In a spacious and luxurious room.

Su Hongli, completely naked, sat on the floor with her arms crossed over her chest. She stared expressionlessly at the man before her. His eyes were bloodshot, and his body was drenched in sweat.

There was no hatred or fear in her eyes, only a profound calm.

The man's name was Duan Chunfeng, the current head of the Duan Family and her husband.

Years ago, the death of his first wife had caused Duan Chunfeng to suffer a mental breakdown, and he developed a psychological illness. Whenever he got angry, he would fly into a rage.

And when he did, he would vent his fury by abusing women.

Su Hongli said flatly, "Are you done hitting me?"

Duan Chunfeng let out a cold snort and dropped the blood-stained whip from his hand.

After his outburst, his mind had returned to normal.

"I told you again and again not to provoke the Holy Boi Religion, but look at you... you ran straight to Africa to bloodbath one of their churches!

"You had just stepped off the plane today, and they immediately called me, demanding your life by name!

"Do you have any idea how much money I had to pay to settle this mess for you?!

"And another thing, Su Hongli, I'm warning you, stay away from Luo Xiu!

"I won't bother with what happened between you and that boy toy before. The Holy Boi Religion won't let him go anyway. He doesn't have many days left!"

Su Hongli stood up, picked up her clothes, and slowly began to dress. "Who contacted you?" she asked.

Duan Chunfeng looked at her and sneered, "You're truly contemptible, aren't you? Even now, you're still trying to fish for information from me?

"Do you really think those heretics would contact me openly and honorably?

"Su Hongli, if you don't want your entire family to die, you'd better stay at home for the next few days.

"Right now, the streets and alleys are filled with the eyes of the Holy Boi Religion. Your every move is under their control!"

Su Hongli remained silent.

Duan Chunfeng looked at her with a mocking smile. "What's the matter? Upset you can't see that boy toy?"

Su Hongli met his gaze, her eyes filled with scorn. "What truly upsets me is having to face a useless waste of a man like you day in and day out."

Hearing this, Duan Chunfeng gritted his teeth and trembled with rage. He abruptly turned and left.

「Elsewhere.」

Duan Feibai sat on the balcony of his room and dialed a number on his phone.

"What is it?"

A moment later, an aged voice came from the other end of the line.

It was Zhou Jingong.

Duan Feibai got straight to the point. "Master Zhou, I have a way for you to kill Luo Xiu out in the open."

"Let's hear it."

Duan Feibai spoke plainly, "I will hire someone to alter your appearance using facial disguise techniques. This will allow you to participate in the Grand Martial Rite. When you encounter Luo Xiu there, you can kill him."

He added, "Alternatively, you could just cripple him and hand him over to me. I have plenty of ways to finish him off."

Zhou Jingong was silent for a moment before speaking slowly, "Listening to you, Young Master Duan, I sense a powerful killing intent... Do you wish to kill him yourself and are merely trying to use me?"

Duan Feibai smiled. "This isn't using you. Our goals are simply aligned.

"You martial artists have always lived by the code of avenging all wrongs and repaying all favors. Killing Luo Xiu to avenge Cao Hong—isn't that the very reason you came to Henghai Province?"

"Fine. I will come find you tomorrow."

「Feiyun Villa.」

After freshening up, Luo Xiu and Lin Xiyue left to visit Su Shanyue.

Ye Ningxue had no interest in being a third wheel, so she returned to the Ye Family.

「Anna Hotel.」

Lobby, First Floor.

Su Shanyue, still wrapped in bandages, stepped out of the elevator. When she saw Luo Xiu and Lin Xiyue sitting on the lobby sofa, she suddenly felt very embarrassed.

She walked over and sat opposite Luo Xiu, signing a message with her hands.

Luo Xiu checked her over and, finding no serious injuries, breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Xiyue said, "Yueyue, thank you for showing mercy last time."

Hearing this, Su Shanyue looked at her, puzzled.

Lin Xiyue continued, "If you had kept making that sound, you could have defeated me instantly. I would have had no chance to counter. But you only made the sound once each time. I know you were afraid of truly hurting me."

Su Shanyue smiled somewhat sheepishly and then began to sign again.

Sitting to the side, Luo Xiu couldn't help but laugh. These two are just flattering each other.

Su Shanyue was essentially saying that Lin Xiyue hadn't used her sword in their match. If she had, Su Shanyue wouldn't have even had the chance to open her mouth and unleash the Void Zen Sound.

