Chapter 88

Upon entering the cell, Nie Yun felt two angry gazes directed at him.

He looked up and saw that the cell was only about ten feet square. Against the wall was a long couch, on which sat a man with a long beard that reached his chest and a full beard. His hair and eyebrows were all dark black, without any gray hair.

A steel ring was worn on each wrist and ankle, and the steel ring was connected to an iron chain and hung on the wall behind him.

At this moment, his eyes were fixed on Nie Yun, and he was panting heavily.

Ren Yingying also rushed in. Seeing her father’s appearance, the tears she had been holding back suddenly welled up again. She cried out in anguish, “Father!” and then tried to rush forward.

Nie Yun grabbed her, but Ren Yingying struggled and said, “Let go of me!”

Nie Yun shook his head and said, “He still doesn’t believe you’re his daughter. Are you going up there to commit suicide?”

Ren Yingying paused for a moment, then turned to look at Ren Woxing.

Ren Woxing looked at her suspiciously, his expression shifting from doubt to thoughtful recollection, and then to excitement.

“Yingying, it really is Yingying!” Ren Woxing’s voice was full of surprise. “Good child, you’ve grown so much!”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yingying could no longer contain her excitement and immediately broke free from Nie Yun, rushing towards Ren Woxing.

“Oh no!” Nie Yun was caught off guard and tried to grab her, but it was too late.

“Father, your daughter is unfilial… Ah!” Ren Yingying’s words of self-reproach turned into a scream before she could finish, and Ren Woxing tightly gripped her snow-white neck.

“Who exactly are you? How dare you impersonate my daughter?” Ren Woxing’s eyes flashed with a fierce light, his voice filled with murderous intent.

He looked up at Nie Yun and shouted, “And you! How dare you spout such nonsense and mock me just now!”

Ren Yingying’s beautiful cheeks flushed crimson, her delicate hands weakly gripping Ren Woxing’s arm as she said with difficulty, “Father… I… I really am Yingying… Please let me go…”

Nie Yun sighed, looked at Ren Woxing with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot, and shook his head, saying, “Father-in-law, you’re in such a state, why would we lie to you? You know it’s very difficult to get in here. Who else but your own daughter and son-in-law would be so bored as to come here? Can’t you even recognize your own daughter?”

In fact, when Ren Woxing first saw Ren Yingying, he felt a great sense of kinship. Perhaps this is the kind of feeling that only close relatives can have.

However, being suspicious, he still couldn’t quite believe it, so he pretended to be surprised and led Ren Yingying forward, intending to take her hostage and interrogate her.

When Ren Yingying saw her father, she didn’t think about anything else and ended up being strangled to death by her own father.

Upon hearing Nie Yun’s words, Ren Woxing’s doubts lessened slightly, but his face still radiated murderous intent. He roared, “Hmph! That treacherous Dongfang scoundrel is full of tricks. Who knows if he’s plotting another scheme to harm me!”

“Heh…” Nie Yun sneered and said to Ren Yingying, “Hurry up and tell me some little secrets between you and your father, or your father-in-law might really dare to kill you!”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yingying calmed down and said softly, “Father, when I was five years old…”

As Ren Yingying recounted her story, Ren Woxing’s body began to tremble slightly.

He slowly released his grip on Ren Yingying’s neck, his eyes gradually welling up with tears, and he said in a trembling voice, “Yingying, you really are Yingying!”

The words were exactly the same as before, but this time they were clearly more sincere and emotional.

Listening to those intimate stories that only the father and daughter knew, Ren Woxing finally confirmed that the girl in front of him was indeed his biological daughter.

“How did you end up here?” he asked, holding Ren Yingying’s hand.

“I…” Ren Yingying was about to answer when Nie Yun stepped forward and put his arm around her slender waist, saying with a smile, “Of course it’s because of me, Father-in-law!”

“You bastard!” Ren Woxing’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Let go of my hand right now!”

Ren Yingying blushed at Nie Yun’s actions and struggled, saying, “Brother Yun, don’t do this, let me go!”

