“No.” Chi Fengli, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly spoke. “This person’s origins are unclear, he’s not from any renowned martial arts family, and furthermore he has no interest in Ping’er. How can Ping’er be with such a person?”

Xuan Qiong smiled and said eloquently: “Elder sister, but Ping’er likes him. I’ve watched Ping’er grow up since she was small – she’s always been extremely proud and particular. Now that she’s finally taken a fancy to someone, let’s indulge her wishes. Otherwise, if we make her sad, I’ll feel heartbroken.”

“That’s right, I’ve finally taken a fancy to someone, and I want this one.” The person arrived with her voice as Pingzong jumped down from the broken roof, walked toward Xuan Qiong, and leaned against her affectionately. A hint of a smile appeared on her slightly pale face: “I knew Aunt Qiong loves me the most.”

Gui Haisheng, who had been looking back and forth between the two women, nodded with relief upon hearing this.

Tie Ci stared at Pingzong – no wonder this girl was so confident. She came from a prestigious jianghu family with both parents being grandmasters.

Feiyu suddenly whispered: “I regret it.”

Tie Ci paused, then said without showing emotion: “Hmm?”

“I should have pretended to submit earlier, kidnapped her, then held her parents hostage for seven or eight secret manuals or treasures or something.”

Tie Ci: “…”

She had really been overthinking earlier.

This guy was just a ruthless boy.

She whispered quietly: “You can still submit now – it’s not too late.”

Feiyu said calmly: “But I just said one sentence and already smell vinegar in the air. I’m afraid if I play it for real, everyone here will die from the sourness.”

Tie Ci laughed once, pretending not to understand.

Feiyu’s expression visibly brightened with satisfaction.

Chi Fengli had looked away when her daughter came down, but now turned back with a calm expression: “No. That boy’s eyes dart around and he acts cunningly. If we force him to stay by Ping’er’s side, I fear he’ll harm Ping’er in the future.”

Xuan Qiong laughed: “Elder sister, after hiding away for so many years, have you forgotten your and senior brother’s status? With you two as parents, your child can walk sideways through this world – who would dare touch her? Why must we wrong the child so much that she doesn’t even dare want someone she fancies?” She pulled Pingzong over and stroked her hair: “Good child, your mother is overthinking, but it’s for your own good. However, you needn’t worry – at worst, Aunt Qiong will support you.”

Gui Haisheng said with dissatisfaction: “You’re right. Our family’s child can lack anything except courage and spirit. It’s just that this boy’s background isn’t sufficient…”

Xuan Qiong said gently: “Senior brother, marriages between prestigious jianghu families depend on fate. Looking at this generation, I don’t see anyone suitable for Ping’er. What matters most is her own preference, isn’t it? When a girl meets the most important person in her heart, from then on she thinks of him constantly, unable to forget, willing to dedicate everything to him. This feeling – I understand it very well…” As she spoke, she looked meaningfully at Gui Haisheng.

Under her gaze, Gui Haisheng’s expression also softened, and even his hair, which had been crackling with dark electricity and standing somewhat upright, fell down into heart-shaped curls.

Only Chi Fengli sat silently, seemingly rather slow to react to everything around her and not caring much, but when it came to her daughter’s marriage, she was stubbornly persistent: “Ping’er is still young and can’t distinguish good from bad. Her marriage should be with someone of clear background, upright character, and who truly cares for her – properly arranged through matchmakers and formal ceremonies. What does it mean to randomly kidnap someone without any proper arrangements? We can’t leave this stretch of sea, but Ping’er should go out to see the world and have opportunities to meet someone truly suitable for her…”

“Elder sister, please don’t say such things. With Ping’er’s temperament, and since we can’t leave this stretch of sea, who would protect her if she went out? The men outside are truly slick and cunning, unpredictable. What if she gets deceived? We wouldn’t be able to rush over and support her in time.” Xuan Qiong sighed while stroking Pingzong’s hair: “Aunt Qiong is willing to stay here and watch over you, seeing you happy and content for your whole life – that would be enough.”

Pingzong nodded repeatedly, looking at her with childlike adoration.

Chi Fengli was silent for a long while, then said: “We’re trapped in this stretch of sea for life, but Ping’er still has a chance, if only she wouldn’t be so hasty…”

But Pingzong had already grown impatient. She stepped forward and interrupted Chi Fengli: “Mother, please fulfill my wish.”

Chi Fengli stared at her silently.

A hint of unnaturalness flashed across Pingzong’s face, and her voice lowered: “I know Mother hopes I’ll distinguish myself and inherit the glory of the Gui Hai family. You’ve taught me strictly since childhood. When I was small, you wouldn’t let me go out to play, wouldn’t let me be with the island children, wouldn’t let me eat outside food, wouldn’t let me slack off in martial arts practice… I listened to you in all of this and complied with everything else. Just in this one matter, please comply with me. I don’t care about background or family status, and I’m not afraid he might have ulterior motives toward me. I just want him – I want to have him. If he really turns out bad, I’ll just kill him. Then Mother can tell me who I should marry, and I’ll marry whoever you say. Is that alright?”

On Chi Fengli’s slightly pale face, a deep red suddenly flashed by like a flame momentarily flickering, about to ignite with killing intent, but the moment it met her daughter’s eyes, she forcefully suppressed and extinguished it.

Then her complexion visibly withered, and she turned away, no longer looking at Pingzong or anyone else.

