The Gu family was not spotless. Apart from the main lineage of the Gu family patriarch, the other branches were not clean-handed.
They were the kind that even scrubbing couldn't truly clean.
Normally, they might not seem significant, but when combined, they amounted to immense trouble. The Zhao family, acting preemptively, naturally left no room for negotiation.
The Gu family patriarch, Gu Hongyuan, was still regretting that his secret destruction of the Zhao family's businesses had been discovered.
He had no idea that the root cause stemmed from his own son.
"Patriarch, what should we do now? The Zhao family has already made a move, and many of the collateral branches have been arrested."
"Yes, Patriarch, the Zhao family is aggressive. We cannot retreat any further."
"The Zhao family has secured much of the evidence against us. Since they're not holding back, we have no fear of a mutually destructive outcome."
"Hmph, mutually destructive? If it weren't for Gu Tianfeng causing the Patriarch to offend the Zhao family in secret, the Zhao family wouldn't have attacked us so suddenly."
"In my opinion, we should hand over Gu Tianfeng to quell the Zhao family's anger."
"That's the Patriarch's son. What do you mean by that?"
"So what if he's the Patriarch's son? Everyone in the Gu family has the resolve to sacrifice everything for the family. Even the Patriarch's son is no exception."
"Well said. The root cause of this matter lies with Gu Tianfeng. I think we should hand over the culprit."
Several Gu family elders surrounded Gu Hongyuan, their words a cacophony that gave him a headache.
A minority intended to fight to the bitter end, while the majority were inclined to capitulate and use Gu Tianfeng's life to appease the Zhao family's wrath.
"Let me think about it again."
Gu Hongyuan could only try to mediate for now. The best course of action was to get Feng'er far away from Yan Jing. This was Gu Hongyuan's worst-case scenario.
He could not bring himself to hand over his son. As long as his son could not be found, he believed the elders would have no way to force him.
The Gu family was not Gu Hongyuan's sole domain. Gu Hongyuan knew this all along.
However, Gu Hongyuan was unaware that one of the elders had furtively returned to his home, looking around cautiously, as if afraid of being noticed.
"Is that old fool Gu Hongyuan still trying to play both sides?"
As soon as he entered his house, the Gu family elder heard this voice and quickly closed the door, fearing eavesdropping.
"Young Master Zhao, you guessed correctly. Gu Hongyuan, that fellow, is unwilling to give up his son. He wants to drag the entire family down with him."
Speaking of which, the elder's eyes were filled with indignation. He was very dissatisfied with this Patriarch's unwise decision to antagonize the Zhao family.
This Young Master Zhao was Zhao Yunhai. It was this elder who had led Zhao Yunhai into the Gu family.
Traitors were never in short supply in the protagonist's family. Zhao Yunhai had easily bought over a Gu family elder.
"I have brought you in. Are the matters you promised still valid?"
The elder looked at the people beside Zhao Yunhai with trepidation. He mustered a sliver of courage, his voice extremely low, as if afraid of provoking them.
Zhao Yunhai walked up to him and, seeing him bow subserviently, let out a feigned sigh.
"The Gu family is innocent, but someone wants to bury his clan with him."
Upon hearing this, the Gu family elder thought Zhao Yunhai intended to silence him and his heart nearly stopped.
"Don't worry, I keep my word."
Zhao Yunhai let out a cold snort, his gaze flickered to the terrified Gu family elder, and he said indifferently.
"After this, I will spare your entire family and give you a boat ticket out of Jiuzhou."
Then, Zhao Yunhai looked at Ah Er. "Ah Er, give him the boat ticket and let him rest assured."
Ah Er's eyes darkened slightly as he handed the other party a boat ticket.
"Thank you, Young Master Zhao."
After receiving the boat ticket, the Gu family elder finally relaxed.
It wasn't that he couldn't afford a boat ticket or plane ticket. This ticket was special; it was the Zhao family's guarantee of his safety.
The Gu family was doomed. He considered himself to be preserving the Gu family's bloodline, not deserting in the face of danger.
With an insider, Zhao Yunhai had brought two hundred ability users into the Gu family this time. Another three hundred ability users had quietly surrounded the Gu family from the outside.
With the help of the insider, signal jammers had been successfully placed in various corners of the Gu family estate.
Due to such a major incident, most of the Gu family members who were not in trouble had returned to the ancestral home to avoid being picked off one by one.
"Fight to your heart's content. Ten thousand yuan per head. The total value of the Gu family is fifty million."
Zhao Yunhai pressed his earpiece and issued the order indifferently, deliberately glancing at the terrified Gu family elder.
The ability users hidden in the Gu family's shadows immediately acted upon hearing the command.
At this very moment, the Gu family lost satellite surveillance, lost signals, and lost all electronic communication methods.
The army controlled by the Gu family, which intended to use this incident as a show of force against the Zhao family, was forcibly suppressed by the Zhao family's political maneuvers.
The Gu family's unwise actions against them and the Zhao family's subsequent actions made it clear to the wise that the skies of Yan Jing would be cloudier in the future.
The Gu family was not without support, but the Zhao family was not to be trifled with either. The forces that emerged in support of the Zhao family immediately intimidated the Gu family's allies.
Zhao Yunhai sat on the sofa, with the young monk Wuchen, Ah Da, Ah Er, Ah San, and Si Jinyan standing silently by his side.
Zhao Yunhai's original plan was to use legitimate means to let the Gu family perish in prison, which was the simplest and least bloody method.
However, he had endured a whole day of bad luck, starting from when he returned from his grandfather's house.
If he hadn't reclaimed the Gate of Apocalypse and entered the apocalyptic world,
it was likely that the Zhao family estate would have faced major problems due to his misfortune.
In the apocalyptic world, he arrived in a desolate land, only to find a mutated zombie slumbering there.
It awoke because of his appearance, and because of this zombie, many other mutated zombies were attracted.
Zhao Yunhai had not had a moment of peace for the entire day. No matter where he was, unexpected accidents would occur.
He had initially intended for Gu Tianfeng's entire clan to die a clear death. Now, he made them die a confused death, letting this place be stained with Gu family blood.
Ability users had a strong killing intent. Even though the Gu family had many martial artists, they were no match for these ability users.
With their stealthy abilities and mutual cooperation, the martial artists were merely fish on a chopping block.
Furthermore, the Gu family itself was not a martial arts family, and they did not have many powerful martial artists.
The slaughter continued in the Gu family, and Gu family members were ruthlessly harvested by the ability users.
The roads leading to the Gu family had been sealed off due to road maintenance failures, so outsiders had no idea what was happening there.
The Zhao family's influence over public opinion was terrifying. The incident that was fermenting online was becoming increasingly widespread, with many internet celebrities jumping on the bandwagon.
This was also with the tacit approval of the Zhao family, otherwise, the capital behind these internet celebrities would not dare to court death.
...
Li Mingyi was powerful, and Gu Tianfeng was not at a disadvantage. At the same time, he did not forget to taunt Gu Tianfeng.
"Don't you want to see your family one last time?"
"If you go back now, you might even see a complete corpse."
"What did you say?"
Gu Tianfeng's body stiffened, and his gaze was fixed on Li Mingyi. His heart ached inexplicably. Could something have happened to his family?