Chapter 664: Qin Family Game
February 18th, Xijing Prefecture, Qin Family.

"Someone, bring Qin Hu and Qin Bao up here!"

Following Qin Da's shout, four Qin family disciples escorted two dusty and tied-up men into the hall.

In the hall, Qin Ku, the head of the Qin family, completely ignored the strange looks of the people below the hall. He leaned lazily on the chair with his feet high on the table. He was playing with a sharp dagger in his hand, with a dead branch plucked from somewhere in his mouth. He looked nonchalant and playful, which was completely different from the dignified and serious Qin Ming in the past.

To this day, Qin Ku has been in office for several months, but most of the disciples in the mansion are still not used to his cynicism and unruly nature.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"What crime have we committed? Why are you tying us up?"

Although they were tied up tightly, Qin Hu and Qin Bao still struggled desperately and complained non-stop.

"shut up!"

Qin Da glared at the two men fiercely and scolded them, "The head of the family has ordered that no one is allowed to leave the territory of Xijing without permission. You two were so bold that you dared to ignore the head of the family's strict order and sneaked out of the city last night. What exactly did you intend to do?"

"What else can they want?" Qin San said coldly, "They are just annoyed by the ridicule of outsiders, so they want to go to Lin'an to assassinate Liu Xunyi."

Hearing this, Qin Hu's eyes swept over Qin Da, Qin Er, and Qin San, and then he shouted loudly: "That's right! We want to go to Lin'an to assassinate Liu Xunyi. This is a martial arts killing order issued by the leader of the martial arts world, and all heroes in the world obey it. Right now, everyone from every sect can go, so why can't we, the Hexi Qin family, go?"

"Bullshit!" Qin Da shouted, "With your mediocre skills, even if you were tied together, you wouldn't be able to defeat Liu Xunyi's finger. Are you going to come all the way here to die?"

"How do you know we can't beat him if you don't try?" Qin Bao curled his lips and said unconvincedly, "Right now, all the sects have sent people to Lin'an to kill the traitor, but our Hexi Qin family has not taken any action. The leader of Qingfeng has sent three letters to ask the reason, but the head of the family turned a blind eye and remained unmoved. Do you know how outsiders laugh at us? Some people say that our Qin family and Liu Xunyi are birds of a feather. Others say that we are cowardly rats who were scared out of our wits by Liu Xunyi. Faced with these idle words, the Qin family disciples don't even have the opportunity to refute, and can only endure it silently. Master, second master, third master, when the master of the mansion was alive, the Hexi Qin family was famous everywhere and stood tall. When have we ever suffered such a great humiliation?"

As soon as Qin Bao said this, everyone in the hall changed their expressions. Although they did not say it directly, they were actually dissatisfied with Qin Ku's behavior.

Therefore, although everyone clearly heard the disrespect in Qin Bao's words, they pretended not to hear it. They all lowered their heads and said nothing.

After a moment's silence, Qin San suddenly stood up and walked towards Qin Hu and Qin Bao, and slapped each of them loudly in front of everyone.

"Asshole!" Qin Sanhu glared and said angrily, "Qin Ming is a traitor who usurped the throne. How can he be compared with the head of the family? What's so famous and powerful? It's just nonsense!"

"I……"

As if realizing that he had said something wrong, Qin Bao subconsciously glanced at Qin Ku and murmured, "I am also thinking about the reputation of the Hexi Qin family..."

"actually……"

After a long period of deliberation, Qin Er spoke slowly, "Although Qin Hu and Qin Bao have made mistakes, their worries are not unreasonable. Right now, Liu Xunyi is a big piece of fat meat, and there are countless people in the martial arts world coveting him. This is not only a good opportunity to make a name for himself, but also a great opportunity to expand our influence. Just imagine, if Liu Xunyi dies in our hands, the head of the family will not only be famous in the martial arts world, but also become the deputy leader of the martial arts world. At the same time, he will have the power to dispatch heroes from all over the world, with a higher status and more power than Teng Sanshi. The Hexi Qin family will surely soar to the sky. Even if it cannot be compared with Shaolin and Wudang, it can at least become the first of the four major families."

"That's right!" Qin Hu nodded repeatedly, "If we don't take any action, we will not only be laughed at by the heroes of the world, but also be suspected by Wudang, Shaolin, Xianwang Mansion and other sects. Liu Xunyi is already the target of public criticism and will die sooner or later. After Liu Xunyi dies, there is no guarantee that the heroes of the world will not come after us to settle accounts later."

"Since Liu Xunyi is doomed to die, he might as well die in our hands." Qin Bao waited for an opportunity to speak, "It is said that the head of the Su Wen family has some friendship with Liu Xunyi, so why not find a chance to trick him out and then kill him..."

"Whoosh!"

"Keng!"

Before Qin Bao finished his words, the dagger in Qin Ku's hand came whizzing like lightning and stabbed deeply in front of Qin Bao, frightening him so much that his face turned pale, his legs went weak, and his impassioned speech came to an abrupt end.

"Qin Bao spoke out of turn, I hope the head of the family will calm down!" Qin San saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly spoke to smooth things over.

"Could it be that... aren't we living a good life now?" Qin Ku asked suspiciously, "We have food and drink, money and power, brothers and women. Isn't this a happy life? Why do we have to get involved in the right and wrong of the world, fighting openly and secretly? Do we have to sacrifice our lives to be satisfied?"

"Master, we are not afraid of death..."

"I'm scared!" Qin Ku interrupted without waiting for Qin Hu to express his opinion, "You are all determined to die, I can't stop you even if I don't stop you. But I beg you, just die yourself, don't implicate others, okay?"

