Chapter 294 - 294: Wedding (7)
This time, everyone was surprised by what Jiang Qi Tai had said.
Everyone just looked at Jiang Qi Tai with confused gazes, that was until Jiang Zhi Shu was the first to realize what had happened.
Jiang Zhi Shu said, "Qi Tai, is that you? Did you break free?"
Jiang Qi Tai looked at Jiang Zhi Shu with a look filled with sadness as he said, "Brother, this wasn't how I intended to see you again, but I ask you to kill me now. Kill me before it takes over again."
These words had confirmed Jiang Zhi Shu's doubts.
Jiang Zhi Shu said in a confused voice, "Qi Tai, what happened to you?"
But Jiang Qi Tai didn't have time to answer this question at all.
His face twisted like he was in pain and he gave a groan before saying, "There's no time for this now. Kill me before he takes over again!"
Both Jiang Zhi Shu and Jiang Wan Li had difficult looks on their faces since they all had reservations about killing him.
For Jiang Wan Li, Jiang Qi Tai was one of the most talented juniors of the Jiang Family just like Jiang Zhi Shu, so it would be too much of a loss for Jiang Qi Tai to die right now.
As for Jiang Zhi Shu, even with all that Jiang Qi Tai had done, he was still the little brother that he grew up with. Even if he said that he no longer felt anything for him, that would be a lie after finding out that Jiang Qi Tai had been controlled. Without being able to first determine what had happened, it was impossible for Jiang Zhi Shu to put down all these emotions.
Seeing that neither Jiang Zhi Shu or Jiang Wan Li was doing a thing, Jiang Qi Tai turned to the other people in the hall. When his eyes fell onto Jiang Mu, he said, "First elder, kill me. You know what kind of things I've done, that was why you wanted to incite the coup. This is your chance to kill me now!"
During his possession, there were times that Jiang Qi Tai knew exactly what he was doing even if he was powerless to stop himself. Of course he would know why the first elder would start a coup.
Jiang Mu knitted his brows when he heard this, but when he looked at Jiang Wan Li, he didn't take a single step.
Jiang Qi Tai saw that nothing was working and he became anxious, but before he could even say another thing, Lin Fan had already knocked him out again.
Everyone looked at Lin Fan in shock, but he didn't care at all as he said, "Isn't this the best solution?"
Then everyone revealed awkward looks, but they decided that Lin Fan was correct.
Jiang Wan Li nodded to Jiang Mu who went with the second elder to send off all the guests and once all the guests were gone, they began cleaning up the hall and taking care of the other elders.
Once the guests were gone, Jiang Wan Li brought Lin Fan and Jiang Zhi Shu over to one of the wedding reception tables and they all sat down.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Wan Li was the first to break the silence as he said, "Zhi Shu, tell me everything that happened."
Jiang Zhi Shu hesitated a bit before saying, "Grandfather, it is a very long story…"
Jiang Wan Li nodded before saying, "It's fine, we have the time."
Jiang Zhi Shu took a deep breath before he entered the story of everything that had happened between him and the Jiang Family. After the main part, he went onto his own story of becoming a bandit and how he had met Lin Fan. Finally he ended the story of his attack on the Jiang Family and finally the wedding.
Jiang Wan Li had been silent the entire time as he listened, but from time to time, he did slightly knit his brows.
When it was all over, Jiang Wan Li turned to Jiang Mu by his side who had come over after he finished taking care of everything and asked, "When did the Jiang Family become so elite that we can't marry commoners?"
Based on the sarcastic tone in his voice, Jiang Mu's forehead was covered in sweat as he said, "Father, the current Jiang Family isn't like the Jiang Family of old. We're one of the five Legendary Realm Families on the Eastern Continent, we have a reputation now that we have to uphold."
Jiang Wan Li gave a cold snort when he heard this as he said in an ice cold voice, "So once the Jiang Family had a reputation, we didn't need to obey the laws of the human world? We could just trade and sell out fellow humans?"
Jiang Mu began sweating even more when he heard this, "Father, it was necessary for us to build the Jiang Family to where it is now. If we hadn't done this, who would have known what would have happened to the Jiang Family?"
Jiang Wan Li didn't say a thing which was much more terrifying than if he had said anything.
Jiang Mu didn't know what to do, but finally he said, "Father, we'll stop the business completely."
Only then did Jiang Wan Li finally say, "Good, now onto the topic of the crystals. But before that…" He turned to one of the pillars in the hall and said, "Qiang You, how about you come out and talk instead of hiding and listening?"
There was a distortion in the air before Qiang You came out from behind the pillar with an awkward smile.
Jiang Wan Li pointed at the chair beside Jiang Mu and said, "Sit."
Qiang You cupped his hands and gave a bow before sitting beside Jiang Mu. When he did sit down, he made a face at Jiang Mu which Jiang Mu reciprocated.
These two were childhood friends who had grown up together, but they had drifted apart once the Jiang Family started messing with shady businesses.
The Jiang Family hadn't always been like this, they only started acting this way in the last century.
Before this, Rock Mountain City was still a poor place, but at least it was much cleaner and had better order compared to what it was now.
Jiang Wan Li took a sip of his tea and said, "Mu, tell me your side of the story. How did you find the crystals?"
Jiang Mu cupped his hands and stood up as he told his story.
The Jiang Family found these crystals a hundred years ago and at first, they had used these crystals as a source of knowledge. They interacted with the soul fragments inside these crystals and learned many different things from them which had allowed them to build up their Jiang Family over the last hundred years.
But of course, those soul fragments had their own plan and used the Jiang Family, which was evident by what the different crystals did. The one in the slave trade base used children to restore its own vitality so it could be revived. The one that had taken over Jiang Qi Tai had tried to kill Jiang Wan Li to increase its own power and take over the Jiang Family.
These crystals had clearly used the Jiang Family for their own purpose, but without anyone pointing it out, no one had noticed a thing. People had just assumed that the Jiang Family had changed.
All of this started a hundred years ago and it was a hundred years ago when Rock Mountain City had changed.
After he finished listening to Jiang Mu's story, Jiang Wan Li first bowed to Qiang You, "Xiao You, it was my fault for not paying attention to all of this and I've let down your father."
Qiang You was taken aback at first, but he quickly stood up and shook his hands, "Lord Jiang, it's not your fault, it's not your fault."
Jiang Wan Li and Qiang You's father were the ones who had built Rock Mountain City and to hear about what had happened to the city they had built because of his descendants, Jiang Wan Li couldn't help feeling ashamed and feeling like he let down Qiang You's father who was his closest brother.
After his bow, Jiang Wan Li turned back to Jiang Mu and said in a decisive voice, "From this day forth, the Jiang Family will close down all our bad businesses and return to the businesses we held a hundred years ago."
Jiang Mu revealed an awkward look at this as he said, "But father, if we were to let go of all these businesses, the Jiang Family will collapse. Moreover, there isn't much time left before you…"
Jiang Mu didn't finish his sentence, but Jiang Wan Li naturally knew what he meant.
Jiang Wan Li didn't react at all to this, he just calmly said, "I've been selfish and have neglected the Jiang Family for too long. I thought that if I had a bit more time, I could break through, but it's clear that it's not possible. I still have a bit more time left, so I will come out and teach Zhi Shu until he reaches the Legendary Realm."
Jiang Mu clearly looked like he had something else to say, but in front of his father, he couldn't do anything other than agreeing.
After that matter was set, Jiang Wan Li turned back to Jiang Qi Tai who was unconscious on the ground and said, "What do we do about Qi Tai?"