Chapter 72: The Dongfang Family

  SH city, known as the Oriental Pearl, is one of China's well-known developed cities. A solid foundation combined with favorable policies has enabled this beautiful city to leap into an international metropolis.

  In the city center there is a 66-story skyscraper, which is the headquarters of the Oriental Group.

  The Oriental Group is a household name nationwide. The Oriental Group was established just over ten years ago, but its development speed is astonishing. In this short decade, the Oriental Group has transformed from a real estate company to a large-scale comprehensive investment company involved in electronics, IT, medicine, textiles, food, and daily necessities.

  Although the headquarters building of Oriental Group has only 66 floors, which is incomparable to those over 100 floors next to it, most of the companies next to it rent a few floors for office use, while the 66-floor building of Oriental Group was built with their own funds, showing its strong financial resources.

  In the eyes of Oriental Group employees, the top floor of the group's headquarters building is a mysterious place. That floor is isolated from the rest of the building and can only be accessed by taking a special elevator. So far, very few people have been seen going up there, not even the president of the Oriental Group has the qualification to go up.

  Those who have been fortunate enough to enter this floor know that the mysterious 66th floor is not particularly special, with only one office and a very large practice room on the entire floor. The reason it's so mysterious is simply because of the orders of the old man sitting in that office.

  At this moment, in the office on the 66th floor, a middle-aged man dressed in Tang suit stood respectfully. In front of him was a wide purple sandalwood desk, behind which sat an old man with grey and white hair on a wooden recliner, his back to the man.

  The old man leisurely gazed at the urban scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling window, reached out to take a small purple clay teapot from the side table and held it in his hand, remaining silent for a long time.

  He saw him without speaking, and the middle-aged man also didn't speak.

  After a while, the old man finally put down the purple sand teapot in his hand and said slowly: "We had a conflict with the Xiu Zhen Alliance recently?"

  "Yes, sir." The middle-aged man replied respectfully: "The matter has been investigated and it was our people who provoked first, the reason is on their side. Whether this matter will be dropped or not, please instruct, sir."

  The old man was silent for a moment, then said with some disapproval: "A Li, have you become older? Where is the fiery temper of your youth? Although we are in the wrong this time, the people from the Xiu Zhen Alliance have severely injured our men. If we don't go and demand justice, where will the face of the Dongfang family be in the future?"

  The Dongfang Li couldn't help but nod in agreement, but in his heart, he was secretly laughing bitterly. The host's habit of shielding his own people was notorious, and now that they were clearly in the wrong, he still wanted to seek justice, which would only lead to more trouble for himself. He could only hope that he wouldn't complicate this originally simple matter.

  "Master, there's another matter I need to report. Regarding the current president of the Dongfang Group, Dongfang Da, secretly meeting with the American Dasuke Financial Group, I have sufficient evidence to believe that he plans to sell out the Dongfang Group's information for huge profits. How should we handle this, Master?" Dongfang Li didn't want to discuss this matter further as it was related to the conflict with the Xiuzhen Alliance, so he immediately changed the subject and asked.

  "Is the current president Dongfang Da?" The old man's slender fingers tapped lightly on the table beside him, and after a while, he replied, "He is the nephew of Dongfang Feng, isn't he?"

  Dongfang Li nodded slightly, and the old man didn't even turn his head, but had already guessed his answer. He said calmly, "You find an opportunity to meet with Dongfang Feng, give him a hint, and then observe Dongfang Da's movements. If he becomes restrained after listening to Dongfang Feng's warning, transfer him to an unimportant department. If he still doesn't know how to restrain himself..." The old man fell silent for a moment, then said coldly, "Then I don't want to see this person again."

  "Yes, I understand." Dongfang Li replied with a bow. Only he and other high-ranking personnel knew that the so-called Dongfang Group was just a subsidiary organization of their Dongfang family. And the old man in front of him was currently the highest leader of the Dongfang family - the head of the household, who was also the actual controller of the Dongfang Rong Group.

  As for the president of the Dongfang Group, Dongfang Da, he is just a puppet pushed by the Dongfang family and is only a low-ranking member of the family. What Dongfang Li did not expect was that this puppet would dare to secretly conspire with foreign financial groups, wanting to exchange huge benefits for the intelligence of the Dongfang Group.

  Now the only thing Dongfang Li can do is to pray that the reckless guy will know when to stop, otherwise he can only make him disappear according to the master's order - the Dongfang family has many ways to make people disappear quietly.

