The dense forest has fallen all dark and silent right now. Beautiful green and yellow light dots are blinking and floating in the air around the forest. These blinking light dots are indeed fireflies. It's night time.

Tip! Tap! Tip! Tap!... Sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the Spirit Crystal mining cave of Ye Clan.

"Is he inside?" A young voice asked.

"Where can he go Young Lord, of course he is inside mining Spirit Crystals." A flustered voice sounded. "Please follow me Young Lord, this servant will lead the way." The man humbly bowed, almost touching the ground with his forehead and then prepared to lead the way into the Spirit Crystal mining cave.

"Good, let's go." The 'Young Lord' commanded and walked into the Spirit Crystal mine cave alongside the man. Two more people followed behind him.

As they were walking inside the cave, one of the two persons spoke in a young voice. "Elder Brother, are you sure you want to let that bastard go just like that? He treated sister-in-law so poorly. We should at least ruin his face before throwing him out of the clan so none of his friends could ever recognise him." "Bastards like him are just..."

"Hush... What are you talking about all of a sudden? No matter what, he is still our brother. The third Young Master of Ye Clan. Even if you don't want to respect him, at least show respect to the clan." The Elder Brother glared at his younger brother.

"Hehe... Gulp! W-Well it can't be helped then. Also I don't think that poor guy has any friends." "Still it's not a bad idea, you know, It will assure that he doesn't ruin the Clan's reputation any further after being thrown out. It's a wise decision. What are your thoughts, Elder Brother?" The younger brother asked meekly.

"Chenfeng(as the Chenfeng bird), you are becoming more and more idiot as the day passes by, if you don't change your cruel nature you won't become anyone successful in the future." The Elder Brother scolded his younger brother.

"What's more you just hate his face for being more handsome than yours and want to ruin it. I heard many female disciples in the clan admire his face. There are also few among your women who like his looks, Pfft." The Elder Brother couldn't help but let out a stifled smile.

"Er... Elder Brother please don't mock me, it's quite embarrassing. Those bitches all fawn over good looks. It's not like looks are everything right?" Chenfeng said shyly.

"What's so good about him anyways? Except for a good-looking face he is an utter disgrace. Ptui!" Chenfeng spat with contempt.

"You are just being a petty man. Grow up will you? We are not kids anymore." The Elder Brother mocked. "Also fix your behaviour. Why do you always have to swear and dirty your mouth whenever you speak? Can't you act more like a Young Master of the clan?"

"Hehe... I am working on it, I will fix it soon. After all, it won't look good when we go to that place. The beauties there may not like me if I act like a hoodlum all the time, hehe... I understand." Chenfeng answered while drooling.

The Elder Brother felt disgusted looking at his younger brother's face but didn't know what to say. How can someone like this be his brother? Oh god, oh Heavens!

He sighed, shaking his head and kept walking with the man leading the way. There were many men and women inside the cave mining Spirit Crystals who noticed the group passing by and saluted to the young man and his comrades but the group of the young men didn't even give them a glance and just kept walking at a steady pace.

"Y-Young L-L-Lord we are almost there, he is mining Spirit Crystals just around that corner." The man gestured while wiping cold sweat off his forehead. 

He is very scared of these young men, especially Ye Chenfeng. Everyone in the Ye Clan knew how much of a ruffian this second Young Master is. Ye Chenfeng only showed respect to a few people in higher positions in the clan and didn't care about others. He took revenge for even the smallest grievances.

"Thanks Supervisor Zhao, you can take your leave now." The 'Young Lord' ordered while passing a small pouch filled with currency to Zhao Sheng.

"Ehehe... You are being too generous, Young Lord, this lowly servant is just doing his job. I will take my leave now, please call this lowly servant if there's any need, I will come running at your order." Zhao Sheng gave a creepy boot-licking smile and left.

Now we kinda know who these people are. The man who led the way is of course the supervisor of the Spirit Crystal mine Zhao Sheng. The 'Young Lord' or Elder Brother is none other than the first Young Master of the Ye Clan, Ye Bai(pure).

Ye Bai is definitely here with Ye Chenfeng to visit Ye Furong. They are all brothers.

"Let's go see him." Ye Bai said while stepping towards the said location.

"Young Master, I will wait here, you and Young Master Chenfeng go and speak with him. I don't think there's any need for me to be there." A female spoke from behind. She is one of the two people who entered along with Ye Bai. 

Ye Bai stopped for a moment but didn't turn back. "Fine, you just stay here, it will be over soon anyway."

