Chapter 207: Accurately speaking, it means to cut off all, leaving none!

The next day.

Night spread over the eaves of the former Inspector's residence; the Zhuqi Daimen bore two octagonal palace lanterns, and the warm yellow glow softened the outline of the stone lion.

The copper bells on the eaves no longer chimed; only the night wind sweeping the corridors produced a trembling sound as fine as a silk thread. The whole mansion seemed to sink into ink‑colored silk.

Only the lanterns hanging from the eaves and lintels lit up one after another, forming a winding trail of sparks that traced flowing golden lines between the dark tiles and white walls.

"Mother!"

"Mother!"

Ming Yining ran in, hurriedly pushed the door open, drove all the maids serving inside out, and then slammed the door shut.

Ming Yining was the legitimate eldest son of Ming Shaoxia.

His mother Chi Wan, seeing this, put down the embroidered needle in her hand and asked, "Ning'er, why are you so flustered?"

"What happened?"

Faintly, the Inspector's wife felt a bad premonition swirling in her heart...

"Mother, something terrible happened!"

Ming Yining gasped, his chest rising and falling, hands braced on the table, looked at Chi Wan, and lowered his voice: "Chen... Chen Yan has returned from a great victory crushing bandits at Wangmu Palace Mountain!"

"Ning'er, what did you say?!"

Chi Wan was startled, the embroidered needle pierced her delicate finger, a pea‑sized bead of blood gushed from the wound, but she could no longer worry about it...

Because Chen Yan's triumphant return meant her husband, her son's father...

Obviously, as the principal wife and the legitimate eldest son, the two closest to Ming Shaoxia naturally knew what he had done.

"Now the whole of Anding has heard it!"

Ming Yining swallowed hard, steadied his restless mind a moment, and said in a deep voice.

He paused, then continued: "Lord Chen Yan, with the smallest cost, dealt a crushing blow to the Jinghong Society in a single battle; truly a war‑immortal among mortals!"

The news of that great victory spread throughout Anding City within a day...

It pushed the already renowned Chen Yan's prestige in Jingzhou to its peak!

The more so, the more it signaled his father's perilous situation...

"Clang!"

Chi Wan, dazed, slipped and fell onto the floor, scattering the items on the table.

"Mother, are you okay?"

Ming Yining hurried forward, helped his mother sit back on the stool, and asked concernedly.

"I'm fine..."

"I'm fine..."

Chi Wan's eyes were dazed, she hadn't come to herself, and merely waved her hand instinctively.

"Mother, do you think Chen Yan might uncover the relationship between the Jinghong Society, your father, and our family?" Ming Yining grasped Chi Wan's arm, his voice trembling, and asked cautiously.

At that moment, Ming Yining was truly terrified...

If Chen Yan, so formidable, truly found evidence on Wangmu Palace Mountain, or uncovered any clue, and followed the trail...

Wouldn't everything be over?

That would be the crime of exterminating the nine clans!

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Chi Wan, as if provoked, blurted out reflexively, shouting harshly.

She paused, then said, "The Jinghong Society has no connection with your father or the Ming clan!"

"Remember, if anyone asks, you must say it like this!"

She said that while giving Ming Yining a hard stare, indicating he should not speak recklessly.

Earlier, her husband had severed the connections with extreme precision...

As long as he didn't expose himself, it would be impossible to uncover!

Moreover, her husband Ming Shaoxia was so clever and powerful that even if he were unfortunate enough to lose, Chen Yan could never catch him...

"Yes... child understands!" Ming Yining replied, having grasped the meaning.

At that moment, a teasing, mocking voice rang out: "Yo!"

"So the once‑great deceased Inspector's family still has a deep connection with the bandit‑plagued Jinghong Society that troubles Jingzhou!"

"Tsk tsk tsk!"

"Who?!" Chi Wan was clearly startled, looked around for the voice, found nothing, and asked, "Who is speaking?!"

Ming Yining also kept his guard up.

That sudden voice made him involuntarily uneasy...

"I am here."

The tightly shut door was suddenly pushed open, and several men dressed in black swaggered into view.

"Reinforcements!"

"An assassin!"

