Chen Yi stood alone at the forefront, while the main elites of the Body Sect lined up behind him, exuding murderous intent. His gaze swept calmly over the fear-stricken ordinary disciples at the front, before coming to rest upon the bloodshot-eyed Yu Yuanzhen leading them.
"Your Excellency Thunder Douluo, I have long admired your name from afar," Chen Yi said coolly.
Yu Yuanzhen stared at this young man before him. That indifferent gaze cut deeper than any arrogant provocation; it was an unbearable humiliation.
"This brat, how dare he challenge the dragon's might? Chu Shanhe! Yuan Hua! Bring them forward!" Yu Yuanzhen roared.
A fleeting, polite smile vanished from Chen Yi's lips.
"And do you think you deserve it?"
His words struck like an invisible slap, turning Yu Yuanzhen's face red as a pig's liver. Choking under the weight of the insult, he found himself unable to answer back.
At the height of this staring contest, a white-haired elder standing beside Yu Yuanzhen hurriedly stepped forward, his expression obsequious. He bowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his creased face as he pointed to Yu Yuanzhen and Yu Xiaogang behind him.
"Young Master Chen! Please, you must understand! All of this… all of this was caused by Yu Xiaogang, Yu Yuanzhen's direct descendant—it has nothing to do with the rest of us! We're only collateral! Most of the sect is innocent. Body Sect is famous for its honor. If you kill us all, it will destroy the sect's reputation! Please, let the innocent go and only punish the true culprits!"
"Sixth Uncle!" Before the elder finished, Yu Xiaoqiang—shocked and angry—leapt out, pointing at the old man and shouting,
"Yu Xiaogang is Yu Xiaogang! We are not responsible for his actions! He is… was… from long ago—"
"Shut it, Yu Xiaoqiang!" another hot-tempered elder barked, interrupting him. "Isn't Yu Xiaogang the son of Yu Yuanzhen? Isn't he your own blood brother? How are you not related? Now that disaster strikes, you're ready to sever ties? Who are you kidding?!"
"That's right! Young Master Chen, please, investigate this thoroughly! They caused all the trouble! It has nothing to do with us!"
"We're innocent! Young Sect Master, please, show mercy and save us!"
In an instant, several elders and their family members joined the chorus, loudly denouncing Yu Yuanzhen's bloodline, desperate to cut ties for their own survival.
Chen Yi and the Body Sect elites looked upon this display with icy disdain, their contempt unmasked. Even faced with an outside enemy, these people could only bicker, betray each other, and try to save themselves by condemning their own sect leader's family.
No wonder the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan, widely considered the strongest of the Seven Great Sects, had fallen to the bottom three for centuries and was consistently challenged by lesser clans. The rot had set in long ago.
"Enough!"
A sharp cry silenced the chaos. Yu Luomian, silent until now, could take it no more, and fixed his kin with a cold glare.
"Haven't you realized yet? They're not here to spare us, nor to simply turn over the sect master or sever some bloodlines! You think this will save you? Fools! They want nothing less than our entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan… destroyed!"
Yu Luomian's furious words hit some like a bucket of ice water—waking them up—while others grew only angrier.
"Yu Luomian! How dare you!"
The kneeling elder suddenly raised his head, bloodshot eyes fixed on him. "If not for your bastard child and that damned woman's unwavering loyalty to that scum, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
Another elder angrily cut in,
"That's right! Liu Erlong is an illegitimate child, headstrong and reckless—I said at the time she'd bring ruin on us all! We should've just made her my concubine—maybe she'd have borne some useful heirs for the clan!"
At this, not only did Chen Yi's followers fall silent in shock, but many among the Blue Lightning Clan also wore bewildered expressions.
On the brink of life and death, in the face of utter ruin, these people still dredged up ancient grudges and base desires—did they have no sense whatsoever?
"Heh…"
Chen Zhen, muscular and golden, leaned over to Chen Yi and whispered with a grin,
"Xiao Yi, why not wait a little longer? With how things are going, they might start killing each other first—save us the energy."
Elder Zhu Hai, standing nearby, glared fiercely at Chen Zhen and shoved him aside; a fire, stoked by decades of old hatred, burned in his aged eyes.
"Why waste energy? Today, I'll slaughter every last one of these beasts in human guise with my own hands!"
Chen Yi ignored the muttering behind him. He watched the farcical scene before him without the slightest emotional ripple—then clapped his hands a few times.
Clap, clap.
The crisp applause echoed at the valley's entrance. Instantly, the crowd parted. Several Body Sect disciples, faces stone-cold, dragged a handful of bedraggled captives to the open square—Yu Xiaogang, Liu Erlong, Flender, and Zhao Wuji, whose cultivation had been sealed and who now looked like broken mud dolls.
