Chapter 1696 - 308:

Li Zhiyuan pulled Tan Wenbin by the hand, leading him into the room and down the stairs to the basement.

Opening the door, air circulated and the candles inside automatically lit.

The basement was much larger than imagined; you could even say the residential building above was simply an add-on, built for this underground chamber.

The walls of the basement were covered with various paintings, all very lifelike, mostly depicting Zhao Yanglin and various women. Zhao Yanglin looked full of life, while the women painted alongside him exuded a sense of discord.

If these were ordinary erotic paintings or self-portraits for memorial purposes, it would be one thing, but the female characters here were far from being living people.

Some were bound with iron chains, others had talisman papers pasted on their foreheads, and some even had Peach Wood Swords pierced through their chests.

Several paintings astonishingly featured father and son together.

The paintings on the walls were just an exhibition; the basement was filled with coffins of various styles, with a massive bed at the center.

The coffins were not empty; inside were the bodies of women of various forms. Although they had died once already, they were meant to be "awakened" after death, to endure torment all over again.

"Brother Binbin."

"Hmm."

Tan Wenbin stepped forward, placing talisman papers on each corpse inside the coffins. As the papers burned, these bodies began to crack, eventually turning to dust.

Their resentments had stayed here, suffering through their final moments, but now they were being liberated.

Zhao Yi licked his lips. He knew Li had come here purposefully, not just to do this.

"Brother Xiao Yuan, you know what I was like before I lit the lamp and walked on the river. I'm not close with my mom and dad, let alone the other Zhao family members.

The reason I know my cousin's inclinations is because once I began to normalize, I had informers within the Zhao family tell me.

Initially, the news I got was just that Zhao Xu molested the corpses. But even I didn't expect that my uncle and cousin could go to such lengths.

That they'd deliberately turn living people into dead ones was only news I learned when I went for a recent report."

"Pa!"

Zhao Yi lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and continued:

"Let me put it this way, if I had known this so vividly earlier, even if walking on the river hadn't ended, I'd have set a trap for those two to be sent away.

During the river journey, I avoided family support and distanced from them to prevent the journey's karmic repercussions from affecting the family.

But going home to kill isn't under that rule.

Brother Xiao Yuan, you must believe me, I'm not much of a good person, but I'm not so contemptible to tolerate and oversee anything."

Li Zhiyuan: "I didn't come to hear your explanation."

Zhao Yi: "Do you want to warn me? No, remind me?"

Li Zhiyuan nodded: "Your family tree, which you've marked up quite a bit, I understand your intention to cure the Zhao family by scraping the bones, waiting for you to restore it in the future.

But you've seen the nature of this situation; we're not casually vacationing at your house—this is already a wave.

I do realize that your Zhao family probably has many innocent and clean members, and I think they likely make up the majority.

But once the avalanche begins, perhaps it will be indistinguishable."

"Alright, Li, I understand your meaning."

"Whether you understand or not, I must clarify, if this turns into a calamity for your Zhao family, when it all collapses, I'll only stand by and watch.

I'm not interested in who's innocent, who's honest, who's kind; don't expect me to save your Zhao family."

"Naturally."

Tan Wenbin: "Brother Xiao Yuan, it's all dealt with."

Li Zhiyuan: "Let's go, to the Zhao family."

The three left the basement, walking upstairs.

The old man, seeing them emerge, attentively handed Zhao Yi an envelope, fawningly said:

"Young master, here are recent selections, please have a look."

Zhao Yi laughed.

The old man laughed too.

But soon, his smile froze on his face.

The old man's neck was snapped by Zhao Yi, and his body dumped to the ground.

After finishing this, Zhao Yi was about to leave when he sniffed the air, detecting the scent of the other side's flower again.

This indicated the old man bore the Zhao surname, but was likely from a very collateral branch.

As they got into the car, Zhao Yi remarked: "I find the Underworld to be such a good place; some Zhao family members only get to be killed once, it's really too cheap for them."

Li Zhiyuan didn't reply; he had already said what needed to be said, and Zhao Yi understood.

The obvious meaning was that the young man would not assist the Zhao family, with the underlying implication being:

Once Zhao Yi himself should cut ties with the Zhao family.

The Zhao family had two old residences, the old one in the mountains, and the new one in the city.

Most of the Zhao family's core members lived in the city's old residence.

"Zhao Mansion."

On the wall by the gate, there was a plaque marking it as a heritage protection unit, near the entrance there were rotating turnstiles, akin to a small scenic spot.

Fortunately, admission was free, no ticket needed.

This spared Zhao Yi the awkwardness of needing to buy a ticket to return home.

The tourists inside were few, but the architecture and garden scenery were quite nice.

On reaching the stairs, entering the front hall, Zhao Yi waved his palm gently, and he, Li Zhiyuan, and Tan Wenbin found themselves in a new area.

In an instant, their view shifted, and the surroundings changed.

An ancient architectural style, pavilions, terraces—a truly opulent old mansion.

At the entrance stood two house servants, who greeted Zhao Yi and the others: