Intense silence permeated the banquet hall as the members of the Sacred Family stepped inside.
Shen Hong's eyes darted around. He had a serious look on him as he scanned the faces of everyone around him.
From his perspective, the banquet seemed fairly ordinary. The guests either avoided his gaze or looked at him with disdain, something he had come to expect in light of his son's past actions.
There were also Ye Zong and Chen Zhenlong together with their families. With their presence, a slight uneasiness left Shen Hong's body.
With their families around, he doubted that Ye Zong and Chen Zhenlong would start any kind of conflict against them, putting their loved ones in danger.
"Big brother, there's our table." Shen Hong was snapped out of his thoughts by Shen Xiu.
He looked at the table, noting that it was in the center, surrounded by the other families. This made his brows furrow.
"Shen Xiu, Shen Han, and Shen Yuan, follow me. The rest of you head to our table," he ordered before heading toward the head table.
As they did, Shen Hong and his group could clearly sense that everyone's eyes were on them.
Shen Hong ignored those looks. To him, the people around him were practically a bunch of walking corpses. With the demon beast horde confirmed to be heading toward Glory City at this very moment, it wouldn't be long before every one of those people was dead.
The only reason he and his family attended the banquet was that Shen Han had received an order from the Demon Lord.
They were tasked with being a distraction so that the City Lord's Mansion and the Divine Family would have less time to prepare once they discovered the upcoming calamity.
Once panic ensued, the Demon Lord would use the Transportation Array to summon every member of his family and their closest allies inside the barrier behind the Holy Orchid Institute, allowing them to escape to the Abyss Demon Realm.
Shen Hong snickered as a malicious gleam flickered in his eyes. He wondered if he would have enough time before being transported to kill Ye Zong's son. That would be a nice parting gift to leave behind.
As they drew near, Shen Hong's eyes shifted to the corner. There, he could see Xue Hui chuckling softly as he sweetly offered the flustered-looking Xiao Ning'er a bite of his food.
The sight of them made Shen Hong's blood boil. Xue Hui was the root cause of all his problems. Ever since the boy and his master had shown up, all his plans had gone downhill.
The poisoning, their secret collusion, and their family's carefully crafted reputation had all been ruined by that damned brat.
And now, the two were flirting in front of everybody, ignoring the fact that the girl was supposed to be his son's woman.
This enraged Shen Hong even more as the image of his bedridden son flashed through his mind.
"Shen Xiu, deal with the daughter of the Winged Dragon Family later. Make sure to humiliate her in front of everyone," Shen Hong whispered.
Shen Xiu's sharp glare shifted before landing on Xiao Ning'er, her eyes flashing with malice.
"Leave it to me, brother. I'll expose that whore so thoroughly that she won't be able to show her face ever again."
Hearing their exchange, Shen Han's gaze landed on Xue Hui. He had heard many things about him.
Xue Hui's recent feats made Shen Han feel inferior to him, and he absolutely hated it. He was a proud man. How could he let someone years younger than him be better? A faint killing intent seeped into his expression.
Shen Han made a decision right then that he would have to kill Xue Hui when the time came.
As those thoughts lingered in his mind, Shen Han's eyes shifted to another person.
This time, a look of fondness appeared on his face. He remembered the first time he laid eyes on Ye Ziyun and how that brief interaction had become his driving force to become a powerful Demon Spiritualist.
He had fallen for her and wanted to make her his woman. With his status as an orphan, he knew the only way he could be with her was to climb the ranks.
Many things had changed since then, but his goal remained the same. He would take Ye Ziyun as his wife no matter what.
It didn't take long before they stood right in front of the head table. There was a palpable sense of tension in the room.
Shen Hong came face to face with Ye Zong and Chen Zhenlong.
Who didn't know about the falling-out between the Snow Wind Family, the Divine Family, and the Sacred Family?
It had been very public. Many of the Sacred Family's businesses had gone bankrupt, and their position in Glory City had taken a nosedive.
And all because of the relentless oppression from the City Lord's Mansion and the Divine Family.
By now, everyone was holding their breath in uneasy anticipation.
They had no idea what was going to happen now that the three powerful experts in Glory City stood before one another.
"Brother Shen, you came. How are you? It's been quite a while since we last talked. I'm glad you made it." The smile on Ye Zong's face remained unchanged as he reached out to shake Shen Hong's hand.
Similarly, Shen Hong displayed a friendly expression as he clasped Ye Zong's hand.