“Yingying, what did you call him?”

Hearing Ren Yingying address Nie Yun, Ren Woxing nearly exploded with anger.

The little cabbage he hadn’t seen for over a decade was about to be taken by some bastard the moment they met again. How could he not be furious?

“Ah!” Ren Yingying realized that she had unintentionally called out such an intimate name. She felt a little guilty and her eyes darted around, not daring to look at Ren Woxing’s angry eyes.

“You heard me right, and it’s exactly what you think, your daughter is already mine!” Nie Yun said casually, and even leaned over to kiss Ren Yingying’s smooth and soft cheek.

“Ah!” Ren Yingying froze for a moment, screamed, covered her face, and rushed out.

Seeing his daughter being humiliated in front of him, Ren Woxing roared in anger. Just as he was about to utter some harsh words, he saw Nie Yun raise his hand and draw his long sword.

“What are you going to do?” Ren Woxing’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly raised his hands in a defensive posture.

Nie Yun curled his lips and said, “What else can I do? Of course, I’m going to rescue you.” As he spoke, he walked up to Ren Woxing, swung his long sword, and with a few clangs and sparks flying, the chains were completely undamaged.

“It’s no use. That scoundrel from the East was afraid I would escape, so he specially made these shackles for me out of fine steel. They’re indestructible by swords and blades!” Ren Woxing’s anger subsided slightly when he saw that Nie Yun really wanted to save him, and he explained.

“What’s so difficult about steel shackles?” Nie Yun flicked his finger lightly along the spine of the sword, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. For a moment, the dark cell seemed to light up as well.

Ren Woxing saw it clearly and was secretly surprised: “This person is not old, but his skill is amazing…”

Nie Yun gently swung his right hand, this time imbuing the blade with his inner force. Suddenly, a silver light, about half a foot long, appeared on the tip of the sword.

Ren Woxing was taken aback and exclaimed, “Sword light!”

Nie Yun smiled slightly, swung his longsword downwards, and with a few soft cracking sounds, the iron chains binding Ren Woxing’s hands and feet were severed.

Ren Woxing felt his hands and feet loosen and was overjoyed. Just as he was about to get up, he heard Nie Yun say again, “Stretch out your hands and feet, and I’ll help you remove the shackles.”

Ren Woxing quickly stretched out his hands and feet, and saw a flash of cold light, and all four steel rings broke in two.

He raised his wrist and saw that his skin was completely unharmed. In that instant, Nie Yun had unleashed four sword strikes in quick succession, each one as fast as lightning, so fast that even he hadn’t seen them clearly.

As Ren Woxing stepped off the long couch, stretching his arms and legs, he said to Nie Yun, “Boy, your swordsmanship is quite good!”

Nie Yun sheathed his sword and said arrogantly, “Haven’t you heard the saying ‘The sword emerges from Mount Hua’?”

“The Huashan Sect?!” Ren Woxing never expected that Nie Yun was actually from one of the Five Mountains Sword Sects. A glint flashed in his eyes as he stared at Nie Yun, looking him up and down, and asked, “Are you Yue Buqun’s disciple?”

“Yue Buqun was my master, but he has passed away. Now I am Nie Yun, the head of the Huashan Sect.”

Nie Yun was not afraid at all that his identity would be exposed and he would become the target of public criticism, because he was determined not to give Ren Woxing the opportunity to reveal this matter.

“Oh? I never imagined I was saved by the leader of the Huashan Sect.” Ren Woxing was even more surprised. “Aren’t you afraid that people of the righteous path will misunderstand you as colluding with my Sun Moon Divine Sect and regard you as a traitor?”

“They wouldn’t dare, because I’m very strong, stronger than all of them!” Nie Yun glanced at Ren Woxing and continued, “And stronger than you too!”

“What an arrogant brat!” Ren Woxing was amused by Nie Yun’s arrogant attitude. “Don’t think that just because you saved me, I won’t kill you!”

As he spoke, his eyebrows shot up, and he said sternly, “You dared to do such a thing to Yingying just now, I must teach you a lesson!”

