Volume 1, Chapter 62: The Zhou Family's Fatal Blow

Most of what these people were saying was sheer nonsense. If the situation could be reversed simply by relying on such methods, they wouldn't need to be sitting here struggling to devise a countermeasure.

Zhou Yunyi's expression grew even gloomier as he turned his gaze to his eldest grandson, Zhou Chen.

Knowing that he was expected to voice his opinion, Zhou Chen stood up and said with a solemn expression, "Grandfather, I believe the key to the Li family's current success lies entirely with Ye Tian!"

"It was Ye Tian who provided the Li family with the formula, allowing this minor family to become a cosmetic giant in Nanjiang overnight."

"Now, emboldened by his relationship with the Xu family, he is brazenly seizing our market share and shitting all over the Zhou family's head!"

"The root cause of all this lies with that man surnamed Ye!"

Smack!

Zhou Yunyi slammed his palm down on the table, furious. "That's right! That scoundrel surnamed Ye has brought immense misfortune upon our Zhou family!"

The people present chimed in one after another.

"Indeed! If not for him, how could we have been reduced to such a miserable state?"

"That brat is nothing more than a troublemaker, deliberately coming here to disgust us. I say we need to teach him a lesson."

"How do you propose we deal with him? He has close ties with the Xu family. If we move against him openly, we might incur the Xu family's misunderstanding. After all, to beat a dog, you must look at its master!"

"Well, that is true..."

The members of the Zhou family chattered away, but when it came to the crucial moment, they all hit a dead end and could only look to Zhou Chen.

Although Zhou Chen was merely of the third generation and still young, his status within the Zhou family was extraordinary. He acted essentially as a military strategist, and even Zhou Yunyi regarded him as his right-hand man.

Zhou Yunyi also looked at Zhou Chen and asked, "Xiaochen, share your thoughts. Is there a foolproof method?"

"There is!"

Zhou Chen's gaze gradually turned chilling. He then formed his hand into a blade and gently drew it across his own neck.

"Hiss..."

At this sight, everyone involuntarily drew a sharp breath.

The meaning of this gesture was unmistakable: eliminate Ye Tian!

"This..."

Zhou Yunyi's expression grew a shade heavier. The current Ye Tian was no longer some insignificant nobody who could be crushed at will.

Not only was he the pillar of support for the Li family, but he also enjoyed an exceptional relationship with the Xu family.

Furthermore, relying on his superb medical skills, he maintained a cordial surface relationship with several other major families in Nanjiang.

If they were to truly kill Ye Tian and the news leaked, the Zhou family would undoubtedly become the public enemy of all Nanjiang.

After all, no one would stand idly by and watch a miraculous doctor capable of saving their lives in the future be murdered for no reason!

Sure enough, even the members of the Zhou family felt this proposal was a bit too extreme and voiced their objections one after another.

"Inadvisable, highly inadvisable. Doing this is far too risky; we should discuss it at length."

"Yes, right now this is merely commercial competition. But once we make a move against Ye Tian, the Li family will definitely fight us to the death. Can our Zhou family bear such heavy losses?"

"Xiaochen, your idea is far too radical. Let's think of another way. Your uncles and elders are getting old; we don't want to live through days of bloodshed and slaughter anymore."

They say it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

Having grown accustomed to the good life, the Zhou family members had already sunk into hedonism and were unwilling to resort to force of arms.

Hearing this, Zhou Chen felt a fire burning in his eyes.

At this critical juncture of life and death for the Zhou family, they were still hoping for a bloodless method to eradicate their biggest threat. This filled Zhou Chen with profound indignation.

"Uncles, elders, it's not that I don't want to think of other ways, but we have reached the end of this road. If we do not use thunderous methods to destroy Ye Tian, he will turn around and destroy the Zhou family instead! If you wish to avoid taking any risks, unless everyone is willing to watch the Zhou family sink into a third-rate family!"

Showing no regard for his elders' pride, Zhou Chen unleashed a scathing reprimand upon everyone present.

Silence fell over the inner hall, the atmosphere heavy enough to freeze.

Finally, Zhou Yunyi spoke to make his stance known.

