Chapter 3246

Ye Chen's teasing question left Ru Yu momentarily stunned.

Although Ye Chen was a stranger to her, she could tell from his attire that he was a Yingqi Guard of Duke Mining.

Moreover, she had been stationed here all along, making it impossible for outsiders to infiltrate.

Thus, her astonishment stemmed mainly from how a mere Yingqi Guard dared to speak to her in such a manner.

Feeling offended by his presumption, Ru Yu's gaze toward Ye Chen burned with anger and coldness; she immediately unleashed her spiritual energy, drawing her long sword, its blade thrusting straight at Ye Chen's neck.

In Ru Yu's eyes, Ye Chen was as good as dead; she glanced at him silently, then said lightly, "To die by my sword is your fortune."

Ye Chen smiled: "Confidence is good, but overconfidence leads to downfall."

As he spoke, he saw the sword blade rushing toward him, yet felt no panic in his heart.

The long sword, driven by spiritual energy, was nearly unstoppable for ordinary martial artists, but to Ye Chen, such spiritual energy posed almost no threat.

As Ru Yu waited a few meters away, expecting Ye Chen to bleed out on the spot, he suddenly stepped forward toward the sword's tip and walked into the room.

As Ye Chen stepped over the threshold and entered the room, the long sword had already flown before him, its blade flashing with a ghastly white light, its force like splitting bamboo.

Ye Chen showed no fear; his restrained spiritual energy suddenly surged toward his right arm in a thunderous burst, the overwhelming spiritual energy no longer held back, its powerful aura causing Ru Yu's face to instantly turn to utter shock.

She could never have imagined that a mere Yingqi Guard could possess such formidable strength; if her spiritual energy were a trickling stream, then Ye Chen's released spiritual energy was like a raging, endless great river.

In that instant, she immediately understood: this person was certainly no Yingqi Guard!

And just then, a clear "ding" rang in the air—her slender, delicate silver sidearm had already been easily seized by Ye Chen; the sword struggled in his grip, its body trembling violently, yet even so, it could not budge an inch from his hand, nor could it cause his wrist to twitch the slightest.

Ye Chen effortlessly gripped Ru Yu's sword with his right hand, while his left hand casually shut the door; then he strode purposefully toward the stunned Ru Yu, smiling as he asked: "Little girl, what other killing moves do you have? Did Wu Feiyan teach you the art of opening the Niwan Palace?"

"You... you..." Ru Yu had only grasped the Dao for two years; she had not even had the chance to meet the Ying Lord Wu Feiyan, let alone receive from him the so-called "ability" to open the Niwan Palace through self-destruction.

What terrified her most was that this man before her was not much older than herself, yet possessed such terrifying power!

Even more unbelievable was that he dared to directly utter the Ying Lord's name—within the Broken Qing Society, this was an absolute capital offense, with no exceptions, not even for the Wu family or their direct descendants, who would never dare such insolence!

She instinctively stepped back, tense, and asked Ye Chen: "You... you... just who are you?"

Ye Chen smiled: "My surname is Ye, my given name is a single Chen—Ye Chen is my full name; you laid a net in Nigeria to capture me, the very person you sought."

"You..." Ru Yu suddenly panicked, stammering: "You... you why would you tell me..."

Ye Chen smiled, looking at her: "Wasn't it you who asked me?"

"I..." Ru Yu gasped, eyes filled with panic, murmuring: "I asked you... you... you didn't need to be so blunt... you... you this is... this is not... not intending to let me live... so... so you just came straight out with the truth, is that it?"

Ye Chen smiled: "You're quite sharp."

Ru Yu's face turned deathly pale from fright; at twenty-four, she had only grasped the Dao for two years, the sole hope of her family for centuries; though she naturally feared death, the thought that he had already been so frank with her meant he surely had no intention of letting her live, so she forced herself calm, gritted her teeth, and said to Ye Chen: "It's fine; after all, I am meant to be loyal to the Ying Lord—if I die at your hands today, the Ying Lord will surely reward my family upon learning of it! I shall die with honor!"

"Oh..." Ye Chen watched her smack her lips, then smiled: "With you saying that, I no longer intend to kill you—if I take you and the Yingqi Guards here with me, will Wu Feiyan think you've betrayed her?"

Ru Yu stared at Ye Chen in utter terror, then after a moment, her expression hardened as she declared: "I wish to die to make my loyalty clear to the Ying Lord!"

Having spoken, she immediately gathered her spiritual energy in her palm, suddenly raised her hand, and struck her own forehead with all her strength.

This slap was heavy and forceful; it was clear she had used her full power—if it truly landed on her forehead, it would surely reduce her own brain to a pulp.

Ye Chen hadn't expected this woman, young and spirited, to resort to death over a disagreement; this big bully of hers seemed determined to leave her no escape, her temper truly excessive.