Nie Yun looked at him without fear, and the two locked eyes, their tension palpable.

“Master!” Xiang Wentian’s voice rang out from outside, and then he and Ren Yingying walked in.

He suddenly attacked outside, subduing Ding Jian and Shi Lingwei, just as Ren Yingying ran out.

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

Ren Yingying sensed that something was wrong between the two, so she quickly helped Ren Woxing up and asked.

At this moment, she had a blush on her face, clearly indicating that Nie Yun’s act of kissing her in front of her father had had a great impact on her.

“Haha…” Ren Woxing laughed heartily, “Yingying, your friend is so young, yet his swordsmanship is so superb, not to mention his profound internal strength. It’s truly rare!”

Nie Yun didn’t expose him, and said calmly, “It’s rare to see my father-in-law still so energetic after being locked up for so long!”

When Ren Woxing heard Nie Yun address him, he was furious again, but he forced himself to suppress it and turned to look at Xiang Wentian.

At this moment, Xiang Wentian was already in tears. He quickly bowed down and said in a trembling voice, “Master, you have suffered so much!”

“Brother Xiang…” Ren Woxing looked at Xiang Wentian’s excited appearance and felt a pang of emotion.

Xiang Wentian had told him many times that Dongfang Bubai was plotting something sinister and warned him to be careful.

However, relying on his superior martial arts skills, he did not take it to heart and felt that he could control the situation.

Unexpectedly, Dongfang Bubai suddenly launched an attack, pushing him off the throne of the sect leader and imprisoning him in this West Lake dungeon for more than ten years.

At this moment, Ren Woxing was deeply moved to see that he was still loyal to him.

He reached out and helped Xiang Wentian up, saying with emotion, “Brother Xiang, you’ve suffered a lot. I only regret that I was so stubborn and didn’t listen to your advice back then, which is why I’ve suffered in this dark prison for more than ten years.”

Wentian shook his head and said, “The sect leader is focused on cultivating the Star Absorbing Technique. Dongfang Bubai is very cunning and good at disguising himself. Who would have thought that he would actually harbor such ambitions and dare to launch a rebellion?”

“Do you guys find this place comfortable? Can’t we go upstairs to talk about it?” Nie Yun said from the side. “You guys don’t care about Yingying, but I do care about my wife!”

Ren Yingying, arm in arm with her father, was looking at Ren Woxing with great joy, thinking about how to make up for the lack of family affection over the past ten years. Hearing Nie Yun’s shout, she was so ashamed she wanted to disappear into the ground.

“Yun… Sect Leader Nie, stop talking nonsense, who… who is your… that…” Because calling him “Brother Yun” had enraged Ren Woxing, Ren Yingying quickly changed her words halfway through. She was also embarrassed to say the word “wife,” so she stammered through the short sentence, and her pretty face turned as red as the sunset.

“Hehe…” Nie Yun shrugged and turned to walk out of the cell.

“Yingying, you really are with him…” Ren Woxing looked at Nie Yun’s back, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, his tone ambiguous.

“No…no, Dad, he just likes to talk nonsense. He can make people angry with his words. I have nothing to do with him!”

Ren Yingying quickly shook her head in denial, but her attempt to cover up the truth only made Ren Woxing’s heart sink.

********************

The three walked out of the room, only to see the Four Friends of Jiangnan standing behind Nie Yun with bitter expressions.

“You four traitors, how dare you stand before me!” Ren Woxing, recalling his more than ten years of imprisonment, felt a surge of anger and stepped forward to absorb their power.

“You yourself, as the leader of the sect, failed to perceive Dongfang Bubai’s ambition; this is your own fault, so why take your anger out on these people!”

Nie Yun stepped forward and stopped him, saying, “The Four Friends of Jiangnan are only acting under orders; they have no choice in the matter.”

Ren Woxing frowned and said coldly, “This is an internal matter of my Sun Moon Divine Sect. Sect Leader Nie is meddling too much!”

“Hehe…” Nie Yun smiled faintly, but his body did not move at all.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Xiang Wentian quickly stepped forward and asked, “Brother Nie, what do you plan to do with these four people?”

