.

“There are a lot of things that you don’t know.” Zhong Shan laughed.

“Then, I want to go too.” Yinglan immediately said.

“No, you haven’t reached Xiantian yet, it would be too dangerous for you.” Zhong Shan shook his head.

“But, granduncle, I have studied the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation well and, in my years in military, I have deployed it quite masterly. It would definitely be beneficial to bring me along. I just might be able to help granduncle by that time.” Yinglan kept shaking Zhong Shan’s arm.

Zhong Shan looked as if he had a change of heart, but he still shook his head and said, “No, it’s still too dangerous.”

“If you’re not taking me with you then I’ll go by myself.” Yinglan said.

Zhong Shan would be even more worried if she went by herself.

“Alright, but, you have to listen to me.” Zhong Shan sighed.

“I knew granduncle likes me the most.” Yinglan held his arm tightly.

“But, we have to handle tonight first.” Zhong Shan said.

“That’s for sure. If they enter the Zhong Estate, we won’t let them leave alive. Granduncle, you wait and see.” Yinglan said with a trace of cruelty.

“En. There will be eight of them. They are all hypocrites and will come with a pretense. Once you’ve seen them clearly, just simply attack. There’s a special guest in the Zhong Estate who will help us in secret. If you see him, don’t attack him.” Zhong Shan told her.

“Who is that?” Yinglan asked in surprise.

“He doesn’t want anyone to know. But, I can be sure that he doesn’t mean any harm to the Zhong Estate.” Zhong Shan earnestly declared.

“Oh, ok.” Yinglan nodded and stopped asking any more questions.

Around midnight, it was pitch black in the Zhong Estate. On top of the five story building, Zhong Shan,Tianling-er, and Zhao Suoxiang quietly sat cross-legged, waiting.

Outside of the Zhong Estate, eight shadows appeared. Four of them looked to be in their thirties and the other four in their forties. And it looked like the younger ones were the leaders.

The eight jumped at the same time onto the roof of the Zhong residence. They moved towards the inner courtyard of the residence. They had planned the attack for a long time and naturally knew where Zhong Shan’s living quarters was.

However, halfway to their destination.

“Hu” “Hu”.............................

The whole Zhong Estate lit up with the sound of torches coming to life, basking the residence in light.

In an instant, the eight people were exposed in the bright light.

They stopped, knowing they had been discovered. At this point, they were exactly in front of the five story building.

Zhong Shan, with Zhao Suoxiang and Tianling-er, walked up to the fence and looked down.

“Four great masters, I didn’t expect you to visit me in the middle of the night. Why didn’t you send word earlier?” Zhong Shan stood on top of the building, amused at the eight people below.

“Zhong Shan.” The head of the Zhao family squinted his eyes to stare at Zhong Shan.

The four younger looking elders also glared at Zhong Shan, the target of this visit, following the head of the Zhao family.

Zhong Shan felt no fear from their gaze, even though they were at the same level as Zhao Suoxiang. He smiled slightly. “Who are these four? They’re so young and I have never seen them before. Don’t tell me that they’re your b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, one for each great family? Congratulations are in order.”

Zhong Shan’s words were so vicious, one could practically see fire shoot from each of their eyes.

Footnotes

^ The names of each gate in the formation.  Jing is repeated twice, but is two different characters: 景 and 驚.