At that moment, a large group of people had gathered in the family hall of the Zhang residence.

Sitting at the center was a dignified middle-aged man, accompanied by a young man in his twenties.

These two were Zhang Jianyuan, the current head of the Zhang family, and his son, Zhang Lingtian.

Around them sat a dozen men and women, while opposite them stood a man in his thirties, roaring angrily.

"Big brother, although Lingfeng isn't very capable, he's still your nephew, right? Tell me, should we avenge this injustice or not?" the man shouted.

Zhang Jianyuan rubbed his forehead in frustration and said, "Jiancheng, don't be so hasty. Calm down. I'm not saying we shouldn't avenge Lingfeng, but we need to discuss it first."

"What's there to discuss? He's my only son, and now he's been disabled. How am I supposed to stay calm?" Zhang Jiancheng yelled.

Zhang Jianyuan frowned and said, "A fifteen-year-old boy who can disable Lingfeng and kill his two bodyguards in one move—don't you find that strange?"

"What's so strange about it?" Zhang Jiancheng retorted. "I think it's clear that the Zhang family from Jinling is trying to avoid taking responsibility by making this situation seem more mysterious than it really is."

"But you saw the surveillance footage from that place; it was indeed Wang Yue who did it," Zhang Jianyuan said helplessly.

"Big brother, have you been too isolated from the real world lately?" Zhang Jiancheng said with red eyes. "With today's technology, isn't it easy to create a fake video?"

Hearing Zhang Jiancheng's words, many people in the family hall nodded in agreement, thinking he made a valid point.

After all, someone who was capable of killing Zhang Lingtian's two Tianyuan Realm bodyguards must be a powerful fighter—at least at the peak of the Tianyuan Realm, if not already at the Gui Zhen Realm.

A fifteen-year-old at the peak of the Tianyuan Realm? That seemed impossible.

Zhang Jianyuan turned to the person sitting at the very end of the line and asked, "Zhang Hong, what do you think?"

"Master, I have met that Wang Yue, and he certainly doesn't seem like a fighter at the Tianyuan Realm. Therefore, I support the second master's opinion," said a burly middle-aged man, standing up. It was Zhang Hong, the same person they had encountered on that island.

Instead of treating Zhang Hong kindly for supporting his view, Zhang Jiancheng stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Hong by the collar, and shouted, "If you've met Wang Yue, then why didn't you kill him back then? If you had killed him then, my son wouldn't have been disabled!"

With Zhang Hong's strength, he could easily have pushed Zhang Jiancheng away, but given the huge difference in their status, he didn't dare to do so.

Instead, he could only force a smile and say, "I've already said it before – they were live-streaming at the time, and they even showed the footage of our encounter. If we had killed them then, wouldn't that be like openly admitting that we were the ones who did it?"

"What does it matter? Just a small family from Jinling… If we kill them, so be it. I don't believe the Warriors Alliance would come after our Zhang family because of this," Zhang Jiancheng said disdainfully.

"You're just weak and cowardly; don't use 'thinking of the family' as an excuse."

"Second uncle, you're wronging Uncle Hong," Zhang Lingtian interjected. "It was I who ordered him not to act against those people from Jinling. If you want to blame someone, then blame me."

"I'm not blaming him; I'm just not pleased with it," Zhang Jiancheng said, releasing Zhang Jiang and sighing in frustration.

He knew his eldest brother too well – if he caused a problem and vented his anger on a servant, his brother would forgive him.

But if he offended Zhang Lingtian, his most beloved son, his brother would never let him off.

"Thank you, young master," Zhang Hong said, paying his respects to Zhang Lingtian with a warrior's gesture. Seeing the other man smiling at him, he sighed inwardly.

This young master, though not as foolish as Zhang Lingfeng, was merely clever in a superficial way. He was narrow-minded, knew how to win over people's loyalty, but his methods were not very sophisticated.

Just like the last time – it was actually his order that was given. If it weren't for his resistance, someone else might have truly acted against those people from Jinling.

He had often blamed himself for that incident, yet now he was deliberately taking the blame upon himself.

Using both kindness and authority as tactics was certainly a strategy, but in the eyes of an experienced man like Zhang Hong, it seemed rather crude.

After all, he, Zhang Hong, was loyal to the Zhang family. As the young master, even if Zhang Lingtian criticized him, Zhang Hong saw no fault in that – after all, it was he who had disobeyed his orders first.

However, this approach of using both kindness and authority to win over people clearly showed a lack of trust in Zhang Hong, and it might even cause him to become disloyal to the Zhang family.

Zhang Hong certainly wouldn't become disloyal to the family over such a trivial matter, but he was deeply disappointed in this young master.

The other people in the council hall also showed no sign of activity; in their eyes, Jinling was nothing but a rural place lacking in everything essential. Going there would be nothing but a waste of time.

After a short while, Zhang Hong stood up and volunteered, "Master, since Young Master Lingfeng has encountered trouble this time, I bear some responsibility for it. How about allowing me to go to Jinling to investigate the matter thoroughly?"

"Huh…" Zhang Jianyuan hesitated. He did not trust Zhang Hong very much.

Zhang Hong came from a collateral branch of the Zhang family, and his relationship with the core branch of the family was quite distant. Yet, this man possessed extraordinary intelligence and talent.

Using a somewhat incomplete set of cultivation techniques passed down from the main branch, he had managed to reach the Guizhen realm on his own.

Moreover, Zhang Hong enjoyed great prestige within his collateral branch, having the kind of influence where a single call from him could draw many followers. This posed a threat to the main branch of the family, albeit a minor one, but still one that needed to be taken seriously.

What was more troubling was that Zhang Hong was already in his forties, yet he still adhered to certain so-called "bottom lines."

If Zhang Jianyuan assigned him tasks that required dishonesty or incomplete actions, Zhang Hong would likely comply superficially without truly fulfilling them. He was simply not trustworthy.

However, outright rejecting his request would risk arousing Zhang Hong's suspicion that Zhang Jianyuan did not trust him, which could lead to further complications.

Just as Zhang Jianyuan was hesitating, the door to the council hall was violently pushed open, and a man who looked to be in his twenties strode in.

"Second Patriarch," said the people in the hall. Instead of reprimanding him for his lack of courtesy, they all stood up and paid him their respects.

The Zhang family was able to establish itself in Tianhai and become one of the four great families because their family included three experts who had reached the Deguan realm.

The strongest of them was a superpower at the middle stage of the fifth level of the Deguan realm, whom everyone called the Patriarch.

The second in power was the man who had just entered the hall; although he looked young, he was actually over a hundred years old and possessed the strength of the second level of the Deguan realm, hence he was called the Second Patriarch.

There was also a third Patriarch, who was at the late first level of the Deguan realm.

These three men were the pillars of the Zhang family, and their status was even higher than that of Zhang Jianyuan, the current head of the family.

"What happened to Lingfeng? Why didn't you inform me?" the Second Patriarch waved his hand, telling the others to stand up, and then asked sternly.

Zhang Lingfeng was known for his dissolute behavior, and not many people in the Zhang family liked him. However, the Second Patriarch was an exception.

He found Zhang Lingfeng to resemble himself in his youth and thought he had a similar temperament.

What was more important, Zhang Lingfeng knew how to please people; he often brought young, virgin girls for the Second Patriarch's enjoyment.

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