Chapter 150: The Zu Family’s Internal Strife
The way Zu Tianli acted as if he had forgotten his little conflict with Lin Jin before this.
In fact, after he returned home that day, a harsh realization sank in that Master Liao was actually an incompetent beast appraiser. Although the man spoke eloquently, what was important at the end of the day were the results.
In the end, Master Liao was utterly defeated by Lin Jin during the beast auction to the point of being unable to put up a fight.
The man actually failed to realize the important bloodline this two-headed snake possessed.
More importantly, it wasn’t just Lin Jin who realized it but another person found out as well. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have competed with Zu Can in the bidding.
However, Zu Tianli had been indifferent to it back then precisely because he fell for Master Liao’s bluffs.
He went to search for Master Liao after everything was over only to find out that the latter had escaped.
Perhaps the con-artist knew he would be in trouble so he fled in advance. When Zu Tianli came to understand it, he even thought about hiring a.s.sa.s.sins to pursue and kill that old man.
Fortunately, the few pet beasts he purchased that day were considered tolerable. But a loss was a loss.
Zu Tianhong’s influence within the family sharply increased after Zu Can bought the two-headed snake. This was an outcome Zu Tianli dreaded and he knew something must be done. Otherwise, any hopes of overthrowing Zu Tianhong and taking over his position as lord of the household would only diminish.
What could he do?
Easy. He would sow discord and get someone else to do his dirty work.
The two-headed snake was extremely valuable, and for this exact reason, many people had their eyes on it.
Zu Tianhong intended to let this two-headed snake form a blood pact with his younger son, Zu Yuan. Zu Yuan had just turned sixteen this year and was the second eldest male descendant of the family. However, he wasn’t the only boy of sixteen within the family who had yet to form a blood pact.
The family’s second elder, Zu Xuande’s grandson, Zu Guan was one of them.
Zu Guan’s father, also known as the fourth brother to both Zu Tianhong and himself had sacrificed a lot for the family in the past. Unfortunately, the man fell prey to his enemies, leaving his only son, Zu Guan behind. This was part of the reason why Zu Xuande doted on Zu Guan.
The third elder of the family also had a maternal grandson and there were many others as well.
Zu Tianli too had a younger daughter who just turned sixteen, making him just as eligible in ‘competing’ for the blood contract opportunity.
Hence, Zu Tianli began plotting. He planned to put his plan into action several days later but now that the two-headed snake was almost stolen away, Zu Tianhong wanted the blood pact sealed at once. Zu Tianli knew he couldn’t wait any longer.
Just then, Zu Tianhong brought along a sixteen-year-old child that looked somewhat like him.
“Appraiser Lin, this is my youngest son, Zu Yuan. Yuan’er, greet Appraiser Lin.” Upon hearing Zu Tianhong’s instruction, the young man immediately greeted Lin Jin.
Lin Jin smiled.
So this was Zu Can’s younger brother, Zu Yuan. They were siblings alright. Both of them looked almost identical but Zu Yuan was clearly timider. Still, the boy knew his manners.
“Alright. This blood contract formation won’t take much and it’ll be over in a minute,” Lin Jin explained with a rea.s.suring smile.
However, Zu Tianli suddenly approached them and said, “Hold up!”
Zu Tianhong was stunned.
“Second Brother, what are you…”
“Big Brother, I, Zu Tianli, refuse to accept this!” Since he already made up his mind, Zu Tianli obviously wouldn’t feel awful when trying to stir up trouble.
“Although it was Zu Can who bought the two-headed snake, he did it on behalf of the family with the family’s funds. So why does Zu Yuan get to form a blood contract with the snake? Are you trying to imply that Zu Guan and the other children of age aren’t part of the Zu family?”
The way he posed his question was both malicious and tricky.
Zu Tianhong’s expression darkened at once while Zu Can felt anger rise from within.
However, Zu Can knew that it wasn’t his place to interrupt during such situations.
As the family’s lord, Zu Tianhong answered with a solemn expression, “Matters regarding blood contracts with pet beasts had always been something for the head of our household to decide. Moreover, in terms of attributes, Yuan’er is much more compatible with this two-headed snake. Also, he is my, Zu Tianhong’s son, so letting him seal a blood pact with the creature isn’t unreasonable. There’s nothing wrong here.”
Zu Tianhong obviously wasn’t a pushover as he displayed his authority as lord of the family.
“Tianhong, enjoying your authority, aren’t you?” The Zu family’s second elder, Zu Xuande suddenly spoke up with a stern face. “It does sound rather arbitrary that you want to let Yuan’er form a blood pact with this two-headed snake. You should have discussed this with us in the first place. How could you just come to a decision on your own?”
Zu Tianhong was quite surprised. His second uncle had always been a righteous man who did his best for the family, so why was he suddenly stepping up to go against him?
“Second Uncle, why are you joining Tianli in this tomfoolery, he…”
Before Zu Tianhong could finish, the third elder spoke up as well. “Tianhong, you’re indeed being a little reckless here. What Tianli says makes sense. Your second uncle and I have discussed it earlier that we should hold a meeting about this. As this concerns the future of our Zu family, we can’t allow for any mishaps.”
Zu Tianhong was looking especially grim right now.
He never expected the clan’s elders to actually side with Zu Tianli.
Despite their flamboyant claims, these people merely had their eyes on the already Rank 2 two-headed snake who had great potential and could even be promoted to Rank 3.
Everyone knew that whoever possessed a Rank 3 pet beast would become the clan’s most valuable a.s.set.
Hence, they wavered.
Zu Tianhong’s hands were currently trembling in anger. He first turned to Lin Jin and saluted in apology. “Appraiser Lin, I’m sorry you had to witness such a disgraceful scene. We may need you to wait outside for a moment. Once we’ve come to a decision, you may proceed with your plans.”
