NOVEL NEXT Chapter 57 - It Can't Be Him...!
Chapter 57
It Can’t Be Him…!
“Hmph! Ungrateful wretches, you’ve brought this upon yourselves! After today, the Qi family will vanish from Nanli City!”
Jiang Zhen’s expression turned cold, and he was about to turn and leave when Ning Yechen suddenly called out to him,
“Wait a moment.”
Jiang Zhen stopped, his brow furrowed, and turned to look at Ning Yechen with a puzzled expression.
“Who are you?”
“Me? I’m just an ordinary househusband. The one representing the Qi family in the Contests of Commerce is my wife,” Ning Yechen said with a slight smile, stepping forward.
Jiang Zhen looked at Luo Ruying, who was holding Luo Hongye behind Ning Yechen, and sneered.
“Is that so? Then I advise you to have your wife obediently forfeit. Otherwise… after today, you might be separated from your wife forever, hahaha!”
The Jiang family members and their entourage burst into unrestrained laughter.
The young man pushing Jiang Li’s wheelchair was even more brazen, openly flirting with Luo Ruying.
“Such a beautiful and alluring woman, it would be a shame for you to die like this. Why not join my Jiang family and enjoy a life of luxury and wealth?”
“In my opinion, it’s ridiculous for a cultivator like you to marry a mere mortal. Why not marry me instead? I’ll treat you well~”
“Young Master Jiang is right~”
“Perhaps we can also have a taste then~!”
“Don’t worry, after I’m tired of her, you can have your turn.”
Jiang Gan said with a wave of his hand, feigning generosity.
Jiang Gan was the eldest son of Jiang Zhen’s younger brother, Jiang Ming. He had grown up alongside Jiang Li, learning nothing but debauchery.
His lecherous nature was no less than Jiang Li’s!
And his reputation for perversion even surpassed Jiang Li’s!
While Jiang Li mostly used various means to coerce and lure women into submission, Jiang Gan preferred to toy with women and then offer them to his subordinates.
Even if it were his own wife, after he grew tired of her, he would toss her to his subordinates.
He called it “rewarding” them!
There were countless women who, unable to bear the humiliation, chose to end their own lives!
“Your name is Jiang Gan, right…?” Ning Yechen asked, his eyes icy cold, his heart filled with rage.
No one dared to insult his wife and child like this!
Ning Yechen discreetly placed his hand in front of him, hiding it from Luo Ruying, and gently clenched it into a fist.
In the next second, Jiang Gan, who had been laughing lecherously, suddenly started bleeding from his seven orifices…!
Huh…?
Jiang Gan, his face contorted in shock, reached out to touch the blood flowing from his nose and eyes. Before he could understand what was happening, he vomited a mouthful of blood and collapsed, dead.
His blood splattered onto Jiang Li, who was sitting in his wheelchair, making him scream in terror.
“Aaaargh!”
What, what just happened?!
This scene shocked everyone present.
The Jiang family members recoiled in fear.
No one knew what had happened; Jiang Gan had suddenly died!
Luo Ruying’s expression turned serious. She quickly handed Luo Hongye to Ning Yechen and stepped forward to examine Jiang Gan’s body.
This examination made her face pale with shock.
Jiang Gan’s internal organs were completely pulverized!
His body had been subjected to an intense twisting and crushing force!
Who did this?
Someone had silently killed Jiang Gan, and she hadn’t even sensed any spiritual energy fluctuations!
She hadn’t noticed anyone making a move!
Luo Ruying scanned the crowd, but she couldn’t find any suspicious individuals.
“Wife, wh-what happened…?” Ning Yechen asked with a ‘frightened’ expression, standing beside Luo Ruying.
He had to play the part convincingly.
Otherwise, if his wife became suspicious, it would be troublesome.
He had initially intended to crush all those who mocked his wife and child.
But if he did that, today’s Contests of Commerce might be canceled, and Luo Ruying might suspect him.
He would have to save the rest for another time.
“Someone killed him, but I don’t know who…” Luo Ruying said with a grave expression, feeling a sense of helplessness and worry.
If that person targeted Ning Yechen, she wouldn’t even be able to stop them.
Fortunately, it seemed they weren’t here for her.
The Jiang family was in shock, their fear lingering.
Jiang Zhen walked over to Chen Rou and asked in a hushed voice, his fear evident,
“Holy Envoy, who did this?!”
Chen Rou shook his head, his expression also filled with shock.
