Chapter 124: Chapter 123: Going All Out? With What? (Please Subscribe)
Zhao Family Castle, inside a room, Wei Tiangong and a few others sat around a table, while a woman was speaking softly to the side.
As they listened, anger appeared on their faces.
"Those bastards!"
Wei Tianyuan’s eyes blazed with fury as he said, "We work so hard for them, and they dare to lay a hand on our sister-in-law? Are they even human? I’ll go fight them!"
"Don’t be impulsive!"
"Tianyuan, calm down!"
"Tianyuan!"
The others were startled and quickly pulled him back.
What a joke, with just a few of them, how could they fight Zhao Da?
The latter was a late-stage martial artist of the Muscle Refining Stage, who could easily draw a bow weighing hundreds of pounds.
As for them, the strongest among them was only at the First Layer of Body Tempering, and they had been starving for days, not much stronger than ordinary people.
"Tianyuan, don’t be impulsive."
Wei Tiangong shook his head, his brows knitted together.
He could feel that things were increasingly getting out of his control.
"Brother, do you think we have any other options besides this?"
Wei Tianyuan’s eyes were red as he said, "We thought that by coming here, we could earn more through our skills. But who knew that every time we hunt, we have to hand over our prey to Zhao San for distribution, and we get the least because they say we’re new. Fine, I accepted that. But then Zhao San, without a word, kicked us out of the hunting team to repair the walls.
We endured that too, but now they are targeting our sister-in-law and even say they don’t fear us knowing. It’s too much of an insult!"
The other two or three people, hearing this, also chimed in.
Feeling deep remorse.
If they had known, they wouldn’t have come in the first place.
"Tiangong," one of them said, suddenly realizing something, "I think we definitely can’t win a desperate fight against this group. Staying here is a dead end. We might as well, run?"
"Run?"
Wei Tiangong looked at him, "Where to run?"
"Chen Family Stronghold."
The man said without hesitation, "Don’t you remember what Guodong said last time at the Song Family Castle? If we go back, he will certainly welcome us."
Hearing this, even Wei Tianyuan was tempted.
"Yeah, brother, we are not like Zhao Da and his group. We’d better go back, even if life is a bit tougher."
"Going back is easier said than done."
Wei Tiangong sighed, looking at his wife beside him, "You know it’s hard to leave Zhao Family Castle once you’re in. Even if we can escape, what about our families? Taking them with us is not easy."
Their heads drooped at once.
Yeah, they were not loners; they had elders and children to care for.
Escaping under the noses of Zhao Family Castle’s people seemed like an impossible dream.
"There’s one more thing you haven’t considered."
Wei Tiangong said bitterly, "Even if we do escape back to Chen Family Stronghold, what do you think Zhao San will do when he finds out? Do you think he will just let it go as if nothing happened?"
"This..."
Wei Tianyuan was at a loss for words.
He seemed to understand his brother’s implication.
Zhao San, given his personality, might go to Chen Family Stronghold demanding people.
And they could bring considerable trouble to Chen Family Stronghold.
Wei Tiangong sighed,
He actually had another thought he didn’t say, which was even if they didn’t go to Chen Family Stronghold, Zhao San would probably still go after Chen Guodong and the others once they found out.
The last time he left Chen Family Stronghold with people, he felt very guilty.
How could he knowingly bring trouble to Chen Family Stronghold by escaping again?
The atmosphere in the room became suffocatingly quiet.
"So, we can only stay here?" a man said in despair.
"You’re too optimistic. Right now, we can’t even get out." Someone beside him said with a bitter smile.
Wei Tianyuan clenched his fists.
Then, he opened them weakly.
"Brother, are we really not going to do anything?"
Wei Tiangong was silent.
He really couldn’t come up with a solution.
He didn’t fear death or fighting Zhao Da, but what about his wife and daughter?
Could this be the heavens’ punishment for abandoning Chen Family Stronghold?
At this moment, footsteps and worried conversations were heard outside.
"What’s happening? It’s so late, why haven’t they come back yet?"
"Yeah, usually they’d be back in the afternoon, but now it’s almost dark."
"Could something have happened?"
"Don’t speak nonsense. With Third Brother leading, how could anything happen? They’ll be back soon."
The voices faded away.
The people in the room exchanged glances.
"Zhao San and the others haven’t come back?"
Wei Tianyuan was stunned.
"It seems so? I wondered why it was so quiet in the stronghold when we returned."
"It shouldn’t be. They’re usually back by now. Did something really happen?"
The group was shocked.
After all, Zhao San had taken twenty or thirty people with him. If something happened, it wouldn’t be a small matter.
