The past surfaced in Ye Wanwan’s mind following Nameless Nie’s words.

  Back then, Nameless Nie left home when he was young and was sent to a distant relative, Second Grandma, for education purposes.

  Second Grandma was a distant younger cousin of Clan Leader Ling. Although she held the same seniority as Clan Leader Ling, she was nearly 30 years younger than him.

  However, Second Grandma was extraordinarily talented in martial arts, was extremely courageous, and was an outstanding teacher for the younger generation.

  Hence, back then, Clan Leader Ling didn’t obtain Patriarch Nie and Madam Nie’s approval before sending Nameless Nie to Second Grandma.

  Second Grandma was a very strict teacher. Nameless Nie underwent a lot of suffering but gained a plethora of skills.

  Second Grandma had one daughter named Ling Miao. Ling Miao was a generation above Nameless Nie and was considered his aunt, but she was a similar age to Nameless Nie.

  It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call those two childhood sweethearts, and they got along very well.

  Soon, Nameless Nie returned to the Independent State but never broke contact with Ling Miao.

  Ye Wanwan once heard Nameless Nie mention that he and Aunt Ling Miao fell in love…


  The first time Ye Wanwan saw Ling Miao… was actually when Ling Miao was assailed by various factions of the Independent State. It was Grandpa’s plot that killed Ling Miao…


  Grandpa used Nameless Nie’s life to threaten Ling Miao… and made her meet him on her own.

  Ye Wanwan still vaguely remembered that Ling Miao had a very sweet and spirited appearance but her temperament was the complete opposite. She was exceptionally apathetic, akin to a ball of ice, and very hard to get along with if you were an outsider.

  Before Ling Miao died, she personally handed the ring that represented the supreme power in the Rose of Death to Ye Wanwan and asked her whether Nameless Nie was safe or not…


  To this day, Ye Wanwan still couldn’t forget Ling Miao’s content expression after learning Nameless Nie wasn’t in any danger.

  That was where Ye Wanwan’s memory left off.

  In the past, Nameless Nie was outstanding and his intelligence wasn’t inferior to Ji Xiuran’s.

  However, after her memory was replaced and she saw Nameless Nie again, he had changed. It was as if he had turned into a different person.

  When she returned to the Independent State and restored her identity as Nameless Nie, her parents told her Nameless Nie was traumatized in the past…


  Now though, connecting this to the letter Ji Xiuran left behind for her…


  The letter read: “I don’t have some grand dream. I just want a plot of a good field and have a simple life, do some small business and live ordinarily.”


  Thinking about it now, Ji Xiuran used this very obscure sentence to indicate the truth.

  He was referring to Nameless Nie!

  That was why Ji Xiuran reminded her in his letter to stop investigating the matter…


  Additionally, on Ji Xiuran’s shredded pieces of paper, he actually wrote down the truth and the process.

  Nameless Nie’s personality didn’t change because of a previous trauma. The truth was that he was hypnotized by Ji Xiuran…


  It was very possible it was Ji Xiuran who made Nameless Nie forget about this memory segment.

  But the paper also said that the hypnotism failed and he was back…


  What that probably meant was that Nameless Nie’s willpower was too strong, so he recalled his past again…


  “It was Ji Xiuran who hypnotized you, right?” Ye Wanwan asked Nameless Nie.

  Nameless Nie smiled faintly. “I have to say that Xiuran’s talents in hypnotism are unparalleled. I told him I’d bring destruction on every faction in the Independent State that participated in Ling Miao’s massacre, but he disapproved and even hypnotized me… After the hypnotism, I forgot about her and only thought about earning money and becoming rich, as though I was possessed.”


  Nameless Nie continued, “This ring is very similar to Ling Miao’s ring. It’s a lovers’ ring that I made myself and has nothing to do with the Rose of Death. However, after I was hypnotized, I forgot about this ring too, so I took it off and tossed it somewhere in the Nie residence. Otherwise, how could you have stolen it?”


  2240 True objective

  Ye Wanwan intently stared at Nameless Nie. After a long silence, she finally spoke. “In truth, Ji Xiuran’s hypnotism on you lost its effect a long time ago, right?”


