Chapter 725: Chapter 724: The Rules of the Game Are Changing
In their panic, everyone suddenly turned their gaze to Zhang Wenfeng.
Among those present, Zhang Wenfeng was the strongest, and if they were to face Qin Yanyang’s decapitation action, he could definitely be a great help.
However, after Zhang Wenfeng came out of seclusion, he was defeated by Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang, and since then, the Zhang Family had completely fallen.
Though he harbored a deep grudge against Qin Yanyang and Yang Fei, he was their defeated foe and might also find it difficult to withstand their onslaught.
Sun Youning, the representative of the Sun Family, said, "For safety’s sake, let’s move to the military base. It has the safest underground bunkers, which those martial arts masters probably can’t breach."
Ning Zhongze nodded and added, "Exactly, if we have no other choice, we can only hide inside for the time being."
Everyone nodded in agreement, finding this to be the most appropriate course of action.
"The strong members of the Zhuge family and the Duanmu aristocratic family were too careless, not leaving a few powerful individuals to sit in here," Chu Shiguang couldn’t help but complain.
Ning Zhongze said, "Indeed, they act recklessly without planning, taking action without arrangement. This will inevitably lead to a disaster sooner or later."
Duanmu Ci, a member of the secular Duanmu aristocratic family, attended the meeting. He was Duanmu Han’s eldest son, Qin Yanyang’s uncle by marriage, and he handled most of the Duanmu Family’s secular affairs. He had previously served as the deputy director of the National Security Department and had now been promoted to director.
For the other families in the meeting room, the Duanmu Family’s status was a bit awkward.
After all, Duanmu Ling was Duanmu Ci’s own sister; by all accounts, the Duanmu Family should stand with the Qin Family, yet it was the Duanmu Family that had led this incident.
Members of the Hidden Sect from the Duanmu and Zhuge families kept a low profile in the Imperial Capital Duanmu Family and planned the previous action in secrecy.
From the last action, there was no doubt about the stance of the Imperial City’s Duanmu Family, yet their marital relations with the Qin Family were real and substantial.
Chu Shiguang glanced at Duanmu Ci from the corner of his eye and said with a smile, "The Duanmu Family has the support of the respected Elder Duanmu Han. Even if Qin Yanyang personally came, he would have to call you ’grandfather.’ The Duanmu Family shouldn’t worry about the enemy’s decapitation action, right?"
Duanmu Ci frowned slightly and shot Chu Shiguang a cold glance, "Chu Shiguang, we are partners in the same boat right now. Speaking in such a sarcastic tone, are you trying to destroy the unity within? If my Duanmu Family’s stance were not firm enough, would I, Duanmu Ci, be sitting here today?"
Seeing Duanmu Ci get angry, Chu Shiguang managed an awkward smile, "I apologize, Brother Duanmu, I didn’t mean it that way."
Ning Zhongze immediately said, "Yes, Brother Duanmu, please don’t misunderstand. Brother Chu was just speaking offhandedly." Turning to Chu Shiguang, he said, "Brother Chu, without the Duanmu Family, how could we have established a cooperative relationship with the Hidden Sect’s forces? You mustn’t speak like that again, to avoid damaging our internal harmony."
Sun Youning said, "The situation is not as bad as imagined, we must not lose our composure. Unity comes first. Compared to your families, my Sun Family, being scholars, have even less security."
Duanmu Ci snorted and said, "Hiding is not a solution. Haven’t we already secured control over Meishan Mountain? We must send someone to the Hidden Sect for reinforcements right away."
"After those people were defeated, Duanmu Gong had already entered, but it’s been almost an hour with no news. It would not be good if something had also gone wrong there. We must prepare several plans just in case," Ning Zhongze said gravely.
Everyone nodded.
Death was a fear for all.
The reputations of Qin Yanyang and Yang Fei were too significant for them, and with the previous battle at Meishan Mountain streamed via video, they had witnessed firsthand the power and terror of the Hidden Sect’s top experts. Now that the enemy might launch actions targeting them, they were naturally worried.
"Here’s the plan, we continue sending people to seek aid from the Hidden Sect. At the same time, we should also move our families quickly to the military underground bunkers for safety. As long as we avoid being decapitated, our base will remain stable. Once forces from the Hidden Sect join us, we can secure our current territory," said Sun Youning in a somber voice.
