Chapter 38 (1/2)
The physician was rudely woken up and with little preparation, was taken away from his clinic. By the time he arrived at the Xia family residence, he felt as if he was still in dreamland and if it were not for Xia YuanFeng’s piercing gaze, he probably would’ve fallen back asleep while standing. Luckily, his patient’s injury was not so serious so after doing his job and getting paid, he was sent back home.
Lin Xiao, who had his wounds treated, sighed as he stared at the bandages that are covering his wounded body. Then, he looked over at Long YinLian who is still talking to Xia YuanFeng. From this distance, Lin Xiao couldn’t hear what they were talking about but just from their demeanor, he knew it was extremely important.
“Xiao-er, come here,” Long YinLian called out to him. He got off the chair he was sitting on and slowly went over to his master’s side.
“Does Shizun need anything?” Lin Xiao asked.
“Later, I want you to restrain yourself once we found the one behind this incident,” Long YinLian told Lin Xiao.
“Why? Someone tries to harm you! Why do I need to restrain myself?” Lin Xiao asked in disbelief.
“Because things may not be so simple,” the one who replied was Xia YuanFeng, and Lin Xiao can only narrow his eyes at the older male. “I only know one person for sure, but there might be more. Rather than just dealing with this one person, I rather deal with the whole group at the same time.”
“Alright then. I promise I won’t act recklessly. But I ask martial uncle to make the right choice,” Lin Xiao said in a serious tone.
“Of course,” Xia YuanFeng assured him. “How are you feeling? If you are not feeling well, you can just rest while we—”
“I’m alright. Martial uncle doesn’t have to worry. These are all flesh wounds, not even deep,” Lin Xiao replied quickly, cutting the older male’s sentence off. “We should go before those people can find some excuses.”
With that, they all went to the Xia family’s meeting room. The elders were already gathered there, waiting for them. The moment Lin Xiao set foot inside the meeting room, he could feel the eyes on him and in return, Lin Xiao just gave them a haughty look, daring them to try something.
At the moment, all Lin Xiao wants to do is find out who’s responsible, flay off their skin, rend the flesh off their bones and grind their bones to dust. Unfortunately, he had already promised to restrain himself so he can only put the idea to the back of his mind. ‘But if the result of this meeting is unsatisfactory… then they shouldn’t blame me for being ruthless,’ he thought as he glanced at ever elders in the room. Some seem nervous while some were confused as to why they were summoned in the middle of the night.
Xia YuanFeng took his seat while Long YinLian and Lin Xiao stood at his side. “Looks like everyone is here,” Xia YuanFeng speaks up after he scanned through the room. “Good. I’m sure some of you have an idea of what I’m about to say, am I right?”
“Lord Patriarch, we have no idea why you have called us this late-night,” it was Elder Xiang who answered as he feigned innocence. Out of all the elders, he can be considered second only to Xia YuanFeng when it comes to the level of authority one possesses within the Xia family.
“Is that so?” Xia YuanFeng had a look of ridicule as his eyes landed on Elder Xiang. “Then allow me to inform you,” Xia YuanFeng paused as to gauge everyone’s reaction. ‘Sure enough, there are more than just one…’ Xia YuanFeng thought as he reached a conclusion.
“Earlier, our guests were attacked by a group of assassins. They seemed to have known the patrol guard’s schedule’s for tonight. In fact, they also seemed to know that a certain patrol group would be delayed,” Xia YuanFeng said before his eyes rest on Elder Xiang’s figure. “Elder Xiang, can you tell me the reason why you hold back the leader of the patrol group in charge of patrolling in the fourth night’s watch?”
Elder Xiang was still acting calm as he replied, “Lord Patriarch, it is a mere coincidence. The leader of that patrol group is none other than JingRui and his wife is about to give birth soon. I only called him over for a quick chat to tell him not to overwork himself since his child will be born soon.”
Xia JingRui was Elder Xiang’s second son. Although his achievement is lacking compared to his elder brother, Elder Xiang still spoiled him which was why he was able to live an easy life despite only being a leader of a patrol group within the family.
“Is it really a coincidence?” Xia YuanFeng asked and Elder Xiang nods his head. After a while, Xia YuanFeng called for a servant to make an appearance. The servant fidgeted as he entered the meeting room. His head bowed down as he trained his eyes down on the wooden floor below his feet, afraid to raise his head.
“Tell us what you see earlier,” Xia YuanFeng said to the servant.
“My lord… at Zi Shi, this servant went to feed the koi fishes in the garden’s pond as usual. Then, this servant accidentally saw a cloaked figure moving around suspiciously within the household, so this servant decided to follow the cloaked figure. Then, this servant saw that the cloaked figure entered Elder Xiang’s room and…” as the servant continued to speak, Elder Xiang’s expression had turned dark and ugly.