Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1164 The one we should have kept our eye on

1164: The one we should have kept our eye on

1164: The one we should have kept our eye on

A brief silence ensued before Xia Fang broke it, continuing with the rest of the story.

“The moment of reprieve we had bought for ourselves soon came to an end when the three clans attacked us eighteen years later,” she said, a distant look in her eyes.

“My grandfather told me that the seniors back then had hoped…

or rather expected, that the time would be longer.

Some even held onto the hope that the veil of suspicion we had created would be enough to turn them against each other,” she added, an involuntary sigh escaping her lips.

“But with the way our luck was going, how could we be so fortunate?” Xia Fang shook her head with a self-deprecating smile.

“Was it all of them that attacked, or did the Fan family strike first before the rest joined in?” Yang Qing asked.

“They attacked together.”

“Just like that?” Yang Qing immediately followed up, his brow slightly raised in confusion.

Like the Xia clan seniors, he would have assumed the delay would last much longer—especially with the lingering doubts the clans must have harbored toward one another.

The Xia clan senior’s strategy of leaving the Fan family unscathed while targeting the other two had been an ingenious move.

Given that, it seemed strange that the three clans had still come together so soon.

With the losses the Chi and Ning families had suffered—two of their palace realm experts gravely injured in the Chi family and one in the Ning family—those two clans would have been extremely suspicious of the Fan family, as they were the only ones who emerged unscathed.

That doubt wasn’t something that could be easily resolved in just eighteen years, no matter how long that time might seem.

Yes, eighteen years might seem significant, but it depended on the context.

To mortals, it was enough time to see children born and raised into adulthood.

But to cultivators, especially those in higher realms, eighteen years was no different than a short nap.

For the three families and even the Xia clan, those eighteen years were akin to mere moments—especially given the weight of what they were dealing with.

The Xia clan stood at the brink of extermination, while the three retainer clans bore the pressure of finishing what they had started, all while grappling with the heavy loss of having three of their palace realm experts severely injured in a single moment.

This was a setback they likely never anticipated—both in scale and manner—and the fact that it happened at all would have given all of them cause for concern.

Whether it was the Ning and Chi families, who suffered the losses, or the Fan family, who, despite escaping the losses, was still there to see it all happen.

After that event, they likely thought the same thing: How many other dangerous trump cards was the Xia family hiding besides the formation diagram?

That question alone would have made them hesitate.

And beyond their wariness of the Xia clan’s hidden cards, they also had to contend with their distrust of one another.

Having even a single palace realm expert injured would have made the situation dire—let alone three being gravely wounded.

Such a loss must have shaken the three clans to their core, each bearing the weight of that setback.

But the greatest burden would have undoubtedly fallen on the Fan clan, who not only had to remain wary of the Xia clan but also of their supposed allies.

From Yang Qing’s perspective, at that moment, the Fan clan was likely in just as precarious a position as the Xia clan, surrounded by enemies on all sides.

They would have been just as suspicious of the Ning and Chi families as those two were of them.

And in Yang Qing’s opinion, that kind of deep-seated distrust should have taken far longer than eighteen years to dissipate.

After all, just as the Xia clan had been teetering on the edge of annihilation, wasn’t the same true for the three clans?

One wrong move, and they stood to lose just as much.

Given the stakes, waiting would have been the most logical course of action—something they could afford, unlike the Xia clan, which they had already isolated from the outside world.

“What made them act so quickly?” Yang Qing asked, voicing his doubts.

Xia Fang lowered her head, pursing her lips in deep frustration.

“Our inaction,” she mumbled softly, her head still lowered.

“And…” she whispered, trailing off before looking up with a miserable smile and an equally pained expression.

“We didn’t know it at the time, but there was one family we should have been most wary of—more than any of the others,” she said slowly.

“That family was the Ning family.

And they are the other reason they acted so quickly,” she added, her words only deepening Yang Qing’s confusion.

He couldn’t be blamed for it.

Based on the information she had shared earlier about the palace realm lineup of each of the three families, the Chi family would have seemed the greater threat.

Yes, two of their palace realm experts had been gravely injured, but as long as they weren’t dead or their injuries beyond repair, they would eventually recover.

Given enough time and recuperation, all three of their palace realm experts would be able to return to full strength.

That alone would have made them the most concerning of the three families.

Not to mention the fact that they had managed to produce three palace realm experts in the first place.

That was enough to warrant a closer look since they had shown themselves to have the capabilities and resources to nurture three palace realm experts.

An additional palace realm expert wasn’t just a figure, it was a demonstration of the foundation that one had.

How many organizations go through their entire existence without ever producing one?

There were countless, yet the Chi family produced three, and whilst doing it discreetly at that.

Given all this, Yang Qing would have kept a closer eye on them compared to the rest.

And judging by the actions of that senior who had specifically targeted their experts, it was clear that he had shared the same thoughts as Yang Qing—hence his decision to focus on them more than the others.

But the Ning clan?

Yang Qing wouldn’t have given them a second glance.

For the sake of subterfuge, they could have just as easily been spared, much like the Fan clan.

Outside of the Chi clan, which posed a real threat with its three palace realm experts, it didn’t really matter whether the Ning clan or the Fan clan was used to divert suspicion.

As long as one of them remained unscathed while the other suffered a loss, the intended effect would have been the same.

Unless… targeting the Ning clan had also been deliberate.