The torture lasted a full five minutes. By the end of it, Xu Ruocheng’s internal organs had ruptured and were bleeding internally. Numerous blood vessels had burst. The skin on her face and body was cracked all over, covered in blood and grime. Bloody foam oozed from her mouth, and her hair was disheveled. She looked just like a vicious ghost crawling out of the depths of hell.
“Mas-master Jiang, I submit. Please don’t torment me anymore. Just kill me!”
Just as Xu Ruocheng couldn’t hold on any longer and begged Jiang Tian to give her a quick end so she could die without further suffering, Jiang Tian calmly formed a hand seal, lifted the curse, and healed her body.
In the span of a single breath, Xu Ruocheng transformed back into that enchanting, disastrously beautiful, top-tier femme fatale with skin as fair as snow.
Only this time, there was not a trace of pride or resistance left in her eyes. All that remained was deep-seated fear, dread, and submission.
“Now you understand how terrifying ‘Heartburst’ is, don’t you?”
Jiang Tian stood with his hands behind his back, his expression icy cold. “From now on, if you dare show even a hint of defiance, this is how I will end you.”
“Yes, master!”
Xu Ruocheng shuddered all over, then lowered her proud head and fell silent, too terrified to even breathe.
She wasn’t afraid of death, but she was terrified of dying such a miserable death.
The torment just now was worse than the cruelest punishments of hell. She had nearly bitten off her own tongue to end it.
What shocked her even more was that, although Jiang Tian’s curse had torn her flesh apart, the moment he waved his hand, her shattered organs and cracked skin were instantly restored.
You could say the shock Jiang Tian gave her was absolutely earth-shattering. His mastery of both spellcraft and martial arts had reached a godlike level where he could control life and death. It completely crushed her spirit, leaving her unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.
…
A typhoon suddenly hit, and heavy rain poured down.
The people who had been socializing in the courtyard of the Banana Club had now moved to a tea room. They burned incense, sipped tea, and chatted idly.
“Why isn’t he back yet?”
But Ye Ziwei had no interest in any of this. She stood anxiously by the window, her beautiful eyes filled with worry and concern, staring at the torrential rain pounding down on the broad leaves of a banana plant by the steps. From time to time, she checked her watch.
“What did Miss Xu want with Jiang Tian? Could there be some kind of conflict?”
Ye Ziwei was restless, her heart in turmoil. She silently blamed herself: “I should have stopped Xiao Tian.”
“Ziwei, if you agree to marry me now, maybe I can plead with Miss Xu to go easy on your brother.”
Nie Mingyuan suddenly walked over beside her, speaking softly with a smile.
“Oh? Why would Miss Xu want to hurt Jiang Tian?” Ye Ziwei replied calmly.
“There’s no room for two tigers on one mountain. You can’t hide this from me—Jiang Tian is Master Jiang from Lingnan.”
Nie Mingyuan held a fine bone china teacup from Jingdezhen, leisurely sipping the clear, emerald-green Lu Mountain Cloud Mist tea, and chuckled. “Do you really think the Xu family will just let Jiang Tian rise to power? The way he secured the Fulong Mountain land parcel really scared everyone, didn’t it?”
“So you’re the one stirring up trouble? You despicable, shameless coward!”
Ye Ziwei’s beautiful eyes suddenly turned cold and fierce. She spun around and glared at Nie Mingyuan with burning hatred.
“Heh, I admit your brother has some ability, but he’s missing a few screws upstairs!”
Nie Mingyuan stood there with an air of effortless elegance, as graceful as a jade tree in the wind, and snorted disdainfully. “The Xu family controls many of the organizations in Jinling. They have people, they have guns, and they have martial artists guarding them. Add to that Xu Ruocheng’s venomous cunning, and Jiang Tian is probably dead beyond dead, don’t you think?”
Seeing Ye Ziwei’s face dramatically change, her beautiful eyes filling with tears, Nie Mingyuan felt an even sharper pang of satisfaction and smugness.
He calmly took a sip of tea and sneered coldly. “He dared to kill my brother, dared to compete for the Fulong Mountain land and make an enemy of my Nie family—his time was already up. Originally, we only wanted to acquire the Yaowang Group, but he forced my hand. Next, your entire Jiang family will be buried with him!”
“You think you can take down the Jiang family?” Suddenly, a calm, indifferent voice interrupted.
Everyone turned to look. There, accompanied by Xu Ruocheng, Jiang Tian walked in lazily with his hands behind his back.
By now, Xu Ruocheng had changed her clothes, but the proud, powerful aura of the underground queen of Jinling was gone. Instead, she followed Jiang Tian like a maidservant, her head slightly bowed, her posture deferential, her eyes filled with fear and complete obedience.
Seeing this, Xia Miao, Mu Yunqing, Chu Mengyao, Tang Bao’er, Lei Gang, and the others were utterly stunned. They couldn’t believe their eyes.
Nie Mingyuan looked as if he’d been struck by lightning. He stood there dumbfounded, motionless as a clay or wooden statue.
“Jiang Tian, are you alright?”
Ye Ziwei quickly rushed over, grabbed Jiang Tian’s hand, and asked urgently.
“What could possibly be wrong?”
Jiang Tian patted the back of her hand reassuringly, then strolled lazily to a sofa, plopped down, crossed his legs like a conqueror, and stretched out his hand.
“Master, please have some tea!”
To everyone’s incredulous stares, Xu Ruocheng knelt on one knee, personally poured tea for Jiang Tian, then lowered her eyes obediently, held the cup with both hands, and offered it to him in a soft, melodious voice.
“Oh my god!”
Chu Mengyao’s heart nearly leaped out of her throat. She felt dizzy with disbelief.
“Wh-what is going on?”
