Ye Xiu dashed onward, occasionally glancing back to make sure the Envoy was keeping up.

It was like an adult racing a child, running ahead but not too fast, all while pretending to be exhausted so the child would be motivated to continue the chase.

The Envoy’s composure was about to shatter. This grandson Ye Xiu isn’t very strong, but he’s ridiculously fast. It feels like I’ll never catch up.

Just then, the Envoy saw a river up ahead. The Wenyu River!

He laughed heartily. "Haha, let’s see you escape now."

Ye Xiu stopped by the riverbank and looked around. "The scenery here is beautiful and it’s sparsely populated. It’s a pity there’s water but no mountains, so it’s not quite a treasure land according to feng shui, but it’s more than good enough for a grave."

"So, you’ve picked this place to die. You have a knack for choosing locations!" the Envoy mocked.

The words had barely left his mouth when he was startled to find that Ye Xiu had suddenly vanished from his line of sight. Just as he was wondering where Ye Xiu had gone, a chilling voice sounded from behind him. "This is the burial site I have chosen for you."

Almost reflexively, the Envoy spun around, swinging his sword horizontally. However, he had only turned halfway when Ye Xiu seized his sword-wielding right wrist.

The Envoy tried to break free, but then he heard a sharp CRACK. The next moment, a heart-piercing pain shot from his wrist and coursed through his entire body.

His sword-wielding right wrist had been forcefully broken by Ye Xiu.

"Ah...!" The Envoy cried out in pain, exclaiming in shock, "You... you... you’ve been hiding your strength this whole time?"

"So you do have a brain," Ye Xiu sneered.

The Envoy felt humiliated but still voiced the doubt in his heart. "If you’re stronger than me, why did you run?"

"I take back what I just said. You are brainless," Ye Xiu replied.

The Envoy felt humiliated again, as if he’d been slapped across the face. He had accompanied Wang Yue, the Dragon Lord, and Ye Tianming to kill Ye Xiu, acting all high and mighty! He had never taken this ant seriously, assuming he could be crushed with ease. But in the end, Ye Xiu was just a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and now his life was in Ye Xiu’s hands!

"I lured you here because I didn’t want Wang Yue, Long Tianba, and Ye Tianming to see my true strength. Also, I have a few questions for you, and I can’t let anyone else hear the answers."

Ye Xiu released the Envoy’s broken hand and said calmly, "Now, can we have a proper talk?"

The Envoy said defiantly, "I won’t say a thing. Kill me or cut me up, do as you please. If I so much as frown, then I’m your dog."

"So you think you’re tough, huh?" Ye Xiu snorted. "Ever heard of death by a thousand cuts?"

"Hmph!" The Envoy lifted his head proudly and said without fear, "You wouldn’t dare kill me. I am an envoy of the three Judicator Families. If I die, they will not let you off."

WHOOSH!

The Slaughter City Blade was unsheathed, casting a forbidding gleam. A moment later, the Envoy’s right arm fell to the ground.

"Ah...!" The Envoy screamed in agony. He finally realized that Ye Xiu truly did dare to kill him.

Panic and terror seized him.

"Next is your left arm." Ye Xiu raised the Slaughter City Blade.

"Don’t...!" the Envoy shrieked, collapsing to his knees. "Please don’t cut me, don’t...!"

"Didn’t you say I could do as I please, kill you or cut you up? Didn’t you say that if you so much as frowned, you’d be my dog? Is this all the backbone you have?" Ye Xiu asked disdainfully.

The Envoy felt his dignity and pride being crushed under Ye Xiu’s heel.

"I’m going to start asking questions now. If you don’t answer honestly, or if you refuse to answer, I will chop you into little pieces and throw you in the river to feed the crabs," Ye Xiu threatened.

"Ask away, just ask! I’ll tell you everything I know," the Envoy stammered, cold sweat pouring down his face.

Ye Xiu nodded with satisfaction. He flicked his fingers, performing Acupoint Sealing to stop the bleeding, and then asked, "Where is the Temple?