"Don't worry sister-in-law, me and Elder Brother will take care of everything. I will see how that bastard shows any objections. Dares to have designs about my sister-in-law, watch if I don't castrate him." Ye Chenfeng gnashed his teeth with hatred.

"Ah! Young Master Chenfeng, you don't have to be so cruel with him, just talk it out peacefully please. No matter what, he is still my benefactor." The women pleaded.

"Haha... Sister-in-law, I am just kidding. You don't think I am being serious right?" Ye Chenfeng laughed.

"By the way, why do you keep calling us 'Young Master'? You are already married to my Elder Brother and not a maid anymore." Ye Chenfeng questioned.

'I would be an idiot if I didn't believe you, everyone knows what kind of a person you are.' She thought in her mind.

She smiled. "Old habits die hard Young Master Chenfeng, you must have heard it."

"That's true, that's true. Hahaha" With a wild laughter Ye Chenfeng followed Ye Bai.

The two brothers soon turned around the corner and silently stood there observing.

They saw a filthy young man swinging a 50kg heavy sledge hammer mining Spirit Crystals. He is so immersed in it that he didn't notice the two brothers.

This filthy young man is none other than Ye Furong!

Tsk! Tsk!... Ye Chenfeng suddenly clicked his tongue. "Elder Brother, how unexpected, we found a Spirit Crystal mining expert, Wow... Such skills!"

Ye Furong stopped hammering and turned over towards the voice in surprise. He saw two young handsome men standing there in the bright light of Luminous Pearls.

One is a tall young man of about 6 feet in height, just a bit smaller than Ye Furong. The young man has fair skin; handsome face with decent cuts; long black hair tied up in a top knot with a green Jade Crown. This young man is Ye Bai.

Ye Bai is wearing a light green hanfu with a deep green leaf embroidery at the left side of the chest with a deep green coloured belt around his waist. 

Ye Chenfeng is of the same height as Ye Bai and is in the same attire, except he has a fair skin with a bit of brownish tone and a bit less of a handsome face compared to Ye Bai.

Ye Furong is taller than both of his brothers with a pretty handsome face. But no one can tell that from his current look, smeared and smothered in dirt.

The light green hanfu Ye Furong is wearing is as dirty as it could be and no details can be seen anywhere on it. But on close look one can see it's the same attire as Ye Bai and Ye Chenfeng.

This attire seems to be the Ye Clan uniform.

The Ye Clan uniform consists of different colours according to the rank. Light green being the highest rank, worn by Ye Clan descendants and family members.

"Elder Brother, Second Brother, what are you doing here?" Ye Furong called out with joy. It's been eight years since he has last seen his brothers.

He threw away the sledge hammer aside, patting his hands as he tread towards his brothers with a face full of smiles standing in front of them.

"Ahem! Furong, you have suffered all these years." Ye Bai said with a sad tone.

Ye Furong's eyes moistened up. "No no Elder Brother, not at all, not at all."

The brothers looked at each other. Ye Furong is excited and emotional to see his brothers but Ye Bai just looks normal and Ye Chenfeng has a mocking smile on his face.

"You will be out of this place in a few days, the Elders have pardoned you of your punishment. You will be free to go wherever you want after that. Live your life however you wish." Ye Bai said with a smile.

Ye Furong smiled blandly. "Where will I go? Where can I go? I will just stay in the clan and live peacefully. I might ask the Elders to appoint me to a low ranking position so I can at least keep contributing to the clan in some way."

"It's not like you have nowhere to go. The martial world is huge. You can live wherever you want, however you want. All you need is a strong fist." Ye Bai said solemnly.

"Strong fist? Where will I get a strong fist? You can see how weak I am. With this pitiful Cultivation of mine I don't think I can survive in the brutal martial world." Ye Furong mocked himself.

"Humph! Well at least you have some self awareness. You know how much of a worthless piece of shit you are." Ye Chenfeng scorned from the side.

"You are right Second Brother, a worthless man like me is not suitable to live in the martial world, therefore I only wish to live a simple humble life." Ye Furong smiled, not minding Ye Chenfeng's contempt.

Ye Chenfeng snorted and turned his head, unsatisfied with Ye Furong's reaction. 

"By the way Elder Brother, what brings you here?" Ye Furong asked Ye Bai.

"Well... I came here for you. There is something I want to tell you... It's just..." Ye Bai's voice is filled with hesitation and discomfort. "Where should I begin..."

