The Jing Clan Main Store occupied nearly six mu of land. It was a large residence divided into four successive courtyards.
Among the Twenty-Four Main Stores in Hun Zhou Sea Market, its area still ranked among the top ten.
Jing Qian passed through the store, heading inward. He had just entered the first courtyard when he encountered a middle-aged man coming toward him.
Without even raising his head, he walked past the man and continued on.
But when the man saw that familiar masked figure, he suddenly froze, then shouted excitedly:
"Young Master Qian! You're back!"
He immediately turned and ran toward the rear courtyard, shouting as he went:
"Young Master Qian has returned from the sea!"
More people rushed out at once—men and women, old and young.
Although Jing Qian had carefully confirmed the layout of the Jing Clan Main Store with A Bao and knew where he needed to go,
he did not recognize a single person in the store.
Thus, he remained silent and indifferent, treating the onlookers as though they did not exist as he continued inward.
He did not stop until he reached the rear courtyard—the fourth courtyard, where Jing Ran, Jing Qian, and the wet nurse lived together.
According to A Bao, this place should have been forbidden territory to everyone else, a place where only the Jing siblings were allowed to move about.
Yet wherever Jing Qian looked, a group of people were busy making a mess inside the rooms.
They had moved all the household belongings from inside, including the clothes and furniture, and piled them in the courtyard. It looked as though they intended to empty the rooms completely.
But when these people saw Jing Qian enter, they also froze abruptly and stopped what they were doing.
Before anyone could speak, a shrill woman's voice came from inside the room:
"Why did you stop? Hurry up and move!"
"The furnishings I ordered from the Luo Family Main Store will be delivered soon. How can they bring them in if you don't clear all this stuff out?"
As she spoke, a beautiful woman walked out of the room. She too saw the masked Jing Qian.
She froze as well, her tone stiffening slightly before she spoke:
"Young Master Qian?"
"How could you possibly have come back?"
"Where is everyone else? Where's Brother Wu Yan?"
Jing Qian did not answer her questions. Instead, he asked in return:
"Where's Granny Qin?"
The woman was stunned for a moment before replying:
"Granny Qin... Granny Qin is already dead!"
As she spoke, another large group of people followed behind her into the fourth courtyard.
The place that had once been forbidden to outsiders now resembled a market. Anyone dared to barge in.
But Jing Qian showed no reaction. He merely asked again:
"How did Granny Qin die?"
His tone was stiff and emotionless as he pressed her directly.
But in the young woman's eyes, his tone was an insult.
Her expression turned cold as she replied:
"How did she die? She starved to death!"
"With you two aunt and nephew gone, that old blind woman couldn't even leave the house. If she didn't starve to death, what else could have happened?"
Jing Qian did not respond. Instead, he swept his gaze around, looking over everyone present.
Only a small number of them shifted their eyes uneasily, afraid to meet his gaze.
But most of them looked at him like jackals and wolves, showing no respect whatsoever to the young master of the Main Store!
Jing Qian asked again:
"Do you have anything to say?"
An old man stepped forward and answered on behalf of the others:
"Young Master, don't listen to that girl Xi spouting nonsense!"
"Sister Qin was old, and her health had never been good. On top of that, she worried herself sick over your safety after you two went out to sea. She simply died when her allotted years ran out."
Jing Qian looked at the kindly old man, and a phrase surfaced in his mind: a treacherous old cur who bites the hand that feeds it!
He no longer bothered with the worthless rabble before him. Turning around, he walked toward the exit.
Seeing this, the old man hurried after him and asked:
"Young Master, where are you going?"
"Did your aunt return with you?"
"Where are the others who went out to sea with you?"
Jing Qian acted as though he had not heard him, treating the man as if he did not exist.
"Send a few people to stop the young master!"
"The young master has just returned from the sea after suffering through such a long journey. He needs to rest at home for a while!"
At the old man's command, two burly men stepped out of the crowd and reached for Jing Qian.
The two men were powerfully built. At a glance, they were formidable cultivators whose Nurturing Origin cultivation was close to perfection. If the real Jing Qian had been here, he might truly have been subdued.
But within Jing Qian's slender body dwelled a slaughtering beast!
Smack!
Smack!
His figure blurred, and he broke through to the two men's side. His hands moved in tandem, giving each burly man a slap.
The two men did not even have time to react. They were struck heavily to the ground and could no longer get back up!
After standing in the Subduing Dragon Stance for so long and being nourished by lavish amounts of origin qi, Jing Qian's physical strength had long since become a different thing entirely.
He had not used any extraordinary power at all. Relying solely on his physical body, he had easily achieved such a result.
Then he took a broad step and swiftly left.
The onlookers were also intimidated by his sharp attack and took no further action. One person who understood what had happened could not help shouting:
"The young master had a fortuitous encounter at sea! He's reached the Great Completion of Nurturing Origin!"
"He has condensed at least two Life Essences! We absolutely cannot let him successfully Establish His Fate!"
The old man's face turned livid. He immediately issued another order:
"Hurry and send people to notify the various families! Tell them the boy from the Jing Family is about to Establish His Fate and have them find a way to deal with it!"
"Xi girl, hurry home and ask the Qian Family what we should do next."
The young woman named Qian Xi naturally knew how urgent the situation was. She immediately left with two people.
After leaving the Jing Family Main Store, Jing Qian did not stop at all. He headed straight out of Hun Zhou Sea Market.
He hurried in the direction of the main island, pushing his physical strength to its limit. His entire body moved as swiftly as a galloping horse.
The situation in the Jing Family was even worse than he had expected. This pack of jackals that had betrayed their master could not even be bothered to keep up appearances anymore!
He could not help recalling what A Bao had said after being pushed to the limit during his interrogation:
"The Jing Family is finished. Truly finished!"
"The Qian Family wants the position of Main Store. After plotting and laboring toward it for so many years, there's no way they'll give up."
"Once the Hun Ling Number's compensation is settled, the Zhou Family and Xu Family will also be dragged in. The Maritime Affairs Office has only these three managers, and all of them will make things difficult for the Jing Family. Who could possibly resist that?"
"Once the Jing Family falls, all of us Rogue Cultivators and ordinary people who followed the Jing Family will be finished too!"
"After being driven out of the Sea Market, we'll have no choice but to go feed dragons in the forest like wretched beggars. There'll be no hope left in this life. We really have no choice!"
"Without the Dragon-Elephant suppressing them and with their core inheritance lost, the Jing Family occupies this Main Store like a child carrying gold through a bustling market. This outcome was inevitable!"
"When has a Main Store ever changed hands without things being turned upside down like this?"
After arriving at Hun Zhou Sea Market, Jing Qian had gained an even deeper understanding of A Bao's words!
He looked around. Everywhere he saw jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards—there was not a single good person among them!
With the Jing Family hunted down to this state, anyone else would probably never have waded into these muddy waters.
But Jing Qian simply refused to believe in such a fate. He intended to see for himself who could feast on his bereaved household!
Before you continue