"Where are the three Judicator Families?

"How much do you know about the Temple and the three Judicator Families?

"What are the items guarded by the world’s Totem Clans and organizations?

"Why is this Mist Chant Martial Meeting different from previous ones?"

The Envoy was dumbfounded. He looked at Ye Xiu in terror and asked, "If I told you I don’t know the answer to a single one of those five questions... would you believe me?"

As he spoke, his face turned ashen. Extreme fear filled his eyes and he began to tremble violently.

"I don’t," Ye Xiu said, shaking his head.

The Envoy burst into tears. "I’m just a minor figure in the Judicator Families! I’ve only met members of the three families a few times in my entire life. How could I possibly know the answers to such secret questions?"

Ye Xiu found this believable. If the Envoy were an important figure, he wouldn’t lack both a Totem and Special Abilities.

He asked, "Even if you don’t know the answers to the other questions, as a member of the Judicator Families, how could you not know their location?"

"I really don’t know," the Envoy wept. "After I received the assignment to oversee the Mist Chant Martial Meeting, I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was already in Yunluo City..."

So that’s how it is. The Judicator Families are certainly cautious.

A headache began to form. Through the Envoy, he had now made a complete enemy of the Judicator Families. Yet, he hadn’t gotten a single piece of useful information in return.

What a total loss!

"What kind of place is the home of the three Judicator Families?" Ye Xiu asked.

"It’s an island," the Envoy answered quickly.

Oh? Ye Xiu’s eyes lit up. "What’s the name of the island? How big is it? What’s the climate and temperature like? Are there any ships passing through the surrounding waters? What kind of ships? What flora and fauna are on the island?"

With the answers to these questions, Ye Xiu could roughly determine the island’s approximate location.

"The island is called Eternal Island, and its area is..." the Envoy answered truthfully.

Ye Xiu silently memorized the Envoy’s every word. After asking a few more questions, he knocked the Envoy unconscious with a single slap.

He fished a phone out of the Envoy’s pocket, sent a text to Wang Yue that read "Ye Xiu is dead," then shouldered the unconscious man and headed home.

* * *

At that moment, Wang Yue, the Dragon Lord, and Ye Tianming had just arrived at Wang Yue’s home.

Upon receiving the text from the "Envoy," Wang Yue laughed excitedly. "Ye Xiu is dead! Haha, Ye Xiu is finally dead!"

"Dead?" Ye Tianming was so excited he almost jumped. With Ye Xiu dead, the Butcher’s Knife hanging over the Ye Family had finally disappeared. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Where is the body?" The Dragon Lord was most concerned about Ye Xiu’s corpse.

"He’s dead. What do you want with the body?" Wang Yue asked.

Ye Tianming was equally clueless.

The Dragon Lord obviously couldn’t tell them the truth, so he prevaricated. "Ye Xiu killed so many members of my Long Family. I want to tear his body to pieces and grind his bones to ash to quench the hatred in my heart."

"He deserves to have his bones ground to dust!" Ye Tianming said hatefully.

"It seems you both hate him dearly. Alright, I’ll ask the Envoy for you."

Wang Yue smiled and tried to call the "Envoy," but the call didn’t go through. He shrugged. "The Envoy’s phone is off. I’ll ask for you when he turns it back on."

Changing the subject, he said with satisfaction, "With Ye Xiu dead, we can proceed with establishing the global commerce alliance tonight. The future world will be in our hands. What an exciting prospect."

Ye Tianming laughed. "Controlling the economic lifelines of every country is only a matter of time for us. There’s no need to be impatient, Elder Wang."

The Dragon Lord forced a smile, but inside, he was extremely agitated. He had spent ten years, and the Long Family had paid a terrible price, all to confirm if Ye Xiu’s left arm bore the dragon-shaped Totem. Now Ye Xiu was dead, but he couldn’t get the body because the Envoy’s phone was off. The frustration was maddening.