Chapter 619: Still not kneeling to accept death
Li Erye’s face was aged, his appearance that of someone who has seen the years, yet no one dared to underestimate this old man, because Li Erye was a renowned figure, not only in the vast Northwest, but also in Huaxia and even Asia, his reputation formidable.
At this moment, Li Erye’s strong and sturdy figure slowly walked out, each step he took tugging at everyone’s heartstrings.
His gaze first fell on the Five Great Families, among them were people he knew and people he did not know, but in any case, these people were like his subjects, and it was only right for him to first look at the people under his protection.
Anyone from the Five Great Families caught under Li Erye’s gaze lowered their heads, as if the gaze of a king was upon them, and they all bowed respectfully, not daring to show a hint of disrespect.
Even Li Chenggui and others were no exception, let alone anyone else.
"This is Li Erye, with just one look, he makes us tremble with fear. He is indeed our pride and glory. How could someone like Ye Fan ever compete with him?" muttered the people of the Five Great Families.
"Under my protection, the Five Great Families have always bullied others and allowed no one to bully them. Unexpectedly, upon seeing the Five Great Families today, many familiar faces are missing. Zheng Guodong is dead, and five powerful masters have gone. I didn’t expect that even in the entire Northwest, someone would dare to go against me right under my nose, they are courting death."
Li Erye’s expression was calm, revealing no emotional change, but in his heart, it was filled with murderous intent.
He thought bitterly, "I thought that with the Five Great Families having me as their backing, they would have no worries for the future and no one would dare provoke them. Now it seems I have been too gentle, I need to kill a few to deter the petty people, only then can I protect the business status of the Five Great Families."
"Now that Zheng Guodong is dead, presumably there’s no one in the Zheng Family who can hold this banner. In that case, let the businesses of the Zheng Family and the Ma Family all come under the banners of the Li Family, Chen Family, and Huang Family. The elimination of two of the Five Great Families is an inevitable thing."
Li Erye spoke as if stating a very simple matter, inadvertently deciding the new layout of the Five Great Families. His decision was domineering, without any reason, as in his view, his word was reason.
There was no need for him to reason with others, his strength was the greatest reason.
This statement flowed like a torrent through the hearts of everyone in the Five Great Families.
"Indeed, that’s how it should be." Li Chenggui, Huang Jingwei, and Chen Tiande wore smiles that conveyed this was how it should be.
"I had long anticipated that even if my Ma Family paid the greatest price, we would be unable to reintegrate into the faction led by the Li Family." Ma Qianqiu showed a sorrowful expression.
"Li Erye, please, my Zheng Family’s Patriarch has died. It’s truly the time when we need your justice to unite and support our Zheng Family. You can’t do this, it’s cutting off our Zheng Family’s path, it’s absolutely unacceptable." The people of the Zheng Family pleaded mournfully.
How could the Zheng Family not be anxious? Now they needed support, but instead of extending a helping hand, Li Erye was beating them while they were down, which left them extremely disheartened and also terrified. If the Zheng Family was gone, they would not even have a place to stand.
They had no courage to point out Li Erye’s wrongs, only to plead, hoping to receive Li Erye’s attention and pity.
"What are you shouting about? Li Erye is just and fair. With you handling the Zheng Family’s business, it will inevitably decline in time."
"If it were under our management, the Zheng Family’s business would thrive and prosper."
"If Zheng Guodong were still alive, he would have agreed as well."
"We won’t drive you to extinction, providing you with all necessary daily needs, what are you worried about?"
Li Chenggui and the others rebuked the people of the Zheng Family.
"Li Erye is benevolent." The people of the Zheng Family lowered their heads, any dissatisfaction could only be suppressed in their hearts, not daring to reveal it.
They could foresee that the Zheng Family had no future and was about to be destroyed.
Without autonomy, how was it any different from annihilation?
Even if they could barely survive without worry, they would still have to look at others’ faces, there would be no hope of living freely and comfortably.
"If only Zheng Guodong were alive. Although we were unhappy with Zheng Guodong holding all the family’s power, compared to the situation at hand, Zheng Guodong was too good to us." The Zheng Family members lamented deeply, murmuring in complexity.
"Benevolence, my foot, if Zheng Guodong were still alive, seeing the plight of the Zheng Family, he’d be outraged to death without a doubt." Ma Qianqiu sighed sorrowfully, having long foreseen this outcome, if Ye Fan were defeated, then the Ma Family’s situation would be worse than the Zheng Family’s.
Ye Fan remained calm, not in a hurry to act, but watching this Li Erye, oblivious to his own impending doom, show off his power here.
"A self-satisfied narcissist, truly pathetic." Ye Fan made this assessment of Li Erye.
"This is the power of Li Erye, the dominance of a Human Body Limit expert." Chi Qinyuan murmured softly.
Li Erye’s gaze finally fell upon Chu Mengyao and Chu Biyao, with a look of reminiscence, he said, "You two little girls, are you the granddaughters of that old man Chu? Not bad, that old guy Chu is lucky to have such outstanding granddaughters."
The Mengyao sisters exchanged a glance but didn’t speak. To be honest, the sisters rarely saw that mysterious grandfather. As for Li Erye actually knowing their grandfather, the two sisters were somewhat surprised but not overly shocked. However, the disdain in Li Erye’s words greatly displeased them.
"Disrespectful old thing, what right do you have to call my grandfather that old thing Chu?" Chu Biyao glared in dissatisfaction.
"To verbally attack my grandfather in front of us juniors, do you have no shame?" Chu Mengyao reproached.
"Haha, in honor of that old fellow, I won’t argue with you juniors." Li Erye seemed a bit generous, his gaze skimming over the Mengyao sisters and finally landing on Qiu Wen and others, commending, "Quite a few fine talents, if trained, would surely amount to something extraordinary."
Finally, Li Erye’s gaze rested on Ye Fan, his expression turning cold, he said, "Just now, you said to come out and face death, right?"
He had naturally heard Ye Fan’s words, and now he was showing his power.
"It seems you’re not muddle-headed yet, and your hearing isn’t impaired." Ye Fan said lightly.
"Youngster, how dare you, kneel and accept death at once." Li Erye spoke, full of murderous intent, walking towards Ye Fan.