry into his wife’s family. It was usually because the woman’s family was powerful and held a high status.

After marrying in, the son and daughter Nie Changming fathered both took the Yi family name.

”Mother, how should we deal with this Ning Jiang? That boy humiliated me, and I can’t just swallow this insult. Besides, he’s connected to Ye Chenyu, so we have to find a way to capture him.”

Yi Wulin addressed Yi Hongfeng. It seemed that between the husband and wife, she was the one who called the shots.

A sharp, blade-like glint flashed in Yi Hongfeng’s eyes. ”Since he’s connected to Ye Chenyu, we can’t let him go. However, that boy has become a force to be reckoned with. It won’t be so easy to make a move on him. If our Yi Family is to act, we must plan carefully.”

As she spoke, she glanced at her husband, snorted lightly, and said, ”Changming, Ye Chenyu’s return this time is most likely for revenge on her mother’s behalf. You won’t go soft on her just because she’s your daughter, will you?”

”I have no such daughter.”

Nie Changming said coldly. He had a well-proportioned build and a fair, clean-shaven face that was smooth as jade. He looked to be only in his thirties or forties. His demeanor was suave yet composed, solid but not ostentatious. To an ordinary person, he projected the image of a mature, steady, and experienced great scholar.

”Good.”

Yi Hongfeng nodded, her expression softening considerably.

”Nie Changming, you are a man of letters. Have you not read of the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues, of ethics and morality, in your books?”

Suddenly, a voice devoid of any worldly air drifted through the night, as pleasant as a clear spring stream, as beautiful as the sounds of nature. ”It seems the saying ’scholars are often the most heartless’ is true.”

”Who’s there!”

The people in the courtyard were startled.

Their gazes shifted.

It was a silver-haired young woman.

She looked to be around eighteen years old, descending gracefully from the sky. Her robes were white as snow, her skin like ice and bones like jade. Her silver hair rippled in the wind like a radiant galaxy.

Her eyes were like shooting stars. The fair wrists revealed by her sleeves were whiter than frost and snow—soft, slender, and hinting at a certain delicacy.

Her lovely face was hidden behind a white veil, obscuring her features and lending her an air of cold mystery.

Without a doubt, the face beneath that veil had to be one of peerless beauty.

”Ye Chenyu!”

Although they hadn’t seen her in many years, the moment they saw that full head of silver hair, they knew the young woman’s identity.

The young woman was dressed in flawless white robes, with a red silk ribbon tied at her waist. Though a simple adornment, it made her seem to float like a goddess from the heavens. Her face was like a jade disc, her skin whiter than snow, and her starry eyes shimmered brightly, conveying a sense of transcendence.

The expressions of the others grew grim.

Walking on air—that was something only those at the Innate Limit could do.

All four of them felt that the young woman before them was unfathomably deep.

”Chenyu, you’re back.”

A flicker in his eyes, Nie Changming said, ”The silver-haired girl ranked sixth on the Innate List... is that you? I know you harbor resentment toward us, but you and I are father and daughter. What is there between a father and daughter that cannot be resolved?”

This was a conciliatory tactic. He wanted to use their father-daughter bond to win Ye Chenyu over.

”Nie Changming, don’t you think it’s a little too late for that now? Mother is dead, after all.”

Ye Chenyu, like a Moon Palace Fairy descended to the mortal realm, spoke with a voice like falling jade beads, crisp and clear. ”I have returned this time to sever my worldly ties.”

Her gaze was placid, like a deep pool without a single ripple. As the cold wind blew, her robes fluttered around her as if she were about to ride the wind and depart.

In that moment, she looked like a Nine Heavens Goddess who had come to the Human World, possessing an ineffable, ethereal grace.

”Ye Chenyu, what do you want?”

Yi Hongfeng’s gaze was icy, not daring to make a rash move.

”Don’t say I’m merciless and didn’t give you a chance. I came today to demand an accounting for my mother. You killed my mother back then, so go to her grave, kowtow, admit your mistake, and then cripple your own Cultivation. Do that, and I will let you live.”

Ye Chenyu spoke slowly, her eyes like a cold night, emitting pinpricks of chilly light. Her snow-white face was devoid of any smile, looking as frosty as the dead of winter.

”What? Kowtow, apologize, and cripple our Cultivation?” Yi Wulin exploded with rage on the spot. ”Ye Chenyu, don’t push your luck! You want us to kowtow to your mother? Don’t even think about it!”

Nie Changming’s expression also turned frigid. ”Chenyu,” he said sharply, ”I am your father! Have you no familial affection? No sense of morality? Are you truly that cold-blooded?!”

”Morality and ethics are for people who possess sentiment and righteousness. What right does a heartless and treacherous person have to speak of such things?”

Ye Chenyu was unmoved. Her voice merged with the wind, seeming to add a touch of frost to the night air. ”Back then, Yi Hongfeng sent people to kill my mother and me. You clearly knew about it, yet you tacitly allowed her to do so. From that moment on, we were no longer father and daughter.”

”Nie Changming, you call yourself a man of letters, full of classical knowledge, always prattling on about benevolence and morality. Yet for the sake of power, you married into the Yi Family and abandoned the mother who saved your life.”

