The Days Following the Raid

It's been a few days since the raid on the Hong and Cheng residences, and needless to say, the aftermath was a complete mess. Compared to the Hong Family, the mess with the Cheng Family was much easier to handle, according to Yin, not that it was easy though.

In the days following the raid, many of the stronger Cheng Family members had returned to Long and heard about what happened, and there was naturally a fight for the position of the next Family Head. Some of the contenders had been similarly corrupt like the ones that had fallen and as a result of the infiltration teams efforts, their deeds had been made known to the public through pamphlets and word of mouth. This removed quite a few people for contending for the position of Cheng Family Head.

With all the bad seeds out of the running, there were actually quite a few people who had wanted to rescind the exile order for Yin and make her the next family head. However, while Yin didn't mind her exile order being rescinded, she had refused the position of Cheng Matriarch, claiming to have little interest and being too young.

As for the Hong Family, that one was a complete mess, that is something I can attest to personally. The misdeeds of the Hong Family were much worse compared to the Cheng, and public opinion was not in their favour. Like, damn, there were regular citizens right outside their doorstep that were out for revenge. From blatant political corruption to kidnapping off the streets and indoctrinating them as servants or guards, and even just flat out killing the people they found unpleasing on the streets... ok I don't have the right to say anything on that since I do that occasionally myself. And it wasn't just a few seniors in charge, but a large majority of the Main Family and some of the more powerful Branch Families had a hand in these types of actions.

Unlike how Yin had immediately gone to deal with the problems of the Cheng, Yue was content with watching the Hong Family struggle for a day before she made any public moves. Much like how the experts of the Cheng returned, many of the stronger people of the Hong also returned to the Capital after hearing about what had happened, including that General we had met in the Lan Shu Forest. Not that I remember his name, but apparently, he's Yue's cousin and is one of the more respectable members of the Hong Family, not that it's hard to be so with the bar set so low.

With the position of Hong Family Head up for grabs, many members of the Hong Family had been trying to ignore the outrage from the general public while trying to secure power for themselves. At most people like Yue's cousin paid lip service to the angry mob outside their doorstep, which didn't get taken well. On the flip side though, Yue had actually been doing things as she actively gave some compensation to the angry citizens despite not having her done anything to anger them to begin with. This along with her already good reputation amongst the people, brought the peoples opinion of her up even more, this reputation made it difficult for others to try and block her own run for Family Head. Yeah, unlike Yin, Yue actually wants the position, holding onto the idea of changing the foundation of the Family for the better.

Though in contrast to her good reputation amongst the public, she isn't particularly liked by many of the older generations in the Hong Family. But there is a new faction that seems to hold her in high regards. This new faction of the Hong Family is mostly comprised of people who, like Yue, had been looked down on and was generally disliked for various unfounded reasons. Much like Yue, they also want to change the way the family operates.

Unlike the Cheng, who would debate and elect their Head, the Hong Family is a bit more barbaric. According to their traditions, when there are two or more people contending for the position of Patriarch or Matriarch, they decide through combat. Due to the lack of the Inspection Skill here in Shengdi, most people aren't fully aware of everyone's combat capabilities without seeing them first hand, so most of the people fighting for the position of Family Head had no idea that Yue was actually far above everyone else. And it goes without saying, she wiped the floor with everyone with little effort.

It's been a couple of days since then and things have begun to settle down, and so came the time for us to leave. With things calming down in their families, both Yin and Yue found the time to accompany us to the border of Shenzhou, near the mountain we originally went down to enter Shengdi.

"You sure you don't want to come with us, I think it would be fun?" Aurelia asks.

"If the circumstances were a little different, then I would have gladly followed, but I have responsibilities to take care of and I can create a body double as you can," Yue says.

"Although there is a good chance I'll leave Shengdi once everything is settled, there are still some loose ends that I still need to take care of here," Yin says,

"Besides, I'm a bit worried about that strange bar that suddenly appeared on the System," Yue says, crossing her arms.

"It kind of reminds me when my old computer needed to update," I say.

"I'm sorry but what's that?" Yue asks.

"Don't worry about it. But an update... hmm, I think I might know what's going on, but I can't say for certain if that's true and what the consequences would be. Yin, since you plan on leaving eventually, I'd suggest you stay here until the bar reaches 100% and we find out what's happening," Aurelia says.

"So what are your plans now?" Yue asks.

"We're going back to Talonia, right? Milla wanted to see us, didn't she?" I ask.

"Yeah, she did. Did she ever tell you why though, Aurelia?" Lia asks.

"She said you'd understand if I said Elves."

"Ok, I think I know what's going on," I say.

"Who's Milla?" Yue asks.

"You could say she is the Boss of the two Dragons here. She is one of the leaders from where they come from," Aurelia says

"I see, I'd like to meet her someday. But what about you Wanjing, what will you do?" Yue asks.

"I'll still be following Teacher around... more like I don't think she'd let me leave, not that I want to though. Oh, Yin, can you do me a favour?"

"Depends on what it is, but I probably can."

"I just want you to deliver a letter to my father," Wanjing says as she hands over some parchment to Yin, "it just to tell him that I have no intention on settling down and will be continuing my adventures beyond Shengdi. You can find him through any Liu Family operated establishment. It doesn't have to be immediately just whenever you can."

"Alright, I'll do it when I have the time."

"Anyways, we won't keep you here for too long," Yue says as she extends her hand forward, "until next time my friends."

Taking her hand, I say, "Until the day we meet again."