I bought a secret manual of the Hehuan Sect for ten yuan.

"Distorted and cracked fruit?"

Li Yanyun was quite pleased with himself. "It's precisely because our Li family has cooperated with Moyi Hall for many years and understands Moyi Hall well enough that we weren't fooled by you!"

"You might really be a branch leader of the Shadow Martial Arts Hall, but don't think that just because you've found some old man with decent skills, you can convince me he's some kind of Azure Dragon Heavenly King!"

"Although the Ink Robe Hall is an assassin organization, they have their own discipline and integrity. Not a single member would easily betray them, let alone the Azure Dragon, the leader of the Four Heavenly Kings?"

"The Ink Robe Hall and the Shadow Martial Hall are like fire and water, one in the dark and the other in the light. Do you think the real Azure Dragon Heavenly King would collude with you?"

"You might be able to fool a three-year-old with something like that, but do you think you can fool me?"

"Xiao Xinghe could absolutely not be the Azure Dragon Heavenly King!"

"Qin Ge!"

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, "You shouldn't have come back to the Li family with me!"

"You think you can control me and smoothly take control of the Li family just by relying on a traitor like Li Shuyan and finding a skilled fighter?"

"That's wishful thinking. The Li family's resources are beyond your imagination!"

"This is my territory. All those so-called 'oddballs' are experts, including two at the Heavenly Realm. Do you think you can leave here alive?"

"Once you're eliminated, all that smuggling and collusion will be meaningless. Once you're dead, who will know?"

"You..." Qin Ge was stunned. "You're incredibly clever!"

"This level of wisdom must be three or four stories high! I'm truly impressed!"

He looked at Xiao Xinghe, "Old Xiao, they're not convinced by you, aren't you going to show them?"

"Do it yourself!" Xiao Xinghe's face was already red from Li Yanyun's words; what he said really made sense!

He, the most senior member of the Moyi Hall, seems to have become the most spineless one!

He's already ruined his reputation in his later years; if he gets angry out of embarrassment, it will be even more shameful.

Li Shuyan panicked. "Dad, everything happened because of me! If you release them, I'll quit being the head of the family!"

"Please, I'll do anything you want!"

"Release them? Too late!" Li Yanyun laughed triumphantly, his smile growing increasingly unrestrained. "What right do you have to negotiate with me?"

"The Li family raised you all these years, yet you help outsiders against your own father. You ungrateful wretch, unable to distinguish right from wrong, I hate you even more than I hate Qin Ge!"

"I'm even going to kill you, so what right do you have to plead for them with me?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing." Qin Ge pulled Li Shuyan behind him, placing a hand on Li Yanyun's shoulder. "Li Yanyun, do you know your smile looks like that of an idiot?"

"Have you forgotten that you're still in my hands?"

"I could snap your neck with just a little force, I really don't understand what you're so arrogant about!"

Li Yanyun was emboldened, "With so many experts here, you won't survive even if you kill me!"

"If you keep me around, you might have leverage to negotiate; there might be a glimmer of hope!"

"Yan Yun, judging from your words, this kid is the branch leader of the Shadow Martial Hall?" A woman with exquisite makeup appeared, her demeanor graceful and charming.

This woman is Xu Mingyu, Li Yanyun's wife and Li Shuyan's stepmother.

Xu Mingyu swayed her voluptuous waist, her gaze sweeping over Qin Ge. "He doesn't look like him at all!"

"It's said that the minimum requirement for each branch leader of the Shadow Martial Hall is a martial arts cultivation level of at least the Heavenly Realm. Could this kid be a Heavenly Realm expert?"

She tilted her head towards someone beside her, "Mr. Mo Cen, you are a master of the Heavenly Realm, can you see through this kid's true strength?"

Mo Cen then said, "This young man doesn't seem to know martial arts, but the old man beside him exudes an aura of unfathomable depth and his strength is unfathomable!"

"Madam, we must not be careless!"

"Really?" Xu Mingyu was slightly surprised. She knew that Mo Cen was a master of the Heavenly Realm. For Xiao Xinghe to receive such an evaluation from him, he must be no ordinary person.

After a moment's thought, she looked up at Xiao Xinghe, her eyes alluring, "This is Mr. Xiao, right?"

"Mr. Xiao, would you mind letting me say a few words?"

"Our Li family has no grudge against Mr. Xiao. Surely Mr. Xiao is being misled by this Qin Ge into helping him deal with the Li family, right?"

"If Mr. Xiao is willing to stop, we, Li, are willing to double the reward Qin Ge promised you!"

"The entire city of Haicheng knows that the Li family values ​​talent. If Mr. Xiao is willing to serve the Li family, from this day forward we will regard you as the Li family's most respected retainer!"

"The entire Li family will certainly treat you as an honored guest; you can name your price!"

Xiao Xinghe was both amused and exasperated. "Thank you for your kindness. It's rare for an old man like me to be appreciated."

"But if I were to name a price, you couldn't afford it!"

He looked at Qin Ge, "This kid is really annoying. Go ahead and beat him up if you want, I absolutely won't help him!"

"Mr. Xiao is clearly a man of his word. Although it's a bit of a pity that we can't recruit you into the Li family, I'm relieved to hear your words!" Xu Mingyu knew when to stop. Xiao Xinghe's agreement not to interfere was already far beyond her expectations.

She glanced at Li Shuyan, then looked at Li Yanyun and said sneer, "I told you to marry this brat off a long time ago, but you wouldn't listen. Now you're suffering the consequences, aren't you?"

"Knowing that Wu Zhaonan is interested in her, is there anything you can't accomplish if you just give the go-ahead?"

"Helping outsiders stab their own father in the back, this girl is just as despicable as her mother!"

"You're not allowed to talk about my mother like that!" Li Shuyan roared. "Even if I've made a thousand mistakes, they have nothing to do with my mother. You have no right to speak of her like that!"

"And I believe Qin Ge. The Li family did indeed do shady things, whether it was smuggling or colluding with the Moyi Hall, that's true, isn't it?"

"I pleaded for him repeatedly, but not only did he want to sever ties with me, he even tried to kill me just now. Didn't you hear me?"

"Don't think I know nothing!"

"Back then, the Li family experienced a major financial crisis, almost to the point of complete collapse. They even had to mortgage Liuguang Island!"

"Later, it was my maternal grandfather's family who helped the Li family resolve that crisis. That's when my dad and mom met."

"It was around that time that Liuguang Island came into the hands of my maternal grandfather's family."

"Later, when my mother married into the Li family, my maternal grandfather gave Liuguang Island as part of her dowry, so it was like returning the island to its rightful owner."

"However, my mother was careful at the time and only allowed the Li family to develop and operate Liuguang Island as usual, without mentioning the transfer of property rights at all."

"She didn't transfer Flowing Light Island to my name until I was born!"

She stared at Li Yanyun. "After my mother died, how many times did you hint to me to sign the papers to transfer Liuguang Island to you?"

"I didn't think much about it before, or rather, I didn't want to think about my family this way, but what about now?"

"If Flowing Light Island weren't still under my name, I'm afraid I would have been kicked out long ago, or forced to marry Wu Zhaonan, right?"