"Elder Brother, you are so bad at this. Just tell him straight that he is not welcomed in the clan anymore and should leave. You already gave him hints, but this bastard is as shit brain as ever." Ye Chenfeng scoffed.

"It's not like I don't want to talk straight but I just want things to end peacefully. After all, I don't want my wife to feel hurt, you know?" Ye Bai showed struggle.

"Don't worry sister-in-law won't mind, after all it's better for Younger Brother Furong too, he has always suffered in the clan. We are just doing him a favor." Ye Chenfeng said.

From 'worthless piece of shit' to 'bastard' to 'Younger Brother Furong', it seems like Ye Chenfeng's treatment towards Ye Furong is getting better and better but the things he says are striking Ye Furong harder and harder.

Ye Furong couldn't understand what his brothers were talking about, but when he heard Ye Bai mention something about his wife, he felt a bad premonition.

"W-Wife..." Ye Furong looked at Ye Bai..

Ye Bai held his forehead lightly massaging his own temples. Contemplating where to start.

Ye Chenfeng felt restless and just blabbered. "Oof... Just tell him you married his little maid as your concubine. Why care so much about this bastard's feelings?"

Hmm... It seems like Young Master Chenfeng has quite a peculiar personality. He started calling Ye Furong bastard again. Well Ye Chenfeng is an unreasonable person after all. So it's nothing unexpected.

Bam!!

 It's like a giant hammer has fallen on Ye Furong's head, he felt dizzy after what he had just heard. He couldn't believe his ears, or more like he doesn't want to.

"El-El-Elder Brother..." He stuttered while staring at Ye Bai with questioning eyes hoping it's just a brotherly joke but Ye Bai nodded his head proving it to be no joke.

"Why?... Why?..." Ye Furong asked Ye Bai, while tears poured out of his eyes.

"Well, eight years has passed, you know? Things just happened with time," "After you received your punishment, the girl was left all alone with no support. There were people who took the chance to bully her. It just so happened that I once saw her being bullied and decided to help her." Ye Bai started explaining.

"I offered her to work as my personal maid till you get out of here but things took a turn for the unexpected. I don't know when but we just started to form feelings for each other and things just went on from there. I married her when she turned eighteen."

"I am sorry Furong, I know I did something unfair to you but I couldn't help it. If I didn't take her as my concubine she would have broken down in her grief and sadness, shedding tears everyday waiting for her Young Master Furong. I felt pity for her and didn't want to see her in misery." Ye Bai said with a sad face and slightly moist eyes.

"What unfair? You did what a man should do. It's thousands times better for my sister-in-law to be married to you than to this piece of shit. Humph!" Ye Chenfeng just couldn't let go of the chance to mock Ye Furong.

"You shut up! Speaking nonsense all the time." Ye Bai scolded Ye Chenfeng.

Split! Splat! Split! Splat!... Sound of tears dripping on the floor could be heard inside the cave. Ye Furong hung his head, shedding tears. He has never been so heart broken in his entire life.

"Hehe...Younger Brother Furong you..." Ye Chenfeng wanted to insult Ye Furong even further but was stopped by Ye Bai's intense glare.

After a while Ye Furong wiped his face with his dirty sleeves. Raised his head and pleaded to Ye Bai in a sobbing tone. "El-El-Elder Brother can I talk to Jiu Weici?"... Slap!... He suddenly hit his own head. "S-Silly me... Hehe..." Then he made a smiling face which looked more like crying. "Elder Brother can I please talk to your wife?"

He then kowtowed in front of Ye Bai. "Please don't say no Elder Brother. Just this once, after this I will never ask to meet her again. I swear, please..."

"What are you doing, Younger Brother please raise your head. Don't shame me like this." Ye Bai rushed to lift Ye Furong up but he didn't seem to want to touch him.

Not because Ye Bai felt guilty but because of Ye Furong's current state. 

Ye Furong looked no different than a beggar right now, covered in dirt and filth.

"You have all the rights to talk to Jiu Weici. It's better for both of you to say your well wishes isn't it? She also came with us, you can talk to her right now, let Chenfeng call her." Ye Bai consoled him.

Ye Furong is surprised to hear this but there isn't a shred of happiness on his face but utter sadness. He asked to meet Jiu Weici but now he is scared. He doesn't know what to say to her or how to even speak to her.

A waft of gentle fragrance struck Ye Furong's nose, along with it arrived a beautiful woman who looked about 15 years in age. Ye Furong couldn't help but stare at the beauty in front of her.

