As Lao Liu turned to look outside, he saw Meng Haoyun kneeling amidst the corpses in the clash of blades, kowtowing three times towards Meng the Elder before rising, sword raised high: "Meng family disciples, protect our family! Follow me!"

Meng the Elder watched Meng Haoyun charge out to fight the Meng family traitors, shaking his head. "I always thought Haoyun was better at maintaining than creating. Now, it seems he lacks even the ability to maintain!"

"As the head of the family, he failed to see the infiltration, to understand he was being controlled, and to stop the in-laws from running rampant... Alas..."

Meng the Elder sighed again. "I tried to advise him, but it was useless. He indulged his wife too much."

"If my daughter-in-law could wholeheartedly assist Haoyun, it would be fine. Sadly, she is short-sighted, only caring for her own family!"

Lao Liu chuckled, "Have you considered using the Li family to lead the Meng family? Letting Dongjia lead the Meng family in the martial world?"

"Use the Li family to lead the Meng family?" Meng the Elder stood up. "Old brother, you are asking me to gamble with the fate of the Meng family!"

Lao Liu said calmly, "Without a gamble, the Meng family is doomed. Take a chance, and perhaps the Meng family will still be the Meng family three generations from now. What do you say?"

Meng the Elder hesitated, "Can Li Po do it?"

"It's just a gamble," Lao Liu said. "Aren't Jianghu people always gambling? Could Lu Gong see that Liu Bang had the aura of a Son of Heaven when they first met? Did he not gamble when he married his daughter to Liu Bang? He won, becoming the Imperial Father-in-Law of the Han Dynasty."

"Let me think. Let me think!" Before Meng the Elder could decide, Meng Haoyun's roar came from the courtyard, "Send a team to escort my wife away first! Hurry!"

As soon as Meng Haoyun spoke, Lao Liu smiled. He knew that Meng the Elder had completely lost hope in Meng Haoyun.

In Meng the Elder's eyes, Meng Haoyun's decision to divide his forces to protect his wife during the family's crisis proved he was unfit to be a family head.

Meng the Elder closed his eyes in agony and quickly walked to the window. "Meng Family Iron Guards, protect the Meng family!"

"Yes!" A single response from outside was enough to shake the heavens and earth, intimidating ghosts and gods.

Moments later, fifty sorcerers wearing tiger-striped cloaks, carrying bows and sabers, leaped from the roof of Meng the Elder's house, joining the battle.

Fifty flashes of saber light descended like chaotic thunder, illuminating the surroundings. Figures were shattered by the cold light as the Tiger-striped Iron Guards advanced through the blood. Even knowing that fellow Meng family disciples were dying under their blades, they showed no mercy.

In a short while, the Meng family compound was littered with corpses. The Tiger-striped Iron Guards gradually pushed towards the Meng family gate.

Catching his breath, Meng Haoyun reached out to grab an Iron Guard, "Send a few of you to protect my wife, she is..."

Before Meng Haoyun could finish, the man slashed at Meng Haoyun's face. Although he reacted, the blade still cut his cheek.

Meng Haoyun, clutching his bleeding forehead, could barely speak. "You... you..."

The Iron Guard glanced coldly at Meng Haoyun and silently attacked the enemy.

Lao Liu slowly walked to the window. "What a pack of wolves, only obeying one man. Brother Meng hid this card too well."

Meng the Elder shook his head. "I fear that after playing this card, the Meng family will truly decline."

Meng the Elder turned his back to the door. "Meng Hu, there is a list under my desk. Take it and kill! Leave no one on the list alive."

As someone quietly left, Meng the Elder sighed, "With the people on that list dead, the Meng family's young elites will be exhausted. Three generations of decline is inevitable!"

"I will give twenty Iron Guards to Li Po. Can he take on all the Meng family's grudges?"

Lao Liu shook his head. "You're wrong. It's not giving them to Dongjia, but to me."

"Hmm?" As Meng the Elder scrutinized Lao Liu, Lao Liu said without changing expression, "Dongjia doesn't have the ambition to dominate right now. He wouldn't want them even if you gave them to him. However..."

Lao Liu changed the subject. "A destined overlord, even without the ambition to dominate, must walk the path of domination. There are many such people in history. Wouldn't you agree?"

Meng the Elder frowned. "You are..."

Lao Liu grasped Meng the Elder's right hand and shook it gently. Meng the Elder's eyes widened. "I see. My apologies. But, how could Old Brother be..."

Lao Liu smiled bitterly. "The true abilities of my lineage don't lie in life, but in death. Do you understand my meaning?"

Meng the Elder cupped his fist in salute. "The Meng family will rely on you from now on."

Lao Liu's expression turned serious. "You are wrong. You are not relying on me, but on our Lord!"

"I was foolish!" Meng the Elder immediately lowered his posture.

Lao Liu said, "Within three months, I will help you resolve all your grudges. The Meng family will then retreat into seclusion to recuperate. They can return to the martial world after three generations. I guarantee that the Meng family's status will remain."

Meng the Elder announced loudly, "Order the Iron Guards to kill all rebellious disciples, leaving none alive!"