"I'll give you one last chance. Are you going to talk or not?" Chen Bufan asked in a deep voice.
"Little bastard, I'm warning you, if you dare—ah!"
Before Han Shuai could finish, Chen Bufan raised his hand and brought down his sword. One of Han Shuai's hands was instantly severed, and blood spurted everywhere as he writhed on the ground in agony.
"Patriarch, this is bad! Someone has broken into the Han family estate to cause trouble, and they've chopped off the young master's hand!"
A subordinate ran into the backyard, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Han Youwei, who was working in his study, froze for several full minutes upon hearing this, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him.
Someone had broken into the Han family home to cause trouble and even chopped off Xiao Shuai's hand?
"Arrogant! Who in Liyang dares to provoke the Han family?" Han Youwei immediately rallied his men and rushed toward the front yard.
Just as he reached the scene, a figure was hurled directly through the air and crashed down right in front of him.
He looked down and saw that it was Han Shuai, covered in blood and barely recognizable as human.
"Xiao Shuai!" Han Youwei cried out in horror, devastated to see his precious son beaten to such a state.
"Dad, save me!" Han Shuai whimpered weakly, at death's door.
"Bastard! How dare you come to the Han family to cause trouble? Kill them!" Han Youwei roared in fury. The dozens of bodyguards following behind him charged frantically toward Chen Bufan.
Canglong merely shook his head. Forget dozens of ordinary bodyguards—even hundreds of special forces soldiers couldn't stand a chance against the Palace Master.
Chen Bufan moved like a tyrannosaurus rex, unleashing a ferocious flurry of blows. Not a single bodyguard could even get close to him before being sent flying through the air.
Bang, bang, bang!
In a matter of moments, all dozens of bodyguards lay scattered across the ground, groaning in a chorus of agony.
Han Youwei swore he had never witnessed such a terrifying sight in his entire life.
A single man, bare-handed, had beaten dozens of bodyguards to the ground. Was this even a human, or was he a demon?
"Who on earth are you? What grievance do you have with the Han family?" Han Youwei didn't dare act rashly, intending to get to the bottom of it.
"Han Youwei, it's been a few years. Don't you recognize me?" Chen Bufan asked abruptly.
Chapter 6: Jiang Yurou is my woman!
"You are..." Han Youwei asked with a puzzled frown, staring intently through the dim evening light at Chen Bufan's cold, expressionless face.
"Chen Bufan!"
Han Youwei let out a sudden, strange shriek, his scalp tingling with dread.
"You're not dead?!"
Five years ago, Chen Bufan married into the Han family as a matrilocal son-in-law, becoming the husband of Han Lie's daughter.
And Han Lie was none other than Han Youwei's younger brother. How could he possibly not recognize Chen Bufan?
He simply never expected that this fellow had survived, only to reappear at the Han family doorstep four years later!
"What? It's Chen Bufan?" Han Shuai snapped back to his senses, his eyes bloodshot as he began to hurl abuses. "So it's actually you, trash! Get down on your knees right now and kowtow in apology, or I'll kill you!"
Chen Bufan didn't say a word. With a flick of his wrist, a cold gleam flashed through the air.
*Splat—!*
Han Shuai's other arm instantly dropped to the ground, blood spurting in a violent geyser.
Four years had passed, and times had changed. What qualifications did a piece of trash like Han Shuai have to bark in front of Chen Bufan?
"Chen Bufan, you're too arrogant! If the Han family hadn't given you a meal to eat back then, you'd have been dead long ago!" Han Youwei's eyes split with rage.
"But it was also the Han family that ruined me. That single ledger of debts alone is enough to raze the Han family to the ground!"
"Arrogant! With what ability does a nobody like you, Chen Bufan, think you can flatten my Han family? Tomorrow is the Han family's day of great joy, yet you dare to show up and make trouble, even chopping off both my son's hands! I failed to kill you four years ago, but today, four years later, I will ensure you don't even have a burial site!"
Han Youwei roared furiously, quickly pulling out his phone to make a call.
"Brother, something's happened at home! Bring your men over right now!"
Hanging up the phone after issuing the order, Han Youwei looked triumphantly at Chen Bufan. "Little bastard, I've already notified Han Lie. Once your former father-in-law arrives in person, let's see how you die!"
