Chapter 745: You Called a Name You Shouldn’t Have 2

He was covered in crisscrossing wounds, but his mouth was the worst of it. The moment he opened it, his tongue tumbled out.

"Aaaah..." Huo Liran crumpled to the floor, paralyzed with fear as she stared at the tongue lying on the ground.

"Second Uncle..."

Before Huo Feng could finish, a chill shot down his spine. He felt a gaze so intense it made his heart clench. Slowly, he turned his head and was met with a pair of pupils as red as fire. In their depths, he saw a profound bloodlust.

It took a long moment for the crowd on the first floor to react. Their eyes traveled upward, one by one, to the man leaning on the upstairs railing, and shock rippled through them.

The instant the Inner Strength flared, Ye Qianning looked up. Her eyes met the man’s, and she froze. His face was impossibly handsome.

His features were chiseled, exuding a deadly sort of nobility. He had a high-bridged nose, skin as flawless as jade, and brows as dark as ink, all complemented by a pair of eyes so beautiful it was breathtaking.

He was leaning over, half-draped across the railing as if he had just woken up. His hair was slightly disheveled, and his arrogant red eyes stared down in Huo Tu’s direction.

"Who gave you the audacity to bear a name like that?"

He spoke slowly, his voice deep and laced with a certain languor.

The sound of his voice snapped Ye Qianning out of her stupor. It was a languid voice, but she could sense the killing intent simmering within it.

’It was a harbinger of imminent danger.’

Everyone else on the first floor was also jolted to their senses by the voice, though the shock in their hearts had yet to dissipate.

"Mmph... mmph..." Huo Tu struggled.

Huo Liran was terrified. When her eyes met the man’s, she trembled. ’It’s him...’

"Young Master, please be merciful," Huo Feng said, quickly getting to his feet and bowing.

"He has a name he shouldn’t have. He deserves to die." As the languid voice faded, a powerful wave of Inner Strength shot out like a gale.

PFFT...

Huo Tu’s struggles ceased. His eyes bulged, and the life drained out of him.

"Aah... Second Uncle! Second Uncle... Mmph..." Terrified, Huo Liran scrambled backward, her hands clamped over her mouth as she broke into muffled sobs.

Huo Feng spun around, his eyes wide with shock.

Old Prince Feng had just managed to struggle to his feet, ready to unleash his fury, but the scene unfolding before him stopped him cold. Even for a man who had seen countless battles, this was enough to make him hold his tongue.

He didn’t have a single guard by his side; the man could kill him with terrifying ease.

Old Prince Feng stood up, his body aching all over from the fall, but he didn’t dare say another word. ’I’ll wait until the City Lord and his guards arrive,’ he thought. ’Then I’ll settle all my scores, old and new.’

A flicker of confusion crossed Ye Qianning’s eyes. ’I don’t remember him.’ The aura of slaughter around him was overwhelming. His beautiful face suggested grace and nobility, but the Inner Strength he exuded was saturated with death.

"What gives you the right to kill my second uncle?!" Huo Liran shouted, getting to her feet.

"Liran!" Huo Feng hurriedly grabbed her.

He could feel the man’s overpowering aura, heavy with the scent of blood. To kill from such a distance... his Inner Strength was unfathomable. ’This is not a man to be trifled with,’ he thought.

The man paid them no mind, his eyes drifting closed. He seemed to notice a sweet fragrance in the air, one that smelled incredibly comforting.

"Brother, Second Uncle just had a name..." Huo Liran’s words caught in her throat. Her gaze snapped to Ye Qianning as if she’d made a brilliant discovery. She pointed a trembling finger. "Her! She’s called Ye Qianning! Her name is Ye Qianning!"

"Liran."

Huo Feng lunged forward and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Huo Liran struggled against his grip.

Upstairs, the man’s eyes snapped open. His red gaze swept over the crowd below, finally landing on Ye Qianning.

Jiang Chenyi and Jiang Yue’s hearts seized when they heard Huo Liran cry out Ye Qianning’s name. They looked up to see that the man in brocade had opened his red eyes and was now staring fixedly at the floor below.

Ye Qianning held her head high, her gaze calm and unflinching as she met those scarlet eyes. Only now did she realize that the killing intent from before was just the tip of the iceberg.

A murderous aura erupted from him, so palpable it felt as though he would tear someone to shreds at any moment.

Even she had to admit the aura was terrifying.

His beautiful face was that of a Rakshasa that had just clawed its way out of hell, scythe ready to slice across your throat.

As Ye Qianning felt the deadly killing intent directed at her, her own eyes grew sharp. His aura had provoked her own, drawing it to the surface in an instant. Bloodshed was the quickest way to awaken the thirst for more.

But then, just as suddenly, she felt his killing intent begin to recede.

It happened quickly. In the blink of an eye, the murderous aura vanished as if it had never existed.

All that remained was a flawless, beautiful face, exuding an air of grace and dignity. He looked like a born aristocrat.

Ye Qianning’s brow furrowed slightly. She was shocked. ’How can I see both a demon and a celestial being on the same face?’

While everyone was still reeling in shock, the man straightened up and leaped down from the second floor.

"Miss Ye, look out!"

"Sister Ye!"

Jiang Chenyi and Jiang Yue rushed toward Ye Qianning at the same time.

Huo Feng’s eyes widened.

Huo Liran forgot to struggle, her eyes fixed on Ye Qianning. A flicker of malicious glee crossed her face. ’Ye Qianning is as good as dead.’

Luo Feng moved to intervene, but Du Yi stopped him.

Just as everyone expected the man to kill Ye Qianning without a shred of mercy, his next action left them stunned once more.

The man swept Ye Qianning into his arms, his entire body trembling as the harshness in his red eyes melted into softness.

Ye Qianning had seen the murderous intent fade from him, which was why she hadn’t struck out when he’d leaped toward her.

But being pulled into an embrace the next second made her brow furrow deeply.

"Let go."

She despised being touched.

The man seemed not to hear her, or perhaps he ignored her, and only held her tighter.

"If you don’t let go right now, don’t blame me for what I do next," Ye Qianning said, her voice turning cold.

"It’s you... you’re back. I knew you would come back. I knew it..." The man’s grip tightened again as he muttered the words, almost to himself.

Ye Qianning could feel his whole body trembling, and his low voice was thick with an unidentifiable emotion. ’Whatever it is, I don’t want to know,’ she thought.

"You..."

"Ye Qianning." The man released her, his voice trembling as he spoke her name, though he was clearly trying to control it.

"You know me?"

But Ye Qianning had no memory of him whatsoever.

The man nodded, but when he met her blank, questioning stare, a flicker of disappointment crossed his face. In the next instant, though, his red eyes lit up again. "Look at me. Do you really not remember me at all?"

Ye Qianning took a step back, sizing him up with a suspicious eye. He wore robes of cloud-patterned brocade, stood well over six feet tall, and had not only a perfect face but a physique that was just as impossibly well-proportioned.

But as she studied him more closely, she did feel a faint sense of familiarity.

Her gaze fell upon his flawless face, taking in his eyes, his nose, his mouth...

The man’s gaze softened, and he lowered his head slightly to bring his face level with hers, as if willing her to look closely.

Ye Qianning stared for a long moment. He suddenly pursed his lips, as if slightly displeased, and that red gaze... Something clicked in her mind. A look of utter disbelief crept into her eyes.

She suddenly reached out, cupping his face in her hands and staring intently into his eyes. Sure enough, there was a nearly imperceptible film covering his red irises.

’It was so clear when they were gray,’ she thought. ’But now, the red color hides it almost completely.’