“Of course,” the elderly man replied. “Correspondingly, if you lose, you have to hand over that ring which represents the supreme power in the Rose of Death to me.”


  The girl was silent for a moment before nodding and finally agreeing.

  “Grandpa, be careful!”


  The girl turned into a shadow and charged toward the elderly man with the dagger in hand.

  However, the girl had just reached the elderly man when he attacked with his shoulder and slammed the girl into the air.

  After she stabilized herself, she didn’t retreat and swung her dagger again to attack him.

  “How about this—if you can strike me within three blows, it’ll be considered my loss.” The elderly man stood in his spot with his arms behind his back.

  “Okay!” The girl agreed, her moves turning swifter and fiercer.

  However, the first two moves were all easily broken by the elderly man. She didn’t appear to have any winning chance against Grandpa.

  “You have one remaining chance,” the elderly man declared coldly.

  The girl gritted her teeth. She was well aware that she had to attack a third time or else… she would lose without a doubt.

  In the blink of an eye, the girl pulled off the ring from her finger and wanted to destroy it with the dagger.

  “You dare?!”


  The elderly man grew furious and struck the girl, putting every bit of strength in his hand.

  The elderly man was as fast as a breeze of wind, difficult to locate with the naked eye.

  In a fraction of second, the girl reflexively counterattacked with the dagger.

  However, the elderly man suddenly stopped his ferocious attack a millisecond before his palm hit the girl…


  Under the girl’s incredulous gaze, she couldn’t control the dagger in her hand as she wanted and it penetrated his chest.

  Blood trailed down the dagger and dripped onto the ground.

  The girl started shaking, her hold around the dagger loosening at once.

  At that moment, feather-light and odd-sounding footsteps came from outside the door. Her mind turned blank, and she immediately dashed outside without a clear direction.

  …


  The scene changed.

  At some wild area in the Independent State:

  “Worriless Nie… you killed Grandpa…”


  Si Xia’s figure was akin to a glacier. “My debt to Grandpa was heavier than a mountain. He raised me to adulthood… and I hadn’t had time to pay him back yet… and you killed him!”


  “Grandpa’s dead?!”


  The girl’s expression became terrified, and she frantically shook her head. “Impossible… Although I hurt Grandpa with the dagger, it absolutely couldn’t have been fatal with the condition of Grandpa’s body! Also, the dagger didn’t pierce any vital spots, so how could Grandpa be dead?!”


  She continued, “Si Xia, did you know Grandpa’s plan? Why didn’t you stop Grandpa?!”


  “Worriless Nie, none of this is important anymore.” Si Xia stared at the girl and knelt down in front of her a second later. “Worriless Nie, back then, it was you and Grandpa who saved me, so I also owe you a life.”


  As Si Xia spoke, he kowtowed three times to Ye Wanwan. “This time, I won’t make you pay. Consider this as me repaying you with your life… These three kowtows represent the severance of our ties.”


  The girl stood in her spot and didn’t say anything.

  “Worriless Nie, you’re a traitor. You betrayed Grandpa and me. You could bear to even kill Grandpa, who loves you the most. You aren’t human—you’re a demon. You’re a demon who climbed out from an abyss,” Si Xia declared coldly.

  “Bullsh*t!” the girl screamed angrily.

  “Heh…” Si Xia’s lips turned up. “Do you know why Grandpa wanted to dominate the Twelve Independent States and why Grandpa wanted to destroy the Arbitration Council?”


  Si Xia continued, not giving the girl a chance to respond: “The Arbitration Council is extremely wary of the Rose of Death, and the Arbitration Council knew the previous Black Widow was a distant relative of the Nie family. Hence, the Arbitration Council laid pressure on Grandpa and made Grandpa eliminate the Black Widow no matter what. Some time ago, Grandpa set up a plot and trapped Black Widow, and she finally died in the Independent State. Originally, this matter would’ve been settled, but you—you accepted that d*mn ring!”


  2230 Break all ties

  “What do you mean?!” the girl asked.

  “What do I mean?” Si Xia snorted. “You accepted that ring, which means you’re the new leader of the Rose of Death. The Arbitration Council learned about this… so they wanted Grandpa… to personally kill you, snatch the ring and hand it over to the Arbitration Council.”


  “What…?” The girl was stunned.

  “The first time, Grandpa had no choice. As the President of the Independent State’s Martial Arts Union, he was bound by the Arbitration Council and couldn’t resist… But this time, because of you, Grandpa finally decided to take over the Independent State and oppose the Arbitration Council…” Si Xia coldly explained.

  “What… Why didn’t Grandpa tell me?!” the girl exclaimed in shock.

  “Tell you?” Si Xia shook his head. “Because Grandpa didn’t want you to know this matter was related to you and didn’t want you to get involved. This plan might’ve succeeded, but it might’ve also failed. He didn’t tell you because he was afraid you’d feel guilty and blame yourself if it failed and was afraid it’d bring harm to you. But… Grandpa’s concerns were unnecessary. How could an apathetic and heartless person like you feel guilt and self-reproach?”


  …


  Soon, everything turned into nothing and darkness returned.

  Ye Wanwan felt someone madly shaking her.

  “Sis Feng, what’s wrong with you? D*mn… You aren’t dead, right, Sis Feng? Don’t scare me! Sis Feng, are you okay?”


  Ye Wanwan slowly opened her eyes and saw the panicked Big Dipper.

  “Stop shaking, alright?” Ye Wanwan’s brows furrowed deeply.

  “Sis Feng, you aren’t dead!” Big Dipper’s expression turned joyous when he saw Ye Wanwan opening her eyes.

  Ye Wanwan didn’t say anything and stood up from the floor, sitting on the sofa.

  She finally remembered everything…


  However, this type of memory… she neither wanted it nor was willing to accept it.

  How could she have killed Grandpa…? That dagger was the weapon she typically used to spar with Grandpa and wasn’t sharp at all…


  Although Ye Wanwan felt agony and self-reproach inside, she was incredibly calm.

  On the island, Si Xia claimed she wanted to gain domination over the Independent State, but it appeared he merely wanted to enrage her. There was only one sincere line that Si Xia said on the island: She was a demon.

  …


  When she first discovered she killed Grandpa, she couldn’t endure the pain and didn’t think deeply about it, intent on seeking death.

  However, many years had passed, and Ye Wanwan could calmly ponder it now.

  There were indeed too many unanswered questions.

  In the video, although her grandpa was pierced in the chest by her dagger, he didn’t die immediately. After she escaped, Grandpa used the walls and door to walk out very weakly.

  Based on what Si Xia said, Grandpa died outside the door.

  Back then, she thought Grandpa died from losing too much blood after being pierced by the dagger.

  Now though…


  “That’s not right!” Ye Wanwan suddenly shot up.

  Big Dipper jolted in fright. “What isn’t right? Where isn’t it right?!”


  Ye Wanwan frowned deeply. She still recalled one particular detail.

  After she injured Grandpa with the dagger back then, she distinctly heard feather-light footsteps coming from outside, which was why she lost her cool and fled in her blank state.

  Back then, she thought these footsteps belonged to someone from the Martial Arts Union who needed something from Grandpa.

  If it was really a member of the Martial Arts Union, they definitely would’ve realized Grandpa was injured and saved him, so dying from losing too much blood was impossible!

  However, if it wasn’t a member of the Martial Arts Union, who could it have been…?

  Outsiders couldn’t enter the Martial Arts Union; only members could unless a top-notch expert snuck inside without anyone noticing…