Chapter Ninety: Facing a Powerful Enemy Once More

Three minutes had barely passed since Xiao Ye left when Chen Ning's grievously wounded body was quickly discovered. The waiters who had been there moments earlier were now pale with terror—the degree of beating he had suffered was enough to frighten even the most ruthless of assassins. The Chen family guards, arriving belatedly, hurriedly transported him to the First People's Hospital of Jianghai City.

The hospital boasted the finest medical equipment in the city, and more importantly, it had some connection to the Chen family. It counted as one of the properties the Chen family owned here.

Chen Ning had suffered a comminuted fracture of his thigh bone, and his face bore multiple wounds. Xiao Ye had struck with devastating brutality—he had come within a hair's breadth of beating the man to death!

The moment the hospital director laid eyes on Chen Ning, he issued a critical illness notice and ordered immediate surgery. Three hours after Chen Ning was wheeled into the operating room, the head of the Chen family, Chen Jiashen, strode into the hospital with several attendants in tow. After getting a general picture of the situation from the vice director, he sat down with the others outside the operating room doors.

Chen Ning was an illegitimate son. His mother had passed away from illness in his early years, and before her death, she had entrusted the child to Chen Jiashen. Though Chen Jiashen was often displeased with this youngest son in daily life, frequently venting his frustrations through scolding and beating, the boy was nonetheless his own flesh and blood. Seeing him beaten into critical condition, with life hanging in the balance, weighed heavily on his heart.

"Find out who did this, immediately! How dare someone so reckless lay a hand on my son, Chen Jiashen's boy!" Chen Jiashen thundered furiously, speaking to the young man beside him.

The young man nodded, then walked out of the hospital to begin searching for information about Xiao Ye.

...

Meanwhile, Xiao Ye had left the Green Island Hotel and gone straight to the ward. Qin Xue'er still needed someone to look after her, so of course he had to return. He first recounted recent events to Chi Long and instructed him to investigate, then walked into the ward.

Qin Xue'er's condition had stabilized somewhat. Fortunately, he had arrived in time—otherwise, the hallucinogen that Ye Gang had administered would have damaged the normal functions of her nervous system. This also explained why Xiao Ye had used such brutal methods to beat Ye Gang.

Seeing Qin Xue'er's rosy complexion, he felt considerably more at ease. But little did he know, danger was closing in step by step.

...

At nightfall, Jianghai City bus station.

A strikingly handsome man stepped out of the station, drawing the sideways glances of women all around him.

"Handsome, could we exchange contact info and get to know each other?" A heavily made-up woman, seeing that the man was alone, plucked up her courage and approached him.

"Sure."

The woman's face froze instantly. The man grinned, and beneath his handsome exterior emerged a dry, rasping voice.

She tried to turn and leave, but found her body completely immobile. The next second, she was pulled into his embrace, his lips pressed against hers in a kiss. Her expression was one of sheer terror as she struggled desperately to twist away!

But it was useless. After a long moment, she collapsed limply to the ground, leaving only the man, his face alight with excitement.

"Ah, the taste of a young woman is sweet indeed. Would've been even better if she were still a virgin!" The man walked off, and the patrol officers nearby, sensing something amiss, rushed to the woman's side.

By then, however, her breath had already ceased entirely.

When they looked up, the man had already hailed a taxi and driven off in style.

Inside the taxi, the man pulled out a photograph—it was unmistakably Xiao Ye.

"This brat is supposed to be stronger than a ninth-rank master? How is that possible? I don't believe it at all!" The man curled his lips, his expression one of complete indifference.

This man, named Wang Tianhai, had been hired by Yu Han to avenge his four disciples.

The news of the four men's gruesome deaths had only just reached Longhu Mountain. Though Yu Han was the sect leader of a prestigious orthodox school, many among his acquaintances practiced evil arts. He knew well that the matter of Xiao Ye could no longer be resolved unless he acted personally. But he was currently bound by important duties and could not descend the mountain—this Wang Tianhai was the one sent to handle it for him.

Indeed, the dark arts Wang Tianhai cultivated were unpredictable and his methods utterly ruthless! Especially so—countless innocent lives had perished at his hands to forge the unblemished shell he now wore!

By now, Wang Tianhai had already gathered detailed information on Xiao Ye. Arriving at the hospital, his handsome, refined appearance was bound to draw considerable attention. To avoid alerting his prey, he deliberately took a longer route and rode the elevator down to the morgue.

The place was thick with yin energy, and normal people generally wanted nothing to do with staying there. But for Wang Tianhai, the heavier the yin energy, the more he liked it.

Wang Tianhai knelt on the ground and began to cast his dark arts.

...

Xiao Ye was keeping Qin Xue'er company with light conversation. It was getting late, and she was preparing to sleep. He thought he would tidy up the room, raised his head, and was about to leave.

Just as Xiao Ye glanced toward the door, a man's face was pressed against the glass window. But the moment it saw Xiao Ye's movement, it vanished in the next instant.

No matter how brief the moment, Xiao Ye saw it clearly—it was a head floating in midair!

"Xue'er, I'm stepping out for a bit. I'll be right back."

Opening the ward door, Xiao Ye immediately felt a wave of icy cold rushing toward him, scattering in all directions along the corridor. He looked toward the elevator—its floor indicator showed it descending to the third floor below.

