78: Penalties

No one expected that Lin Xuanfeng would plead for Zhou Luo, and thinking about how he came out with the Family Head earlier, could it be the Family Head's intention?

Thinking this, everyone who had originally wanted to say something chose to remain silent.

"How should we handle it leniently?" Lin Tianxiong asked.

Lin Xuanfeng seemed to have already prepared his words, speaking neither too quickly nor too slowly: "Deduct three years of salary, cancel all privileges within three years, and administer twenty lashes."

Three years of salary meant that for these three years, he would no longer receive support from the Zhou Family.

As for privileges, they referred to benefits such as cultivating in the Spirit Vein Blessed Land and discounts enjoyed when purchasing items on a daily basis.

Moreover, this meant his whole Family would have to move out of Zhou Garden again.

The most important thing was the twenty lashes; these were not ordinary lashes but administered with a spiritual thorn whip. With Zhou Luo's frail Physique, it was hard to say if he could withstand it.

This punishment was neither light nor heavy.

After all, the Zhou Family had lost a First-Order Upper Grade Array Formation Master.

The Elders present did not speak, as they were unsure if this was the Family Head's intention.

Just then, the Great Elder, who had been silent all along, spoke.

"There are extenuating circumstances for this matter, and the punishment is still too severe. If this gets out, who would dare to have the heart to explore and experiment in the future?" His voice was calm but full of power.

As soon as he spoke, the Second Elder also followed up: "I also don't think it warrants this. After all, no one wants accidents to happen."

Lin Xuanfeng leaned back in his chair, lowering his head, and remained silent.

The other Elders of the Main Family faction were about to retort when Lin Tianxiong directly spoke: "Since that's the case, then only deduct five years of salary and administer ten lashes."

Although these words seemed to increase the Time, they canceled the privilege penalty. For an Alchemist, this was actually not very heavy, and most importantly, the punishment changed from twenty lashes to ten lashes.

Lin Tianxiong's words slightly startled the Elders present; no one expected the Family Head to compromise so quickly.

The Elders belonging to the Main Family faction exchanged glances and chose to acquiesce.

With a decision reached, the next step was for the Law Enforcement Hall to implement it. The other Elders rose and left one after another.

Walking out of the council hall, several Elders quickly walked towards the Great Elder without any reservations.

Among them, the Seventh Elder, Lin Guangping, said in a low voice: "Great Elder, there's something fishy about this matter."

The other Elders also nodded in agreement.

This time, the Main Family was clearly handling this matter leniently.

But Zhou Luo was obviously their person; the Main Family should have seized the opportunity to suppress him severely.

Unless Zhou Luo had already defected to the Main Family faction.

Facing these words, the Great Elder's expression was calm; he merely said: "Zhou Luo is a good seedling. Let's talk about it after he returns."

"But..."

Several Elders still wanted to say something, but the Great Elder was clearly uninterested in this matter and stopped them with his gaze.

Under the plaque at the entrance of the council hall, Lin Xuanfeng stood leaning there with his arms crossed, looking at them with a gloomy expression.

After a long while, the Family Head, Lin Tianxiong, walked out from inside.

"The Great Elder is truly capable of keeping his composure," Lin Xuanfeng said with emotion.

According to his original plan, once the Main Family faction spoke up for Zhou Luo, it would easily make the Great Elder suspect if Zhou Luo had defected to the Main Family.

If the matter of poisoning and killing Lin Xianlong was not arranged by the Great Elder, then he definitely wouldn't plead for Zhou Luo.

But he still pleaded for him, even though the Main Family had already started to favor Zhou Luo, he still spoke up.

Could it be that he really planned everything?

Lin Xuanfeng couldn't see through it for now, but everything wasn't over yet. Even if the other party had planned everything, he could still sow discord between the two.

The Family Head, Lin Tianxiong, was not interested in these words. He said expressionlessly: "Tomorrow I will have Lin Xi and a few others go there. If Zhou Luo cannot be won over, tell Lin Tianfang not to show mercy."

"Yes," Lin Xuanfeng bowed and agreed.

...

Towards the evening, Zhou Luo received the Zhou Family's punishment.

Such a result was somewhat beyond his expectation.

Because it was a bit too light.

This, on the contrary, made him unsure of the Zhou Family's attitude.

According to his calculations, the Main Family and the Great Elder's sides should have argued endlessly over this matter and finally issued a relatively severe punishment.

But now it seemed that both sides had quickly reached an agreement.

Could it be that the Main Family wanted to win him over by this means?

Zhou Luo fell into contemplation.

If he could join the Main Family's camp, it might be a good thing for his current situation, and there was a high probability he could also obtain the qualification to enter the Fourth Layer.

But this meant he would have to completely break with the Great Elder's faction.

Unless absolutely necessary, Zhou Luo did not want to take sides.

Marrying Lin Jinxuan earlier was something he had no choice but to do. Maintaining this wavering attitude now made it easier for him to survive.

"Zhou Luo, these are the Pills to be refined tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."

Not long after, Lin Shi walked in holding a lunchbox.

Since the last incident, Zhou Luo had developed a deep wariness towards this seemingly overly familiar fellow.

In this place, the only person he could trust was himself.

Even the person Lin Xianlong had asked him to contact earlier could not be trusted.

During the meal, Zhou Luo inquired about the whipping punishment from Lin Shi.

Generally, those who violated Zhou Family rules would receive whipping. Because a specially made spiritual whip was used, each lash was powerful and heavy, easily causing skin to split and flesh to tear even on a Cultivator.

Ten lashes, while not many, would mean he wouldn't be able to get out of bed for at least four or five days.

However, Zhou Luo was not worried about this.

Because he had already completed the First Stage of quenching for the Giant Bear Body Refining Art, his Physical Body was now exceptionally tough, capable of withstanding attacks below the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

Merely ten lashes would not be a big problem.

...

The next day, a flying boat landed in front of the pavilion at the foot of the mountain.

A group of young men and women disembarked. They curiously looked around at the environment here, and then were led away from here, entering the interior of the Spirit Mine from another entrance. Only one young woman remained.

This woman had exquisite beauty, with her black hair tied up using white jade hair ornaments, strands of dark hair falling naturally on both sides, and two star earrings hanging from her delicate pink earlobes. Below her refined willow-leaf eyebrows were a pair of clear and lively eyes.

It was precisely the Fifth Miss, Lin Xi, whom Zhou Luo had seen at the banquet that day.

Today, she wore a white dress with a brown thin veil draped over it, shimmering with a subtle luster under the sunlight.

The slightly open collar revealed her slender collarbone, and her sleeves were loose, fluttering gently with her movements, like an immortal.

Lin Xi walked into the pavilion and went straight up to the Second Level.

Pushing open the door, she saw the Fourth Elder, Lin Tianfang.

Lin Xi bowed: "Fourth Grandfather."

Lin Tianfang and Lin Tianxiong were biological brothers. Because he was ranked fourth, Lin Xi, being the legitimate granddaughter of Lin Tianxiong, naturally called him Fourth Grandfather.

Lin Tianfang looked at her, a loving smile appearing on his face, and motioned for her to sit down: "There are some things I still need you to do."

"Fourth Grandfather, please feel free to instruct," Lin Xi nodded politely.