A Cruel Person

"Spicy! Spicy! Spicy!" Ye Tian fanned his tongue with his hand, tears welling up in his eyes.

The ghost pepper—known as the top-ranked title Douluo among peppers—was the culprit.

Its spiciness could make someone cry even if diluted a thousand times.

The sour and spicy sensation... was truly indescribable!

It took a long while.

Finally recovering, Ye Tian opened his mouth, panting as he glared at Hu Liena.

"Nana, you're so mean."

"Hmph. Who asked you to grow such peppers?"

Hu Liena's lips were bright red, almost swollen, as if she had applied a thick layer of lipstick.

She crossed her arms, turned her head away in frustration, and tried her best to maintain her ladylike demeanor.

But the pepper was simply too spicy.

She couldn't maintain her composure for even a moment before, like Ye Tian, she began panting and fanning her tongue.

Tears, unbidden, streamed down her crystal-clear eyes.

Ye Tian: "..."

You put it in your own mouth, didn't you?

How's this my fault?

Farm manager Chen Jian laughed as he explained:

"The ghost pepper is actually an ingredient for making meridian-strengthening pills. Its medicinal properties are potent and highly valuable. Though it's spicy, eating it won't do any harm."

"My mouth is swollen," Hu Liena cried, covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face.

Of course, those tears were from the spiciness.

She wasn't one to be overly dramatic.

But she did feel terribly wronged!

Ye Tian laughed mercilessly. "Who told you to be greedy?"

"Alright, alright." Bibi Dong stepped in, clapping her hands to stop the escalating quarrel and suggested, "The farm has plenty of fresh ingredients. How about we have a barbecue?"

Upon hearing the word "barbecue," the aggrieved look on Hu Liena's face eased considerably. She nodded eagerly. "Okay."

Right now, only good food could soothe her wounded heart.

Ye Tian pretended to sigh and waved to Chen Jian. "Old Chen, get Nana a glass of iced milk. It'll help ease the burn from the ghost pepper."

After speaking, he glanced at Hu Liena's swollen lips and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Nana looked absolutely hilarious right now.

"Yes, sir." Chen Jian also wanted to laugh, but as an older man with a mature mindset, he managed to hold it in.

He nodded and turned to do as Ye Tian instructed.

"You... hmph!" Hu Liena, who had been somewhat grateful to Ye Tian for his suggestion, became furious.

Her brother was laughing at her!

So infuriating!

"Alright, alright." Ye Tian stepped forward, putting his arm around Hu Liena's shoulders and whispered in consolation:

"I also suffered the same punishment from your kiss, feeling the full burn of the ghost pepper.

No worries, a glass of iced milk will fix it in no time."

Hu Liena, with tearful eyes, looked up at Ye Tian. "Really?"

"Nope." Ye Tian couldn't hold back his laughter, quickly retreating behind his older sister.

After eating ghost peppers, there's no way the swelling would subside so quickly.

If it did, they wouldn't be called ghost peppers.

Hu Liena, furious to the point of madness, ran her hands through her golden hair and screamed hysterically, "Aahhh!"

She was on the verge of going crazy.

She vowed to herself never to be so greedy again.

Just then—

A middle-aged man named Thirteen, dressed in a coarse black robe with dark blue hair, hurried over.

He exchanged a glance with Ye Tian and then looked at Bibi Dong and Hu Liena, hesitant to speak.

Thirteen, who had the rank of Soul Emperor, wasn't just Ye Tian's personal bodyguard; he was also the head of the intelligence department Ye Tian had established.

"Is something wrong?" Hu Liena, noticing Thirteen's hesitation, asked curiously.

She had seen Thirteen before they left the villa.

He seemed to be one of Ye Tian's important subordinates.

Thirteen didn't respond, instead looking to Ye Tian.

The first rule of intelligence was that secrets should only be disclosed to superiors.

Ye Tian, who had personally established these rules, would naturally not break them.

He laughed and deflected Hu Liena's curiosity. "Probably some business matters. You two stay here while I have a quick chat with Thirteen."

Bibi Dong's expression shifted subtly as she watched Ye Tian's back. What could be so secret that it had to be hidden from her and Nana?

Hu Liena leaned in close to Bibi Dong and whispered, "Ye Tian has secrets, huh?"

Ye Tian's conversation with Thirteen didn't last long—just about a minute.

