Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting from Immortal Martial Arts

Chapter 101 The Battle of the Dead Begins! (Third Update, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Jia Zhen left the small courtyard, summoned people to prepare carriages and horses, and headed straight out of the mansion.

Upon reaching the front courtyard, they were stopped by the Tiger Guard Commander. Zhou Jia frowned as he looked at the Master and said in a deep voice, "The Commander has ordered that due to the recent treacherous situation, no direct descendant of the family is allowed to leave the mansion."

Jia Zhen, reeking of alcohol, said nonchalantly, "Do you think I want to go out? My in-laws are sick, so I have to go visit them. I'll be back before dark."

Zhou Jia shook his head: "Without orders from the general, I dare not allow them to proceed."

"How dare you!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhen flew into a rage and shouted, "As the heir to a noble title from the Ningguo Mansion, do I need your permission to go out and visit my in-laws?"

Zhou Jia sighed and advised, "It's not that I've been granted permission, but rather that I'm acting on the orders of my lord. Please return, sir!"

Jia Zhen was extremely anxious, and his words were full of impatience: "If I can't find my second brother, how can I get permission? If we don't go, it will not only be a disgrace to the mansion, but also to my second brother."

"Besides, everyone's family is here in this capital city, how could there be any danger?"

"Are you really going to give in or not? If this delay ruins the relationship between our families, you won't escape responsibility!"

Zhou Jia's expression changed slightly, and he looked troubled. After hesitating for a moment, he replied, "My lord, please go. I hope you will return before 7 PM, otherwise I will have to go out and look for you."

Jia Zhen immediately replied, "I will definitely return before dark."

Having said that, he took his servant and left in a carriage.

As Zhou Jia watched his departing figure, his eyes twitched, sensing that something unexpected was about to happen to him.

Half an hour later, Jia Rong, who had returned from returning the borrowed items to the West Mansion, looked at the courtyard in front of him with disgust.

As he stepped inside, preparing to rest in a side room, he saw footprints on the door and Qin Keqing and the other two women slumped down, utterly devastated and filled with grief and indignation. He sneered, "Is Master so powerful? The three of you together couldn't handle him?"

Hearing the insults day after day, Qin Keqing could no longer suppress her resentment. It was all because of this good-for-nothing!

"Deal with? When have we ever dealt with anything? And you use your filthy, dark mind to suspect me, yet you dare not raise your voice in respect of the master?"

Jia Rong's face was ashen, and he was shouting at Jia Zhen as if he wanted to die too slowly.

"You shameless harlot, how dare you speak to me like that? Do you really think the master will often favor you?"

"When the master gets tired of you, he'll kick you out of the manor. Then we'll see how I deal with you."

Qin Keqing stared with bloodshot eyes, her face contorted in a terrifying grimace, her voice sharp and hoarse.

"Adulterous woman? I have been married into the Ning family for two years. I have tried my best to deal with you, sir, and have hoped many times that my husband would stand up for me."

"But you coward, you don't even dare to look the master in the eye. It was you who pushed your wife into the fire."

Jia Rong's eyes burned with anger, but what the other party said was true. His lips moved slightly, but he didn't know how to refute it.

Qin Keqing continued, "Let me tell you, since I married into this family, I have remained a virgin. But just now, my master threatened me with my family members and ordered me to go out of the city to serve him."

"And I ask my husband, do you dare to go out of the city and refuse this matter on my behalf?"

Jia Rong's eyes flickered slightly: "Haven't lost your virginity?"

"I dare not pick the fallen petals, I can only guess? My second uncle is not in the mansion, but he will return one day. Today I have fulfilled my master's wish. When the time comes, I will only die, and my family should not be implicated."

"But you, you're a spineless coward your whole life!"

Jia Rong was taken aback upon hearing this. Yes, my second uncle is in charge of the household and he dotes on me a lot.

"Now, disobeying orders will only result in a beating for the master, not a death sentence. If I can survive this ordeal, and my second uncle returns to uphold justice and pass the title to me, then I will be in charge of the household, won't I?"

