<h4>Chapter 25: Bleak Oue</h4>


    Wang Jianxin thundered, "So what if it were him? Do you have any proof? Would others believe you? Zhang Lie''s famous in your settlement for being useless, a fool who spent three months killing white grubs!


    "Do you think that the six ns, or even the cksteel hunters, would believe that all their ns were waid by a fool?! They wouldn''t! ?It''s impossible! Even if Zhang Lie were to step out now and im that he nned everything, no one would believe him!


    "From the very moment you stepped back into the cksteel settlement, you fell into his trap! There''s no way out for you now. Escape! Run away now! You won''t be able to withstand the household''s punishment, and once you admit to the crime, our whole n will be sentenced to death. Before the elders get here, escape while you can, as far away as possible!


    "I''ll do my best to dy them, and I''ll help you find a way out of this mess. If possible, head to Zhang Lie''s ce first—getting to that crippled sister of his will be your only hope. What are you waiting for? Leave, run, flee!"


    "Dad, but—where would I go?" Wang Xiaohua blinked at him with tear-stained eyes.


    Wang Jianxin pushed a few point cards into her hands. "Leave Ning, and don''t head toward any city controlled by the six ns. Go anywhere else you want! Remember, within the next three months, don''t attempt to contact me, and don''t attempt to contact any of your friends. Do you understand?"


    With his hands firmly on Wang Xiaohua''s shoulders, Wang Jianxin pushed Wang Xiaohua out of his house.


    "Dad, I''m scared!"


    "Don''t worry. With me around, everything will be resolved eventually. But you have to leave now!"


    Wang Xiaohua''s heart was filled with dread as to what she would have to endure.


    After consoling Wang Xiaohua, Wang Jianxin stuffed her into his hovercar. Not five minutes after Wang Xiaohua left, three imposing middle-aged men rushed into the Wang estate. But Wang Xiaohua had already left, so they couldn''t get what they came for. In the end, they had no choice but to take Wang Jianxin into custody instead.


    In a mansion in Ning, Wang Han stared at his brother in disappointment. "Have you thought about the consequences of letting your daughter go free?"


    Wang Jianxin replied, "Of course I have, but how can I bear to see my daughter be punished for something she hasn''t done? She''s innocent! Why should she have to be the scapegoat?! You know they''d kill her!"


    Wang Han shook his head. "No, the Wang n wouldn''t let her be killed. We need Xiaohua here in order to reveal the truth behind the entire affair, in order to reim justice for our n!


    "But now? Now that you''ve sent her away, if anything happens to her, we won''t have any means of refuting the ims leveled against us! Look at this report. I told you how important this matter was, and the other ns aren''t going to stop until they''ve hunted her down!


    "Call her back immediately. If she gets caught, if she gets killed—that''ll be the end of our n."


    Wang Jianxin looked over the report, his face darkening as he flipped through its pages. What a nasty, vicious n! It was clearly meant to destroy Wang Xiaohua, and even the rest of the Wang n as well.


    Over the course of a single night, the entire cksteel settlement, including its six most influential ns, had be enemies of the Wang n. The Zhou, Qin, and Chu ns, who had suffered most, even imed the Wang n as their sworn enemy.


    Unless the Wang n could provide irrefutable evidence that Wang Xiaohua yed no role in the affair, none of the three ns would let matters rest so easily.


    "Justice? Brother, don''t lie to me. I''m not like Xiaohua, and I don''t believe in some supposed justice! It''s too hard to recover the truth. I''ve asked Xiaohua and she doesn''t know anything—the other party has made sure that there''s no way out for her!" Wang Jianxian''s face was pale, as though he were a beached fish.


    "Regardless, you had better call Xiaohua back. With her around, we can at least exin that we''re investigating what happened, but if she vanishes, we''ll be tacitly epting responsibility for what has happened!"


    "I''ll call her back, but you have to promise, as the head of the household, that you won''t throw her out to the wolves, or you''ll have to kill me first!"


    Despite having been expelled from the main household, Wang Jianxin couldn''t turn his back from itpletely, and he eventually relented after proposing his own condition.


    Wang Han shook his head in exasperation. "Alright, I promise you I''ll do my utmost best to protect her from retribution. Send for her!"


    "Your best isn''t enough—you have to promise you won''t hand her over!"


    Wang Han inclined his head and fisted his hair in frustration. "Fine. I promise I won''t hand her over. Send her back!"


    Wang Jianxin gave his brother a piercing nce before activating the transceiver on his wristwatch, a specializedmunication tool between father and daughter.


    However, Wang Xiaohua rejected the call. When he tried calling her again, the call was blockedpletely. It was only then that Wang Jianxin remembered that he had warned Wang Xiaohua not to try tomunicate with him, or with any of her friends.


