Chapter 148: The Exasperated Ye Lin

"The Five Great Families? What are those?"

Ye Lin was somewhat puzzled; he had never heard of such a term.

"You operate near Qingcheng, so you must have heard of Mr. Zhuge, right?" Xie Xiaoxiao asked.

Ye Lin nodded: "I have naturally heard of Mr. Zhuge's great name. Without Mr. Zhuge, Qingcheng would likely have been wiped out by demonic creatures long ago."

"The Five Great Families have a long-standing heritage. They are the five families with the longest history within the entire Great Xia. Each one possesses overwhelming power and produces many talented individuals; even the Son of Heaven of Great Xia must give the Five Great Families some face."

"Mr. Zhuge... comes from the Zhuge Family, one of the Five Great Families. The Zhuge Family has the fewest members among the five, but every single one of them is a brilliant talent."

Listening to Xie Xiaoxiao's explanation, Ye Lin's pupils could not help but constrict.

This was the first time he had learned of Zhuge Qianxing's background. He had previously only known that Zhuge Qianxing was famous in the capital, and later, tired of the bustling capital, had found this small place called Qingcheng to live a pastoral life.

He had not expected Zhuge Qianxing's background to be so astonishing!

Looking at it this way, his guess was likely spot on; the one who caused trouble at Zhuge Qianxing's funeral must be this head of the Xie family, Xie Hong!

Thinking of how the person who had been investigating and hunting him down had such a massive background, Ye Lin broke out in a cold sweat. He secretly thought he was truly lucky; if he hadn't used a fake identity, he would probably have been sliced up for research by now.

At the same time, he couldn't help but worry about Guo Qin. This guy, he hadn't been caught already, had he?

"Hmph! How about that! Now that you know my identity, do you still dare to boast that you want to come find me?" Xie Xiaoxiao asked.

"Of course!" Ye Lin's gaze did not waver in the slightest. "So what if they are the Five Great Families? Are princes and generals born with noble blood? Whatever I, Ye Mushuang, have set my mind to, I will definitely accomplish!"

Xie Xiaoxiao looked deeply at Ye Lin, as if she wanted to imprint Ye Lin's appearance into her heart forever.

"I'll wait for you! Remember, my name is Xie Xiaoxiao!"

Xie Xiaoxiao withdrew her gaze and walked toward the exit.

Ye Lin took a deep breath, adjusted his complicated state of mind, and then followed her out.

At the exit of the 79th Secret Realm, a middle-aged man wearing luxurious robes stood there. His face was lined with wrinkles, and his brows and eyes were filled with a majestic air.

The Lord of Qingcheng, Hu Weng, followed behind this middle-aged man like a servant. When he saw Xie Xiaoxiao's figure, Hu Weng let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes filled with surprise.

It was fine if Xie Xiaoxiao was alive; if she had truly died here, Hu Weng suspected that all of Qingcheng would be washed in blood.

"Dad..."

The moment she saw this middle-aged man, Xie Xiaoxiao walked over with her head hanging low, like a frost-bitten eggplant.

Clearly, this middle-aged man was none other than the head of the Xie family, Xie Hong!

"Quite capable, aren't you? Shaved your head and even learned how to run away from home?" Xie Hong said indifferently, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.

"I know I was wrong... but look! I can deal with the demon race now!"

Xie Xiaoxiao took out that pink mobile phone and pulled up the video Ye Lin had filmed for her.

In the video, Xie Xiaoxiao faced over twenty demon creatures alone, even managed to kill one in return, and broke through the encirclement with style.

Xie Hong took the phone with an expressionless face. Xie Xiaoxiao looked at him expectantly, seemingly waiting for her father's praise.

But the next second, Xie Hong's thick palm exerted a slight force, and that pink phone was crushed into a lump of scrap metal. Xie Xiaoxiao's face turned pale instantly.

"And then?"

"What does this prove?"

"Have you ever thought that the family spent so much energy and resources to cultivate you? It is only expected that you can do these things. If you couldn't, you would truly be a piece of trash."

"You have disappointed me too much. After we return, you will go into the Dragon Pool Secret Realm to reflect."

