This made the two young members of the Zhou Family, who had always seen his amiable side, panic at once, instantly showing expressions of shock on their faces.
However, the two were not easily frightened and were not about to admit their guilt so easily.
Zhou Zhengxin, the slightly older one, relying on the fact that he and Zhou Chun were of the same generation and that his father was also a Family Cultivator, immediately mustered his courage, feigned ignorance, and said, "Brother Thirteen, why do you say such things? I have no idea what wrong I’ve done to make Brother Thirteen so angry?"
"Humph, still pretending to be dumb with me!"
Zhou Chun’s expression darkened, and he stared at him and demanded, "Then tell me, when you two went out on an adventure recently, did you fight with anyone? Did you injure anyone?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli turned pale at once, instantly realizing the reason Zhou Chun had called them over.
They immediately fell to their knees with a "thud" and repeatedly kowtowed, begging for mercy, "Clan Leader, please forgive us, we know we were wrong, please grant us your forgiveness!"
"Forgive you, you say it as if it’s something light!"
"The rules of the Zhou Family have been taught to you since you started learning to read and write, you cannot graduate from the Family Academy without reciting them fluently."
"Tell me, why do I and the other Elders establish such a rule in the Family Academy?"
Zhou Chun looked at the two on the ground with a stern face, his words filled with anger.
Since he took over as Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, he had also put a lot of effort into educating the younger generation of cultivators in the family.
He could not completely reverse the world’s ways, but as long as he was able, he wanted the younger cultivators of the Zhou Family to be more upright and follow the rules, not committing nefarious deeds.
Therefore, whether it was the family rules or moral education, he infused his own principles into it.
But now, the actions of Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli undoubtedly went against his expectations, which infuriated him.
He glared at the two with eyes full of rage and shouted, "Today, I want to ask you, are the family rules that you’ve learned by heart merely scrap paper in your eyes? Do you even consider the existence of the family rules, or my existence as Clan Leader?"
The angry Zhou Chun, with the pressure of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator and the majesty developed from being in a high position for a long time, was fully unleashed.
Facing this pressure, Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli, though already kneeling on the ground, still found it unbearable and were terrified to the point of trembling and collapsing.
"Spare us, Clan Leader, spare our lives, we won’t dare to do it again!"
The two of them pleaded repeatedly, utterly terrified.
Seeing their pitiful state, Zhou Chun couldn’t help but shake his head, and his anger subsided.
He then withdrew his aura and said gravely, "Get up first. Tell me everything you’ve hidden, every single detail. If I find out you’ve hidden even half a word, you know the consequences!"
"Yes, yes, thank you for your mercy, Clan Leader!"
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While expressing their gratitude, the two helped each other up and, with trepidation, told Zhou Chun about what had happened.
The incident was much as Zhou Chun had learned and guessed: Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli had encountered cultivators from the Yue Family gathering herbs during their adventure, leading to a conflict.
According to Zhou Zhengxin, they weren’t set on obtaining the Spiritual Medicine and had not planned to rob them.
However, the cultivators from the Yue Family presumed their intent to steal and uttered many offensive words, which ultimately infuriated the two and led to a fierce battle with their Spirit Pets.
Of course, the battle ended with Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli victorious.
However, they also knew their actions were dishonorable. Assuming the Yue Family, being a smaller clan, would not dare to make the issue public since their cultivators were "at fault to begin with," they decided to avoid complications and deliberately concealed the matter.
Honestly, the thoughts of Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli can be considered normal human reaction and not a major fault.
And the incident did not lead to any serious consequences.
But family rules are merciless and do not change based on personal thoughts.
Violating the family rules is violating the family rules, and no matter how many reasons there are, they cannot be used as an excuse to evade punishment.
Moreover, the reasons given by Zhou Zhengxin and his companion hold no ground.
Their very intention to hide the truth was to avoid the punishment prescribed by the family rules, which was a knowing and intentional breach!
According to the Zhou Family’s rules, those who intentionally commit violations shall be punished more severely.
Having come to understand the details of the incident, Zhou Chun looked at the two with a grave expression and said, "Originally, for the mistakes you made, had you confessed proactively, the family would have at most deducted your benefits for a year and asked you to deliver some healing pills as an apology!"
"But you should never have harbored any luck, you should never have deliberately concealed this matter, deliberately violating the family rules!"
As he said this, a flicker of anger flashed in his eyes, and he raised his voice, "I remember that in the family rulebook in the Family Academy, there is an explanatory note after every rule, precisely to make clan members understand why these rules exist."
"You knew that this concealment and antagonizing others could potentially bring disaster upon the family, yet you still went ahead with full knowledge of the implications. Such actions are simply unforgivable!"
With that, he gestured with his hand to stop Zhou Zhengxin, who seemed to want to argue.
He looked at him coldly and said, "There’s no need for more words, family rules are family rules, they do not change based on the strength or weakness of your enemies!"
After speaking, he began the sentencing, "According to family regulations, those who deliberately conceal making enemies shall have their family benefits withheld for a minimum of five years and be confined for at least three years, provided they have not caused severe consequences for the family."
"In view of your improper attitudes, and on top of the five years of benefits withheld, I hereby sentence you both to an extended confinement of five years!"
After pronouncing the sentence, Zhou Chun waved his hand and decreed, "For the next five years, you will stay honestly within the boundaries of the family compound, and unless I command otherwise, you shall not step half a pace beyond the family’s gates!"
"Yes, we obey," responded Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli, locking eyes, both full of remorse as they bowed their heads and accepted the punishment.
Although they were still young, this punishment was certainly one they would remember for the rest of their lives.
Even their future paths might become more difficult because of this punishment.
Such is the price of violating the family rules!
Without rules, there can be no standards.
A family’s rules must be strictly enforced to deter its members. Enjoy exclusive content from freewebnovel
After meting out the punishment to Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli, Zhou Chun promptly ordered the sentence to be posted on the notice board outside the Central Peace Hall.
In this way, every clan member who came to the Central Peace Hall would see this punishment, thereby reinforcing their reverence for the family rules.
But this alone was not enough to satisfy Zhou Chun.
For he knew all too well that when you find one cockroach in the house, there are certainly many more hiding in the dark corners you cannot see.
If descendants like Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli could harbor such wishful thinking and deliberately conceal their feuds, could other clan members have done the same?
The Zhou Family currently encourages its members to take risks outside, approving almost all requests to venture out for those whose cultivation level wasn’t too poor.
He had even increased the amount of time family members could spend outside each year.
His intention was to broaden the cultivators’ horizons, to enhance their personal abilities, to avoid becoming isolated from the Cultivation World.
But he absolutely did not want his good intentions to be misused by the family cultivators, thereby bringing calamity to the family.
Therefore, after punishing Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli, Zhou Chun pondered for some time and decided to elevate the importance of this issue. He resolved to convene a family elder meeting to devise a way to reform and hopefully mitigate similar occurrences.
It was also an opportune moment to assess the current state of the family and gather the family elders’ opinions on the future development of the family.