  Nameless Nie nodded. “Although the hypnotism was impressive, it didn’t last too long in reality. It only lasted half a year.”


  “So when you came to find me in China, you weren’t hypnotized anymore,” Ye Wanwan proposed pensively.

  Nameless Nie smiled. “That’s right. But when I first met you in China, I merely thought you looked like Worriless and really didn’t recognize you.”


  “Then… just what did you come to China to find?” Ye Wanwan asked.

  “I just wanted to find you; there weren’t that many reasons. And also to find the ring, of course,” Nameless Nie replied truthfully.

  Ye Wanwan didn’t rebut him. The ring Nameless Nie was wearing might’ve been crafted by him and was completely unrelated to the Rose of Death. It held enormous meaning to Nameless Nie.

  This ring represented his relationship with Ling Miao.

  Ye Wanwan believed that Nameless Nie absolutely wouldn’t agree if she tried to use her ring to trade for his ring.

  “Then… why did you make the Direct Line steal the other ring?” Ye Wanwan asked him.

  “Very simple.” Nameless Nie smiled faintly. “If I possessed that ring… I would be able to mobilize a lot of power and destroying the Independent State would be a piece of cake.”


  “But why did you give up in the end?” Ye Wanwan launched another question.

  Nameless Nie sank into contemplation.

  “What else could I do?” A while later, Nameless Nie shook his head. “You would rather die than hand it over. Should I have really killed you for that ring?”


  “I see…” Ye Wanwan nodded lightly.

  Everything was very clear now.

  Back then, after Ling Miao died, Nameless Nie sank into madness, wanted to avenge Ling Miao and annihilate every faction that participated in Ling Miao’s encirclement.

  But these factions encompassed nearly all of the Independent State.

  Nameless Nie originally sought out Ji Xiuran so that Ji Xiuran could lend him a hand, but Ji Xiuran didn’t have the heart to do it and was unwilling to watch Nameless Nie be in such agony, so he used hypnosis to make Nameless Nie forget about that memory segment. Furthermore, Ji Xiuran changed Nameless Nie’s personality into a businessman who worshiped money like his life and only liked to earn money.

  This way, Nameless Nie would be running around every day and busy with earning money, never getting tired of it. This should be considered a fortunate outcome for Nameless Nie.

  However, what Ji Xiuran didn’t expect was that Nameless Nie’s willpower was truly too formidable and Ji Xiuran’s hypnotism lost its effect in a mere half a year.

  From the moment Nameless Nie recalled everything, he used his disguise as the black-robed person to become the Direct Line’s military counselor and helped Direct Line regain control over the Independent State.

  The truth of the matter was now clear at a glance.

  The Direct Line also participated in Ling Miao’s encirclement back then.

  The reason Nameless Nie was willing to help the Direct Line was so that he could trigger the war between the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch as soon as possible.

  Nameless Nie was well aware that once the war between the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch began, all the factions in the Independent State wouldn’t be able to stay out of it and all had to participate.

  As for Nameless Nie’s true objective, it was to make the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch eradicate each other and perish together, including all the factions who supported the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch.

  As she thought up to this point, a layer of sweat blanketed Ye Wanwan’s forehead.

  2241 Illustrious pas

  Nameless Nie’s plan was nearly flawless and perfect but also incredibly malicious.

  Normally, Nameless Nie disguised himself as a greedy person, and this disguise had a clever effect in reality. No one in the Independent State would set their eyes on a good-for-nothing like him. Even if he once possessed an illustrious past, people only lived in the present.

  Moreover, Nameless Nie faked his death in the end and escaped by a nifty vanishing act. No one would expect Nameless Nie to be the single-handed culprit behind this war between the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch.

  “Did Nie Linglong know your identity…?” Ye Wanwan asked a moment later.

  Nameless Nie sneered and shook his head. “How could she know? Nie Linglong… was merely one of my chess pieces. In truth… I wanted to let her control the Nie family first then cooperate with the Martial Arts Union to overturn the four great clans so that the four great clans would become my trump cards and help me escape if needed. Unfortunately, Nie Linglong was too stupid.”


