Chen Ruhai

Chen Ruhai

"This matter..."

Several higher-ups of the One Heart Sect gathered together, all baring their teeth and sucking in cold breaths.

They all felt that this matter was far too bizarre.

"The Guardian Hall has already set its sights on the Su Family. If our One Heart Sect wants to swallow the Su Family's assets, we'll instead invite trouble. So we can't get them!"

"Most of the assets will either be embezzled, divided up, or fall into the hands of other members of the Su Family. Then those people will vanish without a trace with the wealth."

"Sun Enshrinement's disciple's move... ahem, ahem, could work."

"That's right. After all, if it falls into Fang Che's hands, it amounts to falling into the One Heart Sect's hands. Whether Fang Che uses that wealth to do something or improve himself, the hidden benefits will still belong to our sect!"

"Then we'll do it this way?"

"Good."

From that night onward.

Azure Wave City suddenly buzzed with stories of the friendship between Fang Che of the Fang Family and Su Yue of the Su Family.

They had hit it off at first sight, sworn brotherhood through eight bows, a bond deeper than blood; they supported one another, shared life and death alike, their friendship shining as bright as the sun and moon.

Stories spread of how Su Yue had become friends with Fang Che, and what Fang Che had done for Su Yue. When Su Yue fell ill, Fang Che endured countless hardships searching for Medicinal Herbs. Once he found them and delivered them, he immediately turned around and left.

He said boldly, "As long as you recover, nothing else matters! What does a little hardship on my part amount to?"

When Su Yue lacked money, Fang Che immediately emptied his pockets to help him, even going so far as to incur debts.

He laughed loudly and said, "How can mere money compare with the brotherhood between us?"

When Su Yue was bullied, Fang Che resolutely drew his sword and rushed into the battlefield, facing opponents countless times stronger than himself as he said, "Who dares bully my brother!?"

And so he was beaten until even his legs were broken.

Yet he still smiled and said, "I, Fang Che, cannot stand to see my brother bullied! Even if I die, what is there to fear? Where righteousness lies, life and death follow together! Even a Mountain of Knives and Sea of Flames is nothing to fear!"

When Su Yue was about to undertake some great task, he solemnly entrusted Fang Che before leaving. "Brother, whether my journey brings fortune or disaster is impossible to predict, and my return date is uncertain. I entrust everything at home to you."

He even specifically wrote a document and left it with Fang Che as proof.

Fang Che solemnly promised, "We are brothers. Why speak of entrusting anything? As long as I, Fang Che, still draw breath, I will certainly preserve the Su Family's assets intact for you!"

Su Yue vanished. When Fang Che heard the terrible news, he coughed up blood and nearly fell gravely ill. In grief and fury, he cried out to the heavens, "Heavens... give me back my brother!"

Countless people rushed to praise him. Fang Che truly was a model of brotherly affection and an exemplar of friendship and righteousness.

Countless people sighed. To have a friend like Fang Che in one's life meant one had truly not lived in vain!

A poet was so moved that he specially composed a poem praising this beautiful bond.

Who says there are no brothers in this world? One promise, and life and death shall never part;

Go forth with peace of mind, my friend; here, vast righteousness fills the land.

The Fang Family's young man cherished loyalty; the oath of sworn brotherhood was etched deep in his heart. He kept the green mountains for you, awaiting the day you returned and you could meet again! Such claims spread through Azure Wave City like wildfire, but the Su Family refused to acknowledge them.

"Fang Che and our Su Yue were not that close!"

"Our family members merely went out and have not returned for a while. It's not as if they're dead."

"Plenty of people go out and do not return for a year or half a year. Why should our Su Family be an exception?"

"What is Fang Che? How could he control or manage our Su Family's assets?"

"Absolutely not!"

When such remarks spread, a chivalrous man emerged in righteous indignation and questioned the Su Family. "By saying this, can you face the friendship Fang Che and Su Yue shared?"

Not only did the Su Family refuse to agree, they gathered people to beat this righteous man and even sought to take his life.

But what they never expected was that this righteous man was actually an expert. In a furious rage, he threw back his head and let out a long howl. "To defile friendship like this, to insult brotherhood like this—I, Wang Lao San, cannot stand it! Today, I shall carry out justice on Heaven's behalf!"

