Faced with the jeers of everyone present and Lin Aotian’s merciless suppression, Liu Ruyan finally reached the end of her patience.
No one from the Lin family had expected the usually gentle, charming, and considerate Liu Ruyan to possess such a fierce and decisive side.
What puzzled them even more was where an adopted daughter with no blood relation to the Lin family, who had already been disowned by them, had found the confidence to spout such outrageous words in front of the Lin family.
Could she have some other trump card?
Everyone present exchanged glances.
Hearing Liu Ruyan rant and even openly threaten the Lin family, Lin Aotian could no longer hold back.
“That’s enough! Liu Ruyan, you’ve really gone too far. Today, you will pay the price!”
“Where are the disciples of the Enforcement Hall? Seize her!”
Lin Aotian was clearly furious. No one could tolerate a family disciple repeatedly pushing her luck and rubbing salt in their wounds.
If Ye Wushuang had not been present, Lin Aotian would have already made Liu Ruyan bleed in the middle of the hall.
As soon as his voice fell, the Lin family’s enforcement disciples poured in from outside the hall.
Each of them carried a goose-feather saber and wore black robes. Their expressions were solemn, and their auras were extraordinary. Every one of them possessed at least the cultivation of the early Qi Condensation Realm.
All they needed was a single order from Lin Aotian, and the disciples of the Enforcement Hall would instantly attack Liu Ruyan.
Seeing this, Ye Wushuang’s heart sank.
If things continued to develop, Liu Ruyan would certainly summon the mysterious master within her ring.
By then, no one present—not even Ye Wushuang herself—might be able to escape unscathed.
Given Liu Ruyan’s hatred for her, she might even kill Ye Wushuang first.
Just as Ye Wushuang had expected, Liu Ruyan was preparing to twist the ring on her finger.
Seeing this, Ye Wushuang silently said, “Use the Pig Climbs a Tree Talisman.”
The talisman vanished from the system’s storage space. Without making a sound, it sank into the center of Liu Ruyan’s brow.
Liu Ruyan was just about to activate the ring and summon her master when her body suddenly froze. Her eyes instantly became vacant.
Everyone present noticed that something was wrong with her.
As if sensing Liu Ruyan’s abnormal state, the ring on her finger continuously sent waves of cool energy into her.
Yet it was completely ineffective.
“Liu Ruyan, are you still planning to resist?”
Lin Aotian shouted coldly. A mass of true essence had already condensed in his hand, and he was preparing to take action personally.
However, the next moment, something that left everyone dumbfounded happened.
Liu Ruyan slowly raised her head and gazed at the towering beams of the grand hall. A strange… longing flashed through her eyes.
“Oink… oink…”
A bizarre sound came from Liu Ruyan’s mouth. It actually sounded rather like a pig.
“What… what is she doing?”
A Lin family disciple stared wide-eyed.
But what happened next was even more astonishing.
Liu Ruyan suddenly dropped to all fours. First, she crouched on the ground in an extremely bizarre posture. Then, with a sudden leap, she charged straight toward one of the pillars at the side of the hall.
“Stop her!”
Several disciples of the Enforcement Hall rushed forward, only to see Liu Ruyan twist her body strangely and slip through the crowd. Using both her hands and feet, she wrapped herself around the thick nanmu pillar.
The next moment, Liu Ruyan began climbing with both hands and feet. Her movements were nimble, and within just a few breaths, she had climbed high up the pillar. She then leaped again and landed steadily on the roof beam.
The beams of the grand hall were a full five zhang above the ground and stretched across the entire building. Ordinarily, only specially made ladders were used to reach them during cleaning.
Now, Liu Ruyan was crouched on all fours atop one of the beams, creating an exceedingly bizarre sight.
“Oink, oink~”
Liu Ruyan cheerfully cried out twice from the beam. Then… she began walking back and forth along it. From time to time, she lowered her head to look at the people below, her eyes filled with a strange sense of pride.
Everyone stared at the unbelievable scene in bafflement.
