Chapter 43 Kneeling and Begging for Mercy
"Look quickly! That\'s Old Master Tian from our Jinling City, the strongest among us!"
In the crowd, someone exclaimed in surprise. Explore stories at empire
Everyone turned their heads and saw an old man with white hair and beard, striding into the Jinling Martial Arts Hall like a dragon in motion.
Wherever he passed, everyone along the way consciously made way, not daring to delay him in the slightest!
Strangely though, none of the Tian family appeared, only Tian Zaiye entered the Jinling Martial Arts Hall with an indifferent expression!
The crowd did not understand why Tian Zaiye had re-entered the jianghu while the Tian family was nowhere to be seen, nor did they understand why Tian Zaiye, the once missing "Old Master Tian" of three years, chose this moment to come out.
However, this did not prevent them from coming to watch how a Grandmaster-level expert above mercilessly kills Su Ya\'s bad match.
"Ye Ling is definitely dead today!"
"He probably didn\'t know Old Master Tian would be this powerful, that\'s why he dared to offend the Tian family so recklessly!"
Su Ya and others were also in the crowd, Su Jun said with a smile on his face.
Upon hearing this, Su Ya and the others also showed smiles, as if they had already seen the scene of Ye Ling being killed by Tian Zaiye!
Su Rou stood by the side, her head lowered, her eyes filled with worry.
And more people were just there for the show, after all, Old Master Tian was known as the strongest man in Jinling City, naturally drawing most people to watch the battle!
Tian Zaiye did not pay attention to the noisy discussions around him, but walked up to the stage on his own.
The stage that had been destroyed by Grandmaster Liu the day before had been completely renewed.
Tian Zaiye stood on the stage with his hands behind his back, silently waiting for Ye Ling\'s arrival.
As time ticked by second by second, the expressions on people\'s faces grew increasingly peculiar with the passage of time.
"That son-in-law of the Su family won\'t dare to come, will he?"
"Heh, Old Master Tian was already at the peak of the Grandmaster level three years ago, he must have entered the Great Grandmaster realm by now; Ye Ling would be crazy to come!"
"Exactly, it\'s clear as day that he would be courting death, how could he possibly dare to come!"
...
As the crowd discussed, they all believed that Ye Ling would definitely not come today!
While everyone was discussing, Ye Ling and Ye Jiu appeared at the entrance of the Jinling Martial Arts Hall.
Ye Jiu\'s indifferent gaze swept over the people present, his icy voice resounding in everyone\'s ears, "Whoever dares to discuss the lord further, will be shown no mercy!"
The words \'shown no mercy,\' filled with overwhelming killing intent!
The crowd\'s faces changed, and they dared not make any more remarks about Ye Ling.
However, their gazes towards Ye Ling and Ye Jiu were full of mockery, their eyes seeming to look at two dead men.
You\'re just a Grandmaster, acting all high and mighty, let\'s see if you can keep it up when you die!
People thought to themselves in silence, and didn\'t bother with Ye Jiu\'s threat.
After all, what\'s the use in arguing with a man about to die?
The two walked casually to the side of the stage.
Ye Jiu looked at Tian Zaiye standing on the stage with the air of a superior, and spoke to Ye Ling, "My lord, shall I take him down instead, so as not to dirty your hands?"
"The man explicitly wants a fight with me, if you took him down, wouldn\'t I be branded a coward?"
Ye Ling shook his head and spoke lightly.
The volume of their conversation wasn\'t low, and many people in attendance heard it.
Such arrogant words caused many to burst into laughter.
"I\'ve lived for so many years, I\'ve seen people rob money and grain, but this is the first time I\'ve seen people racing to their deaths! Hahaha!"
"I must say, Su Ya\'s son-in-law\'s follower is indeed loyal to him, even racing to die for him!"
"Haha, what use is loyalty? Can loyalty allow a Grandmaster to defeat Old Master Tian, a Great Grandmaster?"
