Chapter 40: The Price of Offending the Fang Family (Seeking Recommendations and Collections)

  Breaking through the dark sky is always a streak of white like a fish belly!

  At this time, there are usually very few people getting up!

  But it's not like nobody stood up.

  The lord of Dingfang City, Jing Shangming, was already seated in the tea room at the very center of the castle, quietly sipping his morning tea.

  Jing Shangming was over fifty years old, a bit on the plump side, with a round face that seemed to be always smiling, but in the eyes of ordinary residents of Dingfang City, he who held the power of life and death was like a god.

  Drinking tea is Shang Ming's hobby.

  In the footsteps, a scholar in his thirties quietly came to Jing Shangming's side.

  Jing Shangming's eyes didn't even lift, continuing to drink his tea.

  The scholar hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice: "Lord, there is still no news of Fang Lin."

  Jing Shangming was speechless, as if he hadn't heard Wen Shi's report at all.

  Na Wenshi hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "The Chen family said that if Fang Ling doesn't show up before sunrise, they will kill all the captured Fang family servants and residents within a mile of the Fang estate."

  "Judging from their attitude, they don't seem to be joking."

  Jing Shangming blinked and picked up the teapot to pour a cup of water, saying: "This tea is better after it's been warmed up, try some."

  The scholar took the tea and did not drink it, but held it in his hand and said: "Sir, this is a matter of thousands of people..."

  "What do you want me to do?" Jing Shangming suddenly stood up, and his originally gentle and elegant appearance suddenly became a bit ferocious.

  He pointed at Wen Shi and said: "Do you want me to find Fang Ling and let Chen Jia be cut into a thousand pieces, or do you want me to forcibly stop Chen Jia?"

  "That Fang Ling is no fool, this young man may be young, but he's a ruthless character. Since he has escaped, he will absolutely not come out because of the death of a few servants and some neighbors."

  "Chen's family can't find her, where do you want me to go look for him!" Jing Shangming said this, and patted his own chest again: "Let me stop Chen's family, how can I stop them? I'm just an ordinary city master. Behind the Chen family, there is a Golden Dan True Person!"

  "Even if it's His Majesty the King, when meeting a Golden Elixir True Person, one must still show respect and bow. What am I, a mere city lord?"

  "As soon as I pop out and say a word, the Chen family will be the first to take me down! Their master is dead, they need more people's blood to wash away their shame."

  Jiang Shangming, slumped in his chair like a deflated balloon, sneered: "Although I'm a high-ranking official at home, if the Chen family kills me, no one will stick up for me. In fact, they might even pin some crime on me and have my whole family die without a decent burial."

  The middle-aged scholar wanted to speak up, but he opened his mouth and couldn't say a word. Because he was very clear that what Jing Shangming said earlier was all true.

  Jing Shangming looked at his silent subordinates and picked up the teacup again, saying: "Let's just drink tea then. Since we can't do anything about it, let's just watch."

  The middle-aged scholar drank down the bitter tea and put down his teacup, unable to help but say in a low voice: "Is it that no one is in charge?"

  "Who cares." Jin Shangming said as he spoke, his expression became more desolate...

  In a delicate small courtyard east of the city, a person knelt upright in the middle of the courtyard.

  Although the night dew was light, there were still faint water marks between this person's temples.

  However, he did not respond to those tears, and he knelt there quietly like a stone.

  "Drip"

  A drop of dew fell from his face, making a soft sound.

  "Junior brother, what's wrong with you?" A man in his thirties walked over and said softly, looking at the kneeling person.

  The person kneeling on the ground did not speak and remained kneeling there heavily.

  The middle-aged man sighed and gritted his teeth: "Younger brother, wait a moment, I'll go to Master's place to help you ask again."

  The person kneeling on the ground suddenly had a hint of joy in his eyes.

  He quietly walked into the main room, and just as the middle-aged man was about to plead with Master Zhao Xian, who had his eyes closed in meditation, he heard Master Zhao say: "As for your younger brother's matter, I am also powerless."

  "If it were normal times, the Chen family might have given me some face, but at this time, if I go, I'll just be another dead person."

  The middle-aged man was shocked and said with a bit of disbelief: "Master, you're saying that the Chen family dared to..."

  "What are they afraid of? Now they want to save face, you know! They want to make up for their lost dignity!" Zhao Xian said this, and with a wave of his hand towards the middle-aged man, he said helplessly: "If you must blame someone, blame your junior brother for living too close to the Fang family."

  This scene at Zhao Xian's residence is not unique, in Dingfang City, many places are staging the same story...

  Outside the school playground, it was already packed with people early on.

  When there are many people, the chaotic noise will make one's ears uncomfortable.

  But today, outside the school stadium, a gathering of tens of thousands of people was eerily quiet.

  Those businessmen who were always doing deals have vanished without a trace.

  Everyone was looking in one direction, which was the gate of the school playground.

  These gazes looking towards the school gate are either apathetic or furious!

  A grief and indignation that has reached an extreme, yet is helpless.

  The sun slowly rose, but the gate of the school playground still did not open.

  When the sun rose a pole high, inside the school's military training ground, there was still no sound.