A hint of a smile crossed Xuan Qiong’s lips as she suddenly pointed at Tie Ci: “And who is this?”

Pingzong’s face darkened: “This is his… lover.”

Xuan Qiong said with surprise: “And you can still let him live, even bringing him to our home?”

“He said if I killed his lover, he would seek revenge every day, and over time, there would surely come a day when I was careless.”

Xuan Qiong’s expression changed slightly, as if she thought of something, then she smiled with pursed lips.

She had ordinary looks – small eyes and a wide mouth with somewhat fish-like features. She must have worked hard on her expressions and posture – when sitting, lying, or walking, she had quite a graceful bearing. In daily conduct, she never smiled when speaking, and when she did speak, she slightly turned her face with gentle curves, so that even if people didn’t find her particularly beautiful, they could still feel her approachable and pleasant nature.

Therefore, when that father and daughter saw her smile, their expressions always softened.

Xuan Qiong said: “Men are just harsh with their words, speaking fiercely, but when they see a beauty like you, how could they be unwilling? If he really misbehaves, just break his legs.”

She spoke these words in a gentle tone, and the two nodded repeatedly.

Feiyu suddenly smiled.

Xuan Qiong looked over at him.

Feiyu smiled: “I think madam truly has outstanding bearing.”

Xuan Qiong hadn’t taken the two seriously to begin with. When he suddenly spoke up with praise, she only took it as fearful flattery. Moreover, she was indeed quite confident about her bearing and didn’t find it sarcastic, so she smiled: “You child are quite sensible…”

Feiyu interrupted her: “Especially madam’s smile. Every smile is exactly the same. You must have practiced long before the mirror to figure out such perfectly calculated, bewitching smiles. After all, when someone’s too ugly, they have to make up for it with smiles. I just pity madam’s mirror, having to suffer this torment day after day.”

After finishing, he maintained a serious expression and sighed once.

Tie Ci: “Haha.”

Xuan Qiong’s eternal smile froze between her wrinkles, and in an instant, the carefully crafted icy snow-like demeanor was about to crumble.

Instead, it was Chi Fengli, who had been mentally elsewhere, who suddenly turned to look at the two of them.

Xuan Qiong suddenly flicked her sleeve.

With a whoosh, wind and snow arose from level ground, a splash of crystal brightness pouring down toward Feiyu’s head.

After saying those words, Feiyu had wanted to retreat, but the room was narrow with only a few steps available. Moreover, once that wind and snow arose, the surrounding temperature dropped even more severely than before. In the blink of an eye, it was cold enough to freeze a person’s blood flow, let alone allow movement.

Ordinary people would freeze to death before the wind and snow even arrived. Even Feiyu was slowed down by several beats as he retreated toward the wall behind him.

To his left was Xuan Qiong, to his right was Tie Ci, beyond Tie Ci sat Chi Fengli, and in front were Gui Haisheng and his daughter.

The wind and snow instantly gathered into a wall, piling higher and higher, with the snow wall pushing forward evenly.

Feiyu crashed against the wall urgently. With a bang, the entire house trembled. Normally even a three-foot-thick plank wall would have been smashed through, but now the wall remained unmoved while his back was frozen by the bone-piercing cold until his blood stopped flowing.

With rumbling sounds, the increasingly tall snow wall was right before him, about to crush him between the two walls.

A figure flashed – Tie Ci swept over, then flashed again, already taking Feiyu away from his original position.

She had been waiting so long for just such a teleportation opportunity. After all, the three were very arrogant, and once one made a move, the other two would relax their guard.

The next instant, Tie Ci felt the slightly cool wind of the island outside.

She was about to teleport again to get farther away when she suddenly crashed head-on into a patch of ice and snow. Behind the ice and snow, a figure appeared and disappeared like rotating blade light – she almost collided head-on with it.

In the snowy ice light, Xuan Qiong slowly smiled: “This little one can actually use flowing light phantom images.”

Tie Ci groaned inwardly – so this woman also had teleportation as a gifted ability.

Thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t strange. Rumors said that masters like the Three Madmen and Five Emperors came from otherworldly immortal sects that originally were former dynasty royalty and great families, and those royal families and great houses had originally possessed gifted abilities.

They combined their gifted abilities with martial arts techniques, which led to their later prestige.

Teleportation wouldn’t work, restoration was useless, perspective vision just showed bone structures, and Gui Haisheng’s gifted ability was clearly lightning, with his martial arts evolved from that foundation.

For a moment, their path was completely blocked.

Xuan Qiong’s teleportation was even more advanced than hers. Her figure flashed and disappeared, then an ice ring appeared beside the two of them. The swirling snowflakes condensed into whip-like forms, whistling and sharp, binding tighter and tighter.

Xuan Qiong said: “Go back.”

The next instant, Tie Ci and Feiyu flew backwards into the house.

Behind them came faint crackling sounds as Gui Haisheng slowly extended his palm from his robes. His palm was like green wood, his hair tips curled upward, countless objects around trembled slightly, while tiny dust particles in the air swirled and adhered to his front.

Tie Ci suddenly grabbed Feiyu and forcibly changed direction, both leaping backward together.

Behind them was Chi Fengli’s direction – with this retreat, they delivered themselves right into Chi Fengli’s hands.

Gui Haisheng sneered: “Fengli, this boy was insolent to Qiong’er. Capture him and break his legs while you’re at it. Kill the other one directly.”