Xiao Zhengxun could never have imagined that the second person he would see after waking up would be Xiao Qiang!
He remembered this face vividly.
Whether it was Xiao Qiang’s resurrection from death or his inexplicable disappearance later, both were full of a bizarre atmosphere.
According to Xiao Zhengxun’s plan, he originally intended to investigate Xiao Qiang’s whereabouts.
However, he didn’t expect Han Qiang to suddenly defect from the Xiao Family, and he himself was bewitched by someone he trusted deeply, which delayed matters.
But now, Xiao Qiang had surprisingly reappeared, and seemed to have become his life-saving benefactor.
“Why are you here?” Xiao Zhengxun, worthy of being the person who could preside over the eight Great Families of Mingzhu, quickly calmed down and asked the question he cared about most.
Xiao Qiang smiled slightly, “Of course, Young Master invited me.
Do you think, Mr.
Xiao, that I would willingly come to treat you?”
What he said was the truth.
If it wasn’t for his need for money, and Xiao Wen indeed moved him, he would never have agreed to treat Xiao Zhengxun.
Xiao Wen hurriedly whispered in his father’s ear about Xiao Qiang’s identity.
When he mentioned how Xiao Qiang had easily defeated the Wild Lion, Xiao Zhengxun’s face froze.
After a long while, he sighed deeply and took a profound look at Xiao Qiang, “I was wrong before.”
He was well aware, a top martial arts strongman, although the Xiao family wasn’t afraid, they also absolutely couldn’t offend him.
To be able to admit his mistake indicated that Xiao Zhengxun, representing the Xiao family, had recognized Xiao Qiang’s strength and status.
Xiao Qiang reacted nonchalantly, nodding his head as acceptance of Xiao Zhengxun’s apology.
Xiao Zhengxun raised his head, looked at the door, and scoffed: “Xiao Wen, have someone guard the door.
Without my order, no one is allowed to enter or exit, remember, that’s anyone!”
Looking at him with interest, Xiao Qiang knowing better, prepared to exit as the matters following were the family affairs of the Xiao family and it wasn’t right for him to interfere.
Just as Xiao Qiang was about to turn around, he heard Xiao Zhengxun say, “Mr.
Xiao, I have a request, and I wonder if you would agree?”
Xiao Qiang hesitated, “Go ahead.” He was curious as to what Xiao Zhengxun needed his help with.
Xiao Zhengxun looked serious: “I want to invite you to be a high-priest of the Xiao family.”
“High-priest?” Xiao Qiang looked at him in surprise.
“Yes, I am the head of the Xiao family, and I now invite you to become the chief high-priest of our family.” Xiao Zhengxun’s expression was solemn as he explained to Xiao Qiang, “Once you have become the chief high-priest of the Xiao family, you can command anyone in the Xiao family, except me, and you can use any resources.”
Any ordinary person, when presented with such a big pie falling from the sky, would have instantly accepted, but Xiao Qiang just calmly met Xiao Zhengxun’s gaze, the corners of his mouth lifted in a faint smile: “Such great terms, I fear my responsibilities won’t be small, Mr.
Xiao.”
As he spoke, he waved his hand, a charm dispersed in his hand, and nine white lights surrounded the ward, blocking the view from outside.
Xiao Qiang looked at Xiao Zhengxun and slowly said, “This is the Silence Charm, it works for ten minutes.
If you have anything to say, you can say it now.”
For Xiao Qiang, his hundreds of years of life experience had long made him understand that anything unusual is suspicious.
Xiao Zhengxun, as the head of the Xiao family, chose to invite him, an outsider, to become the chief high-priest of the Xiao family as the first thing after waking up, which itself reeked of weirdness.
He knew that there were his son, Xiao Wen, and the most trusted old steward of the Xiao family, Qin Zheng, in the room, and outside were all the trusted ministers of the Xiao family.
By logic, the thing that Xiao Zhengxun should have done was to communicate with these people, not ask him to become the high-priest for the Xiao family.
But he did so, what did that mean?
Xiao Qiang had a vague guess in his heart, perhaps some people in the Xiao family were no longer trusted by Xiao Zhengxun.
Sure enough, after Xiao Qiang used the Silence Charm, Xiao Zhengxun sighed, looked at Xiao Wen with a strange expression, and said, “Xiao Wen, do you know who cursed me with the Beclouded Charm?”
Xiao Wen was startled, looking at his father in surprise.
A trace of sadness flashed across Xiao Zhengxun’s face, “It was your uncle Su Yuanshan.
That day, your uncle came to find me and suddenly threw out a charm.
I was caught off guard and fell into his trap, which is how I ended up in this state…”
Xiao Wen’s face drastically changed, as if he had heard something incredible, he exclaimed, “Dad, you, are you joking?
Why would uncle, uncle want to harm you?”
He really didn’t dare to believe, why the uncle who had loved him since he was a child, would suddenly harm his father.
Xiao Qiang, standing aside, quietly observed without a word.
At this moment, it was meaningless for him to say anything.
Xiao Zhengxun continued, “When your maternal grandfather’s family chose to marry off, your uncle married a daughter of the Xia Family, and your mother married me.
At that time, our family was still relatively strong, but so many years have passed, our family has declined, and he has long become a watchdog of the Xia Family, even your grandfather, has also tilted towards the Xia Family.”
Hearing this, Xiao Qiang understood the situation.
This was nothing more than the grievances among the wealthy families, with Su Family joining hands with the Xia family to deal with the Xiao family.
That’s why Su Yuanshan would harm his brother-in-law.
