123: Chapter 123 The Truth Revealed

Wang Yaozu's biggest wish in this life was to protect this place and ensure that the descendants of the Wang Family would never be harassed by foreign enemies.

Yet trouble always came knocking—the Ning Family, the Yan Family, and Black Fiend, one after another, endlessly.

Such is the helplessness of being born in this world; you do not wish to provoke others, yet people insist on provoking you.

An extremely faint sound of footsteps stopped outside the door.

Wang Yaozu did not turn his head; he had already recognized the newcomer from their aura.

"Shouren? Come in."

Wang Shouren pushed the door open and casually set up a soundproofing barrier. A pale cyan light curtain silently enveloped the entire study.

He walked up to his father with a solemn expression and got straight to the point: "After much thought, Son always feels like something was miscalculated, so I specially came to discuss it with Father."

Wang Yaozu was slightly startled, and then an unspeakable sense of relief welled up in his heart.

He looked at the young man before him—in his early twenties, already as tall as himself, his face still carrying a bit of the unique sharpness of a youth, but his gaze was already as steady as a quenched blade.

There was a time when Shouren would only follow behind him and ask, "Father, how should this matter be handled?"

Now, coming to seek him in the middle of the night, the word he used was "discuss".

He reached out to signal his son to sit down, his tone unconsciously softening a bit.

"Good boy, perfect. Ever since stepping onto the Ning Family's mountain gate today, I've also felt a lingering unease. The two of us, father and son, can ponder it together."

The candle fire in the study remained lit until the late hours of the night.

The father and son scrutinized the entire plan from beginning to end over and over again, from the time Black Fiend entered the Ning Family's territory to the traces of the Magical Artifact left behind during the destruction of the Family, from the abnormal performance of Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong before the mountain gate of Lotus Pier to the possible direction of investigation by the Spirit Sword Sect.

Every time they overturned and started over, they failed to find any omissions, yet that sense of unease did not disappear; instead, it grew even stronger.

Wang Shouren suddenly frowned, and his voice abruptly stopped.

Wang Yaozu also abruptly raised his head almost at the very same instant. The father and son locked eyes, simultaneously seeing the exact same answer in each other's eyes.

"Oh no, we missed something!"

"The Yan Family!"

"The families of the Three Counties guard against each other. The Ning Family planted secret stakes around both our Wang Family and the Yan Family, so it's hard to guarantee that the Ning Family didn't have the Yan Family's spies as well."

Wang Shouren spoke at an extremely fast pace, his mind spinning rapidly. "Before the Ning Family was wiped out, if the Yan Family had spies hiding on the periphery of the Ning Family, the commotion of our actions that night might not have escaped their notice."

Wang Yaozu had already stood up, his gaze nailing onto his son's face like lightning: "After you left, was everything cleaned up?"

Wang Shouren met his father's gaze without dodging at all, his tone as resolute as iron: "All three hundred and seventeen members of the Ning Family have been fully accounted for, with not a single survivor. The hoarded goods within the clan have also been completely burned, leaving no omissions."

Wang Yaozu stared into his son's eyes for a long time, finally nodded slowly, and sat back down in his chair.

He did not ask anything more. "If Shouren says it's cleaned up, then it's cleaned up."

Outside the window, a streak of grayish-white had already appeared on the horizon.

Wang Shouren lay on the grand master chair in his father's study, using his right thumb to press hard against the center of his brows, rubbing that patch of skin until it turned red.

The sky outside the window was already growing faintly bright. The fatigue of not sleeping all night weighed heavily upon his eyelids, but his brain could not stop.

Those two words, the Yan Family, were like a barbed thorn stuck in his fingertip; until it was pulled out, he could never rest at ease.

Suddenly, he abruptly sat up.

"No. We must never pin our hopes on the Yan Family not having discovered it."

Wang Yaozu put down the teacup in his hand, his gaze falling upon his son's face—one that had not slept all night yet still retained a compelling sharpness.

"What do you mean?"

"Regardless of whether the Yan Family has discovered it or not, we must make preparations for both outcomes."

Wang Shouren stood up and paced back and forth twice in the study, his thoughts becoming smoother and clearer like unraveling silk from a cocoon.

"First, the Loose Cultivator is on good terms with us and can be fully utilized. Father also saw what happened with Old Yang—Loose Cultivators are spread all over the markets, taverns, and teahouses everywhere in the Three Counties. They don't need to deliberately inquire; just the gossip heard on the streets and alleys every day is more than what we specially send people to collect."

"Have the Family arrange a few trustworthy Loose Cultivators to quietly spread some news in the markets throughout Xiaoshan County—just say that Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong has always had dealings with Black Fiend, and before the Ning Family was wiped out, someone saw the Yan Family's flying boat active near Xiaoshan County."

"There is no need to be too specific; being vague will instead make people more suspicious."

"In less than half a month, countless versions will naturally circulate throughout the Three Counties."

He stopped his footsteps, a cold light flashing in his eyes, and continued speaking.

"Second," Wang Shouren shifted the topic.

"Instead of waiting for the Yan Family to make trouble, it is better to plant foreshadowing in advance. If the Yan Family truly wants to stand up for the Ning Family, they will inevitably have to find a backing that can suppress the Wang Family."

"Among the Three Counties, those capable of contending with the Wang Family are nothing more than the Sect, and the closest one governing the Three Counties is none other than the Spirit Sword Sect."

"If Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong wants to file a complaint, he will definitely go to the Spirit Sword Sect."

He paced back and forth in the study twice, his thoughts becoming smoother the more he sorted them out, and his speech grew faster and faster.

"The Spirit Sword Sect governs three prefectures and twenty-six counties; the Three Counties are merely a corner of them."

"The Sect has numerous affairs to attend to. The Law Enforcement Elder has to manage major cases concerning the safety of the Sect, and cannot possibly spare too much energy on a small Wang Family like ours."

"Even if the Yan Family can truly invite the Law Enforcement Hall to send people, whoever comes will not be any core figure—at most an inner Sect deacon, bringing along a few accompanying Disciples."

"The cultivation of the newcomer will not be too high, and they cannot stay in the Three Counties for too long. They can only act according to routine and go through the motions."

He stopped his steps and looked fixedly at his father with burning eyes.

"What we truly need to deal with has never been the full-scale pursuit of the Spirit Sword Sect, but rather the evidence that may exist in the hands of the Yan Family."

"Can this evidence be presented before the Law Enforcement Hall of the Spirit Sword Sect? After it is presented, will the envoy believe it?"

"After believing it, would he be willing to fight to the death with the Wang Family, which has two Foundation Establishment experts, for the sake of a perished Ning Family and an evidence-less Yan Family?"

"You mean..." Wang Yaozu narrowed his eyes slightly, his fingertips tapping slowly on the desktop as he already vaguely guessed his son's intention, "to render the Yan Family's evidence unable to play any role."

"It's not that it cannot play any role." Wang Shouren shook his head, a cold arc appearing at the corner of his mouth, "It is to play out according to the results we want."

Wang Shouren sat back down in his chair, tapping his fingers gently on the desktop twice, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.

"The Yan Family has operated in the Three Counties for many years, and their news channels mostly still rely on old methods—buying intelligence."

"Spending Spirit Stones to buy intelligence from markets, taverns, and gatherings of Loose Cultivators is the path they are most familiar with."

"Then we will sell the intelligence to them." Wang Yaozu took over the conversation, but his brows frowned slightly.

"However, things we actively shove to him, that old fox Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong will definitely not easily believe."