Viewing the Moon in a Well

Fast, too fast.

So fast that before anyone could even react, the Shadow Guard had already been defeated. His defeat was decisive and absolute.

Under the moonlight, three figures stood in silence.

One figure was as cold and clear as the moon, breathtakingly beautiful.

One figure was casually dangling a severed head.

And one figure was simply baffling...

"H-how is this possible?"

The Shadow Guard's pupils dilated. He stared blankly at the headless body kneeling on the ground not far away, stripped of all support.

That was his own body.

Only at this moment did he realize he had lost, yet he did not even know when it happened.

Ye Shu dangled the head with one hand, his eyes indifferent.

"You are merely a few years older than me, lucky enough to have cultivated a bit longer and reached a slightly higher realm. You think highly of yourself because you come from a prominent family, looking down on everyone else. Little do you know, there is always someone better, and a sky beyond the sky."

"You, at the Soul Formation realm, look at me like a frog at the bottom of a well gazing at the moon in the sky."

"If we were in the same realm, you looking at me would be like a mayfly gazing at the vast blue heavens."

As he spoke, Ye Shu slightly tightened the grip of his five fingers.

"Brat, you dare?! I am a Soul Formation..." The Shadow Guard's eyes widened, filled with unwillingness and disbelief.

"Is Soul Formation really that impressive? It's not like I haven't killed one before."

Ye Shu gave a faint smile and suddenly crushed his fingers together.

Bang!

The Shadow Guard's head exploded instantly, turning into a mist of blood that splattered all over Ye Shu, making his already blood-stained white robes look even more bewitching.

Another Soul Formation expert had died at Ye Shu's hands.

Yet, he didn't even bat an eyelid.

He could not allow his family to live under the threat of a vengeful Soul Formation expert. Petty demons causing mischief were the most troublesome to deal with, so it was better to kill him now and end it once and for all.

Zhao Zhixia looked at Ye Shu, a ripple finally flashing through her previously unwavering eyes.

Even she hadn't expected Ye Shu to be so ruthless.

But thinking about it carefully, it seemed to make perfect sense.

She didn't even spare a glance at the corpse on the ground, but instead raised her eyes to look at Ye Shu: "You won. According to our agreement, I will protect the Ye family for a hundred years."

"The token... when will you give it to me?"

"Now."

"Now?" Zhao Zhixia was taken aback.

Then, under her shocked gaze, Ye Shu pulled out from his sleeve... the very bracelet she had just taken off and returned to him with her own hands.

"That is the token?!"

Zhao Zhixia could no longer maintain her composure. She stared fixedly at the wooden bracelet, her lips slightly parted. Even if she were beaten to death, she would never have guessed that the token her family had been desperately searching for had been worn on her wrist from the very beginning, and she had worn it for nearly fifteen years.

Let alone her, even Xiaobai and Danxia hadn't expected this.

"No wonder... no wonder this guy didn't mention the deal when he first came over, but instead insisted on getting the bracelet back first. It turns out he didn't even have the thing to begin with!" Xiaobai muttered softly.

She had thought he was being affectionate, but it was all calculation.

Sure enough, one shouldn't hold any illusions about this guy.

"Surprised?"

Ye Shu waved the bracelet in the air and finally laughed out loud, laughing freely and heartily.

"Darkness under the lamp, you played it very well." Zhao Zhixia quickly reined in her emotions, suppressing her excitement and pretending to be calm as she said, "Now, can you give me the token?"

"Of course."

Without any hesitation, Ye Shu casually tossed the bracelet to Zhao Zhixia, then turned to leave.

Zhao Zhixia hurriedly took a step forward and carefully caught the bracelet. Seeing him leaving, she quickly asked, "You haven't told me what the unsealing method is yet?"

"The unsealing method is very simple."

Ye Shu didn't even turn his head; only his laughter drifted back:

"As long as you wear this bracelet, the seal will automatically break after you've worn it for exactly fifteen years."

"Happy coming-of-age ceremony."

"Fifteen years?"

Zhao Zhixia looked at his retreating back, stunned. "Fifteen years... isn't that... today? The day I come of age..."

There were no such coincidences in the world.

And the seal could only be placed by the successive family heads who possessed it.

In other words... from the very beginning, this token was a coming-of-age gift Ye Shu had prepared for her.

If she hadn't taken off the bracelet yesterday...

She would have already obtained the token today, and there would have been no need for this whole ordeal.

Zhao Zhixia walked to the window, stroking the bracelet with one hand, but she hesitated to put it on. She simply looked at the broken hole in the courtyard wall, looked at the departing youth, and stroked the bracelet over and over again until it was completely spotless.

On the other side.

Pfft—

Ye Shu, who had just walked out of the courtyard, instantly furrowed his brows and violently spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was as pale as paper, and his body staggered, almost falling to his knees.

"Shu'er, what's wrong with you?" Danxia was somewhat worried.

"N-nothing."

Ye Shu supported himself on the ground with one hand, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and gritted his teeth, "Do you think I would tell you that just now, in order to instantly kill that Shadow Guard, I directly opened three formations at once? One for strength, one for speed, and one for concealing presence. It drained all my spiritual energy in an instant. My acupoints and meridians couldn't handle such violent spiritual energy and a whole bunch of them snapped, and now I'm in so much pain I want to die?"

"Why did you do that?" Danxia couldn't understand his reasoning.

"If you just fought normally, even if it took a little longer, you would have definitely won, right? You just had to do it so fast and end up severely injuring yourself."

"You don't understand, this is what it means to be a man."

Ye Shu simply raised his head, looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle with a melancholic gaze.

Would he actually say it out loud?

That it was purely to show off in front of his ex-girlfriend and make her regret it for the rest of her life!

If he said it out loud, would it still be cool?

Let them guess it themselves!

"Hey! The one on my shoulder, how long are you going to sit there?"

Ye Shu squatted on the ground to recover for a moment before irritably punching Xiaobai. "Can't you see I can barely walk? Hurry up and help me!"

"Tch, you only know how to show off."

Xiaobai rolled her eyes at him but still obediently jumped down, supporting his arms over her shoulders as they limped back toward their own courtyard.

In the courtyard, Ye Xiaosu had already finished her Foundation Establishment.

Feeling the abundant power within her body, she hadn't yet had the chance to report this good news to her young master.

Bang! The door was forcefully pushed open by Ye Shu, who stumbled inside.

"Young Master! What happened to you?"

Seeing him covered in blood, Ye Xiaosu immediately panicked. She quickly jumped out of bed and ran over barefoot to carefully support him.

"D-don't move... it hurts a lot..."

Leaning into Ye Xiaosu's embrace, Ye Shu finally relaxed. He slowly closed his eyes, murmuring softly, "Go fetch the healing medicine, then let me rest for a while..."

"Young Master, let me examine your injuries first."

Ye Xiaosu didn't go straight for the medicine. Instead, she skillfully used her spiritual energy to examine the injuries inside Ye Shu's body.

Upon this examination, Ye Xiaosu was stunned.

Over a dozen meridians were snapped, and there wasn't a single trace of spiritual energy left in his body.

At this moment, Ye Shu was like a defenseless lamb, entirely at the mercy of others.

"Xiaosu?" Ye Shu, leaning in her embrace, let out a soft groan.

Looking at Ye Shu in her arms, who was currently just like an ordinary mortal, a sinister curve slowly formed at the corners of Ye Xiaosu's mouth.

She picked Ye Shu up and walked straight toward the door.

"Young Master... Xiao Su will take you to heal your wounds right away..."