Chapter Ninety-Four: The Oriole Lurks Behind (Please Subscribe on First Release)

“From the way you speak, if my Xuanyuan family cannot give you a satisfactory answer, this matter will not be let go, will it?” the Xuanyuan Patriarch asked stoutly.

Dragon Might merely folded his arms beneath his sleeves, smiling brightly. He neither nodded nor shook his head, only regarded him with a look of unfathomable calm.

The Xuanyuan Patriarch stepped back twice in despair, yet still refused to bow his head. With a pained expression, he shut his eyes and shook his head. Then, suddenly throwing out both hands and lifting his chin, he opened his eyes wide and cried out in utter anguish, “Heaven above! Are you truly going to wipe out my Xuanyuan clan today?”

“Fine! Since this matter arose in my Xuanyuan family, someone must bear responsibility. Since we cannot find the culprit, then let us old men shoulder it all ourselves! But if you want me to yield, that is absolutely impossible. What has not been done has not been done. We do not wish to seek momentary safety through compromise! In the future, I beg you, fellow daoists, for the sake of our shared path, spare the younger generation of my Xuanyuan family a way out?” After weeping bitterly, the Xuanyuan Patriarch said steadfastly to Tang Wei and the other two.

“In truth, it is not so serious. So long as you admit that this matter was done by your side and make a slight concession, we would not press you this hard,” Dragon Might said. He had truly never intended to kill him; he only wanted the Xuanyuan Patriarch to admit that the Xuanyuan family could no longer stand against him in future affairs.

The great families had banded together and caused him no small amount of trouble. They could always find loopholes, never violating the cultivation treaty, yet still harming the people’s interests. Dragon Might had worn his mind raw over all this, yet had no real means to deal with them. That was why he wanted to seize this chance to subdue the foremost cultivation family in one stroke. Once that was done, what difficulty would remain in settling the other two great families?

“Absolutely impossible! Even if I die today, I will not admit to such a baffling charge! You need not say more! Is the lives of us old men not enough to settle this with you?” The Xuanyuan Patriarch’s aura rose like a storm as he firmly rejected Dragon Might’s so-called kindness.

“Ancestor...!” The Xuanyuan family head, seeing matters come to this, could not help wanting to speak in counsel. But he was cut off before he could even finish.

“Zhen, you need not say more! I have already decided! If you dare defy my will, then from now on you will no longer be a descendant of my Xuanyuan family! Immediately arrange to withdraw our business from the other provinces and leave only the few jade shops in B City. Hand over everything else to the other two great families. Recall all the clansmen, activate the mountain-protecting formation left behind by the ancestor, and except for a few outer administrators, seal Crouching Dragon Mountain for a hundred years!” The Xuanyuan Patriarch had made up his mind and was already making funeral arrangements for himself.

“Ancestor...!” The Xuanyuan family head still wanted to say more. After receiving a fierce glare from the Xuanyuan Patriarch, he lowered his head, then looked at Tang Wei and the others with a pleading expression. He must have been hoping to ask them for mercy, to not drive matters to such an extreme.

Tang Wei thought of how the Xuanyuan family had once looked after her when she first arrived. Though they had their own motives, now that Yaya had been found, she no longer wished to make such a huge scene of things. She was just about to speak up and ask for leniency when Zi Xuan tugged at the hem of her sleeve from behind. Tang Wei turned to look, and Zi Xuan was shaking his head at her. He was clearly telling her not to interfere.

Though puzzled, and though in her heart Zi Xuan did not seem like the sort of person who would drive someone into a dead end, Tang Wei knew he must have his own intentions. She did not want to ruin his plan, so she simply pretended not to see it and ignored the Xuanyuan family head’s plea.

Seeing that Tang Wei would not even deign to respond, the Xuanyuan family head lowered his head in despair. Yet in the depths of his downcast eyes, a trace of resentment flashed by, and Tang Wei, who had been watching him from the corner of her eye, caught it. She secretly sighed in her heart: so, I’ve gone and made myself another problem. It seems the feud with the Xuanyuan family is set in stone.

When the Xuanyuan Patriarch saw the Xuanyuan family head obediently bow his head, he nodded in satisfaction and closed his eyes. At once, blood gushed from all seven apertures of his face, and with a thud he collapsed to the ground.

“Ancestor!” “Ancestor!” “Ancestor!” Several elders at the foundation-building stage and the Xuanyuan family head rushed over together, calling out frantically.

The Xuanyuan Patriarch’s appearance was indeed terrifying. Even Tang Wei felt a chill in her heart when she saw it, stunned into fright. And there was still a child here. Tang Wei hurriedly pressed Yaya’s head down so she would not keep looking, and she herself closed her eyes as well, murmuring, “Be good, Yaya, don’t look, don’t look!”

Though Yaya was mischievous, she was still young, and had never seen such a scene before. The Xuanyuan Patriarch’s death was too gruesome. Even Tang Wei dared not look straight at him, let alone Yaya. Terrified, she clutched Tang Wei’s neck and cried out loudly, “Mama! I’m scared! I’m scared!”

“Good girl, good girl, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Mama is here. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.” Tang Wei hurriedly held her and rocked her twice, patting her back gently with her right hand. She also tried to send wood spiritual energy into her body to soothe her emotions. At last Yaya slowly calmed down. Taking the chance, Tang Wei sealed her sleep acupoint and recited several calming incantations before finally relaxing.

