Chapter 79

"That brat still dares to come to the door?"

"Hmph, arrogant and conceited, bullying people too much!"

Inside the Zhou family gate, several disciples whispered.

Their gazes were all focused on the Zhang family's team.

There, besides the Zhang father and son and their disciples, were two eye-catching fellows: one in a black cloth military robe with sharp eyes, and one tall with a shaved head and a full beard—it was Li Yan and Sha Lifei.

The Zhou family disciples were all very angry.

Other forces were one thing; they all mixed in the Xianyang martial world and had more or less grudges with the former Zhou family, so they had to make things clear today.

But what are you, Li Yan?

You came to Xianyang, beat Zhou Bai into a cripple and made a name for yourself, and even Zhou Peide took a risk and ended up in prison, waiting to be executed after autumn.

You haven't suffered a loss at all.

And today you still dare to come to the door; isn't this pushing your luck?

Of course, in the current situation, no one dared to say anything more.

After the anger, helplessness and sorrow welled up in their hearts.

Li Yan's spiritual sense was sharp, and he naturally noticed the unfriendly gazes.

He couldn't be bothered to pay attention and instead glanced toward the back.

Standing there was a middle-aged man in black clothes, wearing a square cap, tall, with graying temples, a square and dignified face, and followed by two government runners.

It was the Xianyang Constable, Guan Wanche.

Beside him, Sha Lifei saw this and whispered with disdain, "Why look at him? Just a villain who trims his sails to the wind; no need to pay him any mind."

Sha Lifei was right; many people in the Guanzhong martial world knew that this Guan Wanche and his father Li Hu were once sworn brothers; in terms of relationship, he was closer than this Old Man Zhang.

However, he didn't appear when his father died, and for many years, he never went to Li Family Fort to visit his grandfather and him; Li Yan didn't even know such a person existed.

According to Zhang Shitong, when Guan Wanche was transferred to Xianyang as a constable, many people thought he was coming to cause trouble for Zhou Pan, but there was no movement at all.

The only time he took action was during the Zheng Xianhuai family extermination case, when government runners wanted to make him a scapegoat, but were stopped by Guan Wanche.

Li Yan didn't care about the warmth or coldness of human relationships.

In the martial world, there were many cases where the tea had gone cold before the person had even left.

What he found strange was, what was Guan Wanche doing here?

It seemed he noticed his gaze, as Guan Wanche walked straight up, expressionless, looked him over a few times, and said indifferently, "You have a grudge against me?"

Li Yan said calmly, "Strangers, where would there be a grudge?"

"That's fine."

Guan Wanche nodded and sneered, "I was sworn brothers with your father, but he let down my younger sister, and the person even ran to Mount Taibai to practice Daoism, leaving my mother in tears all day long. Have you ever seen such a brother?"

Li Yan's face stiffened, and he smiled awkwardly. "This... I'm not very clear about the affairs of the older generation."

Speaking of this, he remembered the incident from back then.

His father didn't come home for the New Year, which already made his grandfather unhappy, and then two beautiful women came to the door to fight over him, making a scene that really angered his grandfather.

One of them seemed to have the surname Guan.

And listening to what they said, his father's romantic debts were more than just these...

Thinking of this, Li Yan felt somewhat helpless.

Looking around again, not only did Sha Lifei's eyes widen, but even the Zhang father and son and their disciples were all pricking up their ears, full of gossip.

"Go, go, go."

Li Yan pushed Sha Lifei away and said sternly, "I'm not in a position to talk about the affairs of the older generation, but whatever grudges there are, just bring them on."

"Bring them on?"

Guan Wanche sneered, "My sister is honest and swallowed her grievances when she was wronged, but some women are not to be trifled with. Can you handle it!"

Saying this, his expression softened slightly, and he sighed, patting him on the shoulder. "After all, you are the son of an old friend. Since you have entered the martial world, take care of yourself and don't learn from your father."

Afterward, he turned around and walked into the Zhou family mansion.

Beside him, Zhang Yuanshang also stroked his beard and nodded. "It seems this Constable Guan is not a man without righteousness, just angry in his heart."

"Let's go, let's send off the old monkey today."

Saying this, he led the group into the mansion.

Li Yan deliberately lagged behind a few steps, and without changing his expression, he took a note from the seam of his shoulder; seeing the handwriting on it, a fierce light flashed in his eyes.

…………

This Zhou family mansion was truly spacious, with several courtyards inside and out, each with a martial arts arena and many weapons on display; it was said that in the past, there were hundreds of disciples alone.

And that was just the martial hall disciples, not counting the peripheral forces under the Eight Great Vajras.

One could imagine the Zhou family's former boundless glory.

But now, the disciples had run off until less than a hundred remained, many courtyards were empty, and the ground was messy with no one to clean it up.

Soon, the Zhou family's main hall was full of people.

This main hall was also not small, more than three times larger than the Zhang Family Martial Hall, with prominent figures sitting on both sides and disciples standing behind them.

Even so, there were still quite a few empty areas in the main hall.

Presiding over the washing hands in a golden basin ceremony was Zhou Pan's disciple, one of the Eight Great Vajras, Zhou Yuan Shan, who was also a Zhou family member. But unlike Zhou Peide, he was tall and had a dull, honest appearance.

He cupped his hands to the four directions and said, "Today is an auspicious day, the time for my Master to wash his hands in a golden basin. You have all come to observe the ceremony, and the Zhou family is honored."

"Enough with the empty talk."

