The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

Dead.

All dead.

Su Yinglong and the Su family members stood frozen in shock, their eyes fixed on the fallen rogue cultivators sent by the Yulin Wang Clan. One after another, these powerful reinforcements had been slain, leaving the Su family utterly defenseless.

A suffocating sense of dread gripped their hearts, their confidence shattered like glass.

"Haha! The heavens are on my side!"

Sun Fenglin's laughter broke the oppressive silence. Though his body was battered and his wounds severe, he couldn't suppress his elation.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, he swallowed a healing pill. As the medicine worked its magic, he slowly pushed himself to his feet.

Freed from the oppressive force of the slain rogue cultivators, Sun Fengxuan and Sun Congyun also rose, their eyes gleaming with resolve.

"Now," Sun Fengxuan declared coldly, his gaze fixed on Su Yinglong, "it's time for the Sun family to collect its debts."

Without hesitation, Sun Fengxuan launched himself toward Su Yinglong, a murderous intent blazing in his eyes.

"You will not harm my grandfather!"

Su Yue snapped out of her stupor, grabbing a spear from a nearby Su family guard. Her spiritual energy surged through her body as she thrust the weapon forward with lightning speed, aiming directly at Sun Fengxuan.

"Hmph!"

With a dismissive snort, Sun Fengxuan swept his sleeve, effortlessly catching the spear and wrenching it from Su Yue's grasp. He spun the weapon in his hand and hurled it back with lethal precision.

Whoosh!

The spear shot through the air like a thunderbolt, piercing Su Yue's chest. Blood sprayed from the wound, painting the ground red.

But the spear did not stop there. It continued its deadly trajectory, impaling several Su family elders standing behind her.

"Block them! Stop them!"

Su Yinglong's face twisted in fear as he watched his granddaughter fall, her life snuffed out in an instant. His voice trembled as he barked orders at the remaining guards.

Then, like a cornered rat, he turned and fled toward the rear of the estate.

"Yun'er, go assist your Uncle Fengxuan!"

Sun Fenglin, his voice low but firm, placed a hand on Sun Congyun's shoulder.

"I understand, Uncle."

Nodding, Sun Congyun leapt into the fray. In his hand was a short black blade, its edge gleaming with a cold, menacing light.

The blade danced in his grip, slashing through the air with lethal precision.

With each flicker of its icy glow, a Su family guard fell, their cries of pain echoing briefly before being silenced forever.

"Traitor, Sun Congyun!"

Two Su family cultivators emerged from the chaos, one wielding a saber and the other a longsword. They flanked Sun Congyun, striking in unison.

"I was born of the Sun family. What betrayal is there in returning to my roots?"

With a sharp retort, Sun Congyun charged forward to meet them.

Despite their combined efforts, the two were no match for his fifth-stage Embryo Breath cultivation.

In mere moments, their heads rolled across the blood-soaked ground, their bodies collapsing in lifeless heaps.

"Does anyone else wish to fight?"

As more Su family guards poured into the courtyard, desperately trying to hold back the relentless Sun brothers, a cold, commanding voice rang out.

All eyes turned toward its source.

Sun Fenglin stood tall, his hand gripping Su Yinglong by the neck.

"Drop your weapons!" he commanded, his gaze sweeping over the guards. "The Su family is finished. Is it really worth dying for?"

The courtyard fell silent as the guards exchanged uncertain glances.

It wasn't long before one of them, realizing the futility of the fight, threw down his weapon and raised his hands in surrender.

His act of self-preservation sparked a chain reaction.

Clang! Clang!

Weapons clattered to the ground as one by one, the Su family guards chose to surrender.

After all, they were mere mortals, ill-equipped to challenge the might of cultivators.

"You worthless cowards!"

One of the Su family elders, witnessing the mass surrender, was consumed by rage.

"Have you forgotten who fed and clothed you all these years?" he bellowed. "Pick up your weapons and fight! Fight, damn you!"

"Disobey me, and I'll kill you myself!"

His furious screams echoed in the now-silent courtyard, a desperate attempt to reclaim control over a battle already lost.

The Su family elder stormed forward, his rage boiling over as he grabbed the collar of a nearby Su family guard. His voice was a shrill roar, his face twisted with fury.

"You ungrateful wretch! Who fed you all these years? Who gave you shelter? Fight! Pick up your sword and kill them! Or I swear, I'll kill you myself!"

Squelch!

Before the elder could utter another word, the guard thrust his blade into the elder's stomach without hesitation.