At this point, the Xiao Family has seemingly become the target of many and it seems I have been inadvertently drawn into this murky situation.
“Dad, what should we do now?” Xiao Wen briefed his father about the outside situation before looking at Xiao Zhengxun and asking.
Xiao Zhengxun gave a bitter smile: “If what you say is true, in the past few months, our family’s power has been almost eroded.
I’m uncertain about how many of those outside are still loyal to the family.
The Xia Family seems to have come with preparations this time, planning to ally with the Su Family to eliminate us – this would allow them the opportunity to rise among the five golden families.”
Both father and son fell into silent, but Xiao Qiang didn’t have the patience.
He said offhandedly: “No matter who the opponent is, we’ll just kill them one by one.”
“What?” Xiao Wen was taken aback, looking at Xiao Qiang with surprise, “Elder Brother Xiao, you mean…?”
Xiao Qiang curled his lips, nonchalantly saying, “Regardless of who our opponent is, we still have to deal with them one by one.”
Xiao Zhengxun nodded, “Exactly.
Mr.
Xiao, please remove the spell.” No matter what, the Xiao Family had been pushed to such a point, he would never choose to endure silently.
Xiao Qiang nodded, and with a wave of his hand, he released his True Qi, undoing the Silence Charm.
Outside the sickroom, a variety of expressions displayed on the faces of the large crowd gathered there.
Some showed joy while some were pale – clearly, the awakening of Xiao Zhengxun had taken many people by surprise, causing a certain degree of panic.
“Qin Lao, get me a wheelchair,” Xiao Zhengxun ordered Qin Zheng.
Qin Zheng soon had someone bring a wheelchair, and he personally pushed Xiao Zhengxun out of the sick room and into the corridor.
“Patriarch, you have finally awakened…”
“Mr.
Xiao, how are you feeling now?”
Soon, a large group of people rushed over to greet Xiao Zhengxun.
Thanks to Xiao Qiang’s excellent Concentration Charm, Xiao Zhengxun had regained much of his spirit and stood bearing their greetings.
After exchanging pleasantries with the subordinates, Xiao Zhengxun waved his hand and signaled them to retreat.
He was pushed by Qin Zheng towards the pale-faced Su siblings.
Su Yu, his wife, wore a strange expression and stared at Xiao Zhengxun, seemingly lost in thoughts.
On the other hand, Su Yuanshan looked terrified; struggling to comprehend how Xiao Zhengxun, who had a doomed fate due to the Concentration Charm in their most foolproof plan, had suddenly awakened.
“Sister, brother-in-law, I…” Su Yuanshan’s voice quivered, unable to find the words.
Xiao Zhengxun gave a faint shake of his head, “I am your brother-in-law.
I have treated the Su Family fairly over the years, only to end up with such results.
Tell me, how should I repay you?”
At this point, everyone realized that something was amiss, it was clear that the situation between the Xiao Family and the Su Family was not as peaceful as it seemed on the surface.
Suddenly, Xiao Qiang furrowed his brows and looked at Qin Zheng, whose expression had greatly changed, and said gravely, “A master is on the way, it appears to be someone from the Su Family or Xia Family.”
The reason for his assumption was simple; the individual was not trying to conceal his intense killing intent.
Xiao Qiang was genuinely surprised.
Initially, he believed that the struggle among the wealthy and influential families would still at least maintain a certain level of decency.
However, the Xia Family had cruelly sent an assassin immediately after learning of Xiao Zhengxun’s awakening, obviously attempting to completely destroy the Xiao Family.
What he found even more curious was that this assassin was not attempting to conceal his actions, but rather, boldly displaying his killing intent and heading straight over – could it be that he believed no one in the Xiao Family was his match?
Xiao Zhengxun’s face turned even darker.
He had not expected the Xia Family to be so audacious, as to send an assassin during daylight – did they regard the Xiao Family as sitting ducks?
After a moment, the sound of footsteps echoed from the hospital’s stairway and a forceful-looking man appeared in the crowd’s view.
He was not particularly tall, just about 1.70 or 1.80 meters, and did not even exhibit any muscular bulk, but the moment Xiao Qiang saw him, he furrowed his brows even more.
This man was very strong.
His eyes gave off a fearlessness towards death – not just the lives of others, but also his own.
Such men were often the strongest.
As soon as the man appeared, a trace of joy crossed the faces of the Su siblings, and Qin Zheng, after taking two steps forward, obstructed his path and declared, “Leopard, I urge you to stop at once!”
Leopard looked at the Su siblings and on seeing that Su Yu and Su Yuanshan were alright, he heaved a sigh of relief.
However, he did not pause in his steps, and kept moving straight towards Xiao Zhengxun and Xiao Wen.
With a flash of cold light in his eyes, Qin Zheng was about to make a move, but the other man had already made his – swiftly moving past him, striking preemptively, and seizing the center.
His left hand, skilled in the Physical Fist form, bitingly attacked Qin Zheng’s raised fist, and immediately afterwards his right-hand badassedly smashed into the elder patriarch’s chest.
Had Qin Zheng not reacted swiftly enough to block his chest with his arms, this action would not have merely pushed him back a few steps, but would have left him spitting blood.
Qin Zheng was a peak ninth grade master, yet he was almost wounded by this man in a single move – and this was even when the man had held back, which indicated just how formidable this man was.
“Your external hard skills have reached a commendable level, you must have decent talent.
However, you’re overly focused on ferocity and lack a sense of flexibility, hence, your limit is only the threshold of the Innate Realm.” Xiao Qiang casually took a step forward, blocking the man’s direct path to Xiao Zhengxun and Xiao Wen.
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