Chen Bufan felt an even deeper ache in his heart. The stronger Sisi appeared, the more it meant she had suffered.
"Oh... Uncle, how do you know my name is Sisi? Do you know me?" Sisi asked, completely oblivious, her face full of naive innocence.
"I..." Chen Bufan choked on his words. Over the years, he had owed Sisi and her mother far too much. A plan suddenly formed in his mind, and he quickly said, "I'm a friend of your mother's."
"Oh, I see," Sisi lowered her head, murmuring softly, "I thought Daddy was back." With that, she went to pick up the paper cranes on the floor.
"Sisi, why are you folding so many paper cranes?"
"I heard Mommy say that if you fold ten thousand paper cranes, you can make a wish come true."
Ten thousand... Chen Bufan's heart felt as though it were being twisted by a knife.
"Then what is Sisi's wish?"
"My wish is to see Daddy," Sisi said with utter innocence, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons full of longing.
A wave of bitterness washed over Chen Bufan.
"Sisi, you don't need to fold that many paper cranes anymore. Your daddy is already back."
"Really?" Sisi asked, pleasantly surprised.
"Really. As long as you are a good girl and listen to me, I'll take you to see him in a couple of days."
"Okay, I'll definitely be a good girl," Sisi said earnestly.
"By the way, why aren't you eating?" Chen Bufan asked.
"Sisi wants to save the steamed bun for Mommy to eat," Sisi said, dropping her head. "Mommy has already spent a lot of money to cure my illness. It's all Sisi's fault." Tears began to drop continuously.
A lump formed in Chen Bufan's throat, and he almost broke down in tears right there.
As the God of War Temple Master and the Xuanying Sect Master, wealth was the last thing he lacked. Yet his own daughter couldn't even bear to eat a single steamed bun—what a supreme irony!
Chen Bufan ordered a large portion of KFC and sat in the hospital room to eat with Sisi.
After just a few bites, Sisi suddenly collapsed on the bed.
"Sisi?!" Chen Bufan cried out in alarm, reaching out to check her pulse, his expression instantly changing.
The biting cold had penetrated her marrow, altering her blood and causing multiple organ failure.
"She's been poisoned!"
What kind of monster could be so cruel as to poison a little child?
"Bastards, absolute bastards!!!"
Rage surged within Chen Bufan.
At that moment, a nurse rushed in, assessed the situation, and said coldly, "There's no saving her. Are you a family member? Sign the papers."
"You're saying there's no saving her just like that?" Chen Bufan asked coldly.
"I am," an elderly man walked into the room, glanced at Sisi, and sighed.
"This is Professor Li, a leading figure in medicine who is volunteering his services at our sanatorium. He already examined this little girl earlier," the nurse introduced respectfully.
"That's right, I've already examined her. If she had been sent to a major hospital, she might have held on a bit longer, but to expect... Young man, accept your condolences."
"Accept your grandfather's condolences! With me here, not even the heavens can take her life!" Not wanting to waste words, Chen Bufan flicked his hand, and silver needles suddenly appeared, driving straight into Sisi's acupoints.
As the supreme Temple Master invincible across the realm, and as the Xuanying Sect Master, how could he possibly know nothing of medicine?
"How dare you speak to Professor Li that way!" the nurse snapped.
Professor Li was also boiling with anger. The young man was hot-headed, refused to listen to reason, and actually wanted to use silver needles to save her—it was sheer recklessness.
Chen Bufan said nothing. Compared to Sisi, these people were nothing more than garbage.
Swish, swish, swish!
Several silver needles pierced down in rapid succession. Sisi's complexion shifted from pale to rosy, and her breathing gradually returned.
"Ancient medical arts... You are an ancient physician!" Professor Li gasped in shock, looking as though he had seen something terrifying, completely losing his previous master demeanor.
The nurse was stunned as well. He had actually revived someone who had been pronounced dead; if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed it.
"Using eight needles of my Valley of Ghosts Mysterious Technique, I managed to heal Sisi. Whoever poisoned her was utterly ruthless—no matter who they are, I will make them pay with their lives!" Chen Bufan declared coldly.