Chi Wan and Ming Yining, mother and son, saw this and almost simultaneously shouted their throats outwards.

"Stop shouting!"

"It's so noisy!"

The lead black‑clad man made no move to stop them, merely raised his hand, scratched his ear, and said casually with a smile, "Your mansion's guards won't be coming; they're all fast asleep over there!"

Chi Wan, seeing no movement outside, had to believe the lead man's words and asked, "Who are you?"

"Sneaking into my Ming mansion, hiding your head and tail, what exactly do you intend?"

Even though Chi Wan strained to suppress the fear in her heart, her voice kept trembling.

A sense that something terrible was afoot filled her entire body.

"Mrs. Ming, you were so calm just now…," the lead black‑clad man observed the emotional shift, teasing, "Now that voice—why does it sound a bit panicked?"

"Who exactly are you?"

"Do you know this is Inspector Ming's residence!"

"It's not a place you can just barge into, is it?"

Ming Yining, not knowing where they were, suddenly mustered a surge of courage and barked loudly.

"I know!"

"If we didn't know, we wouldn't have come…"

"Ming Young Master!"

The lead black‑clad man's voice carried a playful tone; unhurried, he reached up and pulled off the black mask covering his face.

But the true face of the man left Ming Yining stunned, eyes wide, body trembling, barely able to speak: "Chen… Chen Yan?!"

"How could it be you?!"

Chen Yan's portrait had long circulated among the upper echelons of Jingzhou, and Ming Yining instantly recognized the figure wrapped in black as the Great Zhou Poet Immortal who had bested his father.

He was extremely surprised; he had never imagined the visitor could be this person!

"Chen Yan?"

"You are Chen Yan?"

Chi Wan stared straight ahead and asked.

Even younger than imagined and younger than the portrait…

"It's me!"

Chen Yan gave a calm smile and said, "Otherwise, who would labor through the night without complaint to come and eradicate evil?"

His words were laden with deep meaning.

"Eradicate evil?"

Ming Yining murmured the repetition, inhaled a gasp of cold air, and exclaimed in shock, "You… you intend to strike my Ming family?!"

Chen Yan raised a finger, gave it a slight shake, and patiently explained, "To be precise, it's to cut down and annihilate, leaving none alive!"

If we don't physically eradicate the Ming clan, how can we live up to comrade Ming Shaoxia?

"How dare you!"

Ming Yining gritted his teeth and said angrily, "My father is a beloved, universally praised Inspector of Jingzhou!"

"Aren't you afraid of being condemned by the people?"

"I am afraid!"

Chen Yan shrugged and said honestly.

He paused, then shifted his tone, continuing, "But the issue is that it was bandits of the Jinghong Society who raided Inspector Ming's residence at night, slaughtering his relatives. What does that have to do with me?"

Having said that, Chen Yan burst into hearty laughter.

Those adept at swimming drown in water, those adept at riding fall from horses; letting the Ming clan perish at the hands of the Jinghong Society forged by Ming Shaoxia counts as a complete beginning and end!

"You… you… you!"

Ming Yining, terrified, raised a trembling hand to point at Chen Yan, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

"What… what?"

Chen Yan's mouth curled slightly, teasing, "Ming Young Master, you miss your father so much…"

"Chen is kind‑hearted, so let father and son meet again!"

He said, then gave a gentle wave.

Chen Yan captured his father?........ The first thought that sprang to Ming Yining's mind was that, but the black‑clad man beside him tossed a blood‑splattered grotesque thing that looked human, and shouted hoarsely, "Ah!"

"This!"

"What the hell is this?!"

Chi Wan's condition wasn't improving either.

"Your father is Ming Shaoxia!"

Chen Yan pursed his lips and laughed, "Mrs. Ming, Ming Young Master, can you two still…"

"It's the lord… certainly the lord without doubt…" After Chen Yan's hint, Chi Wan focused and identified the grotesque thing as Ming Shaoxia.

"Chen Yan!"

"What did you do to my father!"

Ming Yining asked hysterically.

"Don't be so startled…"

Chen Yan blinked, said lightly, "It's just skinning and stripping the flesh!"