At that time, he was wounded by a stray arrow during his campaign. After recovering, he was left with a lingering illness: whenever it rained, his backside would ache. He had never told anyone about this, only his immediate family.
However, his son Ye Xiaoguan had told his close friend Ye Yun about it. Therefore, Ye Yun knew about this matter, but it was not impossible that Ye Xiaoguan had also told others.
"Ye Yun is already dead," Ye Wei sneered. "For tens of thousands of years, countless people have returned claiming to be Ye Yun, seeking to acknowledge their ancestors, only to be proven false. They even knew how to disguise themselves. You're even more audacious; you didn't even bother with a disguise and dared to claim you are Ye Yun."
Mo Qi also snorted coldly, "I don't need you to believe me. I remember our Red Leaf Kingdom has a tradition: once an ancestor enters, they will be recognized. If you don't believe me, I can go in and verify it."
"You have a beautiful plan, don't you? You want to enter our ancestral shrine to steal treasures. That's your real purpose for coming here, isn't it?" Ye Wei said without hesitation.
Mo Qi shook his head, "Those treasures are worthless. What's precious is the Ye family's heritage. Others cannot steal it even if they enter, and it's useless if they do. Only the legitimate descendants of the Ye family will receive the heritage. You know this, don't you?"
Ye Wei paused, glanced at Ye Qingqing behind Mo Qi, and then said fiercely, "I don't care if you are Ye Yun or not. Your era has passed. Now is the legitimate lineage of the Ye Gang branch, and I will not allow you to infringe upon his authority."
"I can understand that," Mo Qi nodded. "You want to maintain royal power, but can you treat my family kindly? Qingqing is my sister and also the princess of the former king. You've tied her up to guard the gate for tens of thousands of years. Have your consciences been eaten by dogs?"
Ye Wei pondered for a moment and said, "You only feel it's unfair because you refuse to accept your fate. In reality, the bloodshed and slaughter brought about by the decline of a family are far more than this. Qingqing has the gate to guard, and I still feel she has been treated well."
He spoke with a calm tone, uttering the most indifferent words.
He appeared refined and courteous, but in Mo Qi's eyes, he had already bared his fangs.
Mo Qi's heart burned with rage, compounded by the lingering effects of the stimulant pill he had taken earlier. The surging spiritual energy ebbed and flowed, roaring and surging, making his entire body feel as if it would explode.
He felt he was about to erupt, so he said, "Then you all shall die." A lotus flower emerged from his head, and a brilliant cyan flame light suddenly radiated outwards. Like ripples spreading, a circle emanated from each person's body and then vanished.
What exactly happened?
Everyone exchanged glances, their faces etched with a hint of tension.
But after they spun around a few times and found no abnormalities in their bodies, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Mo Qi knew that the cyan lotus fire had erupted just now, and spiritual energy had flowed out. Everyone present was injured, except for himself.
He quickly retreated, landing beside Sun Qian and the others, and handed each of them a healing pill, urging them to take it quickly.
Sun Qian and the others ate them without a word.
Only Yu Quanlin did not eat. He felt Mo Qi was putting on a charade.
Not only him, but everyone opposite, including Ye Wei, believed Mo Qi was faking it.
"Stop pretending," Ye Wei said calmly. "You trespassed into my clan today, and no matter what, you will die. Ye Qing will still return to guard the gate."
"How about this," Mo Qi stared into his eyes. "I'll give you a chance to live. If you beg me for mercy and agree to recognize me as the legitimate heir and pledge your loyalty to me, I will bestow the antidote upon you, allowing you to continue living."
"Are you insane? Do you think you can avoid death by spewing big words? Do you think I will give you a chance instead? You are too naive. I'm telling you, you are as good as dead. Attack!" Ye Wei shouted, waving his hand, signaling the people behind him to go first and apprehend Mo Qi.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, there were consecutive thuds from behind, and people fell to the ground, their lives extinguished.
Yu Quanlin also collapsed and died!
Sun Qian and the others retreated in fear, "What happened? Will we still die even after taking the healing pill?"
Mo Qi shook his head, "Don't be nervous. He must have suspected my pills, so he didn't take them. If you all took them, you can rest assured, nothing will happen."
Sun Qian, Xiao Yi, Zi Luo, and the others then breathed a sigh of relief.
Er Zhu Lin began to swoon again, her eyes shining as she gazed at Mo Qi, "My king, you are truly too handsome."
Mo Qi ignored her and turned to look at Ye Wei.
Ye Wei, with his deep cultivation, although he felt his entire body was about to collapse, managed to remain standing through his own power, but his body was still trembling. Finally, he could not hold on and fell to the ground.
He weakly raised his head, looking at Mo Qi with infinite pleading in his eyes, "What did you give them just now? Give me one. After you save me, I will follow you loyally and be at your beck and call."
Mo Qi's expression was indifferent, "I gave you a chance just now, but you didn't cherish it. It's a pity that opportunities don't come every day. If you don't cherish it, no one will chase after you to give it to you. That's how people are; they don't shed tears until they see the coffin. Just now, you always felt you were in control, that everything was within your grasp, but from the very beginning, you miscalculated. Ultimately, it's because of your wicked intentions. If you had been loyal enough and respected and attached yourself to me upon my return, you would be alive and well now."
