Chapter 605: The Xue Family (Two in One)

In a rather ordinary-looking room.

There was a bed, a single quilt, and not a single other piece of furniture.

Its only unique feature was the freezing temperature.

A thick layer of biting frost coated the quilt and the surrounding walls.

Beneath the quilt lay a tall figure. His eyes were lightly shut and his expression peaceful, a faint rosiness lingering on his cheeks. He simply looked asleep. The extreme cold had been set specifically for him.

"Huu..."

Yan Jing opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of frost.

He sat up and looked at his hands.

Even though this body hadn't moved in a long time, the muscles in his hands maintained an extremely high level of vitality.

Perhaps that was the purpose of this room.

He got out of bed and stretched casually. With a mere wave of his palm, he shattered the air, leaving a massive web of pitch-black cracks suspended in the room.

'Oh?'

Yan Jing's interest was piqued.

This wasn't something an ordinary Ninth Tier could do.

With a thought, a blood-red longbow nearly as tall as a person materialized in his palm.

Aiming at the door, Yan Jing drew the bowstring back. The muscles bulged along his arms—which were slightly longer than a normal person's—as blood-red weird energy bloomed at both ends of the bow like crimson ears of wheat.

Violent weird energy instantly swept through the room.

Nine distinctly different arrows surfaced in Yan Jing's mind. The bow in his grip felt entirely fused with his arm. With a single thought, he could loose an arrow and send it exactly where he wanted.

He stared at the door as an invisible arrow formed on the string.

This arrow's ability was concealment, and it carried hundreds of different toxins.

Highly effective for both direct confrontation and assassination, it was one of the original owner's three favorite arrows.

"Bang!"

Right at that moment, the door suddenly burst open.

Yan Jing blinked, looking out.

A woman stared in absolute terror at Yan Jing, who had the bow aimed dead at her. She was so frightened she nearly collapsed to the floor.

Fortunately, the guards beside her caught her, preventing the farce from escalating.

"Third Mother,"

Yan Jing said to the woman, lowering the bow.

"Is... is... is... is that Little Mo?"

"It is."

Yan Jing nodded, his expression calm.

According to Xue Mo's memories, he had always been a man of few words.

If two words sufficed, he absolutely wouldn't use three.

Hearing Yan Jing's answer, the woman took a deep breath and almost fainted again.

Once she finally realized the sight before her was real, she waved her hand wildly.

"Where is the patriarch?! Hurry and tell the patriarch! Little Mo is awake!"

The news of Xue Mo's awakening swept through the entire Xue Family in an instant. Very soon, Xue Mo was summoned before the great patriarch of the family.

Who was also his father.

A towering figure sat in a chair, his blood-red hair flowing down like a waterfall. For some reason, two massive scars marred his otherwise flawless face, inspiring a strange sense of pity in whoever saw them.

His resolute features looked as though they were carved from the exact same mold as Xue Mo's.

The father and son hadn't seen each other in a long time. At the very first glance, Xue Yi, who was sitting in the chair, got straight to the point.

"What evil spirit are you?"

As soon as the words fell, Xue Yi unleashed the oppressive pressure of his weird energy. A tyrannical, bloody aura surged straight toward Yan Jing.

Yan Jing's expression remained perfectly natural, his eyelashes fluttering slightly in the gale.

"I am Xue Mo."

"Xue Mo is already dead!"

Inside the grand hall, there were only Xue Yi and Yan Jing.

Xue Yi's gaze darkened.

"Everyone thinks my third son is still alive, merely asleep. But I know better than anyone else that he is dead."

"He is dead," Yan Jing replied, lowering his eyes.

"The moment Jie'er was killed, he died."

At those words, a terrifying light erupted from Xue Yi's eyes.

"You think you can trick me with such a clumsy excuse?!"

He stood up. A sea of blood materialized out of thin air around him, filled with countless floating corpses. The surrounding space shifted instantly. Yan Jing's vision flashed, and he found himself staring up at a blood-red sky hung with twin blood moons, while countless fragments of earth drifted through the air.

The marks of the sun and the moon surfaced in Xue Yi's eyes, and his aura skyrocketed.

Faced with Xue Yi's furious rage, Yan Jing didn't say a word. He simply reached out and swiped a finger across his own wrist.

Drip, drop... Drip, drip, drip.

Blood so thick it was almost like a paste dripped from the gash on Yan Jing's wrist.

Every drop that hit the ground emitted a distinct scent.

It was a scent that only those from the Pure Blood Heavenly Kingdom could detect.

As the blood continued to fall, the blood-soaked domain surrounding Yan Jing slowly faded.

Eventually, the two of them found themselves back in the grand hall.

Xue Yi stared at Yan Jing, whose wound was rapidly healing. He remained silent, his expression frightfully dark.

Emotionless, Yan Jing bowed to Xue Yi.

"I will lead the Xue Family to victory in this Blood War."

Then, without looking back up at Xue Yi, he turned and left.

