Undercurrents in the Family, a Chilling Edge

The Xiahou Family Manor in the Jinling City.

Deep within the manor, in that vast underground chamber.

"Click, click..."

Withered fingers rhythmically tapped the pale bone armrest. Xiahou Chen, the current head of the Xiahou Family, sat with his eyes closed in the large bone chair. A layer of dark red blood energy, invisible to the naked eye, surrounded him, faintly emanating a terrifying aura that sent chills down one's spine.

At the bottom of the steps, a tribesman dressed in a black suit was kneeling on one knee, his forehead covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, not daring to even breathe loudly.

You mean...?

Xiahou Chen stopped knocking, slowly opened his eyes, and spoke in a hoarse but calm voice.

"The wilderness survival training is over, but that commoner boy named Dongfang Yueming returned to the city alive. My daughter, Xiahou Ying, however, has disappeared?"

"Yes... yes, patriarch." The man in black swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly. "The instructor leading the group reported that they were attacked by a pack of Wind Blade Wolf, and the group was scattered. The city defense forces and the school have already sent people to search the surrounding area, but... there's still no trace of the young lady."

The air inside the sealed room seemed to freeze.

The family elders standing in the shadows exchanged glances, their expressions varied.

"It seems that Zhang'er did some unnecessary and foolish things behind our backs before receiving his 'baptism'."

Xiahou Chen did not fly into a rage; instead, a chilling smile curled at the corner of his lips.

He knew his son all too well. Xiahou Zhang still retained a trace of the ridiculous human attachments that belonged to him. Before he completely became a "Holy Clan," it was perfectly reasonable for him to secretly leave his sister some warning or resources so that she could escape.

"Patriarch, if the young lady really knows the family's secret and runs away, what if word gets out..." An elder stepped forward, his tone carrying a hint of murderous intent.

"What's the panic?"

Xiahou Chen gave him a cold glance.

"Did she think that by escaping Jinling, she could escape her fate? How naive."

"The blood of the Xiahou Family still flows in her veins."

Xiahou Chen raised his hand and pointed to a lean, sinister-looking man standing at the very edge.

"Xiahou Yuan, you can make the trip."

"Follow the guidance of your bloodline, bring that disobedient girl back to me unharmed."

"Yes, patriarch." The man called Xiahou Yuan grinned, revealing a set of sharp, white teeth. His aura surged, revealing him to be a powerful expert who had reached the Blood Refining Realm!

"Master, there's one more thing..."

The first black-clad clansman to report hesitated for a moment, then forced himself to continue, "Deacon Xiahou Jing, who was in charge of placing the 'bait' for Dongfang Yueming... has also gone missing."

"He was supposed to return last night to report back. But not only has he not returned, but the advanced tracking device he was carrying has also been forcibly removed, and the signal has been completely lost."

These words immediately caused a stir in the secret room.

"Xiahou Jing is at the Blood Refining Realm Seventh Layer! Moreover, once he reveals his true form as a member of the ' Holy Clan,' he can even fight against someone at the Peak Blood Refining Realm!"

"Could it be that we've encountered Ferocious Beast of the second tier or higher?"

"Impossible! The area where he was responsible for setting the bait was at the very edge of the wild zone!"

"Could it be... that those persistent Rat of the Night Watchers have their eyes on him?" an elder speculated gravely.

Despite the worries and discussions of his clansmen, Xiahou Chen remained firmly seated in the bone chair, his expression completely unwavering.

A hint of absolute coldness flashed in his deep, vertical pupils.

"Quiet."

Just two words, yet they carried an irresistible pressure, instantly silencing all other sounds.

"If Jing Ruo dies, it's because he's useless; he has no one to blame but himself."

Xiahou Chen stood up, and in that instant, the immense energy and blood within him even caused the surrounding space to slightly distort.

"As for the Night Watchers, there's no need to worry!"

at the same time.

Inside what appears to be an abandoned underground slaughterhouse in the old Jinling City.

This is a secret liaison point for the Great Xia Night Watchers in Jinling City.

Zhan Qiushui stood pale-faced in front of a cold stainless steel dissection table. Her chest was wrapped in thick bandages, and every breath she took pulled at her broken ribs, bringing a piercing pain.

In the shadows opposite her stood an extremely burly man.

The man wore a large black trench coat and a Wolf Fang mask that only revealed his eyes and mouth. Just by standing there, the terrifying aura emanating from his body echoed faintly in the slaughterhouse like muffled Lei Ming.

This is a sign that a Blood Transformation Realm expert's body has undergone a qualitative change, and their muscles and bones resonate with every movement!

Intermediate Investigator, codename: Wolf Fang!

"Bang!"

Wolf Fang slammed his fist heavily onto the iron table next to him, and the solid iron table instantly dented into a large chunk.

"Zhan Qiushui! You're being ridiculous!"