"The Valley of Ghosts Mysterious Technique?" Hearing those words, Professor Li turned pale and trembled all over.
That was the legendary peerless medical art capable of bringing the dead back to life. It was said to have been lost for centuries, yet he was seeing it with his own eyes.
Just who in the world was this young man?
"Thud."
Professor Li dropped straight to his knees.
"It was I who was blind and failed to recognize the master. Please forgive me."
Chen Bufan ignored him entirely. "Sisi needs to rest. Everyone out!"
At his command, Professor Li and the nurse didn't dare hesitate, hastily retreating from the room.
Chen Bufan took Sisi's small hand, looking at the sleeping cutie with a face full of tenderness.
"Sisi, my good daughter, with me here, from now on no one will ever hurt you again. Whatever I owed you in the past, I will make it all back to you."
With that, he gently kissed Sisi's forehead.
Stepping out of the hospital room, a crowd was standing outside.
Word had spread that someone pronounced dead had been brought back to life, and practically the entire staff of the sanatorium had rushed over. Upon seeing Chen Bufan, every single one of them wore a look of profound respect.
"Master..." Professor Li started to cozy up, but before he could finish, Chen Bufan suddenly raised a heavy foot.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The floor tiles shattered instantly, countless cracks spreading outward in all directions.
"Hiss..." Professor Li gasped in sheer terror, stumbling backward along with everyone else, their expressions filled with shock.
"Take good care of Chen Sisi. If there is even the slightest mishap, I will raze this sanatorium to the ground!"
Accompanied by those ringing words, Chen Bufan's figure vanished amidst countless fearful gazes.
...
Outside the sanatorium, Canglong had returned.
"Master, the nursing aide who bullied your daughter has been dealt with."
"Mm." Chen Bufan nodded expressionlessly. Eliminating a mere nursing aide was not enough to calm the turmoil in his heart after seeing Sisi.
"Master, I just received word. Three days from now, Jiang Yurou is holding a grand wedding with the young master of the Han family."
What? A chill struck Chen Bufan's heart. Yurou had waited for him for a full several years, and he had only just returned to Liyang—before he even had a chance to see her, she was going to marry someone else?
The ancients said a lover's heart easily changes, but could Yurou have fallen for someone else?
And what a coincidence—the Han family happened to be the wealthy household he had once married into as a kept son-in-law.
"No, there must be some hidden hardship behind this!"
He believed Yurou wasn't that kind of person. Otherwise, with her beauty, why would she have gone through the trouble of giving birth to Sisi, and why wait all these years!
"Canglong!"
"Subordinate is here!"
"I want you to immediately investigate what has happened to Yurou over these past few years! In addition, find out exactly who poisoned Sisi!" Chen Bufan ordered, his killing intent fierce.
To harm a three-year-old little girl was utterly psychotic!
"Understood!" Canglong said, and decisively departed.
Chen Bufan turned to glance at the sanatorium and took a deep breath.
Four years ago, battered and broken, he had drifted in a great river for three days and nights. If not for Yurou, he would have died long ago.
Four years of bloody combat had brought him peerless fame and unparalleled glory!
"Whoever hurt you, I will make them pay back a hundredfold!"
A dense, murderous aura blanketed a radius of ten miles!
Inside a Mercedes-Benz sedan driving toward the sanatorium, Uncle Hui's gaze narrowed, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes!
"Careful, there might be assassins."
"Assassins?" the woman in sunglasses beside him asked.
Uncle Hui's sword-like gaze swept toward the direction of the sanatorium.
"There is a dense murderous aura sweeping out from over there, enough to make even my heart palpitate."
"News of our arrival in Liyang has reached even our archenemies?" the woman in sunglasses asked coldly.
"Given the resources of those enemies, just how much blood money did they spend to hire such a terrifying assassin?" Uncle Hui frowned.
"Strange, the murderous aura is gone now..."
"This is bad. Professor Li!" The woman in sunglasses' voice turned abruptly urgent. "Step on it, go to the sanatorium!"
