"Fine, fine. I used eight of our ten-move agreement, and I've already exhausted nearly everything I've learned in my lifetime. You're Jiang Chen?" The brown-cloaked man's voice carried three parts exhaustion, three parts dejection, and the remainder — a rare note of genuine admiration.
Jiang Chen chuckled. "So, no more fighting?"
"No more." The brown-cloaked man was thoroughly dejected. "Go ahead — what do you want to know?"
He was inwardly grateful now. If the wager had been for his head, he would have already lost it. Fortunately, the other party hadn't demanded his life — only that he reveal his origins and identity.
Compared to his head, which weighed more and which weighed less was abundantly clear.
Jiang Chen chuckled again and glanced at the other three cloaked figures. "They don't object either?"
"I'm their leader. What I say goes." The brown-cloaked man replied flatly.
"Good. Then tell me — your origins, and why you treated the Yan family so cruelly. If you don't have a sufficient reason, then the Yan family's blood debt will have to be repaid by you."
The brown-cloaked man let out a cold snort. "Blood for blood — that's nothing new. If you have the ability, go ahead and kill us. The pity is, even the Holy Ancestor of your Sacred Ground might not have the nerve to do so. He wouldn't dare offend our master."
"Is that supposed to be an answer to my question?" Jiang Chen said coldly.
The brown-cloaked man gave a hollow laugh. "The four of us — our identities from long ago are no longer important. You can call us the Four Venerables of Wind, Snow, and Moon. You can call me Feng Yi."
Feng Yi?
That was clearly an alias, not a real name at all.
Jiang Chen frowned. "You're stalling me?"
"No." The brown-cloaked man shook his head. "We have only one identity now, and that is our master's servants. I am Feng Yi. Then there is Er, Xue San, and Yue Si."
"And who is your master? What deep grudge does the Yan family bear against you?" What Jiang Chen most wanted to clarify was this point.
Feng Yi laughed coldly. "You really want to know? If you do, then so be it — I'll tell you. In any case, our master never intended to keep it hidden forever. Some things are bound to come to light sooner or later."
Jiang Chen said nothing, waiting quietly. Yan Wanjun and the others, however, wore solemn expressions — they were clearly the more anxious ones.
"Go on," Jiang Chen said evenly.
"My master's surname is An." When Feng Yi spoke of his master, his tone became intensely reverent; it was clear that his devotion came from the depths of his heart.
"An? And then what? Is this some hero of a noble house? A great expert from one of the Sacred Grounds?" Jiang Chen asked, puzzled.
Feng Yi laughed coldly, and his gaze suddenly shot toward Yan Wanjun. "Old fool Yan Wanjun — it seems you truly have grown senile and confused. Or perhaps the people of the Yan family are simply cold-blooded creatures who deserve to die."
Yan Wanjun flew into a rage. "Nonsense! What does this have to do with the Yan family?"
"Nothing to do with it?" Feng Yi let out a long, grief-stricken laugh. "It seems you really are hard-hearted. Didn't your son tell you when he brought home a wife — that she, too, bore the surname An?"
At these words, Yan Wanjun's entire body went rigid, as though he had been struck by a immobilization spell. Every muscle turned instantly to stone.
And Huang'er, too, seemed to suddenly grasp something. Her delicate frame swayed, and her clear eyes filled with a deep, aching concern — her gaze becoming complex in an instant.
It was the first time she had ever heard that her birth mother's surname was apparently An.
And these four cloaked figures' master also bore the surname An. What did that mean?