A beating, and a title in return.

value.

A fierce fire ignited in Jia Rong's eyes. He took a couple of deep breaths, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, I agree."

"When you come back, let me test whether you've bled—"

Qin Keqing laughed through her tears, "I accept my fate."

"That would be best."

Jia Rong took two deep breaths, flicked his robes, and strode out of the mansion.

"My lord, let's use the excuse of visiting my father's family to leave the manor."

Just as Jia Zhen and his son Jia Rong left the city, about half an hour apart, Tian Sha, dressed in black and red brocade, listened with great interest to the scout's report in the dense forest east of Xuanzhen Temple outside the city.

"The Grand Commander, a fourth-generation heir of the Ning Mansion of the Jia family, is currently traveling eastward by carriage from Ningrong Street."

"Why is this good-for-nothing leaving the manor at this time?"

"I am unaware; perhaps it is a trap?"

"Is this a trap?"

Tian Sha shook his head and sighed softly: "Could it be that he knew why we were discussing whether or not to kill Jia Jing, and that triggered a bloodline connection in him?"

"If that's the case, killing Jia Jing will surely bring Jia Tang out."

"How about bringing Jia Zhen along as well?"

The man in the crimson robes chimed in, "The father and son going to the Yellow Springs together is a fine example of filial piety."

"A wonderful story? Wouldn't it be even better if we had Jia Rong too?"

Di Sha nodded thoughtfully: "Tonight, I'll go to the Ning residence and kill him, thus fulfilling the wish of the three generations of the family."

"Fine, whatever you say, we'll go together then."

.——

A moment later, in a hutong outside the East City.

The Earthly Fiend, hidden in the shadows, frowned as he watched Jia Rong linger outside Jia Zhen's door, then gritted his teeth and pushed the door open to enter.

What's going on? How come Jia Rong is here, and he comes running whenever I call him?

Is it true that the three generations of the family traveled together?

"So, I'm saying the Jia family was attacked tonight? Yes, attacked!"

Di Sha muttered to himself, "If it comes true, that would be wonderful."

He instantly flashed into the courtyard and rushed into the house.

After two sobs, the Earthly Fiend emerged carrying two round black gauze bags. Bright red blood soaked through the gauze, dripping onto the ground and shattering upon impact.

As darkness fell, Zhou Jia stood at the foot of the steps in front of the Ningguo Mansion, frequently looking out onto the street.

For some reason, his eyelids kept twitching, and he felt extremely flustered.

Moreover, Jia Zhen and his son, who were supposed to return before 7 PM, have not yet shown up, and the time is fast approaching.

"I was really stupid to listen to Uncle Zhen's words and disobey my lord's orders."

"But Grandpa Rong will probably come back, right? He doesn't have the guts to follow along."

Zhou Jia paced back and forth in front of the door, looking back and forth at both ends of the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jia Zhen and his son.

Even when the moon was high in the sky and a quarter past the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), the two still hadn't returned.

Zhou Jia returned to the mansion, summoned several of his inner-gang comrades, and was about to send someone to search for him when a sharp, piercing sound suddenly came from outside the mansion.

Three jet-black circles streaked across the night sky, striking the half-open protective array light screen above the mansion:

Perhaps because they lacked vital energy, or perhaps because the force was too gentle, the three objects were repelled by the defensive formation and rolled around on the steps in front of the mansion, emitting a faint fishy smell.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Jia and the others narrowed their eyes. One of them, He Shengjia, a junior commander of the Inner Strength faction, floated out of the mansion and carefully examined the surroundings, searching for anything unusual.

After a while, finding nothing, he went up the steps and picked up the item to examine it.

He Shengjia's heart pounded violently, and he had a subconscious feeling that the contents of the three packages made him afraid.

Gently untie the black veil and lift it, you'll see a disheveled head with a deathly pale face, its eyes slightly wide open, its expression filled with disbelief.

He Shengjia froze when he saw the head. His heart felt like it was being squeezed, and an invisible feeling of suffocation suddenly enveloped him, causing his face to turn red, his veins to bulge, and his speech to become stuttering!

"Old Zhou—Zhou, disaster—disaster! Grandpa Zhen has been murdered!"

boom!

The fragmented words struck Zhou Jia and the others, who were separated by a door, like a giant axe hammer, creating a huge uproar!

Was Grandpa Zhen murdered?

Without a second thought, Zhou Jia snapped back to reality and shouted, "Return to your positions immediately and activate the full defensive formation!"

He Shengjia staggered back into the courtyard, carrying three black gauze bags. He held Jia Zhen's head tightly in his arms and, with trembling hands, untied the other two bags!

The heads of Jia Rong and Jia Jing appeared one after the other, their eyes opening with a hint of confusion, as if wondering why anyone would dare to attack them.

The surrounding first-rank commanders froze on the spot upon seeing this, their hearts filled with a chilling cold.

The three eldest sons of the Ningguo Mansion, spanning three generations, were all murdered together.

This...this—

Zhou Jia's eyes narrowed to pinpoints, and his expression of horror froze on his face.

He knew that Jia Jing had assassins from the Qingyun Chamber of Commerce arranged by the General, starting with a team of five-realm warriors, then two inner-realm warriors, and recently an outer-realm warrior was sent!

In such circumstances, to be murdered without causing a ripple suggests that the perpetrators must be multiple late-stage Tier 1 players, or even more likely Tier 2 players!

Zhou Jia came to his senses, took out the Golden Tiger Horn from his bosom, and blew it repeatedly with all his might. Then, taking advantage of the moment when the Golden Tiger Lord leaped to the clouds above the Immortal Capital, he shouted, "Stop thinking about it. If the direct descendant of the family dies, we will die ten thousand times over. But right now, we are guarding the two mansions for our general."

"Issue my order: bring all members of the Jia family from both mansions to the underground secret chamber. Anyone from outside the Jia family who obstructs this process will be executed without mercy!"

"The female relatives included only the old lady, Miss Lin, and Jia Li, a fourth-generation wife from the second wife's family!"

"only!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the colorful light shield above the two mansions suddenly burst into brilliant light, forming a shield that blocked out external sight and sound, illuminating the nearby streets and enveloping the Ning and Rong mansions.

At the same time, the golden tiger in the sky above the capital stared coldly at the majestic city below, opened its ferocious mouth, and roared to the sky!

"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!"

"roar!--"

"roar----"

Three times in a row, three times in a row!

All the civil and military officials in the capital city changed their expressions drastically. Three members of the Jia family's direct line had died!

Amidst this great chaos in Liaodong, some forces couldn't resist taking action against the Jia family!

In that case, Jia Tang might really not be in the capital city!

West of the city, in the study of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Niu Jizong stood with his hands behind his back by the window, his large eyes fixed on the array of the Jia family mansion. Hearing the continuous roars of tigers, his gaze was like a poisoned knife, cold and piercing.

"Well, here comes another ruthless tactic—"

"Of the original eight dukes, after the deaths of the Ning and Rong dukes, the dukes of our various mansions were also besieged and killed. Only the Shi family suffered the most, with their mansion being breached and they have not been able to rise again since."

"The second-generation Duke Ningrong narrowly escaped death to reach the second tier, but he suffered another disaster due to the events in the secret realm involving the third generation."

"Why is my lineage, the founder of this nation and one of the eight prefectures of the capital, so resented?"

Behind him stood a broad-skinned old man, his eyes flashing with a cold light, who sneered, "The Chen family must be behind this. That bastard Chongwu is full of evil schemes!"

Another middle-aged, burly man angrily retorted: "And of course, there are plenty of those damned, peddlers—"

Niu Jizong ignored their words, pondered for a moment, and said, "Yu Yin wrote earlier that if anything changes, there's no need to rush to provide support!"

"I hereby issue this temporary order from my third generation: command the three mansions of Hou and Chen to prepare for battle at the third rank, and the rest of the mansions to stand by at the second rank. If the enemy truly suffers a third-rank defeat, then I will smash the heavens of this Immortal Capital to pieces!"

"All direct descendants have been transferred to the secret passage; Yu Yin will never emerge again!"

The old man and the burly man straightened up, bowed, and accepted the order: "Yes, sir!"

In the Rongguo Mansion, Daiyu stayed in her courtyard.

Lin Daiyu, who was just about to rest, was stunned when she heard the roar and saw the formation being activated. The silver silk robe in her hand slipped straight to the ground.

A tiger's roar? The Golden Tiger?

I heard that when my mother died, my brother also ordered Pi to blow the bugle before he died!

Inside the mansion, was Mao murdered?

Is this a three-tone, four-tone system or a twelve-tone system? If it's twelve-tone—

My brother will be alright. He has the family guards and tiger guards protecting him; he'll be fine.

Lin Daiyu dared not think about it, but tears still fell like beads from a broken string.

Just then, Zijuan rushed in from outside, exclaiming in alarm, "Miss, get up quickly and go to the old lady's room!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu wiped away her tears, suppressing the panic in her heart. She quickly put on a robe and picked up the jade pendant that was placed beside her headrest.

He carried the box and his personal hat to Grandmother Jia's courtyard.

As soon as they stepped out of the main room, they saw He Shengjia with a stern face, leading a group of personal guards.

"Young lady, please come with me."

Lin Daiyu asked, "Where are my maternal grandmother, uncle and aunt, cousins, and sisters?"

He Shengjia bowed slightly and replied, "I have my own arrangements. Please come with me, young lady."

Lin Daiyu nodded, and was about to lead Dou Tou to follow, when she heard the other party say again, "You can only bring one Shi Bian Pi."

"Why—why is this?"

He Shengjia replied, "As per the Commander's order, protect the Jia family bloodline within the manor, as well as you, the old feudal lord, and the fourth generation of wives of the second branch. The rest will remain to guard the manor. Granting this favor is already an act of great kindness."

Having said that, he looked at Zijuan and said, "The Jia family has raised Pi for over a hundred years; he should face death in this calamity!"

Lin Daiyu looked directly into the other person's solemn eyes, a hint of panic flashing in them.

How should we choose? Xueyan and Chunxian were brought from home, while Zijuan was assigned by the manor.

All three of them treated her with utmost respect and took excellent care of her in their daily lives.

When faced with difficulties, how can we give up?

But then she thought that there might not be many people in the manor who could fight back, and they could only protect the important bloodlines. She was originally a woman from another family, and it was only because of her brother's protection that the other party came to invite her. Therefore, she couldn't ask for anything more.

"Young lady, please set off!"

Lin Daiyu glanced at the three girls, who dared not utter a sound, their faces streaked with tears, while tears also welled up in her own eyes.

Suddenly, he remembered his mother Jia Min's teachings: "My son, when faced with trouble, you must remain calm; when faced with difficulty, you must know what to choose and what to discard!"

"When weak, play along; when strong, form alliances!"

Lin Daiyu's thoughts suddenly shifted. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "Chunxian and Xueyan will stay in the courtyard. Zijuan will come with me."

"girl--"

Zijuan stood there dumbfounded upon hearing this, never expecting that she was the one being ordered in the courtyard, while Chunxianxueyan, standing to the side, tearfully accepted the order.

"This servant obeys!"

Lin Daiyu dared not look into the eyes of the two women, silently turned away, and forced a straight face to prevent the tears in her eyes from falling.

When I was six or eight years old, Chunxian and Xueyan came to my side. The three of us, master and servant, have been together for more than ten years and have a deep bond like sisters.

But since Lady Jia, who is not of the same surname, has been protected and favored by the family, how can I still be associated with Lady Lin?

Zijuan is definitely the best choice!