  “So… since you couldn’t obtain the four great clans, you could only fake your death to deceive everyone and attempt to escape the Arbitration Council’s investigation…” Ye Wanwan surmised.

  Nameless Nie smiled. “That’s right… I did fake my death to deceive the Arbitration Council, but it wasn’t in fear of the Arbitration Council’s investigation. It concerns my future plan. If this plan succeeds, I’d target the Arbitration Council. They definitely wouldn’t anticipate a dead man in hiding to be their opponent, right?”


  Ye Wanwan wrinkled her brows. Because of her, she exposed Nameless Nie’s identity…


  If she had another chance, she wouldn’t have done that.

  Regarding the elaborate scheme that Nameless Nie set up, Ye Wanwan wasn’t too surprised since she was aware of Nameless Nie and Ling Miao’s relationship.

  Back then, after Ji Xiuran’s hypnotism, Nameless Nie was clueless about that ring’s history and didn’t like it, so he tossed it at the Nie residence.

  Through the mechanisms of fate, Ye Wanwan led the Fearless Alliance to rob the Nie residence and coincidentally stole the ring that Nameless Nie left behind.

  Hence, all these years, Nameless Nie was not only searching for her but also searching for the lovers’ ring that represented his relationship with Ling Miao.

  “Brother… let me ask you again… are you… the one who killed Grandpa?”


  Ye Wanwan walked forward so that she stood next to Nameless Nie as she asked him quietly. This was a private conversation between her and Nameless Nie. No one else could hear them.

  “Yes or no. Is it still important now?” Nameless Nie gave a vague answer.

  “Alright, that’s all I needed,” Ye Wanwan replied.

  Before Ye Wanwan could continue, a clan leader from a collateral ancient clan angrily yelled, “Clan Leader Jiang, let’s set aside the conflict between the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch. We’ll first eradicate this little b*tard today. He was simply trying to drag every faction in the Independent State down with him while he’d reap the profits!”


  Clan Leader Jiang narrowed his eyes and smirked. “Perfect, that’s exactly what I was thinking. No matter what, the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch came from the same source. Even if we want to determine a winner, we won’t tolerate being used by other people!”


  Soon, all the factions supporting the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch coldly turned to Nameless Nie, the murderous intent in their eyes frightening.

  “Heh… A bunch of garbage and nobodies like you want to take my life? You?” The corners of Nameless Nie’s lips curled up as his eyes swept across the battlefield. Despite becoming the public enemy number one of the entire Independent State, he still didn’t have any fear.

  2242 Let me be your hero instead

  At this moment, Nameless Nie looked like he crawled out of the deepest pits of hell. His hatred-filled eyes were akin to Odin’s eyes examining the entire Independent State.

  They had to pay a bloody price for that incident!

  “It’s time to change the Independent State’s rules,” Nameless Nie expressionlessly said. “Why can’t you marry an outsider? It’s truly absurd. Love is the natural course of things—how can a bunch of idiots and nobodies like you all forcefully stop it…”


  “What a joke!” an elder from an ancient clan ridiculed her. “These are rules that have been established since the Independent State was created. Your insolence isn’t allowed!”


  “That’s right, we represent the supreme power of the Independent State. We represent God; that’s the rules!” Clan Leader Jiang Ying from the Direct Line proclaimed.

  Nameless Nie fell silent.

  A long while later, Nameless Nie slowly looked up and ran his eyes over the Direct Line and the Collateral Branch. “If you’re God…”


  Nameless Nie’s lips curled up. “Then I am… God’s taboo.”


  “Don’t waste words on him! Kill him!”


  Various factions from the Independent State screamed angrily.

  “Come, show me what you’ve got,” Nameless Nie frostily responded, standing in his spot.

  “Brother…” Ye Wanwan’s voice came from the side.

  Nameless Nie’s spine stiffened slightly. He didn’t look at his parents and younger sister; he didn’t look at their gazes of extreme disappointment.

  After a prolonged silence, Nameless Nie aloofly turned to Ye Wanwan and said, “Go back. Pretend I’m dead.”


  Ye Wanwan scrutinized Nameless Nie for a few seconds before abruptly laying her hand over his left shoulder. “This time… let me be your superhero instead.”


