Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Zhaoyang City must not be lost!

Not just to save his own life, from the moment when Hou Yuxiao personally ended Ren Feng, who had been the County Lord for twenty years, he had already regarded this city as his own private property!

This was not a delusional thought; after Ren Feng's death, even if the county appointed another County Lord, the current Hou Family was confident and strong enough to control him.

And the new Magistrate, Cheng Yue, had taken office less than a day before Zhaoyang had faced this great disaster. Although the primary responsibility could not really be attributed to him, things had already happened, and those holding the positions of County Lord and Magistrate could hardly be absolved of blame.

With Ren Feng dead, leaving only Cheng Yue, it would be difficult for him not to be held responsible.

Hou Yuxiao had an eye on Zhaoyang not just for a day or two; for the present Hou Family, the advantages of this city were too great!

Firstly, it was weak enough that the counties did not even bother to look this way, as could be seen from the fact that no Magistrate had been appointed for many years. A place weak enough was often easily forgotten or ignored, and Hou Yuxiao, who knew well that silence could lead to prosperity, did not want his family to attract too much attention. Zhaoyang was the perfect territory.

Secondly, the geographical position of Zhaoyang County was very special; it bordered Xuzhou and was only a hundred miles away from The Righteous Path. To this day, Hou Yuxiao had almost cast aside any notion of good and evil; Zhaoyang County was too ideal for him to switch sides anytime.

Additionally, being close to The Righteous Path not only allowed him to be informed of the movements on both sides but also expanded his channels for information.

The third point, and the most important reason.

The Hou Family had been rooted in Zhaoyang City since his father, Hou Tong, and had treated this city as private property to be managed. In the years before Hou Tong, he had helped Ren Feng in various ways, such as attracting refugees, developing streets, and mining for iron, aimed to aid Ren Feng but with a deeper purpose for his family's development.

Twenty years ago, when Hou Tong came to Zhaoyang County with his five children, the family consisted only of the father and his six sons, along with only two servants, Wang Wu and Zhao Si, totaling eight people. Now, there were nearly two hundred martial artists alone; these numbers didn't come from thin air.

Two years ago, when he learned that Happy Forest was his own people, Hou Yuxiao knew in his heart that his late father Hou Tong had probably started planning for this territory long ago.

Therefore, since he took over as the Family Head, he hadn't spent a day not devising ways to get Zhaoyang into the hands of the Hou Clan.

Of course, wanting Zhaoyang to completely become his Hou's City was impossible!

There was no need to mention the Rakshasa Holy Sect; if he dared to do so, any powerful martial artist from Tongling County could easily crush the Hou Clan to death, even a heavenly major force wouldn't have the courage, let alone his mere Hou Clan!

"Even if it can't become my Hou's City, at least my Hou Family must have a say here, whether we can be influential or not will depend on whether we can hold it this time!"

Hou Yuxiao muttered to himself, having reached the edge of the barrier, watching Tian Linong outside, who was fighting with Fu Ling, his pupils flashing a few strands of cold light, ready to shout loud holding the three elders of the Mountain Sword Sect.

Suddenly, a rumbling noise came from behind, and when Hou Yuxiao turned his head, his face immediately showed joy.

Approaching was a group of about a hundred people, the forty or so riders at the front, led by Hou Yucheng, Hou Yuling, and Hou Yujie, while over a hundred people from Upper and Lower Hou Sects led by Hou Fei, Hou Ying, and Hou Cun followed closely behind.

What made Hou Yuxiao's face show joy was that almost every warrior from the Hou Sect had one to two Mountain Sword Sect members dressed in white clothes in custody, all securely tied with hemp ropes; some were unconscious, while others were cursing.

Hou Yucheng and others still had fresh blood on their faces, and there were not a few injuries caused by knives and swords on their bodies, clearly, they had also gone through a tough battle in the city to capture these people.

"Big brother, we have cleared the west city; the infiltrated Mountain Sword Sect members totaled 309 people, we killed 98, and 211 remain, all here!"

Seeing the second elder, Hou Yucheng, disregarding his injuries, and rushing over excitedly from a distance to report the situation, a warm current passed through Hou Yuxiao's heart. He stepped forward to check that there were no serious injuries on him before he could rest assured.

"Well done!"

"Hehe, big brother, Fourth has some new developments."

Seeing Hou Yucheng's mysteriously faced expression, Hou Yuxiao turned his gaze to the fourth, Hou Yujie, revealing a puzzled look, not understanding the meaning.

However, as a faint black aura emerged around Hou Yujie's body, Hou Yuxiao, who was very familiar with that aura, suddenly narrowed his pupils. Although the aura lasted only momentarily, a look of ecstasy still appeared on his face.

"I just fought against a Sect Member from the Mountain Sword Sect at the Ten Layers of Body Openings, and by a stroke of luck, I broke through to the Half-step Gang Qi Realm. As long as I have Yuan Gang Beads, Coagulate Gang should be no problem!"

