Let them leave the Blackwater Forest alive.
As for whether they could go home on their own, that was none of their business!
This was Su Ziyu's suggested course of action.
Li Xiao, after hearing this, did not immediately express his opinion. Instead, he walked back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back.
After a moment.
He asked Su Ziyu again, "What do you think Jessica will do with this incident?"
Su Ziyu immediately replied, "She will only announce that Lady Murong personally castrated 36 people. She may not mention, or even deliberately conceal, the reason why Lady Murong did this. Because only by doing so can she instigate conflict between the 13 prominent families and the Dragon Ruins."
"Hmm."
Li Xiao nodded, "Jessica will definitely do that."
Su Ziyu added, "So we must obtain evidence as to why Lady Murong did this."
"Qianfan will get it."
Li Xiao looked up at the sky, "If all goes smoothly, we will have the evidence by tomorrow morning at the latest. Then those people will see what kind of people the peerless national heroes they've been hyping up are."
This was equivalent to him agreeing to Su Ziyu's suggestion.
They would only rescue those people from the Blackwater Forest, and how they returned home would depend on the will of the 13 prominent families.
Mo Hongti couldn't help but interject, "Uncle, are you sure Qianfan is unharmed?"
Li Xiao replied, "If he were harmed, why would I bring you to the Moses family? And why would I let Ziyu represent me in the negotiations between the two sides?"
Xiuzi, who had been silent the whole time, pursed her lips and chuckled, "That Snow Phantom is undoubtedly Qianfan."
Mo Hongti quickly pressed, "But how could he endure sub-zero temperatures?"
Su Ziyu was more concerned about this question.
Xiuzi, however, looked at Li Xiao.
Li Xiao smiled gently, "You will know in the future. Just keep your heart at ease. Old Zhao is here, I'll go chat with him first."
As Li Xiao hurried towards Old Zhao and the others, Mo Hongti sidled up to Su Ziyu.
Linking her arm, she whispered excitedly, "Ziyu, quickly tell me. What was it like to sit with the great patriarch of the Moses family, representing Father-in-law Li, in such a high-stakes negotiation?"
"What was it like?"
Su Ziyu gave a wry smile, "Until now, I still feel like I'm dreaming. It's not real at all."
Mo Hongti deeply understood her sentiment.
Nodding forcefully, she added, "Regardless, after this incident, your position as the future Dragon Lord's wife is basically secured. When Father-in-law Li told me about this back then, I suspected I was dreaming!"
"Actually, I don't care at all about becoming the Dragon Lord's wife."
Su Ziyu looked towards the Blackwater Forest, her voice ethereal, "I just hope Qianfan can stay by my side safely."
"He definitely will."
Mo Hongti squeezed her arm slightly and changed the subject, "Do you think Jessica must have announced the news about the 36 eunuchs by now?"
Blackwater Forest local time, 4:30 PM.
Under Jessica's instructions, Rhode announced a piece of news that would shock the world.
The 36 people, including the 13 prominent families' 26 young masters, who were revered as peerless national heroes by the Eastern Land's most influential figures, had all been castrated into eunuchs by Lady Murong!
When the news reached the Eastern Land, before the 13 prominent families could react, the internet erupted.
This news was simply too damned stimulating!
Almost all the influential figures, like flies drawn to a blood bun, buzzed and descended upon it.
The 13 prominent families, after regaining their senses, were each filled with grief and indignation.
Their first reaction was to jointly submit a petition, demanding an explanation from the Li family of Si Jiu.
Due to the severe impact of this incident, a special envoy, Director Zhao, was appointed to handle it.
Director Zhao had no choice but to call the Li family village and send someone to attend a meeting.
Ye Tianjiao was sent from the Li family village.
The moment Ye Tianjiao entered the room—
The family heads of the 13 prominent families, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately looked at her with a "whoosh," their faces filled with undisguised hatred.
"Heh heh."
Ye Tianjiao smiled, "What, did I dig up your ancestral graves? Or did I steal your men? You're all looking at me like this."
The Shen family head and others—
Director Zhao, seeing this, put on a stern face, "Little Ye, how are you speaking?"
"I apologize, Director Zhao."
Ye Tianjiao, feigning indifference, said, "I ate the Si Xi Wan Zi for lunch, it was quite oily, and I couldn't control my mouth."
"Enough."
Director Zhao, looking troubled, waved his hand and said, "Adopt a proper attitude and sit down to talk."
After Ye Tianjiao sat down, Director Zhao got straight to the point, "Little Ye, you should know what happened in the Blackwater Forest last night, right?"
Ye Tianjiao played dumb, "Director Zhao, please enlighten me."
Director Zhao—
The Miao family head couldn't help but retort, "Ye Tianjiao, what are you pretending not to understand?"
"That's a funny thing to say."
Ye Tianjiao scoffed, "I hardly ever leave my house, so is it strange that I don't know what happened in the Blackwater Forest last night? If Mr. Miao knows, he can tell me."
"Fine, then I'll tell you!"
The Miao family head, disregarding everything else, said hatefully, "Last night in the Blackwater Forest, Lady Murong personally led her men and castrated a total of 36 people, including 26 descendants from our 13 families."
"Ah?"
Ye Tianjiao feigned extreme surprise.
Her act was too fake.
Even Director Zhao couldn't bear to watch and felt somewhat awkward, instinctively picking up his teacup.
But just as the family heads were about to reprimand Ye Tianjiao for feigning ignorance, she preempted them by asking, "Since you all know that it was Lady Murong who castrated your disciples, why aren't you looking for her, or the Murong family? Why are you coming to my Li family?"
