"We've found them, but Miss, why do you need assassins?" Li Er looked at Gongsun Lu, utterly perplexed.

"Must I really tell you what I do?" Gongsun Lu responded with a cold snort.

"Your unworthy servant dares not!" Hearing Gongsun Lu’s sharp tone, the guard named Li Er trembled visibly.

"Hmph, telling you won't hurt, but if you breathe a single word of this outside, hmph hmph, you know the consequences!" Seeing Li Er shaking with fear, a smug smile spread across Gongsun Lu's face.

Upon hearing this, Li Er and the others wished their ears would suddenly go deaf, so they wouldn't hear a thing, but Gongsun Lu cared for none of that. With a cruel smirk playing on her lips, she stated calmly, "I cannot permit any woman in this world to be prettier than me!" As she said this, she actually glanced back at Hu Yanmeng, who was sitting beside Ye Jingyu.

Her voice was so low that only the few people directly in front of her could possibly hear it, yet Ye Jingyu, Liang Xiaoke, and the others were all top-tier masters; that short distance meant nothing to their hearing.

A wave of astonishment washed over them. They truly hadn't expected such a young girl as Gongsun Lu to possess such vicious methods.

To eliminate someone merely because they were more beautiful—wouldn't that mean she had to kill nearly everyone in the world?

As for the guards who heard these words, their faces shifted drastically. They had followed Gongsun Lu long enough to know exactly who she intended to eliminate. This involved Gongsun Sheng’s very life! If anything truly untoward happened to him because of this, no matter how favored she was, she would be utterly ruined!

Not to mention those among them who were involved—they might not even know how they died.

"Miss..." Li Er gasped out in alarm, only to be silenced instantly by Gongsun Lu’s icy glare.

"What are you afraid of? Great-Grandfather is old and should have stepped down long ago. Once that woman is dead, Great-Grandfather might not survive much longer, which means Grandfather can finally take the position of Family Head and will certainly dote on me even more. Wouldn't that mean better benefits for you too? But before that, are you confident you can take care of those assassins?" Gongsun Lu whispered.

Hearing Gongsun Lu’s chilling words, the expressions of both Ye Jingyu’s group and the guards changed. The guards were terrified, while Ye Jingyu’s group was stunned. They simply could not believe such a young girl possessed such a cruel heart—she was sending out assassins on one hand and already arranging to silence the witnesses on the other, all because someone else was prettier?

"Yes!" After a long pause, Li Er seemed to finally make up his mind and declared fiercely, while the others showed equally resolute looks.

They were all guards assigned to Gongsun Lu by Gongsun Yuan, Gongsun Sheng’s eldest son. They had already witnessed the Miss’s methods. If they refused, she had at least a hundred ways to torture them to death. If they exposed her scheme, no one would believe them, and they would likely meet a gruesome end on the streets. Their only path to survival was to follow her to the end.

"Excellent. Once this is done, you will be my absolute confidantes. You won't be lacking in rewards!" Gongsun Lu nodded with satisfaction, clearly knowing how to win loyalty.

"We thank the Miss!" Li Er and the others quickly bowed.

"Good. Now take me to see the people you found. Without my guidance, they will never locate the spot," Gongsun Lu clapped her hands and stood up.

"Miss, please lead the way!" Li Er stepped forward to guide them, while another began settling the bill. The group then walked out.

"Bing Ming, follow her," Ye Jingyu murmured softly.

Sending a Martial Saint to tail a group whose strongest members were only at the Innate Martial Master level felt like using a Dragon-Slaying Saber to crush an ant, but with a slight ripple in the void, Bing Ming, already concealed within the spatial fabric, streaked away...

"Tell me, are we blessed by the Goddess of Luck?" Only after Gongsun Lu and her entourage had completely descended the stairs did Ye Jingyu turn back to Liang Xiaoke, his eyes filled with disbelief. They had come to Medicine City intending to inquire about Gongsun Xiangyi at the Full Bloom Tower, but unexpectedly, the first young woman they encountered was from the Gongsun family, and simply by following her, they overheard clues about Gongsun Xiangyi. The odds of this were comparable to winning the grand lottery.

"I feel the same way. Could my karma really have exploded recently?" Liang Xiaoke shook his head, somewhat bewildered, unable to quite believe such good fortune.

"Do you think it could be a trap?" Ye Jingyu still found it hard to believe his luck was this good.

"We've been keeping a low profile this time; the Gongsun family has no way of knowing our true purpose here. How could they have set up such a scenario in advance? Besides, if it were a scheme, would you actually believe it?" Liang Xiaoke replied calmly.

Ye Jingyu considered this and nodded. Things truly seemed that way. If this were truly a setup, no one would believe it; after all, how could such coincidences occur in the world? The Gongsun family couldn't possibly engineer such a coincidence. This could only be attributed to sheer luck.

"What should we do now?" Liang Xiaoke asked again.

"Eat, and then we'll make another trip to the Full Bloom Tower while waiting for Bing Ming’s news. Xiu and the others should be entering the city soon. Tell everyone to keep a low profile. Until Xiangyi is rescued, no rash moves. After she’s safe, I won't interfere with whatever you want to do!" Ye Jingyu said lightly, though a faint killing intent began to permeate the air.

The thought of Gongsun Lu’s deceit and cruelty made him feel that such a woman should not exist in the world; perhaps becoming Liang Xiaoke’s Blood Corpse would be her best option...

Just as Ye Jingyu and his companions were marveling at their incredible luck, the Gongsun family, the largest in Medicine City, resided in a massive estate spanning several thousand acres, far larger than that of ordinary aristocratic clans.

The entire estate was filled with towering, ancient trees, making the courtyard appear vibrantly green.

At this moment, within a secluded courtyard of the Gongsun estate, beneath a colossal, ancient tree, sat an elderly man in a wheelchair, his hair snow-white.

In front of the old man, another chair was set up, but upon it was tied a person: a stunningly beautiful woman clad in tight-fitting green attire.

Looking at the exquisite woman before him, the old man’s eyes held no lust or infatuation, only deep regret, profound helplessness, and crushing sorrow.