Misty Rain of the Old Times

The courtyard was deep and brightly lit. This secluded villa alone occupied ten or twenty acres of land. You must know that this is the capital city where every inch of land is precious.

Chen Xuan was quite surprised to find Wu Jinxun's father here, but considering that he himself had been "captured" and brought here, it was not surprising. It was likely that even as a scion of a noble family, Wu Jinxun did not have the power to mobilize four innate masters at once. It was probably just Wu Jinxun himself who was the trigger, and his father was the mastermind behind it.

His father is probably still waiting for the results. Considering the bloody scene he saw underground, he might even come here for a "good meal".

The guard, with vacant eyes, led the way, guiding Chen Xuan straight towards the central courtyard.

The other party was already under Chen Xuan's control. The faint purple light that had been flashing in his eyes was a pupil technique that could control the consciousness of others, called the Purple Profound Illusion Pupil. Once it was used, those with weak wills would have their consciousness controlled if they met his gaze. Even those with considerable cultivation could be affected if they were not careful!
It's a very useful mental technique, similar to hypnosis, but much more mysterious. However, Chen Xuan has never used it to do anything bad.

But while it's effective, it's not effective for everyone. For example, it touches the last line of defense deep in the hearts of those Wu family members, causing them to decisively give up their lives and break free from control.

However, how many people in the world can be as decisive as a suicide squad member?

It's just that Chen Xuan's cultivation level is not high enough now. If he were to reach the Tribulation Transcending Realm, his spiritual consciousness would break through the small void in the human body, and he could then use this eye technique to penetrate into the minds of others, and even directly see their memories!
In the path of martial arts, the difference between two major realms is like floating on the horizon gazing at the blue sky.

"Halt! Who is he? Where are you taking him?" The two hadn't gone far when another guard stepped forward and questioned them in a deep voice.

Chen Xuan looked in the direction of the sound, a flash of purple light in his eyes, and the other person immediately shut up, lowered his head and followed with an empty expression.

As Chen Xuan and his group walked, guards kept jumping out, sometimes one or two, sometimes three or five, along with servants and maids. When they arrived at the main hall of the central courtyard, they were followed by dozens of people.

The main hall of the central courtyard was brightly lit with golden lamps and jade cups. A middle-aged man who bore a striking resemblance to Wu Jinxun was enjoying himself immensely under the service of four maids. They massaged his shoulders and legs, fanned him, and fed him fruit. His demeanor was so refined that even a deity would not want to be in such a position.

As Chen Xuan and his group arrived, he, who had been enjoying himself with his eyes slightly closed, opened them and said unhappily, "You... um? What's going on? How dare you! Who gave so many of you permission to come here!"

This man was quick-witted and immediately sensed something was wrong. He abruptly stood up, looking surprised and uncertain, and quickly retreated to retrieve a long sword from the sword rack, angrily demanding, "Where is the steward? What kind of work are you doing? Are the men trying to rebel?"

"Master, I'm here. What's wrong..." A middle-aged man in black quickly appeared from the next room in the hall. As he spoke, his gaze swept across the room and met Chen Xuan's eyes, which were radiating purple light. Instantly, his expression became empty.

Chen Xuan waved for the large group of people to stand in line, then stepped forward to face Wu Jinxun's father and said, "Don't worry, I'm here to ask you something."

"Who are you? What happened to them?" Wu Hongliang asked in shock and anger, a chill creeping into his heart, his hand holding the knife trembling.

Chen Xuan sat down, his robes billowing. He glanced at the long sword in Wu Hongliang's hand, raised his hand, and with a flick, Wu Hongliang lost his grip and dropped it. Chen Xuan took a point, nodded, and said, "Not bad. Perfect for slaughtering dogs later."

As he spoke, he put the knife aside and looked at Wu Hongliang again, saying, "You and your son went to great lengths to bring me here, and you still ask me who I am?"

"It's you, that drug dealer who sells Xiaoyao pills! Where is my son, Jinxun?" Wu Hongliang's heart sank.

Shaking his head, Chen Xuan was too lazy to waste words with him. A purple light flashed in his eyes, and he activated his Purple Mystic Illusionary Eye, controlling Wu Hongliang's consciousness before asking, "Tell me, how many people are in your Wu family, and where are they now?"

With a blank expression and vacant eyes, Wu Hongliang mechanically replied, "I don't know either, and I have no idea where we are right now."

"Hmm?" Chen Xuan frowned.

The other party continued, "Our Wu family has existed for over four hundred years since our ancestor established his own household. Our branches have spread to various regions, and over several generations, there are more than 100,000 members. Therefore, we do not know the specific members."

Chen Xuan: “…”

To this, he could only say that everyone who is alive today has had wealthy ancestors, because wealth doesn't last three generations. After three generations of poverty, people can't even afford to get married, let alone continue the family line.

The Wu family, a prominent family for over four hundred years, has grown to an enormous size over several generations, with each branch scattered across different regions, and even the family members themselves are not entirely clear about its exact size.

Of course, as time went by, those collateral and distant bloodlines faded and lost contact. It is estimated that the vast majority of people with the surname Wu who share the same ancestor do not even know that they have this Wu family connection.

But that makes things difficult.