"This……"

Qin Ku looked so sincere that it was hard to tell whether he was really timid or just pretending to be innocent. "Master, we are not afraid of being implicated, and we are even less afraid of death!"

Someone in the hall shouted this, which surprised Qin Ku greatly and made him speechless suddenly.

"Well... right now there are so many people who want to kill Liu Xunyi, there are too many people and not enough food to go around, so why bother to join in the fun?" Qin Ku was confused and evaded the question in a disjointed manner, "Isn't it good for us to just drink and sleep at home? Why bother to rush into a life-threatening business?"

"I don't agree with what the Patriarch said!" Qin Er narrowed his eyes slightly and pondered, "If we go to Lin'an and fail to kill Liu Xunyi, it's one thing. If we don't go, it's another. Going is not only to kill Liu Xunyi, but also to show our position to Qingfeng and the heroes of the world. The Hexi Qin family and Liu Xunyi are not birds of a feather. We have already drawn a clear line with them and cannot coexist with them. On the contrary, we are aiding and abetting the evil, and we can't wash ourselves clean even if we jump into the Yellow River..."

"Second Master is absolutely right!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Qin Ku was stunned again and said hesitantly: "You... all think we should go?"

"We know that the head of the family, Gu Nian, and Liu Xunyi have a past relationship, so they have been hesitant to make a decision." Qin laughed, "But now Liu Xunyi has become a rat crossing the street, and everyone wants to kill him. If we don't make our position clear, then the ones who will be implicated by the Qin family disciples... will not be Qin Hu and Qin Bao."

Qin Da's words were like a knife or a sword, directly hitting Qin Ku's vital point.

"Master, you are still young, and you have been wandering outside for many years, always living alone, so you may be a little confused about the responsibilities and duties of the 'head of the family'." Qin Er continued, "As the head of the family, you seem to be in power and make decisions arbitrarily, but in fact you are responsible for the lives and futures of hundreds of disciples. Be careful not to make a mistake and affect the whole family. Therefore, more often than not, the head of the family should not be emotional and do whatever he wants, but should abandon his selfish desires and consider the overall situation. When necessary, he should gather ideas and adopt honest advice..."

"I understand!" Qin Ku spit out the dead branch in his mouth, slowly sat up straight, and said meaningfully, "You all colluded to put on a show for me today, the purpose is to teach me how to be a family head who is strict with himself and treats others with respect, right?"

"This……"

Qin Ku's words made everyone in the hall feel embarrassed and looked at each other.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Qin Ku already knew what was going on, and jokingly said, "As the saying goes, 'Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run.' Although I have never been a head of a family, I have traveled abroad for many years and have seen many dignitaries and heroes. I know that as a head of a family, you do need to be broad-minded and tolerant. In this regard, what you said is true, and I agree with it. But do you know what is more important than broad-mindedness and tolerance as the head of a family?"

Qin Da, Qin Er, and Qin San looked at each other and answered in unison: "We don't know..."

"It's authority!" Qin Ku's tone suddenly sank, and a hint of unquestionable determination emerged in his playful eyes, "What is authority? It means to say what you mean and to enforce orders. Compared to the overall situation, reputation, life, and future that you all talk about... the authority of this head of the family in the Hexi Qin family is undoubtedly more important."

"This……"

Qin Ku's words stunned everyone in the hall. They were all terrified and their eyes became more and more complicated.

In fact, they jointly rehearsed this play today not just to join the ranks of those who killed Liu Xunyi, but also to take this opportunity to gradually turn Qin Ku, the seemingly "young and ignorant" head of the family, into a puppet who depends on them and obeys their orders.

Today, all the people present were the core members of the Hexi Qin Clan. When Qin Ming was in power, they did not dare to act rashly. Now that Qin Ming and Qin Tianjiu were dead, Qin Ku was "new to the mansion" and was not familiar with the affairs of the mansion, so the power of the Qin family inevitably fell into the hands of the "Three Heroes of the Qin Clan".

At first, they were worried about Luo Tianjin's support behind Qin Ku, so they didn't dare to have any bad intentions and could only assist him wholeheartedly.

Now that Luo Tianjin is dead, Qin Ku has no foundation inside and no support outside, and has completely become a lonely man. If he had not held the "Xuanshui Lower Volume" and was in charge of the life and death of the Qin family, I am afraid that the three heroes of the Qin family would have overthrown him long ago.

Now, the three Qin clan heroes neither dared to overthrow Qin Ku, nor were they willing to be inferior to him. So they wanted to take advantage of Qin Ku's youth and innocence to control him as soon as possible so that they could use him for their own benefit in the future.

Today's scene is a test for them.

However, they did not expect that Qin Ku could see through their thoughts at a glance and exposed them on the spot without mercy.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall became awkward and depressing, and everyone was afraid to look up because of Qin Ku's scrutinizing eyes.

"Obey the order!"

Suddenly, Qin Ku's cold voice rang in everyone's ears: "The order of this family head remains unchanged. The Hexi Qin family will not obey Qingfeng's order, nor will they participate in the killing of Liu Xunyi. All consequences will be borne by me. All Qin family disciples are not allowed to leave Xijing Prefecture without permission. Violators will be severely punished!"

"As ordered!"

Under Qin Ku's aggressive momentum, no one dared to raise any more objections. Even if they were unwilling, for the sake of "longevity", they dared not openly contradict him at this moment, and could only obey his orders in unison to seek peace.

……

(End of this chapter)