Chapter 124 : Chapter 124
Chapter 124. Sudden Change
On the twenty-third day of the ninth month.
Just when Shangyang Residence was advancing with unstoppable momentum, and everyone thought the Bai Family was on the verge of collapse—
a sudden change erupted.
Something happened that no one had seen coming.
That day, Huo Gang and Yuan Danqing led their men out as usual, charging into one of the Bai Family’s streets with overwhelming force.
At first, everything went smoothly. The Bai Family defenders were driven back step by step, as though they had no strength to resist at all.
Huo Gang was in soaring spirits, leading his men straight through the enemy line, already calculating how he would celebrate that night.
And then—
a figure suddenly descended from the sky.
The man looked to be just over fifty. His features were ordinary, and he wore a dull gray coarse-cloth outfit. Mixed in among the fleeing Bai Family martial artists, he had been utterly unremarkable.
But the instant he struck, everyone’s expressions changed.
It took only a single palm strike.
Even though Huo Gang defended with all his strength, he was still blasted flying backward. His chest caved in, and blood sprayed wildly from his mouth.
Yuan Danqing reacted a little faster and turned to flee, only to be struck in the back by that same man. She was sent flying several zhang like a kite with its string cut, then crashed heavily to the ground.
“Seven... seven-meridian...”
Huo Gang lay on the ground, blood filling his mouth, his eyes full of shock and disbelief.
The gray-clothed man stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at them with the same calm indifference one might show toward two ants.
“You juniors of Shangyang Residence truly thought my Bai Family had no one left?”
He gave a wave of his hand.
Behind him, the Bai Family martial artists who had long been lying in ambush surged out in a flood, charging toward the leaderless martial artists of Shangyang Residence.
Screams, pleas for mercy, and the clash of weapons rose and fell across the street.
In that battle, Qunlong Ward and Hewen Ward suffered grievous losses.
Relying on certain trump cards, Huo Gang and Yuan Danqing had been lucky enough to keep half their lives, but many of the martial artists who had followed them were not so fortunate.
By the time the two were rescued and brought back by their subordinates, both were covered in blood, their breaths weak and fading. They had nearly failed to make it back alive.
Before long, the news reached Shangyang Residence and shocked everyone present.
Voices rose one after another in condemnation, accusing the Bai Family of breaking the balance, secretly using a seven-meridian fighter, and violating the rules.
The Bai Family, however, could not have cared less. They wore the shameless look of dead pigs unafraid of boiling water.
You were already about to beat them straight through, and you still expected them to talk about honor?
...
The day after the incident.
Chief Overseer Zhao convened an emergency meeting and ordered the four Workshop Masters to head at once to Hongyun Restaurant for discussion.
When Xu Yuan stepped onto the top floor of the restaurant, he immediately caught a strong medicinal smell in the air.
Huo Gang and Yuan Danqing had already arrived.
Both of them were pale as paper, seated in their chairs. Their clothes were clearly thicker than usual, and beneath them, bandages could vaguely be seen wrapped around their bodies.
Yuan Danqing kept her eyes lowered, her lips pressed together, saying nothing.
Huo Gang, meanwhile, leaned back in his chair, his face so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water.
Xiao Han sat nearby. When he saw Xu Yuan enter, he gave him a slight nod.
After they had all taken their seats, Zhao Yan strode in with equally unpleasant expression.
His gaze swept across the room. He wasted no words and went straight to the point.
“You all know what happened yesterday.”
“The Bai Family actually hid a seven-meridian fighter in secret and caught Workshop Master Huo and Workshop Master Yuan completely off guard, causing heavy casualties for both wards. This was our failure.”
When his words fell, silence filled the hall.
At that moment, Xiao Han looked at Huo Gang and Yuan Danqing, then suddenly let out a soft laugh, his tone openly mocking.
“I told you long ago not to get greedy and charge ahead recklessly. No matter what, the Bai Family is still an old-established power with deep foundations. How could they possibly sit there obediently and wait to die?”
“But you would not listen. Well, now look at what happened.”
At those words, Yuan Danqing’s face reddened, but she had no answer to offer.
She had always acted rationally, yet in the face of such enormous battle merit, even she had grown somewhat rash.
It was not as though she had felt no caution at all over the past few days, watching the merits pour in.
But the temptation had simply been too great...
And she had nearly fallen into the abyss because of it.
Huo Gang, however, had never been the sort to accept a loss quietly. Hearing this, he immediately let out a cold laugh.
“What do you know? Workshop Master Yuan and I may have been injured this time, but we managed to probe the Bai Family’s bottom line!”
“Now that we know they used a seven-meridian fighter, when we crush them with the greater momentum later on, things will only go more smoothly. This is... this is sacrificing the lesser self to fulfill the greater one!”
“I am supposed to listen to that nonsense?”
Xiao Han let out a derisive snort and could not even be bothered to continue.
“Give me a break.”
Seeing that Xiao Han had no interest in arguing further, Huo Gang shifted his gaze and intentionally or otherwise glanced toward Xu Yuan.
“At the very least, we are not like certain people who only know how to hide in the rear and wait to pick up cheap gains.”
Xu Yuan raised his eyes to look at him, finding the whole thing rather amusing.
Earlier, when he had not competed with Huo Gang for merit, Huo Gang’s attitude had been full of approval and satisfaction.
Now that he himself had walked into an ambush and suffered for it, he had turned around and started mocking Xu Yuan for being timid and overly cautious?
But Xiao Han could not stay seated any longer. He slammed a hand against the table.
“Huo Gang, what exactly do you mean by that? Are you taking a dig at me?!”
“What would I be taking a dig at you for?”
Huo Gang sneered again and again. “Some people have stayed curled up in the rear the whole time, taking no small share of battle merit while bearing none of the risk. How easy is it to be a Workshop Master in the Level Three zone?”
“Bearing none of the risk?”
Xiao Han burst out laughing from sheer anger. “Who was the great genius who insisted on staying on the front line and refused to let us rotate in? Surely it was not me?”
“You—” Huo Gang pointed a finger at him, instantly about to flare up.
“Enough!”
Zhao Yan struck the table with one palm. The heavy thud made all their ears ache.
His sharp gaze swept across Huo Gang and Xiao Han as he said in a deep voice, “At a time like this, you are still fighting among yourselves? Do you think the family has not laughed at us enough already?”
The two men looked at each other, then both turned their heads away and said nothing more.
Zhao Yan drew a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart, and continued in a grave voice,
“Such a major incident has occurred in the Level Three zone, and the Residence already knows of it... It is expected that in three days, a seven-meridian fighter will be sent here to oversee the battle and lead your offensive on the front line.”
A seven-meridian battle overseer?
At those words, the others all showed different expressions.
A glint flashed through Huo Gang’s eyes, and Yuan Danqing also raised her head slightly.
Zhao Yan paid no attention to their reactions and continued, “The pressure in the Level Four zone is considerable, so they cannot spare too many hands for the moment.”
“However, the Residence has promised that once the pressure there eases somewhat, martial artists will be sent here one after another. Presumably, the collapse of the Bai Family is only a matter of time.”
Those words were the usual politically correct thing to say, so naturally everyone nodded in agreement.
The meeting continued for a while longer, discussing a few details, before they all dispersed.
Xu Yuan was the last to leave, replaying Zhao Yan’s words in his mind.
A seven-meridian battle overseer?
He murmured softly to himself, a faint smile rising at the corner of his lips.
It probably would not even take three days, would it?
...