“I hope they’re safe and sound,” Zhou He said coldly. “Otherwise, our Zhou family will be finished. There won’t be any hope at all.”
“Dad…” Zhou Qian said immediately.
“It’s up to luck now. Otherwise, whether it’s the Black Wolf Gang, the Bai family, or the Meng family, we’ll all be finished if any of them wants to deal with us.” Zhou He stood up and said, “Zhou Qian, follow me to Meng Manor immediately!”
“Yes,” Zhou Qian said immediately. He was somewhat dazed.
“And the two of you,” Zhou He instructed. “If anyone from the Imperial Court asks you about what happened today, just do as I say…”
“Yes.” The siblings obediently listened.
…
Zhou He brought his son to the Mirror Lake Meng Manor.
On the way there, they saw troops of soldiers.
“Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang, what happened?” Zhou He immediately asked the leader of a troop that he was familiar with.
“Someone from the Skydemon Sect appeared, and Young Master Meng Chuan from the Meng family is still heavily injured. Now, we are searching the entire city,” said the leader simply. “Alright, let’s not talk further. I’m in a rush.”
“Brother Zhang, do what you need to do.” Zhou He smiled.
“Dad?” Zhou Qian whispered.
“Young Master Meng Chuan is alive. This is good news. So that person is from the Skydemon Sect?” Zhou He pondered. “Let’s go. Let’s hurry to Meng Manor.”
…
Mirror Lake Meng Manor.
Meng Chuan leaned against the bed. Although his face was pale, he was in good spirits.
“Meng Chuan, if you meet a strong opponent that you can’t fend off in the future, protect your life first.” Fairy Meng sat to his side, leaning on her walking stick as she said, “It’s nice that you saved Yan Jin, but if you were to sacrifice yourself, it’s not worth it. You should know that you are the hope of the entire Meng family. You can’t afford the loss, and our Meng family can’t afford it either.”
“Grandaunt, the Skydemon Sect’s expert had a powerful body, but he wasn’t that fast. I originally had the confidence to escape after saving Yan Jin. Who knew his broken fingernail would be so powerful? It severely injured me with one strike.” Meng Chuan felt ashamed as well.
“How many opponents have you really fought? In addition, your opponent’s strength far exceeded yours. It’s fine even if his attacks fail ten times because none of you can hurt him. But if you get hit once, you’ll be finished. When faced with such a powerful opponent, you shouldn’t be hoping to get lucky.”
Fairy Meng shook her head. “Furthermore, the people from the Skydemon Sect are all human traitors. They cultivate with formulas created by the demon race. Their combat tactics are also similar to demons. Their bodies can be cultivated into weapons! In the future, you must be careful. Immediately avoid the Skydemon sect if you encounter them. Put as much distance between you and them unless you have the confidence to kill them.”
Meng Chuan nodded. “Yes.”
At that moment, Meng Dajiang walked in from outside.
“Dad, how’s the situation?” asked Meng Chuan.
“The Skydemon Sect disciple fled too quickly. They are now interrogating the Black Wolf Gang,” said Meng Dajiang.
“What about the innocent women in Idle Stone Garden?” pressed Meng Chuan.
“In the battle, five Black Wolf Gang members died, and three were injured. Six of the women in Idle Stone Garden were killed, and two were injured. By the way… we discovered thirty-eight women locked up in the backyard. Chuan’er, you saved quite a number of people,” said Meng Dajiang. “The Idle Stone Garden has an underground hall. There were many female remains left there. The man from the Skydemon Sect must have spent a long time cultivating his demonic arts there.”
Hearing this, Meng Chuan fell silent. He pitied the women who had been killed. His killing intent towards the Skydemon Sect grew.
“Master.” A servant’s voice came from outside. “Zhou He brought his son, Zhou Qian, here. He claims he’s here to seek forgiveness.”
“Seek forgiveness?” Meng Dajiang was puzzled. “I’ll go take a look.”
…
His grandaunt left after staying a while.
Meng Chuan rested in bed. His grandaunt had easily removed the demonic aura within him. To Godfiends, expelling this bit of demonic aura was a piece of cake. Instead, he required a few days to recover from his physical injuries. This was also thanks to his Godfiend body being strong enough. If it were a normal person, it would take several months to recover.
