Wu Rong, the current head of the Wu Family, slumped on the wet ground. Water streamed down his face, indistinguishable from tears.
"It's over."
Those two words surfaced unbidden in his mind.
The patriarch was dead.
And his family's collusion with the Nine Evil Sect had been exposed.
In the Prefectural City, the Nine Evil Sect was an absolute red line, something that could never be brought into the open.
A century-old martial family had become a fallen tree whose monkeys scattered, all in a single night.
Wu Rong plunged his hands into the muddy water, clawing at the gaps between the paving stones. Two of his nails split, but he felt nothing.
He knew that after Xiao Zhengyan heard this news, there was no way he would continue protecting the Wu Family.
Anyone branded with the words "Nine Evil Sect" had to flee from them.
Even a Deputy Chief Inspector of the Evil Punishment Office would not bury the reputation he had spent years building alongside them.
Just as Wu Rong closed his eyes and waited for death, something happened.
The towering, mountain-like figure before him moved.
Xiao Zhengyan's loosened hand closed around his heavy sword's hilt again. His fingers tightened, making the leather wrapping creak.
He looked at Yi Yang. Several expressions passed through his tiger-like eyes before settling into one Yi Yang could not quite decipher. Then he spoke.
"Commander Yi."
"I don't know whether what you said is true."
He paused, rubbed his thumb across a notch in the heavy sword, and continued.
"But until this matter is clarified, Wu Rong cannot be handed over to you."
Standing opposite him, Yi Yang lowered his brows and thought:
*What does he mean? He still dares to protect the Wu Family after their collusion with the Nine Evil