A low growl, laced with suppressed rage, came from beneath the mask. "My mission for you was 'to observe from the shadows'! Who gave you the right to act on your own and confront Variants of Xiahou Jing's caliber head-on?!"

"If you hadn't been lucky, you'd be a pile of excrement inside its belly by now!"

Faced with her boss's anger, Zhan Qiushui bit her lip but did not back down.

"Sir, Xiahou Jing was releasing 'bait' to accelerate the growth of civilian martial artists! If I don't stop him, more innocent students will suffer!"

"Innocent?" Wolf Fang sneered. "To lure out the bigger fish behind the Xiahou Family, necessary sacrifices are worthwhile! Don't you understand what the big picture means?!"

Zhan Qiushui's eyes darkened; what she hated most was this kind of condescending "sacrifice theory."

But that's not the point...

Wolf Fang took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. He turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife as he stared at the pile of scraps of flesh belonging to Xiahou Jing, pieced together from the ruins, on the dissection table.

He reached out his tactical-gloved hand and turned over the mangled limb covered in hard scales.

The more I looked, the more shocked I became in his eyes beneath the mask.

"This isn't your swordsmanship."

Wolf Fang's voice became extremely solemn.

"Your ' Fourteen Blades of Frost and Cold ' is Profound Grade martial skill, primarily focused on freezing and extreme cold cutting. But these cuts..."

He picked up a scale; the cut was as smooth as a mirror, and even the biological structure inside the scale was completely annihilated by an extremely pure and violent Sharpness energy.

"In an instant, hundreds upon hundreds of unavoidable sword energies were unleashed, forming an absolute killing zone..."

Wolf Fang took a deep breath.

"This is... Earth-Level Profound Truth!"

He suddenly turned to look at Zhan Qiushui, his tone filled with disbelief.

"When did a monster of this level appear in Jinling City? Who did it?!"

The image of the young man with a black cloth covering his face, wielding an E-grade Tang sword, and exuding a terrifying aura of "Qi and Blood Like a Dragon" appeared in Zhan Qiushui's mind.

"I don't know him. He's masked, and his strength is unfathomable."

Zhan Qiushui answered truthfully, but concealed the fact that Dongfang Yueming only had the Qi and blood fluctuations of the Blood Nourishing Realm. This was too unbelievable, and even Wolf Fang might not believe it if he told them.

"He not only saved me, but also instantly killed Xiahou Jing in his transformed state. I tried to recruit him to the Night Watchers, but he refused."

"They refused?" Wolf Fang frowned.

The presence of a powerful, unaffiliated individual who has mastered even the most profound mysteries of the Earth Grade or Heaven Grade in Jinling City poses a significant destabilizing factor for the Night Watchers.

"By the way, sir!"

Zhan Qiushui suddenly remembered something, and a glint of excitement flashed in her eyes. She took out a sealed evidence bag from her tactical pocket, inside which was a cell phone stained with blood.

"This was found on Xiahou Jing's corpse! I've examined it; although it's encrypted, it definitely contains a list of commoner martial artists that the Xiahou Family keeps as 'food,' and may even contain records of their communication with higher-level Variants!"

She handed the evidence bag to Wolf Fang, her voice trembling slightly with excitement.

"With this irrefutable evidence, we can finally apply for an action order from above to completely eradicate this malignant tumor of the Xiahou Family!"

However.

The expected excitement and praise from her superior did not materialize.

Wolf Fang simply stared silently at the evidence bag, his gaze so deep it was unfathomable.

He reached out and, with unusually steady, even somewhat indifferent movements, took the evidence bag and casually stuffed it into the pocket of his trench coat.

"Sir?" Zhan Qiushui was stunned, a sense of unease rising in her heart.

"I've accepted the evidence; I'll hand it over to the technical department for decryption."

Wolf Fang turned around, his back to her, and his voice returned to its usual cold, businesslike tone.

"As for the Xiahou Family's affairs, they involve far-reaching issues and are not something a junior investigator like you should concern yourself with. The higher-ups naturally have their own considerations."

"But..." Zhan Qiushui wanted to say something more.

"No buts!"

Wolf Fang abruptly interrupted her.

"Zhan Qiushui, you have seriously violated discipline this time, almost causing a major disaster! I am now formally informing you that your fieldwork is suspended indefinitely."

"Go back and recover from your injury, then write a detailed self-criticism report and submit it to me."

"As for the action order..."

Wolf Fang tilted his head slightly, revealing only a cold eye beneath the mask.

"Let's wait for further notice."

After saying that, he ignored Zhan Qiushui, who was standing there dumbfounded, and strode out of the slaughterhouse. The heavy iron gate made a dull "rumble" behind him.

The basement fell silent once more.

Zhan Qiushui stood alone in front of the dissection table, her face deathly pale.

As she watched the direction Wolf Fang had gone, she felt as if a bucket of icy water had been poured over her from head to toe.

"Wait for further notice..."

In the bureaucratic system, these three words often mean... a long way off.