Gu Gangyu and his followers, who had gone upstairs almost on autopilot, finally entered the private room.
After closing the door, their gazes turned to Yang Hu, who was sitting in the chair with his legs resting on the table.
None of them dared to show any dissatisfaction.
In the next instant, Gu Gangyu and his subordinates knelt down as if they had practiced thousands of times, perfectly in sync.
"We greet the Grand Master!"
"We greet the Grand Master!"
However, Yang Hu did not respond and simply remained silent, staring at them.
Yang Hu knew very well why they had acknowledged him as a Grand Master.
The difference between a Warrior and a Master is that a Master does not rely only on physical strength, but can release vital energy in a rudimentary way to attack.
But the difference between a Master and a Grand Master is even greater.
A Grand Master can manipulate vital energy however they want, far beyond a simple direct attack.
Moreover, as long as they have vital energy stored, they automatically maintain a protective barrier capable of blocking all attacks below the Grand Master level!
Facing a Grand Master, Gu Gangyu did not dare to raise his head, which was almost pressed against the floor.
A single thought dominated his mind.
'Am I going to die? Am I going to die at any moment?'
Time passed unconsciously.
Meanwhile, Yang Hu simply played with a wine bottle, controlling it like a small airplane, while the five of them remained kneeling on the ground.
This was a silent torture for the five.
Countless thoughts ran through their minds.
And the fear that this would be their final moment completely dominated them.
When they were about to go crazy, Yang Hu finally spoke.
"Tell me, why did you want me to take a loan from you? What kind of trick are you planning?"
Yang Hu's eyes locked onto Gu Gangyu before he continued.
"Or do I have some grudge with you?"
Since he knew Gu Gangyu did not know his real strength, he probably wanted to make him indebted because of that loan.
But the reason? Yang Hu still did not know.
Hearing Yang Hu's question, Gu Gangyu's body trembled.
"We have no grudge!" Gu Gangyu waved his hands quickly, afraid Yang Hu would misunderstand.
"It was the Jiang Family who ordered us to do this!"
"The Jiang Family?" Yang Hu immediately fell into thought.
But no matter how much he tried, he could not remember having any grudge with the Jiang Family.
He probably did not even know anyone with the surname Jiang.
Moreover, the Jiang Family was not unknown, but rather known as a rising star in the entire city.
After all, Jiang Banxiao, who practically established the Jiang Family, was the number one prodigy of Lingyun City twelve years ago and even represented the city in the Martial Alliance prodigy competition.
Although he clearly lost, he was accepted as a disciple by the vice-commander of the city defense army.
Nowadays, he is already a general with peak Master cultivation.
One of the youngest peak Masters in the history of Lingyun City!
"I have never had any interaction with the Jiang Family! Why would they do this?" Yang Hu's expression immediately turned cold.
Gu Gangyu was lying!
How could someone like him have contacted the massive Jiang Family before today, let alone to carry out such a scheme?
With a wave of his hand, the wine bottle exploded, and countless shards of glass flew toward Gu Gangyu and the other four.
Just as they were about to reach their throats, the shards stopped in midair, only one centimeter away.
Gu Gangyu swallowed hard when he saw this.
He knew Yang Hu was giving him one last chance to tell the truth. Otherwise, those shards would pierce his throat…
And his companions' as well.
After all, they were not just subordinates, but his team — people he had been through life and death with.
Thinking of this, he clenched his teeth and spoke:
"The Jiang Family wasn't interested in you… they were interested in your sister!"
"Hm!"
Yang Hu's expression immediately turned cold, and the glass shards moved forward, pressing against the necks of the five.
It was even possible to see a drop of blood form, mixing with the drops of wine stuck to the glass.
"What does my sister have to do with this?" Yang Hu asked coldly.
At that moment, he could not help but have terrible thoughts.
Why would the Jiang Family give him money like this?
Yang Mingxue… I hope you didn't do anything stupid...
Gu Gangyu also realized that Yang Hu might have misunderstood and spoke quickly.
He was afraid that Yang Hu's emotions would waver and the glass would move even a little further.
"Grand Master Yang, this is what happened…"
Then, Gu Gangyu began to explain that the Jiang Family was not specifically targeting Yang Mingxue.
It all started because, although the high-level strength of the Jiang Family could even be compared to the three great families,
Their foundation and influence were still far inferior to those traditional families.
So, the Jiang Family decided to investigate the most talented students of the twelve preparatory schools — those with huge potential but from poor families.
The idea was to use Gu Gangyu to grant huge loans, without any collateral, that likely could not be repaid.
When these students graduated and discovered that their families were in trouble,
The Jiang Family would appear as an "angel," paying off the debt in exchange for them joining the Jiang Family.
In this way, students from poor backgrounds would see the Jiang Family as the ones who solved all their problems.
And after joining the family, they would receive countless resources to grow, becoming completely loyal to them.
After hearing the whole story, Yang Hu immediately relaxed, and the glass shards floating in the air all fell to the ground.
'This plan of the Jiang Family is really… very interesting.'
Yang Hu thought, but soon did not care much.
In fact, for people from poor families, maybe it wasn't even that bad to enter the Jiang Family this way, even if it was a somewhat hypocritical trick.
After all, for ordinary people, joining the Jiang Family — although it requires loyalty — undeniably means receiving many resources.
Maybe it's even better than joining the army or risking going outside the city to obtain resources.
"I'm very satisfied with your explanation," Yang Hu chuckled lightly as he looked at them.
Gu Gangyu immediately replied, "It is an honor to answer Grand Master Yang's questions!"
"Haha, but I'm curious," Yang Hu continued. "Tell me, what will the Jiang Family do to you when they find out you exposed their plan?"