"Qigu has become a Second-Tier Dou Shi?" Chen Feng couldn't help but be surprised. A year to reach the rank of Dou Shi; it seemed he hadn't stopped advancing during this past year.

A Second-Tier Dou Shi, among a group of swordsmen, would be like a wolf among sheep during a massacre. Even if Locke, a Fourth-Tier Swordsman, could eventually kill him, the cost would undoubtedly be devastating.

Locke naturally understood this principle. He rolled his strange eyes and spoke in a challenging tone, "What kind of trade? Patriarch Qigu, state your terms so we can listen."

Qigu announced loudly, "I will transfer all assets of our Cainte family into your name. You can also dispose of me as you wish. However, please do not make things difficult for the few remaining members of my clan; their cultivation levels are low, and they will never pose a threat to you."

The Cainte family's assets worth mentioning were practically only Qigu; the cultivation levels of the others were indeed low—even several elders were only Ninth-Tier Dou Zhe. Being able to directly kill Qigu and acquire all the Cainte family assets was indeed the best proposal available at the moment.

Locke frowned, pondered for a moment, and then laughed, "Patriarch Qigu, what a clever scheme. I almost fell for your trap! You are so generous in wanting to transfer all the Cainte family assets to me, with the intent to make me enemies with the Demon Faction families, right!"

The conflict between the Demon Faction families and the Martial Faction families was essentially over interests. If all the assets were given to Locke, the Demon Faction families would gain nothing; instead, they would be inviting a wolf to lure a tiger, nurturing a greater force with their own hands.

Qigu's method was certainly clever, but the fact that Locke could clearly discern the truth under such ** circumstances showed he was no fool.

Qigu's objective had been exposed, and his expression changed slightly. He then stated, "Although my Cainte family is just a small local clan, our lineage is ancient and our foundation deep. We are in no way inferior to what you have in Blackrock City. I refuse to believe that the benefits promised by two Demon Faction families could outweigh what one family can offer!"

Locke replied, "Promises... Heh, don't even think about prying any information from me. My only objective is to kill every single one of you, leaving none alive! However..."

Hearing a hint of flexibility in his words, Qigu anxiously asked, "However what?"

Locke gave a sinister smile and said calmly, "However, if these people are willing to issue a 'Fighter's Blood Pact' and become our bonded slaves, I might consider sparing their lives!"

"Fighter's Blood Pact..."

The remaining members of the Cainte family immediately showed expressions of terror, mingled with greater shame and anger upon hearing this.

The Fighter's Blood Pact was an extremely vicious contract, very similar to the Soul Blood Pact of magical beasts, but even more severe. The person bound by the contract would be controlled by the master for life, unable to offer the slightest resistance—lower than a mere slave, practically equivalent to a humanoid puppet. If they dared to defy the master's will, all their Dou Qi would backlash, forcing the disobedient to endure the pain of ten thousand arrows piercing the heart; they wouldn't even be able to commit suicide.

It was precisely because they heard of the malice and strangeness of this contract that everyone displayed expressions of fear and humiliation.

Sharp light burst from Qigu's eyes as he stared intently at Locke. After a moment, he suddenly turned his back to Locke and the others, facing the fewer than one hundred remaining clansmen, and said with a tone of sorrow and indignation, "The Cainte family has stood on Dragon Mountain Town for several millennia, yet it is destined to fall by my hand. I have failed the ancestors who rest in heaven and earth!"

With that, Patriarch Qigu actually knelt before the remaining clansmen. His kneeling posture naturally conveyed his stance: rather than die, rather than have the entire family wiped out, he would never accept the "Fighter's Blood Pact."

Everyone naturally understood the patriarch's meaning. Seeing him kneel like this, they began to panic, shouting in unison, "Patriarch..."

"Father..." Several youths also knelt down, shouting.

Through the gaps in the tree leaves, Chen Feng saw that among these people were Qigu's son and daughter—his own nominal elder brother and sister.

Chen Feng ranked fifth in this family, so he had four older brothers (and sisters). When he first transmigrated, he had fought with the Third Brother, Soya Cainte, shattering the bones in Soya's right hand. Looking now, Soya’s right hand still seemed unhealed, appearing crippled.

However, just by glancing at Soya, Chen Feng noticed something amiss. This individual, doted upon by Qigu, although kneeling on the ground, unconsciously revealed a hint of cold venom in his eyes.

This look could fool the others, whose minds were already complex and panicked, but it absolutely could not deceive Chen Feng, who was observing coldly from the side.

Though he didn't know what Soya was plotting, his behavior clearly indicated something was far from right.

"Patriarch... Let's fight them to the death! Even if the entire Cainte family is annihilated, we will never be cowards or accept subjugation!" Elder Yu Qing's aged voice did not tremble at all; instead, it was filled with firm resolve.

Elder Yu Qing was the same Enforcement Elder who had tried to persuade him when Chen Feng caused chaos in the council hall.

"Fight them to the death! Fight them to the death..." All the clansmen roared in unison.

Barely a hundred people, with women and children making up the majority, and many injured, yet their determined conviction made these people seem to possess infinite majesty.

"Clap, clap, clap, clap."

A round of applause sounded behind Qigu. Locke chuckled, "Patriarch Qigu, your skill in stirring up sentiment is quite impressive! But no matter how hard you struggle today, you are all destined for death. However... I've suddenly thought of something, and I feel a little soft-hearted."

Saying this, Locke slowly walked in front of the crowd, his triangular eyes fixed on the people on the ground, smiling coldly, "If any of you can kill your Patriarch, I can spare that one person's life..."

He then glanced back at Qigu, seeing that he showed no reaction.

"Stop trying to manipulate us! Although our clan members have low cultivation, we are absolutely not people who cling to life fearfully!" a voice said indignantly—it was Soya, kneeling on the ground with his crippled right hand.

"That's right, Third Young Master Soya truly has backbone," Locke laughed. "He’s tough even with one hand crippled. I wonder if he’ll still say the same thing if both his hands are crippled?"

As he spoke, his hand shot out like lightning towards Soya's intact left hand!

"Stop!" Qigu suddenly stood up, flashing in front of Locke, his hand intercepting Locke's downward strike. "Kill me first, or don't touch any of them in the slightest..."

Before he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly widened in disbelief as he looked at the dagger handle protruding from his chest, "You killed me..." Qigu looked up and stared coldly at his most favored third son, his eyes filled with incredulity.

Soya seizing the moment immediately leaped out of the crowd and went to where the swordsmen stood, shouting loudly, "I... want to die... so I only have to kill you!" As he spoke, he was trembling all over, perhaps due to the sudden tension.

"Good... good... you are truly my good son, Qigu!" Qigu repeated 'good' several times, seemingly forgetting the pain in his chest. Ignoring the blood dripping from the dagger wound, his eyes were filled with despair and sorrow.

To save his own life, he would even kill his father... In an instant, Qigu looked like a defeated old man.

For some unknown reason, a stubborn figure suddenly flashed in his mind at this moment.

"'Expelled from the family?' Haha... Fine. Even if this family begs me to return in the future, I won't! Haha..."

"What happened today, as long as I live, I will return... I will have my revenge, for this arm! And for these two teeth! Two years, in two years, I will make you pay with blood!"

...

The lonely silhouette of the youth was deeply etched in his memory, as if carved there; he hadn't forgotten it to this day.

"Finally... I understand what he was feeling back then..." Qigu murmured this sentence unintentionally.

A fourteen-year-old boy whom he hadn't visited in four years. The first summons after four years was to have his arm broken and be driven out of the family...

"Back then, he must have been as heartbroken as I am now..." Qigu mumbled, "No, he must have been even sadder than I am now... Now the family faces its greatest crisis. It's understandable that Soya kills me to survive, but... back then, just to quell the anger of the Leve family, I abandoned him like a discarded piece... He was mired in apathy for days, and on the first day he awoke, hearing that I summoned him, he was filled with excitement, only to be met with false accusations and expulsion..."

Qigu didn't know why he recalled that resolute youth leaving the family hall at this moment, but now, he finally understood the injustice and sorrow the youth had endured...

"I'm sorry, Little Five!" Qigu whispered, slowly raising his head to stare at Soya in front of him.

"You exposed the plan of the three major families? And you told them about the family's mechanisms and traps..." Qigu's voice sounded utterly desolate, as he understood everything the moment Soya stabbed him.

The three major Martial Faction families had conspired to destroy the two major Demon Faction families and had prepared for a long time. Abandoning Chen Feng back then was precisely to avoid disrupting the plan's execution. Who knew that before the plan could even start, the enemy had learned of it, blocked it at the head, fractured the unity of the three families, and then proceeded to eliminate them one by one...

Moreover, if someone inside the family hadn't revealed the family's mechanisms, even if the enemy's strength was formidable, breaking through the Cainte family this easily would have been impossible. The facts proved that someone had indeed betrayed the family.

"I... I..." Soya suddenly screamed madly, "What was your attitude toward me when my hand was whole? You abandoned me when my hand became crippled, so I hate this family, I hate you..."

Humans have inherent flaws. If your superior or friend treats you impeccably well, a single harsh word occasionally might cause you to harbor resentment. But if they constantly treat you coldly, and then smile at you just once, you might be overwhelmed with gratitude. This is human nature, deeply ** and pragmatic. Because Soya possessed outstanding talent, he enjoyed celebrity-level treatment from childhood. Being able to wander around carrying a birdcage in the family demonstrated Qigu's extreme affection for him!

But after the clash of fists with Chen Feng, he became crippled, and the flame-like damage inside his body turned him into a complete wreck.

The treatment for a cripple naturally plummeted in the family, changing abruptly from that of a young master to something much lower. How could he not feel rage? How could he not hate the family?

In reality, this was a common human reaction; it seemed unbelievable, yet it was easily explained.

Qigu no longer felt sorrow over Soya's madness. His internal Dou Qi slowly gathered towards his chest, temporarily stemming the loss of blood. He straightened his back, stared at the clansmen before him, and said calmly, "Who else?"

His voice wasn't loud, but due to the deep authority he had cultivated over the years, it still made many people shiver.

Fear of death is inherent in human nature. Although they spoke righteously moments ago, who could truly know what they were thinking inside?

Locke's delay was precisely to wait for Soya's betrayal. Now that Qigu was seriously wounded and likely wouldn't survive, his face showed utter amusement as he stared at him. Then, as if cooperating, he said, "Those who don't want to die, step forward, and I can let him live..." He showed a sinister smile as he spoke.

What feeling could be more satisfying than forcing the mutual slaughter of members within one of Dragon Mountain Town's three major Martial Faction families?

As Locke finished speaking, a dozen more people slowly stepped out of the crowd.

"Duan Yi, Liuli, Robin... You all... betrayed the family!" Elder Yu Qing's face was contorted with anger, but he knew that with Soya's betrayal, many more would follow.

If a small enemy squad was captured and every member chose glorious death, any few who might have considered yielding would probably not step forward, choosing instead to face doom with the group. But once one person surrendered, this kind of thing would spread like a plague. Unless one's resolve was ironclad and they were ready to die, one surrender absolutely meant a second would follow.

People prefer to follow the trend; they dislike being the first to act, even when facing death.

Soya's betrayal had undoubtedly acted as the vanguard among the already terrified crowd. If the Patriarch's own son could betray them, what about the small soldiers and underlings like them?

Qigu watched coldly as these members of his family stepped forward one by one as danger approached, forsaking the clan.

Finally, Qigu tasted the bitterness of being deserted by all. The pain from the dagger in his chest was far less than the agony in his heart. Was this the family he had managed? A family that appeared harmonious but was fundamentally fractured?

His face darkened, but his heart was bleeding.

"Patriarch... This old servant will live and die with the family..."

At that moment, a voice came from outside the courtyard. A ragged old man stumbled in, running towards them. Every step he took seemed arduous, yet he did not fall. Knowing the Cainte family was in peril, he rushed over regardless of the danger.

Seeing this old man, Chen Feng's pupils contracted sharply. This was the only person he had cared about in the Cainte family—Uncle Wen!

ps: Today is slightly better; I rushed to write this chapter. There will be another chapter at 12 AM. Everyone, don't wait up. Old Ya will recuperate in the next few days and adjust his state, striving to update on time, **m. More chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)