"Yes."

Xu Ke forced a bitter smile. "I don't know where he came from either. All I know is that he stepped in to save me."

"Strange..."

Hearing this, a hint of suspicion appeared on Duan Chongfeng's face. "Could this person just have been passing by?"

Despite saying so, Duan Chongfeng absolutely did not believe the black-clad elder was unrelated to Xu Ke. Furthermore, the elder's parting words about not being able to stay in Tianhai were quite questionable.

"Perhaps..." Xu Ke's expression was inscrutable.

He still remembered being on the verge of unconsciousness that morning and hearing the old man say someone had sent him for protection. Xu Ke couldn't be sure who it was, which is why he didn't tell Duan Chongfeng the whole truth. Several answers flashed through his mind, the most likely being that his master had sent someone. But he clearly remembered his master had always been a loner...

Unable to figure it out, Xu Ke decided to let it go.

"What happened today?" Duan Chongfeng asked, changing the subject.

Xu Ke considered for a moment. "After I left the clinic, they lured me into an alley."

"Chang Yi, Sun Luo, Uncle Qiu, Ye Dexian... they all showed up."

Duan Chongfeng's expression darkened. "That bunch of bastards really has some nerve."

"But that old man in black told me you injured three of them... Is that true?" As he spoke, Duan Chongfeng's face was a mixture of awe and disbelief.

"Sort of, but I paid a heavy price for it," Xu Ke said with a wry smile.

Imperial Tomb Relics were already difficult to find, but a ring containing Dragon Essence was rarer still. He had indeed paid a steep price this time.

After getting Xu Ke's confirmation, Duan Chongfeng gasped. "What price did you pay? Will there be any aftereffects?" he asked hurriedly.

"No aftereffects. I just need to recover from my injuries."

Duan Chongfeng's eyes widened in disbelief. "What kind of method increases your combat power to such a degree without any side effects? You're cheating, bro!"

Feeling helpless, Xu Ke touched his nose with his right hand. "But I'm still seriously injured, and besides, someone had to save me."

"Get real! Did you actually think you could kill all four of them?" Duan Chongfeng was somewhat speechless.

He asked himself, if he were to face four Innate Initial Stage opponents with more combat experience than him, he'd be lucky to escape, let alone counterattack. And here was Xu Ke, acting as if he had suffered a great loss, which nearly made Duan Chongfeng faint from exasperation. The nerve of him, acting like he lost out when he'd clearly won!

Xu Ke smiled. "I did entertain the thought."

"Stop talking nonsense," Duan Chongfeng said, shaking his head.

Just then, as if remembering something, Xu Ke said, "Brother Duan, you'd better investigate the people at the clinic."

"What's wrong?" Duan Chongfeng was taken aback.

"Only the people at the clinic knew I was going to the metro station. The moment I left, the Ye Family's people blocked the overpass, forcing me into the alley so they could make their move."

"Someone on the renovation crew at the clinic must have been bought off," Xu Ke said gravely.

Duan Chongfeng's face turned pale with shock. "They were the ones who set you up? Zhao Chengyang, that bastard..."

He had assumed Xu Ke was caught in a carefully laid ambush, but it turned out to be a problem with the people he himself had hired.

Then, Duan Chongfeng's eyes flew open, his expression changing drastically. He bellowed to the outside, "Duan Yi, send people to Zhao Chengyang's house and cut him off!"

He was afraid Zhao Chengyang was about to flee.

Duan Yi moved immediately.

Duan Chongfeng's expression was grim. He looked at Xu Ke with remorse. "Sorry, I..."

"Brother Duan, don't blame yourself. It was unavoidable. It wasn't someone from the Dapeng Trade Society, so you don't need to apologize," Xu Ke said with a wave of his hand.

Seeing this, Duan Chongfeng sighed with a complex look but said nothing more. Their relationship had progressed beyond the need for excessive, polite apologies.

A moment later, Duan Jia came in carrying food, followed by a sullen-faced Duan Yi.

"Boss, he got away," Duan Yi reported.

Duan Chongfeng wasn't surprised. "Find him. That motherfucker was born a traitor, and I won't tolerate him."

"Yes! I already had Xiao Liuzi and the others start the search on our way back," Duan Yi nodded.

Although he often didn't understand what Duan Chongfeng was saying, he never dropped the ball when it counted.

"Good." Duan Chongfeng nodded, then looked at Xu Ke. "Should we inform your wife about this?"

Xu Ke hesitated, glancing around. "Where's my phone?"

Duan Jia pulled a phone with a shattered screen from a cabinet. It had been smashed during the fight.

"Thanks." Xu Ke took the phone and turned it on. There were a few messages, but they were all unimportant.

"It's still better to inform your wife. I know you don't want her to worry..." Seeing Xu Ke's hesitation, Duan Chongfeng immediately added, "But I've received news that Ye Fan plans to go abroad. His plan was definitely to violate the Martial Alliance's rules by kidnapping you and handing you over to Wong Ting before fleeing the country."

"Now that the plan has failed, he'll definitely try to escape."

"If your Wang Family doesn't act quickly and follow the Martial Alliance's procedures to get his passport confiscated, he'll slip away."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ke's expression changed instantly.

He could not possibly let Ye Fan leave the country so easily.

「Ye Family.」

"It failed? You're telling me it failed?" Ye Fan was furious, on the verge of frenzy.

When he hung up the video call, he thought Uncle Qiu and the others had victory in the bag.

Instead, what greeted him was a disheveled Uncle Qiu with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, clearly having taken a severe beating from Xu Ke.

"My apologies, Young Master. A powerful expert assisted Xu Ke, and we were no match for him," Uncle Qiu said apologetically. "If Lord Taiqing were here..."

"If I could find him, would I have needed the four of you?" Ye Fan roared. "Besides, didn't you say it yourself? 'It's just dealing with a nobody, one of you is more than enough.' So what happened now?"

Ye Taiqing was their Ye Family's Innate Great Perfection Expert, but unfortunately, he had left Tianhai on business at the beginning of the year and had yet to return. Even if Ye Taiqing were present, Ye Fan would never ask him to deal with Xu Ke.

Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut? What kind of ridiculous logic was that!

Chastened, Uncle Qiu could only bow his head meekly. "I'm sorry, Young Master..."

Ye Fan was about to rage further when a voice cut in.

"Enough!"

Ye Yunfeng walked out of the study, his face dark and gloomy.

Ye Fan glanced at his father and dared not speak another word.

Ye Yunfeng stared fixedly at his son, saying to Uncle Qiu without even looking at him, "Uncle Qiu, you've worked hard. Go and rest for now."

Uncle Qiu bowed. "Yes."

"But try to remember who the expert helping Xu Ke was and investigate it."

"As for finding the traitor, leave that to Chong'er," Ye Yunfeng added indifferently.

"Yes!"

Uncle Qiu departed.

Once they were alone, Ye Yunfeng immediately reprimanded his son. "Venting your anger on a subordinate after a failure? How improper!"

"Sorry, Dad..." Ye Fan didn't dare to argue.

"You're going abroad soon. You must be careful every step of the way. It's not like Tianhai out there. If something happens, your father won't be able to help you from so far away," Ye Yunfeng said, his gaze intense and his tone grave.

But Ye Fan heard the concern in his words and lowered his head in silence.

"Alright, start packing immediately. Knowing the Wang Family's efficiency, they'll probably make a move today."

"The next few days will be the most critical, so leave Tianhai in a couple of days," Ye Yunfeng instructed at once.

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