A man in a green robe looked displeased. He drank some tea and said coldly, "So many martial world peers have come, and Zhou Pan doesn't even welcome us at the gate, letting everyone wait. Isn't his ego a bit too big!" The speaker was the leader of the Cao Gang, Han Kun.

The Cao Gang was a truly massive entity, dominating many docks in the north; wherever the rivers flowed, there were Cao Gang disciples walking, and they had numerous halls.

The northern Cao Gang, the southern Pai Sect, and the Four Seas Gang on the sea—all those in the world who ate from the water were basically related to them.

The Xianyang Cao Gang was just one of their small branch halls.

But even so, this Leader Han's status was truly extraordinary, and he himself was a Hua Jin expert of the same level as Zhou Pan.

It was precisely because of the joining of the Cao Gang and the Taihang Carriage and Horse Firm that Zhou Pan felt wary and had the idea of shrinking his power to preserve his strength.

Zhou Yuan Shan saw Han Kun getting angry, and sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. Just as he wanted to explain, a few old coughs came from the back.

"Leader Han, I don't have a big ego."

An old man walked slowly from the side door of the main hall; it was Zhou Pan.

But at this time, he was already full of exhaustion, his beard and hair withered and white, as if he had aged a lot in just a short time.

!.

"I've let you all see a joke."

Seeing the surprised gazes of the crowd, Zhou Pan laughed at himself. "I just finished dealing with some family affairs. Not only did my disciples refuse to come to the door, but even my own Zhou family members are making a fuss about splitting the family. Hehe, it's truly ridiculous."

Many of the people present were heads of their own families.

If you aren't the head, you don't know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt.

And once you are the head, you know that firewood, rice, oil, and salt are just small matters; it's the lack of unity in people's hearts that is truly troublesome.

Recalling Zhou Pan's former arrogance, the crowd couldn't help but feel a sense of sorrow; the martial world is difficult, and who knows when it will be their turn.

Zhou Pan seemed to have lost his spirit as well; he cupped his hands and said in a hoarse voice, "I have been competitive all my life, with few friends and many enemies. Only now do I realize that everything is fate, and nothing is up to oneself."

"If there were any offenses in the past, I hope you will be magnanimous."

Seeing the crowd silent, he laughed dumbly, shook his head, and said, "I'm tired now and want to return to my hometown to be a farmer. Whatever grudges you have, let's settle them all today."

"Dead or alive, the grudges are settled!"

Having said that, he looked to the side and nodded to signal.

A copper basin had already been prepared there; the wooden stand below was high-quality sandalwood, and the copper basin was also a high-end item, shining with gold, carved with five bats, and filled with half a basin of clear water.

Zhou Yuan Shan picked up three sticks of incense, lit them, bowed three times to the Patriarch portrait in the main hall, and inserted them into the incense burner.

The Cao Gang, the Taihang Carriage and Horse Firm, and the various martial halls led by the Zhang Family Martial Hall all had plans beforehand and naturally wouldn't make things difficult.

The heads nodded, and disciples immediately stepped forward to tie red cloth strips onto the stand under the copper basin, representing that they had no objections.

And after the three sticks of incense were lit, if no one raised an objection, the washing hands in a golden basin could begin, and he would completely exit the martial world.

"Some things really should be talked about!"

Luo Shihai put his teacup down heavily and said coldly, "Old Monkey, don't pretend to be pitiful here. When you were showing off your power back then, you wouldn't have thought of these things!"

Zhou Pan seemed to have expected this long ago; he bent over and cupped his hands. "Old Brother Luo, I was in the wrong to you in the past. Someone, drag him up!"

As soon as the words fell, two disciples dragged a man into the main hall.

It was a handsome middle-aged man; although he was born with talent, his eye bags were swollen, he looked like he had indulged in wine and sex, and he knelt on the ground, kowtowing incessantly. "Uncle, spare my life! Uncle, spare my life!"

Zhou Pan sighed. "The family is big, and many things are beyond one's control. When my mother was still alive, with one order, I could only offend Old Brother Luo."

"Zhou Luo Hai also committed some cases; I have already reported it to the government, and Constable Guan will take him away today; it will likely be an execution after autumn."

"Old Brother Luo, are you satisfied?"

"Ha!"

How could Luo Shihai be satisfied? He mocked, "You old thing, you really know how to sacrifice your own kin for the sake of justice. Why didn't you do it earlier?"

Although he said this, he had no reason to pick a fight, so he glared at Zhou Pan hatefully and let his disciples go up to tie the red ribbon.

Zhou Pan looked calm and cupped his hands to the crowd again:

"Everyone, is there anyone else who wants to settle grudges?"

Although he had lost everything, since he was going to wash his hands in a golden basin, how could he not be prepared? He had already secretly contacted all parties and made quite a few concessions.

The only difficult one, Luo Shihai, also had a countermeasure.

He would just wait for the washing hands in a golden basin to end and then immediately leave Xianyang.

But just as he was feeling proud in his heart, Li Yan stood up slowly.

"Oh?"

Zhou Pan's eyes turned gloomy. "Brat, others are one thing, but you beat my Zhou family disciples into cripples; we are the ones with the grudge!"

"Settling grudges isn't played like this..."

Li Yan was expressionless; he came to the hall and asked unceremoniously, "I just want to ask, was my father's death back then related to you?"

Zhou Pan shook his head. "Your father died dishonorably; if there were a chance, I would rather have defeated him fair and square."

"What a fair and square!"

Killing intent flickered in Li Yan's eyes: "Anqing Hall, Lu Gongyuan—don't tell me you've forgotten, Zhou!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Pan's face changed instantly...

(End of chapter)