Hearing the name of the Dragon Pool Secret Realm, Xie Xiaoxiao's petite body trembled violently; she was clearly terrified of this secret realm.

Xie Hong discarded the crushed phone as if it were a piece of trash. Xie Xiaoxiao lowered her head, tears already swirling in her eyes, yet she dared not contradict Xie Hong in the slightest.

"Yes... Daughter knows she was wrong. I will reflect properly."

Xie Hong ignored Xie Xiaoxiao and cast his gaze toward Ye Lin not far away. Ye Lin's heart tightened instantly; he felt as if he had been targeted by a prehistoric beast!

"Who is he?" Xie Hong asked in a deep voice.

"An ice-type mage with decent strength. In the 79th Secret Realm, he killed quite a few demon creatures," Xie Xiaoxiao replied.

"Oh? Are you very familiar with him?" Xie Hong said indifferently.

"Not familiar! But we have fought side-by-side before." Xie Xiaoxiao hurriedly defended herself. She felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her throat; from childhood to now, this was the first time she had lied in front of her father, Xie Hong!

"Is that so? Then let's go."

Xie Hong did not say anything more and left with Xie Xiaoxiao. Hu Weng hurriedly followed respectfully.

Not until Xie Hong had gone far away did Ye Lin let out a long sigh of relief.

The pressure Xie Hong exerted on him was simply too strong. Aside from Zhuge Qianxing inside the Gate of Apocalypse, Ye Lin had never felt such intense pressure; even breathing had become difficult.

It was also thanks to Xie Xiaoxiao that he had seen the true face of this mastermind.

"The Xie family, one of the Five Great Families?"

Ye Lin's eyes were full of wariness. To put it bluntly, the current Xie family could crush him like an ant. Fortunately, his identity had not been exposed yet; if the Xie family wanted to find Ling Ye, let them go find him.

The 79th Secret Realm was finished, and Ye Lin prepared to return to Qingcheng to have tea with those blacksmiths and alchemists. He had always been kind to others and did not like holding grudges, so he did not like having enemies living in the same world as him.

But just as he hadn't walked far, Ye Lin's footsteps suddenly paused. As if sensing something, he suddenly twisted his body with force in another direction.

Whoosh!

Just as Ye Lin moved, a sharp arrow pierced through his shoulder. If he hadn't twisted his body, that arrow would definitely have pierced his head!

"Hm? You didn't die?"

A puzzled voice rang out, and then a man carrying a longbow walked out from the darkness. On his face, he wore a ghost mask with a sticking-out tongue!

Ye Lin's heart chilled. This man was clearly from the same faction as those masked people who had appeared at Zhuge Qianxing's funeral.

It seemed... Xie Hong still didn't intend to let him go!

"To be able to dodge my arrow without knowing anything, you can be considered gifted. It's just a pity you shouldn't have gotten so close to the Young Lady. Hope you have a better reincarnation in your next life."

The tongue-sticking masked man pulled his longbow, aimed at the center of Ye Lin's brow, and shot another arrow!

This arrow contained terrifying power; if it hit, Ye Lin's head might explode directly.

Ye Lin was somewhat anxious. He was wearing the Phantom Face, after all. If the masked man had aimed for other vital points, he would have just let the opponent hit him and then pretended to be dead.

But this masked man insisted on aiming for his head every time. Having his head pierced was a small matter, but if the Phantom Face mask was ruined, that would be a huge problem.

Ye Lin captured the trajectory of the arrow as best he could, then summoned an ice blade to slash at the arrow. The arrow was deflected by his strike and happened to pierce his heart instead.

Bang!

The power on the arrow exploded violently. A blood hole was blown through Ye Lin's heart from front to back. Ye Lin stared at the masked man with unwillingness, blood gushing from his mouth, and then his whole body went limp, his life force fading away continuously.

The masked man walked over coldly. Seeing Ye Lin still twitching, he raised his bow and arrow again to aim at Ye Lin's head.

"I'll give you a quick end."

At this point, Ye Lin couldn't keep up the act anymore.

"Damn it! You motherfucker really have to shoot for the face, don't you?"