The Zhao Family

Chen Yang got to the bottom of the matter and cast his consciousness farther afield.

Now that he was at Late Qi Gathering, the range covered by his "Observation" consciousness could encompass every village on the North Bank.

At this moment, at the entrance west of the village guarded by Clan Soldiers, a long convoy of carriages was waiting.

More than seventy members of the Liang Family were anxiously waiting here.

It was their first time entering Pine Mountain territory, and they all craned their necks curiously to peer inside.

"So this is a village under the Yang Family's rule? It's actually this prosperous!"

"Yeah. Aside from its size, it already looks no different from a town!"

"Quick, look over there! Oh, my dear mother—that gold-painted gate and red walls must be the Yang Family's manor! It's far grander than the town lord's estate!"

Having witnessed the Yang Family's strength with their own eyes, the Liang Family members all voiced their amazement.

Then someone noticed the mist drifting above the cliffs north of the Yang Family.

"It's broad daylight. Why is there such thick mist?"

As they discussed it, several people raised their hands and pointed at Mist Mountain.

Bang!

At that moment, the Clan Soldiers on guard flew into a rage. One smashed his spear against the ground and shouted, "Insolence! Do not show disrespect to the immortal mountain!"

The Liang Family members hurriedly lowered their heads in apology and shrank back into the line.

Yet when they looked at the Clan Soldiers, there was more envy than fear in their eyes.

Before coming here, they had never seen a family capable of raising an armed force of its own.

"Sigh... The Yang Family is this powerful. Whether they take us in or not makes no difference to them. Will they truly be willing to shelter us?"

"Once we submit, we'll probably have to do backbreaking labor to repay our debts."

"Enough. If we can find protection and preserve our bloodline, what does a little hardship matter?"

Just then, sounds came from ahead. Yang Xiaolei arrived with a squad of Clan Soldiers.

Following the information in Liang Yi's roster, he checked them one by one before allowing them through. In the end, a total of seventy-four Liang Family members entered the village.

After they followed Yang Xiaolei toward their lodgings, a villager who had been watching from afar raced frantically toward the eastern end of the village.

He ran until he was gasping for breath, finally stopping before a large residence with a plaque overhead that read, "Zhao Mansion."

"Steward, what happened to you?"

Seeing this, the servants guarding the gate hurried forward to support him.

"Quick, help me see the master! Something terrible has happened!"

The steward stumbled into the rear courtyard in a few hurried steps. Zhao Dapeng was leisurely feeding the koi in the pond with several guests from his household.

"What is it? Why are you in such a panic?"

Seeing the steward panting so hard he could barely catch his breath, Zhao Dapeng frowned in displeasure.

Zhao Dapeng wore a vivid long robe woven from silk and brocade, a pearl-studded cap on his head, and a white jade piece rolling in his hand. He was plump and ruddy-faced.

There was no trace left of the old farmer he had been just over a year ago. He now looked every inch the wealthy gentleman.

The steward could not spare time for ceremony. He stepped forward and whispered a few words into Zhao Dapeng's ear, whereupon Zhao Dapeng's expression changed.

He then found an excuse to send away the guests and returned to his room with the steward.

"Is what you said true?"

"Master, I saw it with my own eyes. More than seventy people—absolutely true!"

Zhao Dapeng leaned half-back in his chair, turning the white jade beads in his hand as his gaze shifted endlessly.

"Master, the Main Family has truly made its move this time..." the steward said in a low voice.

At those words, Zhao Dapeng's anger immediately flared.

"Damn it! A bunch of useless fools, incapable of success and more than capable of ruining things! I told them to restrain themselves, but they wouldn't listen. Now they've displeased the Main Family—what are we supposed to do? This is enough to make my baleful intent boil!"

Zhao Dapeng slapped the armrest and rose to his feet. "Go, summon everyone in the household to the rear courtyard! Remember, everyone! Drag those brats back too!"

"Understood, I'll go right away!"

The steward hurried from the room, leaving Zhao Dapeng standing alone inside with a dark expression.

"Sigh... What a sin."

He recalled the days when he had toiled in the fields. Back then, he could scarcely hire even a helper to lend a hand, and whenever he visited relatives, they looked at him with naked disdain.

