Fengcheng Liangshan Pavilion.
Liangshan Pavilion faced the Fengcheng urban area on one side, and a cemetery on the other. Every year during the Qingming Festival, many people would come here to pay their respects.
A middle-aged man, dressed in white, with a calm and unrestrained demeanor, sat in the pavilion. A dagger lay on the stone table in the pavilion.
He drank wine while humming a tune until Chen Jiuyang rushed over. The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Brother, you're here."
Chen Jiuyang said in a deep voice, "Jia Long, what are you doing? How did Xi Butui, that bastard, threaten you?"
Chen Jiuyang had brought all his relatives into the Feng Han Hou Mansion, but his life-saving benefactor, Zhang Jialong, was being threatened by Xi Butui.
Zhang Jialong said, "Jiuyang, what do you think is most important in this life?"
Before Chen Jiuyang could speak, Zhang Jialong continued, "It's family – parents, wife, and children."
"My parents, wife, and children have been captured. The other party called me and told me that if I wanted my wife and children to live, I had only one choice."
Chen Jiuyang said in a deep voice, "What choice?"
Zhang Jialong put down the wine bottle, picked up the dagger on the stone table, and slowly walked towards Chen Jiuyang. "The other party gave me this dagger and told me to stab you four times. Each stab would save one of my family members."
"Brother, if you turn around and leave now, I won't blame you."
Zhang Jialong, a man of iron and blood, spoke these words with red eyes, almost gritting his teeth, tears welling up.
"Xi Butui!" Chen Jiuyang was so angry he almost vomited blood. That old scoundrel was using such a method against him.
Chen Jiuyang gritted his teeth and said, "Jia Long, how can you be sure they will keep their word?"
Zhang Jialong choked, "I have no other choice but to believe them."
Chen Jiuyang said hatefully, "Doesn't Second Master plan to help you with this matter?"
"It's already overstepping for the Zhu family to help you, Chen Jiuyang. It's a wise choice for them to abandon a mere pawn to protect themselves."
"A benevolent person cannot lead troops. Chen Jiuyang, if the Zhu family hadn't stepped in to help you, no one would have dared to do anything to him. Every action has a consequence."
Xi Butui, dressed in black, appeared not far away with a smile.
Hearing this, Chen Jiuyang's heart sank.
"One stab per person. Chen Jiuyang, aren't you a professor at Fengcheng Medical College? As a doctor, what would you choose?" Xi Butui's face was full of mockery.
Zhang Jialong said, "Jiuyang, I saved your life a year ago. Now I need you to save the lives of my four family members. As long as my family survives, you can have my life, Zhang Jialong."
Chen Jiuyang roared in anger, "Xi Butui, I, Chen Jiuyang, will never rest until I kill you, you old dog!"
With that, Chen Jiuyang closed his eyes in pain. "You do it. After this, our grievances will be settled, and we will never interact again."
"Hahahaha!" Xi Butui laughed wildly. "Good, you, the divine doctor Chen Jiuyang, are indeed loyal and righteous. Interesting."
Then Xi Butui watched as Zhang Jialong plunged the dagger into Chen Jiuyang's abdomen. Xi Butui said, "Very good. The first stab. Release his child."
The intense pain made Chen Jiuyang tremble all over.
One stab after another, even though Zhang Jialong avoided Chen Jiuyang's vital points, Chen Jiuyang was almost unable to hold on.
"Very good, very good. Four stabs are done. Zhang Jialong, Brother Zhang, your parents, wife, and children are safely home. You can go home now."
Chen Jiuyang quickly used silver needles to seal the acupoints near his wounds, tore his clothes into strips to wrap his wounds, and prevent excessive blood loss.
"Thank you." Zhang Jialong choked, dropped the dagger, kowtowed three times to Chen Jiuyang, and then walked down from Liangshan Pavilion.
Chen Jiuyang, enduring the pain of his injuries, took out his phone and called Feng Han Hou. "Master, I've been injured at Liangshan Pavilion. Please bring the medicine box and pick me up."
Feng Han Hou's face changed drastically upon hearing this. He didn't say a word.
"Medicine box?" Xi Butui chuckled. "Chen Jiuyang, as a divine doctor, haven't you realized that the dagger is poisoned?"
Chen Jiuyang's face turned ashen. "Xi Butui, you old dog, you are despicable, shameless, and vile!" Immediately, Chen Jiuyang's nose began to bleed, and his wounds also continued to bleed.
"Heh heh." Xi Butui sneered. "You ruined my decades-long plan. Without the King's Seal, I would have taken your family's lives long ago, and Feng Han Hou would have died too!"
"That fool Feng Han Hou naively believed he could break through to the Heavenly Realm. He has no idea of the secrets involved. Even if he were given a hundred chances to obtain the King's Seal, he still wouldn't be able to break through to the Heavenly Realm."
"Chen Jiuyang, today's revenge is just an appetizer, to let you know that I, Xi Butui, have been in charge of Fengcheng for thirty years, and you, a mere little beast, cannot bully me."
Chen Jiuyang's hatred for Xi Butui was now second only to Zhong Zhuowu.
Xi Butui said, "Oh, right, I almost forgot. Your father seems to have a fifty-year prison sentence hanging over him. However, due to certain reasons, he was released on parole. It seems there was a slight issue with the paperwork."
"I'll invite your father back to the Six Doors later to re-examine the paperwork."
"Xi Butui!" Chen Jiuyang shouted sternly, "Aren't you afraid that if I break through to the Earth Realm in the future, I will retaliate directly and make you die without a burial place?"
Xi Butui chuckled, "Little bastard, do you think you can contend with me just because you have Feng Han Hou backing you and have rallied the forty-seven Hou of Feng Province?"
"Even if you break through to the Earth Realm, so what? You're just a Grandmaster of the Earth Realm."
"I heard you also want to unite the forty-seven Hou to jointly impeach me from my position as Chief Constable. Let me tell you the truth, it's a futile effort."
Chen Jiuyang said in a deep voice, "Xi Butui, where do you get the confidence not to fear the combined efforts of the many Grandmasters in Feng Province against you?"
Xi Butui's smile slowly faded, and a hint of mockery appeared in his eyes. "A dying man, there's no harm in telling you the truth. There is someone behind me that you cannot afford to offend."
"Oh my, how did the Chen young master, whom my Saintess fancies, become a dying man?" At this moment, Granny Hui, who usually followed Qiu Yihan, appeared silently beside Chen Jiuyang, causing Xi Butui's expression to change slightly.
Xi Butui's expression turned indifferent. "Who are you!" Granny Hui's sudden appearance made Xi Butui feel a jolt of fear. Even he hadn't detected the aura of this middle-aged woman.
Granny Hui examined Chen Jiuyang's condition and said with a strange expression, "Young Master Chen, you've only sustained minor injuries. Why are you pretending to be on the verge of death, forcing me to appear?"
"Uh..." Chen Jiuyang's expression froze. Why did Granny Hui expose him?
After saying this, Granny Hui suddenly disappeared.
Xi Butui's face turned completely grim. He had been tricked?