When he heard Gao Xiong give the order to attack Upheaval, Ayi’s first impulse was to tell him to cool down a little.
A year ago, Upheaval was nothing but one of the countless newly-formed factions in an endless sea of gangs and alliances.
However, after a year’s growth, they were absolutely a scourge on the lower lands.
Although their existence hadn’t had much of an impact on the Gao Family, Upheaval was still a faction worthy of their notice. Practically half of the lower lands’ factions and territory answered to them. It was no exaggeration to say that the Gao Family waging war against Upheaval was tantamount to suicide.
However, when he saw Gao Xiong’s expression, he forcefully swallowed his admonishments. “Yes, sir.”
Ayi cupped his fists at Gao Xiong, then disappeared from the courtyard. His job was to obey Gao Xiong’s orders absolutely, and he’d always done so. That’s why, even under these circumstances, he silently carried out his orders.
However, the elders and visiting retainers were different. Although they, too, served the Gao Family, it was largely for their own benefit. Upheaval was powerful enough that they couldn’t possibly just let Gao Xiong lead the family to the brink of annihilation.
“Family Head, I advise you to think twice before you act.” As soon as Ayi left, a hook-nosed elder approached. The others all made way for him, and Gao Xiong looked him right in the eye before shaking his head.
“Gao Xiong! The Gao Family has been through so much recently. Do you want to lead us all to ruin over a personal grudge?” The elder fiercely berated him.
Gao Xiong, however, only laughed. “If it were your son who’d died, would you still be saying all that?”
For a while, the elder didn’t quite know what to say. Gao Xiong looked at Gao Ruilong’s corpse in silence, then ordered his subordinates to arrange to funeral. Next, right in front of everyone, he removed a lightning-emblazoned command medallion from his spatial ring.
The instant he saw the medallion, the elder, who was on the verge of trying to persuade Gao Xiong once more, fell silent. This command medallion was none other than the one they used to contact the Xiao Family.
Relying purely on their own strength, they’d struggle to contend with Upheaval, but if the Xiao Family intervened…..
The surrounding people’s expressions were strange. If they could really seize this opportunity and borrow the Xiao Family’s power to dispose of Upheaval and take the gang’s resources as their own, the Gao Family would reach an unprecedented height of prosperity.
When he noticed their gazes, Gao Xiong laughed coldly. Although they talked a big game about the “family’s future prospects,” in truth, they were all greedy schemers who cared about nothing about their own profits.
But this was only to be expected, and there was no point in shaming them for it.
He ignored their strange expressions and tightly clenched the medallion. If they wanted to eliminate Upheaval, this was the only card up their sleeves.
“Don’t just stand there. Go contact our subordinate factions and tell them we plan to confront Upheaval. Their rise to power was too sudden, and there are undoubtedly no small number of families of the Divine Mountains who resent them for it. See if you can contact those families subordinates in the lower lands. We ought to reorganize the lower lands once and for all.”
Gao Xiong had been head of the Gao Family for so long that he was no ordinary man. His decision to attack Upheaval seemed irrational, but it was all part of his plan. Upheaval’s sudden rise was terrifyingly fierce, and although they’d yet to influence the Gao Family, they were already on the verge of posing a real threat.
He was unwilling to just let this sort of threat loom in his surroundings, so this was the perfect opportunity to gather up all the families with connections to the Divine Mountains and take a stab at this newly-risen power.
The Xiao Family had brought them up multiple times in their correspondence as well; they, too, were surprised by Upheaval’s sudden rise to power.
This was a perfect opportunity to see just who exactly was standing behind Upheaval.
……
Blue City….
Ever since Little White said that he’d ask about Xia Keke On Ye Zichen’s behalf, he’d been out of the house. Ye Zichen wanted to hang out with Gou Yuzhan instead, but to his surprise, he discovered…. That Gou Yuzhan’s personality had on a complete one-eighty in the past hundred years. He was constantly busy with managing the Parliament of Star’s affairs.
In the end, Ye Zichen wound up feeling rather lonely.
“Who are you? Why are you standing there?” At that moment, Bai Biling approached Ye Zichen’s resideence only to see two buff men standing beside his doorway. They were extremely tall and stalwart, and she’d never seen either of them around before; there was no way they were guards her father had arranged for Ye Zichen.
Furthermore, they gave on the impression that they were even stronger than her father.
“Master is currently cultivating. No one is to disturb him.” The man standing to the left frowned. Ye Zichen had summoned them both from the Yao-Sealing Pagoda, and they were each around the third-stage earth supreme level of strength.
“Hurry up and step aside. This is my home, so why are you stopping me? And who’s this ‘master’ you’re talking about? I’m looking for my Uncle Ye.”
“Master is currently….”
Just as they were about to give that same, official-sounding response, Ye Zichen’s voice echoed from within the residence. “Let her in.”
The guards didn’t hesitate. They immediately stepped aside and let Bai Biling and the snow bunny inside.
Bai Biling scrunched her nose at the guards, then dashed in proudly. However, when she saw Ye Zichen sitting across a stone table, she immediately switched to an endearing expression. “Uncle Ye.”
“Ling’er, you’re here.” He smiled at her, and she drew closer.
“Who are those guys outside?” she snorted in disdain. “They said you were in seclusion and wouldn’t let me in.”
“They were following my orders.”
He didn’t know why, but news that he’d arrived in Blue Sky City had spread, and all the guests hoping for an audience with him were irritating the snot out of him.
He had no choice but to install guards to send his wannabe guests packing.
At the same time, the snow bunny who’d followed Bai Biling turned to Ye Zichen and bowed, “Master.”
“What? You still remember your master exists?” Ye Zichen was actually rather speechless. The snowbunny had obviously left the Yao-Sealing Pagoda to accompany him, but as soon as they got to Blue Sky City, she tossed him aside to hang with Bai Biling.
He’d even considered flinging her back into the pagoda, but when he considered how long it had been since she’d seen the outside world and that Biling rather liked her, he decided to let it slide.
“Uncle Ye, don’t be mad at her,” said Bai Biling. “I asked her to come with me, so if you have to be mad at someone, be mad at me, okay?”
As she spoke, she batted her eyes at him. When he saw her cute demeanor, Ye Zichen….
Something’s not right here!
Although he hadn’t known Bai Biling for long, he fully understood the girl’s character. If she wasn’t acting like her usual tsundere self, there was absolutely something fishy going on.
When he realized this, Ye Zichen narrowed his eyes and snorted, “Quit trying to butter me up. Is there something you’d like to ask me?”
