Chapter 52: The Dugu Family of the Rock State
---Rock State Stellar system, Planet No: 3---
The third planet of the Rock State stellar system was reserved for the residents of the back market merchants. Having a residency on the third planet was a prerequisite to owning a shop in the stellar system.
The residents of sections one to four were all exceedingly wealthy merchant families. They were the ones who managed the whole black market operations in Rock State. Out of all of them, the Dugu family was the strongest. They had their finger in every pie. Weapons, Herbs, Spaceships, formations, runes, cultivation techniques, red streets, you name it they were involved in all.
Well, except for the slave trade.
Even though the slave trade was the most lucrative black market business, the Dugu family never showed any interest in that regard. The patriarch of the Dugu family had made it clear that Dugu family members were forbidden to dabble in the slave trade.
Not only that, patriarch Dugu Ming Ze had erected a few more iron-clad rules that must be followed by every Dugu family member. These strict conduct and code of honor gave the Dugu family the reputation they needed to rise to the top. Because of that nobody backstabbed them, and even if one was brave enough to do so, they would soon find out it was the bad way to go since the rest of the Dugu family partners were more than willing to sweep the backstabbers off the face of the Rock State. Such was the Dugu family's reputation.
But recently the code of conduct started to slowly slip out of track. Some members were openly violating the code set by the patriarch. If Dugu Ming Ze was present and healthy none would dare to do such a thing, but the problem was, he was not!
It happened during one of the undercover visits to a mineral mine. As the largest black market shareholder, the Dugu family patriarch always did undercover visits to observe and inspect the whole merchant operation. Every time it was a well-planned visit that was only known to very few individuals. So none would know about it. It was being like this for decades and nothing unusual happened. But the last visit was a disaster. It turned out the patriarch Dugu was ambushed by unidentified assassins.
The attack was well organized to the point it was obvious, the information about their secret visit was somehow leaked. Patriarch Dugu and his escort had to fight a bitter battle to carve out a path to retreat. But assassins were much more prepared than they had anticipated. At the last minute, one assassin managed to injure the patriarch with a poisoned blade. But even with the injury, they have managed to retreat paying a heavy price.
After they returned, something much worse took place, the patriarch had fallen into a coma! The whole Dugu family fell into chaos. The best alchemists and physicians were invited in hope of finding a cure. But almost all of them gave the same answer.
'Chilling Heart Poison was not something this world could cure!'
Patriarch Dugu's daughter Dugu Hao Yan felt devastated. Even though she was mournful, she was still meticulous enough to take the reins of the family and stabilize the situation. But still, she was a youngster with less life experience, on top of that she was a woman. Most of the families followed a patriarchal structure, so it was obvious not many were happy about her ascend to power.
Four people were gathered in the Dugu family discussion hall.
"Patriarch could not be cured. We have to elect a new patriarch." Said a blue-clad figure.
"Uncle Wuju is right. We cannot waste more time. We have to elect the next patriarch. We're already losing control in many businesses." Said a youth dressed in an extremely luxurious red robe.
The blue-cladded figure, uncle Wuju, looked pleased and nodded in approval. But a bearded black-robed figure interrupted his happy time.
"But the young miss said a physician will arrive end of this month..." The bearded figure added.
"Puff… don't talk nonsense. There won't be anyone who could cure chilling heart poison within the lower realms…" Youngster snapped at the bearded man in full of mockery.
"Yes, not even the royal physician of the Kingdom could do so, I can personally confirm it…" Joined in the fourth figure.
Among the four, the one who spoke the last was the most eye-catching person. She was a gorgeous female. The scantily clad woman was shrouded with sex appeal. Her charm was enough to put every male around her under her spell, even some females. The only reason the three men around her were in control was that they were well aware of the lethality hidden under her succubus façade.
"But the pills she brought stabilize the patriarch's condition…" Uttered the bearded fellow in annoyance.
"Those were just heart-igniting pills. They could only drive the poison out of the patient's heart and stop the faster spread. that's all…" She scoffed back at him.
"Bang"
Suddenly the hall doors kicked open. A young woman with an extremely fierce aura entered. Compared to the seductress sitting in the hall, the young woman had average facial features. But her tightly fit robes revealed curves that put the succubus to shame. And the scantily clad woman did throw a hateful look at the young lady.
The young lady didn't pay attention to anyone and directly walked and occupied the leading chair. The ferocious young lady of the Dugu family, Dugu Hao Yan graced the discussion hall.