Lin Jin could see that Zu Tianhong was troubled so he nodded and said nothing.
As an outsider, it was inappropriate for him to meddle with the Zu family’s private matters.
Zu Can’s chest was pumped up in anger. He obviously had a lot to say but was silenced by a stern look from Zu Tianhong.
Then, Zu Tianhong turned to the elders and said, “Well then, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, what are your proposals?”
Both elders remained silent. They obviously wanted to secure the opportunity for their own grandchildren but they couldn’t say it directly.
They were greedy but still wanted to retain their dignity.
Zu Tianli chirped in, “This has to be a fair selection process. Why don’t we gather all the eligible children within the family and decide by drawing lots? Or we can get each family to vote and whoever gets the most votes wins.”
Zu Tianli was obviously trying to make a mess of the situation.
His only purpose was to damage Zu Tianhong’s fame and authority.
From the two options he provided, the first relied on luck while the other relied on connections. Zu Tianli had faith in himself if it was the latter and he might even be able to reap more benefits other than damaging Zu Tianhong’s authority.
No matter which option, both of them could whittle down Zu Yuan’s chances of winning, particularly the second method. There was no way Zu Yuan could win in a vote of popularity.
The second elder and third elder then exchanged a glance before saying, “It isn’t appropriate to decide such a serious family issue by drawing lots. Why don’t each family vote instead? What does everyone think?”
How pretentious.
Even Lin Jin shook his head as he watched.
Since they knew this matter was crucial to the family, they obviously had to choose the most suitable candidate to form a blood pact with this two-headed snake.
Frankly speaking, even Lin Jin wanted a piece of the two-headed snake because of its limitless potential.
But the problem was, its future depended on its blood-contracted owner.
Zu Can had told Lin Jin about Zu Yuan about it before so Lin Jin knew that Zu Yuan’s attribute matched the two-headed snake’s. They were absolutely compatible.
As for everyone else, Lin Jin had no idea. But he could see a young man standing behind the second elder whom Zu Can pointed out to be Zu Guan.
This Zu Guan looked insufferably arrogant and seemed to respect no one. He was obviously spoiled growing up and was dressed like a dandy. But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that his attribute was much too incompatible with the two-headed snake.
If the second and third elders were truly being considerate for the family, how could they stop Zu Tianhong midway and engage in such a farce out of their own greed?
Lin Jin later realized that age didn’t make a person wiser nor much more dependable. Not every elderly had their fill with the high-life yet; a significant portion of them had yet to possess the ability to ‘see through’ a life of superficiality.
Humans were different from each other after all.
Compared to their peak era, it seemed like the Zu family was gradually weakening by the doing of their own members.
By simply defying the will of their lord was already fatal enough.
At that moment, the Zu family had decided to choose the candidate by voting
Zu Tianhong said nothing. He was clearly tired and even more so disappointed that his family members were going through with something so ludicrous for the sake of their greed. He was probably even contemplating the prospect of giving up.
Zu Can finally couldn’t hold back and lashed out, “It’s the Zu family’s rules that the head of household has absolute authority in deciding the family’s matters. Moreover, my father isn’t doing this for himself. He had already compared the attributes of eligible descendants within the family and my younger brother just happened to be most compatible. But all of you here were riled up by Zu Tianli to fight for your own greed and are trying to cause a scene. That’s simply disrespectful! All these years, had it not been for my father, the Zu family would have crumbled!”
Despite Zu Can’s young age, he understood the issues well.
However, his statement was like poking a hornet’s nest. After all, he was completely humiliating them, or one could say, stabbing them where it hurts.
“Preposterous! You don’t know your place! Who are you to say something like that?”
“Tianhong, is this how you teach your son? How disrespectful! He doesn’t know basic manners.”
“How unbecoming of you. Zu Can, you better get on your knees and repent right now!”
Here came the storm. The crowd began casting verbal abuses at Zu Can, berating him. And yet, Zu Can stood tall as he glared back at them, unyielding.
Suddenly, Zu Tianhong stomped his foot and a rainbow tiger leaped out, letting out an intimidating roar.
The crowd was immediately silenced.
This rainbow tiger obviously belonged to Zu Tianhong. It was a Rank 2 beast that possessed a domineering aura.
Zu Tianhong placed his arms behind him and glanced at Zu Can first before turning to the others. “Zu Can is my son. Even if he has done something wrong, it is up to me to punish him. This shouldn’t be anyone else’s concern.”
Upon hearing this, tears began streaming down Zu Can’s eyes. Even Lin Jin felt an increased sense of respect for Zu Tianhong. At least the man didn’t punish Zu Can for the sake of his dignity or those so-called rules. Instead, he chose to protect his son.
This was how a father shouldered responsibility.
Lin Jin had learned a lot after witnessing the Zu family’s drama. Frankly speaking, he only came to help the Zu family solely because of Zu Can. He was doing it out of respect for Zu Can. And now that the family was causing such chaos, Lin Jin couldn’t get involved but he could instead decide if he wanted to help them with the blood contract formation.
At that moment, Lin Jin went over and patted Zu Can on the shoulder. “I’m only here to help you because you’re my friend. Let me make things clear right now, I won’t be helping out with the blood contract formation if it’s anyone but your younger brother. Once you folks have reached a consensus, come to me again.”
Having said that, he was about to leave.
The Zu family was still enraged. Upon hearing Lin Jin’s declaration, the second elder Zu Xuande immediately scoffed, “How dare a mere beast appraiser say something so shameless. It sounds as if our Zu family would be nothing without you. What a joke!”
“Yeah. Did you think you’re the only beast appraiser in this world? Who do you think you are, brat? If you want to scram, beat it!” The third elder with a fiery temper berated him.
Lin Jin stopped walking.