Madam Hua fell to her knees with a thud. "No, there’s no need," she said in a panic. She could have continued to deny it, but she knew Ye Xiu had a Forced Confession Potion. She also knew he could use acupuncture to force a confession, and even more so, that Chloe could hypnotize her directly. Continuing to deny it would accomplish nothing except to make Ye Xiu even angrier.

"Gong Jin, Madam Hua is your subordinate. Take her back and find out if anyone else has defected to Second Dog," Ye Xiu said expressionlessly.

"And after I find out?" Gong Jin asked.

"What’s the use of keeping an ungrateful wolf?" Ye Xiu said coldly.

Gong Jin’s delicate body trembled, and she hurriedly left with Madam Hua.

Mo Luo and Chloe fell as silent as cicadas in winter. They knew how much Ye Xiu despised traitors, so they could guess how furious he was right now. Still, they couldn’t help but admire him. He had accurately suspected Madam Hua based on a single fact: that Second Dog didn’t know the three Du Long brothers were still alive. Such keen intuition made them feel inadequate in comparison.

"Chloe, we haven’t had dinner yet. Come on, I’ll treat you to barbecue and beer," Qin Qing said at that moment.

Chloe was stunned. Is the Young Mistress having memory problems from overthinking? We already ate dinner before we came here.

But on second thought, she suddenly understood Qin Qing’s intention. Qin Qing knew Ye Xiu was in a bad mood and wanted to take him out for barbecue and beer to soothe his temper. However, since she and Ye Xiu were in the middle of a "cold war," she was too embarrassed to ask him directly.

So, Chloe said, "Alright! Oh, Young Master, would you like to join us?"

Qin Qing stood with her side to Ye Xiu, stealing glances at his expression from the corner of her eye. She was hoping he would shamelessly tag along.

Of course, Ye Xiu wasn’t going to refuse. He was just about to agree when his phone suddenly rang.

It was An Dongye.

Ye Xiu was startled. Has An Dongye returned?

He quickly answered the call.

"Little Bro, I’m back, right here in Guoyang. Let me ask you, can you really cure the Dongfang Family’s Blood Poison?" An Dongye’s voice was hushed, as if he was making the call in secret.

"Of course. I’m completely confident," Ye Xiu said.

"Little Bro, I’m telling you, don’t bluff. The people who came to Guoyang with me this time include that pretentious prick Dong Fangbai, my master, and five senior martial siblings. If you’re just boasting and can’t cure their Blood Poison, they’ll kill you."

"I really am confident," Ye Xiu said assuredly.

"I’ve booked a room at the Hanjin International Hotel and I’m on my way there now. Hurry up, and we’ll have dinner together."

"How about I find you tomorrow? I’m not free tonight," Ye Xiu said. Nangong Yue and the other six are still waiting outside. I can’t possibly take them with me.

"Seriously, Little Bro, have you no sense? If you don’t come, we won’t have the money to pay the bill!"

Ye Xiu was speechless. Heh, if you just wanted me to foot the bill, you should have just said so!

After hanging up, Ye Xiu said to Qin Qing and Chloe, "An Dongye’s here, along with his master and senior martial siblings. Let’s go meet them together."

Qin Qing pretended to ignore him and gave Chloe a meaningful look.

Chloe quickly agreed, "Yes, of course!"

At that moment, Jiao Fuping timidly asked, "Um, I’ve told you everything you wanted to know. You said you’d spare my life... Can I... can I go now?"

Ye Xiu ignored him, leading Qin Qing and Chloe out of the presidential suite.

Mo Luo stared coldly at Jiao Fuping. "The Young Master promised not to kill you, but I made no such promise."

With that, he killed Jiao Fuping with a single palm strike.

Qin Qing and Chloe went back to the car to wait for Ye Xiu, while he went to the parking lot with one of Mo Luo’s subordinates.

"Big Brother Ye, is your meeting over? Who is this?" Nangong Yue asked when she and the others saw Ye Xiu return with a stranger.

"The meeting is going to be long," Ye Xiu fibbed. "I estimate it won’t be over until at least ten. I just ducked out during a break to let you all know. This person is a friend of mine. Follow him to the supermarket to get some food and drinks for your families in the unfinished housing complex, then deliver it to them. I’ll come find you after my meeting is over."

When Nangong Yue and the others heard that Ye Xiu was still thinking about their hungry families in the middle of his meeting, they were deeply moved.

Nangong Yue said, "But we were ordered to protect you. If we leave, what will you do if you’re in danger?"

The others all chimed in to agree.

"Don’t worry. With my strength, if I want to escape, no one in Guoyang can kill me," Ye Xiu reassured them. "Oh, and when you go shopping, don’t hold back on my account. Buy whatever you want."

Seeing Ye Xiu so confident, Nangong Yue and the other six didn’t insist. In their minds, with Ye Xiu’s strength surpassing that of a War God, not even the Dragon Lord could kill him if he decided to flee.

After watching the van drive off into the distance, Ye Xiu finally took Qin Qing and Chloe to the Hanjin International Hotel.

Just as they arrived, they saw An Dongye standing at the hotel entrance with four freakish-looking individuals. Ye Xiu, Qin Qing, and Chloe were startled by the four of them.

What kind of genetically modified species are these?

"Little Bro!" An Dongye shouted upon seeing the three of them, waving his hand. "Over here! Over here!"

Damn it!

The three of them hurried over before An Dongye’s shouting made their group the center of the hotel’s attention.

"Are you Ye Xiu?"

The one who spoke was a man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties. He was about 1.7 meters tall, with a square-shaped head, a pair of shiny leather shoes on his feet, and a sword in his hand. His aura was bizarrely rustic, and his fashion sense was a mismatched mess. However, his eyes held unconcealed hostility, and his voice was utterly devoid of warmth.

"Who is he?" Ye Xiu asked An Dongye, ignoring the man.

"He’s my master, Dongfang Chaonan," An Dongye introduced.

Oh? So this is the leader of the Dongfang Family’s reformist faction. Whoever gave him that name must not only be uncultured but also have a terrible sense of direction. Can the east actually face south?

"I am Ye Xiu," he finally replied to Dongfang Chaonan.

"Was it you who killed Jiao Fuping?" Dongfang Chaonan continued to ask.

"That’s right," Ye Xiu nodded.

"Dazhuang, kill him," Dongfang Chaonan ordered, his voice seething with killing intent.

Beside him, one of the freakish-looking men made a move to attack Ye Xiu. He was short, barely 1.5 meters tall, with a sharp, monkey-like face and a body so thin he looked malnourished. Despite this, he was carrying a two-meter-long, unsheathed great-blade.

"Wait!" An Dongye cried out in shock, quickly stepping in to stop him. "Master, Ye Xiu is my Little Bro! He’s here to help us! What do you mean by telling Eldest Brother to kill him?"

"He killed your fiancé, Jiao Fuping, and ruined the marriage alliance between the Dongfang Family and the Medicine King Valley. He deserves to die," Dongfang Chaonan said with a cold face.

"Jiao Fuping deserved to die!" An Dongye said angrily. "Besides, he was the one who tried to kill my Little Bro first! My Little Bro only killed him in self-defense. You can’t blame him for that!"

"I don’t care about any of that. He killed Jiao Fuping, and for that, he must die," Dongfang Chaonan said, his tone brutishly unreasonable.