At this moment, Zhong Wunian completely lost his subservient demeanor from before Mo Zhaoge. Instead, a murderous aura emanated from him.
"What! Are you planning to get rid of me?"
Ye Ming looked at the hostile crowd, a faint smile always on his face.
"Our revered God does not permit any unclean beings to desecrate him!"
Zhong Wunian stared intently at Ye Ming, recalling how this lowly mortal had dared to touch Mo Zhaoge's sacred skin, and had even received an embrace from the God.
Each of these memories was enough to make him want to tear Ye Ming's bones apart, gnaw his heart, and cast him into the endless ice and fire hell.
As Zhong Wunian had said.
Gods could not be desecrated.
"Guards!" Zhong Wunian had no intention of wasting words with Ye Ming and directly issued an order: "First, lop off those sinful hands of his!"
"Yes!"
From behind Zhong Wunian, a strong and robust man emerged.
As the strong man stomped his feet, the ground trembled slightly.
With just one breath, he revealed himself to be an ancient martial artist in the early Martial Master realm.
"Kid, do you want me to cripple your right hand first, or your left?" The strong man twisted his neck, his face filled with ferocity.
Ye Ming glanced at the group, feeling helpless.
Among them, the strongest was only at the late Martial Master stage; there wasn't even a Martial King.
He had only recently crippled a Martial Emperor.
"Why don't you call Zhong Wuhen first and see if he agrees to you making a move on me?"
Ye Ming couldn't muster any interest in these people.
They were so weak that he felt even making a move against them would be an insult to himself.
"You know my brother?"
Hearing Ye Ming's words, Zhong Wunian's brow furrowed, and his expression turned grim.
In his opinion, Ye Ming was only saying this to use his brother to pressure him, thereby escaping his predicament.
"I wouldn't say I *know* him, but we've met a couple of times!" Ye Ming said slowly.
A couple of times!
"It seems you're not exactly friends with my brother." Zhong Wunian felt a sense of relief.
"Given that you know my brother, I'll only cripple your hands today as a courtesy to him!" Zhong Wunian said coldly, "Attack!"
As he spoke, the strong man charged at Ye Ming, his true qi surging throughout his body, and then he threw a heavy punch.
"Sigh! What a bother!"
Ye Ming's body swayed slightly, and without any apparent action, the strong man was sent flying backward, his body hurtling towards Zhong Wunian.
"Damn it! Quickly... quickly help me block him!"
Seeing the strong man, who was a full head larger than him, flying towards him, Zhong Wunian shrieked and quickly retreated. If he were hit, he reckoned he'd be as good as dead.
Fortunately, the people behind him reacted quickly and rushed forward to shield him.
Just as Zhong Wunian thought he was out of danger, what he saw next made his jaw drop.
When his subordinates prepared to catch the strong man, the moment they made contact, the terrifying inertia carried by the strong man sent them all flying.
"Ah!"
"I... crap"
"Holy shit!"
"..."
At this moment, everyone was like bowling pins.
They were scattered in all directions.
Ultimately, the strong man landed squarely on Zhong Wunian.
"Ah! My... my waist... it's broken!"
Followed by a pig-like scream!
Ye Ming's casual strike had annihilated them all.
"Alas! Why was this necessary?"
Ye Ming glanced at the people lying on the ground, ignored them, and left.
In two words: Uninteresting!
However, Ye Ming was unaware that this casual strike would later earn him a fervent little fan.
...
Shortly after noon, Ye Ming returned to the Du family.
The moment he stepped into the Du family courtyard, he attracted everyone's attention.
"Greetings, Mr. Ye!"
"Greetings, Mr. Ye!"
"..."
Every member of the Du family who saw Ye Ming greeted him with smiles, their eyes filled with respect and gratitude.
It could be said that if not for Ye Ming, the Du family would have been gone by now.
In the main hall, all the core disciples of the Du family had gathered.
Seated at the head were two figures.
One was an old man with white hair.
At this moment, Du Guidao had a ruddy complexion, his eyes were bright and spirited, and a "who dares to oppose me" aura still emanated from his brow.
Who would have thought that this old man before them had been hovering on the brink of death just a few hours ago.
Beside him, naturally, was Du Yuemian.
She held Du Guidao's arm, her eyes filled with joy. Beneath this joy, there was an almost overflowing sense of emotion.
As for why she felt this way, perhaps only she knew.
Below the head seats were Du Tianen and other influential members of the clan.
Du Tianshang was also present.
The atmosphere in the hall was still somewhat somber.
"Old... Old Family Head, Mr. Ye... Mr. Ye is back!"
At this moment, a collateral disciple of the Du family from outside the hall rushed in, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Young Master... is back?"
Upon hearing this, Du Yuemian was the first to stand.
Then, everyone else's faces lit up with smiles.
"Hahaha! Good! Good! Why aren't you all quickly coming with me to welcome our young friend Ye!"
Du Guidao laughed heartily, clearly overjoyed.
"Yes! Yes! It is only right!"
"That's right! Hurry! We mustn't keep Mr. Ye waiting!"
"Precisely!"
"..."
The crowd chimed in one after another, preparing to accompany Du Guidao outside to welcome him.
But as they stood up, a gentle voice echoed through the hall.
"Everyone, there's no need for such a grand gesture. I, Ye, wouldn't dare to accept it!"
As soon as the voice faded, Ye Ming's figure appeared outside the hall.
Seeing Ye Ming, the smiles on everyone's faces widened.
Du Yuemian, who had been at the head seat, ran down and within a few steps reached Ye Ming's side, asking softly, "Young Master, have you finished dealing with things?"
Seeing his beloved granddaughter rush out so eagerly, Du Guidao's lips curved into a knowing smile.
His gaze swept over Ye Ming and Du Yuemian, nodding occasionally.
"Yes! Everything is handled!"
After a brief chat with Du Yuemian, Ye Ming turned his gaze to Du Guidao at the head seat and cupped his hands in a bow:
"This junior, Ye Ming, pays his respects to Grandpa Du!"
Du Guidao heard this, also descended from the head seat, helped Ye Ming up, and nodded repeatedly, "Good! Good! Indeed, a hero emerges from the youth!"
Neither subservient nor arrogant! Not proud, not impatient!
No matter how Du Guidao looked at him, Ye Ming's face seemed to bear two words: Satisfied!
Greatly satisfied!
"How are you, Grandpa Du? Do you feel any discomfort anywhere?"
As he spoke, Ye Ming had already taken Du Guidao's wrist and began to examine his body systematically, looking for any anomalies.
Du Guidao felt the flow of energy within his body and understood Ye Ming's intentions.
At this moment, he could no longer describe his feelings towards Ye Ming with just the word "satisfied."
At the very least, two more words needed to be added:
Extremely satisfied!