246: Chapter 246 The Yun Family's Scheme

Patriarch Yun Donglai agreed with this.

The Lei Clan had brought such misery upon his Yun Family.

The lives of dozens of Yun Family Martial Artists, as well as the disappearance of the Yunfan No. 1 several months ago, were all the work of the Lei Clan.

Such crimes were too numerous to record.

His Yun Family must seek justice.

"Father, what should we do?" Patriarch Yun Donglai looked straight into Yun Tenglong's eyes.

"Are there not a few Lei Clan properties in Changming Street? We shall start by taking action against those."

"Your child understands."

...

After leaving Yun Tenglong's detached courtyard, Patriarch Yun Donglai summoned all the Elders to the main hall.

He gave a brief explanation of the events at sea, omitting the majority of the details.

Since he was planning against the Lei Clan, there was no need to be too explicit; after all, with many eyes and ears, it was inevitable that news might spread.

Consequently, the Elders were naturally unconvinced and wanted to pressure him.

However, with the endorsement of the Grandmaster Yun Tenglong, the so-called pressure instantly collapsed.

Afterwards, he began arranging personnel to take action against those Lei Clan properties.

Just as the Yun Family was in a state of turmoil, a massive earthquake occurred within the Lei Clan.

Several days ago, someone had already been investigating this matter.

The Old Ancestor and the Clan Chief of the Lei Clan, along with a group of Lei Clan Martial Artists, had yet to return, casting a shadow over the hearts of the Lei Clan members remaining at the clan grounds.

"The Old Ancestor and the Clan Chief have been out for many days; why is there still no news? What on earth has happened?" someone questioned.

However, silence was the only response.

It was not that no one within the Lei Clan could answer this question; it was just that those few individuals were all Lei Clan Elders.

The matters concerning the Lei Clan's Old Ancestor could not be broadcast everywhere.

For one Great Family to openly attack another was, on the surface, a violation of the Great Jing laws.

Although in secret, the major Great Families often did such things, and the Prefecture Governor's Office turned a blind eye, this was all based on the premise that it was done covertly.

Anyone who did so openly, without exception, could not escape punishment.

Naturally, Patriarch Lei Yuanqin and Patriarch Lei Yuanfeng had no need to widely publicize it.

This also meant that, apart from the accompanying personnel and a very small number of their Family members, only these few Elders truly understood the situation.

It was precisely because of this that they were the most tormented.

Although they did not know about the seven-day agreement between Pei Qingyun and the Yun Family, the Lei Clan's Old Ancestor's delay in returning gave them a vague, ominous feeling.

According to the plan, the Lei Clan's Old Ancestor should have returned six days ago.

For this reason, they had long since sent people to keep an eye on the Yun Family's movements. Through the Yun Family's movements, they could indirectly judge the situation of their own Old Ancestor.

"It's bad! It's bad! The Yun Family Head has returned!"

Inside the main hall, several Lei Clan Elders were discussing how to find their Old Ancestor when they heard the startled cry of a scout from outside the hall.

"What is going on? Why all the shouting?" an Elder of the Lei Clan rebuked.

"The Yun Family Head has returned. Following your instructions, I have been keeping watch on the coastal port. Just two hours ago, the Yun Family's yunfan no. 2 returned to the port, and the Yun Family Head was the one who disembarked from the ship," the scout replied excitedly.

"Are you sure you didn't see wrong? Was that ship truly the yunfan no. 2?" the Lei Clan Elder questioned.

"It is absolutely true. Your subordinate would not dare to deceive you. A total of five people disembarked from the ship. I recognize two of them: the Yun Family Head and the Second Elder of the Yun Family. As for the other three, I cannot identify them," the scout replied.

"Since that is the case, take this token and go to the Internal Affairs Office to collect one thousand taels of silver."

"Many thanks, Elder Yuanbo." the scout thanked him.

For a low-level Martial Artist, one thousand taels was already a significant sum, requiring at least several years of savings. It was the same for scouts like them.

scouts might seem secretive, but in reality, they were just a bunch of small fry. Except for a very few Great Families, such as the Pei Clan, which established Secret Guards—an intelligence agency independent of clan affairs—

in the eyes of most people from Great Families, Martial Artists who became scouts were basically just bottom-tier individuals.

Therefore, their treatment was not particularly high.

Of course, for infiltrators who had embedded themselves into other families, the price would be calculated separately. And this Lei Clan scout was clearly not one of them.

After the scout left, the Elder named Lei Yuanbo looked at the other Lei Clan Elders with a somber expression.

Although the Yun Family looked quite battered, with only Patriarch Yun Donglai and four others returning, it indirectly proved one thing: the Lei Clan's Old Ancestor had failed in his ambush.

Otherwise, given the speed of the yunfan no. 2, it would have been impossible to shake off the pursuit of his Lei Clan's fast ships.

This realization caused everyone's mood to plummet to rock bottom.

"With the Old Ancestor's strength, a mere Yun Family could never cause failure. Perhaps some other situation arose at sea. Why don't we send more men to search at sea? Perhaps we might find the Old Ancestor," Lei Yuanbo consoled himself.

Unfortunately, no one present responded to him, and the entire main hall was terrifyingly quiet.

They vaguely sensed the truth of the matter.

What it meant to lose contact at sea, these coastal Great Families were all very clear about.

Although he did not believe the Yun Family could win, the facts were before their eyes.

The Yun Family's merchant ship had returned, but his Lei Clan's Old Ancestor and the group of Martial Artists had been out of contact for a full six days.

After a long silence, a voice rang out in the main hall again.

"We cannot wait any longer; we must make arrangements early. If the Old Ancestor truly cannot return, we must prepare for the worst. I suggest we first send away the most talented members of the younger generation. If one day the Old Ancestor returns, we can bring them back. What do you think?"