The old man frowned. He stared intently at the board and gasped, his eyes filled with disbelief. Ling Su... had actually sacrificed a vast number of her own pieces to bring her entire position... back to life!

Ling Su showed no trace of triumph, her expression as placid as ever. Yet this calm demeanor was now more infuriating than any open mockery. She said, "So, Lord Zhe, life is like a game of chess. Until the very end, who can say who will win and who will lose?"

"Hahaha, a fine ’life is like a game of chess’!" The old man shot to his feet, kicked over the board in front of him, and sneered, "And just like that, the game is over! Control... will only ever be in my hands!"

Ling Su remained unprovoked. She stood and gently stretched her slightly numb legs, then said, "You are far too arrogant, and your ambitions are too grand. In the end, your own nature will be your downfall!"

The old man gave a dark chuckle. "Are you counting on that Sword Emperor bodyguard your brother brought? Or perhaps... on your brother himself, who already possesses the strength of a Mad Sword Master?"

Ling Su looked up at the old man. "An expert at the level of a Sword Emperor—is that not enough to turn your Zhe Family upside down?"

The old man laughed arrogantly. "Miss Su, you underestimate my Zhe Family. Why don’t we... make a wager? How about it? If you lose, you will willingly marry me! Then, you will open the Ancient Ruins, and I will give your Ling Family half of what is inside! What do you say? If I lose, I, Zhe Jianye, will personally make a public apology to you. And... I will give you, Miss Su, a fifty percent stake in Seven-colored Porcelain. How does that sound?"

This was an astronomical wager! Forget half the profits of Seven-colored Porcelain; even a tenth of its profits was enough to make countless people green with envy, enough to drive them mad!

The light in Ling Su’s limpid eyes sharpened. She asked calmly, "What is it you wish to bet on?"

"Let’s bet that your little brother, and all the power he has behind him, will be no match for my Zhe Family! That in the end, he will return in utter defeat! And that you, Miss Su, will be unable to take a single step out of this Zhe Mansion! How about that? My terms are fair enough, are they not? Well, Miss Su? Do you dare?"

Ling Su sighed softly, her expression tranquil. "Even if I don’t accept, everything will happen all the same, won’t it? Nothing will change. So... I’ll take your bet. I have faith in my brother. If he could break through his Celestial Vein, he can certainly get me out of this place."

"Excellent!" Zhe Jianye smiled with arrogance. "Sometimes, overconfidence is not a good thing. We shall just... wait and see!"

Just then, a clamor erupted outside. Even from a distance, they could hear a woman’s loud wailing. She was crying her heart out, sounding like a shrew, and the noise was getting closer and closer to the room.

Zhe Jianye’s face instantly darkened, his brow deeply furrowed. Just then, the door was thrust open and a woman in her fifties barged in. In all fairness, the woman wasn’t unattractive, merely past her prime. Her behavior, however, was anything but commendable. She first shot a venomous glare at Ling Su, a look so hateful it could have set her ablaze.

Then, she wailed at Zhe Jianye, "My lord, it’s a disaster! Xiaoxing... he... he’s been beaten black and blue! Here, in Seven-colored City, someone actually dared to lay a hand on one of our Zhe Family! You must get justice for him!"

"Stop this weeping and wailing! What a disgrace!" Zhe Jianye’s brow furrowed into deep lines. He stared coldly at the woman before him, his official wife. If not for her powerful family, Zhe Jianye would have divorced this jealous shrew long ago.

The woman seemed to be somewhat afraid of Zhe Jianye. At his words, she forced her tears to stop and said through her sobs, "I don’t know where those two bastards came from! Damn them! They beat Xiaoxing’s face until it’s all swollen up! BOOHOO! How can he show his face in public now? WAHHHH!"

Annoyed by his wife’s crying, Zhe Jianye snapped, "Enough! It’s better if he doesn’t go out! At least then he won’t be an embarrassment to me!"

As he spoke, his gaze swept over to the elegant and refined Ling Su standing nearby, which only made the woman before him seem all the more unsightly. "And you! You spoil him to the high heavens every single day! Backed by the Old Master’s indulgence, you... you even turn a blind eye when that animal... p-prefers men! The Zhe Family was built on martial strength! To think that by his generation, he’d pick up the disgusting habits of those nobles! To spoil a son is to kill him! It’s good he got beaten. In fact, they went too easy on him! Now get out! Go and reflect on your mistakes together!"

The woman looked up, shot one last, incredibly venomous glare at Ling Su, and turned to leave. Just then, Zhe Jianye’s sinister voice sounded, "And don’t you be thinking about things you shouldn’t. Otherwise, even with the Old Master protecting you, and even with your powerful family backing you, I will still divorce you! Now, get out!"

The woman’s body shuddered violently, and she scurried away without daring to look back.

Zhe Jianye heaved a long sigh and turned back to Ling Su. "My apologies for that embarrassing display, Miss Su. Alas, as you can see, that woman is incorrigibly uncivilized. She couldn’t hold a candle to you. Oh, I’m a fool. To even compare her to you is an insult to you, Miss Su. It is truly the difference between heaven and earth!"

