Chapter 186 – Action to Break Away from the War

While Sin was attacking the Xu Family, taking advantage of their withdrawal of a large number of combat forces from the Ruins, infiltrate the Ruins to investigate thoroughly.

This mission was undoubtedly extremely important.

Because it might involve an astonishing secret—one that would drive a giant of the underworld like Sin to secretly extend its poisonous hands toward Longyao City, even destroying the Wang Family.

Members of the Six Great Families had all placed great importance on this matter and, just as Xu Wen had said, unanimously issued secret missions.

The reason Xu Wen and the others had suddenly appeared at the venue was precisely for this purpose.

“Right now, the other great families are also selecting their own personnel.”

“Since we still need to deal with Sin’s large-scale assault, we can’t dispatch too many or overly powerful combat forces.”

“So, we’ve already agreed to each select a small number of elites and have these elites lead teams into the Ruins.”

Xu Wen explained everything one by one to Su Ming and the others.

The elites he referred to were likely Upper-Rank Professionals.

More precisely, they were probably Four-Star Professionals.

There was no other way.

As the pinnacle of their respective families and the rare Six-Star Professionals in Longyao City, Xu Wen and the others certainly couldn’t be dispatched and had to remain here to confront Sin’s powerful forces.

Five-Star Professionals, being second only to Six-Star Professionals, also had to stay behind to handle the major battle. Otherwise, facing a behemoth like Sin, the great families truly lacked confidence.

Yet such an important mission couldn’t proceed without an Upper-Rank Professional taking part.

Thus, selecting a small portion of Four-Star Professionals to lead and execute this mission became the most appropriate approach.

The pinnacle figures of the great families had entered the venue precisely for this reason—to take away members of their own families.

Whether it was Li Jing, who was taken away by the elder of the Li Family, or Duan Xiaofei, who was hauled off midway by members of the Duan Family, they were likely all being entrusted with this secret mission by their elders, just like Su Ming and the others.

Xu Wen had originally gone to the venue to conscript manpower but ended up encountering the fierce clash between Su Ming and Li Jing.

Seizing the opportunity, Xu Wen intervened to prevent further destruction of the Xu Family’s buildings while conveniently conscripting two readily available Four-Star Professionals.

Especially with Li Jing, Xu Wen had wanted to take the chance to detain him, usurp his position, and reprimand the recently restless Li Family. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned—Li Jing wasn’t foolish enough to charge forward and give Xu Wen an opportunity to assert dominance. Instead, he fled with the Li Family elder.

“Since you’ve voluntarily followed now, this mission will be entrusted to you to complete.”

Xu Wen turned his gaze to Gao Xu and Xu Yanyan.

The two exchanged a glance.

“Grandfather,” Xu Yanyan cautiously asked, “does Father know about this matter?”

“Him?” Xu Wen looked at Xu Yanyan and replied with some annoyance, “Is there anything about the affairs of this Xu Family that he doesn’t know?”

Xu Yanyan immediately wore an awkward expression.

Her father was indeed extremely attentive to all aspects of the family’s affairs—so much so that he had even dared to plot against Xu Yongfeng’s daughter while he was on a diplomatic mission to Yinze City, nearly causing Xu Qianqian to meet an untimely demise.Xu Wen might not be aware of his good son’s wolfish ambitions, but being called out by him like this, Xu Yanyan did feel somewhat guilty.

However, Xu Yanyan also knew that this time, her father might not be able to interfere much in this matter.

The reason was simple: all the great families were gathering at the Xu Family precisely because Xu Qianqian had become a target of 『Sin』. Xu Yongfeng had been busy handling everything, single-handedly managing the entire operation, leaving no room for his “brother-like” sibling to intervene.

Xu Yanyan had actively followed Xu Wen in an attempt to regain some ground and prevent Xu Yongfeng from monopolizing everything.

Now it seemed her father was also trying to stir things up, keeping a close watch on all developments.

He might already know about the Ruins.

In that case…

“Leave this matter to me.”

Gao Xu finally stepped forward and took on the mission.

Clearly, Gao Xu had also realized that accepting this secret mission himself would help his master regain some advantage.

Perhaps it involved extraordinary secrets that could allow his master to strike at Xu Yongfeng’s faction and seize control of the Xu Family.

After all, a mission that clearly held great secrets should not be allowed to slip away and fall into Xu Yongfeng’s hands.

“Good.”

Xu Wen seemed satisfied with Gao Xu’s initiative and nodded.

He had no factional bias; as long as someone trustworthy from the Xu Family took on the mission, that was enough.

In Xu Wen’s eyes, Gao Xu was undoubtedly trustworthy.

This made Xu Yanyan beam with joy, and she subtly glanced at Xu Qianqian, as if trying to provoke her.

However, Xu Qianqian didn’t care about any of this.

Secrets, family power—none of it interested her.

She was only concerned about why Su Ming had been dragged here by Xu Wen.

Now it seemed Su Ming had been forcibly recruited as well.

Sure enough…

“You’re called Ming Wang, right?”