"Let’s go check it out."
Wei Tiangong stood up.
He didn’t know what to do next, but maybe checking the situation might give him some ideas.
They went outside and mingled with the crowd.
It was quickly confirmed that Zhao San and his group hadn’t returned since they left in the morning.
By now, the sky was completely dark, and distant beast roars could be heard.
At this moment, rapid footsteps approached from behind, and they saw a tall, burly man nearly two meters tall, leading a group towards them.
"It’s Brother Zhao Da!"
"Brother Zhao Da is here!"
The crowd immediately felt a sense of relief and began to chatter, until a loud shout silenced them.
"Shut up, all of you!"
The place fell silent instantly, and everyone lowered their heads, feeling their minds buzzing.
Wei Tiangong and the others quickly lowered their heads as well, not wanting to draw attention at this moment.
Zhao Da scanned the crowd with a grim face before looking outside and asking:
"Has Third Brother not returned yet?"
"No."
The man beside him shook his head, his face full of worry, "Not just him, none of the others have returned either."
These two looked somewhat similar to Zhao San, but they were much more muscular and had a different air about them.
Hearing this, Zhao Da’s face turned even darker.
Could something really have happened?
But Third Brother had gone hunting hundreds of times with a large group of people.
Even if something happened, someone should have been able to come back and report.
How could no one have returned?
"Brother, maybe Third Brother and the others went too far and couldn’t make it back, so they found a temporary shelter?" someone suggested, "With their strength, they could handle a mid-level Fierce Beast."
"Yes, maybe they encountered a mid-level Fierce Beast and got delayed because someone was injured. They should be back tomorrow."
"I think so too."
The sycophantic expressions on the faces of the few speaking, including Du Feng who had threatened Huang Sulan earlier, were evident.
The faces of Zhao Da and Zhao Er brightened a bit.
They naturally hoped this was the case.
Being cautious while hunting, and avoiding provoking Fierce Beasts that should be avoided, generally meant they wouldn’t run into trouble.
But you never know.
If they encountered several mid-level Fierce Beasts or even a high-level one, it would be very bad.
"Go, call everyone. We need to go out and search."
In the next moment, Zhao Da said something that left everyone stunned.
"What, didn’t you hear me?"
Zhao Da’s gaze swept across everyone as he said coldly, "I said call everyone and go out to search."
Instinctively, everyone, including Wei Tiangong and his group, felt a chill run up their spines.
What a joke.
It was night, with so many Fierce Beasts out there. Their night vision was poor, barely able to see twenty-three meters ahead.
Those Fierce Beasts had excellent night vision and an even more sensitive sense of smell; they could detect you from hundreds of meters away.
Going out would be suicide.
Even the seven or eight martial artists who had followed were visibly pale.
Zhao Da was a late-stage martial artist of the Muscle Refining Stage; they were not.
The strongest among them was only at Body Tempering Second Layer; going out would be sending themselves to die.
"Brother."
Zhao Er said softly, "It’s already this late, with the vastness outside, where would they search? It’s better to wait until tomorrow. If Third Brother and the others haven’t returned by then, send people out to search."
He wasn’t considering the safety of the people but that it wouldn’t achieve anything.
These people might not even make it five hundred meters before being attacked by Fierce Beasts.
No one knew what dangers lurked in the dark.
Even he wouldn’t dare to go out.
Everyone looked anxiously at Zhao Da.
The few martial artists who had spoken earlier didn’t dare to say a word, fearing Zhao Da’s displeasure.
Zhao Da looked around, and those he glanced at trembled with fear.
"A bunch of useless people, what’s the point of keeping you around?"
He scolded angrily.
Heads lowered, and eyes flashed with resentment.
After all, those waiting here all had relatives in the hunting team.
But despite the many prey brought back from the hunts, they received very little, barely enough for two or three days.
As a result, their family members had to keep going out hunting.
Ordinary people had it even worse.
Starving every day and having to build houses and walls, a slight neglect resulted in beatings from those few behind Zhao Da.
Earlier,
Zhao Da had even demanded they go out to die,
yet he was so powerful, why didn’t he go himself?
"Call everyone else," Zhao Da ordered, "Tonight, if Third Brother doesn’t come back, no one is allowed to rest, everyone must wait here!"
"Yes!"
The people behind him sighed in relief and quickly ran off.
Zhao Da’s eyes grew colder as he gazed at the houses behind.
He and his brothers bore such risks to provide for these people.
And these people hid in their houses, not coming out.
It seemed he had been too lenient. If nothing happened to his Third Brother, fine; but if something did, he would surely make them pay!