Vroom, vroom!
The Mercedes sped away in a blur.
...
A few minutes later, the sanatorium director's office.
Professor Li managed a bitter smile. "Thank you for your concern, I'm quite alright, but I'm afraid I cannot help Miss Bai."
"Professor Li is a leading medical authority and the country's premier clinical expert. How can you not help?" the woman in sunglasses asked.
"Miss Bai, please don't misunderstand. It's not that I'm unwilling to act, but that I lack the ability. Perhaps... there is one person who can."
"Who?"
Professor Li recounted everything that had just happened.
Thinking about it now still made his heart pound with fear. The person he had personally diagnosed as beyond saving had been effortlessly cured by that young man—it was simply terrifying!
"The Valley of Ghosts Mysterious Technique is still in this world?" Uncle Hui was profoundly shaken, his usual composure completely vanishing.
"What is the Valley of Ghosts Mysterious Technique?" the woman in sunglasses asked, puzzled.
"Rumored to be a peerless medical art left behind by Guiguzi, it possesses the power to bring the dead back to life, but it was lost thousands of years ago. Professor Li, could you be mistaken?" Uncle Hui asked, his gaze sharp.
"To be frank, I spent most of my life studying medicine before finally discovering the unique brilliance of ancient medical arts. Having researched numerous historical documents over the years, I can say with certainty that it was indeed the Valley of Ghosts Mysterious Technique."
"If that's true, it's enough to help us!" Uncle Hui said excitedly.
"May I ask where that person is, Professor Li?" the woman in sunglasses asked.
"I've traveled the length and breadth of the country these past few years just to find an ancient physician to take me as a disciple. If I knew where he was, I wouldn't be sitting here sighing," Professor Li said desolately.
The opportunity he had waited an eternity for had slipped right through his fingers. What a profound regret.
"Uncle Hui, search the entirety of Liyang. We must find this person. The life and death of the Bai family depends on him!" the woman in sunglasses commanded.
"Understood!" Uncle Hui nodded decisively.
Professor Li's pupils contracted. A family as powerful as the Bai family, dominating the Divine Dragon Empire, was actually facing a life-or-death crisis?
Before he could ask further, the woman in sunglasses had already left.
A life-or-death crisis for the Bai family admitted not a moment of delay!
...
Atop the highest skyscraper in Liyang City, Chen Bufan stood by the railing, his white robes fluttering in the wind.
As a prefecture-level city in Dongzhou, Liyang couldn't compare to the capital of Guangling, but it was still a crucial economic hub experiencing rapid development. Four years away, and even more high-rise buildings had sprung up, displaying a scene of prosperity.
Yet in this very place of prosperity, his wife and daughter had suffered to the extreme!
Thinking of this, a sharp pain pierced his heart.
Swish—
At that moment, a figure drifted over.
"Reporting to the Master, I have completed the preliminary investigation!"
The newcomer was none other than Canglong. With the power of the Divine Dragon Empire, investigating a minor matter was effortless.
"Speak!" Chen Bufan desperately wanted to know what Yurou and Sisi had endured over the past few years. Without uncovering the complete truth, how could he ever have the face to face Yurou!
"Reporting to the Master, according to my investigations from various sources, the poison your daughter contracted is related to the Han family."
The Han family? Hearing this, Chen Bufan's gaze instantly turned icy.
That damn Han family again!
When he had fled Guangling back then, he had married into the Han family as a kept son-in-law and lived like a dog.
Four years later today, the woman he loved was scheduled to marry into the Han family as well, and even the poison in Sisi's body came from the Han family!
"Continue!" Chen Bufan suppressed his killing intent.
"Miss Jiang Yurou had long been targeted by the Han family. Faced with wealth and power, Miss Jiang was never tempted. The Han family's young master, Han Shuai, refused to give up, and even after Miss Jiang gave birth to a child, he tried every possible means to possess her."
"When Miss Jiang was seven months pregnant, he even used violence and coercion, almost causing a miscarriage."
"Under the Han family's influence, not a single hospital dared to take her in. From her pregnancy to giving birth to Sisi, Miss Jiang carried everything entirely on her own..."