Afterward, Thirteen left, hiding in the distance to avoid making his master uncomfortable while standing guard.

Ye Tian then rejoined the two women.

Hu Liena, eager for answers, immediately asked, "Brother, tell me, what happened?"

Ye Tian felt a headache coming on and sighed. "We're being watched by the Spirit Hall. The two people tailing us are both Six-Ring Soul Emperors."

He took out what appeared to be an ordinary maple leaf and showed it to the two women. "This is their signal mark. The holes in it aren't from insects—they're part of a secret code."

Hu Liena pretended to look serious. "Have you cracked the code?"

Inside, she was thinking, So it's our own people who got exposed!

"No," Ye Tian shook his head. "There's not enough information to decipher it."

"The Spirit Hall is great, there's nothing to worry about," Hu Liena patted Ye Tian's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Let's hope so." Ye Tian, serious as ever, waved. "It's getting late. Let's head to the farmhouse to rest."

"Okay," both women responded.

Ye Tian walked quickly, while Bibi Dong and Hu Liena deliberately slowed their pace.

Bibi Dong, deep in thought, said, "That secret code on the maple leaf belongs to the Knights of the Pope's Hall. Did you secretly send two Holy Knights to tail us, Nana?"

The Knights of the Pope's Hall were the top of the three main knight corps of the Spirit Hall.

The minimum rank for knights was level 61.

They were highly skilled in combat, assassination, surveillance, and covert protection.

However, what frustrated Bibi Dong was that the Holy Knights, the most elite of the Pope's Hall, had been discovered by Ye Tian right from the start.

Did Ye Tian's intelligence network surpass that of the Holy Knights?

Her interest in Ye Tian grew.

"No," Hu Liena shook her head. "I didn't arrange any bodyguards for this trip. After all, you're a Super Douluo, Teacher. What use would those Holy Knights be?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Could it have been Uncle Yue Guan?"

"Only Uncle Yue Guan knew about this outing."

"That must be it." Bibi Dong nodded.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan was always overly protective of her safety.

With his personality, he likely couldn't sit still in Spirit City.

He had probably secretly come to the East Sea to protect her from the shadows.

Bibi Dong used her soul power to lift a fallen leaf from the ground and flicked it to Hu Liena.

"Use the secret code to tell the scouts and Yue Guan to keep their distance."

"Got it," Hu Liena nodded. Using her soul power, she quickly marked the leaf with a secret code and soul power imprint, then tossed it on the ground before hurrying to catch up with Bibi Dong.

The two women followed Ye Tian to the farmhouse.

They arrived just as two distraught farmers, tear-streaked, rushed in, carrying a girl drenched in blood and barely clinging to life.

Seeing this, Bibi Dong frowned. "What's going on?"

The distressed farmers were too frantic to respond to Bibi Dong and knelt before the farmhouse.

One of them, sobbing and snot-covered, cried out, "Young Master Ye Tian, please save our Xiaoxin!"

Chen Jian, who had been chatting with some farmhands at the farmhouse entrance, immediately came out.

Seeing the kneeling couple, he looked puzzled and asked:

"Are you Ashin? What's going on?"

Ashin was a common farmer from a nearby village. During the busy seasons, he had applied for temporary work on the farm several times, so Chen Jian remembered him.

Chen Jian stepped forward, eyes narrowing when he saw the blood-soaked, unconscious girl.

Just yesterday, Xiaoxin had been working on the farm, taking care of the Fire Spirit Chickens. How had she ended up so gravely injured today?

Her forehead was bruised, and there were three long gashes from her abdomen to her chest, clearly inflicted by some kind of claws.

He quickly crouched down, took Xiaoxin's hand, and checked her pulse.

His expression grew serious. Her pulse was extremely weak, and she had lost a lot of blood. She was unlikely to survive.

Ashin, the girl's father, sobbing uncontrollably, crawled forward on his knees and clung to Chen Jian's leg.

"Old Chen, please, save my Xiaoxin!"

"This morning, Xiaoxin went to the Purple Bamboo Forest in Sea Soul Mountain to gather bamboo shoots. She got lucky and found a thousand-year-old purple blood bamboo shoot.

But she encountered a young noble from East Sea City, accompanied by bodyguards. He wanted both the bamboo shoot and for Xiaoxin to be his concubine!"

"When Xiaoxin refused, he did this to her!"

(End of Chapter)