Although the Fang Family was one of the eight major families in several provinces of Jiangnan, dominating their territory, their original expertise lay in intelligence gathering. Therefore, the Fang Family was well aware of the incident involving Fang Caizhe and Xu Ke.
They had learned just last night that Fang Caizhe had been captured and brought back to Long Capital. They had intended to call Ki Qinyin immediately to try and salvage the situation, but her call came even faster than theirs. The message was simple yet brutal: "Your son is dead."
At that moment, Fang Caizhe's father, Fang Shuyuan, and his mother, Yang Li, were utterly devastated. Yet they dared not seek revenge on the Northern Dragon Guard, at least not at this stage. And so, they could only direct their attention toward Xu Ke.
However, after a full night of investigation, the infuriated Fang Shuyuan lost his nerve. He no longer dared to set foot in Tianhai. The reason, of course, was what he had just mentioned: the "two powerful protectors."
Frankly, if Xu Ke only had the Medical Saint behind him, Fang Shuyuan would have risked going to Tianhai to try his luck. It was common knowledge that the Medical Saint had been out of the public eye for a long time. He might have been able to exploit the Medical Saint's absence and capture Xu Ke.
But now, every prominent figure in Tianhai had personally witnessed that Peak Level Maestro who beat Ouyang Ping as if she were a pig. Even though Fang Shuyuan didn't know that Xu Zhentai wasn't a true Peak Level Maestro, it no longer mattered. After all, Xu Zhentai could easily toy with experts at the Innate Great Perfection realm. How could he dare seek revenge against such a person?
Am I really going to jeopardize the entire Fang Family for Fang Caizhe? he thought. Besides, it's not like I don't have another son…
"Get up, Lily," Fang Shuyuan said, his heart aching as he looked at Yang Li, who had fallen silent after his response, her tears flowing endlessly.
"Mm," Yang Li, not one to cause a scene, simply shed her tears in silence. Knowing that nothing could be done, she, as a mother, bit down on her hatred and swallowed it whole.
Just as Fang Shuyuan lit a cigarette, feeling melancholic and despondent as he prepared to head to the northern border the next day to retrieve his son's body, his phone rang.
"Hello, may I ask who this is?" Fang Shuyuan's brow furrowed at the sight of an unfamiliar number. It was a virtual number.
"Greetings, Family Head Fang. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yin Li," a deep and steady voice said from the other end.
"Yin Li? Don't know him!" Fang Shuyuan's brow furrowed even tighter. Who is this strange character? And how did he get my number?
But he didn't rush to hang up. In his position, as long as it wasn't an emergency, he was interested in hearing what the other party had to say, should they have something worthwhile.
"Haha, it doesn't matter if you don't know me. I'm just an obscure figure. I only want to pass on two pieces of information to you," Yin Li laughed. His voice was surprisingly cheerful, exuding an innate sense of warmth.
"What information?" At his words, Fang Shuyuan's heart skipped a beat.
"First, the Medical Saint is currently in South America and can't return to Tianhai. Second, the Peak Level Maestro backing Xu Ke is unable to act. If you're willing to pay the price of having your Fang Family's Innate Great Perfection expert be severely injured by him, then that Peak Level Maestro will kill Xu Ke."
In truth, Yin Li was lying. If Xu Zhentai were to truly unleash his full power, someone would certainly die. But those details weren't important. Yin Li's goal was simply to force Xu Zhentai to act, become demonized, and then eliminate Xu Ke—the one who possessed the Dragon Essence capable of countering Demonic Qi. After learning of Yin Ping's report, even though Ren Gu was holding him back and preventing his return to the country, Yin Li was determined to cause trouble remotely.
"Why should I believe you?" Fang Shuyuan frowned, then added, "And even if that's true, Xu Ke doesn't just have one Peak Level Maestro with him. He also has several Innate Great Perfection experts."
Fang Shuyuan was well aware that killing Xu Ke would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens, even without the Peak Level Maestro. Tianhai's overall strength might be lacking, but that didn't matter now that Xu Ke had consolidated its forces. With nearly ten Innate Great Perfection experts by his side, how could anyone possibly fight him? Are we supposed to fight them with our bare heads?
"Don't worry about the Innate Great Perfection experts. I'll send men to assist," Yin Li chuckled. "As long as you're willing to send your own people, that is."
Yin Ping had already handed over all the experimental data and results from the Ye Family. He could now, at any moment, create more than ten teams on the scale of those under Ye Liang's command. This was the ultimate purpose of the Demonic Qi experiments: to mass-produce forces capable of eliminating powerful martial artists.
At that, Fang Shuyuan fell silent. He hadn't expected the other party to be so confident.
"How can I trust you?" The hand Fang Shuyuan used to hold his cigarette trembled slightly. Though his words expressed doubt, for some reason, Yin Li's voice carried a convincing power. He had a feeling… that the man was telling the truth.
"Naturally, when you decide to make your move, my people will appear. Then, you'll know if it's true or not!" Yin Li said with a chuckle. "Consider it carefully. I'll call you again later. If you accept, I will send someone to find you!"
With that, Yin Li hung up, leaving Fang Shuyuan with an uncertain and fluctuating expression.
"Shuyuan, can we… still get revenge?" Yang Li, who had overheard the conversation, had a flicker of hope return to her once-despairing face. Do we still have a chance to avenge Fang Caizhe?
"But… what if he's tricking us…" Fang Shuyuan hesitated.
"Stop thinking about it. Let's go to Dad. We'll tell him everything. He doted on Caizhe the most, he'll surely be willing to act," Yang Li said, grabbing Fang Shuyuan. She prevented her indecisive husband from making the choice, instead suggesting that he… leave the decision to the Fang Family Elder Patriarch.
After a moment of thought, Fang Shuyuan nodded heavily.
But just as the two were about to leave, a calm, middle-aged voice sounded from behind them. "Don't do it. That bastard Yin Li is up to no good. If you listen to him and attack Xu Ke, you'll be courting death, understand?"
The words sent a shock through them, and their faces paled instantly.
When? When did someone get behind us? Fang Shuyuan was an Innate Late Stage expert. For someone to approach him completely undetected, they had to be at the Innate Great Perfection realm! The realization caused their expressions to change dramatically once more.
But the real shock was yet to come. Another, hoarser voice spoke up. "Senior Brother, stop playing around. Be a little more amicable. The Fang Family is a major clan, after all. How can you speak to them in such a threatening tone?"
Though this new speaker sounded much older, he still addressed the first as "Senior Brother." Who is this now?! Hearing this voice, a cold sweat poured down Fang Shuyuan and Yang Li's backs.
Two Innate Great Perfection experts?
"Thinking about two Great Perfections, are you, young Family Head Fang? Let me tell you, there's more than that. There's me, too!" A sultry, mature female voice rang out. "To make you realize the seriousness of the situation, we've all come out in full force."
"So, you'd best not even think about targeting our little junior brother!"
