I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

Qin Li had barely finished speaking and hadn't even stood up when he heard a series of extremely chaotic footsteps behind him, indicating that there were quite a few people.

Along with the footsteps came a roar:

"Your Highness, my elder brother was right after all!"

"You're not here to observe the ceremony, you're here to cause trouble!"

"While our Dragon Tiger Sect is engaged in fierce fighting at the front, you've led your men to wreak havoc here!"

"You have slaughtered my Dragon Tiger Sect disciples on a massive scale. Even if you are the Crown Prince, I will not spare you!"

Everyone turned to look and saw that the person who came was Zhang Hu, followed by a large group of disciples from the Dragon Tiger Sect.

Zhang Long must have sent them to prevent anyone from causing trouble in the back of Longhu Mountain and setting fire to the backyard of the Longhu Sect.

"Sect Leader Zhang, please calm down! We just arrived. We didn't kill any of your Dragon Tiger Sect disciples!"

Someone quickly offered an explanation.

When they arrived, the place was already like this.

They won't take the blame for this.

"Still trying to argue?"

Zhang Hu angrily retorted, "My eyes aren't blind yet!"

He could see clearly that the flames on Qin Li's palm and the black mist rising from the corpses on the ground, though different in color, were almost identical. These disciples were killed by Qin Li.

Zhang Hu ignored their explanations and insisted that they were the ones who killed these people. Everyone looked at Qin Li and asked what to do.

Qin Li put away the Netherworld Profound Fire in his hand, slowly stood up from the ground, and turned around to face Zhang Hu directly.

Before he could speak, Qin Li suddenly laughed.

Zhang Hu frowned deeply, and said unhappily, "What are you laughing at?"

Qin Li tilted his head slightly, looked at one of Zhang Hu's disciples, and said, "I met an old friend, hence the laughter."

Zhang Hu followed Qin Li's gaze and turned to look at the spot where his eldest niece, Zhang Jianjia, was located.

Zhang Jianjia frowned, looking puzzled, and said that she did not know Qin Li, let alone the old friend he mentioned.

Zhang Hu was even more displeased and was about to question Qin Li when Qin Li spoke first: "Su Chen, won't you come out and have a word with me?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze fell upon a male disciple standing beside Zhang Jianjia, none other than Su Chen.

Su Chen lowered his head, not daring to look Qin Li in the eye, but his fists were clenched tightly.

"Junior Brother Su, do you know him?"

Zhang Jianjia asked with concern, and told Su Chen not to worry. With her and her second uncle Zhang Hu around, even if Qin Li was the crown prince, they wouldn't dare to do anything to him. That's how protective the Dragon Tiger Sect is.

Su Chen slowly shook his head, about to say that he did not know Qin Li.

"Young Master Su, the only son of the Marquis of Dingyuan's family, it's only been a short time since we last met, and you don't recognize us anymore?"

Zhou Biao deliberately raised his voice and spoke loudly, using a provocation tactic.

Su Chen fell for the trap. He suddenly raised his head, stepped forward, and shouted, "Kill me or torture me, it's up to you, but it has nothing to do with the Dragon Tiger Sect!"

"Junior Brother Su, what are you saying?"

Zhang Jianjia grabbed Su Chen's wrist and asked, puzzled.

Zhang Hu frowned, as if he had figured something out. He pulled his eldest niece away and led his disciples back, exposing Su Chen alone.

"Second Uncle!"

Zhang Jianjia grew anxious, glancing at Zhang Hu and then at Su Chen, hoping that Zhang Hu wouldn't abandon Su Chen.

Zhang Hu first told Zhang Jianjia to be quiet and to observe the situation before making a decision.

Seeing that Su Chen had been exposed, Qin Li smiled and stepped forward, looking Su Chen up and down, and deliberately said:

"In the battle at Xuanque Pass on the border, you were greedy for merit and acted rashly; you deserve death!"

"You escaped the night before your execution, leaving me searching high and low."

"I never expected to run into you here today, Su Chen. What is your crime?"

These words were heard clearly not only by Su Chen, but by everyone else as well.

The members of the Dragon Tiger Gate, in particular, were so shocked by these words that they couldn't help but look at each other in disbelief.

Despite being a relatively new outer disciple of the Dragon Tiger Sect, Su Chen possesses a significant status and background, and the things he does are far-reaching.

"Junior Brother Su, please tell your senior sister that none of this is true. He deliberately framed you, didn't he? As long as you tell me, I will beg my second uncle and my father to protect you. They will definitely be able to protect you."

Tears streamed down Zhang Jianjia's pretty face; she desperately wished none of this was real.

Zhang Hu tugged hard at Zhang Jianjia, telling her to shut up.

Su Chen has committed such a serious offense outside; we hope he won't implicate the Dragon Tiger Sect.

Su Chen turned around and bowed deeply to Zhang Jianjia: "Thank you for taking care of me these past few days, Senior Sister. I am deeply grateful. But I will take responsibility for my own actions. This matter has nothing to do with you."

