Chapter 315 - 313: Cleaning House

Sun Rao crashed backward through the ajar door, falling heavily into the room. A bloody scrape trailed across the wooden floor where her knee hit.

"Ah! Sun Rao is hurt!" Zhao Linglong gasped in alarm.

Yang Xun was just pulling out the last silver needle. Without even turning his head, his tone dropped several degrees. "You dare touch my people? You’re asking for death!"

He tucked the final needle into his pouch, stood up, and turned toward the door.

Wang Guangyao was surging into the room with a group of men, a savage sneer on his face. "You little brat. You dare make trouble at the Zhao family’s home? You walked in on your own two feet today, but you’ll be leaving on a stretcher!"

Yang Xun didn’t waste his breath. With a shift of his feet, he shot forward like a blur. He grabbed the arm of the nearest thug, yanking the man toward him while simultaneously slamming his other elbow into the man’s ribs. The crisp crack of fracturing bone was exceptionally loud in the quiet room. Before the man could even scream, he crumpled to the floor, clutching his chest.

Immediately after, Yang Xun dodged a punch from behind with a slight sidestep and delivered a backhanded palm strike to his attacker’s shoulder. The thug flew sideways as if he had been hit by a truck, crashing into the wall and knocking a framed painting to the floor.

Wang Guangyao’s eyes widened in shock. Before he could react, Yang Xun was already standing right in front of him. He grabbed Wang Guangyao by the collar, lifted him entirely off the ground, and mercilessly slammed him downward.

THUD!!

With a heavy thud, Wang Guangyao’s back crashed against the floor, hitting so hard that the entire room seemed to shudder. His mouth fell wide open as ragged, wheezing gasps tore from his throat. It felt as if every bone in his body had shattered.

The remaining thugs were completely paralyzed with fear. Looking at their comrades sprawled across the floor in a tangled mess, and then at the eerily calm young man standing in the center of the room, cold sweat rolled down their cheeks. Their calves trembled uncontrollably.

Yang Xun dusted off his hands, though there was no dirt on them, and swept his gaze over the group. "Who else wants to try?" he asked evenly.

No one answered. No one dared to move an inch.

Just then, a faint cough drifted from the bed. Yang Xun turned around to see that Zhao Hongshan had opened his eyes at some unknown point. Although his gaze was still somewhat murky, he was far more lucid than before. He weakly scanned the room before his eyes settled on Zhao Linglong. His lips moved, producing a hoarse, frail whisper. "Linglong... are you alright?"

Tears instantly welled up in Zhao Linglong’s eyes. She threw herself at the bedside and grasped her father’s withered hand. "Dad! You’re finally awake. I’m fine! Yang Xun came to save us!"

Zhao Hongshan gave a slight nod. Then, with great effort, he propped himself up and fumbled around beneath his pillow to pull out his phone. With trembling fingers, he dialed a number. Once the call connected, his voice, though weak, carried an unquestionable authority. "Old Tang, it’s me. Call the police immediately and bring your men to my house. Yes, right now. I need to clean house."

The person on the other end seemed to ask something. Zhao Hongshan closed his eyes briefly, his raspy voice resolute. "Tell the police that someone is trying to murder me. I won’t say more for now. You’ll understand when you get here."

Hanging up, Zhao Hongshan leaned back against the headboard, his gaze slowly shifting toward the door. There, Wang Guangyao was clutching his chest and scrambling up from the floor, his face stricken with panic and terror.

Wang Xuelian was also standing in the doorway. Her face was as pale as paper and her lips trembled. She had clearly overheard Zhao Hongshan’s phone call. Standing in the shadows of the hallway, Wang Xuelian stared fixedly at the scene inside the room. A chilling dread shot straight from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

"Hongshan... you... you’re awake?" Wang Xuelian forced out a smile that was uglier than crying. She hurried into the room and tried to grab Zhao Hongshan’s hand, but he impassively pulled away.

"If I hadn’t woken up, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even know how I died." Zhao Hongshan didn’t raise his voice, but it carried an icy edge that sent a shiver down Wang Xuelian’s spine.

The smile on Wang Xuelian’s face froze for a second, but she quickly put back on her mask of deep concern. "Your condition was so severe. I was constantly worried about you, which is why I had my brother bring his men to guard you around the clock.

"You have no idea! The moment I heard someone had broken into your room, I rushed over with my brother. Thank goodness you’re alright."

She whirled around to point at Yang Xun and Sun Rao, her voice abruptly rising in pitch. "It’s these two! They trespassed on private property and assaulted my brother! Hongshan, you absolutely cannot let them get away with this!"

Zhao Hongshan ignored her completely. Instead, he turned to look at Zhao Linglong. His gaze landed on the partially faded bruises marring her cheek, and his voice trembled slightly. "Linglong, how did you get those bruises on your face?"

Yang Xun raised an eyebrow. The man had finally noticed the injuries on Zhao Linglong’s face. In truth, when Yang Xun treated Zhao Linglong earlier, he intentionally refrained from healing the bruises on her face just so Zhao Hongshan would see them. He wanted this foolish father to realize how horribly mistaken he had been, and how deeply he had failed his own daughter. Furthermore, he had strictly instructed Zhao Linglong to lay out her grievances in front of Zhao Hongshan, pushing the man to harden his heart against Wang Xuelian and her daughter.

A second later, Zhao Linglong’s lips gave a slight quiver. Casting a glance at Wang Xuelian, she choked back a sob. "Zhao Lili beat me."

"Why did she hit you?" Zhao Hongshan’s voice grew dangerously tight.

"Because Wang Xuelian wanted to force me to marry the Ma family’s foolish son! When I refused, she and her daughter abused me!" Zhao Linglong had always been soft-spoken, but now her voice rang out loud and clear. "After you slipped into a coma, Wang Xuelian locked me up. Terrified I would run away, they chained me up like an animal. Zhao Lili came in every single day to beat me and curse at me, bragging about how they were going to marry me off to that idiot from the Ma family for profit."

Zhao Hongshan’s pupils contracted violently. As if struck by a heavy sledgehammer, his body swayed. He turned his head slowly, fixing his gaze on Wang Xuelian.

Wang Xuelian’s face drained of color as she waved her hands frantically. "Hongshan, you have to listen to me! It’s not like that! Linglong was running wild outside! I only locked her in her room because I was afraid she would get into trouble!"

"Shut up!" Zhao Hongshan’s furious shout caused him to descend into a violent coughing fit. A sickly flush spread across his sallow face.

Zhao Linglong rushed forward and gently patted his back. "Dad, please calm down! You just woke up; you’re too weak to get this angry!"

Yang Xun also stepped forward and pressed a few acupoints on Zhao Hongshan’s back. Channeling a wisp of True Qi into him, he helped settle the older man’s turbulent qi and blood. "Mr. Zhao, your body is still extremely weak. Don’t lose your temper just yet. The truth is out, and she can’t run away."

Zhao Hongshan took several deep breaths, finally managing to recover. He pointed a trembling finger at Wang Xuelian. "Wang Xuelian, I may have appeared to be in a coma all this time, but I had moments of consciousness."

Hearing this, whatever little color was left in Wang Xuelian’s face vanished completely.