Chapter 3: A Complete Breakdown

  "I've never pretended to be crazy, it's just that you think I'm stupid." Zhou Jian said with a faint smile.

  Deng Yun heard this and suddenly felt a surge of anger, but couldn't help feeling speechless. Indeed it was so, but who would have thought that someone who had been imprisoned for over ten years would turn out to be like this?

  But now, neither Zhou Feng's killing intent nor Deng Yun's anger has anywhere to vent. Because, indeed as Zhou Jian thought, it's been over a decade, if they could have killed him, they would have done so long ago. What's the point of doing it now?

  Coaxing doesn't work, nor does intimidation.

  What can be done about this?

  Zhou Feng and Deng Yun exchanged a glance, both thinking it was a tricky situation.

  Deng Yun's temper was obviously very irritable, his face changed, and he sneered: "Indeed, we didn't dare to take action before. But why do we dare to force you now? That's because the lifespan of your Zhao family's ancestor has also ended. You have nothing to protect you, and you are just a dog now."

  Zhou Feng's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, showing some dissatisfaction. This brother-in-law of mine, if the eldest son Wang is a dog, then what is he?

  Although getting rid of Zhou Jian would be beneficial for everyone, it's not something that should be said out loud so hastily.

  "Old Ancestor Zhao?"

  Zhou Jian's mind flashed with realization, he vaguely remembered this person, it seemed to be when he was two or three years old, his mother had mentioned him. This old ancestor of the Zhao family was at the tenth level of the Golden Elixir stage, on the verge of breaking through, but also nearing the end of his lifespan. Therefore, he went out to seek an opportunity to break through the Golden Elixir stage and enter the Yuan Infant stage.

  The empress dowager said that it was a matter of over ten years ago, and now it should be over twenty years. It turned out that the old ancestor who had been relying on him for many years was the one who had been waiting for his lifespan to end before taking action against him.

  However, Zhou Jian had another layer of interpretation in his heart.

  "Aren't you worried that Zhao Laozu will break through from the Golden Elixir stage to the Yuan Ying stage? That's why you're being so polite to me, right?" Zhou Jian said with a cold smile, his back straightened now that he knew who had been supporting him for over a decade.

  Zhou Feng and Deng Yun exchanged another unexpected glance, how could he be so sharp? Logically speaking, Zhou Jian should have heard about the Golden Elixir period, the Yuan Ying period, and the like when he was young, his memory was truly astonishing.

  Zhou Feng's murderous intentions in his heart were getting more and more intense. However, he also had a few points of fear in his heart, indeed, he was also worried that the old ancestor of the Zhao family would break through to the Yuan Ying period, bringing with him a powerful cultivation, and return here.

  Although it's been twenty years or so, if there was going to be a breakthrough, it should have happened by now. This opportunity is small, but it does exist.

  Thanks to this opportunity, he is now with Yan Yue Se.

  "So what do you want?"

  Zhou Feng said in a low voice.

  "I'm not really interested in the position of the Grand Duke, I just want to keep my life and also don't want to become a crippled lame man." Zhou Jian's answer was very simple.

  However, this put Zhou Feng in a difficult position, because if he wanted to have the moral high ground and drive out Zhou Jian, the eldest son of the king, and take the throne for himself, then he would have to be physically flawed, such as being crippled or disfigured.

  "What about disfigurement?" Zhou Feng asked, holding Wan Yi in his arms.

  "A person's face, how can it be ruined?" Zhou Jian shook his head and said.

  "Actually, after you become crippled or disfigured, we can help you recover. You know that in this world there are many, many extremely effective elixirs and medicines." Deng Yun suddenly spoke up.

  "Will you let me recover?" Zhou Jian said with a cold smile. If he were to be disfigured or crippled and appear in front of the court officials, helping this second prince become the crown prince, what awaited him would be a dark second half of his life, imprisonment, complete imprisonment, worse than pigs and dogs.

  "This."

  Deng Yun hesitated for a moment, and his face also showed a hint of embarrassment. Immediately afterwards, Deng Yun seemed to have let go, and said sternly: "Don't be smug, wait another decade or so, if that old ghost from the Zhao family hasn't returned yet, it's definitely because his lifespan has been exhausted. You'll be finished too."

  "Let's talk about it again in over ten years."

  Zhou Jian smiled faintly and said, "Completely uninterested in worldly affairs."

  Deng Yun was furious. He pointed at Zhou Jian's nose and scolded, "You stupid donkey, do you not know that in the Great Zhou Kingdom, anyone can die, but the enthronement of the Great Zhou King and the Crown Prince must be agreed upon by the three clans? It is not something that can be taken lightly. Even if Zhao's old ghost returns with a body at the Yuan Ying period, does that mean there are no Yuan Ying cultivators within the three clans? If you anger me, I will find someone to refine you into an unconscious puppet, heh heh."

