Blood poured into his boots making them somewhat slippery. With each hop Ding Yanping took, he left a bloody footprint. He didn’t look back, so he also didn’t know that his footprints were crawling with ants…

Yun Ye stopped crawling. He turned over to look at Ding Yanping. He saw several ants had already climbed onto Ding Yanping’s legs, and many more were lined up waiting for him to set his foot down so they could continue climbing up.

“What’s wrong, little bastard, accepting your fate? Why aren’t you crawling anymore? Crawl! When this old man catches up to you, I’ll tear the flesh from your body bite by bite.”

Yun Ye pillowed his hands behind his head and said to Ding Yanping, “Old Ding, instead of properly enjoying your beauty on your island, what did you come to the Central Plains for? Now you’ve lost your life here—isn’t it unjust?”

“To find Bai Yujing, boy—tell me, is it worth it or not? Tian Xiangzi invited me to go to the Far North to search for Bai Yujing. At that time, my beloved concubine was about to give birth, and this old man was worried, so I didn’t go. Now this old man feels his energy is far less than before. For the sake of my beloved concubine and young son, tell me—shouldn’t this old man live a few more years?”

Ding Yanping continued closing in on Yun Ye. He believed Yun Ye’s words were meant to stall for time, to let his helpers arrive. Having roamed the world all these years, he’d seen these tricks many times.

“Tian Xiangzi is dead. Of the two hundred-plus people who went with him, only one came back alive. He saw five-colored radiance but couldn’t find a way in—he was literally angered to death. Are you so certain you can get in?”

“This old man is Ding Yanping, not that scholar Tian Xiangzi who couldn’t even truss a chicken. If he couldn’t get in, why should this old man also be unable to?” Ding Yanping drew even closer. His blood-stained teeth made him look several degrees more crazed.

Yun Ye sighed and said no more. Why was it that the cleverer people were, the more confident they became? He didn’t know where their confidence came from. They all felt they were stronger than others, but didn’t understand exactly where they were stronger. His one remaining leg was already densely covered with ants spraying acid—why did he still want to trouble him?

Ding Yanping suddenly felt his leg was on fire. This kind of pain seemed to come from his very soul. Looking down, he was greatly alarmed. He reached out both hands to swat at the ants on his legs and feet. Unfortunately, the more he swatted, the more ants climbed up. In no time, both hands were also covered with these red-black ants.

Looking in shock at Yun Ye lying on the ground without a single ant on his entire body, he said, “You have such a vicious heart.” Having said this, he lunged forward, wanting to throw himself on Yun Ye for mutual destruction.

Having long anticipated this move, Yun Ye rolled to the side several times and leaned against a tree, watching Ding Yanping rolling beside him. Large ants were a very orderly species. They also didn’t bite randomly—they bit very methodically. Now it was deep autumn, and stockpiling food was the first priority. So when Yun Ye watched ant after ant carrying rice-grain-sized pieces of flesh and lining up to burrow into their holes, he greatly marveled—not one was stealing a bite.

The ants clung to Ding Yanping’s limbs, continuously cutting flesh. Although Ding Yanping kept swatting, it still didn’t hinder their efficient work. Before long, Yun Ye saw Ding Yanping’s snow-white toe bones…

Qiu Ran Ke wanted nothing more than to gouge out his own eyes. He Tianshang was also trembling all over. They had never imagined there could be such a cruel way to die in this world. Those little creatures they had trampled to death countless times in daily life were actually so terrifying.

The two lay on the ground, resting their chins on the threshold of the spirit wall gate. Thinking that they absolutely couldn’t outrun ants now, their faces turned ashen. Qiu Ran Ke deeply regretted—having already suffered losses, why hadn’t he stayed far away from this fellow? Why had he delivered himself to the door?

He Tianshang, however, was admiring His Majesty the Emperor’s discernment of people. Previously, he had thought Yun Ye’s high position was entirely due to lucky advancement and had looked down on him with great disdain. Now it seemed His Majesty had long known Yun Ye was a brilliantly talented mechanism expert. Those in high positions—not one was a useless person. He couldn’t help but admire the various officials in the court immensely.

What made Qiu Ran Ke fearful wasn’t the ants dismembering Ding Yanping, but Yun Ye’s eyes full of interest. He was actually using a small stick to push the scraps of flesh that Ding Yanping had scratched off himself into the ant colony. This made him feel cold from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Seeing Yun Ye smile at the two of them, both Qiu Ran Ke and He Tianshang involuntarily shivered.

“Marquis Yun, you cannot carry out private punishment. Even if this old fellow committed the gravest crimes, you cannot kill him privately. He can only be brought to justice by state law. Marquis Yun, you are an important minister of the state—don’t knowingly violate the law.”

“I didn’t kill him. It’s the ants that want to kill him. Since he dared to kill my household general and servants, he should have this awareness. Yun Family lives have always been valuable. He Tianshang, you shut your mouth. It’s not your place to speak here.”

“Marquis Yun, this lowly official is of small rank and humble position—naturally I count for nothing. But do you also disregard His Majesty’s golden authority arrow?”

Watching He Tianshang pull out a yellow authority arrow from his bosom, Qiu Ran Ke asked strangely, “You’re a constable? A murderous constable?”

He Tianshang ignored Qiu Ran Ke’s chatter and looked expectantly at Yun Ye. He hoped everyone, including noble families, would abide by the Tang Code they themselves had established. To maintain the authority of this legal code, he wouldn’t hesitate to stake his life.