“Chuan’er.” Meng Dajiang pushed open the door and walked in. “That child who came to you for help had been instructed by a young lad named Zhou Qian.”
“Zhou Qian?” Meng Chuan was puzzled. “I know him. He’s a disciple of our Mirror Lake Dao Academy. I even gave him some sword art pointers today.”
Meng Dajiang said, “Red Rain is his personal maid, and he has a very good relationship with her. He originally wanted to save her but was stopped by his father, Zhou He. That’s why he secretly sent that child, Ironborn, to the restaurant to seek your help. That is how everything started. I didn’t expect that it was all because of your junior brother from the Dao Academy. I will definitely not let him go off so easily for making my son experience such a disaster.”
“Dad,” said Meng Chuan immediately. “I’m quite familiar with Zhou Qian. He’s quite talented. He didn’t intend to harm me. From his point of view, this was trivial to me. The resolution to the Black Wolf Gang incident was indeed straightforward. We encountered the Skydemon Sect disciple because our luck was terrible. You can’t blame Junior Brother Zhou Qian.
“You”—Meng Dajiang shook his head—”what can I do about you?”
He had been terrified today!
If the old servant hadn’t consumed the Godblood Pill to hold back the Skydemon Sect expert, his son would have died with Qiyue. How could Meng Dajiang not be angry with the Zhou family?
“For every grievance, there is someone responsible for it,” urged Meng Chuan immediately. “This is a principle you taught me.”
“Alright, alright. I can let them off, but I can’t let them off easily. After all, he made use of you and didn’t even tell you.” Meng Dajiang nodded. “Zhou He sent a treasure, a thousand-year-old ginseng. It’s a treasure worth ten thousand taels, and I accepted it. It can be considered that I’ve already let the matter rest. That little fellow, Zhou Qian, needs some punishment too.”
Previously, when Zhou He knelt and apologized, Meng Dajiang couldn’t even be bothered to accept it. The Zhou family’s business combined was only tens of thousands of taels of silver, and the amount of liquid cash they had was even less.
Due to a lucky chance, Zhou He had bought the thousand-year-old ginseng for his son’s Mortal Shedding realm cultivation.
Now that he was using it as an apology gift, Zhou He was afraid that it was not enough.
…
What should I do? What should I do? Zhou He knelt on the ground, with the gift box in front of him. He was covered in a cold sweat. Zhou Qian looked at his father guiltily. “Dad, it’s all my fault.”
“It’s too late to say anything now. He doesn’t even accept the apology gift. Young Master Meng’s father is clearly still angry at our Zhou family,” Zhou He said.
At that moment, Meng Dajiang walked into the hall.
“Elder Meng,” Zhou He knelt on the ground and begged. “It’s my fault for not teaching my son well. You can punish him however you want. My Zhou family will have zero complaints. Please spare my Zhou family.”
“Since my son has pleaded on your behalf,” said Meng Dajiang indifferently, “leave that gift. Take your son back and whip him a hundred times. Whip him until he bleeds. Let him lie in bed and reflect on himself.”
“Yes, yes.” Zhou He was overjoyed. “I would have done so even without you saying that. Zhou Qian, thank Elder
Meng for sparing your life.”
“Thank you, Elder Meng.” Zhou Qian knelt and kowtowed.
“Leave quickly.” Meng Dajiang frowned and waved his hand.
Zhou He smiled obsequiously and left with Zhou Qian. Zhou He heaved a sigh of relief when he left Meng Manor.
“Dad, is our Zhou family alright?” Zhou Qian asked.
“It should be fine. He said he wanted you whipped, but to do it ourselves. Clearly, he doesn’t want your life.” Zhou He said coldly, “You have to thank Senior Brother Meng a lot. If he hadn’t pleaded on your behalf, his father wouldn’t have let the matter rest so easily.”
Chapter 31
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
Eight days later.
Mirror Lake Meng Manor.