Xue Yi said nothing more. Resting his hands on the armrests of his chair, he tapped his fingers rhythmically, an unspeakable complexity hidden in his icy gaze.

Yan Jing walked out of the grand hall and headed straight back to his own estate.

His heart remained perfectly tranquil regarding what had just happened.

It didn't matter if Xue Yi suspected him, or even if he saw right through him.

Slashing his own wrist was his way of telling Xue Yi a simple fact.

Don't worry about who exactly was inside this body.

Just know that the blood flowing through its veins was the blood of the Xue Family.

He was a member of the Xue Family.

And the Xue Family needed him.

That was enough.

Xue Yi wouldn't touch him.

Because he was the strongest of this generation.

And what Xue Yi didn't know was that he was now even stronger than before.

Xue Mo's estate sat in the best location within the Xue Family grounds—a massive eight-courtyard manor.

As he pushed open the aged main doors, a cloud of stale dust hit his face.

Yan Jing looked around.

It looked as though no one had lived in this courtyard for a long time.

It made sense. After Xue Mo fell into his deep sleep, the family had kept his estate intact to avoid leaking news of his poor condition to the outside world, but the servants under him had likely drifted off, moving on to find other work.

Yet, as Yan Jing continued forward, a figure appeared in his line of sight.

A figure draped entirely in black cloth kneeled on one knee, gazing at Yan Jing.

He didn't speak. It wasn't out of disrespect.

It was because he was mute.

Xue Qiao.

Xue Mo's butler, secretary, commander, and personal bodyguard.

Taken in from another Domain by a ten-year-old Xue Mo when he was only five, he had obeyed Xue Mo's every word ever since.

"Rise,"

Yan Jing said calmly.

Xue Qiao stood up, turned around, and went into the house to fetch a towel for Yan Jing.

Yan Jing took the towel and wiped his forehead.

Xue Mo hated sweating.

This was his most signature habit.

"What stage is the Blood War at right now?"

The two of them walked inside, and the moment Yan Jing sat down, he asked.

Xue Qiao took out a prepared map and a battlefield ledger.

The ledger held detailed records of the current situation.

Even though Xue Mo had slept for years, the moment the Blood War began, Xue Qiao started taking meticulous notes.

It was as if he had anticipated this very day.

Yan Jing examined the current state of the Blood War.

Of the eleven children of the Xue Family participating, only nine remained, including himself.

Yan Jing stood up and tossed the ledger onto the desk, his voice chilling.

"Pure nonsense."

Xue Qiao remained motionless. It seemed that apart from Xue Mo's commands, nothing could stir his emotions.

"Spread the news of my return."

Yan Jing's expression was blank.

"Let's see how they react."

Xue Qiao nodded and turned to leave.

Soon enough, word of Xue Mo's awakening reached every faction.

Some were thrilled, some were stunned, some were terrified, and others were displeased or furious.

After sending out the news, Yan Jing did absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. He stayed home, reading books and newspapers.

This was exactly what the original owner loved to do.

Judging from his memories, his daily routine consisted solely of cultivation, reading books, reading the newspaper, and then more cultivation, reading, and newspapers...

'What a mind-numbingly boring life...'

Yan Jing complained inwardly.

But he also knew he couldn't blame the original owner.

The original owner's father, that great patriarch, had taken seven wives in total.

The original owner and his blood sister were the children of the fourth wife.

She was also the only one among the seven who had passed away.

From a young age, the original owner and his sister had been motherless children.

Before the original owner revealed his talent, the two of them had faced life-threatening danger on multiple occasions.

As a result, the original owner developed an extremely cold exterior, maintaining an intense vigilance toward everything around him.

Yan Jing read his books, flipped through the papers, and had a bowl of noodles made by Xue Qiao for dinner. Before he could finish, a knock sounded at the courtyard gate.

Xue Qiao opened the door, and two figures hurried inside.

"Third Brother!"

A blonde youth crossed the distance to Yan Jing's room in just a few strides. Seeing Yan Jing inside, he was overjoyed. But a second later, countless wind blades surged into existence around him, flying straight toward Yan Jing.

Another girl, trailing a few steps behind, darted out from the side. Her figure blurred into afterimages in the air as countless feathers cascaded from above, aiming right for Yan Jing's throat.

Yan Jing calmly ate his noodles. Slurping down a mouthful, he flicked his two chopsticks.

One shot straight through the vortex of wind in front of the blonde youth, hurtling toward his eye.

The other whipped up what looked like a raging storm in the air, sweeping away all the falling feathers before plunging toward the girl lunging at Yan Jing. Terror flooded both of their eyes.

The next second.

Smack! Smack! The chopsticks struck them squarely on the head, sending them flying backward to crash heavily into the wall.

"Have you eaten?"

Yan Jing looked at his two younger siblings.

"We've eaten, we've eaten,"

Hearing Yan Jing initiate the question, the two nodded furiously like pecking chicks, not even daring to rub their bruised foreheads.