"Yu! Xiao! Gang—!"
"Liu! Er! Long—!"
Scores of poisonous glares pierced through the few standing, including Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong, as well as Yu Xiaoqiang and the elders who had tried to shirk responsibility moments before. In that instant, the crowd stared at Yu Xiaogang as though they wished to tear the flesh from his bones.
Yu Xiaogang, collapsed on the ground, trembled violently at these sounds, losing control of his bowels and bladder in terror—a rank stench wafted up. In the next second, some inarticulate force drove him to crawl and worm behind Liu Erlong, seeking safety in hiding behind her small, shaking frame.
Liu Erlong, feeling Yu Xiaogang shrinking behind her, raised her head and met his pleading eyes—a look that seemed to shatter even her once indomitable spirit.
"Young Master Chen…"
Yu Yuanzhen stared coldly at the pair who had brought calamity on his clan. His throat bobbed as twisted hatred flashed in his eyes.
"These… two beasts… May we, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan, deal with them ourselves?"
Chen Yi's eyebrow rose slightly with apparent interest. He didn't reply. A moment later, a giant purplish-golden hand materialized out of thin air, seized the sobbing Yu Xiaogang and limp Liu Erlong, and hurled them straight to the ground at Yu Yuanzhen's feet, sending up dust.
Ignoring the pain, Yu Xiaogang scrambled to clutch Yu Yuanzhen's boots, his blood- and mud-streaked face streaming with tears as he wailed incoherently:
"Father! Father! It's me, Xiaogang—your beloved son! I had nothing to do with this, nothing at all! It's all her fault, it's Liu Erlong's fault! She forced me, Father, you know I'm timid and gentle, how could I ever do something like this? Believe me!"
Liu Erlong's protests caught in her throat. She jerked her head around, staring at Yu Xiaogang's warped face in disbelief—as though, after twenty years of love and devotion, she was seeing him for the first time.
"What are you looking at!" Yu Xiaogang screamed, rage growing at her silence. "Didn't you always say you loved me? That you'd do anything for me? Have nothing to say now? Say it! Admit it! This is all your fault! It has nothing to do with me!"
But no matter how he screamed, Liu Erlong only stared back dazedly, her lips trembling though not a sound came out.
Twenty years of waiting, twenty years of obsession—all shredded in an instant by Yu Xiaogang's own hand, leaving nothing but a pile of filthy fragments.
Witnessing Yu Xiaogang's shameful act—trying to pin all the blame, even in the face of death, on the woman who once loved him—Yu Yuanzhen suddenly covered his face with both hands and began to tremble violently, letting out a string of mournful laughs.
"Ha… ha ha ha…"
Laughter wracked his body, and tears streaked down his face.
"Yu Xiaogang, Yu Xiaogang…"
When he finally stopped, he lowered his hands to reveal blood-red eyes staring at his prostrate son. All guilt was gone, replaced by unadulterated hatred.
His voice, cold as a ghost crawling out of hell, made Yu Xiaogang shudder.
"You… deserve to die."
"That bitch… also deserves to die."
He paused, sweeping his horrified clansmen with a glance.
"But… it shouldn't be me to do it."
Just as Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened in horror, Yu Yuanzhen suddenly stooped and grabbed both Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong—one in each hand—like dead dogs.
"I… am not qualified."
With those words, Yu Yuanzhen spun and hurled both bodies with all his strength into the crowd behind him.
"No—!!!"
Yu Xiaogang's shrill scream rang out as he tumbled helplessly through the air. In that frozen moment, Liu Erlong's final gaze stayed fixed on the man who betrayed her, her eyes losing all light. Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang's held nothing but terror and despair at the onrushing mob.
Just as the two were about to fall among the crowd—
Without warning, Yu Luomian moved. Like a ghost he flashed forward, and when Liu Erlong was scant inches from the ground, lightning flared from his arms. Thunder roared as his spear-like fingers pierced through her back and straight out her chest.
Splurt!
Blood gushed like a fountain.
Expressionless, Yu Luomian wrenched his arms apart.
RIP!
With a sickening crack, Liu Erlong's body—still barely clinging to life—was torn clean in two by the immense force. Viscera and blood rained down in a storm.
Even in her final moments, Liu Erlong's fading eyes never left Yu Xiaogang's lifeless form on the ground nearby.
As for Yu Xiaogang—still whimpering with pain and dizziness—he tried to raise his head, but only managed to glimpse ferocious, bloodshot faces. Suddenly, a strong hand seized the deformed gray "Grandmaster's tail" behind him, hoisted him high, and smashed him into the ground with all its strength.
BANG!
Blood and dust splattered in every direction.
…
PS: Damn, they keep targeting Grandmaster's little brother. lol