Chapter 661: Revealing Ambition

Zhu Yiwen was not reconciled.

He continued, "You are talking about the situation when there are no major issues, which of course can be maintained, but I intend to expand the Clan's territory and need to foster good relations with people in the surrounding clans."

"Human favors and social dealings all require money to manage; if these are calculated in, it is not enough."

Without waiting for his permission, Nianyin stood up from the ground on her own.

Although her attitude was still respectful, her tone was much firmer: "Acting Clan Leader, if you have nothing else, you might as well take a good look at the Clan Rules."

"On page three, article twenty-four, section five of the Clan Rules, it is written very clearly: members of the Ji Family are not allowed to collude with outside clans; the light penalty is expulsion from the Clan, and if a major impact is caused, one must die."

"Clan rules? Heh."

Zhu Yiwen sneered, pointing at Ji Yingjie, who was lying motionless on the daybed, and said, "Your Clan Leader is like this now, and you are still talking to me about clan rules?"

"Besides, aren't clan rules set by people? Rules set so many years ago are long outdated and should be changed; why don't I take the trouble to help you change them."

"Are you rebelling?" Nianyin's willow-leaf eyebrows stood on end, and she prepared to make a move against Zhu Yiwen.

As the Clan Leader's confidante and bodyguard, Nianyin had extraordinary skills.

Although Zhu Yiwen was a man and had practiced self-defense, if he were to fight Nianyin, he would certainly be no match for her.

Nianyin felt annoyed that she had misjudged a person, failing to see Zhu Yiwen's wolfish ambition early on, and mistaking a jackal for a sheep!

The Clan Leader was in a coma, and everyone thought it was the fault of those two men, but now it looked very likely that it was Zhu Yiwen who had caused the mischief.

Bastard.

Nianyin prepared to purge the house.

Just as she was about to act, she suddenly felt weak all over, and soon she didn't even have the strength to stand, collapsing softly onto the ground.

"Yo, weren't you just huffing and puffing, ready to fight me? Why are you sitting on the ground now?" Zhu Yiwen mocked.

As he spoke, he clapped his hands twice.

Two men entered from outside, holding a rope in their hands; they quickly tied Nianyin up tightly and brought her before Zhu Yiwen.

Zhu Yiwen smiled without mirth and said, "Nianyin, don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. I will give you one more chance: where is the Treasure hidden? I only want the wealth, and you can be the Clan Leader, how about that? This is a very fair trade."

"Pah!"

A mouthful of spit landed on Zhu Yiwen's face, and Nianyin said with hatred, "Traitor, you shameless thing, you want to covet the wealth of our Ji Family? Dream on!"

"I was truly blind back then to have believed your ghost stories; just kill me!" She struck a pose of being ready to die for her cause.

She was Ji Yingjie's confidante and also her most capable assistant.

Nianyin was fiercely loyal to Ji Yingjie, and because Ji Yingjie liked Zhu Yiwen, she followed him with all her might; she had also played a major role in recommending Zhu Yiwen as Acting Clan Leader this time.

But she had not expected that this man would reveal his greedy face once he held great power.

"You don't have to be like this; why would you want to die at such a young age?"

Zhu Yiwen was not angry at being spat upon.

He calmly wiped it off and said to Nianyin in a pleasant tone, "What is so good about following that old woman around all day, looking at her face, and enduring her bad temper? Have you never thought about calling the shots yourself and becoming the Clan Leader?"

"As long as you cooperate with me, I guarantee you wealth and glory for the rest of your life, and everyone will crawl at your feet, how about it?"

"Bastard, traitor, devil!"

Nianyin cursed him, firmly refusing to cooperate with him.

Zhu Yiwen's patience was worn thin.

He had people drag her away and lock her in a dark room.

He gave her no food and tortured her every day, trying to make her reveal the place where the Treasure was hidden.

Nianyin was tortured until she was on the verge of death, with only one breath left.

But she still refused to loosen her lips or reveal a single word.

Zhu Yiwen did not intend to hang himself from one tree; he successively found several other people who knew the secret of the Treasure.

Unfortunately, despite using both threats and inducements, and trying every method, not a single person was willing to tell him the address of the hidden Treasure!

These people were all Ji Yingjie's... no, they were the guardians of the Ji Family.

They existed for generations solely to guard the Ji Family.

The philosophy instilled in them from childhood was already deeply rooted in their minds and could not be bought with money at all.

Moreover, the women here were not short of money; they had as much as they wanted.

Threats were also useless.

Because they all firmly believed that Ji Yingjie was a god and the Ji Family was a divine clan—a sacred existence that could not be profaned and was inviolable.

Zhu Yiwen had never been so frustrated before.

He had not expected that Ji Yingjie's confidantes would all be so tough.

One after another, they endured endless torture, preferring to die rather than reveal a single word of the Treasure's secret!

"Boss, what should we do?"

The subordinates who had escaped here with him were losing their composure; these past few days, they had barely been able to suppress the anger of the people below.

The women here all had fiery tempers, and since they were on someone else's turf, their rebellion was isolated and helpless; they had no confidence!

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Zhu Yiwen's eyes: "If they don't listen, just kill them all; kill the chicken to warn the monkey."

"Ki, kill them..."

The subordinate's face showed cowardice.

This was the Ji Family's territory; they were already terrified just from locking these few people up.

If they killed these women and were discovered by others, their end would certainly be more miserable than these women!

But they dared not disobey the Head of the Family; they all knew Zhu Yiwen's temper.

A dark and windy night.

A night for murder and arson.

Several men, acting furtively, led a woman tied up in a trussed-up fashion out of a small, dark room.

The woman's mouth was sealed with tape, and her eyes were covered with a black cloth; she could see nothing and could not cry out.

She could only let the men drag her along, stumbling forward with uneven steps.

Zhu Yiwen gave the order—bury these women alive!

This is the consequence of not obeying.

The women, who were usually high and mighty, were now strung together with a Rope, being pushed and shoved as they walked outside.

They had been fed drugs, so they had no strength in their bodies and naturally could not resist.

Otherwise, just these few men would never have been able to do anything to them!

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

The men removed the branches and other things used for concealment, revealing a deep pit.

"Get in; this day next year will be your death anniversary."

The women were pushed into the pit, and the men began to fill it with soil.

Damp soil kept covering them from above; based on the density of the soil, Nianyin estimated that it would not be long before they became mere wandering souls beneath the earth.

The dampness underground accelerated the detoxification, and she seemed to have regained some strength in her body.

But what use was that?

It was useful!

Nianyin felt a pair of hands loosening her bindings; it was the sisters.

In a moment, more hands were struggling to lift her up, with the sisters cushioning her from underneath...

Finally, the dirt pit was completely filled.

"Is that enough? That's about it, let's leave quickly; it's no joke if we get discovered."

"Alright, let's go."

The men, having guilty consciences, were afraid of being discovered, and with the visibility being too low in the dead of night, they did not notice how thick the soil was buried, as long as the pit was filled.

The men left in a hurry.

The forest was deathly silent.

After a while.

The loose soil moved, then returned to silence.

After another while, the soil moved again, this time the movement was larger, then larger still... finally, two hands reached out!