He then drew his blade and slaughtered every Su Family member surrounding him.

Then, blade in hand, he stormed into the Su Family estate and slaughtered every old and young member of the Su Family within.

He drove out all the servants, retainers, Maids, and young maidservants.

Afterward, he sprang up and, In the air, let out a long howl before declaring with heroic fervor, "When I see injustice on the road, I draw my blade and lend aid! I am Pinghu Wang Lao San!"

"I cannot stand scheming flies and dogs, much less filthy and sordid things. In my impulse today, I truly killed to my heart's content!"

With a hearty laugh, he leaped up and disappeared from Azure Wave City.

By the time the Guardian experts arrived, Wang Lao San had already vanished without a trace.

From the incident's beginning, to the start of the massacre, to the extermination of the Su Family, the entire process took less than half a quarter-hour.

The word that stood out was speed.

The Su Family had been wiped out.

Now, aside from the missing members of the Su Family, only Fang Che remained—the one who had shared life-and-death friendship with Su Yue!

At this point, everyone was dumbfounded.

The Guardian Hall naturally listed the Fang Family as a key target and began an investigation.

The result...

They discovered that Fang Che and Su Yue had truly been close. Whenever Su Yue had nothing to do, he would come to the Fang Family to find Fang Che, and the two would chat happily...

The Fang Family had even suspected that Su Yue harbored ulterior motives and had a ghost in his heart. Yet Fang Che himself had never doubted him, always firmly believing that Su Yue was his good Big Brother! Because of this, he had even quarreled with his grandfather, fallen out with his Uncle, and contradicted his mother countless times...

In short, there was only one thing to say: Fang Che had set his heart on Su Yue! He was his best friend!

Quite a few people in Azure Wave City could testify to this matter.

Those people even spoke with one voice: Fang Che was actually an idiot, being used by Su Yue...

All kinds of claims clamorously rose up.

There were people saying everything imaginable! The more they investigated, the more confused they became.

Fang Che himself looked like an innocent, hot-blooded youth. In any case, Su Yue was his good Big Brother! He did not care about the assets, but no one could touch what belonged to his Big Brother! Yet now, all of the Su Family's assets and businesses had ground to a halt...

There was not even a complainant left.

As for that so-called "Pinghu Wang Lao San" who had slaughtered the entire Su Family... he was like a bubble melting into the sea, completely gone.

Although the Fang Family had done nothing, the One Heart Sect mobilized all its local power to facilitate "Fang Che taking over the Su Family inheritance."

"In honor of the oath of sworn brotherhood, to fulfill the righteousness of friendship!"

"To leave a thought of hope for the missing members of the Su Family."

"The Su Family members have merely gone missing; they are not dead. Even if you are law enforcers, you cannot simply confiscate the Su Family's businesses, can you? This was the work of dozens of generations!"

"What noble sentiment, for a sworn brother to safeguard it on their behalf! Why would you law enforcers obstruct it instead?"

In the shadows, the One Heart Sect was also carrying out a full-scale pursuit of those Su Family members performing missions outside... in any case, not a single one would return.

Guardian Hall.

A secret meeting was specially convened for this matter.

Hall Master Chen Ruhai sat crookedly at the head seat without the slightest regard for appearance, his face full of exhaustion.

And helplessness.

Even he himself did not understand why he had suddenly been pulled back from the front lines and sent to serve as Guardian Hall Master in this godforsaken place where birds did not even shit.

Its full name was: 1494th Guardian Hall, Hall Master.

Look at that rotten name, Azure Wave City!

Look at that cursed sequence, 1494! Want to die, then die?

Could something major happen here? Just the matter of a single Su Family had already been debated for an entire hour, with everyone airing their own views until the hall was steaming with fervor.

Everyone had their own ideas.

Was such a trivial matter worth discussing? Chen Ruhai openly rolled his eyes and stared at the ceiling. One leg unconsciously lifted and rested on the armrest of his chair. With a slap, his boot fell off.

A wave of stench instantly burst forth.

The people in the midst of discussion: "..."

Several female martial artists quickly covered their noses. "Hall Master, you!!"

