"What happened?"
Faye Zheng's expression changed on the ground. Seeing Blake Zheng and Frank Chang so agitated, she instinctively felt something was wrong.
Just as that muffled sound rang out, Faye Zheng clearly saw the walls of the courtyard where Old Master Zheng and Old Madam Mary Zheng lived crack open, spiderwebbing with fissures.
Those cracks, densely woven like spiderwebs, looked truly alarming.
"Grandpa!"
Faye Zheng scrambled up from the ground, ignoring everything else. Her mind was still foggy, but worry made her rush straight into the courtyard.
Normally, with Ben Moran, a first-grade Vajra guardian, protecting Old Master Zheng and Old Madam Mary Zheng, nothing bad should happen.
But right now, Faye Zheng had an indescribable sense of worry, especially seeing those cracks on the courtyard walls—it was truly alarming.
Faye Zheng dashed through the main gate of the courtyard, running inside.
Ahead, the door to Old Master Zheng's room had already been pushed open. Not far away were Blake Zheng and Frank Chang, who had entered first.
"Grandpa!"
Faye Zheng rushed forward, entered the room, and suddenly froze.
Inside, the room was split into two sides. On one side were Old Master Zheng, Old Madam Mary Zheng, and Ben Moran, sitting cross-legged.
On the other side stood a man with golden hair and blue eyes, pale skin. His eyes glowed red, his skin bulged slightly, clothes fluttering, radiating an unsettling aura.
"What are you doing, Roderic Locke!"
Seeing this scene, Faye Zheng's face changed drastically. She turned her head, looking at the foreigner.
Roderic Locke was the man who returned with Liana Zheng.
Before this, Faye Zheng just disliked the aura Roderic Locke gave off—always feeling it was weird and dangerous. That's why she moved to the school dorm.
This time, she came home because she couldn't stop worrying about her family.
"Pretty girl, you came back at just the right time."
Roderic Locke turned his head, saw Faye Zheng standing there, and curled his lips slightly. He placed one hand in front of him and bowed a little, looking very gentlemanly, but his words were cold: "I thought your Huaxia was a land of manners, that people acted with courtesy and restraint."
"This time, coming to your Zheng family, I'm supposed to be an honored guest. Yet as an honored guest, I asked for just a little something, and you refused. That really disappoints me."
There was a note of sighing and regret in Roderic Locke's voice.
"A little something?"
Faye Zheng was stunned at his words.
"Faye, run!"
On the other side, Old Master Zheng and Old Madam Mary Zheng, faces pale with anxiety, shouted at Faye: "This man... this man is here to suck blood!"
Suck blood!
Hearing that, Faye Zheng's mind buzzed.
She had just mentioned to Evan Lin that Roderic Locke felt like a monster, and now she was hearing this.
Is he really a vampire?
Faye Zheng looked at Roderic Locke. She saw sharp fangs at the corner of his mouth. When he noticed her gaze, he didn't bother to deny it, and said flatly, "For lowly beings like you, being acknowledged by me is your honor."
"You really think that, as a noble of the Blood Clan, I care about just any blood?"
"What surprised me is that you two elders have such a rich energy in your bodies."
As he said this, Roderic Locke's gaze turned greedy as he looked at Old Master Zheng and Old Madam Mary Zheng.
This time, when the Zheng family of Oceanport rose again, Roderic Locke followed Liana Zheng to Oceanport, planning to squeeze a fortune out of them.
But unexpectedly, when he met Old Master Zheng and Old Madam Mary Zheng, he keenly sensed a surge of powerful energy.
That energy was so alluring that, by rights, it should only appear in a powerful young cultivator. Yet those two elders, aside from looking much healthier than normal, seemed like ordinary old people in every other way.
Until now, Roderic Locke hadn't acted—he was waiting, testing, and using the pretext of healing Blake Zheng to win over Blake and Frank Chang, probing for information. Only after confirming that Ben Moran was the Zheng family's sole true expert did Roderic make his move.
"Get out of here, now!"
Ben Moran spoke in a low, weak voice. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, the qi barrier in front of him badly damaged, and his body was in an extremely weakened state.
The fighting style of the man before him was truly bizarre—completely different from the qi Ben Moran was used to. It didn’t even seem like a martial technique or spell.