Nie Yun said, “While these four may not be considered top-tier masters, their martial arts skills are still unparalleled in the martial world. Our Mount Hua is just short of a few guest elders, so…”

“Don’t even think about it!” Ren Renwoxing shouted, reaching out to attack Huang Zhonggong and the others.

At this moment, the four of them had only had their acupoints released by Nie Yun, but their internal energy was still sealed, so they were practically powerless.

Faced with Ren Woxing’s attack, they couldn’t even dodge; the force of his palm strikes was so strong that they could hardly breathe.

“Why is Father-in-law so angry!” Nie Yun remained calm and composed, raising his right hand to meet Ren Woxing’s palm.

The people around felt a thunderous sound in their ears, and at the same time a wave of air rushed towards them, forcing them back several steps.

The two men faced each other with their palms facing each other, turning the situation into a contest of internal strength. Nie Yun had a smile on his face, his clothes were not disheveled at all, while Ren Woxing had a furrowed brow and his beard and hair were flying.

Ren Woxing tried to channel his inner strength, but Nie Yun blocked it all. He was secretly surprised: “I thought this kid was very powerful, but I didn’t expect to underestimate him when we actually faced him!”

Nie Yun laughed and said, “Father-in-law, you’ve just escaped from your cage, so please save your energy!”

Ren Woxing sneered, “As expected of the head of the Huashan Sect, your skill is truly remarkable!”

Nie Yun smiled slightly, but did not respond to his words.

“However…” a cruel smile appeared in Ren Woxing’s eyes, “it’s actually benefited me!”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Wentian seemed to realize something and hurriedly shouted, “Master, you mustn’t!”

Before he could finish speaking, Ren Woxing shouted loudly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

It turned out that he was eager to use his “Star Absorbing Technique” to absorb Nie Yun’s internal energy. Firstly, it would dampen Nie Yun’s arrogance; secondly, it would make up for his own losses over the past ten years; and thirdly, it would eliminate an opponent for his future struggle to dominate the martial arts world.

Nie Yun felt an extremely strong suction force coming from Ren Woxing’s palm, and thought to himself, “Here it comes!”

Ren Woxing took several breaths and felt that the opponent’s internal energy was pure and profound, and completely integrated. The “Star Absorbing Technique” could not absorb even a trace of it. He was greatly surprised, but it also aroused his competitive spirit. So he repeatedly activated the technique to increase the suction power.

Nie Yun felt waves of suction coming from his palm, growing stronger and stronger, and a smile on his lips vanished in an instant.

When the suction force came again, Nie Yun suddenly relaxed the blockade, and then felt a surge of internal energy flowing from his palm into Ren Woxing’s body.

“My internal energy?!” Nie Yun exclaimed in horror, “What happened? Why did you absorb my internal energy?!”

Upon hearing Nie Yun’s words, Xiang Wentian was so anxious he was jumping up and down, but he didn’t dare to touch Ren Woxing. He could only shout from the side, “Master, have mercy! Brother Nie is one of us!”

Ren Yingying had guessed what was going on. Her pretty face turned deathly pale, and she cried out in great anxiety, “Father, no!”

Ren Woxing finally achieved his goal, and he said smugly, “Boy, I’ll teach you a lesson today. Don’t be arrogant just because you have extraordinary talent!”

Before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly changed, because he felt that Nie Yun’s internal energy, which had been flowing slowly like a stream, suddenly became extremely violent, surging into his body like the raging tide of the Qiantang River. Moreover, the attribute of the internal energy had changed from being gentle and pure to being scorching hot.

This domineering internal force moved extremely fast, instantly traveling along his meridians to his dantian.

Then Ren Woxing felt a knife-like pain in his lower abdomen, and it felt as hot as a raging fire.

“Ah!” Ren Woxing couldn’t help but let out a scream and quickly withdrew his palm and retreated.

Nie Yun also appeared weak, his body swaying back and forth as if he were about to collapse.

