But even if they found the Rat King's lair, what then? They had already lost seventy to eighty percent of their strength.
Coupled with Ye Ningze, whom they couldn't deal with at all, finding the Rat King's lair now would be nothing more than a suicide mission.
Both of them worried about their future, unsure of what they could still do.
Suddenly, they entered a vast underground palace, like a grand hall.
Ye Ningze was sitting in the center of the hall, waiting for these two to arrive.
The two couldn't help but marvel that Ye Ningze could, in such a short time, build a massive underground palace with the help of the Purple Lightning Rat swarm.
Such meticulous planning was likely something only Ye Ningze could achieve.
"I've been waiting for you two for a long time. Why are you so slow to arrive here now?"
The two remained silent, walking into the encirclement of the rats. They knew that if they couldn't get out today, their bones would be scattered.
After a moment of silence, the two immediately made their move.
However, Ye Ningze had no intention of striking them while they were down. He merely shook his head slightly and said calmly,
"No rush. We can chat for a while before we decide how to fight. Besides, you need time to recover your strength, don't you?"
The two exchanged glances, surprised by Ye Ningze's apparent kindness in allowing them to recover some strength.
They had no idea what Ye Ningze was plotting, but they knew one thing for sure.
That was, given enough time to recuperate, it would be immensely beneficial to their current predicament.
So, without further ado, the two sat down opposite Ye Ningze, gazing at the sinister and terrifying man before them.
"Can you tell me when you devised this plan? Building such an underground palace must have required considerable effort?"
Ye Ningze slowly nodded, then shook his head. He spoke calmly,
"It certainly required great effort, but not as much as you might imagine. The most crucial part is that this underground palace can deplete your strength to its limit, making it much easier for me to defeat you both."
Feng Tianyi couldn't help but mock Ye Ningze, saying,
"Ye Ningze, who do you think you are? You think you can defeat us just by saying so?"
"Besides, even if you defeat us, what then? The Feng and Wu families will not let you go. In the end, you'll still be doomed. After all your painstaking schemes, is this the outcome you desire, Ye Ningze?"
Ye Ningze slowly shook his head, then looked at the two before him with an extremely indifferent gaze, saying softly,
"Who told you I would be the one to kill you both? From beginning to end, it was you two who killed each other, bringing about your own mutual destruction, only to be buried by this underground palace."
Feng Tianyi and Wu Qingfeng found this statement somewhat amusing.
No one, let alone their families, would easily believe such a scenario.
They couldn't fathom how Ye Ningze could utter such naive and ignorant words.
Seeing that the two didn't believe him, Ye Ningze smiled and said to them,
"You may not believe my words, but you must believe another fact: when people are blinded by hatred."
"They are unable to see their roles clearly. This means that after you two die, they may not clearly see the choices they face."
Upon hearing Ye Ningze's words, the faces of the two instantly turned extremely grim, for they knew deep down.
Ye Ningze's statement was correct.
The reason was simple.
They themselves were like that. Once their hearts were consumed by hatred, it was difficult for them to make correct decisions!
No one knew how terrifying hatred was, but everyone had experienced the process of hatred constantly devouring their inner selves.
At that time, their families would only focus their attention on each other's families.
Even everyone from the Feng and Wu families would likely cast hateful glances at each other.
Then, the Feng and Wu families would inevitably engage in a fierce struggle, and Ye Ningze would be able to reap significant benefits from it.
Ultimately, this would plunge both the Feng and Wu families into an extremely dangerous and passive situation.
Wu Qingfeng's rage instantly flared. He looked at Ye Ningze and roared angrily,
"Who do you think you are? Do you really think you can make two great families like the Feng and Wu families hate each other and regard each other as enemies?"
He believed that their families still had many wise individuals who would absolutely not engage in a complete conflict just because two heirs were lost.
But Ye Ningze smiled and said,
"Not only you two, but all the third-generation clansmen from your families in this secret realm will be unable to leave this place."
The two before him were third-generation clansmen, their uncles were second-generation, and their grandfathers and grand elders were first-generation.
This meant that their generation would not be able to leave this secret realm.
However, upon hearing this, the two sneered and said,
"Please, don't daydream. You know we have Grand Elders in our factions. How can you kill all our third-generation clansmen? What ability do you think you have to kill them all?"
Ye Ningze smiled slightly and replied,
"Do only you have Grand Elders?"
As Ye Ningze finished speaking, a jolt went through the two. They knew who Ye Ningze was referring to.
Of course, it was the Grand Elder of the Su family, Su Xiangyang.
If the Grand Elder of the Su family, Su Xiangyang, truly made a move against them, then their own Grand Elder would only be able to be restrained by Su Xiangyang.
Even the Grand Elders of both families would not be able to escape Su Xiangyang's restraint for a short period.
Therefore, the final outcome would be Grand Elder restraining Grand Elder, while Ye Ningze would have more time to hunt down their third-generation clansmen.
Suddenly, the two felt a chill. They hadn't expected Ye Ningze to be so malicious, his initial goal being to instigate conflict between the two great families to gain more benefits.