Chapter 65: I Want You to Be Buried with Me

Serves him right to die.

Those four words set Tang Xuan's fury ablaze.

He had taken many lives, both back on Earth and in the Immortal Realm. Yet, he never harmed the innocent who lacked the strength to truss a chicken.

Yet, in Ma Yan's eyes, the lives of these people were worth no more than blades of grass. To him, it was only natural that they should die at Ma Chen's hands.

Why was it that they were allowed to die, but Ma Chen was not?

Present in the courtyard, save for Tang Xuan, not a single person felt there was anything wrong with Ma Yan's words. Because they belonged to the prominent clans, because they were martial practitioners, they believed they had the right to trample upon the lives of ordinary mortals.

Tang Xuan cast a glacial gaze upon Ma Yan.

"What grand patriarch? In my eyes, Ma Chen is the one who truly deserved to die."

Ma Yan was consumed by rage. In his view, Tang Xuan only dared to speak to him like this because he was leaning on the backing of the Wang family. If he wanted to avenge his son, he had to force the Wang family to back down.

"Wang Li, I must avenge Ma Chen today. If you try to stop me, the Ma family will fight the Wang family to the bitter end, leaving neither standing."

Faced with Ma Yan's threat, Wang Tao wore a look of deep anxiety.

The forces of the Ma and Wang families were evenly matched. Though they had clashed ceaselessly over the years, neither side dared to act without regard for the consequences. Both families knew that an all-out war would benefit neither, leaving only some hidden third party to reap the fisherman's spoils.

However, now that Ma Chen was dead, Ma Yan no longer had any misgivings or concerns for the future. With his heir gone, why would he care about what lay ahead for the Ma family?

"Father," Wang Tao called out.

He said no more, but that single word was enough to remind Wang Li.

Wang Li looked over at Tang Xuan. He believed that Tang Xuan's future achievements were limitless, which was why he had knelt and expressed his gratitude inside the room earlier. He had deliberately lowered his posture to forge a lasting bond with Tang Xuan. He had even entertained the thought of using the Wang family's influence to elevate Tang Xuan's standing in Junyang City.

Yet now, Ma Yan's words placed him in a profound dilemma.

If he chose to stand with Tang Xuan, Ma Yan's reckless and desperate retaliation would undoubtedly deal a devastating blow to the Wang family. Thus, Wang Li was forced to carefully weigh the pros and cons.

Seeing that Wang Li remained silent, Wang Tao grew anxious.

"Our Wang family paid a consultation fee of one billion five hundred million specifically to have you cure my father. But you killed Ma Chen, and this matter has nothing to do with our family."

Tang Xuan sneered.

Su Qin thought Wang Tao was utterly shameless. How could he be so devoid of face as to utter such words?

Had Ma Chen not brought men to the Wang family precisely to prevent Tang Xuan from treating Wang Li, to ensure that Wang Li would not be healed? Had Tang Xuan not killed Ma Chen, how could he have proceeded with the treatment?

Su Qin felt a surge of indignation on Tang Xuan's behalf, yet outwardly she remained silent. She would do nothing to draw attention to herself. For so many years, she had operated in the shadows on behalf of the Su family; she would never expose her identity for any reason. She desperately wanted to speak up for the young man, but the Su family superseded everything else, and Tang Xuan was simply not worth the risk.

Tang Xuan glanced at Wang Li. He cared nothing for the Wang family's stance, nor did he require their assistance. Still, he wished to see how Wang Li intended to handle the situation.

Wang Tao knew his father was torn, so he had to play the villain.

"Our Wang family does not owe you a single coin. Whatever lies between you and the Ma family must be resolved by you alone."

Wang Li said nothing, deliberately avoiding Tang Xuan's gaze.

With a faint smile, Tang Xuan spoke, "I require no one's help."

"As for the mere Ma family, why would I ever deign to notice them?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yan burst into arrogant laughter.

"Hahahahaha!"

"I wonder, once you are dead, whether you can cure yourself back to life?"

"I have brought so many masters with me; I will not leave you a single path to survival."

Upon receiving the news of Ma Chen's death, Ma Yan had mobilized every single expert within the Ma family and even hired numerous external reinforcements. Fearing that the Wang family might intervene, he had brought forth every last trump card at his disposal.

He was determined to make Tang Xuan die. He would make Tang Xuan pay with his life to accompany Ma Chen in the netherworld!

"Trash."

Tang Xuan uttered the word lightly.

Ma Yan was blinded by rage, his eyes turning bloodshot.

"I will make sure your corpse is left without a whole piece of skin!"

"I will hang your head outside the gates of my Ma family!"

"I will let everyone in Junyang City know the heavy price one pays for killing my son!"

"Attack!"

At Ma Yan's command, the experts he had brought surged forward, surrounding Tang Xuan to deliver a fatal assault.

"Father, although he cured you, we paid him handsomely for it," Wang Tao whispered, moving closer to Wang Li and attempting to dissuade him as he saw hesitation still lingering in his father's eyes, fearing the older man might do something irrational. "He killed Ma Chen, and that is a price he must pay. You needn't carry any psychological burden."

"Ma Yan has lost his mind. Tangling with a mad dog like him will bring no benefit to our family whatsoever."

"He claims he wants to avenge those lowly mortals—what a ridiculous joke in its own right."

"This world has never been fair. Mortals can die, but members of the great clans and martial practitioners cannot."

"Those worthless commoners are hardly comparable to Ma Yan."

Wang Li let out a long sigh. It was not that he failed to understand these principles. He merely felt it would be an immense pity for someone like Tang Xuan to perish here. After all, the young man possessed an unimaginably bright future and might have helped elevate the Wang family's status.

Yet Wang Li harbored no illusions that Tang Xuan could survive and later exact vengeance upon the Wang family. The martial artists Ma Yan had brought were of an entirely different caliber than those Ma Chen had deployed. They were far stronger, and Tang Xuan, youthful as he was, stood no chance against them.

In Wang Li's eyes, Tang Xuan faced only one definitive outcome: death.

Nothing could alter that fate. No one could save him.

No one could stop a maddened Ma Yan.

Unless...

Unless the Su family stepped in.

Yet such a thought belonged only in the realm of imagination. Why would the Su family assist him for no reason at all? Furthermore, the affair had nothing to do with them; such a miracle was utterly impossible.

Deep within her heart, Su Qin was torn with indecision. She longed to help Tang Xuan.

The moment Wang Li had walked out of that room, Su Qin had thought of her own grandfather. Since Tang Xuan could cure Wang Li, could he perhaps cure her grandfather as well?

With a single message, the agents lurking outside the Wang estate could rush in and stop Ma Yan.

Yet doing so would inevitably expose her identity, shattering the painstaking arrangements the Su family had maintained for years.

Was it worth it?

Su Qin shook her head imperceptibly.

It was not worth it, for she had no guarantee that Tang Xuan could truly heal her grandfather.

"Alas," Su Qin sighed softly, resigning herself to watching Tang Xuan perish at Ma Yan's hands.

What else could be done?

Who told him to act so rashly and slay Ma Chen?

Such consequences were his to bear; no one could rescue him.

In the eyes of everyone present, Tang Xuan was doomed to die, with no alternative path available. Not a single soul realized the true weight behind the words he had spoken earlier regarding the insignificant Ma family.