"Chu Hang, what do you think you're doing?"
Chu Yue scrambled to her feet the moment she hit the ground, her face flushed with rage as she glared at the man standing before the barrier gate.
"What am I doing? You couldn't even break through this barrier gate — you're just wasting an Immortal Forbidden Martial Technique as fine as this one. I was simply preventing you from squandering it," the man named Chu Hang said.
"Squandering it? Breaking through this gate naturally takes time. How is that wasting anything?"
"Besides, the Clan Master himself said it clearly: once inside this Bloodline Altar, no one is allowed to fight over anything. For every barrier gate, whoever arrives first earns the right to open it — no one else is permitted to contest it."
"Are you saying the Clan Master's words mean nothing to you?"
"You'd better step aside right now, and I'll let this go without reporting it. Otherwise, I will go straight to the Head of Punishment and explain exactly what happened here," Chu Yue said, her voice tight with displeasure.
"Haha, the right to open it?"
"Others might have that right — but does someone like you, Chu Yue, have any right at all?"
"Go ahead and report me. Be my guest."
"Everyone knows that the Vice Head of Punishment, Lord Chu Xuanzhengfa, holds your brother Chu Feng in the highest regard."
"And the Clan Master dotes on Chu Feng more than anyone."
"But what about you? Back then, for the sake of some petty benefit, you didn't hesitate to betray Chu Feng."
"The entire clan knows about that. Do you really think, with a reputation like yours, that anyone will listen if you go snitching on me?" Chu Hang sneered.
"I—" Chu Yue's face went deathly pale, and she didn't know how to respond.
"Hmph. Chu Yue, the fact that you were even allowed to enter this place is already an act of mercy from the rest of us."
"You need to understand — the only reason you got in here at all is because of Chu Feng. And do you not remember what you did to him?"
"And yet you still have the nerve to show your face here. If I were you, I wouldn't dare set foot inside," Chu Hang continued.
"That's right — someone like you has no business being here. Get out."
"Get out right now! Go on, scram!"
In the next moment, the crowd gathered around them began chiming in as well.
Every single person turned their arrows toward Chu Yue, and many openly told her to leave.
At that moment, Chu Yue's hands clenched tight against her clothes, her entire body trembling, while tears streamed down her cheeks like rain.
She felt wronged — but more than that, she felt regret.
Even she had to admit that everything they said was true. She truly had no right to be here.
She had wronged Chu Feng. She had done something unforgivable to him. How could she now have the face to enter a Bloodline Altar that he had opened?
That was precisely why she couldn't summon the strength to argue back.
And yet at the same time, she felt utterly helpless.
She felt that ever since Chu Feng had risen to power, the entire clan had looked down on her. Even her closest friends no longer spoke to her. Even her own mother held a grudge against her.
Perhaps she no longer belonged in the Chu Heavenly Clan, because she couldn't find a single person who still treated her as family.
But if she didn't stay here, where else could she go? This was her home.
The most painful thing in the world wasn't being unable to return home — it was being right inside your own home yet feeling no warmth of home at all.
In that moment, Chu Yue truly felt as though she had no desire to live. She couldn't find any meaning in going on.
"Get out of my way. All of you."
But just then, a voice suddenly rang out from behind the crowd.
The moment that voice sounded, every head turned — after all, it was brimming with hostility.
At first, people looked over while mentally preparing some cutting remark for the rude newcomer. But the moment they saw who was speaking, they froze — then hurriedly parted to make way.
It was Chu Feng.
"Ch—Chu Feng."
"This Chu Yue is absolutely despicable. She has no business being here. But don't waste your anger on her — someone like her isn't worth it."
"This shameless creature doesn't even deserve your words. We'll spit on her on your behalf," Chu Hang said with an eager, fawning grin.