"Brother Jin, that phone call just now?" Patriarch Zhang asked immediately after seeing Patriarch Jin ponder for a moment after receiving the call.
Patriarch Jin smiled subtly:
"Don't be anxious, eldest brother. The call just now was indeed from Xu Mu. His intention is to make a move tomorrow night.
However, he told me his plan, and I felt there were some omissions, so I told him to wait for my call.
Now, I will go down and carefully formulate the plan for tomorrow night. I will report back to eldest brother later to see if it is feasible?"
Patriarch Zhang waved his hand:
"Go ahead, no need to report to me. Once you've arranged it, contact Xu Mu directly. But tell him that from now on, all matters must be reported promptly."
"Yes, eldest brother, I'll be going then."
After speaking, Patriarch Jin smiled, nodded at Patriarch Zhang and Patriarch Li, and retreated.
"Patriarch Zhang, why didn't Patriarch Jin mention the reason for Xu Mu's recent lack of contact?"
After a period of discussion, just as Patriarch Zhang was about to adjourn the meeting, Patriarch Li suddenly said.
Patriarch Zhang was stunned. That's right, Xu Mu hadn't contacted them for days. Since he called, he should have explained why he hadn't been in touch, right? Why didn't Patriarch Jin mention it?
Patriarch Zhang subconsciously said:
"Perhaps Brother Jin didn't notice and forgot."
But in his heart, he thought, they were just discussing this matter, how could he forget it?
Even Patriarch Wu, who had been silent, felt Patriarch Jin's behavior was a bit strange. He rarely interjected during meetings, but this time he couldn't help but say:
"Patriarch Zhang, in the past, Patriarch Jin's strategies were always readily available, usually formulated during meetings. Why does he need to leave to think it over carefully this time?"
Patriarch Wu's reminder shocked Patriarch Zhang. He immediately recalled Patriarch Jin's usual methods and details of his actions. He was indeed a bit abnormal today.
To him, dealing with a woman was such a minor issue that it required him to leave and think quietly?
This was illogical.
Thinking of this, Patriarch Zhang immediately said:
"Immediately check who made that phone call just now."
The result came out in less than a minute. The call was not from Xu Mu, but from someone later dispatched to gather information.
Not good. Upon hearing this reality, Patriarch Zhang immediately realized something was wrong.
Patriarch Jin dared to lie to him. This had never happened before.
"Bring Patriarch Jin here immediately."
After speaking, he paused and added:
"Regardless of whether he is alive or dead."
Soon, a communication soldier rushed in and said anxiously:
"Reporting to the Patriarch, Patriarch Jin left a few minutes ago. As for where he went, it is not yet clear."
"What?"
Patriarch Zhang's face turned ashen with anger. He hadn't expected Patriarch Jin to dare to escape. More than ninety percent of the strategies against the Liu family came from him, and he knew the alliance like the back of his hand.
This Patriarch Jin was practically the second in command of the alliance, and he had escaped.
Patriarch Zhang's expression flickered, but he eventually calmed down. He knew Patriarch Jin's intelligence too well.
If he could betray him and escape, it meant he no longer had confidence in him.
On what grounds did he lack confidence in him?
His Zhang family was second only to the Liu family, and there were so many large and small families. Could they not even deal with a mere Liu family?
However, Patriarch Zhang still had reason. He immediately thought that Patriarch Jin's strategies were rarely unsuccessful, and even his judgment was mostly correct.
Did he also have to leave?
But if Patriarch Jin could escape, where would he go?
Where would be safer for him than Empty Mountain?
Suddenly, he felt that his control was not strong enough, and there were too many loopholes below.
If anyone wanted to leave, they had to pass through him. Patriarch Jin's escape would not have happened.
Moreover, he also discovered that some of his trusted subordinates could enter and exit without reporting to the guards, coming and going as they pleased. This was also a loophole.
Patriarch Jin was his strategist. He couldn't possibly not know about these loopholes, but he had never warned him, which indicated that he had long intended to escape at any moment.
"Good for you, Jin Daya. I will find you, even if I have to search the entire world."
Patriarch Zhang slammed the table and said through gritted teeth.
"I want to see what's so great about this Liu family that they can force Jin Daya to betray me. Come, check the content of that phone call."
Patriarch Zhang, not feeling the pain in his palm, roared again.
"No need to shout, I'm already here."
Lin Feng's faint voice echoed at the entrance of the conference hall.
Patriarch Zhang's voice abruptly stopped. He looked at the entrance of the conference hall in shock. There were guards upon guards, how could someone arrive under his nose so silently?
He soon saw Xu Mu, and his face immediately turned ashen again.
"Xu Mu, you ungrateful wretch! You betray me just like that? I'll kill you, you beast!"
Saying that, Patriarch Zhang was about to draw his artifact, but he was even more horrified to find that he could no longer move. A hint of crimson was slowly spreading from his wrist. He didn't even feel any pain.
Ice Talisman?
Was this the legendary Ice Talisman?
He had only heard of such talismans before, but very few people in the entire Jiuli could draw them. The requirements for drawing an Ice Talisman were too harsh.
But how many of these talismans did this Lin Feng have on him?
Xu Mu remained silent.
Seeing that his wrist had been struck by the Ice Talisman, Patriarch Zhang's heart grew cold. He knew that today he was finished.
He hadn't expected this person to be so powerful, to be able to appear before him completely unnoticed. This was too unbelievable.
Even with Xu Mu's help, Xu Mu couldn't bring a stranger into his territory.
Could it be that he also had an Invisibility Talisman?
Patriarch Zhang had completely calmed down. He slowly looked at Xu Mu, then at Patriarch Wu.
He knew that the only possibility of survival was if Patriarch Wu could stall this stranger, and preferably persuade Xu Mu to defect again.
A young man in his twenties rushed over, not even paying attention to Patriarch Zhang, because he was Xu Mu's confidant and the person Xu Mu had sent into the Zhang family back then.
He handed a letter to Xu Mu and said anxiously:
"Patriarch Jin asked me to give this to you before he left, saying it would save your life."
Lang Ji immediately opened the letter. It contained only a hastily written line:
"You became an orphan in your youth and became a disciple of Daoist Qian Shou; this was all orchestrated by Patriarch Zhang."
Xu Mu's expression immediately changed. He hadn't expected that for so many years, the person who had always helped him and hoped for his service was the mastermind.
What was even more laughable was that he had done so many things for him over the years.
Xu Mu was worse than a pig.
No wonder Patriarch Zhang's expression was always unnatural whenever he talked about finding the murderer and seeking revenge.
Then he thought about his master, who never stopped him from working for the Zhang family.
Such coincidences were not coincidences at all, because the killer was him.
Back then, the Zhang family's strength was not strong. It could be said that the Zhang family's current strength was partly due to Xu Mu's hard work.
One could imagine how proud Patriarch Zhang must have been watching him diligently work for his enemy.
Xu Mu didn't think about why Patriarch Zhang's strategist would give him this hint, but he didn't have time to think about it now. Instead, he crumpled the paper in his hand and threw it at Patriarch Zhang,
"Zhang Duyan, no wonder you always hesitated when I talked about revenge. It turns out it was you all along. Bah, and you told me I owed you. Today, I will kill you with my own hands, you bastard!"
Lin Feng hadn't read the letter, but from Xu Mu's enraged expression, he could tell that Patriarch Zhang seemed to have deceived him.
Originally, he had planned to consider whether to kill Xu Mu after his own matters were settled. Now, it seemed he didn't need to rush to kill Xu Mu. Xu Mu might still be useful.