Chapter 2354 - 2327: Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

"Zhiwen, don’t blame me. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself. I told you, this time the Tang Family must be united. Blame yourself for not being on the same side as me."

Tang Fengxing said with a savage look on his face, "Rest assured, just go peacefully! I will take good care of your family for you."

As he spoke, Tang Fengxing’s True Qi surged and violently shattered Tang Zhiwen’s internal organs.

"You... you are so ruthless."

Tang Zhiwen widened his eyes, desperately trying to lift his hand to grab Tang Fengxing, but he could no longer do so.

"Don’t blame me, blame yourself. It was your own choice."

As Tang Fengxing spoke, his True Qi surged again, directly blasting Tang Zhiwen’s body away.

After witnessing this scene, Tang Liangcai and the others were completely stunned. They never thought Tang Fengxing would make a deadly move so decisively and directly kill Tang Zhiwen.

Tang Fengxing didn’t even bother to look at the lifeless body; he turned around and sat back in the chair, his expression unchanged, as if he had just killed an ant instead of his own kin.

Slowly, he took a cigarette from the pack on the table, lit it for himself, then looked at Tang Liangcai and the others and said, "Do you think I’m inhuman, even killing my own brother?"

As Tang Fengxing’s calm voice sounded, everyone slowly recovered from their shock, glanced at the lifeless body of Tang Zhiwen on the ground, and couldn’t help but shiver, then hurriedly shook their heads. Although Tang Zhiwen was their brother, there’s an old saying that fits the situation well: when one dies, the lights go out. It wasn’t worth it to offend Tang Fengxing over Tang Zhiwen.

Especially now that Tang Fengxing was in a crazed state. If they dared say anything against him, Tang Fengxing would definitely not hesitate to slaughter them. This was evident from how casually Tang Fengxing had killed Tang Zhiwen.

Tang Fengxing keenly observed the changes in the four people’s expressions, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. This smile, though small, made Tang Liangcai and the others tremble uncontrollably once again, their bodies filled with icy fear.

Tang Fengxing couldn’t be bothered with their reactions, and slowly began to speak: "I know you all think what I did was cruel. After all, Zhiwen was part of the Tang Family, loyal and dutiful, and I was his brother, someone who grew up playing with him."

"Even if he didn’t participate, I shouldn’t have killed him!"

"But..."

At this point, Tang Fengxing’s tone abruptly changed: "But do you know if there are spies from the Lu Family amidst us in Shu, or if anyone in the Tang Family has been infiltrated? If this issue gets exposed and Zhiwen falls into the Lu Family’s hands, have you thought about our predicament?"

"The Lu Family harbors deep hatred against our Tang Family, there’s no need for me to remind you. I believe you all clearly understand that!"

Tang Fengxing said heavily: "If Zhiwen falls into the Lu Family’s hands, there’s no doubt they would use coercion to extract all our information from him, disclose it to the Lu Family, and let him lead them into Shu. Do you understand what will become of us?"

Listening to Tang Fengxing’s words, everyone’s face instinctively changed. Tang Zhiwen was indeed a key member of the Tang Family, otherwise, he wouldn’t be here tonight. If Tang Zhiwen truly fell into the Lu Family’s hands, given the Lu Family’s methods, extracting information from him would be effortless.

Moreover, Tang Zhiwen was privy to a lot of the Tang Family’s secrets. Should the Lu Family have him lead them into Shu, it really would be like adding wings to a tiger — so easy it couldn’t be simpler.

"That’s why, no matter what, Zhiwen must die; he must not be allowed to leave."

Tang Fengxing said ruthlessly, "We must minimize the risk, or better yet, eliminate it entirely, because this time, we can’t afford to lose, we absolutely must not lose."

"But there’s no need to kill him, we can just imprison him..."

"Imprison him?"

Tang Fengxing sneered, "How would that work? If we imprison him and he goes missing, what will others think? And then when rumors spread throughout the Tang Family, what should we do?"

"But now that he’s dead..."

"By killing him, we can frame someone else!"

A ruthless gleam flashed in Tang Fengxing’s eyes: "The Lu Family has always wanted to make a move against us Tang Family, right? We can simply announce to the outside world that Lu Tianxing attempted to assassinate me, and in a moment of crisis, Zhiwen stepped forward to protect me and was tragically killed. Isn’t that perfect?"

"Let the Lu Family bear this burden, let Lu Tianxing carry it, and at the same time, incite others within the Tang Family to resist."

Tang Fengxing’s voice reached the extreme of icy coldness: "Let them understand, not resisting is a path to death!"

"If they resist, there’s a chance for survival!"

Listening to Tang Fengxing’s cruel words, Tang Liangcai and the others couldn’t help but inhale sharply, feeling a chill down their spines as if a haunting wind had passed through.

They weren’t fools, not brainless; they could understand that today, anyone who didn’t agree to Tang Fengxing’s proposal would die, no matter who they were.

Because it took the death of one person, especially a Tang Family member, to stir the resistance mindset in the rest of the Tang Family, making them understand — if they don’t resist, the Lu Family won’t spare them; if they resist, there’s hope of surviving!

For a moment, Tang Liangcai and the others felt a wave of relief for their wise choice, but while celebrating their own fortune, they also mourned for Tang Zhiwen. Tang Fengxing had become totally obsessed, and the Lu Family, Lu Tianxing had become an indelible shadow in his heart; the only way that shadow would vanish was to destroy the Lu Family, to eliminate Lu Tianxing.

Tang Zhiwen, choosing to dissuade Tang Fengxing, was like placing his head under a falling guillotine, facing inevitable death.

Furthermore, Tang Zhiwen’s death had another meaning—serving as a warning to the others. Tang Zhiwen was the chicken, and they were the monkeys; his death was used by Tang Fengxing to tell them not to try to resist his decision, or else, they’d end up like Tang Zhiwen.

Yet, suddenly, everyone couldn’t help but wonder — what if Tang Zhiwen hadn’t opposed Tang Fengxing, but agreed instead?

In that case, what would Tang Fengxing have done — would he have killed Tang Zhiwen?

Though they wondered, none dared ask Tang Fengxing what he would do if Tang Zhiwen agreed.