Pan Long thought it over and over, but he still couldn't believe the Zeng Family was that capable.
So he sent his subordinates to investigate separately. Whatever they found, they would meet in five days at the Wind Patrol Office in Xiangping Prefecture, a major city in central You Province.
As for Pan Long, he found a deserted place, lit Lie Yukou's message incense, and asked the elder about the Zeng Family.
"You want to ask about the Zeng Family?" Lie Yukou sounded puzzled. "They're far to the Northeast, almost at the edge of You Province. How did you get tangled up with them?"
Pan Long explained the whole affair in detail, dwelling especially on his concerns.
Lie Yukou listened patiently without a word. After Pan Long finished, he waited a while longer before speaking. "I haven't concerned myself with worldly affairs for years. I didn't know things in You Province had changed so much... But I do know why the Zeng Family opposes peace with the Icefield Tribes, to the point of deliberately provoking conflict."
"Can you tell me?"
"Of course. The Zeng Family's origins aren't exactly honorable. Their ancestors were a branch of the Blood God Sect. They broke away during the Warring States period, then cleaned up their name after Great Xia was founded. Later, when Di Yihai fought in the Desert North, the Blood God Sect came out to stir up trouble. To prove they had long since severed ties with the sect, the Zeng Family paid a terrible price. Nearly all the men of their direct line died on the battlefield. Only then was the matter laid to rest, and no one held their origins against them again."
"Though the Zeng Family cleaned up its name, their cultivation method still grew out of the Blood