Chapter 41: Everyone Has Their Weakness

After Jiang Wang left, a secret door suddenly slid open in the wall behind Fang Zehou. Fang Heling was pushed out, bound to a chair in an extremely humiliating posture.

The Moon-Watching Pavilion was originally a business operated by the Fang family, which was why Fang Pengju had chosen this place to plot against Jiang Wang in the first place.

Fang Zehou raised his hand, and only then did Fang Heling's family enforcer release the gag and the ropes.

But Fang Heling did not move; he slumped in the chair like a pile of mud.

It turned out he had been eavesdropping on the conversation in the private room under the supervision of the enforcer all along, yet he could neither speak nor act.

"As you have seen," Fang Zehou said, "he defeated you through sheer strength, without any tricks or cunning. Between you and Jiang Wang, there exists a naked gap that you failed to notice."

Fang Heling did not speak, but the look in his eyes as he gazed at his father carried a hint of pleading—as if saying, *Please, stop talking!*

"As you have seen, your father has lost all face because of you," Fang Zehou continued.

Fang Heling’s eyes drooped, his gaze becoming vacant.

Fang Zehou walked up to him, reached out, and gripped his face, forcing him to meet his eyes.

"As you have seen, our Fang family is being looked down upon because of you!" Fang Zehou declared.

Tears rolled down Fang Heling's face. He reached out to stop them, even attempting to push the tears back in, but his resistance was utterly powerless. He simply could not stop himself from being as weak as a dog.

And Fang Zehou's voice continued: "For your sake, I suppressed your cousin's resources. For your sake, I surrendered many interests just to secure a chance for you to enter the inner gates of the Dao Academy. For your sake, I could endure any grievance. And you?! In front of everyone, you became the laughingstock of Fenglin City, and now you have even abandoned yourself, acting like a piece of trash. You have made me, Fang Zehou, a joke!"

"I didn't want to, I didn't want to..." Fang Heling shook his head, muttering and weeping, before finally screaming, "I didn't want it to be like this!"

"Then prove it to me!" Fang Zehou roared!

The middle-aged man, the man who had already seized control of the Fang family's power, loosened his grip.

He instead cupped Fang Heling's face with both hands and said softly, "Then prove it to me... my son."

...

Leaving the Moon-Watching Pavilion, Jiang Wang's footsteps were not heavy.

To be honest, after entering the inner gates, he was no longer worried about what the Fang family might do to him. The so-called Fang family of Fenglin City might be wealthy and powerful, but compared to the Dao Academy, what were they?

As long as he pursued his cultivation with diligence and vigor, he would eventually hold some official position in the State of Zhuang, perhaps even a high-ranking post in the capital, Xin'an City. He didn't need to care much about the local gentry and prominent families of Fenglin City.

The only thing that truly stirred killing intent in Jiang Wang today was Fang Zehou's mention of Jiang An'an. Even if the Fang family did nothing else, if they merely instructed their clansmen to bully An'an in school, it was something Jiang Wang could not tolerate.

He could endure certain grievances himself, but An'an could not. Their father was dead, and her aunt had remarried; Jiang An'an only had him.

"Are you full yet... Hey! Stop wiping it on my clothes!" Jiang Wang reached out and pulled An'an's small head away.

At that moment, she was being held in his arms, secretly rubbing the grease from her mouth onto his shoulder.

Jiang An'an blinked her large eyes, her mouth now clean, but her face crumpled into a very innocent pout: "You won't even wipe my hands..."

Jiang Wang surrendered instantly, his voice filled with helplessness: "Look at me, is there any part of me that's still clean? Do whatever you want."

He had given up on himself.

An'an's busy little hands wiped and wiped, then she suddenly remembered something: "What did you just say?"

"I asked you... *Sigh!*" Jiang Wang sighed and said directly, "Cai's Mutton Shop?"

"Mm-hmm!" An'an nodded vigorously. She reached out her small hands, cupped her brother's face, and tilted it to the left: "This way!"

Jiang Wang pulled his head back in distaste, "I know the way!"

An'an was already jumping with joy, "Giddy-up~!"

And so, Jiang Wang carried An'an and headed toward the mutton shop.

"Oh, right, the teacher told you to go to the private school tomorrow." This time, An'an truly remembered the matter.

Jiang Wang frowned: "Did your teacher say what it was about?"

Little An'an thought for a moment, buried her head in Jiang Wang's chest, and said muffledly, "I don't know."

Jiang Wang was instantly filled with worry.

...

Meanwhile, in the City Lord's Manor, a conversation was taking place that existed only between Dong A and Wei Quji.

"...If it is truly as I suspect, with this bait, there is no need to worry about them not taking the hook. Once those cultists jump out, we will close the net in one fell swoop and kill them all!" Wei Quji clenched his fist and swung it. "That is the entire plan."

"The plan is rigorous," Dong A nodded, his expression still devoid of emotion. "But I feel it is of little significance."

"Why?"

"Do you think..." Dong A looked at him with a mocking glint in his eyes, "that the group responsible for the Xiaolin Town massacre still needs to appear in Fenglin City?"

"What do you mean?"

"I do not understand this 'White Bone Path' you speak of, nor am I clear on what kind of attraction that thing you worked so hard to obtain possesses. But with an event as major as the Three-City Dao Debate approaching, Fenglin City is under heavy guard. Is that thing truly worth such a massive risk? Fools wouldn't play us for fools and sacrifice Xiaolin Town right under our noses! Besides, you aren't even certain if they belong to the White Bone Path, are you?"

"Then we have no choice but to try, Dong A! It has been so long since the Xiaolin Town incident; I cannot fail to provide an explanation!"

"But how much certainty do you have? Are you going to gamble the safety of all the citizens of Fenglin City on your certainty?"

"Fenglin City belongs to me, and my decision is made!"

Dong A stood up and struck the table: "Fenglin City belongs to the State of Zhuang!"

"Dong A, think about it." Wei Quji's tone softened out of necessity. "In the State of Qin, in the State of Jing, even in the State of Yong next door! Can they do such things? Sacrificing an entire town! Thousands of lives! The souls of countless generations that should have been at rest!

If the Qinghe Water Mansion moves even slightly, the entire military of Qinghe Prefecture must be redeployed. If a Heart-Devouring Demon appears, the entire Criminal Investigation Department of Qinghe Prefecture swarms in. They know us inside out, yet we know nothing of them!

Do you really want to see such things happen again? It is time; we must probe their depths!"

Dong A sat down dejectedly: "Yes, we both bear responsibility. Among the names cursed by those who died unjustly, there should be you, and there should be me."

His voice was weary: "Proceed with your plan. The Academy will cooperate. If those cultists truly appear again, let me see... if there is indeed retribution for good and evil!"

"If those people truly are from the White Bone Path, the Nether Candle should be very important to them. After all, it is the thing... taken from there."

"Regardless, I will cooperate with you fully this time. I hope this Three-City Dao Debate does not become a joke for Qinghe Prefecture."

"They may come, or they may not. But I can only try." After Wei Quji finished muttering, he turned and asked, "Can Zhu Weiwu really not make it back? Nothing happened to him, did it?"

"His battlefield is not here." Dong A turned his head slightly, as if looking through the window toward some distant place beyond the sky. "He is destined to shine within the National Dao Academy; to give him a slot now would be a waste. For the slot in the Three-City Dao Debate, I hope Zhang Linchuan wins it."

"That way, Fenglin City will have two talents for the National Dao Academy. You certainly have a perfect vision."

"I will guide them with all my strength. Consider it my own small, insignificant act of redemption."

In the dark room, someone let out an unknown sigh.

The chair was empty.