When at the Zhou Family, Liu Tiancheng had already been scared out of his wits by Jiang Chen's identity. By the time Zhou Chenggang dragged him along to apologize, he had already prepared himself to kneel and beg for forgiveness.
Coupled with the sudden events just now, though he had no idea what the radiance emanating from Jiang Chen or the black mist surrounding Zhou Chenggang was, it didn't stop Liu Tiancheng's fear from growing even more.
Especially when black mist started emanating from Zhou Liegang as well—the killing intent erupting from the two hidden family members became the last straw that broke him.
At this moment, Liu Tiancheng had completely collapsed!
"Deal with him!" Jiang Chen ordered coldly.
"No…"
Bang!
Liu Tiancheng's expression shifted, wanting to plead further. Yet, before he could utter a word, his vision went black. Yan Hu had already lunged in front of him, cutting off his chance to speak, slamming a palm onto Liu Tiancheng's head.
A stream of crimson blood flowed from the top of his skull as Liu Tiancheng's widened eyes slowly rolled back, and his body slumped backward!
"With Liu Tiancheng and Zhou Liegang missing, how will you explain it to the Zhou Family?" Jiang Chen turned to Zhou Liecheng.
Zhou Liecheng forced a twisted smile, worse than crying. "Don't worry. Given Liegang's temper, being forced to apologize, humiliated, and then running off for a few days is entirely normal. As for Liu Tiancheng, he's just Liegang's lackey. The two disappearing together for a few days won't arouse suspicion!"
Jiang Chen slightly nodded, reaching out to pat Zhou Liecheng's shoulder. "Steady your nerves. Once Spirit You finishes interrogating, we'll head to your family. I'll need to get closer to confirm who's under Soul Devouring Group's control."
"Alright!"
Zhou Liecheng nodded lightly, then sat back on the sofa, closing his eyes and leaning against the backrest.
Click!
After a moment, the sound of a door opening echoed. Spirit You emerged from the restroom.
Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at Spirit You.
The Huangluo Clan and the Yue Family had both suffered significant losses in their battles against the Soul Devouring Group and the Gene Organization, especially the Huangluo Clan, which had almost depleted their Innate Grandmasters and Semi Venerable Realm experts.
Thus, no one wanted the Zhou Family to suffer excessive casualties. After all, they were all part of the Martial Dao World of the Flame Dragon Kingdom. With a common enemy now, thanks to Jiang Chen's intervention, these two major hidden families had already set aside past conflicts with other families, preparing to fully gear up for war against the three major organizations.
At this moment, the Zhou Family, as one of the three major hidden families, would prove to be a powerful ally!
"The Zhou Family… how many people in total?"
Spirit You didn't immediately divulge the interrogation results but instead frowned and looked at Zhou Liecheng.
Zhou Liecheng's heart skipped a beat. He shot up from the sofa immediately. Spirit You's question clearly indicated that the number of traitors he'd uncovered during interrogation must be substantial, something Zhou Liecheng found hard to fathom!
His eyes locked onto Spirit You. Zhou Liecheng asked nervously, "The Zhou Family numbers eighty-six people!"
"Huh?"
Spirit You froze for a moment, looking at Zhou Liecheng in surprise, a strange expression crossing his face.
Jiang Chen's mind stirred. He chuckled lightly, "The people from the Retainer Corps aren't considered part of the Zhou Family."
"Oh, oh!"
Spirit You suddenly understood and smiled awkwardly.
"Spirit You, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Zhou Liecheng finally reacted, laughing bitterly.
Suddenly, Zhou Liecheng's expression shifted. He stared intently at Spirit You and asked each word deliberately, "You… you interrogated more people than eighty-six?!"
"Yes."
Spirit You nodded slightly.
Zhou Liecheng's body swayed violently, his face turning pale as a sheet.
"What's wrong?!"