Since they were covering their noses, their voices came out somewhat muffled.

"What a tiny matter. You've discussed it for so long?" Chen Ruhai wore an utterly unconcerned expression. "Isn't it obvious? Do you still need to deliberate?"

The others were unconvinced. "Please enlighten us, Hall Master."

"Enlighten you? Have all your brains gone bad?"

Chen Ruhai snorted, his bare foot stubbornly raised toward the sky.

But his words were crisp and decisive.

"I've only been here for three days, so I do not understand the other matters. I can only give a conclusion based on what I know."

"First, you have long suspected that the Su Family secretly defected to the One Heart Sect. In other words, the Su Family is a force of the One Heart Sect, on the enemy's side."

"Second, the Su Family has been destroyed, but it still bears the title of a Ninth Grade Family. Therefore, the Su Family's forces and businesses need to be reorganized to maintain the people's livelihoods."

"Third, the other four families—Fang, Lü, Zhang, Wei—have divided the Su Family's remaining sphere of influence among themselves. They still cannot reach Eighth Grade and remain Ninth Grade. This need not be considered."

"Fourth, the One Heart Sect still has forces in Azure Wave City, and not a few of them."

"Fifth, Fang Che suddenly created such a stir. Someone was clearly planning this, someone was exerting effort, wanting to take over the Su Family's wealth. Their forces cannot be taken over, but their wealth can be transferred."

"Sixth, the Fang Family has already filed a record stating that Fang Che has taken a master and is unrelated to the Fang Family. According to your investigation, the Fang Family did not make a move in this matter either."

"Seventh, then it is obvious. Someone stands behind Fang Che. Those people cannot obtain it themselves and want Fang Che to obtain it. Then why let Fang Che take it? Obviously, Fang Che is very likely one of their people—either already one, or about to become one."

"Eighth, since Fang Che has a problem while the Fang Family does not, why is only this brat problematic? Thus, Fang Che's master is the most suspicious. From now on, he should be monitored with all our strength."

"Ninth, the person who killed the entire Su Family is obviously also from the One Heart Sect. That is to say, the One Heart Sect may have stationed at least three King-level experts around Azure Wave City. Why three? Assume Fang Che's master is one, the person who acted is two. Based on the One Heart Sect's habits, there must be another one or two experts secretly providing support. Therefore, at minimum three. This is strength that cannot be underestimated."

"Tenth, since Fang Che is suspicious, he should be closely monitored in the future. But he is only a little shrimp, with no real value. Arresting or killing him now would be too wasteful. Better to cast a long line to catch a big fish."

"So what if the Su Family's wealth is given to him? In any case, he is already within our sight. Can he run away?"

"Eleventh, this little Fang Che must have some scheme, or the One Heart Sect has one. I hear this little fellow is a martial arts prodigy, yet he has not entered the Guardian Martial Academy. Therefore, he will certainly enroll this year. The One Heart Sect is giving him such enormous benefits now; clearly, they hope Fang Che takes first place or ranks near the top and enters the Guardian Martial Academy under the name of a heavenly genius."

"If that happens, then even if we know his identity is suspicious, without evidence, we still have to give him whatever rewards he deserves. That would be utterly disgusting to our colleagues at the Martial Academy."

"Therefore, we have a task here, and that is... no matter what, we cannot let Fang Che take first place in the martial examination!"

"Twelfth, I came here because I received news that the One Heart Sect intends to make something big here. This Su Family incident may not have been an accident. We must raise our vigilance across the board and adapt to changes at any time."

Chen Ruhai still looked lazy, but the words he spoke were like blades and swords.

Moreover, his thoughts were exceedingly meticulous.

In one continuous chain, he peeled back the layers of this matter and laid it completely bare.

"So you do not need to deliberate in such a noisy mess. Next, there are four things to do. As long as these four things are done well, all will be well."

1. There is a group number on the book page, so everyone can join the group to discuss. /2. As for bonus chapters for alliance leaders, I have not decided yet. We can discuss it together and make a decision after the book goes premium. 3. The midnight update has already been scheduled. 4. Tomorrow morning's 11:30 update has also been scheduled.

I have one request: please make more posts in the Book Review section and leave a few more chapter comments. Let's raise our activity a little.