Mu Bai stood up and shouted angrily: “Su Zhe, what exactly are you doing?”

Su Zhe ignored him, turning to Bai Hehuai: “Is your mother’s surname Wen? Is she Wen Luojin?”

Bai Hehuai, momentarily intimidated by Su Zhe’s intensity, hesitated before answering: “Yes.”

“Then you’re…” Su Zhe thought for a moment, then smiled bitterly, “I forgot, I never had the chance to name you.”

“Mother named me Hehuai,” Bai Hehuai said softly, “White cranes flying south, gazing at the Huai waters.”

“It’s a good name. Your mother always had a talent for naming,” Su Zhe smiled.

“Like ‘dog’?” Bai Hehuai laughed.

Su Zhe scratched his head: “Yes, like ‘dog.'”

“Su Zhe!” Mu Bai threw a dagger straight at Su Zhe’s back.

“What an unexpected reunion. If only your mother were standing here instead.” Su Zhe turned and caught the dagger, then flicked his wrist lightly, shattering it into seven pieces that fell to the ground.

Bai Hehuai pouted: “Is your daughter not good enough?”

“A daughter is fine, but a wife would be better,” Su Zhe answered honestly.

“If a wife is so good, why didn’t you ever come back?” Bai Hehuai snorted.

“I stayed away for your good,” Su Zhe said softly.

Bai Hehuai was silent for a long while before muttering: “You dog.”

“Yes, when all is said and done, I’m still just a dog,” Su Zhe nodded.

As they spoke, everyone else stood confused, except Su Muyu, who grew increasingly shocked. Earlier in the secret passage, Bai Hehuai had mentioned Su Zhe was her father, but he’d thought it was a joke. Could it be true? Meanwhile, Mu Bai also understood and grew both shocked and angry: “Su Zhe, you married an outsider.”

Su Zhe raised an eyebrow: “So what if I did?”

Mu Bai sneered: “Breaking clan rules—you and this bastard child both deserve death.”

“Nonsense!” Su Zhe roared. “The entire Dark River has drawn swords to kill the Family Head, and you dare talk about clan rules? I find a beautiful woman outside, marry her, have a precious daughter, and you shout about breaking the rules. You’re drawing your sword to kill the Family Head—death by a thousand cuts would be too good for you!”

Su Muyu watched dumbfounded from the side. Who knew that Su Zhe, who could barely speak the proper official dialect, could be so eloquent when cursing someone out?

Bai Hehuai clapped: “Well cursed, you dog!”

“Now, now, ‘dog’ is what your mom calls me. You should call me father,” Su Zhe said gently.

“Dog-father?” Bai Hehuai pouted.

“Fine, dog-father is still father,” Su Zhe declared loudly. “Su Muyu, protect my dear daughter well.”

Su Muyu leaped back to Su Zhe and Bai Hehuai’s side: “Uncle Zhe, you change sides rather quickly.”

“Hey, hey.” Su Zhe patted Su Muyu’s shoulder. “We’re all family here, no need for such formality.”

Mu Qingyang sheathed his sword and retreated to Mu Bai’s side: “Young Master, what should we do now?” The seven Mu family assassins who had been knocked down also got up and returned to the Three Li Pavilion. Though they’d been knocked back by Su Zhe’s strike, they weren’t seriously injured.

“If the Su family wants to fight, we’ll fight them. They think we’re afraid of the Su family?” Mu Bai snorted.

Mu Qingyang smiled helplessly: “Su Zhe was once the Su family’s strongest fighter.”

“Daughter, these people want to kill you. Let me teach them a lesson,” Su Zhe smiled.

Bai Hehuai stuck out her tongue: “Pah, weren’t you just trying to kill me earlier?”

Su Zhe gripped his Buddhist staff and twisted it slightly, changing the subject: “That little Daoist from the Mu family, you said something wrong earlier.”

Mu Qingyang started: “Oh? What was that?”

Su Zhe slammed his Buddhist staff heavily into the ground, sending out a fierce wind that shattered the Three Li Pavilion to pieces: “Even now, I’m still the Su family’s strongest.”

The Mu family members in the pavilion immediately scattered, their figures ghostlike as they suddenly vanished.

Bai Hehuai started: “What sorcery is this?”

“The Mu family’s Ghost Void Formation. Be careful,” Su Muyu warned as a thick fog suddenly rose, surrounding the three of them.

“Demons and spirits, daring to act wild before my demon-subduing staff.” Su Zhe smiled disdainfully, flicking his staff to send out three golden rings. Three muffled cries came from within the fog. Then Su Zhe slammed his staff into the ground again, and an agonized scream echoed from below.

“Pathetic!” Su Zhe then punched his staff, causing all its golden rings to scatter into the fog. The sound of metal clashing rang out from within while Su Zhe acted completely casual, even taking out his pipe for a leisurely smoke. Finally, he tapped his pipe, and all the rings flew back to his staff.

The thick fog dispersed just like that.

“The formation was broken before it even began,” Su Zhe said disdainfully.

Su Muyu looked back at the corpses on the ground: “Uncle Zhe, when we fought the Devil Sect together, how come I never noticed you were this powerful?”

Su Zhe coughed awkwardly: “Well, naturally I have to show off a bit in front of my daughter. Fighting the Devil Sect didn’t pay anything, so I just did the bare minimum.”

Su Muyu smiled and walked forward to count the bodies—seven in total, but no Mu Bai or Mu Qingyang.

“Killing those two youngsters would take some effort, and it’s not worth provoking that madman Mu Zizhi,” Su Zhe told Su Muyu.

Su Muyu nodded: “So, Uncle Zhe, what are your plans now?”

Su Zhe looked at Bai Hehuai, who tilted her head back to look at the sky, carelessly whistling.

In the distance, Mu Bai clutched his chest as he ran frantically forward: “This Su Zhe’s strength is terrifyingly overwhelming.”

“Well, he was once nearly the Family Head,” Mu Qingyang, who was much less injured, followed unhurriedly beside Mu Bai.

“When I report this to Father, we’ll not only kill the Family Head but uproot the entire Su family!” Mu Bai said viciously.

“Good, good, but to convince the Family Head to fight the Su family to the death, we still need a catalyst,” Mu Qingyang said slowly.

“What catalyst?” Mu Bai asked, confused.

“Your death.” Mu Qingyang’s voice suddenly carried killing intent.

Mu Bai started in shock and whirled around, but suddenly felt emptiness beneath his feet as he plummeted downward. The tree branch he’d stepped on had been broken by Mu Qingyang’s peach blossom coin. Mu Qingyang stood on the tree trunk, caught his coin, and then leaped down in pursuit.