Of the two Han brothers, Han Youwei served as the head of the family, managing all matters in the public eye.
Han Lie, on the other hand, was Liyang's notorious underground emperor, widely known as Second Master Han. His influence spanned the entire city of Liyang, and his hands were stained with countless blood debts—a tyrannical overlord whom everyone feared.
By controlling both the underworld and the legitimate world, the Han family had secured their position as the number one family in Liyang, untouchable by anyone!
"Then let's see who dies!" Chen Bufan said with an icy tone, then gave a subtle hand gesture.
Canglong immediately executed the command!
In a single instant, the Demon God Temple members guarding the perimeter of the Han family estate surged forward like a tidal wave, flooding into the property.
In the span of a few brief moments, hundreds of men poured into the Han courtyard.
Behind them stretched a vast, dark sea of people, their numbers seemingly endless.
Every single one of them was dressed in identical black attire, wearing cold expressions and an overwhelming, tyrannical aura!
"Good grief..." Han Youwei gasped, sucking in a sharp breath of cold air at the sight.
Even someone as weathered by storms as he was felt his heart pounding wildly against his ribs!
Countless men in black, standing there simply as they were, possessed enough presence to scare an ordinary person to death.
*It's been too long. Has my second brother's influence really grown to this extent?* Han Youwei's heart thumped with a mix of shock and awe. Still, his second brother moved quite fast—he had just finished making the call, and his men had already arrived.
With this many people, dealing with a lone Chen Bufan would be as easy as taking candy from a baby!
"Chen Bufan, do you see this? With so many people here, even if you know a few martial arts tricks, you won't be able to stop them. Coming to the Han family to cause trouble is a dead end!"
"You little piece of trash, do you know what fear is now? Why aren't you on your knees begging for mercy?!" Han Shuai's confidence ballooned. With so many people backing them up, finishing off Chen Bufan was child's play.
Chen Bufan looked at them as if they were a pair of clowns. "You Han family members really think too highly of yourselves."
"Hear my command, all of you! Flatten this place!"
A roar like the bellow of a dragon reverberated through the entire Han estate, and the countless members of the Demon God Temple instantly surged into action!
It was only then that Han Youwei and the others realized something was terribly wrong.
These weren't men sent by Han Lie—they were brought here by Chen Bufan!
It felt no different from a thunderbolt striking from a clear blue sky, short-circuiting their brains entirely.
The Demon God Temple acted with peerless dominance. In the blink of an eye, countless men had already fallen in pools of blood, their miserable screams piercing the night sky.
As figures continued to collapse around him, Han Youwei was paralyzed with terror.
"Chen Bufan! Let's talk this over! Make your men stop right now!"
Chen Bufan completely ignored him.
"Chen Bufan, no matter what, you were once a son-in-law of the Han family! There's no need to drive us to total annihilation!"
...
Right until the very end, Han Youwei's voice was trembling, but Chen Bufan remained utterly unmoved, standing there like a statue carved of ice.
Four years ago, he was a despised matrilocal son-in-law who endured endless humiliation at the hands of the Han family.
Today, four years later, he was a god standing far beyond their reach!
The slaughter continued, turning the entire Han estate into a sea of blood.
From the very founding of the Demon God Temple, there had been one ironclad rule:
All members of the Demon God Temple must spill their blood for the country on the battlefield!
All members must eradicate evil and promote good on behalf of the people!
By using every unscrupulous method imaginable to reign supreme in Liyang, the Han family had committed countless heinous crimes. Unless this place was razed to the ground, the fires of fury burning in Chen Bufan's heart could never be quenched!
Within minutes, the only two members of the Han family left standing upright were Han Youwei and his son.
Yet the two of them were no longer capable of begging for mercy. Terrified out of their wits, they collapsed limply onto the ground, nearly passing out from fright.
"I said before—the debt from back then can wait. My purpose in coming here today is for another matter entirely." Chen Bufan spoke with icy detachment.
"What—what matter?" Han Youwei asked, his voice shaking uncontrollably.
"Jiang Yurou!" Chen Bufan spat out the name with resounding force.
Jiang Yurou? Han Youwei was startled. "What does this have to do with Jiang Yurou?"
