Xuan City, the Lin Clan residence.
"Hmph! You old bastard, you really dare to use my Lin Clan as your lackeys? You, Huo Ting, have me clean up your mess!"
In the Lin Clan's council hall, Lin Zehong, sitting on the main seat, trembled slightly. With a furious expression, he threw a jade slip away. Lin Ran, below, frowned slightly, stepped forward, picked up the jade slip, and then looked up at Lin Zehong, asking in a questioning voice:
"Father, what happened? What did Huo Ting say?"
As Lin Ran said this, her brows furrowed. If something could enrage her father so much, it couldn't be anything good.
"Hmph, just look at that old codger! When my Lin Clan rises to power, we will surely destroy your Huo Clan to uphold the prestige of the Lin Clan!"
Lin Zehong's hands, clenched into fists beneath his sleeves, veins bulging, and his angry expression betrayed the turmoil in his heart.
At the same time, Lin Ran below also infused a trace of Spiritual Strength into the jade slip in her hand. Immediately afterwards, the information inside the jade slip appeared in Lin Ran's mind without any error.
After just a few breaths, Lin Ran's expression turned grim, and a deep sense of resentment welled up in her eyes. Huo Ting's actions were truly treating them like lackeys again!
According to the information contained in the jade slip, Huo Ting's intention was for Lin Zehong to capture the king beast from the mountain range in the Bai Clan's territory that they had previously searched. He would personally come to inquire about it soon. In addition, Huo Ting even threatened that if Lin Zehong failed to handle this matter properly, the tribute that the Lin Clan would pay this year would be doubled. This was truly bullying!
"This Huo Clan is truly going too far! Our Lin Clan has sacrificed so much for them over the years, and now they're suppressing Lin Clan like this over a mere disagreement. They're clearly taking all the anger Xiao Yan caused them out on us!"
Lin Ran frowned, his expression as somber as his father's. Indeed, they were father and son, their appearances were remarkably alike.
"Hmph, what's the use of saying so much now? We can only bear it for now. The problem is, although the strongest guy in that mountain range is only Nine-Star Half-Emperor, that's Bai Clan family territory. That's a bit troublesome!"
Lin Zehong gave a cold snort, his brows furrowing involuntarily. The territories of the Four Great Clans usually do not interfere with each other. Even Huo Ting is unwilling to easily step into the Bai Clan's territory. His Lin Clan is currently only an affiliated force between the two families. If he were to step into the Bai Clan's territory, he would inevitably give the Bai Clan something to talk about. If the two families put pressure on his Lin Clan together, it would be even more troublesome.
"What are we going to do now? If we don't bring that beast back, Huo Ting will definitely take his anger out on the Lin Clan. Then we'll have to pay double our salaries, plus the Bai Clan too. That's a huge price to pay!"
The Lin Clan already spent a considerable amount of money at the last auction. If they were to pay double the salary now, it would inevitably shake the foundation of the Lin Clan.
"Damn it, we can't worry about that now. The Bai Clan's territory is so vast, they can't possibly take care of everything. Besides, if something really happens, they can just push this mess onto Huo Ting. Right now, the most important thing is to catch that beast."
With his mind made up, Lin Zehong withdrew his thoughts. The most crucial thing was whether or not to go on this trip. If he could safely bring that beast back, the matter would naturally be over. If he was discovered, the result would be the same. He might as well give it a try and gamble on his luck.
Then, Lin Zehong set off alone, flying south towards Xuan City, which was the territory of the Bai Clan.
Just as Lin Zehong left Xuan City, somewhere in Xuan City, a young man in white also witnessed this scene. Immediately, the young man in white raised his eyes, stared at the direction Lin Zehong left in, hesitated for a moment, and then set off to follow him.
The Bai Clan's territory was vast, but in the eyes of Dou Di expert, it was nothing special. With Lin Zehong's speed, in just over an hour, after a long journey, he had already approached the center of the mountain range below.
Upon arriving here, Lin Zehong, who had been flying forward at breakneck speed, suddenly frowned. He had been busy traveling, worried about being encountered by the Bai Clan, and hadn't paid much attention. However, he could still sense a faint aura that had been closely following him for some time. Although Lin Zehong had left it far behind due to their respective strengths, it had caught up again in a short while. This startled Lin Zehong, who wondered if the person following him was from the Bai Clan.
Thinking of this, Lin Zehong couldn't help but feel a surge of killing intent. Judging from the aura, the other party was clearly no match for him. If this was a Half-Emperor from the Bai Clan, he could simply take the opportunity to kill him and be done with it, thus saving him from causing any trouble.
With this thought in mind, Lin Zehong immediately slipped into the forest below, concealing his presence and waiting for the person to arrive.
A moment later, a figure swiftly flew over from the distant void. Just as it passed the void above Lin Zehong's head, the figure stopped, frowned, and peered into the distance, seemingly searching for something. After a short while, the young man frowned helplessly, a look of suspicion appearing on his handsome face. Then, he moved and continued flying deeper into the mountains.
In the mountains below, Lin Zehong's heart skipped a beat when he saw the newcomer. He never expected to meet him here. At this moment, the young man standing in the void, dressed in flowing white robes, was none other than Bai Zhan, the young master of the Bai Clan.
"How could it be him? This guy never leaves his house, how could he be here? But judging from his expression just now, he probably didn't recognize me, otherwise we would be in big trouble."
Lin Zehong breathed a sigh of relief after silently telling himself this, but he still dared not relax. Upon seeing Bai Zhan, Lin Zehong stopped trying to rise into the air and instead moved quickly through the jungle below to avoid encountering Bai Zhan.
On the other side, after confirming that he had distanced himself from Lin Zehong, Bai Zhan paused in mid-air, his eyes narrowed, and a cold glint gradually appeared in them.