This proposal garnered unanimous support from the others.
"Besides us, some of the key officials in charge of the government should also be relocated promptly," Sun Youning added.
Everyone nodded again.
Zhang Wenfeng said, "I think we’ve forgotten about one thing."
All eyes turned to him.
Zhang Wenfeng continued, "We still haven’t played our biggest card yet."
Ning Zhongze frowned, "Are you talking about the hostages?"
Everyone’s eyes lit up.
Right, how could they have forgotten about the hostages.
During the previous operation, many hostages were captured, including important members of the Qin Family, precisely, the married couple, Qin Zhen and Wang Ying, and their son, Qin Zhao.
In addition to that, Qin Huai’an’s younger son’s family and his son-in-law’s family were also detained in Imperial City.
At that time, from the Qin Family’s direct lineage in Imperial City, the only ones who managed to escape were three people: Qin Huai’an, along with the couple Qin Zhengfang and Duanmu Ling.
Qin Zhengfang and his wife Duanmu Ling were able to escape on that day because Qin Huai’an called them after he fled, and they immediately shook off the National Security Department surveillance personnel’s tracking and fled Imperial City with Qin Huai’an.
However, the hostages from the Qin Family, including Qin Zhen, his wife, and their son, as well as the families of Qin Huai’an’s other children, were already sufficient.
Apart from the Qin Family, many important officials who stood with the Qin Family had their families controlled if they were within the range of the central and eastern battle zones.
The number of these hostages reached an astonishing figure.
For the enemy, they definitely carried a significant threat.
"By using these hostages, we can do a lot of things, at least it will deter them from rash actions," Zhang Wenfeng said.
Chu Shiguang’s face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "Old Zhang’s reminder is correct, these hostages indeed need to be put to good use. In times of crisis, we can even kill a few to send a message to Qin Yanyang."
Ning Zhongze, Sun Youning, and Duanmu Ci’s eyelids twitched.
They knew how much Chu Shiguang hated Yang Fei. The Chu Family’s Chu Que and Chu Tianshu were executed on the spot by Yang Fei at Yunwu Mountain’s Base. At that time, Yang Fei used the opportunity to issue a warning: whoever dared to harm his family, no matter where they were, he would seek vengeance for his deceased loved ones.
Of course, at this time, they couldn’t mention this issue, nor could they express their worries about Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang’s vengeance afterward.
Sun Youning spoke up, "Brother Chu, calm down. We indeed have many hostages in our hands, but their side has also detained many families of our military officers and political dignitaries."
Before the last operation, these top families had safely placed their relatives out of reach of Qin Yanyang’s side, but they did not expect that operation to allow all the Qin Family leaders to escape, resulting in a standoff, which led to the enemy taking control over many families of their military and political officials.
Comparatively, they had many more and much higher-profile hostages in their hands, but if they showed no concern for the lives of those subordinates’ families, then they would lose the people’s support and become powerless commanders with no followers.
"Even if we don’t kill, we can still use them to threaten the other side. Otherwise, if that girl really launches a decapitation strike against us, we are the ones in danger," Chu Shiguang snorted.
This time Ning Zhongze sided with Chu Shiguang, nodding, "Right, the hostages can be of use this time. Although we can’t kill them, it can make Qin Yanyang hesitant to act. Let’s do that, move with the important hostages to a safe place first."
Everyone stood up, leaving with heavy hearts.
Facing those top-tier combatants who were like elusive dragons, they had no power to resist and could only hide and seek, a feeling that was extremely stifling.
How could this even compare to the past when they used to be high-ranking bosses?
The rules of the game in this world had changed.
For bosses of their caliber, as long as they didn’t mess up badly, even if they failed in their struggles, they could still retreat in one piece, at worst losing their power.
But now, failure meant losing their heads.
This change was something that the former powers that be found utterly incomprehensible and unacceptable.
Meishan Mountain.
After Helian Zhan, Wang Chunyang, Yang Fei, and Helian Rong were driven away by overwhelming firepower, the control over the teleportation passage above Meishan Mountain returned to the Chu Family’s hands.
Duanmu Gong didn’t hesitate and, after giving Chu Tianxing a heads-up, soared into the sky and entered the teleportation array.
He needed to report back and request Divine Travel Realm experts from his side to come and hold fort in Imperial City; otherwise, everything they had hard-won could be lost again.