Xia Miao’s scalp tingled, and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“Since when is Jiang Tian this powerful? Xu Ruocheng called him ‘master’ and served him tea herself. I-I must be hearing things…”
Tang Bao’er’s beautiful eyes were wide as saucers. She clamped her right hand over her mouth to stifle the scream threatening to burst out. Her full chest heaved violently, creating mesmerizing waves.
This was the underground queen of Jinling, the very woman even Nie Mingyuan had to treat cautiously and defer to. And yet now…
“Just as I thought! He is Jiang Taichu! I wasn’t mistaken that day! He’s Jiang Taichu, the one who killed Lin Zhenyu!”
Lei Gang’s eyes were filled with fear.
Remembering the divine might Jiang Tian had displayed that day when he struck Poyang Lake so hard that the water churned and hung suspended in the air, Lei Gang’s legs uncontrollably weakened. Inside, he was screaming in shock, but he didn’t dare make even the faintest sound.
“So… I was wrong. I’ve been wrong from the very beginning.”
Mu Yunqing suddenly understood something, and a wave of deep regret washed over her heart.
She had always believed that Jiang Tian could only stand up to the Nie family because of his family’s backing. Especially after Jiang Tian hit Nie Feng, she thought he had acted recklessly and offended someone far too powerful.
But she had forgotten one thing: if Jiang Tian could scare even Yu Qiang into collapsing on the ground, how could it be as simple as just relying on the Jiang family’s protection?
If he had pursued me back when we were younger, and I had agreed… If I had firmly stood by his side when he provoked Nie Feng recently… then wouldn’t my outcome be completely different from what it is now?
In an instant, a flood of thoughts consumed her, her entire being filled and wrapped in bitter regret.
“Nie Mingyuan, I’m asking you. You think you can take down the Jiang family?”
Jiang Tian took a sip of tea, leisurely swirling the floating tea leaves with the lid of his cup. Then he suddenly lifted his gaze, and the cold light in his eyes shot toward Nie Mingyuan like twin bolts of lightning, his voice deep and menacing.
In that instant, Nie Mingyuan felt as though he was being stared down by death itself. He shuddered involuntarily.
“Jiang Tian, I was just joking with Ziwei…”
Nie Mingyuan, true to his reputation, knew when to bend. Under Jiang Tian’s immense pressure, he managed to put on a warm, gentle smile and walked slowly toward Jiang Tian, speaking sincerely. “Don’t take it to heart.”
“I don’t like that joke.”
Jiang Tian gave a faint smile, then his eyes turned icy cold. “Ruocheng, slap him.”
“Yes, master!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Xu Ruocheng moved like a fierce wind, a faint blur trailing behind her.
Smack! The sharp, jarring sound echoed through the room.
Before anyone could even see how Xu Ruocheng had moved, Nie Mingyuan flew out the door like a dead dog.
Thud!
Nie Mingyuan landed in the mud, splashing water everywhere. His face was a bloody mess, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth along with a few broken teeth. Dazed and disoriented, he groaned incessantly, unable to even crawl back up.
Xu Ruocheng was genuinely furious, and that slap had been brutally hard.
If Nie Mingyuan hadn’t repeatedly fanned the flames, she would never have made a move against Jiang Tian. Now, she had suffered heavy losses, lost all her dignity, and been reduced to servitude.
Of course, being a maid to someone as supremely powerful as Jiang Tian wasn’t the worst fate. But if she could have coexisted peacefully with him, become his friend, or even his… woman, wouldn’t that have been far better?
“Hiss—!”
Beside her, Chu Mengyao, Tang Bao’er, Lei Gang, Xia Miao, and the others all gasped sharply, trembling in fear. Their eyes grew even more cautious as they looked at Jiang Tian.
It seemed Xu Ruocheng had truly submitted to Jiang Tian. Her obedience was absolute, as if he were commanding his own limbs.
And this wasn’t just about Xu Ruocheng alone. It meant that all the many organizations under the Xu family had also submitted and pledged allegiance to Jiang Tian. If word of this got out, it would trigger an earth-shattering upheaval.
“Master, say the word, and I’ll kill him right now.”
Seeing Nie Mingyuan beaten so badly, Xu Ruocheng felt a twisted sense of gleeful satisfaction.
“Heh, if I wanted him dead, would I have let him live this long?”
Jiang Tian sipped his tea contentedly, then gave an indifferent smile and waved his hand, signaling for Nie Mingyuan to get lost.
He planned to torment Nie Mingyuan by every possible means, to make him taste the pain of losing everything, just as Jiang Tian himself had in his previous life.
No, that wouldn’t be enough. He would return it tenfold, a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold. He would drive Nie Mingyuan to utter despair, leaving him neither able to live nor die.
Beside him, Xu Ruocheng shuddered, a look of horror in her eyes.
Who knew what kind of torture and suffering awaited Nie Mingyuan in the future? It was too terrifying!
Soon, the gathering at the Banana Club broke up in haste.
However, Xu Ruocheng warned everyone that not a single word about what had happened tonight could be spoken to anyone outside. Otherwise, they would face bloody retaliation from the Xu family.
Though everyone was filled with confusion, they dared not ask a single question, cowed by the Xu family’s power.
…
Ye Ziwei drove, carrying Jiang Tian back home.
“Jiang Tian, Nie Mingyuan said you killed his brother Nie Feng. Is that true?”
Ye Ziwei had been worried the entire way. It wasn’t until they were almost at the villa’s gate that she finally frowned and asked.
“It’s true. But honestly, it wasn’t my fault…” Jiang Tian briefly explained what had happened that day.
“Why are you so invested in Huang Ling’er? Are you still hung up on the past? That won’t do. You can’t be disloyal to Qing’er!” Ye Ziwei frowned and warned him.