...
The crowd, putting aside Ye Jiu\'s threat, laughed and talked amongst themselves.
Ye Jiu\'s eyebrows raised, his body overflowing with killing intent.
"They\'re just ants, why bother..."
Ye Ling spoke softly, then leapt onto the stage.
Ye Jiu, upon hearing this, also reined in his killing intent and stopped bothering with these useless people.
The crowd continued to laugh, unaware they had just narrowly escaped death!
When Ye Ling stepped onto the arena, Tian Zaiye finally opened his eyes.
However, when he clearly saw the person before him, his aged face suddenly twitched twice, and his eyes instantly filled with fear!
"Bang!"
To everyone\'s surprise, instead of immediately killing Ye Ling, the old Master Tian knelt on both knees!
Tian Zaiye\'s sudden action completely baffled everyone!
He had been so imposing just moments ago; why did he kneel upon seeing Ye Ling?
"It seems you already know my identity?"
Ye Ling spoke with an indifferent gaze.
Tian Zaiye shook uncontrollably, his head bowed low, his aged eyes filled with terror.
Why would this dignitary be from the Ye family of the past!
Tian Zaiye roared inwardly; upon seeing Ye Ling, he had all but abandoned the thought of avenging the Tian family.
Now his greatest concern was how to preserve his own life in the hands of Ye Ling!
One might regain descendants, but life, once lost, is truly over!
The reason Tian Zaiye had chosen to go into seclusion three years ago was because he had participated in a martial arts tournament previously.
That martial arts tournament was national in scope, with many strong contenders emerging, but ultimately it was a dignitary from the Northern Liao army, with absolute strength, who suppressed everything!
Even after three years, the images in Tian Zaiye\'s memory had not faded in the slightest.
It was this very man, standing on the arena before him.
Beneath the arena were thousands of men in Northern Liao armor, shouting aloud the name of the Northern Liao King.
Their momentum was strong enough to shake heaven and earth!
And at that time, Tian Zaiye was just one of the countless spectators.
With his peak Grandmaster strength, he didn\'t even qualify to step onto that arena.
If he could do it all over again, even if the Ba Hall\'s might pressed close, he would never have taken action against the Ye family!
Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in the world, and the mistakes made must ultimately be repaid!
"My lord…"
Tian Zaiye wished he could bury his head into the arena, his whole body trembling violently.
Ye Ling revealed a faint smile and said, "Do you regret what you did back then?"
"My lord, the Ba Hall forced us back then, which led my Tian family to commit a grievous error…"
Tian Zaiye\'s body shook even more violently, and he stuttered in his speech.
Just then, Su Rou walked out from the crowd and rushed to the bottom of the arena.
"Ye Ling, since Master Tian is so afraid of you, why not spare him?"
"You\'ve already offended the Ba Hall, and having Master Tian on your side might help you survive against the strong from Ba Hall!"
Su Rou looked anxiously at Ye Ling on the stage and spoke quickly.
Ye Jiu glanced at her, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Spare Tian Zaiye, the man who had participated in the destruction of the Ye family?
How was that possible!
Yet the next scene almost made Ye Jiu\'s jaw drop.
Ye Ling, looking at Su Rou, nodded and said, "Since Rou\'er has spoken, I shall spare his life."
Ye Ling chose to spare Tian Zaiye partly because he did not want to dismiss Su Rou\'s kindness.
On the other hand, he needed Tian Zaiye to lure the people of the Zhao family to Jinling City, thus completely alleviating the worries of Elder Su!
And for Ye Ling, killing Tian Zaiye was merely a thought away!
Upon hearing that his life would be spared, Tian Zaiye was intensely relieved, casting aside the deaths of his son, grandson, and family.
"Death penalty is spared, but punishment is inescapable."
"Today I shall disable your limbs as a bit of interest!"
But before he could rejoice for even a second, Ye Ling\'s cold voice once again rang out.