Ko Fuan arrived at the doors of his father’s office to find two of his older brothers already standing there, waiting.

"Youngest!", the second oldest, Ko Wenlu, who seemed disinterested in the third, Ko Furen, standing next to him, livened up at the sight of Ko Fuan, greeting him with a wide grin, and as the latter came closer, asked in a slightly lower voice but still with an upbeat tone, while glancing at the door, "Do you... know what’s all this about?"

Ko Fuan turned a deadpan look at him, "Truly... what a mystery..."

"Haha, no I know it’s probably about the auction, but I mean, why summon all of us? Isn’t it obvious you’re the one he’s going to send?", Ko Wenlu chuckled, not batting an eye at the mocking tone of the youngest sibling.

The latter sighed, not sure if he liked so much friendly attention from Ko Wenlu after all, since the latter liked empty and meaningless chatter, but then an unreadable look appeared in his eyes, as he watched his second eldest brother.

After all, just a few days ago the target of his assignment changed, from his eldest brother, to Ko Wenlu.

It was convenient for him since he had trouble stirring up Ko Gunwen to cause him to act.

In Ko Fuan’s view, his eldest brother was now broken and completely defeated, losing all hope, wallowing in his defeat and self-pity. This made it hard to even provoke him into action, as he remained inert, seemingly immune to any stimulation.

After all, Ko Fuan couldn’t act directly, only steering his brother toward seeking out help from outside without implicating himself.

Ko Wenlu, however, seemed to be a far easier target.

Ko Fuan knew that his second eldest brother only pretended to never take anything too seriously and just played it safe by never revealing his own aspirations.

Ko Wenlu simply knew he wouldn’t be able to win against Ko Gunwen before and against Ko Fuan who won against the former now, so acting as an active supporter and sidekick to whoever was dominant was simply a survival strategy, as was hiding any vulnerabilities behind a clownish personality.

It did not mean he couldn’t be provoked deep inside, or truly didn’t have any ambition if he actually saw a chance at success.

The youngest sibling made up his mind, and then snorted, "What? Hoping for scraps to fall your way?"

"Woah woah woah~... someone’s in a combative mood~!", Ko Wenlu raised both hands to the sides with open palms in surrender as he took a step back with a grin, "Easy, Brother, easy~, hahaha, I’m on your side here buddy, let’s ju-..."

"Really? Are you sure?", Ko Fuan narrowed his eyes while looking intently at his second oldest brother, stepping forward toward him, "You seem to have a short memory, Brother, since that wasn’t always the case. You’re just wagging your tail for whoever you think is going to win, looking out for yourself in the future..."

And then, looking Ko Wenlu up and down with eyes of complete disdain which reminded both older brothers of their father, threw out with disgust, "... how pathetic can you get?"

"Fuan...", Ko Furen spoke up with a slightly reproaching tone.

"Oh, don’t give me your ’let’s get along’ nonsense!", Ko Fuan brushed him off with a dismissive wave of his hand, and a grimace, without giving him even a look, continuing to look at his second oldest brother, "You know perfectly well what I’m talking about, and you know I’m right"

Ko Wenlu’s usual smirk slightly faded, but then became even more pronounced as he made a short slightly high pitch giggle, as if it spilled out of him despite trying to hold it back, "Pfft~hihihi... you got me~! It’s true, my goal is to safely back whoever’s going to win, in this case you! See? I’m on your side man~, go youngest!"

"Tsk", Ko Fuan clicked his tongue with annoyance, turning away from him, but as he did, satisfaction flashed in his eyes, ’That’s enough for now, let’s not rush it too much’

It was at this point that the eldest, Ko Gunwen arrived as well, causing the attention to shift to him.

"Pfft!!! ~ehahahaha!", Ko Wenlu was the first to react to the sight of him without any mask, pointing at him with his finger, "Did you hit your head or something?! Aahaha! No, I mean I know you did, or rather someone else did. I’m asking more recently though, hehehe! Are you going to meet Father like that?"

"If you don’t like the mask I gave you last time, I can find another one", Ko Furen said almost at the same time as the second eldest with a concerned look on his face, while Ko Fuan only disdainfully snorted without saying anything.

"No, no, it’s fine, thank you for that mask, I just... decided I don’t want to wear anything", Ko Gunwen only smiled at Ko Furen, surprising all three of his younger siblings.

Before they could answer, however, the doors to their father’s study opened, signifying them to enter, all four exchanging looks with various meanings as they entered.

