The Female Lead Brought Her Lover to the Wedding Banquet and Broke Off the Marriage; I Slaughtered Her Entire Family - Chapter 26:

Chapter 26: Trying to Run Away?

Lin Chen leaned against the carriage wall, his knuckles unconsciously tapping, producing dull thuds. In the storage pouch, the Azure Nether Core and that azure seed lay quietly, his greatest consolation from this trip. As for the “vessel” Lin Fan, he was securely bound with specially made chains and thrown into another prison cart. The man sometimes convulsed violently and sometimes fell completely still, as if struggling against something foreign within his body.

“Who could it be?” Lin Chen asked himself, his voice a bit hoarse. Days of travel and the depletion of the power within his body left his complexion unnaturally pale. Fang Tang… his father’s confidant, the Lin family’s chief steward, had been loyal for over thirty years—how could he betray them? Unless…

Lin Chen’s expression turned cold.

“Young Master, ahead is the Cloud Region,” the leading guard reined in his horse and reported.

Lin Chen gave a brief hum and unconsciously pressed his waist, where the storage pouch containing his spoils was hanging. Less than a hundred kilometers from home, he had already mobilized his trusted subordinates through his own channels, casting a net in silence, just waiting for the hidden fish to swim into it.

As expected, there were people waiting in front of the Lin family residence. Lin Shan stood on the stone steps, his face exceedingly gloomy. At the sight of his father’s expression, Lin Chen’s heart sank—clearly, the situation was even trickier than what Black Crow had reported.

He swiftly got off the carriage and walked up quickly. “Father.”

Lin Shan scrutinized him, pausing briefly on his overly pale face, then shifted his gaze to the prison cart behind him. “Where are the items?”

“Eighty percent secured,” Lin Chen lowered his voice, “We’ll talk in the study.”

Father and son walked one after another through the courtyard into the depths of the residence, entering the study. As soon as the door closed, Lin Shan turned around.

“Fang Tang has been acting strange these past days, sneaking into the secret chamber several times. This morning he even claimed illness to avoid meeting people.”

Lin Chen handed over the storage pouch. “The Azure bloodline inheritance is secured. Though incomplete, it’s enough for us to study the bloodline. I also got this.”

Lin Shan reached in, pulling out the azure seed and the Azure Nether Core. His breathing momentarily stalled.

“The Azure Nether Core?” His voice carried rare astonishment. “You really got the genuine thing?”

“Took some effort,” Lin Chen didn’t elaborate, instead bringing up the real issue, “Regarding Fang Tang, Black Crow found leads suggesting he’s colluding with the Thousand Shadow Pavilion.”

Lin Shan placed the items back in the pouch and handed it back to his son. “Don’t act rashly. Confirm it first. Fang Tang has been with me for so long—if there’s truly an issue, it won’t be minor.”

As Lin Chen steadied the storage pouch, the azure power within him surged violently, causing his fingers to go numb, nearly making him drop it. Lin Shan, sharp as ever, immediately sensed something wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just a minor injury.” Lin Chen tried to steady his breath.

Lin Shan placed a hand on his arm, and his expression changed dramatically. “Azure bloodline backlash?” His voice sank. “You forcefully seized the inheritance?”

Lin Chen remained silent, tacitly admitting it.

“The mission assigned by the system is to rob his fortune and seize his inheritance.”

“Absurd!” Lin Shan rarely lost his composure. “Do you think the Azure bloodline inheritance can be seized by force? It’s an ancient bloodline tied to the Heavenly Dao. Forcibly taking it invites divine retribution!”

“I’m suppressing it for now,” Lin Chen spoke calmly, “Eighty percent of the mission is done. The rest is to root out the rats in the residence.”

Lin Shan exhaled heavily and pulled a small wooden box from his sleeve. “Take this. ‘Bone-Melting Pill’—it will temporarily stabilize the foreign power within you.”

Lin Chen opened the box to find a crimson pill radiating warmth. He threw it directly into his mouth and swallowed. A warm current spread from his abdomen, quickly traveling through his limbs and bones, intertwining and colliding with the violent azure energy, finally reaching a fragile balance. The restless feeling eased considerably.

“This pill…”

“An ancestral remedy, specifically for such situations,” Lin Shan’s tone remained stern, “I had hoped you’d have more sense.”

“You foresaw I’d seize it by force?” Lin Chen’s brow arched slightly.

“I know my own son’s nature,” Lin Shan walked behind the desk and picked up a stack of documents, “These are all the accounts and affairs Fang Tang handled recently. See for yourself.”

Lin Chen took them and flipped through quickly. Most were records of daily expenses and industrial management—no obvious flaws. But upon closer inspection, a few large fund transfers were suspiciously convoluted, passing through multiple hands as if to deliberately obscure the final destination.

“I’ll need some time.”

“Two days,” Lin Shan stood up, “In two days, regardless of what you find, Fang Tang must be dealt with.”

He stepped to Lin Chen’s side, patted his shoulder, his tone softening slightly with a trace of unspoken concern. “Don’t let the backlash drag you down.”

Lin Chen nodded.

Once Lin Shan left, he immediately summoned Black Crow’s liaison. “Send orders: watch Fang Tang closely. Any letters he sends or receives must first pass through my hands. Also, prepare false information—spread news that there’s still more Azure bloodline inheritance left in Black Stone Mountains.”

At night, Lin Chen meditated in a quiet room. Sitting cross-legged, he tried to circulate his cultivation technique, aiming to sort out the unruly Azure bloodline power within him. But as soon as he concentrated, Lin Fan’s agonized, twisted face flashed through his mind, mixed with the Qing Ming phantom’s venomous curse, the voice seeming to echo directly inside his skull.

Something was wrong.

Lin Chen frowned deeply. He had always been the one to manipulate others’ minds—when had stray thoughts ever been able to disturb him?

He forcibly guided the azure energy, discovering that although it was tyrannical, it contained vast vitality and didn’t completely conflict with his own spiritual energy—he simply lacked the proper method to harness it. Flashes of the incomplete [Azure Nether Art] crossed his mind. Lin Chen tried operating it according to the fragmented routes.

Pfft!

His blood surged violently, and a tearing pain nearly blinded him, almost causing him to collapse.

Damn it.

Gritting his teeth, he forcibly endured and re-adjusted his breathing. The inheritance was severely incomplete; forcing cultivation would only hasten his death.

Just then, there was a faint shift outside the door. Black Crow’s agent had arrived.

“Young Master, there’s news.” A shadow silently merged into the room and handed him a rolled-up note.

Lin Chen unrolled it, and the handwriting made his pupils shrink.

As expected, Fang Tang had slipped out of the residence tonight, heading to an inconspicuous teahouse in the south of the city for a meeting. The contact bore the hidden mark of the Thousand Shadow Pavilion on his sleeve.

What ignited Lin Chen’s fury even more was that after returning, Fang Tang had immediately entered the secret chamber and taken a classified scroll containing the Lin family’s recent critical deployments.

“Keep following him. I want to see what he does next.”

“Yes.” The shadow disappeared again.

Lin Chen set down the note, his suspicions now almost fully confirmed. He picked up the stack of documents his father had given him earlier, this time examining them even slower, more carefully, missing no detail that might hide a clue.

Fang Tang.

Chief steward of the Lin family, managing affairs for over thirty years. Internally, he was the linchpin of daily operations; externally, he was the face of the Lin family, dealing with various forces. If someone like him truly had a problem… Lin Chen’s fingertips slid across the ledger, a chill creeping in.