The woman is none other than Jiu Weici who used to be Ye Furong's personal maid in the past. 

She has now grown up to a tall, slender beauty with a nice curved figure, so charming that she can leave any man mesmerized.

... 

Sorry, just kidding...

Jiu Weici still looked like the petit and small little girl she was in the past. Maybe she just grew up a little bit since Ye Furong last saw her, which should be when Jiu Weici was 14 years old. Now she looked like a 15 years old girl.

No one can tell that this little girl is actually a woman of 22 years old.

 She is under 5 feet in height, hardly reaching Ye Furong's chest. But that just made her more huggable. Just like a cute little doll.

She is wearing a similar light green hanfu as the Ye Clan descendants. Her untied shiny black hair is flowing on her shoulders like a waterfall reaching to her waist. She has jade white skin unaccompanied by any blemishes.

There are no accessories on her body but that just made her look even more pure and innocent.

...

Jiu Weici's pretty phoenix eyes turned slightly moist as she saw Ye Furong. 

Ye Furong stared at her while his tears kept flowing out nonstop, washing the dirt on his face. He looked really miserable. But he didn't try to hide his sorrow.

He tried to speak to her but he kept choking with heartache.

Somehow managing to calm himself down after a lot of effort, with a slight smile he asked Jiu Weici in a broken voice. "H-How...a-are...y-y-you?".

Jiu Weici opened her little chEry mouth to speak but at the end she just gave a slight nod.

Ye Furong nodded back and asked again in a broken voice. "A-Are...y-y-you...happy?"

Jiu Weici again just nodded nonchalantly.

"Good...good..." Ye Furong spoke these words and didn't ask her anything else.

Ye Furong wants to ask her why she didn't wait for him to get out of here or why she didn't even bother to let him know about her decision to get married to Ye Bai.

He wants to ask her many things, but he couldn't do it. He is just scared. Scared he may hear something he will regret his whole life. He is completely heartbroken now.

He turned towards Ye Bai and bowed his head deeply. "E-Elder Brother, please take care of her. I never saw her as my maid and always thought of her as a playmate and friend. Her happiness is my greatest wish. I hope you will never let her feel sorrow."

Ye Bai smiled. "Of course Younger Brother, Jiu Weici is my wife, if I don't take care for her, who will? Don't worry, I will love her with all of my heart."

"I am glad to hear that. You two have my well wishes." Ye Furong smiled blandly.

"Well, we should take our leave now, Younger Brother. It's night time outside." "It will be bad if I stay here for too long, the Clan Elders will be in panic. I am still undergoing training for the next clan head after all." Ye Bai gave a warm smile.

"Ah! I almost forgot about that. Congratulations Elder Brother." Ye Furong gave a salute.

"Thanks Younger Brother." Ye Bai saluted back and then turned around to leave.

"Elder Brother, I will stay here for a bit longer. You and my sister-in-law don't have to wait for me. Just go back to your room and do your stuff." Ye Chenfeng said with a perverted look on his face.

Ye Bai felt irritated and wanted to beat this guy up. "Don't stay for too long, you will hinder Furong's work." Saying this he left followed by Jiu Weici.

Ye Furong saw Jiu Weici leave and felt his heart tearing up, but he couldn't do anything about it. He just stood there silently.

"Tsk!... What a cute couple." Ye Chenfeng clicked his tongue after his brother left. "Hey! Younger Brother Furong, why don't we have some drinks? You want to wash all your sorrows don't you? I got some good stuff here." Ye Chenfeng waved his hand as he spoke and suddenly 20 to 30 jars of fine wine appeared inside the cave. The place instantly filled with intoxicating aroma.

What Ye Chenfeng did while waving his hand is to use his space ring. Space Rings are treasures used for storing items. The rings are carved out of a special type of crystallized rock called Space Crystal. 

A Space Crystal holds a separate Spatial Dimension inside it. The size and stability of the Spatial Dimension a Space Crystal can create depends on its purity.

After taking out the wine jars Ye Chenfeng took out a table and two chairs, also a few Spirit Fruits which can help in improving one's Cultivation. These fruits are luxury items.

Being one of the Young Masters of Ye Clan, Ye Furong did have eaten some Spirit Fruits before but none of them were of this quality.

"Come Younger Brother Furong, sit here, let's get drunk." Ye Chenfeng beckoned Ye Furong while taking his seat.

After all that has happened in this one single day, Ye Furong really needed to get drunk to get over it.

But unbeknownst to him, this worse day is far from over...