"Tell me everything you did to Jiang Yurou, down to the last detail!" Chen Bufan demanded with overwhelming pressure.
How could Han Youwei dare refuse? To save his own skin, he spilled everything.
Hearing the confession, murderous intent blazed in Chen Bufan's eyes like raging fire. The atrocities the Han family had inflicted upon Yurou were far more vicious than anything Canglong's investigation had uncovered; they were simply inhuman!
Furthermore, to force their own daughter into marriage with the Han family, the Jiang family had also been pulling strings behind the scenes. The miserable life Jiang Yurou had endured over the past few years was inextricably linked to the Jiang family as well.
What scoundrels! For the sake of their own self-interest, they had treated their own daughter like a commodity to be sold!
Chen Bufan felt an urge to slaughter his way to the Jiang family this very night.
Yet, out of concern for Yurou, he forced himself to calm down.
"Canglong!"
"Subordinate is here!"
"Keep these two alive. Tomorrow, I want this father and son duo to kneel before the Jiang family gates and kowtow in apology to Yurou and Sisi!" Chen Bufan commanded.
"Understood!" Canglong immediately ordered his men to drag Han Youwei and his son away.
"Chen Bufan! Who the hell is Jiang Yurou to you? Why are you going to such lengths against us?!" Han Youwei roared in despair.
Not because of a grudge from four years ago, but for the sake of a widowed woman from the Jiang family... they had razed the Han family to the ground!
Why on earth would he do this?!
"Because she is the woman of Chen Bufan. Whoever dares touch a single hair on her head, I will slaughter their entire family!"
The declaration echoed across the heavens and rattled the earth.
Han Youwei and his son were struck as if by a thunderbolt!
Jiang Yurou was Chen Bufan's woman? Could the child that widow gave birth to...
A cold shiver swept through their entire bodies, piercing them to the bone. They didn't dare think another word!
After Han Youwei and his son were hauled away, the luxurious Han family estate was leveled entirely.
On this quiet night, countless people were eagerly anticipating tomorrow's grand wedding, completely unaware that Liyang's dominant first family had already been torn apart and reduced to ruins.
Once the members of the Demon God Temple withdrew, several sedans arrived at the Han estate. Seeing the flattened ruins and not a single soul left standing, the arrivals were utterly stunned.
A crew-cut youth dialed a number with trembling hands.
"S-S-Second Master... bad... bad news..."
"Spit it out! Stop stuttering like an old woman!"
"The—the Han family is gone!"
"What do you mean, gone?"
"The Han family villa is gone! Everyone has been killed!"
"What?!" The voice on the other end of the line went completely ballistic.
Far away in another city on business, Han Lie shoved the woman in his arms aside and flew into a blind rage.
The Han family had been annihilated? Everyone had been killed? This was no different from the sky falling down upon him!
"Big Brother, Xiao Shuai..."
"No, impossible! Who the hell dares touch my Han family? They're courting death!"
He immediately dialed another number.
"Feiyun, something's happened at the Han family. Book the flights right now, we're heading back immediately!"
"Something happened to the Han family?" In the same hotel room, a tall, cold-looking girl with thin lips asked, her expression filled with astonishment.
The Han family was king in Liyang. Who dared provoke a king?
Sensing the gravity of the situation, she didn't waste time asking further questions and immediately began making preparations.
...
Chapter 7: Let's go pick up Mommy!
Late at night, at the Liyang docks.
Chen Bufan stood at the edge of the shore, the river wind sweeping against his face beneath the glittering lights of thousands of homes.
"Reporting to the Palace Master, the Han family has been dealt with. Han Lie and his daughter are in Qingzhou, and they only sent a dozen or so men over. Per your instructions, we left those small fry alone."
"Consider them lucky. But as members of the Han family, no one escapes. Keep watching them," Chen Bufan said coldly.
"Understood," Canglong nodded. "Palace Master, the river wind is fierce. You should go rest."
"Compared to the suffering Yurou and her daughter endured, a bit of cold wind is nothing. Canglong, drive me somewhere." Chen Bufan instructed.
...
Jixin Sanatorium.
Jiang Yurou had just coaxed Sisi to sleep.
It was already one o'clock in the morning, yet she still didn't feel a shred of sleepiness. The moment dawn broke, she was to be married off to the Han family. Having endured for so many years, she had ultimately failed to outrun her destiny.
