King Swallow Mountain frowned after reading the letter.
“Your Highness?” said the Godfiend guard softly.
“Junior Brother Meng Chuan has been down the mountain for nearly 20 years. He has been hunting down the demons, and his contributions are remarkable. The demons have attempted to assassinate him several times.” King Swallow’s old voice was filled with puzzlement. “When King True Martial wrote to me, he was also full of praise for Junior Brother Meng Chuan. He claimed that Meng Chuan alone was comparable to ten Marquis Godfiends. Now, the Great Zhou Dynasty is rather stable, mostly because of Junior Brother Meng Chuan’s contribution.”
King Swallow Mountain shook his head gently. “Why would such a figure care about such trivial mortal matters?” With his status, he was more concerned about the war with the demons. He was indeed too lazy to care about the conflicts of interests among mortals.
From King Swallow Mountain’s point of view, it was a form of bliss for mortals to have conflicts of interest! If the world were filled with mass graves because of countless demons and mortals dying, then ‘living’ would be the greatest desire of mortals. How could they have the mood to think about anything else?
“Zhang Chu, investigate what happened in Jiang State Capital recently,” said King Swallow Mountain.
“Yes,” replied the Godfiend guard respectfully. A day later, a thick dossier was delivered to Swallow Mountain Pass and sent to King Swallow Mountain.
King Swallow Mountain flipped through the dossier, and his expression turned ugly.
“B*STARD!” King Swallow Mountain’s white beard trembled, his eyes filled with rage. “B*stard! B*STARD!!!”
“Your Highness, calm down,” said Zhang Chu immediately.
“I’m not angry because of what is stated in the dossier,” said King Swallow Mountain coldly. “There are thousands of kinds of people. It’s normal for a family to have some fools when it’s big. I’m angry because of that good grandson of mine! What a good grandson! As the leader of our family’s Jiang River Hall, he didn’t punish his descendants severely when he encountered such matters. Instead, he wrote a letter to slander Junior Brother Meng and his wife, hoping to use me to deal with Junior Brother Meng Chuan. Didn’t he think it through? Once the truth is revealed, what will the other Godfiends think of me?
“He just wants to borrow my hands, but he didn’t even consider if he was even right in this matter. How embarrassing! Truly embarrassing! And he’s stupid!” King Swallow Mountain’s eyes were cold. “From the looks of it, he has enjoyed himself in Jiang State Capital and is used to doing whatever he wants. No one can do a thing about him. Over the past few decades, he has already become dumb. I’ll force him to go to the battlefield to see some blood and wake him up. That’s right. Why should I let him enjoy life in Jiang State capital just because he’s my grandson?”
The Godfiend guards, Zhang Chu and Yan Tong, left Swallow Mountain Pass on a bird and arrived at Jiang State Capital—which was 5000 kilometers away.
Jiang State Capital.
The Yan family’s Jiang River Hall manor occupied a large area.
In the main hall.
“Brother,” said Clan Leader Yan Shuang with a smile. “Why did you come from Swallow Mountain Pass?”
“I came here on the orders of the king,” Yan Tong said.
“What instructions does His Highness have?” An elder seated next to him couldn’t help but ask eagerly.
Yan Tong glanced at the elder before nodding at the Godfiend guard, Zhang Chu. Only then did Zhang Chu stand up. He held a token in his hand. “Decree from His Highness.”
Everyone stood up to listen to the decree.
“The clansmen have committed crimes, but as clan leader, not only did Yan Shuang not punish them severely, he even lied to His Highness. He hoped for His Highness to deal with a fellow disciple.”
As Zhang Chu spoke, Yan Shuang’s expression changed. “No, I didn’t…”
“His Highness has instructed that from now on, Yan Shuang will be stripped of the position of leader of Jiang River Hall. He will be whipped 80 times on the spot! Then, he will head to Swallow Mountain Pass to fend off the demons,” said Zhang Chu. “From today onwards, Yan Tong will take over as leader of Jiang River Hall.”
Everyone present was stunned. However, King Swallow Mountain’s words were final in the Yan family. Even the main branch had to obey his orders, let alone Jiang River Hall.
“Grandfather was deceived. He made a mistake.” Yan Shuang’s face turned pale as he immediately shouted, “I’m grandfather’s grandson. Yan Tong is only my cousin. He’s separated by several levels. What right does he have to be clan leader? He’s not qualified.”
