Duanchen couldn't help but chuckle.
His tone was laced with amusement.
"You, who once stood so high and mighty, now kneel for survival? How interesting."
Words, bordering on humiliation, struck the two figures like cold blades.
But they could no longer afford to care. They prostrated themselves on the ground, wishing they could grab Duanchen's trouser legs and beg.
Duanchen didn't give them the chance. He took a step back, his eyes fixed on the two, wary of any tricks they might pull if they tried to approach again.
A new idea flickered in his mind, and he couldn't help but smile faintly. Then, in his mind, he contacted Jin An.
Since they were already awake, another disturbance wouldn't matter.
Jin An emerged with a low-pressure aura, but didn't reveal his full form.
His ferocious snake head appeared, his body coiling.
A corpse was spat out from his mouth.
It was Jia Rengui's body.
However, Jia Rengui's shell had a large hole in its head. The sea demon that was supposed to be parasitizing it was nowhere to be seen.
Duanchen looked at the gaping hole in the head and a smile touched his lips.
"So you were parasitizing here? I'm quite curious, what does your true form look like…"
He looked at the two sea demons standing before him with a dangerous gaze.
Both felt an immediate sense of crisis and hurriedly tried to dissuade Duanchen from his dangerous thought.
"We are very fragile. If our brains are truly dissected like this, exposed to the air, we will die completely within a short time."
"Master! No, no, no, Master, please don't do this. We two will follow your lead in all things."
Jia Mengmeng was the more quick-witted one.
She scrambled forward, almost crawling, and held up a peculiar object, thrusting it towards Duanchen's face.
She shouted, "Master, please accept our contract!"
"We worked for Jia Rengui because he held some leverage over us. We had previously signed some contracts, similar to indentured servitude. If this contract is with Master, will Master feel at ease?"
Frankly, Duanchen had never encountered such a shameless, brazen, and utterly spineless sea demon.
His lips twitched. He reached out, took the item Jia Mengmeng handed him, and examined it. He looked up at Jia Mengmeng with surprise.
"Sacred Contract?"
Jia Mengmeng nodded.
Her eyes were filled with anticipation and pleading. "Yes, it's a Sacred Contract. You humans are skilled with peculiar objects; you should be able to discern its authenticity, right?"
Of course, he could discern its authenticity.
Duanchen was most familiar with Sacred Contracts. Otherwise, he wouldn't have identified it as such immediately, as there were many types of contracts in this world.
He glanced at the terms of the Sacred Contract, stipulating the two's servitude. A smile played on his lips, one that others couldn't fathom.
His teammates didn't disturb him at this moment, instead maintaining their vigilance, guarding against any sudden developments.
"Alright."
He suddenly spoke.
Jia Mengmeng and Wang Fugui's faces lit up with surprise. They were about to say something, but before they could utter a word,
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out.
Duanchen calmly retracted his gun, blew a puff of smoke from the muzzle that was still hot, and smirked indifferently.
Did they really think he was a fool? Trusting sea demons? It would be more believable if he won the lottery.
At least there was a chance of winning the lottery.
The others had no objections to Duanchen's actions. In fact, if Duanchen hadn't killed the two sea demons, they might have voiced a different opinion.
After all, sea demons were utterly untrustworthy, and no one who had trusted them had ever met a good end.
Duanchen's hatred for sea demons was innate. He despised them utterly…
Sea demons had brought ruin to his family and caused him to lose so many people. How could he let go of his hatred and make peace with them?
If he did, he would be truly heartless and ungrateful.
"What do we do now?"
Jun Ci walked over, looking at the corpses on the ground with a headache.
Four corpses lay neatly together, presenting a scene of a shocking murder.
Duanchen rubbed his chin, contemplating how to deal with the current situation.
In fact, he had already decided.
He looked at Hill.
"Is there any way… you can make Jia Rengui move again?"
Hill blinked, then covered his mouth and laughed somewhat dizzily. "Isn't that a simple matter?"
…
The banquet continued in the main hall, but with the absence of the host, many people's emotions inevitably turned anxious.
A few individuals gathered in a corner, exchanging glances, their growing impatience and unease seemingly spreading.
It was then that Jia Rengui returned to the banquet hall, instantly calming all the unrest.
Those who were more familiar approached him, smiling and complaining.
"We thought you had run off. Were the matters of the manor and the assassins resolved?"
It seemed they had discovered what had happened here through some unknown means.
Jia Rengui's face wore a gentle smile. "Don't worry, everything has been resolved, and resolved completely."
"This matter is not important…"
"What's most important is that my daughter is not dead. It was just a joke, and she cleverly used a decoy."
Looking at the gentle smile on Jia Rengui's face, others felt a sense of incongruity but didn't dwell on it. One by one, they began to offer congratulations.
"That's good, that's good…"
"It's best that you're all right."
"Is your daughter unharmed? Should she perhaps rest longer?"
Jia Rengui smiled and shook his head, refusing everyone.
"It's alright. Today, I have something I wish to announce, which will take up a bit more of everyone's time."
He walked onto the stage and grasped the microphone. The melodious music in the banquet hall stopped, and everyone looked at Jia Rengui on stage in silence.
Jia Rengui extended his hand and gestured towards a spot below.
The smile on his lips widened. Seeing a man walk towards him, he announced a bombshell of a piece of news.
"From this day forward, the Jia family is officially changing hands!"