"I haven't finished yet," Yan Jing said, his expression unchanged.

"I'll go get some chopsticks!" The youth scrambled out the door.

"I'll go pour some tea!" The girl hurried to ask Xue Qiao where the tea was kept.

"Qiao'er, not to criticize you, but my Third Brother is finally awake and you're serving him this? What nonsense!" Scolding Xue Qiao, the girl then looked up at Yan Jing with a blooming smile, her tone suddenly bright and cheerful.

"Third Brother, what temperature would you like your tea?"

Yan Jing ate his noodles and drank his tea.

The two younger siblings stood nervously to the side, not daring to speak a word. They only dared to occasionally poke each other in the back.

"It's just the two of you?"

Yan Jing wiped his mouth, his face blank.

"Second Sister is on her way. So is Fourth Sister, probably with Fifth Brother. Their Domains are a bit farther away,"

The youth rattled off the information with familiar ease.

He was the eighth sibling, and the girl was the ninth.

Since they were little, they had idolized the Xue Mo sitting in front of them. When he was around, their first reaction to any unsolvable problem was to go running to their Third Brother.

And every single time, Xue Mo stepped in and fixed it for them.

Although it always earned them a scolding afterward, it only made them remember his kindness even more.

Now that they heard Xue Mo was awake, both of them had rushed over without stopping to rest.

Listening to the youth's report, Yan Jing's expression was devoid of emotion and his tone was icy.

"Eldest Brother refuses to come."

"Sixth Brother is on Eldest Brother's side."

"Those two are no surprise."

"But can either of you tell me..."

"Why did Tenth Brother and Eleventh Sister meet their ends?"

Hearing Yan Jing's increasingly frigid tone, the two siblings didn't even dare breathe too loudly. They just kept poking each other, neither brave enough to speak.

Finally, as the younger sister, Xue Rou was the one to speak up.

"Third Brother... when you were around... you kept everyone in check... we were still amicable... but later on... without you managing things, everyone wanted to be the boss... Eighth Brother and I tried to talk them out of it, and Second Sister felt the same way, but we couldn't convince the rest of them..."

"Eldest Brother and Sixth Brother struck first. Tenth Brother and Eleventh Sister were tricked by them initially. They were supposed to form an alliance, but they turned on them right from the start..."

"By the time we realized what was happening, they were already gone."

As Xue Rou spoke, her eyes reddened.

"Second Sister got furious and said if they wanted a fight, they'd get a fight. Fourth Sister and Fifth Brother were worried about being picked off one by one by Eldest Brother and Sixth Brother, so they allied too."

"Eighth Brother and I had no choice, so we had to form an alliance as well."

"Third Brother... this family... without you..."

Xue Rou burst into tears, sobbing so hard her whole body shuddered.

Listening to Xue Rou pour her heart out, Yan Jing didn't say a word. He just stared blankly out the door.

Since he wasn't speaking, Xue Yunhe tugged at Xue Rou beside him, signaling for her to stop crying.

The room sank into silence.

It seemed as though nothing had changed since before they arrived.

Except now, instead of one person waiting, there were three.

Before long...

A knock sounded at the courtyard gate once more.

Xue Qiao went to open the door.

A tempestuous woman with bright orange hair stormed in from outside.

"Old Third!!!"

The woman bellowed at the top of her lungs, her booming voice sounding like a lioness.

"Old Third, where the hell are you?!"

Yan Jing walked out of the room and stood at the doorway, looking at her.

The woman stared back at Yan Jing.

The two locked eyes for a few seconds.

In the very next instant, they clashed head-on.

Terrifying shockwaves instantly swept through the entire courtyard.

"Come! Let your big sister see if you've rested enough after lying in bed for so long!"

The woman roared as their fists and kicks collided.

"You know full well what you promised me, Second Sister."

Yan Jing slapped his palm against her shoulder, the sheer force causing her to cough up blood.

"I promised, but didn't Eldest Brother promise too?!" Knocked back by the strike, the woman tried to counter. She threw a punch that filled the sky with flames, but sadly, it missed. "Why didn't you take Eighth, Ninth, Fourth, and Fifth with you?" Yan Jing delivered another palm strike, a bloody aura sweeping outward. Unable to withstand the force, the woman plummeted from the air and crashed onto the ground. Planting her feet firmly, the phantom of a golden lion materialized behind her. Her voice echoed with overlapping layers of heavy reverberation:

"Who the hell did I even want to look after? The only reason I bothered was because of what you told me back then! Otherwise, did you really think I didn't want to be the next patriarch?!" "That isn't what you told me back then," Yan Jing said, hovering in the air as a blood-red longbow materialized in his palm.

With a flick of his arms, he drew the bowstring back into a full crescent moon.

Seeing Yan Jing draw his bow against her, the lion phantom behind the woman vanished. Then, right in front of everyone, she burst into loud, wailing tears.