Harvest, Departure

That night, the Jia Lie Clan was completely erased from Wutan City.

Its great estate was taken over in full by the Xiao Household. Warehouses, account books, deeds to the markets... the foundation the Jia Lie Household had amassed over decades changed hands overnight.

The smiles on the Xiao Household stewards' faces could not be suppressed as they counted the spoils.

The gold coins stockpiled in the warehouses alone rivaled several years of the Xiao Household's income.

The First Elder personally led men to search Jia Lie Bi's study, uncovering several letters hidden in secret compartments that documented his dealings with various forces.

A few of them were correspondence between the Oba Clan and the Jia Lie Household.

After reading the letters, Xiao Zhan let out a cold laugh.

"Patriarch, should we take this opportunity...?"

The First Elder made a chopping gesture.

Xiao Zhan pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"No rush. Once we have fully absorbed these spoils and the Xiao Household's strength rises another level, even if Oba Pa does not want to lower his head, he will have to."

The First Elder nodded and said no more.

By the time Xiao Zhan walked out through the gates of the Jia Lie Household, the sky was already beginning to lighten in the east.

Morning light shone in from the east, falling upon the plaque that had hung above the Jia Lie Household's gates for who knew how many years.

Xiao Zhan glanced up at it, then casually waved his hand. A streak of Dou Qi cleaved the plaque in two, and it crashed to the ground.

"From today onward, there will no longer be a Jia Lie Clan in Wutan City."

He turned and headed toward the Xiao Household.

After taking a few steps, Xiao Zhan suddenly stopped and looked back at the estate behind him, where the Xiao Household stewards were still inventorying everything.

The Jia Lie Clan—the Jia Lie Clan that had fought him, Xiao Zhan, for so many years—was simply gone.

And the fuse that had set it all off had been a conflict with a young man.

When he returned to the Xiao Household, Xiao Zhan passed through the corridors and headed straight for the guest room where Qin Yu was staying. His steps were quicker than usual, and a Storage Ring was tucked into his robes.

Though he had not slept all night, Xiao Zhan was in remarkably good spirits.

The Jia Lie Clan had fallen. The heavy stone that had pressed upon the Xiao Household's chest for so many years had finally been removed.

Xiao Zhan stopped outside the door and raised a hand to knock.

"Young friend Qin Yu, it's me."

The door quickly opened. Qin Yu had already changed into clean clothes. Seeing that it was Xiao Zhan, he gave a slight nod and stepped aside.

"Patriarch Xiao, come in."

Xiao Zhan entered the guest room, took the Storage Ring from his robes, and held it out to Qin Yu.

"Young friend, this contains half of the Jia Lie Clan's assets: gold coins, medicinal ingredients, cultivation methods, Dou Techniques, and the like. They are all inside."

Qin Yu's gaze fell upon the Storage Ring, and his brow twitched slightly.

He had not expected Xiao Zhan to offer half the Jia Lie Clan's assets.

The Jia Lie Clan had been entrenched in Wutan City for so many years, and the wealth it had accumulated was certainly considerable. Half of its assets was no small sum.

"However, I did not put the market deeds and shop contracts inside."

Xiao Zhan spoke openly, without trying to conceal anything.

"I figured those things would be useless to you. It is not as if you could stay in Wutan City just to collect rent, right? Haha."

Given Qin Yu's strength and talent, Xiao Zhan knew full well that he would never be content to spend his life in obscurity in Wutan City.

Qin Yu did not decline. He accepted the Storage Ring readily.

Xiao Zhan gave it openly, so he accepted it without hesitation. There was no need for empty politeness.

"Thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you."

Xiao Zhan waved his hand, his expression serious.

"Even without this matter involving you, the Xiao Household and the Jia Lie Clan would have had to settle things sooner or later. But without you, it truly would have been hard to say how things might have turned out."

Qin Yu slipped the Storage Ring onto his finger, sensed the items packed inside, then looked up.

"Patriarch Xiao, the Jia Lie Clan is gone. It is time for me to leave as well."

"So soon? Will you not rest for a few more days?"

Xiao Zhan froze for a moment. The more he looked at Qin Yu, the more he liked the young man. If only he had a daughter, otherwise...

"No. I left the academy this time to travel and gain experience. I have already been delayed in Wutan City for several days. It is time to set out."

"Then... take care on your journey."

Qin Yu nodded to Xiao Zhan, then turned and walked out of the guest room.

Xiao Zhan remained standing in the room, staring in the direction Qin Yu had left for a long time.

Only after quite a while did he slowly leave the room and sit down in the corridor, repeatedly recalling everything that had happened over the past few days.

What had left the deepest impression on him was the sentence relayed by the First Elder.

"The Jia Lie Clan has already threatened something important to him. If the Jia Lie Clan is not destroyed, he cannot sleep."

At first, Xiao Zhan had assumed Qin Yu meant his own life.

After all, the Jia Lie Clan had sent people to kill him. It was perfectly reasonable for him to uproot the threat completely and eliminate future trouble.

But now, the more Xiao Zhan thought about it, the more something felt wrong.

With Qin Yu's strength, the few people sent by the Jia Lie Clan could not possibly threaten his life.

Would someone capable of killing a Two-Star Great Dou Master head-on fear assassination by the Jia Lie Clan?

Even if Jia Lie Bi acted personally, he probably could not keep Qin Yu there. He might even be killed by Qin Yu in return.

Then what exactly was that important thing he had spoken of?

Xiao Zhan closed his eyes and went through everything that had happened these past few days from beginning to end, arriving at an answer.

That little house.

What Qin Yu cared about was not that the Jia Lie Clan had sent people to kill him. No matter how many came, he would kill them all. What he cared about was that house.

He feared that after he left, the Jia Lie Clan's people would smash, burn, or tear down that old, shabby little house, so that when he returned next time, there would not even be a place left for him to look at.

That was why he had not left. He wanted to destroy the Jia Lie Clan and remove that threat completely.

Xiao Zhan opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

An eighteen- or nineteen-year-old young man had killed a Two-Star Great Dou Master head-on and uprooted a clan that had been entrenched in Wutan City for many years.

And the reason he had done all of it was merely to protect an empty, shabby little house. It sounded somewhat unbelievable.

Yet Xiao Zhan felt that this reason resonated with him more than any other.

If a person could not even protect what they cared about, what was the point of cultivating and becoming stronger?

What Qin Yu cared about was not the house itself, but what that house represented.

Xiao Zhan rose to his feet and headed toward the front courtyard, arriving at the courtyard where the clan stewards handled their daily affairs.

When he pushed open the door and entered, several stewards were sorting through the Jia Lie Clan's belongings. Upon seeing him, they all rose and bowed.

"Patriarch."

Xiao Zhan nodded. His gaze swept over them before settling on a steward in his thirties.

"Xiao An, go take care of something."

"Patriarch, please give your instructions."

"In the western part of the city, at the very end of Gourd Alley, there is a little house. Starting today, arrange for people to check on it regularly."

"The house does not need renovating, nor does anything need changing. Repair the doors and windows if they break, rebuild the courtyard wall if it collapses, and pull the weeds if they grow."

"In short, nothing must happen to that house."

Xiao An was slightly stunned. He had thought that the patriarch had summoned him so early in the morning to assign some important matter.

But it turned out he was being told to watch over a ruined little house in the western part of the city?

"Patriarch, is there... something special about that house?"

Xiao An could not help asking.

"There is nothing special about it. It is simply that if anything goes wrong with that house, someone will be unhappy."

Someone would be unhappy.

For someone to make Patriarch Xiao Zhan personally give such instructions, Xiao An could more or less guess who that person was.