“Young Master, Jadesun Palace sent us a copy of the dossier after they closed the case.” Qian Fang carried twelve thick dossiers over. “I’ve brought all of them here.”
“Uncle Qian, tend to your matters. Just leave the dossier here.” Meng Chuan nodded.
“Alright.” Qian Fang placed the thick dossiers there and left.
Meng Chuan picked up the dossier on top and started to read it. It was a brief description of the entire development.
The eight-year-old Ironborn wanted to save his sister, so he begged Zhou Qian. Zhou Qian was stopped by his father, Zhou He, and was unable to rescue her in person. Thus, he sent Ironborn to beg his eldest senior brother, Meng Chuan. Meng Chuan, who had a good relationship with Zhou Qian, interfered in this matter. Yan Jin, on the other hand, had intervened out of anger…
…
After Zhou He learned of the matter, he brought his son to Meng Manor to seek forgiveness. Meng Dajiang was furious, but Meng Chuan pleaded on behalf of his junior brother, thus sparing him…
…
In these few sentences, it describes how close my relationship with Zhou Qian is. It’s as if it was because of him that I went to save Red Rain. I even pleaded for mercy on his behalf so that Father would spare them. Meng Chuan chuckled softly. Zhou He is really smart. He tried his best to hook up with my Meng family, probably because he’s afraid that the Bai family would seek revenge.
He could completely understand.
An ordinary family clan would be terrified when pitted against a Godfiend family like the Bai family. Therefore, they thought up ways to guide the narrative, such as using the siblings’ statement, such as Zhou He’s answers when interrogated by the Jadesun Palace… There was no need to lie. As long as the main points changed slightly, outsiders would believe Meng Chuan’s relationship with Zhou Qian to be extraordinary.
The Bai family would also be fearful, because the person most furious about the situation was Fairy Meng! The Bai family was unwilling to anger the Meng family.
No one wished to really fight a Godfiend who only had six or seven years of life left.
When they found out that Meng Chuan and Zhou Qian had a close relationship, the Bai family no longer bothered dealing with the Zhou family anymore. Dealing with the Zhou family was not beneficial. It was just to vent their anger. Instead, they might anger Meng Chuan and the Meng family.
Hence, the Zhou family managed to escape disaster.
The Zhou family’s Zhou He does have some tricks up his sleeve. It’s just that he’s a little sad. Meng Chuan could tell that the Zhou family was facing a dangerous situation. Taking a step forward led to a precipitous cliff, and a step backward a bottomless abyss! The Zhou family couldn’t afford to offend any of the parties involved—the Bai family, the Meng family, and the Black Wolf Gang… If they were not careful, they would fall to their deaths.
According to the dossier, investigations on the Black Wolf Gang in Idle Stone Garden revealed five people related to the Skydemon Sect. Three were captured alive, one went missing, and the last committed suicide. According to the three’s separate interrogations, the Black Wolf Gang is innocent.
Meng Chuan didn’t find it odd.
There was no need for the Black Wolf Gang to collude with the Skydemon Sect. They would definitely die if they were found out.
After all the Black Wolf Gang higher-ups were captured, their cultivation was probed. None of them cultivated any demonic arts. After investigations, the Black Wolf Gang was determined to be innocent.
As the Black Wolf Gang had violated the Imperial Court’s laws, Gang Leader Liu Chang was sentenced to serve at Qinyang Pass in a suicide squad for three years. The deputy gang leader, Cong You, was sentenced to ten years of hard labor…
As Meng Chuan read, he shook his head gently. The Black Wolf Gang has nothing to do with the Skydemon Sect, but this thorough investigation discovered several things. The leaders naturally can’t escape.
The Black Wolf Gang was quite unlucky.
There were many hooligans among the lackeys in the gang. Even if the gang strictly abided by the rules, the hooligans under them could still commit all kinds of violations.
This time, they had angered the Meng family and Jadesun Palace. Meng Chuan and Yan Jin were seriously injured and were nearly killed by the Skydemon Sect expert. Therefore, the Black Wolf Gang naturally had to take the blame, but the punishment wasn’t too severe.