    She likely thought that the Wang n was trying to find her through Wang Jianxin, so she had blocked all calls.


    "Quick, head to this location!" Wang Jianxin, panicking, immediately showed Wang Han''s subordinates the coordinates listed on his wristwatch.


    "Brother, if something were to happen to the Wang n, you realize you''ll be held solely responsible for the n''s downfall?! How are you going to exin this to Father?!"Wang Han was barely able to keep himself from screaming.


    "There''s nothing I can do about it now, is there? Quick, send someone to Zhang Lie''s house. As long as we have Zhang Hanxiang in custody, we might be able to salvage the situation."


    "Zhang Lie, Zhang Hanxiang? Zhang Yi''s two children? Are you certain that he was the one responsible for all this?" Wang Han was a little skeptical: who would believe that someone as young as Zhang Lie coulde up with such a devious n?


    After the incident, he had reviewed what little information he had on Zhang Lie: by all reports a mediocre, useless hunter who amounted to nothing. How could someone like him have offended all six ns, killed Zhou Qian, and crippled Qin Xiao within a single night? The very thought was ludicrous!


    Wang Jianxin''s face turned even paler. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Even if it wasn''t him, he''s clearly connected to this entire affair!


    "Wang Bin, I want you to personally head to the Zhang house and to take both of them into custody. Make sure you don''t alert any security guards along the way. The Void Cup''s about to start, and we can''t have anyone getting disqualified now!"


    "Yes, Head!" One of Wang Han''s subordinates strode forward, bowed, and rushed out.


    "Why in the world would you provoke someone like him? As far as I understand, that brat''s a useless hunter. If he weren''t provoked, why would he risk his life to create all this trouble?


    "You''ve been blinded by money, Brother! No matter how many treasures that Zhang Yi had, he was only ever a peak second-realm hunter. He wouldn''t have had anything of true value! If the Wang n were to suffer because of this incident, even I won''t be able to protect you and your daughter."


    "I know full well what I did! If thingse to that, hand me over. I''ll bear responsibility for everything! Give the other ns some benefits aspensation, and count it as my debt to the n. I have no choice but to repay it in my next life, don''t I?"


    Wang Jianxin would even sacrifice himself to protect his daughter, and no amount of criticism on Wang Han''s part would change anything. Instead, Wang Han only sighed. If Wang Xiaohua couldn''t be found, then the six ns'' grudges wouldn''t be resolved satisfactorily. In that case, they would take it out on the Wang n.


    In truth, they had already begun taking action against the Wang n upon receiving the news that Wang Jianxin had been summoned to the Wang headquarters. All manner of incidents were suddenly happening to the businesses owned by the Wang n.


    Nasty rumors and gossip about the Wang n abounded. In a matter of minutes, the Wang n''s assets had dropped by over a hundred million, and that number was surely just going to keep increasing.


    Worst of all, of these six ns, the Yun and Chu ns were even more powerful than the Wang n, and if they had set their mind to it, they could have ruined the Wang n instantly. It was because of that potential threat that the Wang n could do nothing but suffer their losses in silence.


    Meanwhile, Wang Xiaohua had finally made her way—after quite a number of twists and detours—to Zhang Lie''s house. However, she only dared to look at it from afar, because she could see Zhang Lie making breakfast through an open window.


    By now, Wang Xiaohua thought of Zhang Lie as a demon. She didn''t dare to appear in front of him, let alone provoke him.


    Zhang Lie didn''t notice her presence, but he was certain that the mess that he had inadvertently created would only growrger with time. His sister, Hanxiang, would therefore end up in danger.


    As a result, after his restful sleep in the dimensional world''s inn, he immediately headed back home. After having breakfast, Zhang Lie immediately brought Zhang Hanxiang to an inspection bureau.


    The inspection bureau was a government organization responsible for testing and recording the quantity and quality of a hunter''s gic energy, constitution, and strength in order to categorize that hunter as a certain ss of citizen.


    Given Zhang Lie''s current numbers, he was quite confident that he could be tested as a first-ss citizen. And as a first-ss citizen, one of his direct rtives would be able to benefit from all that his status conferred. In particr, he would be able to send his sister to a specialized high school for further education.


    Once she entered the school, she would be protected. Because of the ster and spatial warfare that had led to extreme casualties at the start of the century, there had been extremely heavy emphasis ced on cultivating the talents of the next generation.


    Part of this emphasis manifested in the form of extreme protection and an absolute ban on violence on campus grounds. As long as Hanxiang was properly enrolled as a student, even the Wang n would be powerless to act against her.