I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

As night falls, streetlights illuminate the streets of Tazhai Town, and televisions in every household broadcast the evening news.

A loud bang came from the direction of the power supply station, plunging the entire town of Tazhai into darkness.

The streetlights all went out, and the television screen went black. The fan stopped spinning, and the stuffy air dissipated from the room.

Immediately afterwards, the tap water stopped flowing, leaving only a few drops of murky, muddy water falling into the sink.

Lin Ting sat in the grand master's chair in the ancestral hall's study, with a red candle lit on the table, its light illuminating half the room.

Lin Fei ran in from outside, covered in sweat.

"Grandpa, the whole town is without power, and the waterworks has also shut off the water supply."

I went to the town's power supply station to ask, and they said the lines were under maintenance, and nobody knew when they would be fixed.

Lin Ting picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip of the cold tea.

This was the county magistrate's son's revenge. Zhao Laosi's leg was broken, and the people behind it couldn't sit still anymore.

As soon as it was light, all three main roads leading from Tazhai Town to the county seat were blocked.

Several large bulldozers were blocking the middle of the road, and dozens of men in security uniforms and floral shirts stood guard behind the roadblocks.

Three trucks loaded with rice and vegetables were stopped outside.

"No entry! Road construction!" A man in a floral shirt shouted at the truck driver, holding a rubber baton in his hand.

The driver was so anxious he kept honking his horn: "These vegetables were ordered from Tazhai Town! If they're not delivered, they'll all rot in the truck!"

"Can't you understand human language? Not even a fly will be allowed into Tazhai Town today! Go back the way you came!"

The ambulance from the health center pulled up to the intersection with its siren blaring. Inside lay a pregnant woman from the Lin family who urgently needed to go to the county hospital for surgery.

The ambulance driver leaned out and shouted, "Make way! There's a pregnant woman in the ambulance who's about to give birth and is hemorrhaging!"

The man in the floral shirt spat and flicked the cigarette butt from his hand onto the hood of the ambulance.

"What does this have to do with me? The higher-ups have given instructions: the people of Tazhai Town must die in the village, no matter what."

The man in the floral shirt waved his hand, and a dozen thugs surrounded the ambulance with baseball bats.

"Take one more step forward, and I'll smash your car!"

The ambulance driver was so angry he was trembling, and had no choice but to turn around and drive back to town.

When the news reached the village, the small supermarket in town was sold out in less than twenty minutes.

There wasn't even a single pack of instant noodles left on the shelves, and the villagers stood on the street, carrying empty plastic bags and discussing the matter.

Panic gripped the crowd; how much food and water would 100,000 people need to eat and drink every day?

The town's wells had long since dried up, and they relied entirely on the county's water supply. Now that the roads were blocked, grain carts couldn't get in, and they were going to starve to death.

After a twelve-hour water outage, the water in every household's storage tank was empty.

Lin Fei led dozens of young men, pulling hundreds of plastic buckets, to fetch water from the Tazhai River south of the town.

When they arrived at the river, everyone was stunned. A thick layer of dead fish and white foam floated on the surface of the river, emitting a pungent smell of pesticides.

Someone discharged wastewater from a chemical plant upstream, poisoning the entire river.

Lin Fei was so angry that he kicked the bucket into the river.

"These beasts! They're driving us to our doom!"

In the courtyard of the Lin family ancestral hall, the second great-uncle paced anxiously back and forth on the bluestone slabs, leaning on his cane. Hundreds of elders gathered in the courtyard, their faces clouded with sorrow.

Lin Ting walked out from the back hall, and the courtyard became quiet.

Lin Facai, with a bandage wrapped around his head and an empty mineral water bottle in his hand, was the first to jump out.

"Grandpa, look! There's no water! My little grandson is only six months old, crying from hunger, and we don't even have water to make formula. Are all 100,000 members of the Lin family supposed to stand up for you and talk about principles?"

Lin Facai turned around and looked at the elders around him.

"Everyone, be the judge. We've been honest people for generations, and we can't fight against officials. Zhao Laosi is backed by the county magistrate's son!"

They're trying to kill us now, cutting off our water, electricity, and food. What can we use to fight them?

Several elderly women sat on the ground wiping away tears.

"Yes, without food or water, how can we survive?"

"Da Biao and the others are still locked up in the police station, and now they won't even let us visit them."

The courtyard erupted in chaos; yesterday's enthusiasm was largely extinguished by the impending crisis.

Lin Facai swallowed hard and continued to fan the flames: "If you ask me, we should pool our money, bring some gifts, and go to the county town to apologize to that young master. We should lower our heads and let this matter drop."

Lin Fei, holding an iron rod, pointed at Lin Facai and cursed, "How can you be so spineless! Kneeling down and apologizing to him? You've disgraced our ancestors!"

Lin Facai retorted, "Can backbone feed you? Ask everyone, who wants to starve to death with us!"

Many people in the courtyard had their heads down, and no one uttered a sound. Faced with a survival crisis, many were having second thoughts.

Lin Ting walked to the middle of the yard. He raised his foot and kicked Lin Facai in the stomach.

Lin Facai screamed and fell onto the bluestone slab, clutching his stomach. He was in so much pain that he couldn't straighten up.

"As I said yesterday, the Lin family's rules state that integrity is paramount." Lin Ting surveyed the entire room.

"You can go without food, but you can't bow your head. Anyone who mentions begging for mercy again will be thrown into the pond according to clan rules."

The firm stance silenced the crowd, and no one dared to utter a sound, though fear still lingered on everyone's faces.

Second Uncle sighed and followed Lin Ting into Great-Grandfather's study. The study door closed.

The second uncle lowered his voice, his hands trembling.

"Grandpa, Fa Cai's words may be harsh, but they are true. The county magistrate's son is trying to wipe out our family line."

He used both legal and illegal means to cut off our escape route; we can't withstand it.

My second uncle was overcome with grief, tears streaming down his face.

"Go and plead for him. I'll kowtow to him with my old bones. You don't need to go. As long as these 100,000 people can be saved, I don't care about my old face."

Lin Ting looked at his second uncle and reached out to help him sit down in a chair.

Lin Ting brought up the system panel in his mind. Yesterday, tens of thousands of clansmen mobilized and saved the ancestral graves.

The "Family Prosperity" in the system has surged dramatically, and the progress bar is glowing red.

Lin Ting looked at the intelligence database exchange options on the panel.

He turned to look at his second great-uncle and tapped the table with his hand.

"Second Uncle, kowtowing won't solve anything. Do you really think they'll let us off the hook?"

Lin Ting looked at the characters flashing on the panel.

"Trying to cut off my water and food? Let's see who has the stronger hand."