Chapter 307: Of Course I'm Here to Steal the Bride!
Yun Che narrowed his eyes, smiled as he nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad. This is the attitude you should have. Oh, your name is Fen Duancang? Hmm, indeed not bad. Much better than those idiots who only want their young master to die sooner."
The "idiots" Yun Che referred to were naturally Fen Moran. Fen Moran felt like vomiting blood at this moment. His entire body trembled, his mind dizzy, his lungs aching, his liver aching, his gallbladder aching, his intestines aching, his bladder aching... Anger and humiliation filled every cell of his body, his face red as blood, yet he did not dare say another word, because if he spoke, it would fiercely rebound onto Fen Juecheng. He had lived for decades, but never had he felt such suffocating shame...
He did not dare attack Yun Che, nor did he even have the courage to curse. He could only stare at Yun Che with the most venomous eyes, wishing he could devour him alive.
Fen Duancang was no better off. A renowned Heavenly Xuan Realm supreme expert who had made a name for decades was being praised by a mere nineteen-year-old youth...
Praised by a youth!!
Compared to this humiliating "praise," he would rather be slapped half to death by a peerless expert.
After speaking, Yun Che even "mercifully" lifted his foot a bit, allowing Fen Juecheng to breathe a little easier. But under Yun Che's brutal torment, Fen Juecheng was already drifting in and out of consciousness, his screams reduced to pained groans, so miserable that one could hardly bear to look.
"However, there is one thing you got wrong," Yun Che said arrogantly. "I don't need your so-called guarantee to let me go. If I want to leave, none of you here have the qualifications to stop me!"
These words made Fen Duancang's heart tighten. He did not dare say anything superfluous and quickly nodded: "Yes, yes. You were able to kidnap our young master under heavy encirclement, so naturally you have the ability to leave safely..." He gritted his teeth and said: "As long as you release our young master today, the grudge between you and our Fen Tian Gate will be wiped clean. Fen Tian Gate will never pursue it again!"
Fen Duancang said these words easily, but no fool would believe Fen Tian Gate could keep such a promise. Setting aside past grudges, just the fact that today Fen Juecheng had been tortured to such a miserable state meant Fen Tian Gate would absolutely be at odds with Yun Che until one of them died.
"Is that so?" Yun Che snorted coldly. "It seems I overestimated your intelligence. Do I need your Fen Tian Gate to wipe clean the grudge with me? Do you have eyes? Can you not see what I am here for today?"
Yun Che lifted his gaze and said coldly: "Today, of course I am here to steal the bride! The Azure Moon Princess is my woman. And that Fen Juecheng—what is he? A piece of trash not even worthy of being called a toad, yet he dares to covet my woman... I can choose not to kill him today, nor am I interested in killing him. If you want me to release him? Very simple—take this trash and immediately get the hell out of Cangfeng Imperial City, go back to your Fen Tian Gate. As for the Azure Moon Princess you came to marry, leave her obediently to me."
Although Yun Che had already tortured Fen Juecheng half to death, he indeed would not kill him. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
In this conflict, he was alone, without involving the Cangfeng Mystic Palace or the Imperial Clan in any way. So even if he severely wounded Fen Juecheng and killed two hundred Fen Tian Gate disciples, causing them to lose face, it would not implicate the Imperial Clan or the Cangfeng Mystic Palace. But if he killed Fen Juecheng, it would be different. With the young master dead, Fen Tian Gate would surely fly into a furious rage, lose all reason, and it would be only natural for them to vent their anger on the Cangfeng Mystic Palace and the Imperial Clan.
On the other hand, even alone, escaping under such heavy encirclement after killing Fen Juecheng would not be as simple and easy as he claimed.
Fen Duancang was so enraged he felt like vomiting blood several times. The other party had kidnapped the young master, trampled on Fen Tian Gate's dignity, and he still had to speak kindly and plead—he felt there could be nothing more suffocating in this world...
But after just a few breaths of time, he discovered... there actually was!
Because this Yun Che also wanted to steal his young master's bride!!
They had come for the wedding procession with great fanfare, known throughout the land a week ago, with invitations already sent to the major sects and powers of the Cang Feng Empire. If the Azure Moon Princess were taken away like this, Fen Tian Gate's dignity and face would be thoroughly trampled into dog shit! It would be enough for the world to mock them for decades!
But if they did not comply with his wishes, Fen Tian Gate would lose not only face but also the young master's life!
Fen Duancang's limbs trembled, his vision darkened. The rebellious blood he had barely suppressed rushed to his throat under the assault of extreme fury. He took a deep breath, swallowed the blood with all his might, and said in a trembling voice: "Fine... fine! Release our young master, and we will leave the Azure Moon Princess behind and immediately depart Cangfeng Imperial City!"
Yun Che's earlier ruthlessness was still fresh in his mind. Even though he was furious to the extreme, he dared not act impulsively. He didn't dare refuse or curse, nor even argue or bargain.