  "All right, if there's nothing else, you can go now." The old man waved his hand and Dongfang Li bowed to him, turned around and walked towards the door.

  Just then, the door was slammed open and a young man rushed in, almost colliding with him.

  "Dongfang Jie, what are you doing so recklessly? Don't you know the master is here?" Dongfang Li immediately frowned and scolded as soon as he saw the appearance of the newcomer.

  "A Li, you go and do your thing. Xiao Jie is so anxious, he must have something important to attend to, otherwise he wouldn't be so reckless." The old man said, Dongfang Li responded with a sound and walked out the door.

  "Master, something terrible has happened!" cried Dongfang Jie, the young man, with beads of sweat as large as beans rolling down his cheeks.

  "Take a deep breath, what's the big deal? Didn't I teach you to treat everything with an ordinary mind?" The old man turned around calmly and picked up the teapot on the table. This old man in front of him had white hair, but his eyebrows were bright red, paired with a bright red scar between his eyebrows that looked like eyes, making him look quite eerie.

  Dongfang Jie was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks, but the host had just opened his mouth to scold him and didn't dare say anything. Fortunately, the old man spoke again at this time.

  "Go on, what's the big deal that got you so anxious?" After finishing speaking, he picked up the teapot and took a mouthful of tea, then exhaled a mouthful of hot air, his face filled with satisfaction.

  "We've found Third Young Master." Dongfang Jie took a deep breath before speaking, seeing the old man seemingly unmoved, but Dongfang Jie noticed a hint of joy flashing in his eyes.

  "Oh? Where has that little rabbit gone?" The old man calmly lifted the teapot lid to add tea leaves, but several times spilled the tea leaves outside, clearly being extremely excited.

  "In Gong City." Dongfang Jie replied, then hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to continue speaking, after all, what he was about to say next would be too cruel for the old man.

  "What is this kid doing in Chengdu? Is he getting involved with the underworld again?" The old man's face flashed with anger, "As the third son of Dongfang Batian and a future candidate for the head of the Dongfang family, what can't you do well that you have to learn from others and get involved with the underworld?" The old man picked up his teacup and took a big gulp, seemingly unafraid of the scalding hot water. He continued to scold, "If he could make a name for himself in the underworld, I would acknowledge it, at least that's being a leader. But this little kid only likes to be a street thug, doing all sorts of despicable things every day, and he actually tells me that's what freedom is? Bah!"

  Dongfang Jie could only stand by, nodding silently. He knew that this Third Young Master was the precious son born to the master of the house when he was sixty years old. But this Third Young Master was very rebellious and disliked the arrangements made by the master of the house. Instead, he insisted on studying film and getting involved in the underworld, and what's more, he got mixed up with the most hopeless street thugs, which really gave people a big headache.

  "Tell me, has that little rabbit gone to cause trouble again?" Dongfang Bátian asked, taking a deep breath.

  "No... it's not." Dongfang Jieyi hesitated for half a day, sneaking a peek at Murong Baotian's expression, and finally gritted his teeth, saying in a low voice: "Third Young Master is already dead."

  Wow!

  The teapot in Dongfang Bati's hand fell to the ground and shattered, but he didn't seem to notice. He stared straight at Dongfang Jie, asking word by word: "What did you say?"

  Dongfang swallowed hard, a chill rising in his heart. The master's question couldn't be left unanswered, so he spoke softly: "Third Young Master is dead, it happened yesterday." Ji Biao looked at Dongfang Ba Tian with trepidation, worried that he would become the target of his anger.

  "Who killed him?" Dongfang Ba Tian asked calmly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, making Dongfang Jie's heart even more uneasy.

  "I still don't know who the murderer is." Dongfang Jie replied cautiously: "However, since the case was taken over by Longteng College, it's highly likely that the murderer is non-human."

  "Non-human? Cultivator or demon?" Dongfang Ba Tian muttered to himself, suddenly throwing his head back and laughing maniacally, his expression manic, scaring Dongfang Jie who was standing beside him into jumping up and down, thinking he had gone mad from the shock.

  "Pass the order!" Dongfang Bátian suddenly stood up, and with this movement, a scorching airflow suddenly spread out from him to all directions, making Dongfang Jie pant heavily and constantly retreat backwards.