Although Hou Yujie's voice was still a bit high-pitched, the tone inevitably revealed a hint of joy. For a Martial Artist, a breakthrough in cultivation was naturally of utmost importance, especially to the Half-step Gang Qi, which meant he was not far from a full breakthrough.

"Good... good, good!"

Hou Yuxiao repeated the word 'good' three times. At this moment, his heart was also filled with surprise and joy. He had initially thought that it would take at least until the chaos in Zhaoyang City had ended for Hou Yucheng and the other two to break through. He had planned to buy a batch of Yuan Gang Beads afterward, but to his surprise, the Fourth Elder had advanced earlier.

While excited, he did not forget the matter at hand and turned his gaze back to the more than two hundred Mountain Sword Sect Members under their control, a hint of cold light flashing in his pupils.

"These beasts have scavenged at least one hundred thousand taels of silver from the homes of the citizens in the west of the city, committed over a thousand bloody crimes, and many of them even rushed to the Green Wolf Gang and Flying Eagle Sect, whom we slaughtered directly!"

After Hou Yucheng finished speaking, he directly slapped the nearest Mountain Sword Sect Member twice harshly, quite indignant.

Although they had killed the leaders of the Flying Eagle Sect and Green Wolf Gang, they had yet to take over and tally the properties of the two sects. If not for the barrier being deployed, they of the Hou Family had been busy helping others all last night.

Hou Yuxiao, looking at this group, had already sentenced them to death in his heart. But before killing these people, he still needed them to serve some remaining purpose!

"Sect Master Tian, look quickly. Tonight, we've caught more than two hundred little rats in the city. Do you recognize these people?"

Having been engaged in a fight with Fu Ling in the eastern city, Tian Linong had long noticed Hou and others within the barrier. The death of Lu Fangweng had already pained his heart terribly, and now seeing those three Elders of the Gang Qi Realm and more than two hundred Sect Members all under Hou Yuxiao's control, his heart was already immensely anxious.

Upon hearing Hou Yuxiao's fierce shout, he immediately understood his intentions, and his heart was filled with towering rage. As he dodged a palm strike from Fu Ling and found a gap, he turned his head back to focus on the inside of the barrier.

Thinking back to three months ago, how respectfully Hou Yuxiao had behaved in front of him and Tong Hu, wholeheartedly pledging to join The Righteous Path with an appearance of great rectitude, and then comparing it to his recent action of killing Lu Fangweng, now showing a face of a contemptible scoundrel fully reliant on his power.

Tian Linong's anger had escalated to its peak. To think, he had been roaming the martial world for so many years, yet he had been deceived by such a young scoundrel.

"Master of the Hou Family, as long as you spare my Sect Members, I swear that after Zhaoyang City falls, I will not trouble a single person of the Hou Clan, and I will present an additional five hundred thousand taels of silver, as a token of goodwill between our families. What do you say?"

Three Warriors of the Gang Qi Realm, plus more than two hundred Sect Members ranging from the Three Levels to Nine Levels of Body Opening—the lives of all these people were in the hands of Hou Yuxiao. Finally, Tian Linong softened a bit, opting to use the gentlest tone in an attempt to stabilize Hou Yuxiao.

"How about, Sect Master Tian, you give me those five hundred thousand taels of silver notes right now, and I will surely let your Sect Members go, what do you say?"

Tian Linong's neck veins bulged as he forcefully suppressed the urge to roar, maintaining a soft tone, said, "Master of the Hou Family, you jest. How can I believe that after giving the silver notes, you will not kill these Sect Members of mine?"

"It seems Sect Master Tian is not foolish. So, does Sect Master Tian think I, Hou Yuxiao, am foolish? Why would I believe you?"

With a scornful laugh from Hou Yuxiao, Tian Linong finally could not hold back any longer and tore off the pretense, his previously extremely gentle tone turning ominously cold.

"Hou Yuxiao, you came to Tianling County in September to covertly pledge allegiance to us. Tonight, by tricking Ren Feng away, we had the opportunity to break into Zhaoyang City.

Having done these things, you are already unwelcome by the Holy Church.

Let alone that Zhaoyang City is destined to fall today; even if it doesn't, do you think the high ranks of the Holy Church in Tongling County will spare a betrayer like you, and your entire Hou family?"

"Now, release my Sect Members, cooperate with us to remove the barrier, and after I've conquered Zhaoyang, I will not harm anyone from your Hou Family. This is my bottom line!"

At this moment, a faintly triumphant smile appeared on Tian Linong's face. He believed he had grabbed Hou Yuxiao's lifeline, just waiting for Hou Yuxiao to yield.

"Sect Master Tian, you can eat randomly, but you cannot talk nonsense. We have never met before; when did I go to Tianling County to pledge allegiance to you? Isn't the County Lord taken away by your people from Xuzhou tonight? What does that have to do with me? How can you slander someone's reputation out of thin air!"