Hearing this, the killing intent in Chen Bufan's heart could no longer be contained, surging up to shake the nine heavens and the nether regions.
To target a pregnant woman—they were absolute beasts!
If not for Yurou's resilience in holding on, resulting in two deaths in one, he wouldn't even be able to find their souls now!
"Han family, just wait for me to settle accounts with you one by one!"
...
"With Yurou suffering so much, what about the Jiang family?" Chen Bufan demanded sternly.
"The Jiang family always wanted their daughter to marry into the Han family so they could climb high society. When Miss Jiang was being abused, the Jiang family simply stood by and watched."
"After Miss Jiang stubbornly insisted on giving birth to her daughter, she was driven out of the house by the Jiang family. Because of the interference of the Han and Jiang families, Miss Jiang couldn't even find a normal job. Raising her daughter alone made her life extremely difficult."
"The Han family poisoned your daughter precisely to force Miss Jiang Yurou into submission..."
As soon as Canglong finished speaking, he abruptly looked up and saw a terrifying aura radiating from Chen Bufan, whipping up a violent gale and sending killing intent soaring into the sky.
"What a fine Han family, what a fine Jiang family! To treat their own flesh and blood like this! Just because Yurou was born a little prettier, she deserved to be bullied like this?"
Chen Bufan finally understood why Yurou had agreed to marry the young master of the Han family. It must have been for Sisi's sake!
Because Sisi was poisoned and didn't have much time left.
For Sisi's sake, Yurou had no choice but to agree; she hadn't cared about her own life at all.
"To think that while I was shedding blood on the borders fighting for the country, crowned with peerless glory and unrivaled across the world, the person I loved most was being humiliated like this. Unforgivable!" Rage surged within Chen Bufan, making him want to flatten the entire city beneath his feet.
"Take me to the Han family!" Chen Bufan ordered resoundingly. If he didn't deal with these people, how could he ever have the face to see Yurou?
"Yes!" Canglong nodded.
In an instant, the members of the God of War Temple who had arrived in Liyang surged toward the Han family estate like a tidal wave.
At that moment, the Han family residence was brilliantly lit.
Tomorrow was the great day of celebration, and everyone was busy.
Han Youwei, the head of the Han family, had only one son in Han Shuai. Even though he was marrying a widow, as long as his son was happy, the spectacle had to be grand.
"Hurry the hell up and get things done, don't delay my wedding tomorrow!" Han Shuai barked arrogantly, drawing silent curses from numerous servants.
If he hadn't been born into the Han family, based entirely on his looks, he wouldn't have been able to find a wife in this lifetime.
It was a pity for Jiang Yurou, once the undisputed beauty of Liyang, who actually had to marry such a man.
Thinking of this, many couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy.
Having finished yelling at the servants, Han Shuai felt quite satisfied. He pulled out his phone, opened a photo, and stared at it with lustful eyes.
"Jiang Yurou, oh Jiang Yurou, you always acted so high and mighty, but in the end, aren't you still going to become my woman?"
The person in the photo was none other than Jiang Yurou—long, straight black hair, snow-white skin, an alluring figure, and breathtaking beauty.
The thought of possessing her tomorrow made Han Shuai's eyes burn with heat and excitement.
No one knew that while the Han household was busy bustling about, outside...
Countless figures dressed in black had suddenly appeared. Like messengers walking out of hell, their murderous aura pierced the heavens.
In the blink of an eye, they surrounded the Han family estate so tightly that not even a fly could escape.
After appearing, these people gazed expectantly in a single direction.
A youth in white robes emerged into the night, resembling a war god from the nine heavens, exuding an overwhelming aura.
Every single gaze instantly turned blazing hot.
"Greetings, Master!" One after another, towering figures resembling the God of Death dropped to their knees, their presence carrying a majestic force.
To them, the white-robed man before them was not only the God of War Temple Master who overawed the entire globe, but also a deity striding above the nine heavens.
Being able to witness Chen Bufan in the flesh was the supreme honor of a lifetime!
