Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 841: Chapter 637: The Days of Only Being Able to Tell the Truth Are So Painful!

Hill stood still, looking coldly at An Ran. How did he manage to cultivate such a thick skin?

If it weren’t for the fact that he could sense the guy’s words, though disgusting, came from a good place, Hill could have sent him to the Heavenly Court right now.

An Ran quickly realized something was amiss and then figured out what it meant not to lie in front of him: This Archmage probably had the same ability as that Great Sorcerer of the royal family, able to judge whether the person in front of him was speaking the truth.

It’s that kind of hypocrisy, which seems to also be considered a lie!

But he was originally an exaggerating businessman; being one-tenth exaggerative was his instinct!

That’s really embarrassing! An Ran couldn’t control the cold sweat trickling down, although he hadn’t coordinated with the Family Head, their clan leader would certainly do so!

An Ran looked up at the sky, raising his hand decisively, ”Although what I’m saying now is just my own judgment, I can guarantee our clan leader will definitely do so! We are not afraid to swear!

Every word I say now is true!

The An Family is at a critical juncture concerning the family future; anyone daring to cause trouble at this time won’t have a way out, not even the clan leader.

In noble clans, people never outweigh the importance of the family.

Even if I die here today, it remains the same. Revenge can be had, but if it sacrifices the family’s interests, then I’m just an unlucky dead fatty!

If today’s calculation only involves me... well, then truly, I’ll be a dead fatty.”

Looking at Hill’s pensive expression, An Ran didn’t mind revealing some family secrets, straining his facial fat to try to smile like a flower at Hill, ”Mr. Polanio, have you decided where to go?”

Hill paused, turned his head, and continued forward. However, Fatty An had achieved part of his goal, and Hill’s anger indeed decreased a bit.

Better go find the enemies he can confirm first.

”Where is that Lin Yi’s family they mentioned?” Hill asked coldly, as he wouldn’t forget about this person.

”The Lin Family is a great sea merchant. However, they rose to prominence later; noble clans generally wouldn’t pay attention to such nouveau rich families. So they follow Prefect Bai assigned to Haidong Province, out of consideration for Witch Bai’s face, the big noble clans in Haidong yield to many matters.

Lin Yi’s original name was Lin Jiezhi, the legitimate eldest son of the Lin Family.

Although they try to pose as a northern noble family, everyone knows the truth. Thus, other clans send wastrel children to accompany Young Master Bai, whereas the Lin Family offers their best kid to be a lackey.

But also because he is the most outstanding among them, over the years, he has almost become the brains of this gang, leading them to do many disgusting things.

Many noble families actually plan to settle scores with them after Bai Family is gone, and the Lin Family’s business in Haidong has been suppressed. Let alone our Treasure Pavilion, even the two-tier noble clans’ merchant associations can’t compare with them.

However, with Prefect Bai’s favor, they have been able to obtain lower-level witchcraft instruments; only in terms of financial strength, actually, they are not far off from third-tier noble clans.

In the past, noble clans didn’t bother with the Lin Family, either thinking of settling scores later or imagining they would roll off with Bai Family. Who could have thought their status was inappropriate?

Certainly not betraying later; the Lin Family, despite doing many wrong things, in terms of strength, has reached the pinnacle a humble family can achieve, mainly because Bai Family has few people; Witch Bai has been among the Three Great Sorcerers for just over two hundred years.

If the Lin Family is the despised nouveau rich humble family in Shulong, then Bai Family is the bloody flower blooming in the swamp.

Mr. Polanio must understand what I mean. Without enough cruelty, even among the always unchosen Three Great Sorcerers by noble clans, one can’t sit atop.

That Witch Bai, knowing what his grandson did, would likely just think of ways to wipe out the whole family; he’s not the only child, although Prefect Bai is indeed one of the most favored few, but... heh, it’s not much.

An Ran too heard that statement, ”As for the Lin Family, upon hearing that statement, I notified the family. Now the Family Head has definitely sent people to surround Lin Family tightly, no one would be able to escape!

No matter what their family’s purpose is, they are deeply hostile towards our An Family!

And as for that Lin Yi, as long as he’s in the city, An Family can surely root him out!”

”Once out of the city, you can’t find him?” Hill sneered. Did he not hear the hidden meaning in this guy’s words?

”Mr. Polanio.” After a few seconds of silence, An Ran sincerely said, ”Haidong is really too close to the Earth Dragon Kingdom. If that guy acts quickly or has any ’Journey Through Thousands Miles’ talisman, once in Earth Dragon, we won’t have much recourse.

We can only issue a reward, relying on those adventurers to kill him for money.

But the fear is... he’s not truly Lin Jiezhi; it’s not really his true guise. Lin Yi, we always thought it was his nickname, but what if it’s truly his name... who knows, after leaving Shulong, whether he’s human or ghost.”