Looking down softly at Sisi, Jiang Yurou felt a sharp ache in her heart. For Sisi's sake, she had no other choice.
Although Sisi claimed a young uncle had saved her, Jiang Yurou didn't know the person at all, assuming it was just a white lie told by Sisi and the sanatorium staff to make her feel better.
She knew very well that even if she could scrape together the money, it would only buy time for Sisi—it couldn't completely cure her. But even if it meant gaining just one more day, Jiang Yurou would never give up.
"Sisi, Mommy is sorry," Jiang Yurou choked out, the image of that heartless man flashing through her mind, filling her face with agony.
"Chen Bufan, do you know that our daughter doesn't have much time left, yet you haven't even shown your face? I hate you!"
"I hate you to the bone!"
Tears broke their banks as she felt utterly heartbroken.
Outside the sanatorium, Chen Bufan's gaze remained fixed intently on Sisi's hospital room.
He knew Yurou was in there!
He longed to go in and see her immediately.
Yet, to suppress a fraction of his guilt, he had to hold back.
"Yurou, just a little longer. After tonight, once I've arranged everything, I'll come see you right away. You must wait for me!"
"Canglong, protect Yurou and Sisi well. Make sure nothing happens to them!" Chen Bufan ordered. "Also, have an ultra-luxurious wedding dress prepared and delivered to the Jiang family first thing tomorrow morning!"
"Understood!" Canglong accepted the order and departed.
...
When morning broke, Liyang was bustling with activity, with everyone's eyes fixed on the wedding banquet hosted by the Han family.
Given the Han family's influence, calling it a city-shaking event would be no exaggeration. Journalists from all directions had gathered, blocking the entrance of the Platinum Hotel.
This was the most luxurious hotel in Liyang, entirely booked out by the Han family for the wedding banquet.
Guests had been arriving since early morning—all prominent figures of high status and prestige.
To everyone's bewilderment, however, not a single member of the Han family had shown their face.
Meanwhile, a helicopter hovered over the Jiang family residence, drawing the gazes of countless onlookers.
Before it could even descend to a lower altitude, a man in a suit and sunglasses leaped directly out from dozens of meters in the air, parachuting down.
He hurriedly checked his watch.
"Seven fifty-nine!"
*Phew...*
Good thing, he was only a minute early!
If he had been any later, the mission would have failed, and the consequences would have been unthinkable!
Adjusting his breathing, the man used his white-gloved hands to hold an exquisitely packaged gift box.
"The wedding dress for Miss Jiang Yurou has arrived!"
...
"Goodness me, the Han family actually sent a helicopter to deliver the wedding dress! So extravagant!"
"How romantic... If I had an opportunity like that in this lifetime, I'd die happy!"
The surrounding crowd exclaimed in breathless admiration.
Jiang Yurou's younger sister, Jiang Meihan, took the gift box and couldn't help opening it on the spot, letting out a sudden gasp of shock!
Inside the box, a snow-white wedding dress gleamed with dazzling brilliance, embedded with countless diamonds, some as large as a fingernail.
"Is this fake?" Jiang Meihan reached out to touch it.
"Stop!" the man in the suit shouted. "This was custom-made overnight for Miss Jiang Yurou by a world-top designer. It's worth thirty million! Don't ruin it!"
Thirty million? Jiang Meihan was stunned silly. "A wedding dress worth thirty million? The Han family has lost their minds, marrying a wi—"
There were too many people around, so she choked back the rest of her words, though her eyes burned with bitter jealousy. She truly had no idea what was so great about a widow that she warranted such a massive display from the Han family.
Inside the bedroom, having shed her casual clothes, Jiang Yurou's flawless physique was exposed like mutton-fat jade—an absolute masterpiece of human form.
She slowly slipped into the wedding dress, transforming into an immortal descending from the heavens. One couldn't even tell she had ever given birth to a child.
Yet Jiang Yurou felt not a shred of joy, only a profound, agonizing pain in her heart. Wearing this wedding dress meant she was about to become someone else's bride.
"Chen Bufan, do you know how much I wish that person was you?"
Her eyes welled up as a trace of clear tears slowly slipped down, landing on the snow-white fabric of the dress.