The elder's face contorted with shock, his lips parting as if to speak, but no words came. His body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

The guard wiped the blood off his blade and looked up at Sun Fenglin with an air of resignation.

"We were just doing our jobs, protecting the Su family because they paid us. But now, the Su family is finished. We have no reason to oppose someone like you."

With a bow, the guard turned and left the courtyard, his footsteps calm and deliberate.

One by one, the other Su family guards followed suit, throwing down their weapons and retreating.

"Sun Fenglin!" Su Yinglong shouted, his voice a mix of anger and desperation. "Don't think your victory here means anything! Let me tell you, the Su family has the Yulin Wang Clan behind it. Those four rogue cultivators were sent by them!"

Pausing for dramatic effect, he sneered.

"Do you understand the consequences of what you've done? You've angered a force far greater than you can imagine!"

Sun Fenglin merely chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

"You think I didn't know about the Yulin Wang Clan's involvement?" he replied coldly. "Do you honestly believe the Yun family, my family's backer, isn't aware of who supports you? Let me be clear: we came here with the full blessing of the Yun family."

Leaning closer, his tone turned icy.

"If the Yulin Wang Clan dares to make trouble for us, they're welcome to try. The real question is whether they have the courage to go against the Yun family."

Su Yinglong's expression faltered.

"Don't be ridiculous! The Yun family can't possibly compare to the Yulin Wang Clan! The Yulin Wang Clan is one of the Three Great Families, their power immeasurable. Why would they fear the likes of a minor family like the Yun family?"

Sun Fenglin laughed again, his voice dripping with disdain.

"Oh, Su Yinglong, you truly are clueless. Do you know why the Yulin Wang Clan hasn't taken direct action against the Yun family? Why they've gone through the trouble of supporting your pathetic Su family instead of attacking us outright?"

"What are you implying?!"

Su Yinglong's face turned ashen. For years, he'd questioned why the Yulin Wang Clan hadn't simply eradicated the Yun family. He had assumed there were strategic reasons, but Sun Fenglin's words hinted at something deeper.

"The reason is simple," Sun Fenglin said with a sneer. "Even the Yulin Wang Clan fears the Yun family."

Boom!

The revelation hit Su Yinglong like a thunderclap. His knees buckled, and his complexion turned deathly pale.

"No… That's impossible!" he stammered. "The Yulin Wang Clan is one of the Three Great Families. Their foundation is centuries deep. How could they possibly fear a small, upstart family like the Yun family?"

"Believe whatever you like," Sun Fenglin replied with a dismissive wave. "But the truth remains. Your ambitions were nothing but a joke, Su Yinglong. You thought your Su family could rise to rival the Yun family? Pathetic."

With those final words, Sun Fenglin snapped Su Yinglong's neck, ending his life.

Turning to the trembling Su family elders, Sun Fenglin's voice cut through the courtyard like a blade.

"Where are my Sun family's people? Where are the slaves you've taken from us?"

One of the elders, unable to withstand Sun Fenglin's piercing gaze, shakily raised a finger toward the rear courtyard.

"They… They're in the dungeon," the elder stammered.

"Fengxuan, Yun'er, go. Find them. I'll handle things here."

The two nodded and dashed toward the rear courtyard, their steps swift and determined.

The entrance to the dungeon was hidden beneath a long rectangular table in a pavilion. Pushing it aside, they revealed a dark passageway.

As they descended into the depths, the air grew colder, and the faint sound of chains echoed around them.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, the sight that met them froze them in place.

Sun Fengxuan's blood boiled with rage, his eyes burning crimson as he beheld the horrors before him.

"Those beasts!" he roared, his voice trembling with fury.

In the dim light of the dungeon, they saw their family members mutilated beyond recognition. Some had been turned into human swine, their limbs severed and their bodies submerged in vats of wine.

Children, no older than five, were shackled by iron collars, their bodies covered in bruises and scars. They huddled in corners, nibbling on scraps of spoiled food.

And the women—what had been done to them was so vile that words could not capture the atrocity.

Sun Congyun stood paralyzed, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails drew blood.

"How could I have been so blind?" he muttered, his voice cracking with grief.

A wave of self-loathing surged through him as he remembered the past year, a year he had spent serving the very people who had subjected his kin to such horrors.

Slap!

Without warning, he struck himself across the face, the sound echoing in the dungeon.

"I'm a fool!" he cried, his voice choked with guilt. "A damn, worthless fool