"Forget it."
"Why?"
Yang Yitan turned his head, looking at Yang Qingyuan with a hint of confusion.
No matter how much one might refuse to admit it, the current Xiao Family wielded the power of surveillance, making them an existence within the Yi Qi Dao Alliance that no one dared to provoke.
Because you never knew what kind of excuse the Xiao Family might use next to frame you, or even your entire family, if you offended them.
An unprincipled villain is always more dangerous than a hypocrite; this was an eternal truth.
And precisely because of this, most members of the Xiao Family acted as lawless as Xiao Tiansheng did today.
Last time, Xiao Wancheng had brought people to wreck the Yang Family's wedding banquet, causing the Yang Family to lose all face right in front of all the Dao Alliance clans.
Yet what was the subsequent result?
Although the Yang Family's son-in-law was indeed protected through the maneuvering of several Dao Alliance clans, the Yang Family still didn't dare to immediately launch retaliation against the Xiao Family afterwards!
Even as mighty as the Tianyan Yang Family, one of the top clans in the Dao Alliance, was, ordinary people stood even less of a chance.
Therefore, lacking the strength to adequately protect himself, Yang Qingyuan did not want to thoroughly alienate the Xiao Family just yet.
After all, Yang Yitan was the Young Master of the Yang Family, possessing a noble status, so they might not dare to act rashly against him.
What about himself, though?
He was merely a neglected disciple of the Yang Family, whose very bloodline was constantly called into question—dealing with him would be as easy as taking candy from a baby.
At this thought, Yang Qingyuan let out a helpless sigh inwardly.
*Sigh, my strength is still lacking...*
If he currently possessed strength comparable to a Great Demon Emperor, why would he need to walk on such thin ice?
Strength is forever the foundation of survival, and so-called dignity always rests solely upon the three-foot blade in one's hand.
Thinking of this, Yang Qingyuan shook his head and offered a faint smile to Xiao Tiansheng before him.
"Since Young Master Xiao has already said that this whole thing is just a misunderstanding, let's drop the matter here."
"Tch, what a coward..."
Xiao Tiansheng inwardly despised Yang Qingyuan, but on the surface, he still maintained a smiling face.
"Many thanks, Brother Yitan. If there's nothing else, we'll be taking our leave then?"
"Wait a minute."
Just as Xiao Tiansheng was about to turn and leave with his two subordinates, Yang Qingyuan's voice rang out once again from behind.
Xiao Tiansheng paused slightly, turning his head to look at Yang Qingyuan in confusion.
"Is there something else?"
"Didn't Young Master Xiao just say he was misled by some slanderous villain?"
"This..."
Xiao Tiansheng vaguely sensed that something was amiss, but constrained by the presence of Yang Yitan and the surrounding crowd, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and randomly point at one of his subordinates.
"It was him!"
"Very well."
Yang Qingyuan nodded and smiled slightly at Xiao Tiansheng.
Then, under the gaze of everyone present, Yang Qingyuan slowly walked up to the subordinate, narrowed his eyes, and stomped fiercely onto the man's dantian!
"Ah—!!!"
The subordinate let out a miserable scream on the spot.
"You crippled his cultivation?!?"
Xiao Tiansheng's face turned livid as he roared in disbelief.
"According to the decrees issued by the Yi Qi Dao Alliance, falsely accusing someone of colluding with demons, once proven, carries quite a heavy penalty...
Furthermore, as a Black Obsidian Ensecutor, this man knowingly broke the law, which doubles the crime!
Young Master Xiao, as the victim here, I merely crippled his cultivation. This punishment isn't too excessive, is it?"
"Not excessive at all..."
Xiao Tiansheng forced these three words out through tightly clenched teeth.
If glares could kill, Yang Qingyuan would have already been hacked to pieces a thousand times over by Xiao Tiansheng.
However, since Xiao Tiansheng had just claimed they were incited by subordinates, and Yang Qingyuan had now brought up the Dao Alliance's decrees, he had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.
"Take him, let's go!"
Watching Xiao Tiansheng leave the street, Yang Yitan turned his gaze to the Yang Qingyuan beside him.
To be honest, it wasn't until today that he felt he was truly getting to know this transparent background figure of the Yang Family all over again.
Crippling a Black Obsidian Ensecutor's cultivation in the middle of cheerful banter—such methods could hardly be called anything less than ruthless.
That kind of ruthlessness would be one thing on someone else, but this Yang Qingyuan was still a child who had just turned eight years old...
Thinking of this, the look Yang Yitan gave Yang Qingyuan carried a complex mix of nameless emotions.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"N—nothing."
Yang Yitan withdrew his gaze, his expression looking slightly awkward.
After leading Yang Yitan out of the circle of onlookers, Yang Qingyuan cast an amused glance at the little boy in front of him.
"Speak up. What on earth are you trying to achieve by following me all this way?"
"You noticed me from the start?" Yang Yitan raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, noticed you the moment I walked out the front gate." Yang Qingyuan nodded.
"Fine. I'm just curious—who on earth taught you the methods you used?"
The Yang Family practiced their ancestral techniques, yet no one in the family had ever taught these secret methods to Yang Qingyuan.
Logic dictated that without the inner cultivation method, Yang Qingyuan shouldn't have been able to practice anything at all.
"How about this? Why don't you answer a question of mine first, and then I'll answer yours. Deal?"
"Go ahead."
"Who exactly told you to ask me this?"
Yang Yitan was slightly taken aback. Meeting Yang Qingyuan's eyes—which seemed capable of seeing straight through his heart—for a moment, he actually didn't dare to hold his gaze.
"How did you know someone else put me up to this?"
"You're not the type who likes to stick your nose into other people's business." Yang Qingyuan shrugged.
"..."
The corners of Yang Yitan's mouth twitched.
Although they were both members of the younger generation of the Yang Family, his interactions with Yang Qingyuan had actually been very few. He only knew that there was someone quite special in his family, and even his own parents had repeatedly instructed him not to get too close to him.
Usually, even if they bumped into each other at home, they would just exchange casual greetings and rarely conversed.
Yet hearing Yang Qingyuan's tone, it sounded as if he knew him quite well...
"Fine, it was my grandfather..."
"The Patriarch?"
Yang Qingyuan narrowed his eyes, a playful glint flashing across them.
For some reason, he always felt that the attitude of the Yang Family Patriarch toward him was a bit strange...
If he truly regarded him as an insignificant servant, why go to such great lengths to send Yang Yitan to approach him and fish for information about his situation?
Couldn't he have just asked directly back when he was in the confinement room?
Although he lacked substantive evidence, Yang Qingyuan had a vague premonition that this matter was likely related to his biological parents whom he had never met.
"Yang Yitan, let me ask you something. Do you know who my parents are?"
"I've already answered your question. Shouldn't you answer mine first now?"
"Fine, fine. As for the methods I use..."
At this point, Yang Qingyuan suddenly paused, then gave Yang Yitan a mysterious smile.
"If I told you nobody taught me, and they just suddenly popped into my head, would you believe it?"