  "Aren't you still a sister? Someone told me that although you play with sand every day, as if crazy, but you are very affectionate to your sister. If you don't obey, after I turn you into a puppet, I will find ten or eight strong men to go over there, and the result will be what you should know."

  Deng Yun is really crazy, wanting to support Zhou Feng to take the throne, it's really crazy. This remark is absolutely a slap in the face.

  Although Zhou Feng was unhappy in his heart, he didn't have time to stop it. Secondly, he felt annoyed too. It's time for the picture to be revealed.

  Zhou Jian's expression changed for the first time, no longer calm and composed. It was related to himself, he could be reckless with his life. Now that he knew who was backing him, he could negotiate with ease.

  Fight for his own freedom.

  But when it comes to his sister, it's a different story. He can fight and get hurt outside, even die. But his sister must not be harmed in the slightest.

  Because she is my sister.

  When Zhao Wanghou disappeared, Zhou Jian was only five years old and his sister was only one year old and had not been weaned.

  At that time, although Zhou Jian had also fallen out of favor, his daily food and drink were uninterrupted. The problem was that there was no milk.

  My sister almost didn't make it, but Zhou Jian found a mother cat and raised my sister on the cat's milk.

  In the blink of an eye, over a decade has passed, and the two have been inseparable.

  As they say, an elder brother is like a father. In Zhou Jian's heart, his younger sister was his precious treasure, how could he let her come to harm?

  And this vicious guy is still using such means, a dozen or twenty strong men?

  Zhou Jian clenched his fists with both hands, almost trembling all over. His eyes, like those of a wounded beast, stared fixedly at Deng Yun.

  Deng Yun was overjoyed instead of angry, and laughed: "Haha, it turns out you still have a weakness." Then, Deng Yun said viciously: "How about it? You decide."

  Deng Yun's response was a iron palm, with a fierce and powerful force that produced a series of sonic booms in the air, shocking and intimidating.

  This is Iron Sand Palm, normally it would be impossible to move Deng Yun who has a cultivation base at the Qi Refining stage.

  But there's a saying that goes, "Extreme joy begets sorrow." What is Deng Yun like now? He's high up above, a cultivator with a cultivation base at the Qi Refining stage. And what about Zhou Jian? Apart from being good at playing with sand, he's basically useless.

  What else can be done?

  No defense led to an outcome, extreme joy begets sorrow.

  "Boom." A loud crash, Zhou Jian's meaty palm hit Deng Yun's chest, accompanied by the sound of breaking bones, and Deng Yun flew out very far.

  It was an astonishing turn of events, even Zhou Feng had not anticipated that Zhou Jian would suddenly take action.

  When Zhou Feng came to his senses, Deng Yun had already been beaten far away.

  "Big brother, you're going too far." Zhou Feng's face changed, for the first time deviating from his calm and collected expression, looking at Zhou Jian with a gloomy gaze.

  "This is a lesson from your elder brother, when asking for help, one should have the right attitude. If the elder brother is in a good mood, he will give you a leg. But if he's not in a good mood, he'll kill his own sister first and then take his own life. This is called 'it's better to be broken jade than to be whole pottery'."

  Zhou Jian smiled coldly and said.

  In fact, Zhou Jian was also quite unexpected. He was very clear that he was not a match for Deng Yun, but as a man and an older brother, when someone insulted his younger sister, could he just stand by and do nothing?

  With anger in his hand, but did not think that Deng Yun is a fool who only knows how to talk and has no reaction of a cultivator.

  It's really beneath me to argue with him.

  "And you, a dignified monk, were actually injured by that sand-playing fool. If I were you, I'd probably have hung myself long ago."

  Then Zhou Jian said another sentence to Deng Yun. The departure was not considered elegant, but it was pleasant. With the pleasure of beating Deng Yun for a while.

  "Ah." Dèng Yún, a proud and arrogant scholar, was injured by a sand-digging guy. At this moment, he was in great pain and shame. Suddenly seeing Zhōu Jiàn's piercing words, he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood, almost losing his life.

  Zhou Feng's expression was also unusually ugly, Zhou Jian said it right. If it's better to be broken jade than intact tile, then it's terrible.

  The eldest son of the king died in the palace, and rumors must have spread outside. For this second son of the king, it was even more unfavorable, far less than the eldest son breaking his leg or disfiguring himself.

  Thinking of this, Zhou Feng took a deep breath and shouted at Zhou Jian's back: "Big brother, I know you hate me, but this is reality. Your mother's clan, the Zhao family, has almost fallen, and Father King doesn't like you either. It can be said that there is no internal support and no external aid, what makes you think you can compete with me? You only have one way out, I'll come back to find you in three days, I hope you won't disappoint me."

  Zhou Jian heard this and hesitated for a moment, but still left.