  Before Nameless Nie could react, Ye Wanwan yelled toward the crowd, “Are the members of the Fearless Alliance and the Rose of Death here?!”


  “Here!”


  Ear-splitting shouts were heard.

  “Good.” Ye Wanwan nodded. “Now, I’ll represent the Fearless Alliance and the Rose of Death and announce that we’re withdrawing from the Collateral Branch and the Direct Line. Today, we’ll unconditionally support Nameless Nie. Whoever dares to touch a hair on him, I’ll give them a one-way ticket to hell!”


  The elders, higher-ups, Big Dipper, and Seven Star all rushed over to Ye Wanwan’s side.

  On the other side, the members of the Rose of Death also poured out like a nest of bees and swarmed toward Ye Wanwan.

  “You! You’re asking for your death…”


  Clan Leader Jiang shouted, his expression enraged.

  “Is that so? Let’s try.”


  A man’s bone-chilling voice resounded through the battlefield.

  At some point in time, that glacial man had quietly moved next to Ye Wanwan, and his apathetic eyes were utterly placid.

  “Lord Asura…”


  The people from the Direct Line looked at each other with a frown.

  “Si Yehan, what are you doing?!”


  Upon seeing this, the clan leader of the ancient Si clan yelled instantaneously.

  “Do I need to ask you before doing something?” Si Yehan retorted indifferently.

  “You…” Fear flitted through the clan leader’s eyes, and he didn’t dare to say anything more.

  “Sh*t, Ah-Jiu… He’s gone mad, he’s gone mad! He’s seriously gone mad…” Jiang Lihen was astonished.

  “The factions of Prison have always belonged to the same camp. Becoming enemies with the Independent State is my dream.” Xie Qianchuan laughed and led Slaughter’s Gate out of the crowd.

  Jiang Lihen exasperatedly glanced at these two lunatics before languidly strolling forward, his cutting gaze sweeping over the battlefield. “If you want to play, sure… Just give us the word, and our Prison will play until the end!”


  2243 It“s fine even if you pierce the heavens

  When Jiang Lihen noticed Si Yehan’s glance, he awkwardly harrumphed and said, “Don’t thank me too much. I didn’t like these lousy rules to begin with!”


  Jiang Lihen was the type who enjoyed seeing the world embroiled in chaos, so Nameless Nie’s personality surprisingly matched his taste.

  Ye Wanwan turned to Jiang Lihen and the others with surprise before looking back at Si Yehan, wishing to speak but she hesitated. “Ah-Jiu…”


  Si Yehan patted her on the head and gave her a comforting glance. “It’s fine.”


  He was saying “It’s fine” despite it being such a giant matter?

  Jiang Lihen dourly glanced at the duo from the corner of his eyes and snorted. “Even if this girl wanted to pierce the heavens, you’d probably be underneath her, handing her a spear!”


  “Who dares to touch my children?!”


  After a brief silence, Patriarch Nie and Madam Nie abruptly spoke at the same time and marched toward Nameless Nie.

  When Nameless Nie heard his parents’ voices, his pupils contracted.

  “Nameless…” Patriarch Nie looked at Nameless Nie and sighed. “Back then, I did oppose your relationship with Ling family. It’s not your fault… Dad was selfish and only thought about the Nie family… Dad let you down!”


  Nameless Nie appeared a bit moved.

  Back then, for the sake of the Nie family’s reputation, Patriarch Nie absolutely refused to let him be with the leader of the Rose of Death, Ling Miao. This ended up creating Nameless Nie’s lifelong regret.

  “Son… It’s Mom’s fault…” Madam Nie looked at Nameless Nie with guilt written all over her face.

  Although Second Grandma was a distant relative of Patriarch Ling, that was several generations ago. They didn’t have much blood relations anymore. Plus, Ling Miao was younger than Nameless Nie.

  However, simply because Nameless Nie technically called Ling Miao “Aunt,” Madam Nie adamantly rejected any development between the two of them and wouldn’t even allow Ling Miao to take a step inside the Nie residence…


  Thinking back on it now, they were wrong…


  If they were more reasonable, perhaps Nameless Nie wouldn’t have spent the rest of his life in regret and hatred!