With no other choice, he could only bring the young Zhao Qi out to the fields with him.

Every night, when he saw the blisters worn into the child's soles, his heart ached terribly.

Life as a farmer had originally been passable enough. Each year, the several mouths in the household could eat their fill, with a little left over besides.

But who could have expected the beast calamity to come? To survive, they had no choice but to abandon their fields and family property.

Zhao Dapeng had brought his family to kneel outside White Stone Town for three days and three nights, yet the gates never opened. With nowhere left to turn, he came running to the Yang Family with his last shred of hope, seeking shelter.

Fortunately, the Yang Family had been kind-hearted enough to take in refugees like them, build temporary dwellings for them, and give them food.

From that moment on, Zhao Dapeng had devoted himself to the Yang Family.

Later, when people spread idle gossip about the Yang Family, he had been the first to step forward and curse them for having hearts eaten by dogs!

Later still, the Beast Tide was quelled, and they received farmland, beginning a new life beneath Pine Mountain.

Looking back now, it seemed the Zhao Family's fortunes had begun to change from that very time.

They had weathered hardship alongside the Yang Family and gained clan status. Then Zhao Qi was chosen by the Yang Family's Immortal Master, and Zhao Dapeng's standing underwent a heaven-and-earth transformation.

He gained a grand residence, became a great master, and his life immediately grew prosperous.

Yet he had never expected that once the good days arrived, trouble would come knocking as well.

As the saying went, the poor might dwell in a bustling market and receive no visitors, while the rich might live deep in the mountains and find distant relatives at their door. Once word spread that Zhao Dapeng had moved his family into a new residence, relatives who had seldom contacted him in the past all scrambled to visit.

Not only did relatives such as third aunts and fourth uncles come calling, even distant kin with only the faintest blood connection came seeking to depend on him.

Those were still manageable. In the end, even people who merely shared the Zhao surname had the gall to come knocking shamelessly.

Zhao Dapeng lost his temper and threw them all out.

But once was manageable; twice, three times, they came every day to wear him down with soft persistence. He grew sick of dealing with them.

In the end, he gathered all his relatives and simply established a new genealogy. With Zhao Dapeng as patriarch, he clearly sorted out seniority and closeness of kin.

He had thought life would become peaceful after that, but who would have imagined that this was the very source of disaster?

Those Zhao Family descendants entered into the genealogy believed themselves to be descendants of an Immortal Master, and began throwing their weight around in the village.

At first, they merely bought on credit at taverns and shops. Later, seeing that others feared them and no one restrained them, they became increasingly reckless.

Eventually, there were even incidents of monopolizing businesses, bullying merchants, and beating people in the streets.

The result was that all of them were seized by Clan Soldiers, brutally taught a lesson, made to pay compensation, and finally escorted back to Zhao Mansion.

Zhao Dapeng even personally brought those bastard juniors to the Main Family to apologize.

He had thought they would recognize their mistakes and settle down somewhat. But to his utter disbelief, those fools refused to change their ways. With Clan Soldiers on the North Bank, they ran to the South Bank to stir up trouble instead, making the South Bank's people suffer unspeakably.

"A pack of brainless idiots! They've truly dragged me down with them!"

Whenever Zhao Dapeng thought of these vexing matters, his chest tightened with anger.

He himself did not care. Even if he had to go to the Main Family to be punished, he would not utter a single complaint. What he feared most was that these rotten affairs would affect Zhao Qi, who had gone up the mountain.

The Liang Family's submission appeared on the surface to be the Main Family performing charity and offering relief, but Zhao Qian knew full well that it was a warning knock meant for him!

From this day onward, the Zhao Family's dominance over the North Bank would no longer exist.

"Master, everyone is here," the steward said from outside the door.

Hearing this, Zhao Dapeng steadied himself. The hesitation in his heart vanished completely, and when his eyes widened, they brimmed with ruthless ferocity.

In that instant, the somewhat portly master of the Zhao Family became once more the mountain farmer who had once kept solitary watch through the night.

Then he pulled an old, worn brush-clearing machete from beneath the bed and strode out the door.