"Xiaochen is right. Our Zhou family has enjoyed peace and comfort for decades; we cannot allow ourselves to degenerate any further. Have you forgotten that the Zhou family's current status was won through genuine blades and spears, paid for with the blood and lives of our clansmen?

Just a puny brat, yet he has you hesitating like this—where is your former majesty and dominance? I have decided. We will use that fellow surnamed Ye to make an example. If anyone is to be blamed, he has only himself to blame for courting death!"

"Understood! We obey the Patriarch's command!"

Since the Patriarch had made his final ruling, the Zhou family members had nothing more to say and could only cup their fists in compliance.

Zhou Yunyi nodded with satisfaction, looked around, and asked, "Very well, since everyone agrees, who is willing to carry out this assassination mission?"

"Well..."

The hearts that had just settled suddenly rose into their throats once again.

Not a single person dared to utter a sound, terrified that if they spoke up, this dangerous task would fall squarely on their own shoulders.

"Alas, completely useless!"

Zhou Yunyi glanced at the crowd and shook his head in disappointment. Even though many among them were mid-stage Body Tempering experts, still no one dared to shoulder this risk.

Fortunately, Zhou Yunyi had not pinned his hopes on them. He said to Zhou Chen, "Send word to your third brother. Tell him to return home and inform him that the Zhou family is in peril."

"Xiaotao?"

Zhou Chen's expression shifted slightly. He had not expected his grandfather to summon his third brother, Zhou Tao, back.

This Zhou Tao was an anomaly among the third-generation descendants.

Possessing a rebellious and eccentric temperament, he had been fond of brawling and fighting since childhood, frequently stirring up trouble to the point where even stray dogs passing by would receive a few slaps from him.

Short of execution, he had committed every other crime under the sun—harassing women, gathering mobs for street fights, he had done it all.

Previously, Li Cheng's imprisonment was directly linked to Zhou Tao.

Several years ago, the two of them were drinking at the same bar. Because Zhou Tao saw that Li Cheng was popular with women and felt displeased, he ordered his underlings to rough Li Cheng up.

When Li Cheng was forced to defend himself, he accidentally pushed one of the underlings, causing the man to strike the corner of a table and die on the spot.

Afterwards, the Zhou family used their influence to frame Li Cheng for excessive self-defense, sending him to prison.

To this day, Li Cheng still harbored deep resentment over this, vowing to kill Zhou Tao someday.

Despite committing numerous offenses, every time Zhou Tao got into trouble, the Zhou family would mobilize the entire clan to shield him.

This was not merely because he was Zhou Yunyi's grandson, but because he possessed extraordinary martial arts talent!

In his early childhood, Zhou Yunyi had discovered that this grandson had exceptional bones and was prime material for martial arts.

Consequently, Zhou Tao was granted exceptionally preferential treatment.

From the time Zhou Tao was learning to walk, Zhou Yunyi spared no expense, sourcing countless precious medicinal herbs for his herbal baths and feeding him specialized medicinal diets, meticulously crafting an ideal growth environment to lay a supreme physical foundation for him.

He had truly invested everything.

Later on, Zhou Yunyi personally tutored him, imparting all the family's martial arts secrets so that by his early twenties, he had already become a level-four Body Tempering expert.

A few years ago, when the renowned martial sect Wuji Sect was recruiting disciples, Zhou Tao, relying on the solid foundation he had built, managed to win the favor of a sect hall master and was accepted into the Wuji Sect as an inner disciple.

Over the past few years, Zhou Tao had dedicated himself to cultivation, and his strength likely already surpassed that of his many idle uncles.

If he were sent to deal with Ye Tian, not only would it be foolproof, but it would also minimize suspicion from outsiders.

After all, Zhou Tao had been away from the city, making it easy to fabricate an alibi...

There was no time to lose. With the candidate chosen, Zhou Chen immediately contacted Zhou Tao.

Learning that the Zhou family was in danger and that their target was someone from the Li family, Zhou Tao agreed readily, stating that he would return to Nanjiang immediately and resolve this pest for the Zhou family once and for all!