  Nameless Nie turned to Madam Nie and Patriarch, his lips slightly opening as though he wanted to say something but he ended up unable to utter anything.

  “I’d like to see who has the guts to touch my grandson and granddaughter!”


  At this moment, the silent Patriarch Ling suddenly stood forward.

  “Dad…”


  Patriarch Nie reflexively called.

  “Who’s your dad? Patriarch Nie’s surname is Nie, but my surname is Ling. It’d be best if you didn’t randomly claim relations. I’m just doing this for my grandchildren,” Patriarch Ling said coldly with a glance at Patriarch Nie.

  “We support the Nie family.”


  At that moment, everyone from the Ji family also stepped forward.

  “D*mn! I represent the Shen family and support Worriless Nie, support my goddess! Goddess, I love you!”


  Eldest Young Master Shen acted like a loose dog and made to race toward Ye Wanwan.

  However, he was frightened into retreating several steps by a bone-chilling gaze.

  “Don’t you act so insolently here!”


  Patriarch Shen fiercely glared at Shen Tianchen before turning to everyone with a smile. “Heh… the four great clans were comrades to begin with… and the Nie family is also the head of the four great clans, so our Shen family definitely won’t set ourselves against the other three clans… Similarly, to everyone from the Collateral Branch, the Shen family is just composed of businessmen. If you need anything, let us know. We’ll definitely help to the best of our abilities… but if you want us to provide people, we don’t have many.”


  However, no one paid any attention to him.

  Everyone was fixated on Nameless Nie and Ye Wanwan.

  At this moment, in a spot far away, Si Xia was watching every movement with a pair of binoculars, a devilish smile on his face. “So interesting… But the fun part is at the end… See you soon.”


  2244 You traitor

  Even though they possessed four titan factions like the Nie family, the Ji family, the Ling family, and Prison, along with a knockoff Rose of Death…


  They were nothing in the face of the entire Independent State.

  “Captain!!!”


  Several voices were heard from the back.

  Ye Wanwan got a good look at the newcomers and saw that it was Taoist Devotee and Spray of Flowers leading several dozen mercenary squads that were under Nameless Nie.

  “Captain! You came back alive? Why aren’t you dead?” Spray of Flowers emotionally wiped his tears and snot.

  Ye Wanwan looked at Nameless Nie, astonished. “They… didn’t know your plan?”


  Nameless Nie shook his head. “This is a personal matter—why would I have dragged them into it?”


  “Then you’re truly a good captain…” Ye Wanwan responded.

  “We heard everything, Captain. All of us support you. If anyone touches a strand of your hair today, we’ll make them unable to compensate for it even if they become bankrupt!” Brick-moving Foreigner shouted.

  “Captain, you concealed yourself really deep. I didn’t detect anything strange despite being by your side all these years.” Feng Xuanyi walked toward Nameless Nie as he lit a cigarette and puffed out a drag of smoke.

  Back then, the Ling family thought Nameless Nie suffered a psychological shock and lived every day in a muddled state, as he had a vastly different personality than before. That was why they sent Feng Xuanyi to Nameless Nie.

  Hence, Feng Xuanyi hadn’t thought about it too deeply.

  “Captain, why do you want to destroy the Independent State?” Taoist Devotee looked at Nameless Nie with a peculiar and uncomprehending expression.

  Before Nameless Nie could respond, Feng Xuanyi shook his head and said, “Quack, you’re wrong—Nameless Nie doesn’t want to destroy the Independent State. He merely wants to make those factions who participated in the murder pay the price. Moreover, the most important point is that Nameless Nie wants to reform the Independent State and shed the ancient passed-down rules.”


  “Rules?” Taoist Devotee was startled.

  “Heh…” Feng Xuanyi smiled. “Every leader of the Rose of Death has existed for the sake of overturning the Independent State’s rules and system. Since Ling Miao was the previous leader of the Rose of Death, I think Nameless Nie really wants to fulfill Ling Miao’s wish from when she was alive. Of course, it’s not only for Ling Miao’s sake. Ling Miao wasn’t a citizen of the Independent State; her ancestors merely had some relations to the Ling family, so even if Ling Miao didn’t die, Nameless Nie and Ling Miao absolutely wouldn’t be able to be together with rules like this in the Independent State.”


