"Hear or not, what does it matter? Out of the way now, or are you too good to move for us?"

"Just who do you think you are? Get lost, quick!"

"Yeah! Scram!"

The four of them weren't originally on the same side as this guy, so when he blocked their way, they started cursing him out immediately...

"Dog? You... You're calling me a dog, you... Are you looking for death?"

He was enraged, thoroughly enraged!

Because he had never been cursed out like this before...

Upon hearing his resentful roar, the four of them got angry too!

"Are you insane? Just move out of the way already, I'm not wasting my time on you here!"

"Exactly! Beat it, or we'll cripple you on the spot!"

"Yeah!"

The four knew that the most important thing at the moment was to quickly pass on the information about Hu Xiaobei to the elders back home, so they could prepare properly...

And that's why they really didn't have the patience to waste any more time with him.

"Cripple me? It looks like you four are really asking for death. Let me tell you, as the Guardian of the family's Array, I now suspect the four of you of foul play. Kneel down immediately, or else I'll activate the grand Family Defense Array to annihilate you."

Screaming like this, his face full of resentment as he swiftly raised his hand...

In his hand, he held a device to control the Array...

"Annihilate us? You dare!"

"Do it, I'd like to see you try!"

Seeing him raise the device to control the Array, they flinched, but quickly, their fear vanished.

Because they knew he wouldn't dare activate the Array...

The Bai Family's grand defense Array was only to be activated in the most dire circumstances...

If he dared to activate the Bai Family's Array now, it would alert all the elders back home, and he would die long before they did...

"You..."

As they looked down on him with disdain, his face twitched slightly...

He wanted to activate the Array to suppress these four, but he knew he couldn't do that, for if he truly did, he couldn't bear the consequences...

Yet he had spoken big and failing to act now would subject him to their scorn...

As he was wrestling with this dilemma, a cold voice came through,

"What's all this noise about? Didn't we agree before that everyone in the family must maintain absolute harmony? What is the meaning of this?"

At the sound of this growl, they all turned their heads and saw a middle-aged man with a grim expression quickly approaching!

"Elder."

As soon as they recognized the comer, all five of them respectfully greeted him!

The Xie Family had a strict hierarchy.

The status of an elder was lofty, so at this time, the five dared not show any disrespect, knowing full well that to do so would be akin to seeking death!

Heeding their respectful greeting, the elder gave a slight nod...

Soon, he turned to the four who had just come back and asked coldly, "What's the matter with you four? Weren't you sent to the Shao Family earlier? How come you're back so soon?"

Previously, the Xie Family had sent these four individuals to assist Shao He at the Shao Family!

The reason for doing so was partly to wear down both the Xie and Shao families mutually, and partly to better understand the Shao Family's strength, facilitating the initiation of subsequent plans!

But now, all four of them had returned directly.

This made him suspect something was off, as by his calculation, they had left for too short a time!

Had anyone else asked, these four surely wouldn't have disclosed the reason, but now it was an elder asking, and they didn't have the guts to remain silent...

After taking a deep breath, they recounted the events in detail.

To maintain credibility, they didn't exaggerate but narrated exactly what had happened...

After the elder heard everything, he hadn't even spoken yet when the young man who had just been confronting the four piped up first.

"Do you four really think the Elder and I are idiots?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't spout nonsense!"

"Yeah! Cut the crap!"

Upon hearing his cool retort, all four of them immediately frowned...

Smirking, he continued, "I'm telling the truth! You just said there was an Array Master stronger than us, a young one at that... This is total bullshit!"

After saying this, his face was full of mockery!

He didn't believe a single punctuation mark of those four's account!

In his mind, the Xie Family were the true masters of Arrays.

Even if all the Array Masters from other families were added together, they wouldn't be able to compare to the Xie Family…

Otherwise, five years ago, the Xie Family wouldn't have been able to use their Array to hoodwink heaven and earth, escaping the pursuit of all the other families…

Hearing such mockery, the elder furrowed his brows slightly…

He also felt that the statements from these four people were not quite reliable…

Professional people do professional things!

His own family had been very thorough in their research on Arrays over the years, so it really seemed impossible for anyone to be much stronger than them in this field.

The four of them had already guessed that the Elder Council wouldn't believe them!

Taking a deep breath, they spoke up, "Elder, we can guarantee with our lives that every word we just said is completely true!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

Hearing such a solemn guarantee, he nodded slightly!

He knew these four people were clearly not joking…

"It seems that a top-level Array genius has indeed appeared! This matter must be quickly made known to all the elders in the family, otherwise, we'll really be at a disadvantage in the future!"

Having thought it through, he took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Since you four persist so, I will give you the chance to explain yourselves properly! Now, come with me to the conference room and explain everything to all the elders. If what you're saying is true, we really need to think of a way to deal with this genius; otherwise, he might really spoil our good fortune!"

"Yes!"

Watching the elder leave with the four people, the color drained from the face of the person who had been opposing them earlier!

"Really? I just can't believe it!"

With that, he continued his inspection of the Array area…

…

As the four left with the elder, the Shao Family Head, Shao He, was sitting at his seat with a headache…

Before him knelt a confidant of his.

The confidant glanced at him and said, "Family Head, have you really thought this through? Are we… are we really going to give so much to the Bai Family? If we really do, we'll be completely drained!"

Hearing such a dejected statement, Shao He slightly furrowed his brow!

Truth be told, he didn't want to give in either!

But now he was in a difficult position, with no way out.

Thinking this, he rubbed his nose and soon began to speak with a hint of headache, "If we give everything to the Bai Family, how much will remain for our clan?"

After a moment's thought, the confidant said with heartache, "Family Head, if we give it all away, about seventy to eighty percent of our treasury's stock will be gone!"

"Seventy… eighty percent?"

Although he had expected as much, hearing it still made Shao He feel as though his heart was being ruthlessly twisted.

The items in the treasury had been accumulated over many hard years!

Now if everything was given away, he couldn't bear it, he truly couldn't bear it!

Sensing Shao He's depression, the confidant sighed and said, "Family Head, honestly, if we really give all this away, we will definitely have to tighten our belts. Otherwise… what if we just refuse outright?"

Hearing his suggestion, Shao He gave him a look, "Refuse? Of course, I'd like to refuse! But… didn't you hear what Hu Xiaobei said? If we don't gather and send the goods in three days, he'll come knocking at our door personally."

"Yes, indeed! Family Head, is there any way we could turn things around in three days? Otherwise… perhaps we should just move away!"

"Joke! Not to mention three days, even if we had thirty days, there's no way all of us could move out. And besides, do you think they aren't watching us? If there is no movement on our part, it's fine, but any slight disturbance, and they will be on our doorstep in a minute."

"This… is also true!"

The confidant exhaled heavily!

He knew the Bai Family must have spies outside their own family.

So if there were any movements, they would definitely be noticed!

Hearing his confidant's words, he waved his hand and said, "Alright, you may go now! I need to think this through myself and find a countermeasure. If I really can't think of anything, then we'll just have to face our fate."

"Yes! Family Head!"

With that, he left respectfully!

After his subordinate had gone, Shao He stared blankly at the ceiling above...

He knew it was time to make a decision…

He wasn't a fool, so he was aware that without the Xie Family's help, he couldn't possibly win against the Bai Family, especially with Hu Xiaobei alone being a tough enough adversary.

Thinking of the Xie Family, he became heavily preoccupied…

He knew that if this time they gave everything to the Bai Family, then when the Xie Family attacked, they would be doomed…

"Since I'm going to die either way, I might as well strike first!"

Thinking this, a touch of madness flickered in his eyes…

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