659: Chapter 648: Because of a Woman!
659: Chapter 648: Because of a Woman!
Shangguan Tanglong lost to Ning Fan, not just once, but twice, and the previous loss was a crushing defeat that allowed Ning Fan to snatch away the Holy Medicine, which could have restored the vital energy of the Shangguan Family.
“Don’t rush, take your time to think it through before you speak.”
With a cup of tea in his hand, Teng Zhuhai looked at Shangguan Tanglong calmly, not in a hurry to learn any details from him.
Shangguan Tanglong’s face was ashen, his gaze unsettled.
Teng Zhuhai’s attitude left him uncertain; Shangguan Tanglong couldn’t be sure what he was thinking.
After wrestling with his thoughts for a long while, Shangguan Tanglong clenched his teeth, “Yunteng Family Head, Ning Fan is not a common pond fish; once he meets wind and cloud, he becomes a dragon.
It was our Shangguan Family who underestimated him!”
“Hehe, all this fuss over a woman—it will be quite the joke when word gets out.”
Teng Zhuhai said with a laugh, his tone laced with a hint of mockery.
This matter could be traced back to four years ago, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it all started because of a woman.
In Teng Zhuhai’s view, the current debacle caused by a woman like Huo Qiuran was nothing short of a joke.
While others may find it funny, for them, it was a disgrace.
Especially since the Shangguan Family was a subsidiary of the Yunteng Clan, luckily, this relationship wasn’t known to everyone.
Otherwise, the Yunteng Clan might have been tainted by this affair.
Because of this, Teng Zhuhai restrained from admonishing Shangguan Tanglong, who could still sit in front of him.
Squatting in a horse stance, sitting in mid-air—it had to be said that Shangguan Tanglong’s basic skills were solid.
Had it been someone else facing Teng Zhuhai’s imposing manner, they probably would have fallen to the ground, unable to get up.
“Please instruct me, Yunteng Family Head!”
Shangguan Tanglong saluted with a clenched fist, his voice trembling slightly.
A Martial Artist at the peak of the Object-Manipulating Realm had to lower his head and ask for help, his dignity already gone.
But compared to his personal dignity, what did that matter if it could help the Shangguan Family overcome its difficulties?
In his lifetime, Shangguan Tanglong had always been devoted to the affairs of the family.
Previously, he sat in the position of Family Head, and now after stepping down, he still toiled for the family’s various troubles, contrary to his original intention of seeking the path.
Teng Zhuhai tapped his finger on the table, reflecting for a long time.
The current predicament of the Shangguan Family greatly disappointed him; a great family brought to such a state by a junior was truly laughable when made public.
He had to start reassessing the Shangguan Family.
Although they were his affiliates and the younger brother of the Yunteng Clan, not just anyone could take on that role.
If any riff-raff could be a subsidiary of the Yunteng Clan, would they have to clean up after these people for their whole lives?
The reason for accepting these subsidiaries was for the word “benefit.” Cultivating families like the Shangguan Family was focused on serving the Yunteng Clan.
If they deviated from this core principle, then what was the point of it all?
Therefore, Teng Zhuhai was very disappointed in the Shangguan Family, but at the same time, he was very interested in Ning Fan, who had thrown the Shangguan Family into chaos.
If what Shangguan Tanglong said was true, that Ning Fan had gone from the early to the intermediate stage of the Object-Manipulating Realm in just a few days, and was now able to stand toe-to-toe with, or even overpower, a peak expert like Shangguan Tanglong, then this person’s potential was truly terrifying.
Inconceivable strength, intermediate stage of the Object-Manipulating Realm, capable of shaking an expert like Shangguan Tanglong, who had stepped into the realm many years ago—it sounded as if Shangguan Tanglong was dreaming.
“I will give you a chance, and the Shangguan Family a chance.
I will help you, but as for how to overcome this difficulty, you still have to rely on yourselves.
You need not worry about that young man; I am quite curious about him.”
“Then my younger brother, Shangguan Tenglong, I wonder if the Yunteng family has any means…”
Shangguan Tanglong had no time to think about Ning Fan’s matters now.
If Teng Zhuhai was interested in Ning Fan, he needn’t remind others how to act.
At the moment, he was only concerned about whether there was still hope for Shangguan Tenglong and other experts like the Object-Manipulating Twin Evils.
The Shangguan family urgently needed to reclaim these strengths; otherwise, even if they survived this crisis, their status in Jiangcheng and in the Yunteng family’s territory would suffer a tremendous fall.
“I’ve said it, I will help you.”
Teng Zhuhai gave Shangguan Tanglong a glare, his frowning appearance as if carrying the might of thunder, which immediately silenced Shangguan Tanglong, who dared not say more and obediently shut his mouth.
“But, Yunteng family head!”
“Show the guest out.”
Shangguan Tanglong wanted to add something else, but Teng Zhuhai didn’t give him the opportunity and quite impatiently cut him off instead.
He had already given Shangguan Tanglong a chance.
What more did this man want?
Teng Zhuhai could pat his chest and say he was a man of his word, but he surely wouldn’t do so in front of someone of lower status.
Now he only felt that Shangguan Tanglong was inept at reading the room; he had already said he would help, so why was he still entangling himself in these matters?
Did he really need to swear an oath to heaven to guarantee it?
Teng Zhuhai would not do that because the two of them simply weren’t on the same level.
“Please.”
Teng Zhong and Teng Xi walked in, pushing the door open without any niceties and urging Shangguan Tanglong to leave.
Shangguan Tanglong, not daring to do otherwise, could only turn around and leave, not forgetting to bow to Teng Zhuhai before he did.
After his departure, a woman entered the room, her appearance beautiful, her figure enchanting, yet she lacked a flirtatious air, instead exuding a sense of remaining unstained despite emerging from the mud.
She walked in and asked her father, Teng Zhuhai, “Father, what did the Shangguan family want here?”
Her address was very formal, with Teng Feiyue’s tone more akin to reverence for a superior than the respect characteristic among family members.
Without gesturing for Teng Zhong and Teng Xi to leave, Teng Zhuhai slowly looked towards his daughter, Teng Feiyue, “It’s nothing serious, just mentioned an interesting young man.
I’ve cultivated a Gu for you, you can see it when you go back.
Though I don’t often interfere with your life, remember that you must also cultivate diligently.”
Upon hearing this, Teng Feiyue slightly furrowed her brow and replied somewhat unwillingly, “You know, I don’t like that thing…”
The Yunteng Clan was most notorious for the Evil Gu.
They had been advancing down this path for no less than a hundred years, yet Teng Feiyue disliked it intensely.
She hated Gu Insects, even feeling that they were sinister and base.
How many who dabbled in such things could come to a good end?
As far as Teng Feiyue knew about the path of the Evil Gu, while there were powerful practitioners, many more met with misfortune or ventured down a path of no return, with very few ending well.
Teng Feiyue’s aversion to the Evil Gu was matched by Teng Zhuhai’s dislike of his daughter’s defiance before him.
His face set sternly, he immediately waved his hand, “You may leave.”