  Taoist Devotee nodded. “So it’s like that… I understand. One last question… who’s Ling Miao?”


  Taoist Devotee, Spray of Flowers, and the others didn’t know about Nameless Nie’s romantic history and definitely didn’t know anything about Ling Miao.

  Feng Xuanyi glanced at Taoist Devotee and didn’t respond.

  Feng Xuanyi turned to Nameless Nie and said, “Nameless Nie, I didn’t expect you to be so deep. What surprises me more is that you actually want to reform the Independent State.”


  Spray of Flowers fixed his eyes on Feng Xuanyi. Feng Xuanyi’s sense of justice and responsibility was the strongest amongst them.

  Furthermore, Captain’s current method seemed to make him an enemy of the entire Independent State. Judging from Feng Xuanyi’s attitude, he appeared to disagree with Captain.

  “Feng Xuanyi, why are you talking so much crap? If you’re afraid, then scram!” Taoist Devotee looked at Feng Xuanyi and said irritatedly, “Captain used to give us everything he had, but you’re actually betraying us at the key moment, you traitor!”


  2245 Submit to me

  Spray of Flowers frowned. “Quack, don’t say that. Everyone has their own thoughts, and they merely have different positions. Even if Feng Xuanyi isn’t willing to stand on Captain’s side, I can understand.”


  Ye Wanwan looked at Feng Xuanyi. “It’s fine even if you don’t stand with Brother and me, Feng Xuanyi.”


  Feng Xuanyi took a big whiff of his cigarette before flicking the butt away and looking at Nameless Nie. “Help? Of course I’ll help. He’s my captain. If he dies, who’d pay me?”


  Feng Xuanyi joined the crowd with a faint smile.

  …


  A higher-up from the collateral ancient clan said to the leader of the Direct Line: “Clan Leader Jiang, Nameless Nie is a tough nut to crack. How about we ask Yi Shuihan for help?”


  Jiang Ying nodded and turned to Yi Shuihan, quietly saying, “Yi Shuihan, help us take care of Nameless Nie.”


  If Yi Shuihan could lend a hand, the matter would be resolved more easily.

  Yi Shuihan apathetically glanced at Jiang Ying. “Do you have some misunderstanding about me?”


  Jiang Ying furrowed his brows. Of course he knew that the Direct Line couldn’t order Yi Shuihan around. He merely showed up here today in order to slaughter the collateral ancient clans…


  Nameless Nie didn’t have a lick of connection to the Collateral Branch, so why would he act?

  “How about this? I won’t touch anyone from the Collateral Branch until you’ve finished taking care of him. I should be doing my just due for the Direct Line then,” Yi Shuihan said expressionlessly.

  The expressions of the people from the Collateral Branch didn’t look too good.

  Yi Shuihan vehemently insisted the Collateral Branch killed his mother, but the Collateral Branch never did anything like that and didn’t even know who Yi Shuihan’s mother was…


  As Ye Wanwan watched the Direct Line, the Collateral Branch, and the other factions of the Independent State setting their sights on them and gearing up, her nerves became taut.

  Ye Wanwan was about to place an order when a whistle was heard from the rear.

  Everyone reflexively turned to assess the source of the noise behind them.

  The newcomer was a young man with an enigmatic smile on his smile and a ferocious scar by the corner of his eye.

  “Si Xia…”


  Ye Wanwan was startled at the sight of Si Xia. Why did he come here at a time like this…


  It was very difficult for them to face these groups from the Independent State to begin with. If the Martial Arts Union joined too, a fight wouldn’t even be necessary.

  “Heh, you’re all busy,” Si Xia remarked with a light chuckle as his eyes swept across the battlefield.

  “President of the Martial Arts Union, perfect timing—these people are guilty of terrible crimes. The Martial Arts Union is typically responsible for upholding the rules, so let’s apprehend them together,” a higher-up from the Collateral Branch said.

  Si Xia narrowed his eyes and shook his head with a grin. “Apologies, but I’m not interested in that.”


  Everyone was taken aback.

