"Bang!..."
Just as Tang Yi was reflecting, the door to his hospital room suddenly got kicked open.
Three men in their forties, fuming with rage, marched in, followed by a young man and woman.
Tang Yi recognized them; the leader was none other than his own uncle and the current Helmsman of the Du Family—Du Qingshan.
The two middle-aged men beside Du Qingshan were his brothers, Du Qingsong and Du Qingshui.
As for the young man and woman trailing behind them, the man was Du Qingsong's son and Tang Yi's cousin, Du Hao, and the woman was his girlfriend, Li Xiaoxia.
Both of them, just like Tang Yi, were students at Shanghai University. Seeing the three uncles' furious demeanor, Tang Yi knew they must have learned from Du Hao about his public confession to Mo Qingxue and openly stealing Bai Shaochen's girl.
As soon as Du Qingshan entered, he pointed at Tang Yi and cursed, "You bastard, you really have the guts of a bear and a leopard to provoke Bai Shaochen and bring catastrophic disaster upon our Du Family!"
"To think we took you into the Du Family out of good faith, considering your pitiful young age. Had we known this would happen, it would have been better to leave you out for the dogs!" Du Qingshui and Du Qingsong were also visibly enraged.
After all, the Du Family was top-rated in Xuan Nan District, but compared to the Bai Family, they were like dwarfs facing a giant. Now that Tang Yi had offended the Bai Family's young master, if the latter chose to implicate the Du Family, they would have no means to resist and could be annihilated in an instant.
Hearing the tirade from Du Qingshan and the others, Tang Yi let out a cold laugh and said, "Good faith? You just wanted the shares of the Du Corporation that I inherited!"
Tang Yi's grandfather, old Mr. Du, was a self-made man who founded the Du Corporation, a business empire with a market value peaking at hundreds of billions, making it one of the top private enterprises in Xuan Nan District.
Before Mr. Du passed away, he had divided the shares of Du Corporation equally among his four children, and Tang Yi's mother received twenty-five percent of them.
Not long after Mr. Du's death, Tang Yi's mother suddenly became pregnant out of wedlock and refused to disclose the identity of Tang Yi's father, eventually being driven out of the Du Family by her three brothers under the pretext of tarnishing the family's reputation.
"When my mother was seriously ill in the hospital, none of you brothers even visited her once; nor did you show up at her funeral. Instead, you only appeared as uncles after I inherited the shares of the Du Corporation and took me away!" Tang Yi said indignantly:
"Do you not know what kind of life I had in the Du Family since I was a child? Yet you always turned a blind eye, letting your own children and servants insult and bully me!"
"Until the day I turned eighteen, you finally showed your true colors, banding together to force me to sign a share transfer agreement, taking away what rightfully belonged to me, just like what you did to drive away my mother!"
Tang Yi sneered, "All these deeds of yours are nothing but acts of complete and utter shamelessness!"
Li Xiaoxia, standing to the side, was thrilled upon hearing Tang Yi's account; women naturally possess a love for gossip, especially when it involves the intricate power plays within a large family.
As for Du Qingshan and his brothers, the actual individuals involved, they were shocked that Tang Yi would openly air out their misdeeds, becoming flushed and furiously apoplectic.
"You're talking nonsense!"
"Exactly, it's all utter nonsense."
...
As the Helmsman of the Du Corporation, Du Qingshan was a figure who commanded respect throughout Xuan Nan District, but today, he had been denounced as despicable by his own younger relative. Despite being accustomed to tough situations, he was extremely infuriated.
With a grim look, Du Qingshan stared at Tang Yi and bellowed, "You bastard, your audacity has grown today! How dare you disrespect your elders!"
"Have the guts to say what you just said one more time!"
In Du Qingshan's eyes, his nephew Tang Yi was a timid waste, always behaving better than a dog whenever he got angry.
Back then, it was he who personally forced Tang Yi to hand over all the shares of the Du Corporation.
However, Du Qingshan didn't know that the Tang Yi standing before him had long since ceased to be the worthless man he remembered!
Tang Yi watched Du Qingshan coldly and said slowly, "I said, you all are a bunch of despicable and shameless villains!"
Seeing Tang Yi dare to repeat those words, Du Qingsong and Du Qingshui were raging with anger, wishing they could give this brat a severe beating.
Yet, facing Tang Yi, Du Qingshan reacted quite the opposite. Not only had his previous anger vanished, but he also felt a mysterious chill.
Because from Tang Yi's gaze, he saw coldness, ruthlessness, and even a faint flicker of murderous intent.
Was this still the cowardly wastrel he remembered?
Du Qingshan had no idea about the cruelty of the Cultivation World, where for the sake of competing for cultivation resources, one might kill to the extent that corpses were strewn everywhere, all for a single piece of Spiritual Medicine.
It could be said that every powerhouse in the Cultivation World was built upon a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
And Tang Yi, who had struggled through the Cultivation World for five hundred years, had countless Lost Souls who had perished by his hand.
If it were Tang Yi at his peak, perhaps just one look could annihilate them, both body and soul.
"You bastard, you've really crossed the line!"
Seeing Du Qingshan remain silent, Du Hao stepped forward, raised his hand, and fiercely slapped Tang Yi across the face.
"Scram!"
A cold, stern shout erupted, and a dense murderous aura spread from Tang Yi's body throughout the entire hospital room.
"Ah!"
Before anyone saw what happened, Du Hao, who had intended to strike, instead cried out in agony. He spun several times in midair before crashing to the floor with a loud thud.
Lying on the ground, Du Hao's face bore a large handprint, turning half of his face into a pig's head, and beside his mouth was a pool of fresh blood, mixed with several white teeth.
"Son (Du Hao)!"
Du Qingsong and Li Xiaoxia hurried over, helping the already unconscious Du Hao to his feet.
"Murder, help, someone help!"
As a woman, Li Xiaoxia had never witnessed such a scene and, terrified, she cried out for help, immediately drawing a crowd to the hospital room.
The room's Du Qingshan, however, kept his gaze fixed on Tang Yi. Was this still the obsequious wastrel from before?
In the past, Tang Yi had been so timid that even when bullied by a servant, he would not dare to retaliate, only knowing to hide in a corner and cry.
But now, he had the audacity to fight back. What was most crucial was that when Tang Yi had just lashed out, despite so many people in the hospital room, not one had seen how he moved.
His strike was so fast, precise, and ruthless, it must have required at least a decade of rigorous training.
"Who would have thought this little wretch would have such a profound scheme!" thought Du Qingshan.
Meanwhile, Tang Yi spoke up, slowly saying, "Since you, the Du family, fear that I will bring you down, from today onwards, we shall sever all ties!"