Chapter 535

Chapter 535 – Brothers Turn Foes

Who said Zhao Tianji can’t walk? If he couldn’t, then who was the man standing on top of the Island Tower? Who else possessed such a majestic aura as the Island Lord, to be able to become the Island Lord of Zhao Jia Island? How can he be a cripple?

At the bottom of the Island Tower, the six new elders looked at Zhao Tianji with ugly faces. They were not much of a figure in Zhao Jia Island before but were promoted by Zhao Mingxiao to become the new six elders, hoisting their families to prominence. However, their footing was not as secure as their predecessors. Originally, they had thought that Zhao Tianji was a good-for-nothing, that even if he were to come back, it would not change anything… but now they dared not think so.

Zhao Tianji could become the Island Lord, and he had proven he was not really a good-for-nothing. But how could he stand up again?

“Island Lord, you’ve finally returned!”

“Welcome Island Lord!”

“Welcome Island Lord—”

Almost the entire island was cheering. Zhao Tianji slowly walked to the edge of the Island Tower, looked down at the entire Zhao Jia Island, gathered his inner strength and spoke in a deep voice, “The Island Lord is back!”

His voice was not too loud, but it could be heard clearly by everyone at the bottom.

The six new elders were shocked. The Island Lord’s inner strength has been restored?

“Isn’t that… that Mr. Huangfu?”

Someone with sharp eyes spotted the person beside Zhao Tianji, and the cheers instantly turned into exclamations.

“It’s Huangfu Chen! He was the one behind the sneak attack on our Zhao Jia Island back then!” someone deliberately raised his voice and shouted.

“That’s right! How could the Island Lord be with Huangfu Chen? Did he betray our Zhao Jia Island?” someone was quick to echo the words.

Then, someone shouted, “Island Lord, what’s all this about? How can Huangfu Chen be here?”

Zhao Tianji swept a cold gaze at the crowd assembled below. He could clearly see who was deliberately stirring trouble and knew all too well their intentions. As more and more people joined the clamor, he held out his hand to signal everyone to quiet down.

“Over the past few years, I have been making secret investigations about what happened back then. I believe that the people of Zhao Jia Island should know what happened on our island and the kind of relationship we have with the Huangfu family. If Huangfu Chen wanted to deal with our Zhao Jia Island, why did he treat us? Have you forgotten the epidemic from back then?” Zhao Tianji said in a deep voice, looking at everyone with a piercing gaze.

“If it was Huangfu Chen who snuck up on us, why wasn’t he on the ship at that time? Do you still remember those people we caught? They are people who live at sea all year round, they can’t be the ones sent by Huangfu Chen—”

“Then why did he disappear for so many years?” Mu Fei, who was standing at the forefront, couldn’t help but ask.

Zhao Tianji sneered, “Because Huangfu Chen was also hurt by someone and was seriously injured at that time on Spirit Snake Island!”

“Ah Ji!” Zhao Mingxiao appeared below the Island Tower with Ye Chunming. He stared closely at Zhao Tianji, his still gentle-looking face barely maintaining a smile. “We all know that you and Huangfu Chen are good friends, and that he cured your legs, however, you don’t need to deceive everyone for him.”

Huangfu Chen’s narrow eyes gently lifted, finally looking squarely at Zhao Mingxiao at the bottom.

Zhao Tianji said with a smile, “Big Brother, I swear on my life, the sneak attack back then has nothing to do with Huangfu Chen. Do you dare to swear on yours, that it was not you who framed Huangfu Chen back then?”

“Ah Ji, are you done fooling around or not?” Zhao Mingxiao coldly asked, “Although Father is not on the island, I will not let you continue to make trouble.”

“Since I am the Island Lord, I can naturally make as much trouble as I want,” Zhao Tianji said with a smile.

Elder Duan said, “If the Island Lord endangers our Zhao Jia Island, us eight elders have the right to replace the Island Lord.”

It was at this moment that Zhao Tianji suddenly came to a realization. “Elder Duan, you’ve reminded me of one thing… I remember that replacing the elders requires the consent of the Island Lord, doesn’t it? Without my consent, who would dare to replace the six elders of Zhao Jia Island?”

“Island Lord…!” Elder Duan’s face changed, how come he suddenly brought up the matter of replacing elders?

By now, Zhao Mingxiao was unable to maintain the gentle and elegant demeanour. He looked at Zhao Tianji grimly and understood in his heart that the other must know that they do not share the same bloodline. When such was the case, he would not be merciful, right?

“Ah Ji, the previous six elders are too old to serve as elders,” Zhao Mingxiao said as he looked at the other.

With a light qinggong*,  Zhao Tianji  deftly descended from the Island Tower. His posture was steady and elegant. Everyone’s eyes shone when they saw him.

[* lightness technique]

“Big brother, I remember that… elders are hereditary, since they are old, don’t they still have sons?” Zhao Tianji asked with a smirk.

“What exactly do you want to do?” Zhao Mingxiao asked as he looked at Zhao Tianji coldly.

Zhao Tianji said in a deep voice, “I won’t let you risk Zhao Jia Island, let alone allow our people to accompany you to death.”

“You concealed the truth that your legs have healed just for today?” Zhao Mingxiao suddenly regretted not killing Zhao Tianji.

Zhao Tianji smiled and said with some disappointment, “I was only planning to give you a surprise.”

But instead, I got a shock…

“It is already a fact that Zhao Jia Island will soon become a country, and it’s not something you can change.” Zhao Mingxiao said indifferently, “It’s not early, you had better go back to rest early.”

“If you insist on not changing, then don’t blame me for disregarding brotherly love,” Zhao Tianji said.

Zhao Mingxiao smiled coldly, “We weren’t brothers to begin with.” Without waiting for Zhao Tianji to speak, Zhao Mingxiao leapt onto the Island Tower. “People of the Zhao Jia Island,” he said, “do you enjoy this kind of dull, uninteresting life in the sea? Don’t you want to go ashore and live a better life, like those young masters from the capital who enjoy a life of luxury? Don’t you want to wear silk and satin like those maidens from prestigious families?”

All the islanders looked at Zhao Mingxiao in amazement while Zhao Tianji and Huangfu Chen looked up with the same clear and cold gaze.

“As long as our Zhao Jia Island becomes Zhao Kingdom, as long as we defeat the Jin Kingdom, we will be able to have whatever we want. We don’t have to continue to live and die fishing on Zhao Jia Island, we will be able to live in the Central Plains. We don’t have to worry about not being able to return to Zhao Jia Island after going out to sea every day. We don’t have to worry about not being able to unlock that stone array—”

“How is one Zhao Jia Island going to resist the elite soldiers of the Jin Kingdom?” Huangfu Chen asked indifferently. “Just because of the ambition of a few of you, you want Zhao Jia Island to become isolated from the world again?”

“No one will ever be able to turn our Zhao Jia Island into an isolated island again,” Zhao Mingxiao said with confidence and certainty.

Huangfu Chen smiled lightly and retorted, “It’s indeed true that you do not belong to the Zhao family bloodline, so you simply don’t know about the Zhao Jia Island’s worst taboo.”

“What did you say?!” Zhao Mingxiao fiercely glared at Huangfu Chen.

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