Jiang Fan looked at the little girl before him, crying so hard her face was streaked with tears, her whole body covered in dust and travel-worn exhaustion, and his brow lifted slightly.
He did not immediately step forward to comfort her. Instead, without betraying a thing, he separated out a thread of powerful Spiritual Power and quietly enveloped the little girl and the middle-aged guard behind her.
"Pardon me!"
As he murmured the words inwardly—
In an instant, a flood of information poured into his mind through spiritual probing.
In almost the span of a breath, he had grasped all the background information on the Duan Family.
"The Duan Family was a scholarly household located within the sphere of influence of the Falling Cloud Sect!"
"His father, Duan Wenyuan, was a fairly reputable teacher in Blue Stone City, upright in character though somewhat pedantic. His mother, Lin, was gentle, virtuous, and kind!"
"Besides Duan Gang, the family also had an elder sister and a little sister!"
"His elder sister, Duan Yunxiu, had a delicate, beautiful appearance and a fiery, unyielding nature!"
"His little sister, Duan Yuqing—the young girl in front of him—was innocent, adorable, and lovable!"
"The source of this conflict lay with Duan Gang's eldest uncle, Duan Hong, and his family!"
"His eldest uncle, Duan Hong, ran a trading firm in Blue Stone County and possessed a decent amount of wealth, but he was mean, sharp-tongued, and incomparably greedy!"
"Because he coveted Duan Wenyuan's family-heirloom precious jade and wanted to present it to the Chen Family, the greatest clan in the city, he was sternly refused by Duan Wenyuan and therefore bore a grudge!"
"So, after learning that the Chen Family's Old Ancestor coveted Duan Yunxiu's beauty, he secretly incited the Chen Family's Old Ancestor, hoping he would forcibly