Xu Wen turned his gaze to Su Ming, narrowing his eyes with a faint, ambiguous smile.

“What do you think? Is your Yun Family interested in these Ruins?”

Xu Wen’s tone clearly hinted at something.

Xu Yanyan seized the opportunity to voice her opinion.

“Grandfather, since this is a secret mission, wouldn’t it be inappropriate to involve outsiders?”

Xu Yanyan might as well have outright suggested kicking Su Ming out of the picture.

In her view, this was a secret mission jointly issued by the Six Great Families, and this Ming Wang from the Yun Family had no place in it.

Ideally, to keep the secret, this mysterious powerhouse from the Yun Family should be kept under control within the Xu Family—that would be even better.

Unfortunately, since Xu Wen had brought Su Ming here, it was clear he had no intention of keeping secrets.

Although it was a secret mission jointly issued by the Six Great Families, if the Yun Family showed signs of cooperating with the Xu Family, Xu Wen naturally wanted to do everything possible to facilitate it.

The connections and business of the 『Cloudflow Commerce』 held significant influence for transcendent families like the Xu Family.

If they could use this opportunity to ally with the Yun Family and bring them into the fold, so much the better.

As for the secrets within the Ruins, since the Six Great Families were already planning to investigate, what harm was there in adding the Yun Family to the mix?

As long as the Yun Family didn’t leak confidential information to 『Sin』 or collude with them, it would be fine.With such wishful thinking, Xu Wen ignored Xu Yanyan’s opinion, causing her to bite her lip.

In contrast, Su Ming’s mind began to stir.

He felt that this so-called secret mission wasn’t entirely out of the question.

Originally, he had intervened to prevent Sin from wreaking havoc in Longyao City, thwarting their schemes to ensure the safety of his parents, family, and friends.

If Sin’s true objective was the so-called Ruins, then Su Ming thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to seize this opportunity to escape the upcoming battle and head to the Ruins to cause some trouble, completely sabotaging Sin’s plans.

Most importantly, if the underground mercenary organization intended to attack the Xu Family, they would, as Xu Wen had said, withdraw a large portion of their forces from the Ruins to join the upcoming battle.

The choice between staying here to participate in a fierce battle among powerhouses or heading to the Ruins, now largely emptied of its forces, to stir up trouble and take advantage of the chaos was clear. The latter would make it easier to fish in troubled waters and ensure his own safety.

If he could uncover some secrets in the Ruins and later share them with Yun Langyue, giving the Yun Family Estate a chance to benefit, that wouldn’t be a bad outcome either.

After all, he had been relying on her influence all along, so repaying some of that favor was only natural.

…This way, he wouldn’t owe that enchantress Yun Langyue too many favors!

He wouldn’t have to worry about being devoured to the bone someday under the pretext of repaying a debt!

This was a good thing!

The problem was…

“My mission is to ensure Young Miss Xu Qianqian’s safety,” Su Ming stated.

That’s right. Aside from seizing the chance to cause trouble, Su Ming hadn’t forgotten that his primary purpose here was to protect Xu Qianqian.

It was Su Ming himself who had made Xu Qianqian the bait, drawing Sin’s attention.

Even if Xu Qianqian was willing to do so, Su Ming didn’t feel justified in abandoning her.

Whether it was stirring up trouble or taking advantage of the chaos, Su Ming’s ultimate goal was to secure a stable life and home for those around him.

And Xu Qianqian—ever since she had stepped forward to block Yi Junchuan’s dying strike for him, he was destined not to ignore her fate.

In other words, Xu Qianqian was also one of the people Su Ming wanted to protect.

Even if he hadn’t fully come to terms with this realization yet.

“I’ll be fine,” Xu Qianqian said, as if she had seen through Su Ming’s calculations.

But Su Ming only shook his head without saying a word.

Nearby, Xu Yanyan’s expression darkened at the scene.

In Xu Wen’s view, the closer Su Ming and Xu Qianqian became, the stronger the ties between the Xu Family and the Yun Family Estate would be. But in Xu Yanyan’s eyes, this was anything but a good thing.

Because the Yun Family Estate was not aligning with the Xu Family—they were aligning with Xu Qianqian and Xu Yongfeng.

Especially Xu Qianqian. This woman was always so fortunate.

Why did all the advantages fall to her? Even some random guy she met at the Academy was willing to make a request to Yun Langyue on her behalf, asking her to send people to protect her?

Xu Yanyan lowered her head, hiding the jealousy that nearly surged from her eyes.

Even Gao Xu frowned imperceptibly but said nothing.Only Xu Wen, far from feeling troubled, instead smiled.

“Don’t worry, I will personally protect this girl.”

Ignoring everyone’s astonishment, Xu Wen suddenly smiled at Su Ming.

“With me here, I believe our young friend need not worry anymore?”

Hearing this, Su Ming raised an eyebrow and fell into deep thought.

“Go ahead.”

Xu Qianqian merely said this one brief sentence.

Thus, after some consideration, Su Ming ultimately nodded.

“Then I’ll make the trip.”

Su Ming thus made his decision.

(End of Chapter)