As soon as General Kenneth Li finished speaking, Ling Jianghai and the others instantly dropped to their knees. General Li’s aura was overwhelming—he’d been a major general in the anti-Vietnam war, killed countless enemies, was a top hawkish figure, and was himself a formidable Void Realm expert. His reputation in the military was sky-high, and he’d guarded Jinling for years. In the eyes of the locals, he was practically a war god. Whenever he showed up, not just anyone, but even the Four Great Families had to give him face.
So with just a single sentence from him, it was basically a death sentence for Ling Jianghai and his crew. Instantly, all the machine guns and cannons around them were aimed right at their heads.
General Li was decisive to the extreme. At this moment, if he gave the order, these people would be finished in seconds!
“Ling Feng, it’s up to you. You decide how to deal with these people—kill or torture, just say the word. What I, Old Li, hate most are people who insult someone’s parents, especially when they’ve already passed away. That’s just asking for a thousand cuts! And this dog bastard dares to call himself your uncle? He’s not even fit to be a pig or a dog! When Xue Yue told me about this, I was so mad I almost burst a lung!” General Li was practically roaring now.
Next to him, Shen Yuan and the Void Realm experts from six provinces immediately started shouting too.
“People like that deserve to die! Scum like him shouldn’t even exist. And he’s shameless enough to think he deserves to be promoted to ‘noble’? With that kind of character? What a joke.”
“Miss Shen Yuan’s absolutely right. That dog bastard wanted to use today’s ancestral ceremony to punish Brother Ling Feng with clan law. With his pathetic skills, he’s not even worthy to lick Ling Feng’s toes—let alone bully him like he did in the past. He should just drop dead.”
“No need to say more. My suggestion? Skin their whole family alive—right in front of Brother Ling Feng’s parents’ spirit tablets. What do you all think?”
"I agree."
"Me too."
I support this with both hands and feet raised.
......
At this moment, as the experts around started speaking up, everyone who'd ever associated with Ling Jianghai turned pale and fell silent. The heads of the Tan and Xu families shrank into the corner, looking as awkward as humanly possible, cursing Ling Jianghai a thousand times in their hearts. If they'd known it would turn out like this, they'd never have come.
Right now, everyone’s eyes were on Ling Feng. In the end, it was his call.
"Bring all of them over!" Ling Feng gritted his teeth. His parents had suffered countless losses and humiliations at the hands of his uncle Ling Jianghai. Today was finally the day to settle the score.
Any shred of family feeling had vanished long ago, ever since his parents’ car accident.
Ling Feng remembered it clearly. He was only eight years old when his parents died in a car crash and fell into an abyss.
He was so scared he had no idea what to do. All he could think was to beg someone for help, and the first person who came to mind was his uncle Ling Jianghai.
But what broke his heart was that Ling Jianghai, heartless to the core, refused even to see him. He even said that people like Ling Feng’s parents deserved to die, that it was better they were gone.
Ling Feng cried the whole night.
No one pitied him, and no one cared about him—except for his neighbor, Sister Liu Sitian.
So in his heart, Liu Sitian was the only one he trusted.
Seeing Ling Feng’s stunned expression, clearly remembering those humiliating days, Liu Sitian immediately walked over and took his hand.
"Don’t worry, Sitian-jie. I’ve got this. I know exactly what to do today!" Ling Feng nodded at Liu Sitian.
"Mm." Liu Sitian replied softly. She was a kind-hearted girl, but Ling Feng knew some things would never be forgotten, no matter how much time passed—and some grudges could never be resolved.
"Ling Feng, I was wrong. Your uncle was totally wrong. I lost my mind—I never should’ve treated you or your parents like that." Ling Jianghai kowtowed repeatedly to Ling Feng, then hurriedly added, "Right now, I’ll move your parents’ spirit tablets to the top of our clan’s ancestral hall, and our whole family will kneel for three days and nights to atone!"
Ling Feng sneered, "Too late! You think any of this means anything now? Didn’t you want to throw my parents’ tablets in the toilet?"