  "Mobilize all the fighting members of the family to find out that murderer, no matter if he is a cultivator or what... Even if we have to go to war with the Cultivators' Alliance, I want him brought back alive. I will personally deal with him!" Dongfang Baotian raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a ruthless and cruel smile, "I will let him know what it means to be worse off than dead!"

  Dongfang Jie shuddered and felt a chill run down his spine. He hastily bowed and slowly backed out.

  "Wei'er, my poor child, don't worry, Dad will definitely avenge you, just go in peace!" Dongfang Bátian stood in front of the office desk, muttering to himself, and suddenly slapped his palm on the table. The large office desk immediately turned into powder silently.

  The orders of the Eastern Overlord have caused quite a bit of trouble for the government, as the people sent by the Eastern family to gather intelligence have repeatedly clashed with the Cultivators, forcing government personnel to rush around and mediate, fortunately their conflicts with the Cultivation Alliance are not too severe, and have not had any major impact for the time being.

  "Look, another one who dares to fight with a cultivator. Fortunately, our people arrived quickly, otherwise those two would have torn the whole place apart." Unemotionally, he tossed a set of data onto the desk and plopped down into the leather chair.

  "So how did you handle it?" I asked with a slight smile, picking up the data on the table and flipping through it.

  "Hmph, I tipped off the police to go and catch them, on charges of disturbing public order and street fighting. These people aren't like those from the Cultivation Union who dare to run away, they all have families to care for, if they ran it would be equivalent to being a wanted fugitive, so they all obediently followed the police. Then I pretended not to know about this matter, waiting until the next day before going to bail him out." The ruthless laughter continued, clearly very pleased with himself.

  "What kind of people are they? Those who have the qualifications to fight against the Xiu Zhen Alliance shouldn't be ordinary people, right?" I asked with a rich tone.

  "Still, it's just those people from the Dongfang family. Recently, all the conflicts with the Xiu Zhen Alliance have been with the Dongfang family. You know about the four major families, right?" Wuqing smiled and continued, "Didn't I tell you before? There's our Murong family, my sister's Zi family, and the Wang family, but we've already been wiped out by them. The only one left is the Dongfang family, but I don't know if Teacher Dongfang is from the Dongfang family or not."

  I nodded in understanding.

  "The Dongfang family is the most economically powerful of the four major families, with countless subsidiary groups and companies under their control. However, our Murong family and the Dongfang family are arch-enemies, with a very bad relationship between us. In recent years, we've been busy fighting against the Dongfang family, so normally we're quite law-abiding and rarely start conflicts, but I don't know why recently there have been so many people from the Dongfang family clashing with the Xiu Zhen Alliance. Could it be that something big has happened within their family?" Wu Qing's hand tapped lightly on the table, her brow furrowed in puzzlement.

  "Have you ever asked those cultivators who clashed with the Dongfang family what exactly they were fighting about?" I asked Wuqing after a moment of contemplation.

  "It's useless." The ruthless one shook his head and said, "You just went to the Xiu Zhen Alliance headquarters and showed off a bit. Those cultivators still don't look at you favorably and aren't willing to tell us the truth.

  Besides, even if something big really happened in the Eastern family, they wouldn't tell those cultivators.

  "What about Snow of the East? If we ask her, she should be able to tell us something."

  "Dongfang Xue was called back to the Cultivation Alliance headquarters, I think it's probably about this matter, can only wait for her return to ask." Wuqing shrugged and said helplessly.

  "Wait a bit." I hesitated for a moment, then raised my head and said: "Let's wait until she comes back to understand the situation in detail before discussing countermeasures. For now, let's not intervene, as long as the people from the Dongfang family don't make too much trouble, we'll just sit back and watch for now."

  "I also mean that, let them be arrogant for a few days." He nodded coldly in agreement, picked up the phone and gave some orders to his subordinates, then hung up the phone and smiled: "Let them make trouble, we just happen to relax, I know a good ramen shop, boss, why don't we go try it together?"

  "You treat me and I'll go." I stood up and stretched, "Let's go out for a walk."

  As the starting point and transfer station for long-distance passenger transportation, Chengxi Bus Station has always been bustling with activity. Various luxurious long-distance buses with license plates from all over the country are constantly entering and exiting, adding to the throngs of passengers rushing to board or having just alighted, packing the entire bus station to capacity.

  At the entrance and exit of the bus station, a tall man leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth, staring at the crowd coming and going.

  The man was about 1.9 meters tall, with a sturdy build and a head of red hair that shone brightly in the sunlight, his face full of fierce and unruly energy, clearly not a trifling matter.