The true essence in Lin Aotian’s hand slowly dissipated, while his face was filled with shock and confusion.
Lin Langtian’s brows drew tightly together. In his previous life, he had been a Devil Emperor and had witnessed countless strange techniques, but he had never seen anything this bizarre.
Seeing Liu Ruyan’s miserable appearance, Lin Langtian—who had already lost all interest in her—felt his disgust reach its peak.
“Could she… have been possessed?”
one of the Lin family elders muttered.
“I think she’s lost her mind!”
“But just now, she was still saying that one day the river would flow east for thirty years and west for thirty years…”
“Oh no, oh no! It looks like Liu Ruyan has really gone crazy!”
Murmurs rose throughout the hall, and quite a few people began mocking her.
Just moments ago, Liu Ruyan had been arrogantly declaring that she would make the Lin family regret everything. In the blink of an eye, she had climbed onto the roof beam and begun imitating a pig. The contrast was simply too comical.
Ye Wushuang forcefully suppressed her laughter. She knew that the effect of the Pig Climbs a Tree Talisman had already begun.
Judging by the results, it was remarkably effective.
“Hurry! Get her down!”
Lin Aotian finally came to his senses and shouted furiously.
Several Enforcement Hall disciples exchanged glances before simultaneously using their movement techniques to leap into the air.
However, when Liu Ruyan saw them approaching, she nimbly dodged left and right along the beam. Every so often, she even let out a provocative oink.
“Oink!”
Before one of the disciples could get close, Liu Ruyan suddenly kicked out, striking him squarely in the chest.
“Watch out!” someone cried.
The disciple let out a scream and fell from midair. Fortunately, the other disciples caught him, preventing him from being injured.
Although Liu Ruyan’s behavior was bizarre, her cultivation and fighting instincts remained intact.
At present, she seemed to regard the pursuit as some sort of game, enjoying herself immensely.
At that moment, Ye Wushuang slowly rose to her feet.
“Master of the Lin family.”
Her voice was not loud, yet it clearly carried throughout the entire hall.
“I still have matters to attend to and cannot stay any longer. The engagement is hereby canceled. Farewell.”
With that, Ye Wushuang turned and prepared to leave.
“Miss Wushuang, please wait!”
Lin Aotian hurriedly called out, “The Lin family will certainly give the Ye family an explanation for what happened today…”
“No need.”
Without even turning her head, Ye Wushuang waved dismissively.
“Master of the Lin family, simply deal with your own family’s affairs. Oh, right…”
She stopped and glanced back at Liu Ruyan on the roof beam. A playful smile curled at the corners of her lips.
“Miss Liu’s current appearance certainly brings to mind an old saying: A person may not recognize her own ugliness, just as a horse does not know how long its face is. Master of the Lin family… take care of yourself.”
Her words carried a double meaning. They mocked Liu Ruyan’s disgraceful state while also implying that the Lin family had failed to discipline its own people.
Lin Aotian’s face flushed red, then turned pale, but he did not dare to argue. He could only bow and say, “We respectfully see Miss Wushuang off.”
Ye Wushuang said nothing more and walked toward the entrance of the hall. Wherever she passed, the Lin family disciples moved aside in succession. No one dared to block her path.
When she passed by Lin Langtian, Ye Wushuang paused briefly and cast him a glance.
Lin Langtian was looking at her as well, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.
He vaguely felt that today’s farce had something to do with the Second Young Lady of the Ye family, but he could not find any evidence.
Before he could react, Ye Wushuang had already drifted away.
Watching her departing figure, Lin Langtian suddenly felt something stir within him.
This Ye Wushuang seemed rather different from the supposedly spoiled and willful, pretty-but-empty-headed Second Young Lady of the Ye family described in the rumors…
“Oink! Oink!”
The cheerful cries from the roof beam interrupted Lin Langtian’s thoughts.
He looked up and saw Liu Ruyan lying atop the beam, making faces at everyone below. The sight was absurdly comical.