…
These Godfiend family clans can turn their backs at a moment’s notice. Even after serving as a loyal dog for so many years, they still threw me under the carriage. Thankfully, I have strength at the Seamless realm. I was only sentenced to join a suicide squad in Qinyang Pass. Liu Chang had been escorted to Qinyang Pass. Qinyang Pass was only ninety kilometers from Eastcalm Prefecture City, and nearly all mortal soldiers from the city came here.
Liu Chang even felt a little relieved. Thankfully, I killed Ah Quan. No one knows that I had long suspected something was wrong with Idle Stone Garden. I managed to escape death.
On the way to Qinyang Pass, he was still feeling rather lucky.
I’ll return in three years. Liu Chang turned to glance at Eastcalm Prefecture City. The soldiers escorting him were rather polite. The Black Wolf Gang’s leader was an expert at the Seamless realm after all.
…
Sitting in the training grounds, Meng Chuan flipped through the dossiers about the Bai family.
If the Black Wolf Gang was innocent, then the Bai family was even more innocent. However, the Bai Family couldn’t be completely forgiven since some of their territory had been a lair of the Skydemon Sect. They were punished severely by Jadesun Palace. The upper echelons of the Black Wolf Gang, as well as the Bai family members in the Black Wolf Gang, were all given sentences. They were also fined 500,000 taels of silver, making the Bai family feel the pinch.
And them. Meng Chuan then flipped through other dossiers. Many people were recorded in the dossiers. It recorded the information of the women in Idle Stone Garden.
So it’s all true. These women already signed indenture contracts. They still have to return to the Black Wolf Gang and receive their training. In the future, they will still have to go to the brothels and whorehouses. Meng Chuan shook his head. The Black Wolf Gang wasn’t dismantled. The Bai family arranged for people to take control of the Black Wolf Gang and continue to manage matters. The law protected the indenture contacts the women had signed.
Meng Chuan’s expression changed as he read. Most of those who were forcefully abducted ended up selling themselves to the gang?
Most of those who were abducted by the gang had reasons just like Red Rain—her father owed a huge amount of debt! She was taken to cover the debt. Now, she was released…
But if the debt was not repaid, what could they do?
If they couldn’t repay their debts, they would only owe more money due to the interest. They would ultimately be forced to “voluntarily sell themselves.” For Red Rain’s case, the Black Wolf Gang felt fear towards it. They took the initiative to tear the promissory note and write it off. Only then did their family temporarily escape this calamity. However, Red Rain’s father was a gambling addict. If a gambler continue
d gambling, he would eventually end up harming his children.
Sometimes, there’s no way to save them. As Meng Chuan read the dossier, he seemed to see one woman after another walking towards Idle Stone Garden.
How could this be? He felt extremely aggrieved watching this. There was no way to save them, as though they were trapped in a quagmire.
Bam!
Meng Chuan threw the dossier away and walked out.
“Ah Chuan, have you eaten lunch?” Liu Qiyue shouted when she saw his back.
“I’m going out for a walk.”
Heading out even at noon. Liu Qiyue mumbled before returning to the hall. She ate with Liu Yebai and Meng Dajiang. Meng Dajiang smiled. “It’s good to let him go out to relax.”
…
Meng Chuan was indeed aggrieved. Zhou He’s cleverness and cunning earned a smile.
He did not sympathize with the Black Wolf Gang’s gang leader, Liu Chang. However, the women, especially those who had been abducted and rescued, had no choice but to head towards the quagmire again.
How did this world turn out like this? Meng Chuan murmured. Suddenly, he saw a restaurant in front of him. At noon, quite a few guests were sitting inside.
“Here, try it. Doesn’t it smell good?” A couple was carrying a child. His father passed the torn white steamed bun to his child, who took a big bite and nodded. “It smells good.”
The couple looked at their son and smiled happily. Both of them were dirty, and their fingers coarse. They clearly did hard labor, but their smiles were very radiant.
At this moment, Meng Chuan was stunned by the couple’s smiles as they looked at their child.
“Come have a drink.” There were four bare-chested men beside the couple. Their skin was glistening with sweat. They held large bowls of alcohol as they chatted loudly; they had completely forgotten about the hardships of their labor.
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