Chapter 145

Following the steward of the Yang Family, three hundred sixty children from the southern bank lined up and entered the back yard.

“The clan kids up front all failed!”

“No way! Over two hundred of them? Not one passed?”

“It’s true! I heard two family soldiers talking about it in the latrine!”

“Looks like the elders weren’t lying about it being one in ten thousand.”

“If even clan kids can’t make it… what chance do we have?”

“Are those three the Masters on the platform?”

“They look younger than our parents!”

“Quiet! Don’t disrespect the Masters!”

The children whispered among themselves after entering the yard.

Yang Lingqing ignored their murmurs and gestured for Yang Feiyun to begin calling names.

A booming voice suddenly cut through the crowd.

“Shameful! Are we southern bank folks born lesser?”

A tall boy stood defiantly. Everyone turned to stare as his friends yanked his sleeve.

“Zhou Qing! Stop! You’ll get us killed!”

“I’ll speak my mind today!”

Zhou Qing shrugged them off. “We southerners get all the dangerous work while clan kids play pretend! The Yang Family sits here reaping rewards!”

Children nearby backed away nervously.

“During Baishi Town’s rebuilding, southerners suffered most injuries! Mining the northern front took our fathers and brothers—only one in ten returned!”

Family soldiers grabbed Zhou Qing, but he kept shouting.

“Easy jobs go to clan kids! The Yangs tax us dry, feasting on our blood!”

“Kill me if you dare! I’ll shout this truth even if my head rolls!”

Yang Feiyun’s face darkened. The southern bank stewards behind him paled.

Zhao Qi landed with a thud, waving the soldiers away.

“What? Here to kill me, Master?” Zhou Qing smirked.

Zhao Qi studied him calmly. “You mention Baishi’s injured laborers but not their families’ compensation. You cite mining deaths but ignore how the Yang Family alone protected both riverbanks from bandits. You complain about clan privileges yet forget how many of their kin died holding back the monster tide.”

Regarding the taxes you mentioned, the clan on the northern bank pays more, while the southern bank only gets lightly taxed – less than thirty percent of what Willow Leaf and Baishi towns pay. How dare you complain about "heavy taxes"?

Don’t forget the severe drought these past two years! While countless starved in the southeast, did the main family ever let you miss a single meal?

"You dismiss all the main family’s efforts with mere words. Who put these ideas in your head?"

Zhao Qi systematically refuted Zhou Qing’s arguments until the younger man flushed red.

"No one taught me! These are my own thoughts!"

"Then do you still feel wronged?"

Zhou Qing’s face twitched as he snarled, "Monster tides? Bandit groups? Just excuses for you so-called Masters to refine mortals like ingredients!"

"Ungrateful brat!" shouted a white-haired southern bank steward, shaking with rage. He pointed at Song Mountain. "484 victims of the monster tide lie buried there! How dare you?!"

"Victims?" Zhou Qing laughed harshly. "Dig them up! Let’s see what’s really buried there!"

The crowd erupted in angry shouts. On the high platform, Wu Tong’s hands clenched as Yang Yuanhong’s eyes turned feral.

"Aunt, let me kill him," he whispered to Yang Lingqing.

"Stay calm. He’s bait." Her hand tightened on the Yang Family’s large array token. This ten-year-old couldn’t be acting alone – someone had infiltrated their ranks.

Yang Yuanhong closed his eyes, steadying himself. "Almost fell for it," he thought.

Zhou Qing kept screaming: "Slave-hearted cowards! You deserve to be beasts of burden!"

"Enough!" Zhao Qi barked. "Confess who manipulated you, and you’ll return unharmed to the southern bank."

"No one controls me!" Zhou Qing spat. "You colluding dog! How much flesh have you and the Yangs devoured?"

His provocation failed. Zhao Qi – ever cautious – simply activated a diamond talisman. "Take him to the dungeons."

As family soldiers approached, Zhou Qing exploded with power. His cultivation surged to the eighth level of Gathering Qi!

"You die first!" His clumsy punch shattered against Zhao Qi’s golden light talisman.

"Impossible! They said I’m six levels stronger!"

Yang Lingqing activated the Protective Family Array, crushing Zhou Qing into the earth. "Keep him alive for questioning."

Four accomplices in the southern bank shed their disguises, ready to slaughter – until Song Mountain trembled.

Four meteoric beams of light struck. When the glare faded, only scorched earth remained where the conspirators stood.