City Lord Ko sat at his desk, going over paperwork with an advisor standing to his side. His sons were used to him not looking at them entering or paying them any attention at all for some time.

As the advisor took the documents and bowed, he went past the four sons and only after the door closed behind him, did Ko Zhumen raise his eyes to look at the four siblings.

His gaze was instantly attracted to his eldest son’s face, as he furrowed his eyebrows, "I think I told you to cover it up"

Ko Gunwen gulped nervously, not raising his gaze to meet his father’s but as he opened his mouth to reply, his voice came out surprisingly steady, "You did. That doesn’t mean I have to do it"

This statement caused three pairs of eyes to turn to him with utter disbelief and astonishment, while their father’s gaze became amused. Ko Zhumen sat back in his armchair, putting away the paper scroll he was holding and the brush to look at his eldest son more closely, even more surprised to see the latter finally raise his gaze to meet his directly.

A trace of a smile appeared on City Lord’s face, "Really?"

"Yes", Ko Gunwen confirmed.

"Care to elaborate?", Ko Zhumen’s amusement intensified.

"I am not sure what you want me to elaborate on", Ko Gunwen replied.

"You don’t think you owe me an explanation?", Ko Zhumen raised his eyebrows.

"No, I don’t think I do", Ko Gunwen shook his head, causing his three siblings to start sweating.

The most surprised of them all being Ko Fuan who looked at the eldest as if seeing a madman, Ko Furen looking on with some concern, while Ko Wenlu was desperately trying to keep a straight face, laughter welling up from within him.

"Hmm... interesting", Ko Zhumen raised his hand, his fingers touching his lower face around his mouth in a thoughtful gesture, "No, really, it’s fascinating..."

The next moment, his hand grabbed his eldest son’s neck and raised him up from the floor.

"Father-...!", Ko Furen tried to intervene.

But was cut off by Ko Zhumen’s frosty voice, "I’m not talking to you"

The City Lord’s eyes had a steel, merciless gaze in them as he looked at Ko Gunwen’s anguished, struggling face, the latter’s hands grabbing his wrist, "You think you don’t owe me an explanation, you say... for defying my words. You seem to be forgetting your place, Gunwen"

Ko Gunwen then shot across the room and hit the far wall next to the door, falling to the floor, coughing and gasping for breaths while Ko Zhumen walked over to him with brisk steps, and then raised his foot to place it on the former’s head, pinning his forehead down to the floor.

"It seems I have been too lenient on all of you as of late", Ko Zhumen said as he leaned over, but glanced at the other three of his sons frozen in place, "Let me remind you then. All of you"

"Everything and everyone in this city belongs to me. You might be my sons, but that doesn’t make you an exception. No, rather, it is the other way, it is you who should be the most conscious of that", City Lord Ko didn’t raise his voice, speaking in a measured tone, "What is it that you have that wasn’t given to you by me? Your status, your money, your comfort and way of living, your rights and your authority, your cultivation techniques, your cultivation base and even your very life... what of this you earned yourself? You live in my mansion, command my men, and think you don’t have any obligations to me?"

The three brothers who remained standing showed different reactions, Ko Furen standing straight with a somber look, Ko Wenlu visibly physically shrinking by slumping his shoulders and lowering his head with fear in his eyes, while Ko Fuan showed extreme caution.

"Ah~, I guess that’s not completely true for the youngest... is that what’s causing this confusion?", Ko Zhumen’s gaze then turned to the last one, "I guess at least he did something on his own, I respect that..."

His expression momentarily showed approval, but then turned steely again, "...but if you took that as a sign that defiance would be tolerated, you’re dead wrong"

Ko Zhumen continued to explain as he returned his gaze to the eldest son whose head he still held down with his foot, "I ignored and tolerated Fuan’s efforts at building an independent force, not because I couldn’t do anything about it, but because I was curious to see what he could do, how far he could go. But make no mistake, whatever he built ’on his own’, is still a result of what I gave him. Do you think any of it would’ve been possible if he didn’t have his status as my son? It is, therefore, not truly his own - it is also mine. And what’s mine has to be subject to my rule. That goes for anything any one of you does"

These words caused Ko Fuan to want to clench his fists, but he desperately resisted the urge, sensing how dangerous it was to show any signs of defiance at this moment, his hands only imperceptibly twitching.

Meanwhile, Ko Zhumen was finishing his thought, "So... yes, you have to do what I say. Because I can just take back whatever I gave you, whether that is your status, money, comfort, authority..."

He then leaned forward again, placing a bit more weight on the foot standing on top of Ko Gunwen’s head, "... or life"