A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 1496 A Series of Unfortunate Events

The meeting hall in the Chu family was one that was lavishly decorated. That evening, it was brightly lit, its lights driving away the darkness of the night. Seated in the room were the upper echelons of the Chu family.

They currently had their heads buried in their documents and matching frowns on their faces. A certain kind of solemnity hung heavily in the room.

After a long while, an old man finally slammed his fist on the table. He glared at Chu Qi-Tian and thundered furiously at the young man. "What's going on? Seventy-two families that had sworn their allegiance to the Chu family were decimated over the course of a few days. They were massacred in a single night. Another fiftyeight families have disavowed themselves from us and declared their sovereignty. This is the first time something like this has happened since the founding of the Chu family. You've only taken over the management of the family business for a few months. How did you manage to make a mess out of everything so quickly? Chu

Qi-Tian, what did you do?"

The white-bearded old man wished he could smack Chu Qi-Tian on the head with his walking stick.

The other elders of the Chu family were equally shocked and angered when they found out about the dire state that the Chu family was in.

They had lost the allegiance of more than a hundred families and groups over the course of a few months.

That count exceeded the count that they had accumulated over the past hundred years.

"Grandfather, I...have no clue what's going on too," Chu Qi-Tian muttered meekly, his voice filled with terror and guilt and his head bowed.

The young master of the Chu family showed no hint of the arrogance and audacity that he had flaunted in front of Han earlier. Instead, he appeared meek and humbled before these elders, like a child who had done something wrong.

"You don't know? How could you say that? Everything was fine while Han was managing the family clan's finances. But you've barely taken over before disaster struck. You're in charge. How could you tell us that you have no idea what's going on?"

The elders of the Chu family were infuriated when they heard what Chu Qi-Tian had said.

These family clans might not be the cornerstone of the Chu family's power but they had been the source of a good half of the Chu family's wealth.

Yet the Chu family had lost more than a hundred of them within days. This was a devastating blow that was going to seriously disrupt their businesses.

A stable source of income was required to sustain this vast empire.

The Chu family's operations were going to be severely affected now that they had lost

a huge chunk of their regular income.

Chu Qi-Tian was the person currently in charge of the family clan's finances. He naturally shouldered the blame.

Chu Zheng-Liang wanted to put in a few words for his son but he knew that wouldn't do either of them any good.

As the head of the Chu family, he couldn't be seen openly siding with his son.

He had no choice but to question Chu Qi-Tian himself.

"Tian, tell us honestly. What have you done? There must be a reason for why our allies are getting killed or disavowing themselves from us."

Chu Qi-Tian nearly broke down in tears.

"Dad, I didn't do anything. I assumed responsibility for the clan's finances only a few months ago. I have been trying to learn the ropes this whole time. I didn't do anything behind your backs. You have to believe me!"

Chu Qi-Tian felt terribly aggrieved.

When he had been given the responsibility to run the Chu family clan's finances, he had thought that this was the beginning of his rise to power. Sooner or later, he was going to run the entire clan.

He had not expected a crisis to strike when he had barely gotten familiar with his duties.

He swore to god that he hadn't done anything.

The meeting went on as everyone continued to question Chu Qi-Tian on what he had done. Then, someone barged into the room.

"What's the matter? Can't you tell that we're in the middle of a meeting? You shouldn't be barging into the room without our express permission." Everyone was furious. One of the elders blew up immediately when they saw someone interrupting the meeting without their approval.

The man apologized profusely.

"Alright now. What's the matter? Tell us," said Chu Zheng-Liang, who was seated at the front of the table.

"Master, we just received news from Africa...23 African family clans affiliated to the Chu family have been decimated. The heads of these families were killed and the businesses under the families' names taker over by someone else!"

What?

"That's.Jmpossible!"

Everyone reeled with shock.

Many of them had widened their eyes in disbelief.

In fact, some had jumped up from their seats in shock.

"There's trouble in Africa too?"

That was when everyone realized that something fishy was going on here.

A spate of incidents had befallen the family clans affiliated to the Chu family across the globe, spanning from Africa and Asia to Western Europe. Could this truly be a coincidence?

They didn't think so!

"Someone's behind this. I think we have a target painted on our backs," Chu Zheng-Liang said coldly and with a stormy look on his face.

His words were filled with a cold fury.

His fingers had tightened into fists without his knowing.

"It does seem that something fishy is going on. It's been years since someone has dared to challenge the Chu family. I can't help but feel a little excited. I wonder who our enemy is? Who dares to pit themselves against us?"

The elders in the room burned with rage. They seemed to be seized by a sudden fervor.

"Send our guards to these affected regions to conduct an investigation. They're to employ all means at their disposal to find out who is behind this. The Chu family's been lying low for many years. Perhaps some folks have forgotten our might. We can't have vermin trying to climb all over us." Chu Zheng-Liang flipped his sleeve and bellowed furiously, his voice booming like thunder and filling the hall. That night, numerous martial artists left the Chu family and headed to all corners of the globe to investigate the mastermind behind the recent spate of incidents.

After the meeting had ended, Chu Qi-Tian let loose a long sigh of relief. What a terrible ordeal that had been.

Luckily, he had escaped unscathed.

He had been convinced that he was going to be punished severely for the catastrophe that had occurred during his watch.

"Dad, if there's nothing else, I'll return and take my rest." Chu Qi-Tian excused himself after everyone else had left.

"Get back here! Rest? How can you rest when we have a crisis on our hands?" Chu Zheng-Liang yelled unhappily at his son.

Chu Qi-Tian was overcome by helplessness. "There's nothing I can do anyway. I can't even beat a grandmaster."

'Tm glad you know that," Chu Zheng-Liang snorted. "I told you to spend more time training with your master. Have you done as I told you to?"

Chu Qi-Tian nodded. "I went to Chu Sect as you told me to. I would turn up every week at my master's fortraining, but I never managed to see her. It's been more than six months. I've not seen hide nor hair of her."

"You've not seen her in six months?" Chu Zheng-Liang frowned when he heard that.

That was when it struck him. He had not seen the sect leader of Chu Sect for nearly a year.

"Has she gone into seclusion?" asked Chu Zheng-Liang.

Chu Qi-Tian shook his head, then shrugged. "Who knows? That's just my master. She's never to be found most of the time. You just have to be really lucky if you want to catch her."