Ben Moran suffered a heavy loss and had to defend with all his strength. But alone, he still had to protect Old Master Zheng and Old Madam Mary Zheng, which was exhausting. Roderic Locke seized the opportunity and struck, severely injuring him.
Now Ben Moran was spent, but still trying his best to hold on.
"Leave?"
Roderic Locke chuckled. "Coming is easy, leaving is much harder."
As soon as he finished, Blake Zheng understood, and strode forward to grab Faye Zheng's wrist tightly.
"Haha, you didn't run earlier, now you want to leave? Too late!"
Blake Zheng bared his fangs—much smaller than Roderic Locke's, but his eyes glowed with a chilling red light.
He looked just like a wild beast.
"Blake! Are you crazy? Have you forgotten how the Zheng family treated you?" Old Master Zheng's face changed instantly, his tone urgent.
Seeing Blake refuse to let go, Old Master Zheng turned to Frank Chang: "Frank! Aren't you going to say something to him?"
"Say something?"
Frank Chang grinned, his wrinkled face looking at Old Master Zheng. His voice was hoarse: "Sir, what do you want me to say?"
"Yes, that's right! The whole Chang family used to live under the Zheng family's roof. You gave me food, clothes, shelter, and even gave my son the Zheng surname!"
"I, Frank, remembered all those things in my heart."
As he spoke, Frank Chang stepped forward, looking agitated: "But what about after that?"
"Blake was exceptionally talented, did a lot for your Zheng family, but you stood by and watched as he was crippled by Autumn Zheng's wild child!"
"You even nearly starved the Chang family for that guy Evan Lin, almost kicked us out of the Zheng family!"
"Sir, do you even care about your reputation? If the Chang family leaves the Zheng family, what are we supposed to eat, huh?"
"Are you really that heartless?"
Frank Chang grew angrier as he spoke, his voice rising, fists clenched and waving at the air in frustration.
"Frank! If it weren't for the Zheng family, the Chang family would've been gone long ago. How can you talk like this?"
Old Madam Mary Zheng listened, face pale with anger, her whole body trembling.
"Madam, you say that, but without the Chang family, do you think the Zheng family would have such beautiful gardens?"
Frank Chang sneered, "Now Blake has made something of himself. He's with Lord Roderic Locke, way stronger than your Zheng family!"
"You two old geezers should just surrender! After all my years slaving for the Zhengs, it's only fair you sacrifice a little for me. Consider it helping my son out!"
Frank Chang kept ranting, his face twisted and fierce.
"Courting death!"
Ben Moran shouted, grabbed a strand of qi, and blasted it at Frank Chang.
Frank Chang's face changed, legs going weak. His already hunched back seemed even more bent.
He curled up into a ball, shivering in fear.
Just as the qi was about to hit, Roderic Locke suddenly moved.
He flashed in front of Frank Chang, brushed his hand, and a red glow appeared in his palm, dispersing the incoming qi completely.
Ben Moran's face changed slightly, gritting his teeth, feeling powerless.
"You're almost dead. What's the point of resisting?"
Roderic Locke grabbed Faye Zheng, looked at the three Zheng elders, and said coldly: "You have ten seconds to decide."
"Either surrender now, offer your lives to me, or I'll drain her blood first."
"By the way, I'm also curious about the source of the strong energy in your bodies. Where did it come from, and how did you get it?"
"If you tell me, maybe I'll consider leaving one member of the Zheng family alive."
As Roderic Locke spoke, the red light in his eyes intensified.
"Let her go. Take me instead!" Old Master Zheng stepped forward.
"I've lived long enough anyway. Let me go!" Old Madam Mary Zheng grabbed Old Master Zheng's hand, trying to pull him back and step forward herself.
"All this fuss—you're all going to die anyway. It's just a matter of sooner or later."
Blake Zheng grew impatient: "Oh, right, almost forgot."
"After you're dead, I'll make sure to enjoy Faye Zheng and Autumn Zheng!"
"I've been craving them for ages. This time, everything in the Zheng family will be mine!"
Blake Zheng laughed wildly, his expression especially arrogant.
Just as he was laughing, he suddenly felt a burning pain on his face.
Smack!