Fen Moran took a sharp step forward, wanting to say something to Fen Duancang, but opened his mouth and found no words.
If the hostage in Yun Che's hand were even an elder-level figure, at this point they would not have capitulated but would have chosen to charge and kill him. But the hostage was the young master... besides giving in, what choice did they have?
In the past, not even elders or hall masters of Fen Tian Gate, but even an ordinary Fen Tian Gate disciple, as long as they invoked the name of Fen Tian Gate, could make the opponent tremble all over. But this Yun Che not only showed no fear of their Fen Tian Gate but used extremely ruthless methods to suppress them until they dared not say a single word that displeased him. If lungs could really explode from anger, his hundred lungs would have burst long ago.
"Hahahaha! Very good! I can tell you have the highest say among this group. Since you are so forthright, then naturally I need not say more. I will return your young master to you. I believe the injuries on his body are nothing to Fen Tian Gate."
As his voice fell, Yun Che kicked Fen Juecheng toward Fen Duancang. The latter was stunned for a moment, then hastily caught him. Across the way, Yun Che's cold voice came: "I hope you haven't forgotten what you just said. Take your young master and leave Cangfeng Imperial City immediately!"
Yun Che directly returned Fen Juecheng to them like that, leaving even Fen Duancang somewhat incredulous. Just as he was about to speak, a surge of killing intent erupted behind him. Fen Moran's profound energy madly surged as he pounced at Yun Che like a fierce eagle.
"Stop!!"
Fen Duancang's heart jolted. He moved quickly and forcibly pulled Fen Moran back from midair: "Thirteenth Elder, what are you doing!"
"Of course I'm going to kill him! Do you really intend to follow his wishes and let him leave without a fight? If so, what face does our Fen Tian Gate have left?" Fen Moran roared with blazing anger. In his eyes, Yun Che had finally done something idiotic... releasing Fen Juecheng like that. Without Fen Juecheng as leverage, what did he have to fear?
"Calm down!" Fen Duancang held him tightly and said through gritted teeth in a very low voice: "I want to kill him more than you do. I wish I could tear him to pieces! But you've seen how cunning, treacherous, and ruthless this brat is. Do you think he would be foolish enough to return the young master so generously without any assurance or backup plan? Look at how relaxed he is—he must have many more cards up his sleeve. He snatched the young master from us once; he can do it a second time. If you attack him now, you might invite even more vicious retaliation... The young master might die at his hands, and our Fen Tian Gate, which has already lost all face, would have the extra shame of going back on our word!"
Fen Duancang's words were like cold water poured over Fen Moran's head. He stared at Yun Che, killing intent surging through his entire body. He desperately wanted to strike now and kill Yun Che in one blow, but the sobering reason made his whole body tense, and he dared not make a move. Fen Duancang quickly glanced at Fen Juecheng's injuries and continued in a voice only Fen Moran could hear: "Today, with the young master as a weakness, we have no way to kill him. But those who provoke our Fen Tian Gate never have a good ending, let alone such a gross humiliation! Let's first send the young master back to Fen Tian Gate, then come back to kill him. By then, even if he flees to the ends of the earth, he won't escape the palm of our Fen Tian Gate!"
"Clap, clap, clap, clap!"
A burst of loud applause came. Yun Che said with a grin: "What a wonderful plan. I wish you success soon. But rest assured, when the time comes, you won't need to chase me to the ends of the earth. Perhaps I will deliver myself to your doorstep."
Fen Duancang and Fen Moran looked up, both showing expressions of shock. They had lowered their voices so that only those at least at the late stage of Heavenly Xuan could hear, and Yun Che was ten zhang away from them... yet he heard it clearly!
How could he have such sharp hearing?
Fen Duancang instantly felt even more uneasy, and a desperate urge to leave this place immediately arose in his heart—the farther away from this terrifying young man, the better. He clenched his fists, said nothing more to Yun Che, and barked: "Let's... go!"
As he spoke the last word, Fen Duancang actually felt a sense of relief. He picked up Fen Juecheng, soared into the air first, and fled far away. Fen Moran followed without any verbal or eye contact with anyone... His lifetime of glory and dignity had been utterly lost that day.
With the two leaders gone, the others naturally did not stay. All left in disgrace, not even bothering with the corpses of their disciples on the ground... and most of those corpses were incomplete, difficult to take away even if they wanted to.
"Take your time, no need to see me off." Yun Che squinted, smiling lightly. As Fen Duancang and Fen Moran disappeared from sight, the tense string in his heart finally loosened, and his entire back was drenched with cold sweat. He looked at the sky and said coldly, in a low voice: "Fen Juecheng, this is what you owe me! I had no enmity with you, yet you tried to ambush me in the Minghan Heavenly Lake! Since the feud is already irreconcilable, let's make it even more thorough! Fen Tian Gate... become the touchstone and stepping stone for my growth!"