At the sight of this, both the middle-aged man from Falling God Peak and Mei Yanyu inside the hall wore expressions of profound shock.
The two of them hastily circulated their martial True Qi to protect themselves and backed away together at the same time.
But as they tried to leave the hall at the first opportunity, they discovered with horror that the entire hall seemed to be sealed on all sides by an invisible curtain of true flame. The moment either of them drew near it, their hair and clothing began to catch fire on their own, and the extreme heat scorched their skin. There was no way out.
Seeing this, Mei Yanyu's expression shifted through several changes, and he turned to look at Murong Xiaoya outside the hall, saying, "Miss Murong, what is the meaning of this?"
Murong Xiaoya had no intention of answering him. She simply looked at the Bai family patriarch and Bai Changfeng's younger brother and said slowly, "The Bai family was one of the chief architects of this. Naturally I cannot let you die too easily."
With a casual wave of her hand, the two of them were suddenly launched upward, smashing straight through the rafters and roof of the hall and appearing in the air above the entire Bai estate.
And at the same moment, wherever their eyes fell, they witnessed with their own eyes the clansmen of the Bai family throughout the estate, no matter where they stood, having their hearts burst open one after another in rapid succession, their lives extinguished on the spot. Among them were, without question, their own descendants and members of the direct lineage.
In an instant, both men were overwhelmed with grief and fury, their eyes going bloodshot.
They turned their eyes downward at Murong Xiaoya below, burning with rage so intense they seemed to wish they could cut her apart ten thousand times over.
But she was the blade and the Bai family was the fish on the board. Their lives were held entirely in her hands.
In the next instant, before the furious and terror-stricken eyes of the Bai family patriarch and Bai Changfeng's younger brother, both of their hearts burst open at the same moment and became a mist of blood, just as they had watched happen to their clansmen, and the life within them faded rapidly away.
Very shortly, the middle-aged man in the hall and Mei Yanyu watched as the blood mist from the hearts of the Bai family patriarch and Bai Changfeng's younger brother condensed into threads of refined blood that began flowing toward Murong Xiaoya's body.
At the same time, from every corner and direction of the entire Bai estate, thread after thread of refined blood, as though drawn by some invisible force, converged into Murong Xiaoya's body like rivers pouring into the sea.
To the eyes of Mei Yanyu and the middle-aged man, the aura radiating from that slender figure standing in the darkness of the night had grown yet more terrifying still.
"What kind of demonic art is this?"
The middle-aged man from Falling God Peak spoke with an ugly expression, and turned to look at Mei Yanyu beside him.
In his view, Mei Yanyu seemed to know this surviving remnant of the Murong family with her frightening strength, and might know something of her origins.
But Mei Yanyu only remained silent, his expression grave, his gaze fixed on Murong Xiaoya outside the hall, filled with both shock and a fear that was growing by the moment.
The Murong Xiaoya before him now and the one from that afternoon were like two entirely different people, and the fact that she was blocking them from leaving made it truly difficult for him to guess what she intended.
At the same time, after absorbing all the refined blood, Murong Xiaoya raised her hand with a casual wave, and a sky-filling sea of roaring fire poured down from above the Bai estate, burning through every part of the buildings below.
With all of this done, she finally turned her gaze toward Mei Yanyu and the middle-aged man, now surrounded by the sea of fire, and said without warning, "Tell me what connection the Mei family has with Falling God Peak."
Hearing this, both Mei Yanyu and the middle-aged man's expressions changed sharply. They exchanged a glance, and then Mei Yanyu, forcing down the fear in his heart with considerable effort, did not answer, but instead said, "Miss Murong, we had no part in what happened to the Murong family today. We ask that you show mercy..."
But before he could finish, Murong Xiaoya cut him off, "Answer my question. I do not wish to ask it a second time."
At those words, the sea of fire consuming the beams, doors, and windows of the hall suddenly surged up like a great wave, and from it two twisted, writhing tongues of flame shot forward and came engulfing toward Mei Yanyu and the middle-aged man.
Everywhere the fire tongues passed, the extreme heat warped the surrounding space, split the brickwork apart, and began melting the bronze censers standing throughout the hall into liquid metal.
At the sight of this, both Mei Yanyu and the middle-aged man went pale with alarm.
And at that very moment, an elderly voice rang out suddenly from above the Bai estate, "Hold!"
In the next instant, an enormous silver hand condensed from the True Qi of heaven and earth came crashing down from high above, reaching directly toward Mei Yanyu and the middle-aged man trapped inside the sea of fire.
Murong Xiaoya raised her gaze slightly and paid no attention to the voice or the hand. The two fire tongues in the blaze coiled toward the two men even faster than before.
"No... I am from Falling God Peak. You are inviting your own destruction!"
"Wait, I will talk! I will talk!"
The middle-aged man and Mei Yanyu spoke at the same time, the former issuing a threat and the latter begging for mercy and giving in.
In the next instant, one fire tongue coiled around the middle-aged man, and in the blink of an eye the raging flames burned the flesh from his surface down to charred remains, and the unbearable agony tore from him a harrowing, wretched cry.
The other fire tongue coiled to within an inch of Mei Yanyu's body, the blazing heat wrapping around him, scorching and curling his hair and clothing until they yellowed and shrank.
At the same time, the sea of fire burning over the Bai estate boiled and surged, and the flames, as though seized and pulled by some unseen force, abruptly condensed into a monstrous great serpent, its body formed of flowing embers hardened into scales, the red-gold fire markings across it blazing with light.
The fire serpent raised its head and, dragging a heaven-scorching wave of flame behind it, lunged straight at the enormous silver hand condensed from the True Qi of heaven and earth.
A thunderous crash rang out.
The serpent coiled and tore, and the flames erupted and raged. The enormous hand shattered and crumbled apart on the first impact, the True Qi escaping in every direction, twisting and scattering in the heat that had burned through the very air around it.
At that moment, an elderly figure dressed as a servant emerged from within the sea of fire and appeared beside Mei Yanyu, who was still bound by the fire tongue.
His deeply lined face was grave, and he watched Murong Xiaoya standing outside the hall with an expression of extreme wariness.
"Elder Mu."
Mei Yanyu spoke, his face ashen, but the elderly man raised a hand to stop him.
At the same time, Murong Xiaoya's face was calm and undisturbed. She seemed entirely unconcerned by the old man's appearance, and only watched Mei Yanyu with cold indifference, saying quietly, "You may continue now. But if a single word you speak is false, the consequences will be yours to bear."
In that moment, Murong Xiaoya's features were delicate and striking, and beneath her wide black robe her frame was slender and slight. Yet the aura she carried was as vast as the open sea, bearing down like a great mountain range that made the hearts and minds of those before her tremble, leaving them unable to draw a steady breath.
Mei Yanyu glanced at Elder Mu standing before him. The old man was silent for a moment, then gave a slight nod, and turned to Murong Xiaoya, saying, "Miss Murong, we hope that once you have received your answers, you will let the young master go."
Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya shook her head, "You have no standing to negotiate with me. Speak now, or die."
As her words fell, the fire tongue wrapped around the middle-aged man rapidly began burning through the martial True Qi within his body, sending him into another round of agonized screaming.
"I will talk, I will talk. Falling God Peak and the Mei family are secretly allied."
Before Mei Yanyu could even open his mouth, the middle-aged man had already reached his limit and shouted it out loud.