How carefree was he in Jiang State Capital?
He enjoyed the highest status in the family clan branch! Whatever he wanted, happened! He truly could do whatever he wanted. With just a hint, the people under him would do whatever he wanted. He enjoyed riches and glory. He had a bunch of wives and concubines. King Swallow Mountain had favored this grandson of his. Since Yan Shuang was only an Indestructible Godfiend and the family clan needed an ordinary Godfiend to preside over the branch family in Jiang State Capital, Yan Shuan was given such a generous arrangement.
Yan Shuang was also very obedient in front of his grandfather. However, he had indulged himself in Jiang State Capital for too long. After doing virtually whatever he wanted for decades, he had become accustomed to being arrogant. In fact, he was only a little unhappy that Meng Chuan and his wife had arrested one of the Yan family’s descendants. He felt humiliated when Meng Chuan, Liu Qiyue, and Meng Dajiang completely ignored him. The more clansmen arrested, the more he wanted to use his grandfather to deal with Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue.
From his point of view, his grandfather was a Regis Godfiend. He had guarded Swallow Mountain Pass for more than 200 years. How much had he contributed? How could two newly-advanced Marquis Godfiends like Meng Chuan and his wife compare?
“His Highness was right.” Zhang Chu shook his head. “You have been too used to doing whatever you want and have become dumb! Carry out the punishment!” Zhang Chu waved his hand, and an invisible mist bound Yan Shuang like ribbons. Yan Shuang-only an Indestructible Godfiend-was unable to resist.
“Zhang Chu! You dare hit me?” Yan Shuang shouted anxiously, but he couldn’t break out of the binding.
Pa!
Zhang Chu held a whip in his hand as he lashed out. Yan Shuan’s body trembled as the whip lacerated his skin. It left the Elders watching in shock.
“Zhang Chu, you are crazy!” Yan Shuang roared.
Zhang Chu continued lashing out with his whip. As a Great Solar Godfiend, no one present could resist him. Furthermore, he had the king’s token and was also King Swallow Mountain’s personal guard.
The first few whips resulted in howls of anger, but later on, he began begging for mercy. Towards the end, he was barely breathing.
The 80-lash punishment ended. Yan Shuang laid on the ground like a dead dog, unconscious. “I’ll leave Jiang River Hall branch to you.” Zhang Chu looked at Yan Tong.
“Don’t worry. I will definitely do what His Highness instructed me to do.” Yan Tong nodded. He was a Godfiend of the Yan family. He had served at Swallow Mountain Pass for 50 years, and he had an iron-like personality.Zhang Chu carried the unconscious Yan Shuang and left the main hall. He leaped onto a bird’s back and quickly left for Swallow Mountain Pass.
What awaited Yan Shuang was a long period of demon-fighting at Swallow Mountain Pass.
News of what happened in the Yan family quickly spread among the major families in Jiang State Capital, shocking the major clans.
However, just three days later, the Imperial Court sent an order to all the cities in the world. In recent years, large numbers of people had entered the state capitals and prefecture cities, causing the degradation of public security. It was time for a purge!
Qin Wu personally wrote letters to Regis and Marquis Godfiends. During wartime, Godfiends had to risk their lives in battle, but they still had to pay attention to their descendants to prevent them from harming others.
In fact, the Imperial Court’s announcement was not very useful. After all, the government offices all over the world just needed to put on an act.
On the contrary, Qin Wu’s letter was a lot more effective. Although Regis and Marquis Godfiends couldn’t be bothered with mortal matters and they were more focused on dealing with the demons, they took it seriously when the Supremacy wrote to them. They gave strict orders. It didn’t matter what the members of the various family clans thought, at least on the surface, they had to make it sound good. In Jiang State Capital, all the major family clans immediately stood in line. Everyone praised Meng Chuan and his wife for their love for the people.
“The Imperial Court has issued a decree, and Master has written letters to various Godfiends.” Liu Qiyue sat in Lake Heart Pavilion and flipped through dossiers. She shook her head and said, “The major family clans are now very strict with their clansmen, but it’s just an act. They’re half-heartedly keeping in line.” As Meng Chuan painted, he chuckled softly and said, “People have selfish motives; thus, many things are inevitable. On the surface, the major family clans are doing their best to make everything look fine. That’s already good enough. Those descendants of large family clans will pay attention to their words and actions outside. This way, the havoc they wreak will be reduced by 80 percent.”