"I'm sorry, Chen Bufan. I can't wait for you anymore. If there is an afterlife, remember to find me sooner..."
More than a thousand days and nights ended right here.
At that exact moment, Chen Bufan felt as though his heart had received a telepathic warning, suffering a sharp, piercing pain.
He had arrived at the sanatorium early in the morning.
"Uncle, you're finally here! Can I see Daddy today?" Sisi asked, brimming with excitement.
"Sisi, I am your daddy!" Chen Bufan said with a heartache-filled voice, emotions suppressed for too long making his entire body tremble.
"Daddy? You're really Daddy?" Sisi cheered, throwing her arms around Chen Bufan as tears welled up in her clear, expressive eyes.
"Don't cry, Sisi. Daddy is going to take you to pick up Mommy right now, okay?"
"Okay!"
"Get the cars ready. To the Jiang family!"
In a split second, a thousand luxury cars formed an endless dragon, rumbling majestically toward the Jiang family estate!
...
"The wedding convoy has arrived! Bride, please step out!"
The shout echoed inside and outside the Jiang family compound.
Instantly, drums rolled and firecrackers exploded into a deafening roar!
When the members of the Jiang family saw such a grand formation, they were utterly dumbfounded.
A thousand luxury cars stretching as far as the eye could see.
Just how much money must that cost? They were really giving the Jiang family an immense amount of face!
"Haha..." Jiang Mingyou laughed wildly. With the Han family backing them from now on, the Jiang family was guaranteed a firm footing in Liyang.
*Clang.*
The car doors opened, and two figures stepped out shakily. They were none other than Han Youwei and his son.
"We're just picking up the bride, President Han. Why did you have to come in person?" Jiang Mingyou asked, feeling flattered beyond measure as he hurried forward to welcome them.
Suddenly, he realized something was terribly wrong. Where were Han Shuai's hands?!
The father and son looked an absolute wreck, dried blood caked onto their clothes as if they had been brutally beaten to a pulp.
*Thud.*
*Thud.*
Han Youwei and his son dropped to their knees simultaneously!
*Boom!*
The scene instantly blew up into a massive uproar, gasps echoing from every direction.
The Han father and son had arrived in such grand fashion—wasn't this supposed to be for fetching the bride? Why were they kneeling before the Jiang family?!
"Th-This... this is completely unacceptable! Get up and tell me what's wrong!" Jiang Mingyou was scared out of his wits. He had no qualifications whatsoever to make the supreme boss of Liyang's number one family kneel to him; his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest.
The Han father and son remained motionless, kowtowing repeatedly with heavy thuds against the ground!
"Miss Jiang Yurou, blame us for having the gall of leopards! We actually poisoned your daughter! This marriage is canceled—please, I beg you to forgive us!"
The crowd erupted in a frenzy of shock and outcry.
"You poisoned Sisi?!" Jiang Yurou was struck with sheer disbelief. Could Sisi's illness have come from this?
The marriage canceled?! That was the only part Jiang Mingyou registered, and he panicked instantly.
"President Han, th-th-this was all arranged! How can you just call it off like this?"
"My son is unworthy of Jiang Yurou. Someone else is qualified to marry her," Han Youwei declared decisively, acting even more anxious than Jiang Mingyou.
"What joke are you making, President Han? Xiao Shuai is a man of exceptional talent. Across all of Liyang, apart from him, who else has the qualifications to marry Yurou?" Jiang Mingyou fawned.
"I do!"
A furious roar shattered the sky, bursting across the scene like a thunderclap!
Chapter 8: Give me your hand!
Countless people raised their eyes to look, only to see a white convertible racing toward them.
A Rolls-Royce, pure handmade custom edition—there was only one such vehicle on the market, an absolute priceless treasure.
The dazzling white sports car screeched to a halt right before them, instantly capturing the gaze of everyone present.
A young man in white stepped out, possessing an ethereal, transcendent grace and jade-like elegance.
Beside him stood a little girl in a princess dress, her snow-white face paired with a pair of dark, lively eyes that made countless onlookers exclaim how cute she was.
Black-suited bodyguards stepped forward to open the car doors.
The young man in white took the little girl's hand, stepping out of the car. Not a single person managed to tear their eyes away for even half a second.