After a long while, the Sun Patriarch finished cursing, his throat parched. He violently kicked the dozen or so men bowing their heads in the hall, sending them stumbling before he finally collapsed into his chair, panting with residual rage.
“Have you searched the surrounding mountains?”
A man rumbled, “The brothers searched every peak. We only found a few traces of mud, but there was no sign of Liu Ming or the child.”
“What about Zhou Erlang? Did he return home?” the Sun Patriarch asked slowly.
“He returned once in the early morning. Before the clansmen lying in ambush could react, he knocked them unconscious. He only stayed for a brief moment before disappearing back into the mountains. We have no idea where he is now,” someone reported truthfully. The man then looked at the Sun Patriarch and suggested, “Should we seize the Zhou family to force him out into the open?”
The Sun Patriarch shot him a look of deep disappointment. “Do you think Zhou Erlang is an idiot?”
“He hid himself precisely because he anticipated we might seize his family. As long as he remains in the shadows, we cannot touch his kin.”
“After all, since ancient times, a thief can bide his time for a thousand days, but a household cannot guard against a thief for a thousand days. Hidden in the dark, Zhou Erlang is like a coiled venomous snake. If we so much as touch his family, he will strike back with a lethal bite.”
“He is no longer a ordinary mortal. Unless we abandon our fields and forsake our family businesses, how can we possibly defend against him? Besides, there are still members of the Zhou family scattered outside the village. We must not commit such reckless folly.”
The Sun Patriarch waved his hand. “Withdraw. Go inform the villagers that bandits entered the village last night-enemies of the Liu clan who came to settle a blood feud.”
As the men turned to leave, the Sun Patriarch’s voice called out from behind them once more.
“Also, recall all the clansmen keeping watch on the Zhou family. Since Zhou Erlang refuses to show himself, there is no need to completely tear away the veil of civility with the Zhou family.”
“As for those fragments of immortal cultivation manuals, pick a few clansmen to test them out. See if they yield any results.”
“Yes, Patriarch.” The men bowed and slowly withdrew.
Left alone in his chair, the Sun Patriarch’s face darkened as he muttered to himself.
“Is he dead? Or did he escape?”
He did not truly fear Zhou Ping. Zhou Ping’s elusive movements made the Wang and Sun families hesitant to act rashly, but by the same token, were the young and old of the Zhou family not a tether that kept Zhou Ping from acting without restraint?
What truly worried him was whether Liu Ming and that young Liu brat had fled, or if they had been slain by Zhou Ping.
If they had escaped, it would remain a catastrophic threat.
Shaking off his thoughts, he rose to seek out the Wang Patriarch. With such a massive upheaval occurring in the village, they, as the prominent households-and with the Zhou family holding the position of Village Head-naturally had to step forward to pacify the commoners.
As for framing Zhou Ping for the massacre and reporting it to the authorities, he did not give the idea a single thought. Did anyone truly believe the government officials were fools? This entire affair was riddled with anomalies and could not withstand any scrutiny. It was best to bury it quickly; inviting the authorities would only be bringing trouble upon their own heads.
Give it three to five years, and the matter would naturally fade from everyone’s memory.
Meanwhile, within the Zhou family estate, Zhou Hong was bursting with vigor despite having stayed awake all night. His younger brother had not only returned in the morning, but he was completely unharmed. How could he not be thrilled?
When Zhou Dashan received the news, a trace of profound relief washed over his aged, weary face, and he finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep. In the inner courtyard, Chen Nianqiu and Madam Huang wept tears of joy, nearly disturbing their fetal Qi from the emotional release. The maids, entirely ignorant of the previous night’s bloodshed and unaware that the Liu clan had been exterminated, merely assumed the masters were celebrating some happy occasion and shared in the joyful atmosphere.
None of them realized that they had brushed past the gates of the underworld just hours before.
A servant stepped out from the adjacent side room. Though he was not overly burly, he was remarkably lean and fit.
“Eldest Young Master, what are your orders?”
“Walk with me into the village.”
“Yes, Master.”
Having survived the night safely, and having personally witnessed the lingering shadows retreat from the walls at dawn, Zhou Hong was in an excellent mood. He casually chatted with Zhou Shi as they walked.
“Zhou Shi, you and Zhou Hu have been with our family for five years now, correct?”
“Yes, Eldest Young Master,” the servant replied respectfully. “It was Second Young Master himself who purchased us from the human trafficker, saving us and giving us the prosperous life we enjoy today.”
“You are both fully grown now. Have you thought about your future?”
Panic immediately seized the servant. He dropped to his knees, his voice cracking with emotion. “Eldest Young Master, did Zhou Shi do something wrong? I will correct it, I swear! Please do not cast me out!”
Zhou Hong quickly pulled him up, laughing heartily. “What are you thinking?”
“Who said anything about casting you out? You are grown men now, and as your masters, it is time we consider helping you establish your own households.”
“You and Zhou Hu are dependable youths; we have noted your loyalty over the years. What do you think of Chunlan? Would you be willing to take her as your wife?”
Hearing this, Zhou Shi’s racing heart finally settled, though his face flushed bright red as he ducked his head in embarrassment.
Zhou Hong smiled but said nothing more. He was not blind; he had long seen that Zhou Hu and Zhou Shi had lost their souls to Huixiang and Chunlan from the inner courtyard. He was merely going with the current to play the matchmaker.
“In a few days, I will arrange a wedding for you. Furthermore, I will allocate five mu of land from our holdings to serve as the foundation for your small household. How does that sound?”
