Jiang Zhong, who was closest to Ye Fan, instinctively stepped forward to block him but was sent flying by a palm strike from Mr. Hei.
Mr. Hei was already within striking distance of Ye Fan. If this palm landed, Ye Fan would surely die.
In fact, Mr. Hei's eyes already revealed a cruel smile. He seemed to already see the manner of Ye Fan's death.
But at this moment, a bang erupted from Ye Fan's palm.
"Bang."
Immediately, Mr. Hei's charging body abruptly stopped. Right at his heart, a bloody hole appeared, and blood continuously flowed down.
Mr. Hei looked at Ye Fan in disbelief, then lowered his head to look at the bloody hole in his heart.
"This, this is impossible..."
Still maintaining the posture of his palm strike, Mr. Hei crashed to the ground.
No one had expected the final outcome to be like this.
The Great Elder, Elder Lei, the Great Guest Elder, and others all looked at Ye Fan in shock.
At this critical juncture, Ye Fan had managed to save himself.
Ye Fan's face wore a cold expression as he glanced coldly at Mr. Hei.
"He who kills shall be killed by others. Even if you are from the Heavenly King's Mansion, you must die."
Speaking coldly, Ye Fan at this moment was like ice, making him impossible to approach.
Putting away the miniature pistol in his palm, Ye Fan secretly felt fortunate.
Fortunately, Liu Piaoxu had given him this miniature pistol. Otherwise, under Mr. Hei's terrifying assault, his life would have been in danger this time.
That's right, it was the miniature pistol that had killed Mr. Hei just now.
It was given to him by Liu Piaoxu for self-defense just before Ye Fan went to Taiping Town.
Since then, Ye Fan had carried this pistol with him.
Today, it had finally saved his life.
"Such a scoundrel is truly deserving of death," Elder Lei said as he quickly walked over and looked at Mr. Hei's corpse with indignation.
"Hmph, relying on his identity as a killer for the Heavenly King's Mansion, he disregarded the rules and acted recklessly. She truly deserves to die," the Great Elder also said angrily.
The Great Guest Elder let out a cold snort, "Such scum can actually stand above the people of Jiangnan City. The Heavenly King's Mansion must give my Gu family an explanation for this matter, or I will make them pay a heavy price."
The Great Guest Elder was extremely angry. After so many years, he had finally found a talent like Ye Fan, only to nearly have him killed by Mr. Hei. How could he swallow his anger?
Hearing the Great Guest Elder's words, Jiang Zhong, Mr. Fu, and others all gave him a thumbs-up.
"The Great Guest Elder's words are wise. It's not just one or two days that the Heavenly King's Mansion has been acting unscrupulously in Jiangnan City. Now that Ye Fan has passed the selection, he is considered a member of the Gu family. And this Mr. Hei was so insane as to dare to lay hands on a Gu family member. If the Heavenly King's Mansion isn't shown some consequences, they will likely become even more arrogant."
These two were eager for trouble.
However, if they could use the Gu family's influence to suppress the Heavenly King's Mansion, it would be something they welcomed.
One of them belonged to the City Lord's Mansion, and the other was the Vice President of the Antique Association. No matter how the Heavenly King's Mansion was suppressed, it would be beneficial to them.
Hearing these two speak, the Great Guest Elder looked at them thoughtfully. Although he knew these two wanted to use him, what they said was not without reason.
This time, the Heavenly King's Mansion had truly gone too far.
Just now, he had announced Ye Fan's victory in the selection, making him one of their own.
Yet Mr. Hei had dared to attack, clearly showing he didn't put the Gu family in his eyes.
But at this moment, Gu Ping walked over and coldly snorted, "Who said Ye Fan is from the Gu family?"
Everyone was stunned by Gu Ping's words. They frowned and looked at Gu Ping, then their gaze fell on the Great Guest Elder.
The Great Guest Elder also frowned at this moment, "What does the second young master mean by this?"
Gu Ping's face was grim. Originally, he thought Mr. Hei could easily defeat Ye Fan, thus saving him the trouble of appearing.
But he hadn't expected Mr. Hei to be so useless, letting the prize within his grasp slip away.
Therefore, as a last resort, he had to step forward.
"Great Guest Elder, Ye Fan has merely passed the selection. Whether he can join our Gu family's treasure hunting team depends on his character. I have witnessed the entire selection process today. Ye Fan is narrow-minded, ruthless, and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Such an ambitious individual, how can he join the treasure hunting team? Therefore, I now declare that Ye Fan has been eliminated."
Gu Ping said with a cold face, looking at the Great Guest Elder without any reservation.
This reversal stunned everyone present.
This second young master of the Gu family actually announced Ye Fan's elimination. What did this mean?
Ye Fan also frowned tightly, looking coldly at Gu Ping.
He knew Gu Ping was targeting him, but he didn't expect him to be so shameless and untrustworthy, bringing disgrace to the Gu family.
However, at this moment, Ye Fan had no way to retaliate. After all, this was an internal matter of the Gu family.
He hadn't joined the Gu family yet, so he had no say.
Therefore, everything could only be placed on the Great Guest Elder.
The Great Guest Elder's face was now full of gloom, and his eyes were tinged with anger.
He hadn't expected this second young master to play such a trick on him.
"On this trip to Jiangnan City, the old family head personally instructed me to preside over all matters of the Jiangnan City selection. Even though the second young master's status is noble, he has no right to interfere in this matter. Does the second young master wish to defy the old family head's orders?" the Great Guest Elder said angrily.
At this moment, he had completely despaired of Gu Ping. With someone like this in the Gu family, if he were to gain power, it would likely be the decline of the Gu family.
But upon hearing Gu Ping's words, Gu Ping not only did not restrain himself but instead let out a wild laugh.
"A fine order from the old family head. Great Guest Elder, in your eyes, is there no one else besides the old family head?"
Saying this, Gu Ping took out a token.
This token was only palm-sized, with the ancient character "Gu" engraved on it in ancient script.
"This is the family head's decree. Anyone holding the family head's decree can issue commands on behalf of the family head, as if the family head himself were present. Great Guest Elder, do you intend to disobey the orders of the Gu family head?"
Gu Ping said assertively, with full confidence, arguing his case with the Great Guest Elder.
The moment he saw the family head's decree, the Great Guest Elder's brow sank.
He hadn't expected Gu Ping to be able to obtain the family head's decree. It seemed the Gu family valued this second young master quite highly.
With the family head's decree in Gu Ping's hand, no matter how noble the Great Guest Elder's status, he could not disobey.
Clenching his teeth tightly, the Great Guest Elder's eyes seemed on the verge of spitting fire.
But he was helpless and had no way to refute.
Seeing that the Great Guest Elder no longer resisted, Gu Ping let out a cold snort and then looked at Ye Fan.