  Also because the man's stature was majestic, and the position he stood at was beside the entrance and exit, which happened to block almost half of the already narrow entrance and exit, causing great inconvenience to the back-and-forth travelers. However, looking at his majestic physique, they didn't dare to speak out loud, so they could only squeeze past him sideways, while in their hearts, they had already cursed all the female relatives in his family.

  The man, oblivious to the pointing and staring of those around him, leaned casually against the door, refusing to budge an inch. Only when a tourist with an unusual appearance passed by would he stand up straight and take a closer look before leaning back again.

  The man was feeling extremely bored when a shabbily dressed man brushed past him, causing him to pause in surprise. He muttered to himself, "A possessed person? There's actually a possessed person here!" He lowered his head and thought for a moment before spitting out the cigarette butt in his mouth and chasing after the man.

  The man in tattered clothes in front seemed to be unaware that someone was following him, walking with his head down on the sidewalk, bumping into a big tree by the road one moment and then bumping into passersby the next, causing many people to curse loudly.

  This made the red-haired man who was following him feel extremely surprised, and he had heard from the elder in charge of teaching when he was studying in the clan that the demons were born from the yin energy of heaven and earth, and they were extremely rare in number, but each one possessed extremely powerful strength.

  Those who are possessed by demons, also known as those who have entered demonic possession, also possess great power.

  So when he found out that the shabbily dressed man in front was a demonic cultivator, he immediately abandoned the task entrusted by the elder and followed him, just wanting to have a match with this demonic cultivator.

  Just looking at the man's appearance now, he can't even walk steadily, and no matter how you look at him, he doesn't seem like a person with great power, but rather like a drunkard, which makes him puzzled in his heart.

  As he was thinking, the person in front suddenly turned into a abandoned construction site, which belonged to a bankrupt real estate company. The site was overgrown with weeds and empty of people.

  He saw that this place was just right, so he hurriedly took a few quick steps and blocked the person in front of him.

  "Go...away..." The possessed person raised his head and looked at him, spitting out two unclear words from his mouth.

  He couldn't help but feel a little angry, after all, he was quite famous in the family, and apart from a few elder-level seniors and masters, no one dared to speak to him in this tone.

  He sneered twice, just about to give this arrogant guy a lesson, but his gaze suddenly met those eerie eyes without whites, and for some reason, he felt a chill in his heart, and the words that were about to come out of his mouth couldn't be spoken.

  Just then, another voice came from behind - "Haha, when did Dongfang Hen become a little thief who cuts corners?"

  He was startled and jumped two steps aside, turning around and shouting: "Who's there?"

  He turned around to take a clear look at the speaker, then sneered and said: "I thought it was someone else, but it's actually Murong Yu. You're not hiding in your own little corner of land, what are you doing here?"

  The one who spoke behind him, named Dongfang Yu, was a young man of about twenty-five or six years old, wearing a white casual suit, with black shoulder-length hair tied together with a white rope in a random manner, looking elegant and casual at the same time.

  "You're also a skilled young member of the Dongfang family, how did you learn to do this kind of thievery? Or is it that people from the Dongfang family like to use this as a hobby?" Murong Yu said with a smile on his face, but his tone was surprisingly sharp and acidic.

  "Let your mother's stinky fart!" Dongfang Hen burst out scolding: "You Murong family people are fond of being highway robbers!"

  The Murong and Dongfang families had never gotten along, and as the young masters of their respective families, Murong Yu and Dongfang Xi naturally didn't have a good relationship either. As a result, every time they met, it was always like this, filled with tension.

  "Tsk, tsk, you're always so lacking in elegance, truly a coarse person. I really don't know how the Dongfang family taught you." Seeing Dongfang Hen was about to launch into another tirade, he calmly smiled and said: "Hey, hey, your target has left already!"

  Dongfang Hen heard the words and his heart tightened, he couldn't scold him anymore, and hurriedly turned back to look, indeed seeing that the demonized person had already walked far away. He turned back and glared at Murong Yu with a fierce gaze, cursing: "Next time I'll teach you a lesson." After finishing, he hastily chased after him.

  Murong Yu shrugged and smiled, following along as well.

  "Hey, wait a minute, I want to have a fight with you!" The man was walking at a slow pace, and Dongfang Hen quickly caught up with him, blocking his way and shouting.

  But that person didn't even pay attention to him, just looked up at him for a moment and then walked past him.

