Before long, everyone was escorted back to the grand, gloomy Zhu Residence.
They passed through layer upon layer of thick walls and arrived once more at the icy council hall.
At the center of the hall, Zhu Family head Zhu Ganglie sat high on his seat, his face so dark it looked ready to drip water. Beside him stood a young woman in tight black clothes, idly trimming her nails as she regarded her younger sister with the look of a cat toying with a mouse.
"Reporting to Marshal Zhu: the people have been brought here, along with the young hero who provided the intelligence." The officer knelt on one knee before Zhu Ganglie.
Tang San stepped forward. Though he still wore a mask, his back remained ramrod straight.
Zhu Ganglie gave a cold snort and waved his hand. A steward nearby brought over a heavy silk-wrapped bundle and set it before Tang San.
"Young hero, this is your reward: ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. Please take it."
Zhu Ganglie's voice held not a trace of warmth. His gaze swept over Gu Tian like a blade, then settled on Tang San. "Your information came at just the right time and helped restore the Zhu Family's honor. But what happens next is family business, and it would be inconvenient for outsiders to remain. Take your reward and leave!"
Tang San looked at the bag of glittering reward money, and his heart began to race despite himself. He had never seen so much money in this life. It was enough to forge most of the Tang Sect's mainstay Hidden Weapons.
He had wanted to stay and watch Gu Tian be executed by the Zhu Family, to see him kneel and beg for mercy. But sensing Zhu Ganglie's terrifying Soul Douluo-level pressure and his undisguised intent to drive him away, Tang San knew that if he stayed any longer, he might not live to spend the money.
Suppressing his excitement, Tang San bowed to Zhu Ganglie, then shot Gu Tian a venomous glare. He turned and hurried out of the hall's shadows with the ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Behind him, the doors to the council hall closed with a heavy thud.
A deathly silence fell over the hall. The only sound was Zhu Zhuyun's rhythmic nail-trimming, unnaturally sharp in the empty space.
"Daughters really are a lost cause once they're grown!"
Zhu Ganglie spoke, his voice like a funeral bell tolling from the abyss. "Zhu Zhuqing. You've gotten quite bold, daring to elope with an outsider. Do you realize that by leaving, you're shoving the entire Zhu Family's reputation into a pit of fire?"
The doors had shut completely, leaving the hall somewhat dim. Zhu Zhuqing said nothing, merely huddling in Gu Tian's arms. Zhu Ganglie stared down at his second daughter in Gu Tian's embrace. There was not a trace of a father's tenderness in his eyes, only furious indignation.
"Zhu Zhuqing, I'll ask you once more: where is Dai Mubai?" Zhu Ganglie strode forward. The crushing pressure of a Soul Douluo's aura made the stone tiles in the hall creak under the strain. "You're his fiancée. I heard that the night before he disappeared, he went to your room. Now he's run off, abandoning the honor of two great families and the iron laws of the Star Luo Imperial Family! And you? Not only do you refuse to repent, you elope with some boy of unknown origins?"
Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head, her cool, delicate body trembling slightly in Gu Tian's arms. She said nothing, only bit down hard on her lower lip. The despair of being betrayed by her family and treated as a sacrifice by her father turned into silent defiance.
"Speak!" Zhu Ganglie roared. "Do you know that His Majesty the Emperor has issued a death warrant? If Dai Mubai doesn't show up by the end of the year, you, as the other party to the contract, will be put to death according to ancient law, and buried alongside that incomplete Imperial bloodline! If you run away now, you'll drag the entire Zhu Family down with you!"
"Buried alongside him?" Gu Tian sneered, his eyes flashing with scorn. "To send your own daughter to her death for a coward who fled the battlefield, Marshal Zhu—your dignity as head of the family has truly opened my eyes."
Only then did Zhu Ganglie turn his full attention to Gu Tian. He studied the composed young man, who remained unshaken even under the pressure of a Soul Douluo, and furrowed his brow. "Who are you? The Anti-Air Array in Star Luo City is maintained by the Imperial Family's guards. And yet you managed to sneak into the Zhu Residence and take someone without a sound. Boy, commoners shouldn't fight the authorities. Tell me who stands behind you, and I'll spare your life! Otherwise, this council hall will be your grave!"
Zhu Zhuqing kept her lips tightly sealed. She looked at Gu Tian with a pleading gaze, as if she didn't want him dragged any deeper into this mire.
She slipped out of Gu Tian's arms and spread her arms, standing in front of him.
"Heh, and you still want to protect this boy?"