And that was the location of the morgue!

For an ordinary person, this would have been enough to make their legs go weak with fear. But Xiao Ye merely let out a cold snort and stepped into the elevator alone.

As for the head floating in midair—Xiao Ye, having spent so many years at the border, had heard of such things before. Dark arts, while rarely encountered in daily life, were practiced by a surprising number of people. At night, in the morgue—it was the perfect time and place for the enemy to strike.

What Xiao Ye hadn't expected, however, was that his opponent would be so brazen.

The elevator doors slid open slowly, and a chill wind blew in from outside.

"These crooked tricks of yours won't work on me. Come out and talk, and maybe I'll let you walk away alive!" Xiao Ye said coldly toward the space beyond the elevator, but all that came back was his own echo.

"I told you, they don't work!" Xiao Ye's eyes flashed with sharp light. He turned and grabbed at the empty air—though his hand caught nothing, it genuinely seemed as though something was in his grasp!

"You... you can see the spirit I released?" Wang Tianhai stepped out from the darkness of the corner, his expression one of disbelief.

Hearing Wang Tianhai's dry, rasping voice and seeing his smooth, flawless skin—such an abnormal combination—Xiao Ye could roughly guess that this man's dark arts had been cultivated to a considerable level.

"Who sent you?" Xiao Ye narrowed his eyes, a cold glint passing through them.

"When you're on the road to the Yellow Springs, someone will tell you!" Wang Tianhai flatly refused to believe that Xiao Ye could see his spirit. How could that be? The spirit was visible to no one but himself!

He released all the spirits of various shapes he carried and sent them attacking Xiao Ye from several tricky angles. One by one, Xiao Ye dodged them—but he failed to notice that a spirit in the shape of a vicious dog was approaching him from behind.

The wicked spirit slammed into Xiao Ye's body. But in an instant, a flash of golden light blazed, and the vicious dog spirit was annihilated on the spot! Xiao Ye, meanwhile, looked as if nothing had happened at all.

"You... just who exactly are you?" Wang Tianhai's eyes widened in horror. When the spirit touched Xiao Ye, he should have been struck by his spell and had his mind controlled! But instead, not only had the spirit vanished, Xiao Ye remained completely unaffected!

"I already told you, crooked tricks don't work on me!" Xiao Ye dispatched the last spirit beside him, speaking to Wang Tianhai.

Seeing that Xiao Ye was truly strange, Wang Tianhai dared not be careless. He immediately summoned his strongest wicked spirit. This spirit had been taken from an unborn infant, cut from a pregnant woman's womb by Wang Tianhai himself, and raised with his own vital blood. The moment it appeared, the air in the entire morgue turned even colder!

Xiao Ye could feel the resentment emanating from the spirit, condensed into tangible form—truly unlike the previous spirits.

"You still don't understand. How can evil ever overcome righteousness?" Xiao Ye drew a dagger from his bosom and assumed an attacking stance.

"Playing tricks!" Wang Tianhai sneered, though panic was churning wildly in his heart. He drove the spirit to charge at Xiao Ye.

The spirit let out a shriek and scuttled toward Xiao Ye on all fours with terrifying speed. The dagger in Xiao Ye's hand, sensing the spirit's approach, began to hum and vibrate—the ringing sound of singing steel! At the same time, a brilliant golden light blazed forth, dazzling to the eye!

Seeing this sudden anomaly, the spirit halted in its tracks, scrambling frantically back. Under the dire circumstances, its instinct for self-preservation had kicked in.

But Xiao Ye had no intention of giving it a chance to escape. He swung his arm sharply, and the dagger flew toward the spirit and Wang Tianhai!

The spirit hadn't crawled more than a few steps before the dagger pierced straight through it!

"With that dagger of yours, you think you can hurt my wicked spirit? Utter delusion!" Wang Tianhai laughed wildly. Though the spirit's cowardice displeased him, the creature's body was made of pure resentment—ordinary weapons couldn't harm it in the slightest!

But the next second, Wang Tianhai, mid-laugh, sprayed a fountain of blood from his mouth and went pale as a ghost!

"How is this possible!" His face twisted in fury, his handsome features contorting and breaking apart, his eyes filled not only with shock but with despair and unwillingness.

No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't understand how the man before him had managed to hurt him. His body crumpled to the ground uncontrollably as the golden blade returned to Xiao Ye's side.

"Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me!"

"Who sent you?" Xiao Ye said coldly.

"That bastard Yu Han made me do it! It had nothing to do with me—I'm a pitiable man too!" Wang Tianhai put on the air of a victim, pleading with Xiao Ye.

Though Xiao Ye didn't know Yu Han, hearing Wang Tianhai's words, he could piece together the picture well enough.

"I won't waste words. The dark arts you practice are crimes against heaven and reason!"

"So die!" The moment the words left his mouth, the dagger in Xiao Ye's hand plunged straight into Wang Tianhai's heart!

"No!"

Wang Tianhai was consumed with regret. If he had cultivated his dark arts further, he might have achieved the legendary state of immortality! But now Xiao Ye had stabbed him dead in a single stroke, and even his soul would never know reincarnation.

Why? Why had he gotten himself involved in a matter like this!