My Ares Son-in-Law

Li Sheng's brother-in-law died under mysterious circumstances; even his head was nowhere to be found!
His wife was filled with grief and indignation, so she left the western region and returned to the capital, declaring that she would never turn back until she found out the truth and killed her enemies.

Ao Tianchen mobilized the entire power of the New Martial Arts Association, even secretly drawing upon numerous shady underground connections, practically turning the provincial capital upside down, yet he only managed to capture a few scapegoats with similar builds. The real culprit seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no valuable clues!

"Waste! A bunch of waste!!"

Ao Tianchen suddenly turned around and slammed his right palm down hard on the heavy solid wood conference table with the force of thunder!
"boom!"

With a deafening crash, the sturdy conference table shattered into pieces, splinters flying everywhere and sharp shards shooting in all directions, startling several association executives who hastily dodged. The terrifying aftershock of the palm strike, like an invisible tidal wave, swept across the entire room, causing the executives near the table to feel their blood surging, their chests tightening, and their faces turning deathly pale. They couldn't help but take a half-step back to regain their footing.

"I'm giving you three last three days!"

Ao Tianchen's voice was hoarse, like that of a wounded beast. His gaze, like a poisoned blade, swept over the silent crowd. Everyone he stared at trembled, as if they had fallen into an ice cave. "Find the murderer who killed my brother-in-law, even if you have to dig three feet into the ground! Otherwise, all of you get out of the Western Region! You will never be allowed to set foot in the martial arts world again!"

Everyone fell silent, cold sweat pouring down their backs, soaking the fabric of their clothes. No one dared to utter a word... Ao Tianchen's rage was enough to incinerate them all, and no one dared to provoke him.

At this moment, He Yongnian stood up shakily, clasped his hands together, bowed, and said:
"Commander-in-Chief, please calm down! Don't let anger ruin your health! Haven't you noticed that things have been going wrong lately, as if some evil spirit is haunting you? First, Vice President Situ Xiong died unexpectedly, then Vice President Yan Song mysteriously disappeared, and now Young Master Li has met with misfortune... Each and every one of these events is eerie, and it's probably not just a simple coincidence!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tianchen's furious expression suddenly froze, and the rage in his eyes was extinguished by ice water. He had always been a believer in metaphysics and fortune-telling, and He Yongnian's words struck him like a heavy hammer, making him involuntarily shiver.

Seeing that he had taken his advice to heart, He Yongnian quickly pressed his advantage, lowering his voice to continue: "Chief, this year is your birth year, you are in conflict with Tai Sui, and an inauspicious star is shining upon you. It is a foregone conclusion that this year will be unlucky! If you want to break this deadlock, you must have a 'lucky celebration'!"

He bowed slightly, his tone tinged with urgency, "Your re-election as Minister is a godsend! If you can invite many guests and friends to dispel the bad luck around you with a joyous atmosphere, you might be able to turn your fortunes around and bring good luck after all!"

Ao Tianchen's eyes flickered violently, and he remained silent. His brother-in-law, Li Sheng, had just passed away; his body was barely cold. Holding a large banquet at this moment was inappropriate both morally and logically. But then he thought, if this truly concerned his own fortune or even his life…

"As Elder He says." He finally gritted his teeth and made up his mind, his voice as deep as muffled thunder. "The banquet will proceed as planned, but the scale need not be extravagant; it should be kept within the core circle." A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. "As for Li Sheng's matter, suppress it for now and do not let it be spread! Once this trap is broken, I will make that culprit who has been hiding his true identity pay for his crime in blood!"

"The Chief of Staff is wise!" Everyone present quickly echoed in agreement, and their tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the conference room door, breaking the brief silence with two soft knocks. A staff member from the New Martial Arts Association walked in cautiously, carrying a roughly square sandalwood box with exquisite packaging, his head bowed low.

"Chief, someone just brought this to the front desk, specifically requesting to hand it to you personally, saying it was to... congratulate you on your re-election in advance." The staff member's voice trembled almost imperceptibly, and he dared not look up at Ao Tianchen's face.

Ao Tianchen frowned, a hint of impatience rising in his heart.

In previous years, many people would send gifts to curry favor on this joyous occasion, but this year was different. His brother-in-law had just suffered a terrible misfortune. Who would be so tactless as to choose this time to join in the festivities? He was about to wave for someone to take the wooden box away when he suddenly caught a faint, yet strangely eerie, whiff of something. The scent was neither sandalwood nor fishy, ​​carrying an indescribable chill, as if it came from the depths of the underworld, seeping into his lungs and making the hairs on his body stand on end.

"bring here."

Ao Tianchen changed his mind, his voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible seriousness.

The staff dared not delay and quickly stepped forward to gently place the sandalwood box on the still partially cleared wooden table in front of Ao Tianchen... The wood chips on the table and the exquisite wooden box created a glaring contrast.

Ao Tianchen stared intently at the box lid, which was carved with intricate cloud patterns. His unease grew stronger like a tidal wave, and his fingertips turned slightly white as he slowly gripped the edge of the lid.

"Click."

A soft sound rang out, unusually clear in the deathly silent conference room.

The lid was slowly lifted.

next second...

"hiss……!!"

"what!!"

A gasp of shock and a terrified scream erupted simultaneously!
The deliveryman's legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, his crotch instantly soaked, a foul odor filling the air. His eyes rolled back, his body convulsed violently, and he fainted on the spot from shock.

All the high-ranking members of the New Martial Arts Association in the meeting room froze in place, as if they had been frozen in place. The color drained from their faces instantly, their pupils dilated to their maximum, staring intently at the contents of the box, their eyes filled with unbelievable terror, as if they had witnessed the most horrific sight in the world!

Ao Tianchen felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He swayed violently, his chest heaving with blood and qi. With a "poof," he spat out a mouthful of scalding blood, staining a large area of ​​the carpet in front of him red! The muscles on his face twitched violently, and the veins bulged like writhing dragons. His originally majestic face instantly twisted into a demonic shape, and the blood vessels in his eyes spread wildly!
Inside the sandalwood box, there was a layer of scarlet velvet, as red as blood.

On the velvet, there was a human head placed there!
It was Li Sheng's head!
His eyes were wide open, bulging, frozen in the boundless fear and despair of his last moments before death; his face was ashen, his lips were dark purple and bloodless; and the wound on his severed neck was eerily smooth, the edges as if it had been instantly severed by the sharpest blade and frozen by extreme cold, without a trace of blood seeping out, exuding a bone-chilling cold.

What was even more chilling and terrifying was that on the forehead of that head, there was an extremely fine yet incredibly clear dark gold line... shaped like a broken, reversed scale, gleaming faintly and eerily under the light. (End of Chapter)