Zhu Zhuyun, who had been standing to the side with a cold, mocking smile, finally moved. Her curvaceous figure was encased in tight leather, and she sauntered forward, swaying her hips, her eyes full of jealousy and spite. "Dear sister, looks like you found yourself a backer out there. You even dare ignore Father's questions now. You've really grown bold."
Zhu Zhuyun stopped in front of them. Her gaze swept over Gu Tian's strikingly handsome face, then settled on Zhu Zhuqing. Her voice turned icy. "You think finding a pretty-faced boy will let you escape the Zhu Family's fate? You wretch, the family didn't raise you all these years so you could bring shame on us at a crucial moment!"
"Smack!"
Without warning, Zhu Zhuyun flashed forward. Her right hand streaked through the air and struck Zhu Zhuqing hard across the face.
The sharp slap echoed through the hall. Zhu Zhuqing was already weak, and the blow knocked her out of Gu Tian's arms and onto the floor. A thin line of blood immediately welled from the corner of her mouth.
"That slap was to teach you your place!" Zhu Zhuyun raised her foot again, aiming to kick Zhu Zhuqing in the stomach. "Sneaking around with an enemy, disgracing the family name, you—"
"You're asking for death."
Boom!
A violent aura, powerful enough to incinerate everything, erupted without warning in the center of the hall. The once-icy council hall shot up to a temperature so high that people's skin began to crack, and the air warped in rippling waves from the searing heat.
"What kind of stray cat dares lay a hand on someone under my protection?"
With a haughty, languid cry, a streak of burning red shot out from Gu Tian's chest, then transformed in midair into a fiery figure.
Chiyan's blazing red hair streamed wildly behind her, and her dark red leather top traced her breathtaking curves. She merely stood there, yet the black stone tiles beneath her feet instantly split open, turning to dark-red magma that flowed across the floor.
"This pressure! A... a Titled Douluo?!"
Zhu Ganglie's face changed drastically, and he staggered back several steps in terror. As a Soul Douluo of level eighty-plus, he had an exceptionally keen sense for powerful opponents. The red-haired woman's aura was unfathomable. The absolute suppression from her Martial Soul's rank made the Nether Civet Martial Soul inside him let out a despairing wail.
This was no ordinary Titled Douluo. This was a terrifying being who had already touched the edge of godhood!
"This can't be... How could someone this powerful be protecting you?" Zhu Ganglie's hands trembled violently with fear. He had none of a marshal's dignity left.
There weren't many Titled Douluos on Douluo Continent in this day and age. Zhu Ganglie's mind raced through the known fire-type Titled Douluos. The only possibility was someone from Spirit Hall.
Zhu Zhuyun was sent flying by a casual wave of Chiyan's hand. She slammed into a stone pillar and coughed up a mouthful of blood, her eyes filled with horror.
Gu Tian slowly stepped forward, bent down, and helped Zhu Zhuqing, her face streaked with tears, back to her feet. He gently wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Then he turned and looked coldly at Zhu Ganglie, his tone calm but murderous. "I'll make your entire Zhu Family pay for that slap."
"Y-you... What are you going to do?" Zhu Ganglie was drenched in cold sweat. He realized that the young man before him was no lamb waiting to be slaughtered, but a true god who could erase the Zhu Family with ease.
At this life-or-death moment, Zhu Ganglie's right hand, hidden behind his back, slammed down on a secret compartment beneath the throne.
"Beep—!"
A shrill alarm instantly rang throughout the Zhu Residence.
"Elite Guard Battalion! Elder Pavilion! Get your asses out here! We've got an enemy invasion!" Zhu Ganglie roared like a madman.
As the alarm sounded, the heavy black iron doors around the council hall burst open. Hundreds upon hundreds of Zhu Family elite troops surged in like a tide, carrying Soul-Breaking Heavy Crossbows and radiating a deep, oppressive aura. Behind them, several powerful waves of Soul Power, each at least at the Soul Saint level, were rapidly closing in.
Cowering behind the soldiers, Zhu Ganglie shouted with bluster that barely concealed his fear, "So what if you're a Titled Douluo? This is Star Luo City! This is Zhu Family territory! The Anti-Air Array is already active. Just hold them off, and reinforcements from the Imperial Family will be here any moment!"
Chiyan looked at the commoners around her, poised for battle, and a cruel, mocking smile curled her lips.
"Hold me off?" Chiyan let out a wild laugh, two flames of Red Lotus Karma Fire blazing over her fists. "Xiao Tian, tear this place apart. You don't mind, do you?"