Huo Tianxiao was not in a good mood right now.
Primarily, it was due to the recent upheaval on the ridge.
The once fair and ambitious Great Village Chief, now, for his selfish desires, believed in others, causing early brothers to become disheartened and unable to lift their heads against the newcomers.
How could this not anger him?
And then there was Zhan Feng’s attitude today.
Once upon a time, Zhan Feng’s name was so esteemed, everyone on the mountain would respectfully call him Second Village Chief.
But now, reduced to patrolling the mountain and protecting the village, he still refused to rebel, leaving Huo Tianxiao deeply disappointed.
"Damn it, a bunch of useless fools."
Huo Tianxiao spat angrily, deciding to secretly rally some men upon his return to overthrow those tyrannical bastards.
Just as he was stewing over his thoughts, a shadow silently appeared behind him.
Huo Tianxiao was completely unaware, striding forward.
But as soon as he turned a corner, the figure swiftly advanced with lightning speed, strangling his neck and dragging him into the nearby bushes.
Caught off guard, Huo Tianxiao didn’t even have time to shout before Zhao Ya forcibly dragged him into the bushes.
"Don’t move if you don’t want to die."
Zhao Ya tightly strangled Huo Tianxiao’s neck, warning him in a low voice.
Huo Tianxiao was already rolling his eyes, his vision darkening, but survival instinct led him to continuously tap Zhao Ya’s elbow, signaling his surrender.
Zhao Ya then slightly loosened his grip.
Air rushed into his throat and filled his shriveled lungs, making Huo Tianxiao feel as if he had come back from the dead, drenched in sweat.
At this moment, by the distant light, he finally saw clearly the person who caught him, and immediately, a look of terror appeared on his face.
"You..."
"It’s me!" Zhao Ya smiled slightly, "Fifth Village Chief, long time no see."
Huo Tianxiao couldn’t stop trembling.
He certainly recognized Zhao Ya.
And precisely because of that, he was terrified.
All this was because the impression Zhao Ya left on him was too profound.
Back then, Zhao Ya, with just a Third Realm strength, almost killed the Fourth Realm Zhan Feng.
Although Zhan Feng escaped with his profound skills, he lost an eye and was poisoned, unable to exert strength anymore, becoming like a cripple.
By comparison, the Sixth Village Chief Ma Ling, who also died at Zhao Ya’s hands, was not even worth mentioning.
He was so formidable then, and now he dared to return alone, clearly with greater backing.
Especially since he captured him without him noticing, had it not been for mercy, he would have been a corpse by now.
This showed his formidable strength.
These thoughts flashed through Huo Tianxiao’s mind, and then he humbly said.
"So it’s Young Hero Zhao. Indeed, long time no see."
"Stop the nonsense. What’s happening at Cyan Bamboo Ridge, and who exactly are those newcomers? Speak the truth, if there’s any falsehood, bear the consequences."
Time was pressing, and Zhao Ya had no interest in Huo Tianxiao’s pretensions, he directly interrogated him.
"Alright, alright, I’ll tell you!"
Huo Tianxiao dared not hide anything because he didn’t know what Zhao Ya already knew, so he spilled everything.
Through his account, Zhao Ya finally learned what had happened at Cyan Bamboo Ridge.
After the joint attack on the Song Family by the Hong and Yang families and Cyan Bamboo Ridge ended, the three parties entered a brief period of calm.
But soon, as all the Meat Fields obtained from the Song Family failed, and several unfortunates were countered by the Meat Field, ending up like Zhan Feng, the conflicts between the three parties escalated sharply, each thinking the other was behind it.
Especially because the Hong and Yang families suffered the greatest losses, causing rifts with Cyan Bamboo Ridge.
Yet if it had been just this, it would have been a mere situation of mutual restraint and use.
However, with the involvement of a new group at Cyan Bamboo Ridge, things changed again.
This new group claimed to be from the Refining World Sect, possessing strange and unspeakable poisoning methods.
Upon arrival, they first offered Cyan Bamboo Ridge’s Great Village Chief Fu Tingyuan an iron mine, thus gaining Fu Tingyuan’s trust.
Subsequently, to exploit this iron mine, Cyan Bamboo Ridge began capturing large numbers of people, with the citizens of Wuxiang City being the first victims.
And this became the fuse that ignited the conflict between the parties.
Because even the foolish Hong and Yang families knew the populace was fundamental wealth, they strongly protested against Cyan Bamboo Ridge’s actions.
Unexpectedly, the Refining World Sect people immediately executed a bold move.
They openly spread newly developed poison in Wuxiang City, intending to warn the Hong and Yang families per Fu Tingyuan’s intention.
But who knew, the poison created by the Refining World Sect was overly potent, killing half the city.
This stirred huge trouble.
As a result, the Hong and Yang families fought Cyan Bamboo Ridge hard, but even combined, they were no match for Cyan Bamboo Ridge with the Refining World Sect’s addition.
After a great battle, the two families were defeated, and all family members were captured and taken to Cyan Bamboo Ridge.
Also captured were all the able-bodied men from Wuxiang City.
They were thrown into the mines, becoming mining slaves.
This was the reason Zhao Ya found Wuxiang City so desolate.