After saying that, Su Chen turned around again to face Qin Li directly and said loudly:

"Kill me or torture me, it's up to you, but it has nothing to do with the Dragon Tiger Sect."

Qin Li laughed again: "Want to take all the blame? Why did you run away in the first place?"

"Since the Dragon Tiger Sect dared to take you in, none of you will escape."

Su Chen gritted his teeth and said, "They had no idea. Ignorance is no excuse."

"No, no, no!" Qin Li paced back and forth, saying softly, "Here, there is no such thing as ignorance being a crime."

Su Chen broke down, roaring, "Qin Li, you'll die a horrible death! You're clearly holding a grudge against our Dragon Tiger Sect for capturing your master, Snake Elder, and that's why you're deliberately retaliating against us!"

Qin Li laughed even harder, "Hahaha, listen to how intimately you call each other. So you admit you're a member of the Dragon Tiger Gate, that makes things even easier."

"As for revenge? I am taking revenge!"

Zhang Hu could no longer contain himself. He strode forward, raised his arm, and roared:

"Your Highness, this person has nothing to do with our Dragon Tiger Sect. We have no idea about the crimes he committed."

"Furthermore, your master is a member of the demonic path and deserves to die!"

"Second Uncle!"

Zhang Jianjia tugged hard at Zhang Hu's sleeve, wanting him to protect Su Chen no matter what.

Zhang Hu shook off Zhang Jianjia's hand and scolded, "Nonsense! Your second uncle knows you like this kid, but now you must draw a clear line between yourself and him, or my Dragon Tiger Sect will be in danger!"

"What are you afraid of?" Zhang Jianjia said. "The Crown Prince has killed so many of our disciples, how can we let him leave?"

Since we're already locked in a life-or-death struggle with Crown Prince Qin Li, protecting Su Chen won't cause any major harm.

Zhang Hu once again scolded Zhang Jianjia for being irresponsible.

Zhang Jianjia is young and doesn't understand things.

How could the Dragon Tiger Gate truly break ties with the Crown Prince?

Even if Qin Li killed all these disciples, they wouldn't dare kill Qin Li to avenge them.

Qin Li is the Crown Prince, the heir apparent of the country. As long as the Dragon Tiger Sect wants to maintain its presence in the Jiangnan region, they shouldn't even think about touching a hair on the Crown Prince's head.

As for Su Chen, the Dragon Tiger Sect must distance itself from him, otherwise the Crown Prince will inevitably implicate them, and they will be powerless to do anything about it.

"Your Highness, this person has nothing to do with our Dragon Tiger Sect. Kill him or do whatever you want with him!"

Zhang Hu pulled Zhang Jianjia along and urged the many Dragon Tiger Sect disciples to retreat further.

He can still distinguish between saving the mother and saving the child.

"Yes, it has nothing to do with the Dragon Tiger Sect. Kill me or torture me, it's up to you!" Su Chen stepped forward again, raised his head, and prepared to die.

Even in death, he did not want to implicate others.

"You're that eager to die?"

Qin Li asked with a smile.

Su Chen didn't know what Qin Li meant.

What's the point of asking this at a time like this?

Are they making fun of him?

"Yes, I want to die!"

Su Chen replied.

If Su Chen hadn't joined the Dragon Tiger Gate, he certainly wouldn't have wanted to die; otherwise, he wouldn't have escaped with Qin Feng's help.

But he had no choice now. He didn't want to involve so many innocent people from the Dragon Tiger Gate, especially Zhang Jianjia, who liked him.

He felt it was worth it to exchange his life for the lives of so many others.

"Dying is easy, and I very much want you to die, but I'm being merciful and don't want you to die so soon."

Qin Li said calmly.

"What do you mean?"

Su Chen frowned, increasingly puzzled as to what Qin Li was really up to.

Qin Li pointed to the corpses of the Dragon Tiger Sect disciples on the ground and said, "You should know that these people were not killed by me, but by our old friend Fang Yuan."

"Fang Yuan?"

Upon hearing this name, Su Chen felt a mix of emotions, and simply asked, "He's come to Longhu Mountain too?"

Qin Li nodded. "Su Chen, do me a favor, and I'll spare your life and restore your former identity. Consider it your act of redemption!"

"real?"

Su Chen's eyes lit up.

Su Chen dreamed of regaining his former identity. Who would want to be a fugitive when they could be the heir of a marquis's mansion?

The reason he refused to accept his senior sister Zhang Jianjia's advances was because of his status as a fugitive, and he didn't want to implicate Zhang Jianjia.

Qin Li said, "When have I ever broken my word?"

"Right now, Fang Yuan is right behind your Longhu Mountain, wreaking havoc everywhere. I reckon he's trying to take advantage of your lack of manpower to plunder the treasures of your Longhu Mountain."

"Su Chen, you've helped me kill Fang Yuan; consider it a meritorious service to atone for your crimes!"