aircannonsinc Chapter 52: Challenging Me?
Chapter 52: Challenging Me?
Chapter 52: Challenging Me?
Heaven have mercy.
Having searched through the vast historical records of the Yi Qi Dao Alliance, has there ever been an alliance leader who was so fierce, so unconventional, and so—leaving no room for maneuver?
This is not a discussion, not a notice, this is clearly a threat—without any attempt to conceal it!
But what can they do?
Fight? What a joke! What could we possibly use to fight? The battle in the Southern Territory has already elevated this person's strength to a near-mythical level. How could anyone possibly match him with human power?
Hidden tricks, manipulation of power, sabotage, and underhanded tactics? The other side disdains to engage, directly overturning the chessboard and crushing all rules with the most ruthless force! The Xiao family is a bloody lesson from the past.
They couldn't even find the other party's "weakness." Alone and unattached, without a large family to maintain or complex sectarian interests to balance, Ziran was completely free. They wanted to attack, to coerce, to find a weakness, but found themselves facing a sheer, impenetrable wall, with nowhere to even find a foothold.
The people in the hall—representatives of aristocratic families, elders of the Dao Alliance—exchanged glances, their eyes filled with helplessness and bitterness, which ultimately turned into a silent sigh in their hearts and a head shaking quietly in the shadows.
Yang Yixun acted extremely quickly. Or rather, the Yang family, having been suppressed for too long, displayed astonishing efficiency.
Years ago, at the wedding of Yang Yan, the eldest daughter of the Yang family, Xiao Wancheng forcibly took away the Yang family's son-in-law on trumped-up charges in front of everyone. That humiliation and resentment were deeply ingrained in the Yang family's blood. Now, the tables have turned, and it's time to settle old scores and new grudges all at once!
The entire Xiao family, along with their long-established vassals, henchmen, and retainers, were all exposed and thrown into the most heavily guarded prison of the Dao Alliance in a short period of time.
The Yang family was quite upright, or rather, they disdained to do such despicable things as framing and slander. What they did was simply to investigate, verify, and record one by one the "real things" the Xiao family had done over the years.
However, what they discovered upon investigation was shocking, even to Yang Yixun, who was accustomed to the sordid affairs of powerful families. The Xiao family, abusing their supervisory power, had framed countless individuals for "colluding with demons" to suppress dissent and expand their influence, causing countless families to be torn apart and countless cultivators to suffer injustice. Now that the Xiao family had fallen, those who had dared not speak out in the past were stepping forward, offering their tearful accusations.
In the end, the entire Xiao family, from the head of the family and elders to the core members, could not find a single truly clean and innocent person! They committed all sorts of evil deeds, oppressed the good, framed the loyal, and seized by trickery and force—their crimes were too numerous to list.
In just one day, Yang Yixun personally presented Zhou Yi with a heavy investigation file stained with blood, tears, and sin. The file was so thick and its contents so horrifying that Yang Yixun's fingers trembled slightly as he handed it over.
The main hall of the One Qi Dao Alliance.
Now, in accordance with the preferences of the Book of Changes, the decorations symbolizing strict hierarchy in the hall have been removed, and a huge circular table has been placed in the center. The name of the hall has also been changed to the more straightforward "Council Hall." Everyone sat around the table, but the atmosphere was more solemn than at any previous formal meeting.
Zhou Yi sat in the main seat, facing the entrance. He took the thick dossier handed to him by Yang Yixun, casually flipped through a few pages, his gaze sweeping over the heinous crimes listed, his face showing little expression.
"Smack."
He casually tossed the file onto the clean tabletop with a soft thud.
"Where is he?" he asked, his voice flat.
"Reporting to the Alliance Leader, they have all been imprisoned and are under strict guard," Yang Yixun replied with a bow.
"Bring them all here." Zhou Yi pointed to the wide white marble plaza outside the council hall. "The area in front is quite large, and the lighting is good. Right there, kill them all."
"————Huh?" Yang Yixun looked up abruptly, almost thinking he had misheard.
Not only him, but also the heads of various families and high-ranking officials sitting around the table were all shocked and looked at Zhou Yi in disbelief.
Yang Yixun's Adam's apple bobbed as he struggled to speak: "Alliance... Alliance Leader—that's—over a thousand people! All—all killed?" His voice trembled without him even realizing it.
"You've got it wrong, Yang Yixun." Zhou Yi looked up at him, his gaze calm and unwavering. "It wasn't me who ordered you to kill. It was the files you found that told me these thousands of people were all heinous criminals, deserving of death according to the law. As the leader of the Dao Alliance, is there a problem with me ordering the execution of death row inmates according to the law?"
He paused, his tone turning cold: "Or are you saying that your case file—is falsified?"
"No! Every word in the case file is true, there's absolutely no falsehood!" Yang Yixun broke out in a cold sweat, hastily defending himself. The contents of the case file could indeed withstand scrutiny, but "execution of everyone"—the implications were far too wide, the shock too great! Everyone makes mistakes; what if one or two crimes didn't warrant death, or what if the widespread repercussions caused a backlash?