  "Didn't they say the sun was rising? It's already been half a time, how come nobody has opened the door yet!" Someone finally spoke up from the crowd!

  This remark was like a spark of gunpowder that suddenly opened the floodgates for everyone to speak up.

  "Yes, why haven't you opened the door yet!"

  "Are you stalling!"

  "What's going on?!"

  ……

  The murmurs were chaotic, and all sorts of words came out, but no one dared to push open the slightly ajar gate of the school's military training ground.

  They don't dare stake their own lives.

  "What about him?"

  A figure, like a falcon, flew in from afar and swooped down, flying over the heads of the crowd, arriving at the entrance of the school's military training ground in an instant.

  Boom

  That person was still three zhang away from the school's martial arts field when he suddenly stretched out his palm, and a stream of green air instantly crashed into the gate of the martial arts field.

  The wooden gate suddenly split into seven or eight pieces of debris and fell to the ground.

  Almost all eyes were cast towards the school's military training ground.

  This time, what they saw in their eyes did not disappoint them.

  A small hill with a height of one zhang was steadily piled up on the school playground.

  A small mountain made of human skulls!

  Looking at these heads, many people can no longer hold back the tears in their eyes, because they know that among them are their relatives and friends!

  "Ahhhhh!"

  The man who burst open the school gate let out a long, mournful howl towards the sky.

  This long whistle shook the nine heavens, giving people a kind of intense and thrilling feeling.

  Many people, although feeling uncomfortable with this unusual whistle, yet had a hint of joy in their hearts.

  They think Chen Jia has finally met his match this time.

  "Isn't that Jiuxian Master of the Chen Family!" An old man with white hair suddenly said in a low voice.

  His words made many people recognize him too.

  "He is the Ninth Master of the Chen Family, he just..."

  "What's going on? How did Master Jiuxian come here himself?"

  "Hey, look, the person at the very top, isn't that Chen Jia's steward Chen Shengtong?" This exclamation seemed to remind everyone at once, and then someone was heard shouting loudly: "Ah, isn't the one below Chen Shengba?"

  "He is one of the three tigers of the Chen family!"

  "He is the sixth child of the Chen family!"

  ……

  Among the voices of shock and a hint of celebration, Chen Yuanlu stood in front of the scenic view, furious beyond measure. Today was supposed to be the day he and his nephews would wash away the shame of the Chen family. But when he woke up, not one person from the Chen family was in sight!

  He felt something was off and after searching Chen's house without finding anything, he immediately ran to the school's military training grounds.

  What he didn't expect was that waiting for him was a sea of faces.

  They were all heads of adult males from Chen's family!

  "Fang Ling, I, Chen family, will never end with you!"

  "Look, what character is that?" A Han character pointed to a faint line of characters on the school's military training ground.

  His problem was soon solved by a scholar, who loudly said: "This is the price for offending our Fang family!"

  "This is the price for offending our Fang family!"

  "This is the price of offending the Fang family!"

  Almost everyone outside the school yard shouted out this bloody slogan, and in these shouts, some people seemed even more excited.

  Although it's just an inference, everyone understands who did it!

  It's Fang Ling, he did all of this!

  Chen Jia wanted to kill someone in the school's military arena to establish his authority, so Fang Ling directly placed the heads of thousands of Chen family members on the field.

  What a heroic spirit!

  What a refreshing feeling!

  ……

  Mount Gua Yang!

  Three low hills, like a tripod, enclose a valley of about ten li in their embrace.

  Normally, there are very few people coming to the valley, but now six people have arrived, four men and two women!

  "Light Luo Gongzi, if your eyes wander again, I'll dig them out!" A young woman broke the silence of the valley first.

  The woman had a slender figure and a delicate face with a hint of coldness.

  Lightly dressed young master laughed and said: "A gentle and virtuous girl, a gentleman's delight. If Shifu's sister is so heartless, my heart will break!"

  "What kind of thing are you, Light Luo Gongzi? You know it yourself! It's better if you don't call yourself a gentleman in front of me." The woman's voice grew louder as she spoke: "Three years ago in Qingyang City, dozens of virtuous women from good families were kidnapped and taken as concubines. Although they all returned home, they all ended up taking their own lives. This matter, Light Luo Gongzi, you can't say it has nothing to do with you, can you?"

  The face of the young master Qing Luo did not show any unusual expression, on the contrary, he laughed loudly and said: "Xu Shimei, those women can get the attention of this cultivator, that is their good fortune. As for seeking death, it's because they are thinking foolishly."

  "To be honest with you, sister, I've also taken a liking to another woman within this Dingfang City. After we're done with this matter, why don't you come with me to take a look?"

  "You..."

  Xu Shimei's words had not finished, when a smiling woman standing beside him said faintly: "Xu Shimei, don't argue with Light Luo over mortal affairs. You still need to work together from now on."

  "Qin shi jie is right, the time is almost up, let's prepare to enter the secret realm!" said Ma shi xiong, standing beside Light Robe Young Master, with a smile.

  His words immediately got a response from the other four. In the eyes of these monks, the life and death of ordinary people were not a matter at all.

  Is it really not the same thing?

  They didn't know that ten miles away on a mountain peak, a young man was quietly waiting...