Ye Chenyu’s voice grew colder and colder as she spoke.

Nie Changming’s expression, in turn, grew uglier.

This had happened when he was young. He was being hunted and had been gravely injured. Fortunately, he encountered Ye Chenyu’s mother, Ye Qingyi, in Baiquan Town and was saved by her. He later pursued and won Ye Qingyi’s heart.

But after that, he met Yi Hongfeng. Unaware that he already had a lover, Yi Hongfeng fell for him at first sight. Coveting her background, he hid the truth from Ye Qingyi and married into the Yi Family.

For several years after marrying into the Yi Family, Nie Changming two-timed them. Every month, he would find time to visit Ye Qingyi in Baiquan Town, and she remained unaware that he had married into the Yi Family.

Later, Ye Qingyi became pregnant and gave birth to Ye Chenyu.

Unfortunately, a secret can’t be kept forever.

Ye Qingyi eventually discovered that Nie Changming had married into the Yi Family. Because of this, she resolutely broke off all ties with him.

From then on, the mother and daughter, Ye Qingyi and Ye Chenyu, relied on each other for survival, living long-term in Baiquan Town.

Things might have ended there, but every year, Nie Changming would still visit the mother and daughter for a few days.

It was this behavior that aroused Yi Hongfeng’s suspicion, leading her to find out the truth.

Yi Hongfeng was a woman who loved Nie Changming deeply. She didn’t blame him; instead, she believed that Ye Qingyi had seduced him.

She was, by nature, a jealous and domineering person. In her relationship with Nie Changming, she was the one who made most of the decisions. She could not tolerate a single grain of sand in her eye—and she could not tolerate the existence of Ye Qingyi and her daughter!

In the end, she was the one who sent people to kill Ye Qingyi and her daughter.

Ye Qingyi died that year. As for Ye Chenyu, she vanished that day, only to return now.

”Chenyu, what happened back then is in the past. Why don’t you let go of your hatred? You are now sixth on the Innate List. If you join the Yi Family, they will welcome you with open arms,” Nie Changming coaxed.

”The Yi Family? Nie Changming, do you have any idea how vast this world is? Even the entire Cyan Cloud Country is but a small quagmire. Why would the Yi Family even register in my eyes?”

Ye Chenyu stood tall, with long, slender legs. Her snow-white robes danced in the wind, unable to conceal her stunning curves.

”Chenyu, by saying this, are you insisting on drawing blades against us?” Nie Changming’s gaze turned sharp.

”The thirtieth of the first month. The day my mother died was also this day, under a night just as dark,” Ye Chenyu’s voice sounded distant.

Her gaze grew distant as she thought of that childhood sweetheart.

’Back then, if he hadn’t protected me with his life, taking that fatal blow with his own chest, I wouldn’t be here today.’

’If not for that time, I would never have awakened my Heavy Pupils and killed all my enemies...’

’Are you okay?’

”Come out.” Pushing aside all her thoughts, Ye Chenyu’s cold voice drifted out in all directions.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Three Innate Limit Strong Persons emerged from the shadows. They had long been lying in ambush, but Ye Chenyu had sensed them and exposed them with a single sentence.

”Every injustice has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. The ones I want to kill are only them. Do you wish to interfere?” Ye Chenyu’s voice was now devoid of all emotion, containing only ice.

”I don’t care what grievances you have. You want to kill members of my Yi Family? That will not happen.”

These three were the foundation upon which the Yi Family stood. One was ranked in the teens on the Innate List, another in the twenties, and the third, the youngest, was not on the Innate List and slightly weaker.

”In that case, you can all die together!”

Her white robes fluttered as Ye Chenyu stood there, her stunning, voluptuous figure exuding an astonishing charm.

Suddenly, her eyes changed, as if a drop of blood had fallen into a pool, dyeing the entire pond red.

Her black pupils gradually turned red, and beneath the red, another cyan pupil was superimposed, mysterious and profound.

In an instant, everyone was shaken to their core.

”The legendary... Heavy Pupils?”

The three Innate Limit Strong Persons had looks of terror in their eyes.

At that moment, their eyes changed, transforming into copies of Ye Chenyu’s. Their bodies were no longer under their control.

”No!”

The three let out horrified roars as they each raised their weapons and swiped them across their own necks.

PSHHH.

Blood sprayed, and three heads tumbled to the ground.

The three Innate Limit Strong Persons had fallen in an instant.

”Chenyu, just kill Yi Hongfeng! I’m your father, please spare my life, won’t you?” Nie Changming’s body trembled, terror spreading through every inch of his flesh and blood.

Faced with life and death, he chose to abandon his wife’s life to save his own miserable existence.

”Nie Changming, you animal!” Yi Hongfeng cursed, unable to believe her ears.

”I already gave you a chance. A shame you gave it up.”

As Ye Chenyu’s voice faded,

”No.”

Yi Hongfeng shrieked. She uncontrollably drew a blade and, with a look of utter terror in her eyes, sliced through the heads of Yi Wulin and his sister.

Then, without pausing, the blade continued, chopping off Nie Changming’s head.

Finally, she swiped the blade across her own neck.

”I regret... so much...” As her head tumbled, her eyes remained open in death.