Leo shook his head and switched his attention toward Tang Yao’s next move. It seemed like the conspiracy inside the Tang Clan was... more complicated than he first thought it would be.
In the novel, Tang Yao was just a normal person who didn’t care about his family, so he never took part in the plot and only tried to gain influence within the clan for his own benefit.
But now, his action was completely different from the novel. He actually took part in the conspiracy against his family to give him the Tang Clan’s Head position, went as far as planning to kill the City Lord, and reduced the first daughter of Tang Clan into an addict and a puppet with drugs.
That was far too different from the original novel! Or maybe it had always been like that off the camera. The novel was just focused on the protagonist. The side stories of the characters were barely explained because the main character would never meet them and the story would just skip their developments altogether.
This caused Leo to have doubts about some of the characters in the novel. What appeared to be a good person might be a heinous bastard who controlled the shadows of Murim in reality.
"Huff..."
At first, Leo thought this world would be so simple. Fight and fight to increase their fighting strength so they could survive. But he was wrong. This was not merely a ’normal’ Murim setting, but a world where personal benefit was above everything else.
And he was familiar with such a world.
"I thought I could enjoy my life here. But it seems like I have to play with those idiots again..."
He slowly stood up from his chair and walked toward the bed inside the room. He needed a nap.
Based on the speech earlier, they would attack Nokrim in 3 days after they gathered forces from each city in Sichuan. It would take time for them to gather it all.
After a few seconds of silence, he put a white flower inside the coffin and stood up. The clan leader stared at his son for a last time before turning around and leaving with his head lowered. His robes fluttered as he walked into his remaining family. Two sons and a daughter.
The first son, Tang Ao, nodded at his arrival with a cold expression on his face. The second son, Tang Yao, was looking down and didn’t raise his head at all. As for Tang Soso... She was having her usual cold expression. Her body was trembling a bit as if she was uncomfortable with something.
"I..." Tang Yao’s voice quivered as the Patriarch stopped near them. "It’s all my fault, father. If only I sat with him, this wouldn’t happen. He died because of me!"
Tang Ao immediately held his brother’s shoulder and glared at him, "Second Brother, you did nothing wrong. You can’t blame yourself for everything. You were also targeted by the Green Forest Bandit group."
"But I shouldn’t have left him. I have the Eldest Sister with me and the bodyguard I hired. If we stick together, he..."
"Enough." Tang Jiaofu shook his head and grabbed Tang Yao’s shoulders while forcing him to look at him. "No one but the assassin is at fault. It’s a danger that we, Tang Clan, must face when we rule this province as its guardian."
He said solemnly, "And you, Yao... The man who attacked us is not easy to deal with. If he can assassinate my son with ease, imagine what would happen if he managed to kill you. So I am glad that you’re okay. And you shouldn’t feel burdened as well, Soso."
The Tang Clan’s leader glanced at the second son before moving to his prized daughter. "If he managed to kill you as well, our Clan won’t be able to survive."
"Y-Yes."
She lowered her head and didn’t say anything else while biting her lower lips nervously. She seemed to be lost in thought about something.
From the distance, a soldier shook his head. She looked too miserable in everyone’s eyes but looked crazy in this soldier’s eyes. With his smart lenses, he was able to see why she was trembling.
’Crazy bastard.’ He thought while shaking his head again while watching the Tang family. ’To think she would have something that big inside her while at a funeral. I guess she’s indeed broken already. No, I knew that she was. No use getting surprised with this much.’