Ms. Diviner: The Prodigal Daughter's Return

Chapter 713: Shocking Turnaround on 713!

"Elder Dog, as the head of a family, how dare you betray and turn against us in battle? You shall have a bad end!" Zhou Xingbang, forced to continuously retreat by the Yuan Family Patriarch, added several new wounds to his body and cursed in anger and sadness."Humph, I never had any sworn allegiance with your Four Great Families. It was merely a relationship of convenience. How can you talk about betrayal?" the Yuan Family Patriarch scoffed with disdain, his longsword unceasingly lashing out at Zhou Xingbang with one strike after another.

Zhou Xingbang was left speechless. Although the Zhao, Zhou, Cao, Xu families had joined hands against the Mu Family and had pulled in the Yuan Family, they never truly regarded the Yuan Family—a family with wealth but no power—and thus, there were no alliances to speak of. The Yuan Family Patriarch had not been involved from the start, so changing his allegiance to the Mu Family could hardly be called betrayal.

"Humph, if I’m not wrong, had we destroyed the Mu Family today, the next one to be destroyed would surely have been my Yuan Family," the Yuan Family Patriarch said with a cold laugh, still unsatisfied.

Hearing this made Zhou Xingbang even more convinced of his guilt. Their actions against the Mu Family were not just a response to the deaths of Fourth Miss Zhao and Zhou Qi; they had been planning this long before for the sake of profit. Even if they had destroyed the Mu Family today, the subsequent division of the Mu Family’s assets among the major families would inevitably turn them against each other, leaving not just the Mu Family at risk of being wiped out or expelled from Heishi City.

At that time, they were unaware of Family Head Zhao’s strength, so it was uncertain who could survive in the end. But after the Mu Family, the Yuan Family would most likely be the first to fall—an understanding clear to everyone. Orıginal content can be found at ????????????????????⟡????????????????⟡????????????

The Yuan Family Patriarch understood this point too, so he resolutely decided to switch his allegiance to the Mu Family. Yuan Tianbo’s palace coup was merely the catalyst for his final decision.

"Elder Dog, I’ll stake everything against you," Zhou Xingbang knew words were futile at this point. With matters having reached this stage, both parties had burned their bridges; they could only die or kill the opposition—there was no other way out.

With a furious roar, Zhou Xingbang put all his strength into a cleave with his sword.

"Well met!" the Yuan Family Patriarch responded with a hearty laugh, his broadsword clashing head-on.

"Boom"—the meeting of their sword light sounded like a clap of thunder.

Zhou Xingbang shuddered all over and then stood petrified.

A cold wind swept past; his longsword emitted a "crackling" sound and suddenly shattered like ice, scattering silver shards everywhere.

"Thwack"—a mist of blood sprayed out as Zhou Xingbang fell to the ground, dead.

Until his death, he stared wide-eyed, his vacant eyes filled with final confusion: Why? Everything was in place, yet why did it end like this despite such a promising situation?

Seeing the old patriarch unleashing his divine prowess, Yuan Tianbo was the first to cheer, followed by shouts from the other Yuan Family members.

Their enthusiasm greatly boosted the morale of both the Mu Family’s disciples and the people of the Wu Family, while the Zhao, Zhou, Cao, Xu families’ will to fight visibly waned.

Cao Family Master, momentarily distracted, was immediately stabbed in the chest by Wu Longji. He fell dead without even screaming, following in Zhou Xingbang’s footsteps.

Now, with the family heads of the Zhou, Cao, and Xu families left, only Xu Family Master was still desperately holding on, but he was continuously in grave danger.

The three elders of the Mu Family let out a long howl and flew toward Mu Ze and others.

Supported by the younger generation of the Mu Family until now, it was time for the elders to take action.

The face of Zhao Yuanji had long lost its previous confidence; everything unfolding before him was completely beyond his expectations.

"Impossible, impossible, how could this happen?" Zhao Yuanji muttered to himself.

He had thought he had planned flawlessly, that everything was under control. Yet unexpectedly, the Mu Family had been prepared all along, seizing the initiative.

Yuan Family! Zhao Yuanji clenched his fists, his eyes blazing with fury as he looked toward the Yuan Family Patriarch.

But then, he loosened his fingers. He knew the Yuan Family Patriarch all too well—he wouldn’t make a move like a hawk without seeing the rabbit. Without absolute certainty, he would never have sided so easily with the Mu Family; at most, he would have remained neutral to protect himself.

What made him so determined to entrust the fate of the entire Yuan Family to the Mu Family?

Moreover, the Yuan Family hadn’t received the news for long, and he hadn’t told the Yuan Family Patriarch many details, only notified him of the time of the attack. He hadn’t even informed him of the feint attacks on the Mu Family’s various properties, so even if he had switched sides to the Mu Family earlier, they couldn’t have been so well-prepared.

Why had the second generation of Mu Family elites, disregarding their family assets, returned early to the Mu Family to conserve their strength?

Zhao Yuanji’s gaze swept over Mu Ze and the others. Their sword techniques, their longswords—they were all extraordinary, of such high caliber that even he was somewhat envious.

These were not possessions that ordinary family members would have. A family that wants to thrive long-term must keep some resources, not just give away their best assets frivolously. Rewards and punishments are necessary to incite the competitive spirit of the younger generation, to make the family stronger.

The Mu Family had distributed these sword techniques and treasured weapons unreservedly to a group of teenagers and young adults—could it be that they had anticipated today’s events? How was that possible?

"Could it be him?" The shout of the Yuan Family Patriarch and Wu Qiuyun when they arrived echoed in Zhao Yuanji’s mind, leaving him momentarily dumbfounded.

"Family Head, we can’t go on like this, perhaps we should pull out," said the old butler next to him, fearful as he watched the Zhao Family’s Death Soldiers falling one by one to the enemy’s swords.

He had spent a lifetime training these Death Soldiers, with the Zhao Family’s millennia of accumulation also largely depleted just for this—a special surprise to strike a final blow to the Mu Family. But he had never anticipated such an outcome.

"Pull back? Can we even do that?" Zhao Yuanji gave a bitter smile.

For today’s affair, their families—Zhao, Zhou, Cao, Xu—had given their all. Now, with Zhou Xingbang and the Cao Family Master dead, and only Xu Family Master still barely holding on against a great swordsman like Wu Longji and the high-spirited elite of the Wu Family, how long could he last?

And those so-called family elites had suffered even heavier casualties.

If they pulled back now, the Zhou, Cao, and Xu families were undoubtedly doomed. With the Yuan Family having switched allegiance to the Mu Family, even if their Zhao Family could preserve some strength, the near millennial accumulation of the family was nearly exhausted, and with Ling Xian no longer in this world, leaving only a bunch of good-for-nothing losers, how long could they hold on?

"Uncle Fu, the survival of the Zhao Family hinges on today; we have no way out. If I die, I hope you can preserve some trace of the Zhao bloodline, and do not forget the legacy of our ancestors," Zhao Yuanji said with a grief-filled face, slipping an iron plate into the old butler’s pocket.

"Family Head..." the old butler choked on his words, unable to say more.

"Mu Rui’an, do you dare to fight me?" Zhao Yuanji shouted.