Ye Chen had no wish for her to die, after all—she still had use; how could he let her die so directly here?

Thus, Ye Chen quickly dropped the slender sword from his right hand, seized her palm brimming with spiritual energy, and the instant her delicate jade hand touched his palm, he immediately poured spiritual energy into her body, directly sealing her dantian and meridians.

Ru Yu had never had skin-to-skin contact with a man; now, held by Ye Chen, she was ashamed and furious, having lost her reason, completely unaware that her cultivation had been sealed by him, merely shrieking hysterically: "Lecher, let go of me!"

"Fine, fine, fine." Ye Chen nodded, then instantly released his grip.

Ru Yu, intent on death, though her hand's spiritual energy was gone, still had strength; the moment Ye Chen loosened his grip, she directly slapped her own forehead.

At this moment, her eyes fixed on Ye Chen, bloodshot, she roared with heavenly hatred: "Ye Chen, is it? Even as a ghost, I will not let you go!"

Then, that heavy, forceful slap landed solidly upon her forehead.

"Pa—"

The crisp slap echoed in the office; Ru Yu's full, fair forehead instantly bore a purple-red palm print, matching her exquisite, icy visage—truly somewhat theatrical.

Ye Chen watched her pained expression, shook his head, and teased: "Hey, look at this big bully, really willing to spend, huh."

Ru Yu winced, feeling she hadn't died, incredulous as she glanced at her right palm—this glance was no problem, her palm had already swollen; her once-delicate jade hand now retained only five slender fingers, her palm swollen like a tender pig's trotter.

She racked her brain in vain, terrified, thinking: "How could this be... I clearly used full strength, why didn't I die?!"

The next moment, as she sensed her inner spiritual energy, she suddenly discovered that her spiritual energy, dantian, and meridians had all been completely sealed—she had truly become a cripple!

She stared at Ye Chen in horror and blurted: "You... you sealed my cultivation?!"

"Yes." Ye Chen said lightly: "From now on, you are a cripple; here, any Yingqi Guard could kill you."

Ru Yu knew Ye Chen's power was unfathomable, and she guessed he must be the mysterious great enemy the Broken Qing Society had painstakingly sought; thus she gritted her teeth: "Then let them come to avenge that fallen Yingqi Guard! I fear no death! But you won't live long either—without the Ying Lord needing to act, just the three great elders could take your dog's life!"

Ye Chen smiled: "Whether those three old dogs can kill me—let's set that aside for now; I said you cannot die! Otherwise, I would have let you slap yourself to death just now! I'm keeping you because you're still useful!"

Ru Yu stared at Ye Chen, tense, and demanded: "What exactly do you want?! If I'm not mistaken, you'll next take those dead warriors and Yingqi Guards with you—you can easily seal my cultivation, so naturally you could also undo the poison in their bodies; they would surely be grateful and serve you loyally, but I tell you, I, Ru Yu, will never submit to you! Keeping me is just leaving yourself a time bomb! Those who achieve great things must be decisive—I advise you to kill me and eliminate future trouble!"

Ye Chen raised his eyebrows, clicked his tongue: "Tsk tsk... Ru Yu, what an old-fashioned name, Old School style, though it doesn't really suit a young girl like you."

"Mind your own business!" Ru Yu gritted her teeth: "What's with that ink stain of yours—hurry up and kill me!"

Ye Chen said to himself: "Frankly, this name doesn't match your aura at all—jade is the gem most loved by the Chinese people, warm, flawless, refreshing, and heart-pleasing, a beautiful thing; look at yourself—do you have even a bit to do with jade? You're more like a yapping, snarling Pomeranian—village dogs come in all sizes, beauties and uglies, goods and bads; you may not be the biggest, nor the prettiest, nor the most likable, but you are absolutely the loudest barker!"

"You... you're full of shit!" Ru Yu, never expecting such humiliation from Ye Chen, shouted in rage and defeat: "Surname Ye, you'd better kill me now, or I'll never share heaven with you!"

"All right." Ye Chen nodded, smiled: "Frankly, I don't like keeping dogs; sometimes seeing those dogs relying on human power, barking nonstop, gives me a headache, but now I suddenly think—if one could train a vicious dog to be obedient and lovable, that would also be quite an achievement!"

Ru Yu clenched her teeth, enunciating each word: "I! Am! Not! A! Dog!"

Ye Chen smiled: "Of course I know you're not; I'm just using a dog as a metaphor—if I insulted dogs, I'm willing to apologize to them."

After saying that, Ye Chen shifted his tone, his expression turning stern, and countered her: "Ru Yu, right? You are now my prisoner; I say what you are, you are what you are—what qualifications do you have to be picky?!"