"No, no, your uncle was just confused! I’ll never dare again—my head’s full of shit!" Ling Jianghai’s face went ghostly pale as he kowtowed again and again, splitting his head open.
Whatever you do now, it’s too late—way too late! Family ties are thinner than paper. You keep calling yourself my uncle, but when I begged you for help, did you treat me like family? Now I want to use your head to honor my parents! Ling Feng said, grabbing the toilet off the ground and smashing it toward Ling Jianghai.
With a loud bang, the filthy contents splashed all over Ling Jianghai. He hadn’t kicked it away earlier on purpose—he wanted Ling Jianghai to taste the stench for himself.
Nice! Drench him good—this old bastard deserves nothing but shit and piss!
Damn it, I still think it’s not harsh enough—he should have to swallow the whole toilet!
Exactly! What kind of bullshit ‘new nobles’—none of these bastards should walk out of the Confucius Temple today. In front of Master Kong, chop off all their heads!
The brothers around them shouted excitedly, and in their eyes you could see just one thing—serves him right.
"I know I was wrong! I really do! Please, for the sake of our blood ties—your dad and I are brothers, and for your grandparents’ sake, spare me this once! When your parents died, I was sad too—I even looked for them in private. He was my brother, after all, and I did care. So I beg you, let me go—just treat me like a stray dog, kick me out of the Ling family, anything, just let me live! I’ll even change my name if I have to!" Ling Jianghai would say anything to save his own skin now.
"Pathetic!" Ling Feng spat at him. Trash like this isn’t even worth killing. The best punishment is to kick him out of the Ling family and Goldridge, make him spend the rest of his life repenting at the site of his parents’ car crash.
But in the end, there was still a trace of family left. No matter how much Ling Feng hated Ling Jianghai, he couldn’t bring himself to be truly cruel.
Just as Ling Feng was about to announce how he’d deal with Ling Jianghai, a group of people suddenly barged into the Confucius Temple from outside. They looked wild and arrogant, afraid of nothing, and the young man in the lead demanded Ling Jianghai from Ling Feng, ignoring all the local bosses and Void Realm experts.
Ling Jianghai is ours—the Shen Family wants him. No one is allowed to execute him!
The Shen Family?' Ling Feng froze, anger flaring again. Whether he killed Ling Jianghai or spared him, that was Ling family business. Besides, today was the Ling clan’s ancestral ceremony—no outsiders had any right to interfere. But from their tone, these newcomers clearly had some clout.
Master, the one who just arrived is Shen Lian, young master of the Shen Family—one of Jinling’s Four Great Families. He’s sly and extremely arrogant, but the Shen Family is seriously powerful. I didn’t expect Ling Jianghai to be connected with them. Now the Shen, Fang, and Qin families have formed an alliance—they’re the strongest in Jinling by far. We should be careful!' Yan Xiaobai quickly explained.
Everyone in Jinling knew about this alliance. The moment the Shen Family showed up, the Yan Family—also one of the Four Great Families—seemed to shrink in comparison. And not just them—even Commander Li Jianguo of the Jinling Military District seemed a bit wary. After all, the alliance of these three families was a huge deal, and even the military had to weigh their options.
Oh, Uncle Li, you’re here too? Nothing going on at the military district today, so you’re just out for a stroll? Your nephew greets you! Ling Jianghai is wanted by my father—can you do us a favor?' Seeing Li Jianguo, Shen Lian was at least a little polite.
Your father sure has unique tastes—he even likes this old fool?' Li Jianguo gritted his teeth, but clearly wasn’t going to make trouble for Shen Lian.
No way my dad likes this old pervert! It’s just that Ling Jianghai got his promotion to noble through our Shen Family. Now that things are about to get deadly, we can’t just stand by. Besides, if anyone can just show up and break Jinling’s rules, push people around, and bring a whole crowd without even giving us a heads-up, it’s clear they don’t respect the Shen Family at all!' Shen Lian said, aiming his words straight at Ling Feng.