CHAPTER 596: CHAPTER 595 THE ZHANG FAMILY SITUATION (1/3)

After listening to Zhang Shaoting’s account, Yang Chen frowned deeply.

Yang Chen turned his gaze to Zhang Xingzhou and asked in a deep voice, "Elder, is this the case?"

Zhang Xingzhou lowered his aged face and remained silent for a moment.

Looking at Zhang Xingzhou’s graying hair, Yang Chen waited quietly.

Some things absolutely cannot be guessed at; one must clearly hear the true situation.

Zhang Qishan was also full of conflicting emotions, wanting to speak but holding back, occasionally glancing at Zhang Xingzhou.

Without a word from his father, he naturally dared not speak recklessly.

After a long time, Zhang Xingzhou finally lifted his head and sighed, "I can also guess, this must be retribution, just like my lung disease."

Yang Chen didn’t respond, quietly watching Zhang Xingzhou.

Zhang Xingzhou looked at Yang Chen and said in a deep voice, "Do you still remember what I told you before? Our Zhang family was originally prosperous, but when it came to me, only I was left; all my brothers died violently. Then in the next generation below, only the eldest and the third are left. To keep the third son’s life safe, I had to send him abroad; he’s grown this big now. But, the third son is also destined to be childless. He once dated a girl, and she was seven months pregnant, but then got shot... both mother and child died. Now it has come to Shaoting, and our Zhang family is left with only him as the sole heir!"

"So what?" Yang Chen leaned against the sofa, crossing his legs, looking calmly at Elder Zhang.

Elder Zhang frowned and said, "So, I think now it’s retribution coming."

Yang Chen sighed at these words, put down his crossed legs, rested his arms on his knees for support, and stared at Elder Zhang, saying, "I know what you used to do, and I reckon you haven’t thoroughly cleaned your hands from it even now. This naturally harms your family’s prosperity and thriving members; it’s all quite normal."

Zhang Xingzhou nodded, saying in a deep voice, "So now I want to ask if there’s a way to solve it? It’s affecting me and my sons, and who knows when it might involve my grandson. Our Zhang family’s bloodline across three generations is this thin; it can’t just end like this!"

Saying this, Zhang Xingzhou looked at Yang Chen imploringly, "As long as you can save the Zhang family, I’ll agree to any condition, even if it costs me this old man’s life!"

Yang Chen quickly reached out to stop him, "Don’t! Don’t say that!"

Respecting the elderly and caring for the young has always been a good virtue for Yang Chen, so he naturally couldn’t endure Zhang Xingzhou’s words.

Yang Chen thought for a while and said to Zhang Xingzhou, "Elder Zhang, let me analyze it for you first. No need to say anything else, based on what Shaoting just said, I’ll sort it out for you."

Zhang Xingzhou nodded repeatedly. To him, Yang Chen was now the only one who could help them, as Yang Chen was the one who saw the problem with one glance back then.

Yang Chen said, "First of all, you are grave robbers; going underground to work is inherently unclean. I want to ask, after working underground for so many years, have you encountered anything unclean?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qishan immediately looked at Zhang Xingzhou.

Zhang Xingzhou also looked at Zhang Qishan, his face conflicted.

Yang Chen waited quietly.

After hesitating for a while, Elder Zhang slowly nodded, saying, "Yes, I’ve encountered them."

Yang Chen let out a light laugh and said blandly, "It seems I guessed right. Brother Zhang has only a faint scent of earth, but it’s surely there; you took him down to the grave back then, right?"

Zhang Xingzhou sighed, feeling guilty, "That’s right, it wasn’t only him. The third son also went down at the time!"

Yang Chen nodded, "Then it confirms it. You know what unclean things look like, but after washing your hands for so many years, have you encountered any unclean things?"

The two exchanged a look, then both shook their heads in unison, "No!"

"Then that’s right." Yang Chen spread his hands, saying, "Your previous misfortunes, including the children’s short lives and the third son’s unborn child dying in the womb, are all retribution for harming the benevolence of the world and not the work of unclean things."

The two nodded repeatedly.

"However." Yang Chen’s eyes glinted coldly as he said sternly, "The current situation is that you all saw something, then almost died on the spot. What do you think it is?"

Zhang Xingzhou and Zhang Qishan both turned pale in an instant.

"You mean..." Zhang Xingzhou, pale-faced, his voice trembling, asked, "We encountered something unclean?"

Yang Chen leaned back slightly but did not answer.

Only then did he notice that the complexions of Zhang Xingzhou and Zhang Qishan were not looking good, and there seemed to be a cloud of blackness hanging over their brows!

It looked like a dark cloud looming over their faces, which indicated trouble in face reading.

"Brother Yang!" Zhang Qishan turned halfway towards Yang Chen, as if clinging to a last bit of hope, saying, "What do you think we should do?"

Yang Chen spread his hands helplessly, "Sorry, I am not a Daoist priest of the Maoshan sect, and I don’t understand these mysterious matters very well, so I’m afraid I can’t help."

Zhang Xingzhou didn’t believe it and watched Yang Chen, saying, "You know so much; you must know something!"

Yang Chen shook his head and said to Zhang Xingzhou, "Elder, I really don’t understand your line of grave robbing at all. The reason I know this is because we once excavated a large tomb while serving in the guard, encountered some situations in it, and since then learned some things, so when I saw you, I recognized you as someone who worked underground."

"This..." Zhang Xingzhou clearly didn’t expect Yang Chen to say that, feeling as if all his hopes had suddenly been dashed.

The two looked conflicted, bowing their heads in silence, appearing extremely heavy-hearted.

As the saying goes, those who bear the burden worry. This didn’t fall on anyone else’s head, so no one else could truly grasp the feeling.

Like Zhang Shaoting now, seeming like an outsider, completely not understanding the situation.

Seeing how troubled his grandfather and father were, Zhang Shaoting said, "Grandpa! Dad! If this really is such a wicked thing, why don’t we find a Daoist priest? Perhaps they can help!"

The two looked to Yang Chen, seeking his opinion.

Yang Chen thought for a moment and said, "You might as well try; maybe there’s hope!"

After hearing Yang Chen’s words, hope welled in the eyes of both Zhang Xingzhou and Zhang Qishan.

Zhang Xingzhou said to Zhang Qishan, "I’ve heard Wudan’s Daoist priests are good; go invite them over to help perform exorcism!"

Zhang Qishan stood up and said solemnly, "Alright, I’m on my way now!"

Yang Chen quickly reached out to stop him, "Wait!"

Yang Chen said to the two, "I suggest you still refrain from going out. The issue first appeared with Elder, who didn’t leave the house, so he hasn’t encountered any danger. But Brother Zhang and their third brother went out and barely escaped. For now, it’s better to minimize going out."

Both instantly looked to Zhang Shaoting.

Zhang Shaoting also felt a bit scared, thinking about it before saying, "Then... I’ll send someone to look!"

"Good!" Zhang Xingzhou decided, saying to Zhang Shaoting, "You should also go out less often recently; let others handle this matter."

Then, Zhang Xingzhou looked at Yang Chen, "Xiaoyang, do you have time tomorrow? Could you come and take a look?"

Yang Chen thought for a moment and said, "In the afternoon, I’ll try to make time; if I can, I’ll call Shaoting."

He took out his phone to glance at it and said to the three, "If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave now."

Sun Yue had sent him a message.