The Shen family head said slowly, "Who doesn't know that Lady Murong is your Li family's woman?"
Ye Tianjiao solemnly inquired, "May I ask Mr. Shen, which man of our Li family is she a woman to?"
The Shen family head blurted out, "Of course, it's Li Qianfan."
Before he finished speaking, Ye Tianjiao immediately pressed, "May I ask Mr. Shen again, where is our Qianfan now?"
"He is—"
After the Shen family head uttered these two words, he suddenly fell silent.
Ye Tianjiao, however, pressed aggressively, "May I ask Mr. Shen, and all the family heads! Where is our Qianfan now!?"
No one answered.
"No one answering? Or did you all forget where our Qianfan is now before you came, blinded by greed?"
Ye Tianjiao sneered, "Fine, then I will tell you all!"
Bang!
She lightly slapped the table, stood up, and said sternly, "Several days ago, the Rhode team issued an obituary to the world announcing Qianfan's death by freezing! If it weren't for saving your family's disciples, why would our Qianfan abandon a peaceful life and run to the Blackwater Forest to die? He died there saving your disciples, and my Li family hasn't even sought justice from you yet!"
What she said was the truth.
Many of the prominent family heads lowered their heads.
The Miao family head, however, retorted stubbornly, "We never asked Li Qianfan to save our disciples."
Ye Tianjiao glared, "Do you dare to say another word that you did not secretly instruct certain influential figures to deliberately provoke Qianfan online? Do you dare? Or do you not believe that I can bring someone here with a single phone call and slap your face!?"
The Miao family head—
No longer dared to argue.
With the strength of the Li family village, it was incredibly easy to find out whose instructions certain influential figures were following when they used the internet to provoke Li Qianfan.
The Shen family head, however, said, "Ye Tianjiao, what we need to resolve now is the matter of your Li family's woman harming our family's descendants."
Ye Tianjiao countered, "The Rhode team also killed many people from your 13 families and tortured your disciples like pigs and dogs for over a month. Why haven't I seen you seek justice from them?"
The Shen family head—
Suddenly felt that this woman's tongue was incredibly sharp.
The Feng family head retorted forcefully, "We don't care about the Rhode team! We only care why your Li family's woman would harm our people!"
Heh heh.
Ye Tianjiao smiled again, "May I interpret this to mean that no matter how foreigners harm your people, you have no objections?"
The Feng family head's mouth moved, but he had no words to say.
Ye Tianjiao squinted, "A bunch of people who only know how to bully their own kind, aren't you afraid that your ancestors' coffins will be disturbed?"
Cough!
Seeing that Ye Tianjiao's sharp tongue was about to cause the family heads of the 13 prominent families to become enraged with shame, Director Zhao timely coughed and said, "Tianjiao, maintain a proper attitude and talk about this matter."
Since Director Zhao had spoken, Ye Tianjiao still had to listen.
She adopted a proper attitude, "Director Zhao, I have of course seen the news released by the Rhode team. However, it only states that Lady Murong personally led her men and castrated 36 people. But they did not mention why Lady Murong did this."
Director Zhao nodded.
"Perhaps Lady Murong surrendered."
The Shen family head said, "She did this to save her life."
Ye Tianjiao couldn't help but let out a sneer, "She did this to save her life? Mr. Shen, as long as there was one person with a brain in the Rhode team, they should know how valuable the women of my Li family are! Let alone forcing her to do something to survive, even if she wanted to commit suicide, they would kneel and beg to ensure her safety."
The Shen family head fell silent again.
Looking at the collectively silent 13 family heads, Director Zhao sighed in his heart.
He recalled that decades ago, the Shen family, known as the number one prominent family in the Eastern Land, was such an unparalleled existence!
Even Li Nanfang, who was in his prime at the time, had to be respectful in front of the Shen family head.
Because the Shen family at that time upheld their ancestral teachings in everything they did, prioritizing the public good!!
But after the family head of that generation passed away, the Shen family declined generation after generation.
Otherwise.
Even if Ye Tianjiao were given a hundred more guts, she wouldn't dare to be so arrogant.
"You have all abandoned the most precious inheritance of your ancestors."
Director Zhao sighed again in his heart and could only try to smooth things over, "Everyone, regarding Lady Murong harming 36 people, why don't we wait a bit longer? After we understand the reason, we can sit down and discuss it seriously."
What else could be done?
The family heads of the 13 prominent families exchanged glances and decided that upon their return, they would immediately use the internet to relentlessly attack Lady Murong!
Only in this way could they cover up the embarrassment of the 13 prominent families' 26 national heroes collectively becoming eunuchs.
A new storm began to brew quietly from this night onwards.
Thousands of miles away, on the Blackwater Forest battlefield—
However, an unprecedented sense of ease, comfort, and even peace prevailed!
The Snow Phantom did not appear last night.
There was no movement on either the east or west fronts.
According to reliable sources, by tomorrow evening at the latest, the Rhode team, which had besieged the Blackwater Forest for months, would finally return to their capital.
Tonight.
Was their last night here.
Everyone, including Rhode, was relaxed in body and mind. They even held a bonfire party to celebrate their impending departure.
The bonfire party ended at midnight.
At one o'clock in the morning.
The door of container number nine was quietly opened.
A white figure emerged, looked around, and quickly disappeared into the starlight.
The wind blew—
And it carried a faint scent of blood.
——————
My condition is indeed poor, and I can't seem to adjust. Please forgive me. My mind is muddled, and I feel very strange.