"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Miaoqiu said with her head lowered, her heart beginning to panic, fearing that Mei Ruyan’s secret would be discovered.

"Heh, how could you not know? She’s your sister, after all. She only returned to the Xu Family once before, and it made your family extremely displeased. But now she’s suddenly come back with you to Luoyan Dock at such a critical time—don’t you think it raises suspicions?"

The Second Elder spoke leisurely, gazing at Miaoqiu’s conflicted expression as though he was savoring it.

"Furthermore, we also know that Mei Ruyan and Lin Tian have an ambiguous relationship. Rumor has it that they’re lovers. Their sudden appearance—can you really say it has nothing to do with the Xu Family?"

Xu Miaoxiu fell silent. With all this evidence piling up, there was no point in denying it.

This wasn’t a court; there was no judge. Even if the elders couldn’t produce irrefutable evidence, any clear-eyed person could see that the Xu Family was definitely involved, and in a very critical role at that!

"Hmm! Bring Mei Ruyan up here!"

Thud...

The heavy door of the Assembly Hall opened, and two disciples from the family alliance entered, supporting a woman dressed in black leather.

They then placed her directly on the cold floor.

At that moment, Mei Ruyan was unconscious, her complexion deathly pale, and her lips devoid of color, as if she had fallen gravely ill.

"Ruyan!"

Seeing this scene, Miaoqiu’s limp body suddenly found strength. She lifted her heavy legs and trudged over to Mei Ruyan, propping her body against her own chest.

"What did you do to her?" Miaoqiu glared at the elders in the hall, her eyes, usually filled with charm, now brimming with intense anger.

"What did we do to her? Haha, this young girl looks quite attractive; saying such things might easily lead to misunderstandings. You want to know what happened to her? Check her pulse yourself. We are all martial artists, we should have some medical skills, right?" The Sixth Elder teased with a smile.

Miaoqiu snorted softly, took Mei Ruyan’s hand, and felt her pulse, quietly sensing it.

The pulse was weak, extremely feeble. This was a sign of both blood and energy deficiency, which, if severe, could indeed be life-threatening.

Mei Ruyan’s current condition wasn’t serious; she only needed rest, and in time, she would recover.

This was due to over-exhaustion. The alliance hadn’t done anything to her, but rather... she had given too much as the eye of the Array.

It must be understood that ’Fox Words Bewitching the Masses’ is the Xu Family’s foremost Array. Besides needing numerous supplementary materials, the eye of the Array is the most crucial. The stronger the eye, the stronger the entire Array. If the eye weakened, the opposite was true.

Mei Ruyan hadn’t trained; she only had an excellent natural bone structure, but that was all.

She was still an ordinary person, unable to control the entire Array, serving merely as its eye. The one actually manipulating the entire array was Miaoqiu.

Miaoqiu understood Mei Ruyan’s condition very well, so she didn’t dare to drive the Array too forcefully, or even use it for long.

If the limits were surpassed, one might ’sacrifice oneself for the Array’ at any time. Although doing so would push the Array to its extremes, it clearly wasn’t worth the price.

She had already calculated Mei Ruyan’s limits, so how did it come to this... 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Now do you understand why? It’s not that we’ve done anything to this young girl, it’s your own folly." The Sixth Elder laughed, "Oh, by the way, many people here might not know yet? This young girl has the ’Enchantment Physique,’ just like that old vixen from their family hundreds of years ago, naturally born with allure."

Swoosh...

With those words, aside from the Sixth and Second Elders, the entire room was in an uproar, showing expressions of disbelief.

"Enchantment Physique, no wonder she hasn’t been in the Xu Family all these years. Probably afraid of being discovered, huh? Too bad, she got exposed after all." The First Elder, usually taciturn, sneered, "Just like that old fox, another troublesome thing! Kill her!"

"No!" Miaoqiu immediately hugged Mei Ruyan tightly, as if to absorb her into her own body.

The thing she feared most had happened!

She still remembered the fate of the ancestor back then, branded as a demon, one hunted by all! Eleven families all sought to eradicate the Xu Family, but because of the ’Fox Words Bewitching the Masses’ Array, they never succeeded.

However, the ancestor also sacrificed herself to the Array, and along with her fall, numerous experts from the other eleven families perished.

From that battle onward, the Xu Family’s reputation soared, becoming a family almost no one dared to provoke!

All because of just one person—the ancestor of the Xu Family!

And now, another such person had appeared, with the same physique, the same natural allure. If allowed to grow, she would be a huge threat.

The best way to suppress this danger was to nip it in the bud!

The Xu Family was indeed afraid of such an occurrence, so they preferred to let Mei Ruyan stay among the common people rather than forcibly bring her back.

It wasn’t to help her; it was to harm her! And even the entire Xu Family could be harmed!

"Heh, who do you think you are? Do you think just because you say no, it means no? A demonic girl who hasn’t matured yet—if not killed now, then when?"

The First Elder was filled with killing intent, his aura quietly spreading, pressing towards Miaoqiu and Mei Ruyan through the air.

This aura was countless times stronger than that of the Second Elder. Before it fully descended, Miaoqiu was forced to spat out another mouthful of blood! Mei Ruyan’s face grew even paler! Breathing became irregular, with the risk of suffocation at any moment!

The difference in Inner Strength between the First and Second Elders was like that between clouds and mud! They weren’t even in the same realm!

Miaoqiu felt that this old man could kill her in her prime state with just a flick of his wrist!

"First Elder, stop!"

Xu Bai Rou’s voice resounded again. This time, she dared not use the Charm Technique on the First Elder, as the backlash alone could severely injure her, an act of recklessness!

Yet, the First Elder seemed not to hear, unmoved.

Boom...

Suddenly, another wave of Inner Strength appeared in the hall, counteracting the First Elder’s, relieving much of the pressure on Miaoqiu and Mei Ruyan.

However, there was a huge gap between the two Inner Strength fluctuations as well.

"Hmm?"

The First Elder suddenly turned his head, his eyes like eagle’s eyes, staring at Xu Bai Rou, frowning, and asking, "Do you also wish to die?"

The First Elder was such a person, his murderous intent nurtured on the battlefield was extremely heavy, plus, with his immensely powerful ability, ordinary people dared not provoke him, let alone go against him.

Let alone someone like Xu Bai Rou, who dared to oppose him head-on!

Boom...

Suddenly, the First Elder’s killing intent intensified even more. A wave of Inner Strength, like a raging storm, crushed all of Xu Bai Rou’s defenses, engulfing her entirely.

"Pfft..."

A smear of blood trickled from the corner of Xu Bai Rou’s mouth.