“Grandmother, don’t listen to his nonsense, if it weren’t for Lu Bai Chuan asking him, why would he have come to our Zhang Family at this time!?”
Before the old woman could speak, the fat cultivator who had been imprisoned by Yang Kai sharply accused.
Yang Kai could only smile bitterly.
The old woman glared at the fat cultivator and scolded harshly, “Since when did I need you to tell me how to handle myself?”
The fat cultivator’s neck shrank as he did not dare to argue back.
The old woman turned her gaze back to Yang Kai again and released her Divine Sense; after realizing that Yang Kai’s cultivation was much higher than her own, her expression changed slightly, “Your Excellency’s cultivation is profound. If you were truly sent here by Lu Bai Chuan, there would not be any need for conversation. Alright. I will believe you, but that still does not explain why Your Excellency has come to the Zhang Family.”
“I’m here because I was entrusted to come by another. Please have a look at this, old madam,” As Yang Kai spoke, he took out a Space Ring and tossed it over to the old woman.
The old woman stretched out her hand to catch it, taking a deep look at Yang Kai for a moment before she poured her Divine Sense into the Space Ring.
The next moment, the old woman’s face turned pale, and her body trembled violently, as if she had suffered a heavy injury, even going so far as to open her mouth and cough up a mouthful of blood, causing her old face to suddenly become even older.
“How dare you use a sneak attack!?” The fat cultivator exclaimed furiously.
It was natural for him to misunderstand the situation; after all, the old woman had suddenly had such a response after catching the Space Ring. Anyone would think that Yang Kai had done something to the Space Ring and used it as a way to attack the old woman secretively.
The women who were standing behind the old woman also turned fierce as they glared towards Yang Kai with indignation. Each of them began pushing their strength while some bolder ones even summoned their artifacts and immediately began to attack.
Facing this group of women’s attacks, Yang Kai couldn’t help but feeling a bit anxious as he hurriedly retreated to open up some distance between them.
“Stop!” The old woman suddenly shouted.
These women clearly respected the old woman greatly, so although they were very upset with Yang Kai’s behaviour and deeds, when the old woman gave a command, all of them obeyed.
“Grandmother, are you alright? Does it hurt?” At that time, the young girl who had been supporting the old woman asked with a worried look, her hand reaching out to stroke the old woman’s back.
The old woman shook her head to indicate she was fine before turning her eyes back to Yang Kai, all the hostility from before being replaced with desolate sorrow as she asked, “Dare I ask this Little Brother, this Space Ring… From whom did you obtain it?”
Yang Kai’s lips moved slightly as he sent his voice directly to the old woman’s ears.
As soon as the old woman heard his words, she staggered again, but soon, a mirthless smile covered her face as she mourned, “Such cruel fate! Although this old woman had expected it, I had still prayed it would not be true.”
“Mother, what happened?” A beautiful middle-aged woman with a First-Order Origin King cultivation asked.
“See for yourself,” The old woman handed the ring in her hand to the middle-aged woman.
The woman took it, and after inspecting it closely, her pretty face also turned white. After scanning its content with her Divine Sense, tears suddenly flowed down her cheeks.
As Zhang Gao Xuan’s family, they recognized the items in his Space Ring. Now that Zhang Gao Xuan’s Space Ring was here, but he was nowhere to be seen, even a fool could guess what had happened.
Looking at this scene, Yang Kai felt a sense of sympathy and did not try to rush them, instead just standing by quietly while the Zhang Family digested the news that Zhang Gao Xuan had died.
Although they did not know the specific story, seeing the reactions of the old woman and the middle-aged beauty, it was apparent that they had already speculated things were like this, but that did not stop them from feeling sorrow.
After a long time, the old woman took a deep breath and turned to Yang Kai, “Honoured Guest, this old woman has been rude, please come inside.”
“Very well, I still have something I need to give you,” Yang Kai nodded.
Under the leadership of the old woman and the middle-aged beauty, Yang Kai was led to a meeting hall in the manor.
Everyone else was ordered to wait outside while only the old woman, the middle-aged woman, and the young girl who was assisting her Grandmother were allowed to enter, the latter curiously directing her eyes towards Yang Kai.
After ordering tea to be served, the old woman spoke, “Little Brother, regarding the misunderstanding from before, I hope that Little Brother can appreciate the traumatic circumstances my Zhang Family has experienced and not take our offence to heart.”
“It’s fine, old madam. I am sorry for your loss,” Yang Kai nodded.
“You said just now that you have something else to deliver to us, may I ask what that is?” The old woman asked.
“This,” Yang Kai took out another jade slip and handed it to the old woman while explaining, “Before your Zhang Family’s Patriarch died, he left a message in this jade slip and asked me to deliver it. Old madam will understand everything after she reads it.”
The old woman accepted the jade slip and poured her Divine Sense into it. A short time later, she passed it to the middle-aged woman in a calm manner.
When the middle-aged beauty finished reading the contents of this jade slip. however, she ground her teeth angrily and shouted, “As I thought! It was that old dog Lu Bai Chuan’s poisonous hand that killed my husband! Mother, I must seek revenge for my husband!”
Hearing what she said, Yang Kai realized that this woman was Zhang Gao Xuan’s wife, and it seemed that this old woman was Zhang Gao Xuan’s mother.