“Eldest Young Master…” Zhou Shi’s eyes welled with tears. Born into an impoverished family, he had been sold to a trafficker by his parents when they could no longer fill their cooking pots. He had tasted the bitterest cruelties of the world until the Zhou family bought him, finally granting him warmth and humanity.
Now, his masters were giving him land and helping him start a family. The depth of his gratitude was beyond words.
“A grown man crying over this?” Zhou Hong chuckled, wiping away the youth’s tears before continuing down the path.
His actions were entirely calculated. After enduring these recent crises, he recognized that the family’s trusted manpower was severely lacking, and he intended to purchase more servants soon.
Zhou Hu and Zhou Shi were thoroughly vetted and fiercely loyal to the Zhou family. Even if their innate abilities were somewhat lacking, Zhou Hong intended to groom one into a head steward and the other into an external manager to oversee the family’s affairs.
In this world, only genuine benevolence can capture the hearts of men. Even if Zhou Hong’s methods were aimed at securing loyalty, they were built on sincere affection and backed by tangible prosperity.
Furthermore, their land belonged to the Zhou family, and their wives were raised in the Zhou estate. Everything they possessed originated from the Zhous, ensuring their ultimate allegiance.
They had been granted the Zhou surname long ago precisely so that their future descendants would also bear the name. Even without a single drop of shared blood, they would be integrated into the Zhou clan. Read this novel at novelping(.)com for the best experience.
It was a necessary compromise. There was a latent risk of capable servants eclipsing a weak master, but they had no alternative.
Unlike the other prominent clans, the Zhou family lacked a sprawling lineage of kinsmen to deploy for every task. They had no choice but to strengthen their clan through loyal retainers, deliberately avoiding reliance on maternal or marital relatives, who were far more difficult to control than indentured servants.
Before long, Zhou Hong arrived beneath the massive banyan tree at the center of the village.
By now, the area was swarming with people. The crowd clamored in a restless uproar, every villager gripped by terror and uncertainty.
“What in the heavens happened to the Liu clan?”
“When I walked past their estate this morning, I nearly wretched. The courtyard is piled with corpses, blood splattered across the walls, severed limbs everywhere-it was horrifying!”
“Exactly! Old Man Liu San was already in his seventies or eighties, yet he met such a gruesome end. His head rolled right into the courtyard, his body was hacked at least seven or eight times, and his entrails were strewn all over the dirt!”
“Hush, just listening to you makes my skin crawl.”
“You didn’t see the main hall. It was a slaughterhouse. Some bodies were butchered so severely they didn’t even look human anymore. You couldn’t piece them back together if you tried.”
A sturdy farmer asked in bewilderment, “Tell me, what kind of vengeful fiend did the Liu family provoke to suffer such a ruthless extermination?”
A man beside him glanced around cautiously before lowering his voice to a whisper. “Let me tell you, it wasn’t some outside enemy. I heard the Liu clan unearthed an immortal treasure, so last night, the Wang, Sun, and Zhou families united to slaughter them to the last man.”
“No way! How could you know that?” the farmer gasped.
“Keep your damn mouth shut!” The man frantically dragged the farmer down, whispering with a smug grin, “I hadn’t fallen asleep yet last night. I heard the entire commotion clearly.”
In his arrogance, the man failed to notice that someone nearby had overheard his words and was eyeing him intently.
When the Patriarchs of the Wang and Sun clans appeared alongside Zhou Hong, the tumultuous crowd instantly fell dead silent. The villagers stared at the approaching trio with profound trepidation.
Within the throngs, a few individuals watched with expressions of hidden dread or deeply buried resentment. They shared various ties of kinship with the Liu clan; some feared being implicated, while others seethed over the brutal deaths of their relatives. However, they all carefully masked their emotions, ensuring no external sign betrayed their thoughts.
The Sun Patriarch looked over the subdued crowd with immense satisfaction, experiencing an unprecedented surge of absolute power.
Even if every soul here suspected that they had wiped out the Liu clan, who would dare speak it aloud? Who would dare voice an accusation?
Subsequently, the representatives of the three households took turns addressing the assembly, officially attributing the tragedy to a raid by nomadic bandits seeking vengeance. Following the speeches, they proceeded to partition the Liu clan’s nearly two hundred mu of fertile land. The Wang, Sun, and Zhou families claimed thirty mu each, while the remaining hundred-plus mu were distributed among the common villagers.
Though some had been terrified and filled with righteous indignation moments before, the instant tangible land titles were pressed into their hands, any inclination to report the matter to the authorities vanished.
For ordinary commoners, appealing to the magistrate was an impossibility anyway; a barrier of wealthy landlords and gentry always stood between them and the imperial court.
Though the Qingshui County yamen would eventually hear rumors of the Liu clan massacre, as long as the regular taxes were paid, no official complaint was lodged to disrupt the peace, and no popular rebellion was sparked, the magistrates would gladly minimize the affair. They would turn a blind eye, recording it as a routine raid by itinerant bandits.
After all, maintaining the illusion of a peaceful county was paramount to their bureaucratic evaluations.
Thus, every faction obtained its share of the spoils. The Wang, Sun, and Zhou families secured the wealth and territory of the Lius; the commoners of Baixi Village gained land; and the county yamen secured a flawless administrative record. Only the Liu clan-all forty-nine members-lay butchered in the dirt, their ancestral legacy utterly swallowed by the living…