They began to echo, "Yes, he's just a fugitive. Does he still think he's the head of the Dongfang family? Zhou Jinbai, I advise you to go back and surrender. Otherwise, if the police come to this place to arrest you, you'll truly rot in prison."
"Jinbai, we are your elders, and we've watched you grow up. We want you to be well, so don't be so stubborn. You are still young, and there are plenty of opportunities. Repent and reform, don't ruin yourself."
The people around had now all become Zhou Bingwen's persuaders. To them, Zhou Bingwen was the one with great fortune now. As for them, even if they felt Zhou Bingwen was wrong in this matter, it was useless, because they dared not oppose Zhou Bingwen.
Zhou Jinbai paid no attention to their words. To him, these people were just fair-weather friends.
He simply looked at Zhou Bingwen coldly, with a gaze so unfamiliar it was as if the man standing before him was no longer the elder he had respected since childhood, but merely his enemy.
"Zhou Bingwen, if I thought I would lose to you this time, I wouldn't have come."
Zhou Jinbai no longer addressed Zhou Bingwen as 'Uncle', and the chill in his eyes deepened Zhou Bingwen's unease.
"You unfilial son, you are not qualified to speak to me." Zhou Bingwen took a step back, and several bodyguards immediately moved to block him.
As they looked at Zhou Jinbai with threatening gazes, Zhou Jinbai couldn't help but laugh.
"Very well, I don't want to waste my breath. Since you want to resolve this with force, then we will resolve it with force today. After all, it's time to settle our grievances." Zhou Jinbai commanded Xuan Yin and Xuan Zhu behind him, "Escort them to a safe place to watch. As for here... leave the others. Today, I will punish the demons within the family as the head of the Dongfang family."
At Zhou Jinbai's command, the old lady and the others were protected, followed by a hail of gunfire.
These bullets flew towards Zhou Bingwen's direction. Zhou Bingwen's eyes widened in disbelief. He had never expected that Zhou Jinbai, who had always been so self-disciplined and cautious, would openly attack him, his uncle, in front of so many people. This alone was enough for the elders of the Dongfang family to remove his position as family head in the name of family rules.
"Zhou Jinbai, you unfilial son, I am your uncle! You want to kill me! Are you crazy?" Zhou Bingwen dodged the rain of bullets, casting an incredulous gaze at Zhou Jinbai. To him, Zhou Jinbai's actions were beyond his expectations.
Zhou Jinbai remained silent, because not only were his side firing, but the subordinates who wanted to install Zhou Bingwen as family head were also seizing this opportunity to open fire in Zhou Jinbai's direction.
However, they were slightly inferior to the men Zhou Jinbai brought, as Zhou Jinbai's subordinates were all well-prepared.
Moreover, they had fully automatic shields protecting Zhou Jinbai, and even the old lady and the others in the distance were heavily shielded. In just a few dozen seconds, Zhou Bingwen's men were at a disadvantage.
Soon, the air was filled with a strong smell of blood. Just as everyone thought Zhou Jinbai's side was about to achieve a great victory and kill Zhou Bingwen, a large group of people in black tactical gear ran into the ancestral hall from the entrance.
These people were armed with assault rifles, and wherever they went, there was a hail of bullets!
"Not good, these are the Dongfang family's gold-medal bodyguards! I didn't expect Zhou Bingwen, that beast, to have summoned them too."
Upon seeing the group with assault rifles, the old lady's expression became extremely serious and solemn.
No one knew better than her the capabilities of the gold-medal bodyguards!
Although the gold-medal bodyguards were not as formidable as they once were, they could still take on ten ordinary men.
"Jinbai, you must be careful!"
The old lady shouted to remind Zhou Jinbai. Zhou Bingwen, standing at the center of the crowd, merely sneered, "The Dongfang family's gold-medal bodyguards have always obeyed only the head of the Dongfang family. Zhou Jinbai, you are no longer the head of the Dongfang family. Do you think you have any chance of survival in front of these gold-medal bodyguards?"
Zhou Bingwen's face, which had been somewhat flustered, now showed unprecedented smugness and mockery. Zhou Jinbai, however, simply asked, "I don't know if there's a chance of survival, but I do know that one of us must be settled today!"
There was no warmth in Zhou Jinbai's tone. Just as Zhou Bingwen felt he was about to turn the tables, the sound of helicopters rumbled from the sky.
Zhou Bingwen looked up and saw that, at some point, ten helicopters were now flying overhead.
These ten helicopters had surrounded the entire ancestral hall, and Zhou Bingwen had a strong premonition that these aircraft were targeting him.
"What is that?" Zhou Bingwen's panic grew. Although he didn't know where these helicopters came from, their sleek appearance clearly indicated they were expensive combat weapons!
In Zhou Bingwen's understanding, the Dongfang family had also invested in researching such things, but they did not possess this type of helicopter.
"I forgot to tell you, the Norton family is now my ally." Zhou Jinbai disliked beating around the bush with Zhou Bingwen, and he knew that with so many forces helping him, Zhou Bingwen was nothing more than a clown!
"The Norton family?" Zhou Bingwen narrowed his eyes, trying to recall. Suddenly, a bullet pierced his shoulder.
An intense pain struck him, and Zhou Bingwen immediately clutched his shoulder.
But then, bullets from other directions rained down on him.
These bullets were not large and could not kill him instantly, but wherever they hit him, after the initial excruciating pain, the sensation slowly diminished. In the end, Zhou Bingwen watched his wounds bleed profusely, but he felt nothing.