"Luo Xiu, what are you doing here?"

Suddenly, Ren Xuan's cold voice came from the side.

Luo Xiu turned to see Ren Xuan, Su Quan, and Feng Xi walking toward them.

"Why can't I be here?"

Ren Xuan's tone grew heavy. "You're not welcome here!"

Luo Xiu smiled. "Does your family own this hotel? If you don't like it, why don't you kick me out?"

Ren Xuan stared at him coldly. "What I mean is... stay away from Yueyue!"

Luo Xiu smiled slightly. "And what is Yueyue to you? Does she need your permission to decide who she wants to be close to?"

At this point, Su Quan spoke up. "Mister Luo, I see it's getting late. Yueyue needs to rest. She's still injured."

After all, as a man in his fifties, Su Quan's way of ushering someone out was different from that of a young man like Ren Xuan.

Luo Xiu stood up and nodded to Su Shanyue. "I'll come see you another time, then."

Su Shanyue gave him an apologetic smile.

Nearby, Feng Xi suddenly interjected passive-aggressively, "Oh, right, Luo Xiu. I saw your name on the list of competitors from the Provincial Capital Martial Association. You're not actually planning to compete, are you?"

Luo Xiu replied, "Since you already saw my name, why bother asking?"

Feng Xi smiled faintly, her eyes filled with disdain. "Well then, I look forward to your performance.

"By the way, you still look quite ill. Remember to take your medicine before you go on stage tomorrow."

Luo Xiu's face was expressionless. "Thanks for the reminder."

Feng Xi laughed. "But seriously, you have quite an extensive network. You had barely left the Sea City Martial Association before you joined the Provincial Capital Martial Association."

Hearing this, Ren Xuan laughed disdainfully. "I guess only a bottom-of-the-barrel martial association would take in a sickly weakling just to make up the numbers."

Luo Xiu looked at the two of them chattering away, fighting the urge to lash out.

But for Su Shanyue's sake, he decided against it.

Still, Luo Xiu really couldn't understand. Su Shanyue was so gentle and kind, so why was her mother such a piece of work?

Ren Xuan looked at Luo Xiu with a mocking smile. "By the way, because of the tie, our Sea City Martial Association will have another match against your Provincial Capital Martial Association soon.

"Luo Xiu, I hope you participate. I need to prove to the President that his previous choice was wrong."

Luo Xiu smiled indifferently. He wanted to say something, but in the end, said nothing at all.

There was no point wasting his breath on these frogs in a well who spent their entire lives chasing flies.

After leaving the Anna Hotel, Luo Xiu and Lin Xiyue found a restaurant and had a candlelit dinner.

However, the dinner was far from romantic, as Luo Xiu ate like he hadn't seen food in eight lifetimes.

After dinner, Lin Xiyue insisted on going shopping.

But once she started, she couldn't stop buying things. She amassed large and small bags, which she naturally refused to carry herself, insisting that Luo Xiu do it for her.

Luo Xiu wanted to throw them all in the nearest trash can.

But that was just a thought.

This woman was terrifying when she got angry, all scratching and biting. He couldn't afford to provoke her.

What did console him, however, was that Lin Xiyue also bought him quite a few new clothes.

When they walked into a lingerie store, Luo Xiu felt it was pure torture. Under the strange gazes of other shoppers, he was so embarrassed he wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

Luckily, Lin Xiyue was very considerate. She picked out a few sexy sets and bought plenty of black stockings. If she hadn't, Luo Xiu wouldn't have bothered going shopping with her at all.

It was past ten at night when they finally returned to Feiyun Villa.

Luo Xiu was getting ready to wash up and go to sleep when a knock sounded at his door.

He thought it was Lin Xiyue coming to torment him. He suddenly felt rather bitter inside.

"Master? Master, are you there?"

Thankfully, it was Ye Ningxue.

Luo Xiu opened the door and immediately saw Ye Ningxue, along with Old Master Ye and Old Madam Ye, standing outside.

Ye Ningxue still looked dazed and expressionless.

But the faces of Old Master Ye and Old Madam Ye were extremely pale, and their eyes even held a hint of fear, as if they had been terrified by something.

"Err... Old Master, it's so late. Is there something you need from me?"

Luo Xiu suddenly had a bad feeling.

He just hoped these two old folks weren't here to press him into marriage.

Old Master Ye stared at Luo Xiu and said grimly, "Luo Xiu, you're in huge trouble!"

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