Losing one’s child, being forced to bury them rather than being buried by them, it was a fate no parent ever wished to endure, but this old woman was actually able to adjust her mood in such a short time, causing Yang Kai to admire her.
“Naturally, this enmity must be settled, but do you have the ability?” The old woman gave the middle-aged woman a cold look.
“Daughter-in-law is indeed not the opponent of that old dog, but even if she dies, she must still carve a piece of his flesh out!” The middle-aged beauty clenched her teeth as her eyes filled with hatred.
“Bold words,” The old woman sneered, “But I’m afraid that death will not be your fate. If you go now, only humiliation will await you!”
As soon as this statement came out, the middle-aged beauty could not help paling.
“If you understand, then sit down!” The old woman stamped her cane severely and ordered.
The middle-aged woman did not dare to disobey and fell back onto her seat feebly, her eyes seemingly losing their lustre.
Yang Kai saw this and sighed, “Old madam, might I ask what tragedy has befallen your household in addition to Brother Zhang’s misfortune inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda?”
The old woman heard this, and her expression darkened, nodding as she replied, “It seems Little Brother is already aware of this family’s misfortune.”
After a moment of silence, the old woman narrated what had happened to the Zhang Family recently.
Having both settled around Maplewood City, the Zhang Family and Lu Family had always had a close friendship, because the Old Ancestors of the two families had come to Maplewood City together and worked hard to establish themselves. After several hundred years of time, the two families could be called close relatives that had shared friendship for multiple generations.
For the opening of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda this time, the two Patriarchs, Zhang Gao Xuan and Lu Bai Chuan, had entered together.
Additionally, just after the opening of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, the juniors of the two families also travelled together to a certain Restricted Area for life experience.
However, everything turned out to be a conspiracy by the Lu Family.
In that dangerous Restricted Area, all the heirs of the Zhang Family were killed, while everyone from the Lu Family returned safely. This created the situation the Zhang Family was in now, where only women remained, as well as fat and thin male cultivators who had been in secluded retreat at the time. Now, they were the only men left in the Zhang Family.
After the closure of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, only Lu Bai Chuan returned, while Zhang Gao Xuan had disappeared.
Lu Bai Chuan’s attitude also changed dramatically from before. After returning, he frequently tried to pressure the Zhang Family into marrying a girl from the younger generation, Zhang Ruo Xi, to his son.
The Zhang Family Patriarch had disappeared suddenly, and everyone was naturally quite worried, so how could they possibly agree to such a request at this time? What’s more, the old matriarch had many doubts about the Lu Family, so she immediately refused.
How could she have known that Lu Bai Chuan would directly tear face with her and try to take away Zhang Ruo Xi forcibly, even starting a fight with the Zhang Family?
Lu Bai Chuan, like Zhang Gao Xuan, had a Third-Order Origin King cultivator. The current Zhang Family was clearly not his opponent. At that time, the old matriarch had used their family’s Secret Technique and taken a forbidden pill to dramatically boost her strength. Cooperating with the rest of the family, she had managed to temporarily force Lu Bai Chuan back, otherwise, there would be no Zhang Family anymore.
Now that she had obtained this jade slip from Yang Kai, which contained the message left by Zhang Gao Xuan before his death, the old woman could finally confirm that her son’s death was indeed caused by Lu Bai Chuan.
All her previous doubts were cleared up.
The sadness and hatred in the heart of the old woman could be imagined.
Yang Kai listened and remained silent.
All of this seemed like a plot to annex the Zhang Family by the Lu Family. With so few males left in the family, how could the Zhang Family continue its bloodline? As long as the Lu Family seized this opportunity to marry a young lady from the Zhang Family, they could slowly begin to assimilate what was left, ultimately wiping the Zhang Family from Maplewood City.
However, Yang Kai had some doubts about this.
As the saying went, men die for wealth just as birds die for food. The Zhang and Lu Families had been allies for hundreds of years, so how could such a drastic change have so suddenly occurred? Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of secrets were hidden below the surface here, but he also didn’t care to ask.
“Old madam, since you have read the information in the jade slip, you should already know about the agreement between your Zhang Family’s Patriarch and myself,” Yang Kai suddenly said.
The old woman nodded, “Gao Xuan made everything clear in the jade slip, saying that as long as the little brother still lives in Maplewood City, he will fulfil three requests for my Zhang Family within his ability, and… After the Dao Source Fruit has been refined into a pill, the Zhang Family will be given one Dao Source Pill!”
“Dao Source Fruit?” The middle-aged beautiful woman heard this and could not help asking in shock, “Did my husband manage to obtain a Dao Source Fruit?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, not trying to conceal the truth. “Patriarch Zhang did obtain a Dao Source Fruit inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, which is now in my hands. This is all in accordance with the agreement we made.”
The old woman glanced at the middle-aged woman’s face and coldly snorted, “An ordinary man is innocent, but treasures make him guilty. My Zhang Family now does not have the ability to protect a treasure like the Dao Source Fruit, not to mention, it is now rightfully this Little Brother’s property.”
The middle-aged woman shook slightly before nodding solemnly, “It is as mother says, I understand.”
The old woman turned her head back to Yang Kai, “Little Brother, you may rest assured, only the four people inside this room will ever know about that Dao Source Fruit. Little Brother coming to the Zhang Family to honour this agreement is already more than this old woman could have asked for. Little Brother is a man of character and credibility. This old woman will surely not cause any more trouble for you.”