"Zhou Hong, where on earth have you been? Why are you only back now?" After Zhou Hong returned to the capital, he immediately called Changsun Qinghe. Upon receiving his call, Changsun Qinghe burst into tears.
Zhou Hong's journey into the sub-world had taken three months. Furthermore, his departure had been sudden and without informing anyone.
"Qinghe, I'm back now, aren't I?" Zhou Hong quickly tried to comfort her.
"But it's too late."
Zhou Hong frowned. What did Changsun Qinghe mean by "too late"?
"What do you mean?" Zhou Hong asked urgently.
"Do you know your family has been wiped out? Wuwuwu!" Changsun Qinghe sobbed.
"What did you say?" Zhou Hong was stunned. The Qiao family was annihilated?
"What happened? Who dared to annihilate the Qiao family?" Zhou Hong roared in disbelief.
"We don't know. This is still a mystery. About two months ago, several mysterious individuals suddenly appeared and wiped out everyone in the Qiao family. No one knows who did it. They only left a few words at the scene, which read: 'A mere ant-like family dares to be arrogant.'"
Zhou Hong felt the world spin. The entire Qiao family was annihilated, meaning the biological parents of this body were also dead? And the sister of this body, also dead?
"How could this happen? Did everyone in the entire Qiao family die?"
"Not everyone. Except for your parents and your sister, everyone else..."
"They all died?" Zhou Hong roared, his eyes turning red.
"On that day, your parents happened to be away from the family! So they escaped disaster, wuwuwu!" Changsun Qinghe cried, this being the only glimmer of hope in the misfortune.
"As for the others in the Qiao family, they..."
"No, it's impossible." Zhou Hong's body began to tremble.
"Zhou Hong, I thought you were dead too. I was thinking life was meaningless. Everyone in the capital thought you were dead. I never expected you to be alive and back. Where have you been these past three months?" Changsun Qinghe wailed.
"Hoo!" Zhou Hong let out a heavy sigh, clearly so enraged he felt like spitting blood. With his immense strength, his family had been annihilated. Although this family didn't have a real connection to him, it was still the family of this body.
"Who is it?" Zhou Hong roared.
"Zhou Hong, don't make a big return right now. In case...!" Changsun Qinghe cautioned.
"There's no 'in case.'" Zhou Hong's eyes instantly turned crimson.
At this moment, Zhou Hong felt immense self-blame. If he hadn't been constantly showing off, constantly hiding his strength, the Qiao family wouldn't have been annihilated. The perpetrators must have thought Zhou Hong was just an ordinary genius, hence their audacity.
If Zhou Hong hadn't been showing off and had revealed early on that he was the reclusive expert, perhaps things wouldn't have come to this.
"Zhou Hong, what's wrong?" Qiao Wanli saw Zhou Hong's expression and hurried over to ask.
"The Qiao family has been annihilated."
"What?" Qiao Wanli and the others were also dumbfounded.
"When did it happen?" Qiao Yannian asked.
"Two months ago, several mysterious individuals came to the Qiao family and wiped out everyone in the entire Qiao family, except for my parents and a few others," Zhou Hong said through gritted teeth.
"My heavens." Qiao Wanli staggered as if about to fall. After all, he was from a branch of the Qiao family.
"Who would be so ruthless?" Liu Liying also cried and asked.
"I don't know." Zhou Hong let out a deep breath, his killing intent now permeating the air.
Without further ado, Zhou Hong rushed back to the Qiao family estate. However, what greeted him was a scene of ruins.
Zhou Hong's heart ached as he looked at the once prosperous Qiao family estate, now reduced to ruins.
Soon, Zhou Hong saw a few words inscribed on a stone tablet at the Qiao family estate: "A mere ant-like family dares to be arrogant." Su Dan Novel Network.
Zhou Hong immediately took out his phone and called Huangfu Shanhe.
However, after a long while, the call was finally connected.
"Huangfu Shanhe, get over here immediately!" Zhou Hong roared.
Unfortunately, a woman's crying came from the other end of the line.
"Huangfu Shanhe is already dead." The crying woman said.
"What? He's dead? When did this happen?" Zhou Hong was shocked. Even Huangfu Shanhe was dead.
"It wasn't you who caused his death? Two months ago, when the Qiao family was annihilated, Huangfu Shanhe attempted to intervene and persuade them, but... wuwu." The woman on the other end of the line began to cry uncontrollably.
Zhou Hong had originally intended to interrogate Huangfu Shanhe about the perpetrator, but now even Huangfu Shanhe was dead.
"Who is it, who is it, who is it!" Zhou Hong stood in the ruins and roared three times in anger.
Zhou Hong's shouts quickly alerted many people nearby.
"Isn't that Zhou Hong? He's not dead."
"Yes, we thought he was annihilated along with the family. We never expected him to return alive two months later."
The surrounding crowd began to murmur.
"Does anyone here know who annihilated the Qiao family? I will reward whoever provides me with a clue handsomely." Zhou Hong scanned the onlookers and asked.
However, everyone shook their heads and said they didn't know. This matter remained a mystery to the entire capital.
"Zhou Hong, as things stand, you must find solace. I believe the news of your return will spread quickly. At that time, those who annihilated your family might come back to finish the job." Qiao Wanli advised.
Zhou Hong nodded, his fists clenched.
"Zhou Hong." At this moment, a woman ran from afar. It was none other than Changsun Qinghe, who had rushed over.
When Changsun Qinghe reached Zhou Hong, she immediately threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.