  "Haha, Murong Zhuo, you're still so simple-minded and fond of fighting?" Murong Yu rushed over, holding his belly in laughter, saying: "You see someone who's a bit stronger and want to fight with them? Now you've hit a nail on the head! Hahaha..."

  "Shut up!" Dongfang Hen let out a loud shout: "I must have a fight with him." He gazed at the man's back, his eyes filled with a frenzied color, "Only through battle can I become stronger. With such a great target in front of me, why should I let it go? A demonic cultivator isn't something you see every day."

  "Wait!" Murong Yu suddenly jumped up, blocking his way, and asked with a serious face: "What did you just say? A person possessed by the devil? Is he a person possessed by the devil?"

  "That's right." Dongfang looked at him in surprise, "You also know the demon-possessed person? If he wasn't a demon-possessed person, why would I have chased him all the way here?" He pushed Mu Rongyu aside and said urgently, "Get out of my way, I'm going to fight him."

  "Are you crazy?!" Mu Rongyu grabbed his arm with a force that almost made him think his own arm was going to break off, "Do you know what an entranced person is? Don't the Dongfang family teach these things?"

  Dongfang Hen exerted force to fling open his hand, and irritably said: "Our Dongfang family is different from your Muyong family, this second-rate family. We have the most systematic, most perfect teaching method, so I naturally know what kind of person is an evil cultivator, and only such a person is worth me taking action."

  Upon hearing his words, Murong Yu didn't get angry, but instead looked at him with ridicule, "Then I suppose you were either skipping class or sleeping during lectures? Otherwise, how could you be so ignorant about the so-called demonic possession?"

  Dongfang's old face turned red with anger, because when he was taking the physics class, he really did sleep in. He shouted angrily: "What business is it of yours?!"

  Upon seeing his reaction, Murong Yu smiled and said mockingly: "Looks like I was right. Do you know what an 'entered demon' is? That's someone possessed by a demonic creature. They not only inherit the demon's powers and possess strong self-healing abilities but are also ferocious and bloodthirsty. In all major families, they're classified as A+ extremely dangerous demons, second only to sacred beasts. Even if your elder were to encounter an entered demon, they would have to retreat."

  When Mu Rongyu spoke, Dongfang Xi's heart was suddenly filled with uncertainty. The so-called ranked danger refers to the level of danger assessment by several major families towards the demon tribe, with S-level being the most dangerous, mostly some legendary demon ancestors and divine magic beasts of the demon tribe, followed by A-level, while A+ means that this demon is the most dangerous among A-level demons.

  "Is what you're saying true?" Dongfang Hen asked with a tone of uncertainty.

  Murong Yu pouted and said, "Why would I deceive you? Although I don't like you, you're still a member of the four major families. I wouldn't want you to die at the hands of monsters and bring shame to the four families."

  Dongfang's face turned alternately pale and red as he listened, his heart also in turmoil.

  His rationality told him that what Murong Yu said was true, and he wouldn't use such a childish lie to deceive himself. Dongfang Hen also knew that if the person was really a high-level dangerous demon, his own cultivation was not enough to look at, but he couldn't suppress the urge, the urge to fight with the strong.

  Dongfang He is a young master of the Murong family, although he has only been practicing the Dongfang family's ultimate skill "Jiuyang Shen Gong" for over 20 years. With his exceptional talent and having received guidance from two family elders, his abilities have already surpassed those of his peers, almost reaching the level of spiritual quietude.

  Dongfang Xi has a bad temper and likes to fight, whenever he sees someone with similar or stronger abilities than him, he always wants to challenge them. For him, winning or losing doesn't matter, the key is to have a good fight.

  Because of his constant provocation and troublemaking, he had been scolded countless times by the elders in his family. This time, he was even sent to the bus station to keep watch, but when he saw this demon-possessed person in front of him, he abandoned his task and chased after him. I suppose this is fate.

  "I've made up my mind." Dongfang Hen said, his eyes shining with excitement, "I'm going to fight him, a danger like this is just what I need, and isn't it our duty to eliminate the Demon Clan?"

  "You're crazy!" Murong Yu's eyes widened in shock, looking at Dongfang Hen's expression as if he had just seen a trumpet flower suddenly bloom on his head.

  Dongfang Hen ignored him and rushed towards the person in front of him.

  Murong Yu called out to him several times but got no response, he was stunned for a long time, then gritted his teeth and cursed: "Damn it, this madman!" Then he also chased after him.