"Yes, yes, yes," Ye Wei prostrated himself on the ground, his eyes filled with infinite longing. "I know I was wrong. Give me another chance, and I will truly repent and expand your territory and achieve great deeds for you."
Mo Qi shook his head, "No need. You might as well die peacefully. Don't disgust me anymore."
As he spoke, Mo Qi kicked Ye Wei. Ye Wei cried out in pain and breathed his last.
At this moment, Ye Gang sensed the impending crisis and urgently summoned the clan members to the plaza to prepare for battle.
Seeing that everyone had mostly gathered, Ye Gang began to rally them, speaking of an invading army of unknown origin, with ill intentions, and that everyone must prepare for a fight to the death.
Just as their emotions were about to be stirred, there was a flash of light, and two figures appeared on the stage.
One was Ye Qingqing, and the other was a young man in white, with eyes like torches and an imposing aura.
"Ye Qingqing actually broke free from the chains and escaped. What audacity!" people murmured amongst themselves.
"Yes, is she trying to rebel?"
"Who is the person next to him? It seems he's the one who released Ye Qingqing."
"No matter who he is, releasing a lowly slave is a capital offense!"
Ye Gang also sprang up from his seat, as if facing a formidable enemy, and looked at Mo Qi, "Who are you?"
Several elders, who had been behind him, slowly moved forward, staring at Mo Qi with a condescending air.
Ye Qingqing's voice, a mixture of nervousness and excitement, echoed above everyone's heads, "This is my elder brother, Ye Yun. The legitimate heir of the Ye clan of the Red Leaf Kingdom."
"Ye Yun?" the crowd erupted in a commotion.
"No way, isn't Ye Yun dead?"
"Imposter, he must be an imposter."
"Whether he's an imposter or not, why is he back at this time? Does he want Ye Gang to give up the position of clan leader? Even if we agree, Ye Gang won't!"
Mo Qi waved his hand, "I have two announcements to make. First, I will reclaim the legitimate status of my father's lineage. Second, all those who have set up hidden traps and caused trouble for my father's lineage will die today."
Er Zhu Lin appeared from somewhere and stood beside him, "Third, I am his queen."
After speaking, she vanished again.
The atmosphere, which was originally very serious, became chaotic due to her interruption.
People whispered to each other, discussing animatedly.
"Who the hell do you think you are, to speak with such arrogance? Forget about not being Ye Yun, even if you are, how do you intend to restore your family's legitimate status? Relying on you two orphans?"
"On what? I only have my fists!" Mo Qi said.
"Take him down!" Ye Gang roared.
Several young men from below stepped forward, each full of spirit, their desire to make a name for themselves evident on their faces.
"I am Ye Bao!"
"I am Ye Xi!"
"..."
"We've come to experience the prince's supreme skills. I've never seen a prince in my life, so let us broaden our horizons today."
"Yes, I thought princes had three heads and six arms. I didn't expect them to look so much like us!"
"Alright, then I will certainly fulfill your wishes and let you experience the exquisite pain with your lives!" Mo Qi said calmly.
As he spoke, he motioned for Ye Qingqing to step aside.
Concurrently, Xiao Yi, Sun Qian, and the others also walked over, shielding Ye Qingqing in the center to prevent any sneak attacks.
At this time, several more young men came forward, a total of about ten people surrounding Mo Qi.
Er Zhu Lin exclaimed angrily, "This is too much! So many people ganging up on one. Have they no shame?"
Then she looked at Zi Luo, "Your cultivation is so high, why don't you go and help him?"
Zi Luo shook her head, "I want to help him, but he said earlier that this was his own matter and we were not to interfere. We can't do anything."
"Then help him first, surely he won't kill you if you save his life?"
Zi Luo remained unmoved. Er Zhu Lin then turned to Xiao Yi, "Xiao Yi, don't you always call him 'brother'? When your brother is in trouble, how can you stand by and do nothing?"
Xiao Yi glanced at her sideways, "When he needs help, I will naturally step up. You don't need to nag."
Er Zhu Lin: "..."
At this moment, those young men surrounded Mo Qi and launched their attack.
Various divine abilities and spells were cast towards Mo Qi, colorful and dazzling, accompanied by rumbling sounds.
From a distance, one could see streaks of light flashing and beams of light engulfing Mo Qi.
Mo Qi seemed to have vanished.
Sun Qian and the others couldn't help but hold their breath.
Fortunately, they had witnessed this before; otherwise, they would have believed Mo Qi was already dead.
At this moment, another circle of cyan light suddenly erupted, flashed once, and then disappeared.
The surrounding young men, after a moment of stunned silence, found their divine abilities unable to be unleashed. They stared at the center in terror.
Mo Qi, like a celestial being, looked down upon them, "You have one more chance. Submit to me, and I can spare your lives."
Although the crowd didn't know what had happened, their instincts told them that the situation was not optimistic.
But asking them to submit, wasn't that a bit ridiculous?