Ren Yingying quickly stepped forward to support Nie Yun, and asked with a worried expression, “Brother Yun, how are you feeling? Are you hurt?”

Ren Woxing was suppressing the violent internal energy within his body when he saw Ren Yingying ignoring him and heading straight for Nie Yun. He became even more furious, and in his agitation, his internal energy almost went out of control.

He could only close his eyes to avoid seeing it and focus on his internal energy, so he had no time to scold him.

Xiang Wentian knew that after the Star Absorbing Technique absorbed internal energy, it was necessary to circulate the internal energy throughout the body’s meridians, so he did not notice Ren Woxing’s abnormality and simply guarded him carefully from the side.

“Yingying, don’t worry, I’m fine.” Nie Yun’s face was pale, but he still smiled and comforted Ren Yingying.

When Ren Yingying saw Nie Yun’s forced smile, she felt so sorry for him that she almost cried, and at the same time, she felt a little resentful towards her father.

“You said you were fine, but look how pale your face is!” Ren Yingying carefully supported Nie Yun, and Nie Yun took the opportunity to lean his whole body against Ren Yingying’s soft and slender body.

“How can I become a gigolo and trick you into bed if I’m not a gigolo?”

Nie Yun thought to himself that he was thoroughly enjoying the faint fragrance emanating from the girl.

He glanced at Ren Woxing, who was still practicing his internal energy, and a sneer of schadenfreude appeared on his face.

“How did his internal energy suddenly become so hot?” After finally suppressing the chaotic true energy surging within his body, Ren Woxing breathed a sigh of relief and stared at Nie Yun with utter shock.

At this moment, his meridians and dantian still felt burning hot, as if they had been scorched by a raging fire.

Seeing that he had opened his eyes, Xiang Wentian stepped forward and said cautiously, “Master, what you just did…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ren Yingying interrupted him: “Father, we were able to rescue you this time thanks to Brother Yun’s help. How could you… how could you do this?”

She had originally intended to say that he was repaying kindness with enmity, but she changed her mind before she could finish her sentence. However, her feelings of filial piety towards Ren Woxing had faded somewhat.

Although Ren Yingying was pampered by her father when she was young, Ren Woxing was ambitious and was always either studying and cultivating the Star Absorbing Technique, handling sect affairs, or fighting with the righteous sects of the martial arts world. He didn’t spend much time with her.

After being betrayed by Dongfang Bubai, the father and daughter were separated for more than ten years. While missing Ren Woxing, she also kept idealizing her father’s image in her heart.

But as the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Ren Yingying never expected that she would almost be strangled to death by Ren Woxing as soon as the two met.

After escaping, Ren Woxing attacked her beloved again, this time using a martial art like the Star Absorbing Technique.

Putting aside the fact that this time it was all thanks to Nie Yun’s meticulous planning that they were able to enter the dungeon, just now it was he who cut off the shackles on Ren Woxing’s hands and feet. As a result, he was killed as soon as he stepped out of the door. Even Ren Yingying, as his daughter, felt a little chilled.

Domineering, suspicious, and ruthless, this kind of tyrannical figure instilled fear in Ren Yingying, while also shattering her illusions.

“I…” Ren Woxing had no way to express his suffering. Of course, he was too embarrassed to tell Nie Yun that he had been injured by Nie Yun’s internal force, so he could only swallow his anger and suffer in silence.

“Cough cough…” Nie Yun coughed with difficulty and said to Ren Yingying, “Yingying, your father was just in a moment of panic, so he hit a little too hard. I’m fine, I’ll be fine after a few days of rest.”

As he spoke, he struggled to leave Ren Yingying’s side.

Ren Yingying grabbed him and said with concern, “Don’t try to be brave, just lean on me like this!”

“I can’t bear to see you tired, otherwise I’ll feel bad for you,” Nie Yun said with a wry smile.

“Brother Yun, you really are…” Ren Yingying was embarrassed by his words, but she still refused to let go.

“Bastard!” Ren Woxing looked at Nie Yun’s smug and self-satisfied expression and wished he could slap him to death.