Zhou Yi ignored him and continued issuing orders: "Send out all those guards who are standing watch and putting on a show outside. Announce to the whole city that I, the Alliance Leader, will publicly execute the Xiao family's criminals today in the square in front of the council hall. Anyone who wants to watch, feel free to come and observe."
"Furthermore, from now on, there will be no need for any guards to stand watch outside this council chamber."
"Do I need their protection? They could do something else with this time instead of just standing there. Everyone, get out of here."
His gaze swept over the pale-faced crowd, then he dropped an even bigger bombshell: "Go and erect a huge drum in the center of the square. The biggest one, the loudest one. Call it—'The Drum of Grievance.'"
"From this day forward, any cultivator or mortal, regardless of background or social status, who has grievances, injustices, or has suffered unfair treatment with no recourse, may appeal to the authorities."
His voice rang clearly in everyone's ears, like thunder: "Go ahead and beat this drum."
"I will personally take charge for them."
"boom--!"
These words were like a bombshell dropped into everyone's hearts! Who among those sitting in this council hall wasn't backed by a powerful and influential family? Even if they themselves acted with integrity, who could guarantee that within such a large and influential family, there wasn't a single arrogant and domineering member? And that there weren't a few shady secrets hidden within?
The erection of this "drum of grievance" was like hanging a sharp sword over the heads of all the powerful families, ready to fall at any moment!
"Alliance Leader! This matter—" Immediately, a family head could not contain himself and stood up to speak.
Zhou Yi simply raised his hand casually, and an invisible, gentle yet irresistible force pressed the person back into their seat, silencing all the words of dissuasion that were about to be uttered.
"My mind is made up." His voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable determination. "Further words are pointless."
He gently tapped the Xuan Tie Alliance Leader's Token, which he always kept by his side, onto the smooth table with a soft "thud." The sound wasn't loud, but it made everyone's hearts skip a beat.
"If there is any one of you here—" His gaze slowly swept across the entire room, and no one dared to meet his eyes, "who is confident that they can defeat me and take over my position as leader of the alliance—"
"Then, from now on, all matters, large and small, of the Dao Alliance shall be handled according to his wishes."
He paused, giving everyone a moment of silence.
"If there is no————"
His voice suddenly turned sharp, like an ice blade drawn from its sheath: "Then do as I say!"
"Alliance Leader!" A cold, angry female voice rang out. It belonged to Qingmu Ying, one of only two female family heads in the hall, the head of the Qingmu family. Her brows furrowed, she stood up abruptly, and stared directly at Zhou Yi: "Don't you think you're being too domineering and tyrannical?"
"Even as the leader of the alliance, wielding power, this is a council hall where we should gather our wisdom and opinions. How can you—how can you act so unilaterally, treating us as if we don't exist? How is this any different from a one-man show?!"
"overbearing?"
Zhou Yi seemed to have heard something interesting and repeated it softly. Then, he pressed down very slightly with his right index finger, which was resting on the table.
"boom--!"
An indescribable, terrifying magical force, mixed with the pure killing intent refined from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, swept across the entire council hall without warning, like a volcano that had been dormant for millennia suddenly erupting or an endless sea of stars collapsing.
In an instant, everyone sitting around, regardless of their cultivation level or social status, froze in place!
Their consciousness was crystal clear; they could "see" and "hear" everything around them, even feel their wildly beating hearts and taut muscles. Yet, they had completely lost control of their bodies! It was as if their souls had been forcibly ripped away and imprisoned within a cold shell. They tried to get up, but their magic was frozen; they tried to speak, but their vocal cords were frozen; even moving their eyes was a luxury!
Time seemed to stretch out infinitely in the torment of consciousness, yet it also seemed to pass in a fleeting moment.
As the suffocating magical field and murderous aura receded like a tide, everyone shuddered, regaining control of their bodies. Their faces were deathly pale, their backs were soaked with cold sweat, and they were panting heavily, with lingering horror in their eyes.
"That's what you call domineering."
"I think I've been very gentle, gentle enough that you can still sit here, and you can still stand here and challenge me."
Zhou Yi withdrew his finger, his tone returning to its previous calm, as if the awe-inspiring power he had just displayed was merely an illusion.
His gaze fell on Aoki Emi, whose face was pale and whose delicate body trembled slightly, yet she still stood up with great determination, and then slowly swept over the crowd who were still in shock.
"Do as I say."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the weight of a final conclusion.
"What council chamber—"
He paused, a cold smile curving his lips.
"From today onwards, the name is changed to 'One-Man Show'."
"Let you lot continue to control the Dao Alliance, playing those underhanded tricks, checking and balancing each other to maintain that ridiculous equilibrium."
His self-awareness was sharp as a knife, as if it could cut through all pretense and see directly into the filth of people's hearts.
"I'll give you another thousand years, ten thousand years—"
"The One Qi Alliance is still the same hopeless mess it is!"
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The author will do anything!