Jiang Chen looked at Zhou Liecheng with confusion. "Isn't your Retainer Corps composed of people from several families? Don't panic yet. Maybe all the traitors belong to the Retainer Corps!"
"It's true the Retainer Corps is made up of several families, but even adding up everyone from the Corps, there aren't eighty people!" Zhou Liecheng's expression was extremely grim.
Everyone froze in place, staring at Zhou Liecheng in shock.
"That doesn't add up! I thought your Zhou Family's Retainer Corps consisted of large families?" Yue Shaoting looked at Zhou Liecheng with confusion.
"They were once all large families. But ever since the Flame Dragon Group swept through, resources have been severely lacking. Even splitting resources evenly between the family and the Corps has been like a drop in the ocean for the Retainer Corps, which has such a massive headcount. Over the years, the vast majority of the Semi Innate Realm and lower experts from back then have died!"
Zhou Liecheng replied bitterly:
"Now, the Retainer Corps is completely polarized. There's one Saint Realm expert, over a dozen Venerable Realm experts, fewer than ten combining Semi Venerable Venerable and Innate Grandmasters, over thirty stuck at the Semi Innate Realm, and the rest are all under Semi Innate!"
"Did you know Liu Zhicheng was a Saint Realm expert?" Jiang Chen's brows furrowed slightly as he looked at Zhou Liecheng in surprise.
Zhou Liecheng nodded. "Yes, we knew. When we visited the Yue Family in the past, we deliberately guided Liu Zhicheng, the ancestor, to go with us, hoping the Yue Family would take notice of his power. Without Liu Zhicheng, we wouldn't have agreed to give half of our already scarce resources to the Retainer Corps. Yet, despite this, they were still dissatisfied!"
"I see."
Jiang Chen nodded slightly, finally understanding Zhou Liecheng's concluding words. The Retainer Corps, emboldened by the presence of Liu Zhicheng, a Saint Realm expert, had claimed half of the Zhou Family's resources and eventually grew insatiable, plotting to overthrow the Zhou Family and seize control, leading to the crisis they faced today!
Raising his eyes to Spirit You, Jiang Chen spoke gravely, "Tell me the list of names you uncovered!"
"Alright!" Spirit You nodded and began, "Zhou Liegang, Zhou Hai, Zhou…"
Reciting over a hundred names in succession, Spirit You finally paused.
"Impossible! Impossible!"
Zhou Liecheng's face drastically changed, exclaiming, "How could my aunt's entire family also be part of the Soul Devouring Group? That's impossible!"
"They're not part of the Soul Devouring Group; they're with the Gene Organization. Your aunt's husband was planted by the Gene Organization to infiltrate the Zhou Family by wooing her!"
Spirit You explained softly, then turned to Jiang Chen. "Young Master, your earlier suspicions were correct. The three major organizations didn't start infiltrating the Flame Dragon Kingdom just in recent years!"
Jiang Chen nodded slightly. "That was anticipated. The Zhou Family is likely not even the first target."
Jiang Chen silently mouthed a name in his heart—Youming Hall!
This was the first faction Jiang Chen discovered to have been infiltrated by the Soul Devouring Group, and it was also the most thoroughly infiltrated. Although the current Venerable Realm patriarch might not necessarily be the strongest ancestor of Youming Hall, one of its most active Venerable Realm ancestors was a member of the Soul Devouring Group. This alone spoke volumes about the extent of Youming Hall's infiltration!
Back then, even Grandmaster Chi Xiao had speculated that Youming Hall might have been overwhelmingly controlled. However, this theory couldn't be proven, nor could it be verified now.
After all, sects weren't like family clans, which naturally provided numerous opportunities to gather members. To uproot all the traitors within Youming Hall in one fell swoop would only be possible during an event like the Martial Dao Assembly—a grand gathering of all major forces in the Martial Dao World!
"Also, during Zhou Liegang's interrogation, I uncovered a familiar name!" Spirit You added.
"Who?"
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.