Not only Zhou Bingwen, but all the gold-medal bodyguards protecting him, wearing the same uniform, were not spared!
The bullets that shot them were different from those that hit Zhou Bingwen; each bullet killed them.
Zhou Bingwen's expression became extremely complex and panicked. "How could this be... It's not supposed to be like this... What went wrong?"
Zhou Bingwen couldn't comprehend how his meticulously planned scheme of so many years could be so easily thwarted by Zhou Jinbai.
Even his prized gold-medal bodyguards were now as fragile as tofu.
In the end, all the people protecting Zhou Bingwen fell. Although some of Zhou Jinbai's men were injured, none suffered fatal wounds.
"What are you waiting for? Quickly arrest this unfilial son! He committed such brutal murder in front of us. Such a demon should not return to our Dongfang family. Today, only bodyguards and those on my side died, but what about tomorrow? As long as this demon is unhappy, how many innocent people will be killed?"
Zhou Bingwen was still trying to stir up emotions, but the others were already cowering in the corners.
Good heavens!
Although they disliked Zhou Jinbai, there were so many fighter jets overhead watching them. Compared to disliking someone, survival was the most important thing.
Besides, whether Zhou Jinbai or Zhou Bingwen became the family head, as long as they didn't deliberately draw attention to themselves, it made no difference to them.
Seeing this scene, the old lady pushed away the people protecting her and, with the support of Meng Chuzheng, walked to Zhou Jinbai's side. She looked at Zhou Bingwen with extreme disappointment.
At this moment, Zhou Bingwen knelt on the ground, his clothes soaked with blood.
Zhou Bingwen spat out a mouthful of dark red blood. Upon seeing this strange blood, he suddenly looked up at Zhou Jinbai. "The bullets were poisoned?"
Before Zhou Jinbai could answer, the old lady replied for him.
"Yes, the bullets were poisoned. I had them coated with it, and this is the poison our Dongfang family uses to punish great villains within the family!"
After the old lady finished speaking, Zhou Bingwen's pained expression froze for more than ten seconds.
Then, like a defeated rooster, Zhou Bingwen lowered his head and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, I knew it. The person who is always the harshest to me is always the one closest to me. Whether it was when I was a child or now, whenever I made a mistake, I would receive the harshest punishment. But if it were others, they would be forgiven."
Zhou Bingwen knew he was facing death. He was unwilling to lose so easily to Zhou Jinbai, and everything had gone too smoothly, making Zhou Bingwen feel like a complete fool.
But what could be done?
His unwillingness was futile!
"You are simply blinded by greed and cannot see the kindness of others!" The old lady listened to Zhou Bingwen's words and felt that this son of hers was incorrigible!
"Kindness to me? What is kindness to me? Is it taking away everything that belonged to me, then telling me to endure, to suffer so much humiliation, and then calling it kindness?"
Zhou Bingwen questioned the old lady, "You are my mother, but since childhood, you and my father have always favored my younger brother. No matter how I changed, it was useless in your eyes. Since childhood, I have always played the role of a good older brother. I hoped that the Dongfang family would prosper even more when I took over. But what did I get? No matter how many mistakes my younger brother made, you could forgive him. Whatever my younger brother wanted, no matter how difficult, you could give it to him. The title of Dongfang Junze, which originally belonged to me, you gave to my younger brother. Even the woman I loved, you agreed to let her be with my younger brother..."
After Zhou Bingwen finished speaking, he laughed heartily again.
Facing his questioning, the old lady's voice trembled with anger. "Your younger brother was frail and sickly since childhood. It was very normal for your father and I to care more about your younger brother. We didn't think we were favoring him. No matter what it was, we would prepare two gifts. Your personality is indecisive, and you are not suited to be the head of the family. While the position of the Dongfang family head appears glorious, it is also fraught with danger. Your younger brother is more steady and thoughtful in his actions, which is why we wanted him to be Dongfang Junze. We hoped you could live a peaceful life."
The old lady explained, but looking at Zhou Bingwen's eyes filled with hatred, she knew that no matter how she explained, it would be useless.
"Heh, these high-sounding excuses. You've been deceiving me for so many years, yet you still think I'm that foolish now." Zhou Bingwen had the expression of someone who had heard a great joke. "I felt it in my heart. You have always favored my younger brother. I even convinced myself every time that you favored him because he was younger. But do you remember? Once, when my younger brother and I were both kidnapped, you chose to save my younger brother. If I hadn't escaped on my own later, I would have died long ago. There would be no Zhou Bingwen in this world, and you wouldn't have cared anyway. From the moment you made that choice, I was already dead."
Zhou Bingwen's words made Zhou Jinbai cast a questioning glance at the old lady.
As far as he was concerned, he already knew more than ninety percent of what had happened in the past, but this incident that Zhou Bingwen was talking about, his grandmother had never told him.
Upon hearing this, the old lady's face instantly turned sad.
"I knew you still resented us for this, but we really had no choice back then. Those kidnappers forced us to choose one of you. Both my son's hand and his back are flesh. No matter which way I chose, it was wrong." The old lady was still immersed in intense self-blame.
At this moment, Zhou Bingwen's laughter became even more mocking.
"Yes, no matter which way you chose, it was wrong. You can use these words to deceive me now, but can you truly deceive yourself? All these years, you have been devoutly practicing Buddhism. Are you sincerely worshiping the gods, or are you atoning for your past deeds?"
Zhou Bingwen's words made the old lady's face turn deathly pale.