"I've been busy lately, so I haven't been able to show my face to anyone, Brother Ye. I'm glad you invited us to your son's birthday. Now we can catch up with each other."
Ye Zong and Shen Hong both laughed lightheartedly.
"I'm certainly glad we can have this banquet today. People have been under a lot of stress lately, and this occasion is doing a great job of bringing everyone together and easing some of that tension," Chen Zhenlong chimed in, looking very cheerful.
The sight of the three of them looking like old friends meeting after a long time confused many people. Some scratched their heads, wondering if they were seeing things correctly.
But those who could see through the facade knew that the tension among those men was reaching its boiling point.
After a brief exchange and wishing the celebrant a happy birthday, Shen Hong returned to his table and sat down, keeping his guard up while waiting for the commotion to unfold once news of the demon beast horde became known.
At the same time, outside the Sacred Family mansion, Ye Shuo and Chen Fe exchanged questioning looks. They could see a huge crowd of Sacred Family members preparing for departure. They could even see Shen Fei's paralyzed body being carried on a makeshift bed, surrounded by guards.
"Brother Fe, what do you think they're doing? It looks like the Sacred Family is preparing to escape the city," Ye Shuo asked in puzzlement.
Chen Fe looked at the crowd, his brows knitted as he tried to come up with a proper explanation for what the Sacred Family was doing, but nothing came to mind.
"I have no idea, Brother Shuo. With a crowd this large, they would easily attract everyone's attention once they headed into the city. Not to mention that traitor Shen Hong isn't with them. Even if they have a few Black Gold-rank experts among them, their strength wouldn't be enough to force their way to the city gate. I'm completely in the dark about what those people are doing."
Ye Shuo could only watch the gathered crowd with a perplexed expression. He himself had no idea what was going on.
They had been tasked with keeping an eye on the remaining members of the Sacred Family while Ye Zong and the others dealt with Shen Hong.
Once the signal was given, he and Chen Fe would work together to eliminate the powerful experts of the Sacred Family, while the other men they had brought would handle the smaller fry.
But this action by the Sacred Family had thrown them into confusion.
Back at the banquet...
Seeing that the exchange between Ye Zong, Chen Zhenlong, and Shen Hong had gone relatively peacefully, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the festive atmosphere.
Huyan Lanruo could only watch in annoyance as Hong Loulan wore the biggest smile of the night while enthusiastically talking to Xue Hui.
Unlike her, who had been pushed aside by Nie Li, Xue Hui was courteous enough to entertain Hong Loulan's whims.
This irritated Huyan Lanruo to no end. She shot Nie Li a stink eye, pouting indignantly at being treated like air. She couldn't understand why Nie Li only had eyes for Ye Ziyun. In Huyan Lanruo's opinion, she was far sexier and much more eye-catching than the old-fashioned-looking Ye Ziyun.
So this matter threw her off.
Then something caught her attention.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shen Han approaching in their direction.
This made her expression turn sour.
After the events of the Younger Generation Tournament, Huyan Lanruo's opinion of the Sacred Family had plummeted. As a result, she had mixed feelings about Shen Han.
Shen Han was someone she had worked with quite a number of times in the past, back when they were all new students at the Holy Orchid Institute.
She knew that Shen Han had been brought home by Shen Hong from an orphanage when he was still a child.
He was known to possess insanely high talent, so much so that he had become the first person of their generation to reach Gold Rank.
"You look great, Huyan Lanruo. How have you been? It's been so long since we last met." Wearing his usual amiable expression, Shen Han tried to strike up a conversation with her.
At first, Huyan Lanruo was adamant about ignoring him, considering Shen Han belonged to the same family as that pig Shen Fei.
But remembering the times they had gone on missions together, she sighed and relented.
"I'm doing great, Shen Han. How about you? I heard you've just come back from a month-long cultivation journey. Did anything good come out of it?" Huyan Lanruo responded, trying to sound genuinely interested.
But inwardly, her mind was occupied with thoughts of how she was going to charm Nie Li and make him fall for her.
Shen Han noticed this and felt slightly disappointed. Although he wasn't attracted to Huyan Lanruo, he was still a man. What man wouldn't enjoy receiving the attention of a beautiful woman like her?
He then followed her gaze, and his eyes settled on Ye Ziyun. The corner of his lips lifted slightly as he looked at her with a heated gaze.
End of Chapter 104
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