He hadn’t sensed anything unusual either.
Chen Rou’s gaze then shifted to Ning Yechen.
Jiang Gan had suddenly died after uttering those words.
Could it be…?
No, it couldn’t be him…!
He didn’t have any spiritual energy fluctuations, and he hadn’t made any movements.
The killer is someone else!
Seeing that even Chen Rou hadn’t noticed the killer, Jiang Zhen asked worriedly, “Holy Envoy, should we postpone today’s contest…?”
“No need.”
“The person doesn’t seem to intend to attack further. They’ve probably left.”
“Let the contest proceed as planned. We need to secure Nanli City quickly and avoid further complications.”
Chen Rou said calmly with a determined look.
Jiang Zhen didn’t dare disobey Chen Rou’s decision. Although he was worried, he could only continue as planned.
The Jiang family silently removed Jiang Gan’s body.
Although this unexpected incident seemed to have passed, it still lingered in everyone’s minds.
Ning Yechen looked at Jiang Zhen and stated his purpose:
“Patriarch Jiang, for this Contests of Commerce, the Qi family and the Jiang family have each wagered forty percent of the city’s commercial street control, correct?”
“Can we change the stakes?”
“What? Is the Qi family backing out? Once the agreement is signed, there’s no going back!”
Jiang Zhen sneered, thinking that the Qi family wanted to withdraw and had sent Ning Yechen to convey their intentions.
Ning Yechen slowly shook his head, his eyes narrowing.
“No, no, Patriarch Jiang, you misunderstand.”
“I mean quite the opposite. We want to add your Jiang family’s remaining twenty percent of the commercial street control to the wager!”
“What?! You want my Jiang family to put all our commercial street control into the wager? On what grounds! Your Qi family wants to bet your less than forty percent against our Jiang family’s sixty percent? That’s ridiculous! There’s no such good deal in the world!”
Jiang Zhen scoffed.
“What if the Qi family adds the Meridian Healing Elixir formula to the wager?” Ning Yechen asked with a smile.
These words instantly made Jiang Zhen’s expression change, and he hesitated.
Recently, the Qi family had been profiting immensely from the Meridian Healing Elixir, making the Jiang family envious.
The Jiang family had tried to purchase a portion but failed to identify all the required ingredients and couldn’t replicate it.
If they could obtain the formula and control the entire Nanli City, then the Meridian Healing Elixir would become their exclusive monopoly!
They could set the price however they wanted!
But it was a gamble with the Jiang family’s entire fortune in Nanli City at stake, so Jiang Zhen had to be cautious.
“Holy Envoy, are you confident in defeating that woman?” Jiang Zhen whispered to Chen Rou.
Chen Rou’s eyes were fixed on Luo Ruying as a sinister smile spread across his face.
“Rest assured, Patriarch Jiang. I have ninety-nine percent certainty~”
Receiving Chen Rou’s confident reply, Jiang Zhen’s face lit up with joy. He immediately turned to Ning Yechen and agreed to his request to change the stakes.
“Alright! My Jiang family accepts!”
Ning Yechen smiled faintly and turned to Qi Rongchang, the Qi family patriarch.
“I apologize for taking the liberty of changing the stakes on behalf of the Qi family, Patriarch Qi. Would you be willing to accept?”
“As you wish, sir.”
Qi Rongchang wasn’t at all dissatisfied with Ning Yechen’s alteration of the wager, even with the addition of the precious formula as part of the stakes.
Because he and the Qi family had no right to be dissatisfied.
The formula was given to the Qi family by Ning Yechen; the decision naturally rested with him.
Moreover, Luo Ruying was willing to represent the Qi family in the contest, for which they were already immensely grateful.
“My Qi family also accepts!” Qi Rongchang declared to Jiang Zhen.
With Han Guangzhi, the representative of the Treasure Merchant Alliance in Nanli City, as their witness, the Qi family and the Jiang family once again pressed their fingerprints onto the agreement, officially changing the stakes.
This representative of the Treasure Merchant Alliance would also serve as the witness and judge for this Contests of Commerce.
Han Guangzhi put away the agreement and announced to both the Qi and Jiang families:
“In the name of the Treasure Merchant Alliance, this Contests of Commerce will be absolutely fair and just!”
“The contest will be to the death, until one side is killed or surrenders!”
“If the Qi family and the Jiang family have no further objections, let the Contests of Commerce officially commence!”