This guy An Ran, after seemingly discovering Hill’s abilities, had a lot more sincerity in his words.

Hill turned his head to glance at him, ”Those who directly confront me, I won’t let them go.”

”Of course! Of course!” An Ran pondered, ”That is, Benevolence City is quite large, even so, Mr. Polanio surely wouldn’t walk there?

I’ll go call for An Family’s...

Oh. Never mind.”

An Ran watched as Hill left the suspended carriage ahead, having to abandon the idea of seizing an opportunity to inform the family once more.

He was a bit worried about the Lin Family.

In the Shulong Empire, the Nine National Guardian Cauldrons suppressed the nation’s fate.

One of these cauldrons is connected to surnames, which is the foundation of the noble clans’ existence. No matter how many ideas the Emperor has, noble clans can never be eliminated.

If someone wants to eradicate a noble clan from the Empire, unless the surname is removed from the National Guardian Cauldron, it sounds simple, but trying to tamper with the National Guardian Cauldron would consume the nation’s fate, enough to cause a change of dynasty.

No Emperor of Shulong has ever gone so mad. But the Emperors have strategies; they used the Law related to the National Guardian Cauldron and surnames: as long as one is within Shulong’s domain, only real names can be used, not only for signing contracts but also for registration – no falsifying.

But the noble clans also have countermeasures; many people have multiple names and characters, plus various titles, as long as they have been reported to Heaven and Earth, they can pass through.

But doing so is fine daily; when signing a contract witnessed by the Law, it becomes troublesome since everything must be clearly stated, and missing even one is useless.

That being said, this Law is indeed beneficial for the Empire’s security, at least making it very difficult for spies from other continents to enter Shulong.

However, it’s different within the same continent, not to mention the Earth Dragon Kingdom sharing common roots, there’s also the Wo Empire, which never gave up on the continent!

The surname Lin... People in both the Wo Empire and Earth Dragon Kingdom use it.

An Ran is really worried. If it’s the Wo people, the An Family will have no reaction; they would just kill them upon sight.

But the Earth Dragon...

To put it bluntly, which family in the South doesn’t have blood from over there in the Earth Dragon?

Although the Shulong Empire has always been strong, if it could split into an Earth Dragon, it’s possible for another Sea Dragon to appear.

The An Family, though having no ambition to rule, certainly hopes there won’t be a day where they have to die with the Empire.

An Ran isn’t sure what the deal with the Lin Family is; the only thing he can be sure of is they definitely aren’t part of the An Family.

But he can’t say for sure that the guards surrounding the Lin Family don’t have any issues either.

An Ran looked at the two Weapon Masters who followed the carriage for a few seconds, then hurried to catch up.

Hill handed him the control Crystal Ball of the carriage: ”The location of the Lin Family.”

Holding the Crystal Ball, An Ran discovered that the map of Benevolence City inside was very accurate.

After marking it, he couldn’t help but glance up at Hill. How was this drawn? The Shulong Empire doesn’t sell such precise maps; dignitaries aren’t willing to have everyone know where they live.

This Great Mage exhibited power that was somewhat too formidable. Could he be an incarnation of some deity?

But that’s impossible!

While the Heavenly Court dislikes meddling in terrestrial affairs, they strongly dislike deities from other God Systems overstepping bounds. If such an existence appeared, surely there would be a deity sent to expel them.

The prowess demonstrated by Great Mage Polanio makes it very likely for the Nine Walkers to descend directly.

Even sitting in Hill’s large carriage, An Ran felt restless. The stronger Hill’s power, theoretically, the better it should be for the An Family.

Yet the affair with the Treasure Pavilion has already caused this Great Mage to be very displeased with the An Family. An Ran could sense that disregard, which was a doubt about the entire An Family’s strength.

To be frank, even if the An Family is innocent in this matter, it only proves their incompetence.

If they were to completely lose the favor of Great Mage Polanio due to something else, what the An Family stands to lose is more than just visible wealth.

One can only hope the Family Head acts with more precision... Alas! After wielding power in Haidong for so many years, even the An Family has overlooked some small matters, and the face lost today is already significant enough, hopefully not more will be lost.

An Ran sighed repeatedly to himself. His ability to be all things to all people was rendered useless before this Great Mage who could see the truth directly.

He still remembered, not even evasiveness would work.

An Ran hadn’t been this cautious about speaking the truth in a long time! In business, who doesn’t come up with lies at the drop of a hat? The truth is rarely spoken!

Even those previous words nearly exhausted him, being used to sprinkling in embellishments, such straightforward talk is indeed grueling!

An Ran didn’t notice that the Little Fairies that had already flown into the grand hall from Hill’s pocket were all looking at him sympathetically: No one understands the pain of this fat merchant better than the Little Fairies.

Facing a friend who knows every word you say is true or false can sometimes be truly distressing, especially for the Little Fairies who habitually lie—they have to swallow their words back after speaking them, which is really exhausting!