Ling Su smiled, unmoved. "Your esteemed wife must have been quite beautiful in her youth, yes? Heh, I hear my brother is the one selling those Beauty Pills. Shall I have him send one over for her?"

Zhe Jianye waved his hand dismissively. "Let’s not speak of her. Let’s not. Mentioning her just spoils the mood!"

At that moment, a gray-robed figure appeared like a ghost, whispered a few words into Zhe Jianye’s ear, then vanished in a flash.

Zhe Jianye gave Ling Su a peculiar look, then sneered. "Your brother certainly has some nerve. No wonder so many call him arrogant and tyrannical. He comes to Seven-colored City, and the first thing on his mind isn’t how to save you, but to get into a fight out of sheer hot-headedness! It seems he’s not as clever as you made him out to be!"

A sarcastic smile touched Ling Su’s lips. "And I was just wondering who would dare to hit your precious son. Weren’t you just saying it’s a good thing he got hit? I think so, too! In fact, I think my brother showed great restraint. Someone with your son’s personality, if they had the power to crush their opponent, would have surely taken a life. My brother not ending the Zhe Family’s bloodline right then and there was an act of extreme rationality, wouldn’t you say?"

"Hmph!"

For the first time, Zhe Jianye let his impatience show before Ling Su. He snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves, and stormed away.

No matter what, Zhe Xiaoxing was his only son. Though the Zhe Family was powerful, its direct lineage had always been small. The side branches, in contrast, had flourished like spreading trees, their power growing immense. Zhe Jianye himself was an only son with a few sisters, and now, in Zhe Xiaoxing’s generation, he too was an only son.

Zhe Jianye had several daughters, all of whom were already married, so this one son was spoiled rotten. This was especially true of the Zhe Family’s Old Master. The previous few generations of the Zhe Family, a reclusive clan, had all gone into seclusion to cultivate, paying no mind to worldly affairs. As a result, Zhe Jianye made most of the decisions for the Zhe Family now. The only exception was his son; in that matter, he had little say, as the Old Master doted on his grandson so excessively that he wouldn’t let Zhe Jianye interfere at all.

And Zhe Jianye didn’t dare to disobey. It wasn’t just because the Old Master was his father. There was a more important reason, one that also explained why Zhe Jianye was so confident in the face of Ling Xiao’s Sword Emperor bodyguard: the Zhe Family’s Old Master... was also a Sword Emperor!

The Old Master alone was the powerful pillar supporting the entire Zhe Family. No matter how capable the side branches became or how well they developed, none of them could shake the standing of Zhe Jianye’s direct lineage in the slightest.

However, the Old Master was over two hundred years old, and his health had begun to decline. Zhe Jianye was constantly searching for ways to extend his father’s life. This was because Zhe Xiaoxing was too much of a disappointment. While possessing the cultivation of a Sixth Rank Mad Swordsman at his age was certainly enough to be called a genius in the Mortal World...

...Zhe Jianye knew in his heart that the Mortal World and the world of the reclusive clans were two entirely different planes of existence.

In fact, Zhe Jianye knew many things that even most of the other reclusive clans were unaware of. For instance, why had so many astonishingly brilliant experts from those clans vanished without a trace after reaching the Saint Tier? While Zhe Jianye couldn’t claim to know the complete truth, he had gleaned a few clues.

That was why his son was a constant source of grief for him. Otherwise, at over seventy years old and with the cultivation of a Sixth Rank Demon Sword Master, why would he be scheming to get his hands on a young woman instead of focusing on his own training? For several years now, Zhe Jianye had been considering a solution: if he took a few more wives and kept producing children, eventually he would sire a satisfactory... son!

Ling Su was the first woman in many years who had truly stirred his heart. It was just a shame her tongue was so venomous! But until he had another son, Zhe Jianye couldn’t allow his only one to meet with any sort of accident.

So, he prepared to go warn that little beast to behave himself for the next few days. ’You’re no match for that Ling Xiao,’ he’d tell him. ’And what’s more, Ling Xiao cannot die! In the future, he’ll be your uncle...’

Ling Su watched Zhe Jianye’s retreating back and sneered. She had finally managed to chase that tiresome old man away. But then, a worried expression clouded her features. ’Ling Xiao, oh Ling Xiao, why did you have to come?’ she thought. ’Even though I have no freedom here, that old man can’t do anything to me. But if you’ve come, and if he captures you... what am I supposed to do then?’

...

Song Mingyue looked at Ling Xiao apologetically. "Brother Ling, I was too impulsive. I’ve caused trouble for you."

Ling Xiao, however, suddenly grabbed her hand. Song Mingyue instinctively tried to pull away, but she heard him whisper, "Shh, not a sound. We’ll leave through the back."

Song Mingyue’s expression grew serious. "To the Zhe Mansion?" she whispered. "What about Tiger?"

"First, we scout it out," Ling Xiao whispered. "Then we’ll decide what to do."