Yun Ye stared at He Tianshang for a while. Seeing he had not the slightest intention to back down, he nodded. He himself really couldn’t bear to watch the scene of ants eating a person.

He pulled out a small bottle from his bosom and poured a thread of crystalline liquid into the ant colony. Very effective—those large ants immediately scattered in all directions, no longer biting Ding Yanping’s flesh. Even the scattered flesh on the ground was abandoned as they chaotically burrowed under the tree roots and came out no more.

Looking at the small bottle, Yun Ye truly admired Li Tai. How had he thought to extract these secretions from the ant queen’s body? And still hadn’t killed the ant queen in the process. He’d have to ask properly what the principle was when he got back.

Ding Yanping’s wounds were very neat. On one foot, only stark white bones remained. Both hands had also been bitten until bones showed everywhere. Most strangely, not a drop of blood flowed.

Qiu Ran Ke and He Tianshang stared wide-eyed at the spectacle before them, not saying a word. But Yun Ye knew this was formic acid at work. That deep red-looking flesh was actually all dead meat now. The blood vessels had long been cauterized shut by the formic acid. Sun Simiao had previously wanted to use formic acid to treat wounds, but no one could endure that kind of pain. He had applied it to himself and it hurt him to tears, so he had to abandon this tempting idea.

Ding Yanping was actually laughing. This made Yun Ye admire him whether he wanted to or not. The old fellow truly deserved to be called a tough man. Just now when being torn at by ants, he had only roared in fury—not a single plea for mercy.

“Little bastard, Grandpa fell for your treacherous scheme. Why didn’t you summon the ants out to give Grandpa a quick end? What’s the meaning of being half-dead like this? If you can’t kill Grandpa, when Grandpa catches his breath, he’ll kill you. Grandpa killed too few of your family’s people. Always thinking of accumulating some virtue for the child—if I’d struck early and hard, how would it have come to this?”

“I really want to kill you, truly. But there’s a constable over there who won’t let me kill you. Otherwise, watching you turn into white bones would make me very happy. You may find it laughable—that constable talked to me about state law. I could have ignored him, but thinking about it, what he said makes a lot of sense. The Tang Code was established for everyone, including me. Since the Yun Family is a hereditary family that shares the nation’s fortunes, then we must first abide by the law. Only this way can wealth and honor continue for generations.”

“So your provocation is useless on me. If you want revenge, don’t you have a wife and child? Just go find them.”

“You dare? My home is on an island at sea—who would know? Even that traitor Dan Ying wouldn’t know. You can’t harm my wife and child. Boy, if you want revenge, quickly kill Grandpa.”

“I don’t know how a fool like you has lived until now. The poison on your flying locust stones is rice spoon head snake venom. That kind of snake—is it found everywhere in the world? Isn’t it only on those few special islands? Is it hard to find? Under my command, the Lingnan fleet has no fewer than eight hundred warships. Won’t they be able to find your lair?”

Only now did Ding Yanping realize his home wasn’t as safe as he’d imagined. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Don’t harm my wife and child. This old man submits to whatever you do. Even in the underworld, I won’t complain.”

Yun Ye was about to speak when he heard He Tianshang say quietly, “Marquis Yun, the Tang Code doesn’t have a provision for one person’s crime implicating the whole family.”

“Whose fucking side are you on? This old bastard wanted to rob my things and even injured my household general and servants. Instead of speaking for me, why the hell do you keep helping the old bastard?” Yun Ye was extremely angry.

“My lord, you also wouldn’t want the law to include provisions implicating entire families, would you?” He Tianshang looked very earnestly at Yun Ye and spoke unhurriedly.

Yun Ye paused, then nodded and said to He Tianshang, “You’re right. I also don’t want my one person’s mistake to implicate my whole family in the future. Fine, fine. I won’t hunt down his family. But if I go after his woman, is that also illegal?”

He Tianshang, Qiu Ran Ke, and Ding Yanping all looked at Yun Ye in shock. They didn’t understand what “go after” meant.

“May I ask, my lord, what does ‘go after his woman’ mean?” He Tianshang carefully asked Yun Ye, feeling that Marquis Yun was currently in a rampage state and shouldn’t be provoked.

“The old bastard’s woman is only twenty years old this year. I’m also twenty this year. If I happen to be on a big ship that accidentally docks at his island, arriving at someone’s territory, as a noble I should naturally pay a visit to the host family. I’m not ugly, and I’m a marquis of the Great Tang with countless wealth. Giving the host family some gifts is proper.”

“His wife would have to come out and entertain the guest. As long as I’m elegant in speech and manner, generous with money, and my servants and maids are all well-behaved, I’ll naturally leave a good impression on his wife. Once is unfamiliar, twice is unfamiliar, three times counts as acquaintances, after four times perhaps we’ll become close family friends, and after five times, hehe…”

Ding Yanping let out a great cry, rolled over, and bit down on Yun Ye’s armor without letting go, as if wanting to bite Yun Ye to death. Even the armor plates squeaked from his biting.

Qiu Ran Ke turned around about to crawl back. He Tianshang grabbed him and said, “Are you crazy? Going back to die?”

“I’d rather be dismembered than stay with this bastard. Damn it, even planning to go after someone’s wife. Such an evil person—I can’t provoke him. Better to stay far away.”