"Watch carefully. Not a single person is allowed to leave!" Chen Bufan commanded coldly, instantly arriving before the main gates of the Han family.
Bright red lanterns hung high, and double-happiness characters were pasted on the front doors, radiating a festive atmosphere.
If he hadn't returned, once tomorrow arrived, Yurou would have been ruined. Thinking of this, the killing intent in Chen Bufan's heart boiled to monstrous heights as he lashed out with a kick.
"Bang, crash!"
The iron-plated gates instantly shattered into pieces, startling everyone inside the Han family courtyard into a panic.
"What's happening?"
"Why did the gate break?"
Countless gazes turned toward the entrance.
There stood a youth in white robes, proudly upright, radiating a bone-chilling coldness. Just his gaze alone was enough to make people tremble.
Behind him stood a crew-cut man, tall, robust, and radiating a righteous air.
"Who is this?"
"How can his aura be so terrifying?!"
Their hearts leaped into their throats. They had never seen anyone with such overwhelming presence; just standing there, he seemed capable of suppressing the heavens and earth.
"Who the hell are you?" Han Shuai asked, startled, before regaining his arrogance.
In Liyang, the Han family was king; there was nothing to fear.
"I heard the Han family is holding a joyous event, so I've come to deliver a gift." Chen Bufan said.
"Oh, so you're here to offer congratulations." Han Shuai let out a cold laugh, having thought someone was coming to cause trouble.
"Indeed. I'm the one marrying Jiang Yurou tomorrow, and you're early."
"Not early at all, not early in the least!" With those words, Chen Bufan surged forward like a mad dragon, kicking Han Shuai squarely in the chest. Han Shuai was sent flying twenty-four or twenty-five feet, crashing heavily to the ground and vomiting a mouthful of blood.
"Hiss..."
Everyone present sucked in a sharp breath of air, their jaws dropping wide enough to fit three eggs.
Han Shuai had actually been assaulted right on his own doorstep!
To run into the Han family estate and beat someone up—it was completely unimaginable!
"Aren't you here to deliver a gift?" Han Shuai screamed in fury.
"Wiping out your Han family is the gift I'm bringing!" Chen Bufan declared resonantly, striding toward Han Shuai.
Crack, crack, crack!
The stone slabs beneath his feet shattered into pieces like crushed crackers.
The rage suppressed for days finally erupted at this moment. Who could possibly stand against it!
He had fought for his country for thousands of days, destroying the Ten-Nation Alliance and eternally pacifying evil on all fronts, yet his wife and daughter had suffered endless humiliation right here in Liyang.
Today, the Han family would run with rivers of blood!
"The Han family has dominated Liyang for twenty years as the number one local clan! With just the likes of you, how dare you spout such arrogant nonsense? Daring to cause trouble at the Han family—no matter who you are, I'll kill you!"
Han Shuai hurriedly called for reinforcements. In an instant, over a dozen bodyguards rushed toward Chen Bufan from all directions.
Boom!
Chen Bufan clenched his fist violently, veins bulging as savage power instantly erupted.
Bang, bang, bang!
Under Chen Bufan's fists, the dozen bodyguards were as fragile as weeds, dropping to the ground one by one with dozens of broken bones each, passing out instantly.
"What the fuck..." Han Shuai froze, staring in terror at Chen Bufan. Was this even human? He had knocked down a dozen bodyguards with a single punch!
"Were you the one harassing Jiang Yurou all these years?" Chen Bufan asked coldly, his voice sharp and piercing like a sword.
"Jiang Yurou is my woman. What business is it of yours?"
"With a piece of trash like you, do you think you're worthy of Yurou?"
Chen Bufan raised a heavy foot like a tripod, kicking Han Shuai flying once again as blood splattered everywhere.
"Tell me, was Sisi poisoned by the Han family?" Chen Bufan pressed, his eyes bloodshot and ablaze with fury.
"Just who the hell are you? What is your relationship with Jiang Yurou?" Han Shuai asked with difficulty, bubbles of blood foaming from his mouth.
"What qualifications do you have to know my name?"