"I heard you people were deciding to replace my father… How can you discuss that without the acting head..." Her eyes narrowed on the blue-clad figure while completely ignoring the youngster and the scantily clad woman.
"You might be the acting head. But temporary! We don't see the necessity to inform you of our decisions." Said the seductress lazily. It was obvious she was not putting Dugu Hao Yan in her eyes. Neither the blue-clad figure nor the youngster. Only the bearded man had a somewhat restrained attitude towards Hao Yan.
"Hump…" Acting head, Hao Yan harrumphed back. "I have nothing to discuss with a whore."
The seductress looked visibly upset. Her complexion darkened. It was obvious she was upset. Before the situation escalated the bearded man stepped in.
"Young miss, it was nothing personal… All of us are worrying about our investments." He explained. "Also there were already members running amok. We need to establish order. If not, we would lose our credibility."
"Yes, Yan'er. We need a leader." Jumped in the youngster. Which only managed to attract a single glance from Hao Yan before she went back to bore her eyes on the blue-clad figure. The blunt neglect made the youngster irritated to no end.
'Bitch, just you wait. Once uncle Wuju became the patriarch, I'll teach you how to be polite to your betters.' His looks contained a mixture of hate and lust.
Hao Yan's extreme gaze started to bother the blue-cladded man. He shifted uncomfortably before speaking out. "My dear niece, our competitors are already cutting into our market. You clearly have no experience or expertise to handle the family. People were already tensing up and creating trouble everywhere. So we hoped to elect a new patriarch to control the unrest."
"You clearly taking my father's misfortune to occupy his place. Let's see how you do it with me here." Hao Yan was fierce as ever. "I'm still looking into the ambush. Hope that you people had nothing to do with it. If you do… hehe… it won't be pretty."
The scantily dressed woman and Dugu Wuju threw provocative looks at her. Their stances were clear. Either they didn't do anything or they were extremely confident none was capable of pointing fingers at them.
The bearded man again had to step in to de-escalate the situation. "Young miss we're doing this out of desperation. We have no choice… your so-called physician has not arrived yet. We already gave you a month. Everything will spiral out of control at this phase…"
As frustrated as she was Dugu Hao Yan knew there was a truth to the beard man's words. The business partners already renegading, and family members were already unrestrainable. No matter how talented she was, she still lacked the experience and tactfulness to deal with these old foxes and the vixen.
She knew they were the ones inciting mayhem in the family and messing up the business deals. They just wanted her out of their way.
What a bunch of ungrateful bastards! The minute their leader who led them to the top encountered a problem, they turned into a bunch of hyenas.
"Sigh… Elder Miguel, please give me a few more days. There are another two days till the end of the month…" She uttered finally. The mental exhaustion was evident on her tiresome face.
The bearded elder considered the situation. It was true the family was in trouble and needed immediate fixing. But delaying it for a few more days could not do severe change. So he thought to give this young lady, two more days and be over with her botheration.
"Alright, only two more days… after that if the physician did not arrive. We will choose another president."
Others nodded. Even they had to accept elder Miguel's decision was agreeable. Hao Yan stood up to leave the hall. Her gaze wandered from face to face observing. Elder Miguel stayed stoic as always. The same could be said for Dugu Wuju and the youngster if his lustful gaze was to be ignored. But the seductress had a smirk painted on her face. Hao Yan cocked her head in disgust.
She excused herself and stormed off just as she entered the hall. She passed through the mansion and entered a heavily guarded room. The whole bay was filled with herb aroma. It was clear where the herb smell came from. In the middle of the room, there was a stone tub that was filled with a greenish fluid. The fluid looked to be some sort of an alchemy concoction. In the stone tub, laid the current patriarch of the Dugu family, Dugu Ming Ze.
She slowly sat on the nearby stool and observed her father whose skin already turning dark purple, a sign of the poison was already overpowered his organs. She sighed heavily. All fierceness was gone with her domineering attitude and left there a young maiden who was scared for her uncertain future.
"Father I hope you are here… I don't know what to do anymore… I wish I were more competent, but I'm not. All of them want me gone." Her eyes softened, and tears started to fall. A hushed cry of the young maiden filled the room. "I… I hope the masked stranger will …come. I… d…don't know him. But h…he sounded trustworthy… I really hope he could cure you." She suddenly smiled with teary eyes. She said in a self-deprecating voice. "Forgive me father I'm not adequate to stand up for you. The resistance is overwhelming. Even at the last moment, I had to rely on an unknown stranger for help… truly pathetic…"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone