Su Yang stepped out of the Yi Family residence, his thoughts still lingering on what he had seen inside the main hall.
The presence of Fu Yancheng and his father had left him somewhat curious.
What were the Fu and Yi families discussing?
He slowed his steps and glanced back at the magnificent Yi residence.
After pondering for a moment, he shook his head.
"Never mind. It's none of my business."
Whatever the two families were discussing had nothing to do with him.
At least, that was what he believed.
"Let me go to the market square and see if I can find something for Sister Su Lan before she gets home."
The mere thought of his elder sister immediately brightened his mood.
Su Lan spent most of her time cultivating at the Heavenly Immortal Sword Sect nowadays, so whenever she returned home, Su Yang always looked forward to seeing her.
With his earlier curiosity forgotten, he happily made his way toward the market square.
The market was bustling with activity.
Merchants loudly advertised their goods while cultivators moved from stall to stall, bargaining over various cultivation resources.
"Rank One Qi Gathering Pills!"
"Spirit Beast cores! Freshly harvested!"
"Come and see! High-quality Spirit Weapons!"
"Medicinal herbs! Everything an alchemist could need!"
Su Yang wandered leisurely through the crowded streets, examining the goods displayed on the roadside stalls.
There were pills, medicinal herbs, Spirit Weapons, talismans, beast materials, cultivation manuals, and countless other items.
Unfortunately, most of the things that caught his attention were far beyond what he could casually afford.
"This dagger looks nice…"
Su Yang picked up a small Spirit Weapon.
The merchant immediately smiled.
"Young Master has good eyes! That is a fine low-grade Spirit Weapon. Only eight hundred inferior-grade spirit stones!"
Su Yang immediately returned it.
"I suddenly don't think it looks that nice."
The merchant's smile stiffened.
Su Yang quickly walked away.
He continued deeper and deeper into the market, searching for something suitable for Su Lan.
However, after some time, his footsteps gradually slowed.
Something felt wrong.
Su Yang's expression became serious.
Someone is following me.
He could not explain how he knew.
It was simply an instinctive feeling.
Ever since entering this section of the market, he had occasionally sensed a faint presence behind him.
Su Yang abruptly turned around.
Nothing.
Cultivators and ordinary townspeople continued moving through the street as usual.
No one appeared suspicious.
Su Yang frowned.
Am I imagining things?
He continued walking.
Several moments later, the uncomfortable sensation returned.
Someone was definitely watching him.
This time, Su Yang did not turn around.
His eyes quietly examined the reflections in the windows of the nearby shops.
Still nothing.
An uneasy feeling gradually settled in his heart.
His hand instinctively moved toward his waist.
Empty.
Su Yang's expression became even more solemn.
He had no weapon on him.
I shouldn't have returned that dagger so quickly.
He almost laughed at the ridiculous thought.
However, his amusement disappeared when he noticed that the road ahead had become increasingly deserted.
Without realizing it, he had wandered into a narrow alley between several old buildings.
Su Yang immediately stopped.
This isn't right.
He turned around—
Cold metal suddenly pressed against his neck.
Su Yang froze.
A figure had appeared behind him without making the slightest sound.
The man's entire body was concealed beneath dark crimson robes, leaving only a pair of cold eyes visible.
Su Yang's heartbeat accelerated.
He had not even sensed the man approaching.
That meant only one thing.
The stranger's cultivation was far above his own.
"Who are you?" Su Yang asked cautiously. "Why are you doing this to me?"
The crimson-robed stranger laughed.
"Hahaha…"
His laughter echoed ominously through the empty alley.
"You really don't know?"
Su Yang frowned.
"I've never seen you before."
"Perhaps."
The stranger pushed the blade slightly harder against Su Yang's neck.
A thin line of blood appeared.
"But you actually dared to covet what belongs to our Young Master."
Su Yang became even more confused.
"Your Young Master?"
His mind immediately began racing.
Who?
He had offended people before, but he could not remember coveting anything belonging to some mysterious young master.
"What are you talking about?"
The crimson-robed man did not answer.
Instead, killing intent suddenly erupted from his body.
Su Yang's face instantly turned pale.
The difference in their cultivation was overwhelming.
Spiritual essence began circulating through the assassin's meridians before gathering in his palm.
There was no intention to threaten him.
The man genuinely intended to kill him.
"Don't blame me, boy."
A sinister smile appeared beneath the stranger's hood.
"Blame yourself for touching something you had no right to touch."
The gathered essence became increasingly violent.
Su Yang desperately tried to circulate his own Qi.
Nothing.
The pressure released by the stranger completely suppressed his Second-Level Spirit Realm cultivation.
He could not move.
He could not fight.
He could not escape.
For the first time in years, Su Yang truly felt death standing before him.
Am I going to die?
The thought appeared unexpectedly.
Everything around him seemed to slow.
The assassin's palm approached.
And then—
Images began flashing through Su Yang's mind.
Su Mei smiling at him.
Su Lan teasing him.
Yi Luwei laughing beside him.
The Spirit Ginkgo Tree.
Their little courtyard.
His mother's medicinal garden.
Memories of his entire life seemed to pass before his eyes.
But then—
Something changed.
Among those familiar memories appeared images he had never seen before.
Fire.
Blood.
Screaming.
A magnificent residence engulfed in flames.
Bodies scattered across the ground.
A man covered in blood.
A woman desperately holding a small child.
Su Yang's pupils contracted.
What…?
Another image flashed.
A blade.
Blood splattering across a wall.
A woman's tear-stained face.
Then a voice—
Feng'er…
Su Yang's entire body trembled.
Who is Feng'er?
BOOM!
An unbearable pain suddenly exploded inside his head.
"ARGHHHH!"
Su Yang screamed.
The pain was unlike anything he had experienced before.
It felt as though something buried deep within his soul was violently trying to tear itself free.
His vision blurred.
The assassin hesitated.
"What the—?"
Su Yang grabbed his head with both hands.
More fragmented images flooded his consciousness.
A hidden cellar.
His father's blood.
His mother's embrace.
A roaring tiger.
A celestial dragon.
And then—
Darkness.
Su Yang collapsed onto the ground before the assassin could even strike.
His consciousness rapidly faded.
In those final moments, all thoughts of cultivation, assassins, and mysterious memories disappeared.
There was only one person his frightened mind instinctively called for.
"Ma…!"
His voice barely escaped his lips.
Then his eyes closed.
And Su Yang fell completely unconscious.
Deep within his dantian, however, something that had remained dormant for many years quietly stirred.
A faint golden light flickered within the darkness.
For the first time since the massacre of the Xiao Family—
the blood-bound seal trembled.