On second thought, Chen Xuan realized he was overthinking things. Why worry so much? His priority was dealing with the powerful Wu family. There was no need to concern himself with those trivial matters. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; there would be plenty of people to kick a man when he's down.

Once he had a clearer idea, Chen Xuan rephrased his question: "What about the direct line of your Wu family? Who are the remaining members, and where are they located?"

Wu Hongliang immediately replied, "Our Wu family's direct lineage now has eight generations living together, with six elders still alive, namely..."

"Stop!" Chen Xuan immediately interrupted. The list of direct descendants would probably take until tomorrow morning to count. Where would he find the time to waste on him?

A thought flashed through Chen Xuan's mind, and he quickly came up with an idea: "Do you have a family genealogy?"

"Have"

"That's good. Go and get it, and also the map. Mark the locations of the main members of your Wu family on the map, and be quick," Chen Xuan immediately ordered. "Yes," Wu Hongliang turned and walked outside.

Chen Xuan, who was about to slash at him with the 'household registration book,' asked in a deep voice, 'Where are you going?'

“Go home and get the family genealogy; it’s not here,” he said, turning around.

Indeed, this is probably not the home of Wu Jinxun and his son. Why would they keep the family genealogy here? Large families are just troublesome.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Xuan said, "I'll go with you later. Now, go and call everyone from this manor here."

"Yes!"

Wu Hongliang quickly summoned everyone from the manor, and a group of about one or two hundred people stood in the open space outside, including maids, servants, and guards. There were as many as seventy or eighty guards, indicating that this place was quite important, after all, four Xiantian masters had died below.

In the middle of the night, Chen Xuan summoned everyone. He only managed to control a small portion of them. Those who were not under his control were terrified and at a loss, not knowing why they had been called there. However, they had no choice but to obey his master's orders.

After everyone had arrived, Chen Xuan said, "Who are the servants, who are the guards, and who are related to your Wu family? Stand in their respective places."

Wu Hongliang immediately looked at the butler, who was also under control, and said, "Make arrangements."

They were merely being controlled by Chen Xuan; they hadn't lost their minds. In fact, they were fully aware of what they were doing, but they were simply powerless to resist.

At the butler's behest, everyone quickly separated and stood in their designated positions.

Chen Xuan glanced around and saw that, apart from Wu Hongliang, there were only two or three people here who were related to the Wu family. If Wu Hongliang hadn't been controlled and revealed the truth, those two or three people would have had no connection with the Wu family on the surface. The rest were guards, servants, and maids who were recruited or directly purchased.

After roughly understanding the situation, Chen Xuan no longer hesitated. The long sword he had taken from Wu Hongliang was drawn from its sheath in mid-air, and with a few swift, sharpening sounds, it killed the steward and the other relatives of the Wu family on the spot. He did not kill the other guards, maids, and servants.

The stewards and servants deserved to die for the Wu family because of the many shameful things they had done. As for the maids and servants, they were also unfortunate people, and Chen Xuan would not kill innocent people indiscriminately.

As for the guards...

After effortlessly killing the person who deserved to die, Chen Xuan's eyes flashed with purple light, and he released the guards from their control. Although they had been controlled before, they still had their own thoughts and naturally realized what had happened. In addition, the guards who had not been controlled before were all surprised and uncertain.

Scanning them with his gaze, Chen Xuan said coldly, "I'm only targeting the Wu family. Those of you who are unimportant, I hope you'll know what's good for you. That's all I have to say. If you want to show your loyalty, then step forward, but bear the consequences yourself. Don't blame me for not warning you then."

After saying that, Chen Xuan went to look at them, got up, took the fire copper and other items, as well as the knife, and walked towards Wu Hongliang, who was still under control, saying, "Let's go, lead the way, let's go get your Wu family genealogy."

“Yes,” Wu Hongliang said, turning to lead the way.

Seeing that they were about to leave, the guard leader here became anxious. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and stepped forward, saying, "What are you all standing there for? Seize this man, or we'll all die!"

At his command, a group of guards hesitated.

Seeing this, he spoke again: "If we act now, we might die. If we do nothing, our entire family will be punished!"

Upon hearing this, few guards could remain calm. They would rather die here than let the Wu family pursue the matter; they had to consider their families.

"Protect the Master"

"kill"

"Capture this person..."

Amidst roars of defiance, a group of guards charged forward fearlessly.

Watching everything with a blank expression, Chen Xuan had already given them a chance; they were the ones who volunteered to pledge their loyalty and die.

With a flick of his hand, a drop of tea flew over, instantly transforming into dozens of hair-like water needles that pierced the heads of the guards, freezing them in place as they lay sprawled on the ground.

After no one else stepped forward, Chen Xuan approached Wu Hongliang and said, "Give me some directions."

"Over there," he pointed in the direction of his home.

Nodding, Chen Xuan looked at the remaining trembling crowd and said, "Disperse, everyone. Go your separate ways from now on. Take whatever you want here. After tonight, you won't have the chance to work for the Wu family anymore."

After saying that, Chen Xuan grabbed Wu Hongliang's shoulder with one hand and slipped away, heading straight for his house. After obtaining the Wu family genealogy, he would have Wu identify the members, and they would be cut off one by one according to the list... (End of this chapter)