Eternal Beast Taming Family

The young man who came to report sighed helplessly, "It's already spread throughout the town, and now we can't find the source. But it's probably the work of the other two families."

It's more likely that the Chu family did this.

It's the Chu family again. Zhang Qingyuan grits his teeth whenever he mentions the Chu family, completely disregarding the fact that it was the Zhang family that attacked the Chu family first.

"Tch, what's the point of spreading these rumors? It just lets those fools have their way with their words."

Even so, he stood up and paced back and forth several times, feeling that something was amiss with the Chu family's efforts to deliver this message. He was determined to oppose what the Chu family was doing, so he stopped and turned to look at the family member who had delivered the message.

"You must do your best to suppress this news and spread the word that the Chu family plotted to kill my clan uncle as soon as possible."

The young man glanced at Zhang Qingyuan's somewhat distorted face, then quickly bowed his head and said "yes," before hurriedly leaving the room.

Over the next few days, the wind seemed to shift again in the town.

Regarding the real reason for the battle between the Chu family and the Zhang family, two completely different rumors began to circulate in the town.

First, the Zhang family coveted the treasures of the Chu family, so they found a pretext to attack the Chu family. However, they ended up losing more than they gained, with many of their own family members dying in the process.

Secondly, the Chu family secretly plotted to murder the Zhang family's uncle, so in order to avenge their clan, the Zhang family hastily launched a punitive expedition against the Chu family.

For several days in a row, the entire Zhang family wore mourning clothes, leaving the town's residents somewhat confused about the current situation. Some felt sorry for the Zhang family, while others sympathized with them.

On the fourth day of mourning, a nobleman dressed in fine clothes came to the Zhang family's door.

Zhang Qingyuan was dressed entirely in white mourning clothes, his face haggard, a clear sign of grief for the loss of a family member.

Upon seeing this richly dressed person appear in the courtyard, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes. While others in Yuzhen might not be familiar with this person's attire, he knew very well that only stewards or similar figures in the Xiao family were entitled to wear such clothing.

He just sent a letter to the emperor a couple of days ago, and now his sister has arranged for someone to come?

Judging from his imposing presence, he is probably no less than a mid-level Spirit Realm cultivator, and should be more than capable of dealing with the Chu family.

With a sorrowful expression, he rose to greet the visitor, saying, "I was unaware of your arrival and failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me, but a sudden misfortune has befallen my family..."

He let out a long sigh halfway through his sentence, which sounded incredibly desolate against the backdrop of the several coffins placed in the courtyard.

Upon hearing his words, the butler or guard from the Xiao residence showed little change in expression. "You are the current head of the Zhang family?"

The tone was a bit off, and Zhang Qingyuan felt a chill. Could something have happened?

When questioned, he concealed his sorrow and cautiously replied, "Yes."

"That makes things easier." The man glanced at him and let out a cold laugh. "Accept the transfer order."

"A transfer order?" Zhang Qingyuan looked deeply puzzled.

"The head of the Zhang family is not strict in managing his household and has lost his moral character. After gaining power, he has bullied the villagers and lost the demeanor of a noble family. Therefore, the head of the Zhang family, Zhang Qingyuan, is hereby ordered to guard the border city for one year. He shall not return to the border before the expiration of the term."

Furthermore, it was decreed that any remaining members of the Zhang family who were found to be causing trouble in the village should be transferred to a post outside the designated area.

The messenger, seeing Zhang Qingyuan's face turn deathly pale, smiled slightly and lightly held up the sheet of white paper in front of Zhang Qingyuan.

"Master Zhang, accept the transfer order."

"How could this be?" Zhang Qingyuan looked at the blank paper in front of him, still somewhat incredulous. Where exactly did things go wrong?

Seeing that he did not accept the transfer order, the messenger looked impatient. "Patriarch Zhang, do you intend to disobey the county magistrate's orders? Fine, I will go back and inform him immediately."

He then made a gesture as if to put away the transfer order.

The messenger's words instantly brought Zhang Qingyuan back to his senses. He quickly took the transfer order, unfolded the paper, and read the few lines on it over and over again.

And the final signature and seal—he wanted to scrutinize it closely to determine if the transfer order was forged.

"My lord, my sister is Zhang Qingshu, the concubine of the county magistrate. Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Zhang Qingyuan's face showed even more bitterness this time, and he seemed even more desolate than before.

Upon hearing his words, the messenger pointed to the white paper in his hand and said firmly, "It has names and surnames written on it. Moreover, someone came to investigate before the transfer order was issued, so there can be no mistake."

Furthermore, why doesn't Patriarch Zhang reflect on the Zhang family's actions over this period and see if there are any inconsistencies in what has been said above?

"Master Zhang, you'd better hurry up and pack your things, arrange your household affairs, so you can come with me to take up your post outside the border as soon as possible. You've been delayed for too long, and I'm afraid the higher-ups will blame you."

Zhang Qingyuan's fingers tightened. He gripped the transfer order in his hand and reluctantly agreed, "Alright, sir, please wait a moment. I'll make the arrangements and be there."

Fortunately, during the Zhang family's funeral, most of the family members were in the courtyard and gathered together for half an hour to discuss the matter. During the year that Zhang Qingyuan left home, they decided to let his second uncle, Zhang Jinglu, temporarily take over as the head of the family.

During his absence, the Zhang family needs to keep a low profile. After all, the transfer order has already conveyed the county magistrate's dissatisfaction with them, and this time it will probably be a minor punishment to serve as a warning.

After packing his luggage, Zhang Qingyuan left the Chu family alone with the messenger and arrived outside the realm through the teleportation vortex channel.

Once outside the boundary, the messenger smiled and looked at Zhang Qingyuan, saying softly:

"Master Zhang, Zhang Liang's concubine asked me to pass on a message to you. Please wait patiently. She has asked the county magistrate to arrange an easy and safe position for you. If you can get through this year, you might even receive some unexpected benefits."

Zhang Qingyuan's face lit up with joy. He bowed to the messenger and thanked him, "Thank you, sir. Please pass on a message for me: I look forward to the day she brings her nephew home to visit her family."

After saying this, he thanked the messenger again and then strode confidently toward the city's reporting office.

The messenger looked thoughtfully at his empty palms. Was the Zhang family head really so clueless? When he asked her to deliver the message, Zhang Liang's concubine at least slipped him some money as a token of respect.

When he came to Zhang Qingyuan, did he really think he was a free mouthpiece? Go ahead and beg; let whoever wants to pass on these words do so.

Watching Zhang Qingyuan's figure gradually disappear, the messenger scoffed, flicked his sleeve, found the passage back to the county town, and went back to report.

……

Thousand Spirits City.

Chu Shengfan looked at the lush jungle surrounding him, feeling nothing in particular, since his two source beasts didn't have high requirements for the battle environment.

He silently observed his surroundings for a while, but did not detect the aura of any other contract masters or wild source beasts in the assessment, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This was his twenty-first assessment. His previous scores had varied, so he felt his score was in danger. His combat skills were doing relatively well, but the general knowledge questions were incredibly difficult, and he rarely managed to pass.

It's fair to say that he was somewhat anxious before this assessment.