Over on the Xuanyuan side, one of the elders who looked the oldest reached out to feel for a pulse beneath the Xuanyuan Patriarch’s nose. Then he looked up and nodded to the other elders. Rising to his feet, he said to Dragon Might, “Chief Long, the foremost cultivation family has been annihilated. We beg you, in the future, to show mercy to the younger generation of my Xuanyuan family.” He then lowered his head toward the family head and said, “Zhen, do not forget the Great Elder’s instructions!”

Having finished, he severed his own life force and fell beside the Xuanyuan Patriarch.

Seeing this, the others all followed suit. In an instant, the area around the Xuanyuan family head lay strewn with bodies.

“Ancestor, Second Elder...!” The Xuanyuan family head cried out in grief, rushing from one body to the next, shaking each one in turn. He looked as though he might go mad, utterly unlike the bright and vigorous man he had been when first they met. Now there was only the agony of having lost his kin.

His cries drew the attention of many inner disciples of the Xuanyuan family, who all ran over to see what had happened. When they saw that the divine figures they had revered most had all collapsed on the ground, they could no longer remain calm. They rushed over in a great clamor, knelt down, and burst into tears. “Ancestor! Ancestor...!”

Xuanyuan Yunqian and her two siblings were the last to arrive. Not understanding what had happened, they ran up to the family head and asked, “Dad, what happened? What is going on here? Why are the ancestors all lying here?” No one answered her after she tugged at them a few times, and Yunqian finally sensed something was wrong. With a voice choked by tears, she cried, “Dad, say something!”

An inner disciple nearby could no longer bear it and pointed at Tang Wei and the others, weeping as he said to Yunqian, “Second Miss, the ancestors are all dead. They were driven to death by them.”

“How could that be?” Xuanyuan Yunqian could not believe it. She stared at Tang Wei and the others, just staring. Tang Wei felt wave after wave of pain in her heart, as though she were truly the one who had wronged her.

“It’s true, Second Miss! This morning they came to the Xuanyuan family and insisted that we were hiding that child. They forced us to allow a search of the residence. In the end, they really did find that child in the rear mountain, and the ancestors had no choice but to prove our innocence with their deaths.” Another inner disciple who had been standing guard at the gate recounted what had happened.

Yunqian swayed as she came over, asking in disbelief, “Sister, was Yaya really found in the rear mountain of our Xuanyuan family?”

“Second Miss, and you still call her sister? The ancestors were driven to death by those people! That child is still perfectly safe in her arms, isn’t she? But our ancestors are dead.”

“Yes! Yes! No matter what the mistake was, it was not enough to make so many of our elders pay with their lives for her!”...

The inner disciples of the Xuanyuan family rose in anger, all clamoring for an explanation. One voice after another, they crowded forward, eager to press the matter. At this point, no one cared whether the others were at the inedia stage or not. Their divine pillars had died, the Xuanyuan family was finished, and to keep this life would only mean being bullied by the other two great families.

“Yunqian...!” Seeing this, Tang Wei also felt terrible. She wanted to explain things to her, but Zi Xuan pulled her behind him.

“Wei Wei, ignore them. We’re going down the mountain.” Zi Xuan took Yaya from Tang Wei’s arms, took her hand, and led her toward the mountain path.

“Stop them! Stop them! We want justice, or else you can kill us all!” The inner disciples crowded in and blocked the way, refusing to let them leave.

Zi Xuan waved a hand impatiently, and the crowd in front was swept to both sides, leaving a clear path out.

When the few of them reached the gate, the inner disciples came after them again, determined to keep them from leaving the mountain. It seemed another clash was about to break out, when the Xuanyuan family head at the rear roared, “Let them go!”

Tang Wei descended the mountain with a solemn face, but inwardly she was blaming Zi Xuan for having gone too far. The child had already been found; was it really necessary for them to sacrifice their lives for this? That was why, all the way down, she did not say a single word to him.

Zi Xuan could only shake his head helplessly. He came over and murmured into her ear for a while before Tang Wei’s expression finally returned to normal.

Meanwhile, in the little house within the valley, the room remained as dark as night. The man was reporting to the old man about what had happened in the Xuanyuan family and asking how they should act next.

“Arrange it. Tonight, you will accompany me on a trip to the Xuanyuan family.” The old man’s tone was flat, yet it was obvious his mood was excellent.

“Tonight? Isn’t that a little too soon? Something like this has just happened in their family. I’m afraid it won’t be easy to act,” the man asked in a low voice after some hesitation.

“Haha! Precisely because there is chaos do we have the chance to go in and find what we have long wanted! No need to say more. Do as I say and go make the arrangements immediately!” The old man’s shrill laughter sent shivers down one’s spine. Perhaps because he was too pleased, he showed no concern at all for the man’s hesitation.

The man wanted to object but did not dare. He could only drag his feet and walk out unwillingly.

The old man called him back, smiling as he asked, “You’re thinking that since their strength has been greatly reduced and not even a single foundation-building cultivator remains, there is nothing to fear, aren’t you? Let me tell you, once they stabilize the situation and activate the mountain-protecting formation, it will be difficult for us to get in! What I want is a sure thing, with not the slightest room for error. Understand?”

“Yes, Ancestor. I’ll go down at once!” Only after hearing the old man’s reply did the man finally feel at ease as he headed out.

The old man, regardless of whether the man had gone far or not, sat alone in the main seat and laughed loudly. “Hahaha, after so many years, I have finally obtained another one!”