  “I came here to inform you all of one matter… I hope you will all become my adorable subordinates and from today on, that we will all be a kind and loving family. Don’t you think that’d be nice?” Si Xia asked.

  “What did you say?!”


  The people were stunned, and some were incredulous. The President of the Martial Arts Union actually wanted them to submit to him?

  The tribe leader of the ancient Si clan couldn’t help but take a good look at Si Xia. It was already a trial that this child could grow into this. Si Wutian sired quite a nice son.

  2246 Do you want to know the truth?

  “Didn’t you hear me?” Si Xia looked confused. “Could it be… I didn’t speak clearly enough or does everyone have hearing problems? I said… I want to dominate the Independent State and all of you only have two paths to take: Submit or die. Take your pick.”


  Everyone broke into guffaws. Was the President of the Martial Arts Union’s head crushed by a door? Wasn’t he delusional for saying something idiotic like this here?!

  “Who do you think you are?” The Clan Leader of the Direct Line mocked him.

  Si Xia didn’t respond to him and set his gaze on Yi Shuihan. “How about you come to my side and help me, Yi Shuihan? How about it?”


  “What do you think?” Yi Shuihan questioned back.

  “I think…” Si Xia’s lips turned up. “You should be quite willing to come and help me.”


  Before Yi Shuihan could answer, Si Xia shook his head and said, “Don’t be in such a hurry to reply… Yi Shuihan, I know your story. Yi Shuihan… I also know you don’t know the truth. Do you really think that girl was sent by the Collateral Branch to assassinate you…?”


  “What are you saying?” Yi Shuihan’s eyes glinted coldly.

  “Do you want to know the truth… How about it? Come and help me. In exchange, I’ll tell you the truth of the matter,” Si Xia said with a smile.

  Si Xia added, “Oh right, I hope you will take my words seriously. Perhaps you think you can interrogate me under torture and force the truth out of me… I really can’t defeat you, but I’m a lunatic. If you don’t agree, you will never know the truth. How about it?”


  Yi Shuihan fell into silence.

  It was a long while before Yi Shuihan finally nodded and said, “Alright, if your truth is greatly different from the one I know, I will help you.”


  “Deal. You are a man of your words; I trust you.” Si Xia nodded. “Do you think that girl really wanted to poison you but couldn’t bear to do it after falling in love with you, which led to your mother accidentally consuming the poisoned food?”


  “What do you mean?” Yi Shuihan asked with a frown.

  “Heh. The truth was that the girl didn’t love you at all to begin with… She was merely an emotionless sacrificial soldier trained from the time she was a child. People like her are brainwashed at a young age and won’t fall in love or be moved at all. They only know how to follow orders… Do you know? That girl wasn’t related to the Collateral Branch at all. Everything that happened was a result of the Direct Line’s schemes.”


  “Bullsh*t!”


  Jiang Ying yelled furiously.

  However, the Collateral Branch was strangely silent. They weren’t for anything like this, but Yi Shuihan doggedly chased after them and after all this trouble, it turned out to be a Direct Line scheme…


  “Clan Leader Jiang Ying, don’t be so aggravated. Allow me to tell the whole story first,” Si Xia said in good humor.

  “He’s here to mislead us! Kill him!” After Jiang Ying said that, several experts from the Direct Line were tempted to attack Si Xia.

  However, Yi Shuihan instantly stepped in front of Si Xia and forced the experts back. “Scram!”


  “Isn’t this interesting…? Back then, the Direct Line discovered Yi Shuihan and was amazed by Yi Shuihan’s martial talents. If they could obtain Yi Shuihan’s assistance, they would have double the power in making a comeback to the Independent State… Unfortunately, Yi Shuihan didn’t follow that route and never had any contact with the Direct Line… Soon, the Direct Line concocted a scheme, which was to frame the Collateral Branch using a beautiful top-notch female sacrificial soldier. The female sacrificial soldier followed the plan and feigned a chance encounter with Yi Shuihan. At that time, Yi Shuihan was experiencing his first awakening of love, so how could he escape from the hands of this perfectly trained female sacrificial soldier? Then Yi Shuihan brought the sacrificial soldier home… Later, the sacrificial soldier poisoned the food and killed his mother.”