Chapter 3004 — Miss Luan (Our ranking has moved up one place, but we're still four spots away from the top ten in the urban category, dear readers, keep pushing! ***Oh!)

But the Hidden Tang family were all people who cared about face. Though they knew the situation had come about entirely through their own doing, they still could not bring themselves to go to Snow Valley and acknowledge Tang Zhi as one of their own again—especially with Xiaoming still at Snow Valley, which made Tang Lingtou even more afraid to do such a thing behind You Xiaoxin's back. If You Xiaoxin found out, she would certainly fly into a rage and raise a tremendous fuss.

But now the moment had come to decide whether the Hidden Tang family would live or die; face and all such things could be cast aside. Tang Taizhong's tone had already softened first—what face did Tang Lingtou still have to cling to?

"How about I make a trip to Snow Valley and bring Xiaoming back?" Tang Lingtou hesitated a moment, looked at Tang Taizhong, and asked.

In truth, bringing Xiaoming back was the same as acknowledging Tang Zhi, and that would make him Wei Zhao's father-in-law. Surely Wei Zhao would not disown his own family?

"Don't you dare!" Before Tang Taizhong could say anything, You Xiaoxin indeed flew into a rage and vetoed it outright: "Is that slut still on your mind?"

"Smack!" Tang Taizhong frowned, deeply displeased with this daughter-in-law of his, but before he could open his mouth to rebuke her, Tang Lingtou lost his patience first and dealt her a slap across the face: "The men are talking—what business does a woman have butting in? You slut, if you hadn't kept rejecting Xiaoming all this time, would our family be in this state? Xiaoming's daughter is Tang Zhi! She is Senior Lin's woman. With Senior Lin's support, our Hidden Tang family might well become the Ancient Tang family!"

"You... you... you hit me?" You Xiaoxin had not taken in a word of what Tang Lingtou said after that. She was instantly enraged, pointed at Tang Lingtou, and cursed: "I—I'm going back to my parents' home to tell my father that you hit me!"

"Enough! You Xiaoxin, stop this nonsense!" Tang Taizhong finally could not hold back and spoke up to rebuke her: "The Hidden You family can barely save itself! Do you think your father is some great hero? Before Senior Wei Zhao, he's nothing but a fart! Senior Lin told him to wipe out the Hidden Zhao family, and he had to do it, or he would die himself! But he was lucky enough to get a chance to be Senior Lin's dog and settle the grudge. Our Hidden Tang family is the one lagging behind!"

Scolded thus by Tang Taizhong, You Xiaoxin suddenly came to her senses. Yes—Wei Zhao was no longer the Wei Zhao of old. The Hidden You family, which she had always regarded as her great patron, was nothing but a dog to be ordered about before Wei Zhao.

At that thought, You Xiaoxin shut her mouth and dared not say another word.

"Grandfather, I support Father's proposal. I'll go with him to Snow Valley to acknowledge the kinship. Even if we can't bring Aunt Xiaoming back, at least relations will ease, and my relationship with Aunt Xiaoming is decent, after all!" Tang Yuyi spoke up: "As for Wei Zhao, my relationship with him is passable too. I wonder if he might do me a favor? Of course, if Sister Tang Zhi helps, then there will surely be no problem."

"Good, then!" Tang Taizhong nodded in approval and patted Tang Yuyi on the shoulder: "Yuyi, it seems now that you were the most far-sighted of us all in the Hidden Tang family. Back then you were on good terms not only with your Aunt Xiaoming but with Senior Wei Zhao as well. This way our Tang family can not only settle the grudge but perhaps rise another level! Xiaoxin, look at how capable your son is! Not like you, petty and small-minded! If Xiaoming comes back this time, her status in this house will be the same as yours—she'll count as a co-wife. If you dare to bully her, then get back to the Hidden You family and wait to die—don't drag our Hidden Tang family down with you!"

At the thought that they might win Wei Zhao's support and the Hidden Tang family would soar to prosperity, Tang Taizhong felt that the Hidden You family's paltry help and influence were not worth mentioning at all!

You Xiaoxin nodded meekly and no longer dared to make a scene. Even at her stupidest, she could see that Wei Zhao was now more powerful than the Hidden You family and the Hidden Tang family alike; to offend Wei Zhao would be to bring ruin upon the family: "Father, rest assured, I won't dare again! But you should also thank me for giving birth to Yuyi. If not for him, where would we have gotten the chance to approach Wei Zhao?"

"Mm..." Tang Taizhong nodded, his anger somewhat abated, and said: "Then it's settled. Lingtou, Yuyi, pack up and head for Snow Valley. The sooner this is done, the better. Otherwise, if Senior Wei Zhao has free time and decides to make our Hidden Tang family his first target, we'll be caught unprepared!"

"Understood!" Tang Lingtou and Tang Yuyi hastily assented.

However, the Hidden Tang family were worrying over nothing. Wei Zhao hardly remembered the things that had happened at the Hidden Tang family at all. His memory was disordered because of the Wangqing Grass potion, and he could not even clearly recall what grudge he had with the Hidden Tang family, so there was even less chance of him going to make trouble for them.

……………………

Five Luminaries Sect.

In the reception hall of the Five Luminaries Sect, Patriarch Xuanchen was receiving three figures from the secular world. But for Patriarch Xuanchen to receive them in person, the identities of these three were certainly no ordinary matter!

"Patriarch Xuanchen, your fame precedes you!" Among the three, the leader was a young woman—young to an excessive degree. Facing Patriarch Xuanchen at this moment, her manner was neither servile nor overbearing, clearly that of one who had weathered great storms.

"Miss Luan, I'm afraid you only heard the name Xuanchen recently, no? It is I who have long heard of your fame! Head of the Center—the largest human potential research organization overseas!" Patriarch Xuanchen laughed heartily and nodded to the young woman before him.

"Don't call me Miss Luan. I'm probably about as old as you are." The woman called Miss Luan spoke faintly: "I wonder what business Patriarch Xuanchen has with me, that you sought me out through An Liwen?"

"Forgive my bluntness. Earlier I could only guess that behind the Fire Wolf Gang and the Red Conch there existed another, larger and more high-end organization, and that the Fire Wolf Gang and the Red Conch sounded more like branches of some organization. Thinking it over, only the Center—that organization once at its zenith—seemed comparable." Patriarch Xuanchen said: "So, with a try-it-and-see attitude, I invited you through An Liwen."

"I never imagined that after the former Center was destroyed, I kept such a low profile, and yet Patriarch Xuanchen still pieced together the Fire Wolf Gang, the Red Conch, and our Center from the clues!" Miss Luan smiled and said.

"Few things in this world can be hidden from me. Many years ago I already took note of this Center, but since it had little to do with the cultivation world, I did not make contact. Later I heard it had been wiped out—but it seems not. What was destroyed was only the surface." Patriarch Xuanchen said: "Miss Luan, the head of the Center who was destroyed back then was merely one of your pieces, was she not? Just like the Fire Wolf Gang and the Red Conch now?" (To be continued)