He saw that the brocade robe at Gavin Bennett's left rib was already soaked with quite a bit of blood. In just an instant, a large area of Gavin Bennett's purple long robe was stained and sullied.

"Haha, it's your father's own injury, not your fault, my girl!" Although Gavin Bennett's face was pale, he still comforted Claire Bennett gently.

Claire Bennett was, after all, just a child. With Gavin Bennett's comforting words, although tears still glistened on her face, she no longer cried. Gavin Bennett then stood up and went with Duanyang Ying to the inner room to have his wound dressed.

Brian Bennett's gaze fell directly on his eldest brother Henry Bennett, who was standing to the side.

"Big brother, what happened? Weren't you and father going to the clan to pay this year's tribute? How did he get so badly injured?"

Henry Bennett was five years older than Brian Bennett, and his somewhat honest face now showed a trace of embarrassment. He stammered, "Well... um..."

"Don't tell me you ran into bandits on the way. The road from our Luming Town to the county seat is flat and open, and besides, who would dare rob the Zheng family in Qingchuan County?"

"What really happened?" Brian Bennett's voice was full of authority at this moment.

"Little brother, just don't ask. Father told me not to tell you." Henry Bennett hesitated for a moment, then simply said it outright.

Brian Bennett knew his brother well. Although he was a bit simple and honest, he was also stubborn—once he set his mind on something, it was almost impossible to change it.

Even Gavin Bennett sometimes felt helpless about Henry Bennett's stubbornness.

But in this regard, Brian Bennett had his own methods. He gave a sly smile and said, "Big brother, are you really sure? Then don't expect me to help you with..."

Before Brian Bennett could finish, Henry Bennett already looked anxious. He rubbed his hands together and finally said, "I'll tell you, but you mustn't let father know it was me who told you."

"You can rest assured about that, big brother," Brian Bennett said solemnly.

Henry Bennett stammered, "Well... the clan has been planning to wipe out the bandits at Hupao Stronghold these days, and father was injured in that battle!"

Brian Bennett was no stranger to Hupao Stronghold. It was a group of bandits entrenched in the northwest of Qingchuan County, and it was said that their chief had cultivation around the ninth rank!

Over the years, these people relied on the dangerous terrain of Hupao Stronghold, which was easy to defend and hard to attack. Even the Zheng family didn't intimidate them much.

The Zheng family had attacked Hupao Stronghold many times over the years, but almost every attempt ended in failure.

"Attacking Hupao Stronghold? Hmph, that's the main family's business. Father doesn't need to participate at all. You're not telling me the truth," Brian Bennett said to Henry Bennett in a deep voice, his expression shifting.

"Big brother, I'll give you one more chance. If you still don't tell the truth, then with Sister Xiaoyue, I really will..."

"Well... didn't the main family put out a reward, saying they needed a tenth-rank expert to lead the clan's Blood Guards in a sneak attack on Hupao Stronghold from the back mountain?"

"The clan said that whoever, among the tenth-rank experts, was willing to take on this task would get a chance to enter Bixue Pool!"

Bixue Pool—Brian Bennett's expression changed. At this moment, his whole body trembled slightly.

Bixue Pool was a treasured place of the Zheng family, hidden in the distant Camel Mountain within Qingchuan County. Its most important function was that it could raise the cultivator's rank by one!

Of course, this improvement had its limits: the person had to be a youth between twelve and fifteen years old, and their cultivation could not exceed the tenth rank.

The higher the cultivation, the less effective it was.

The Zheng family's dominance in Qingchuan County owed much to the power of Bixue Pool, but the energy it accumulated could only be used once every ten years.

Each time it was opened, it was a major event for the Zheng family, and the quota to enter Bixue Pool was always fiercely contested among the various factions of the clan.

Of course, for branch families like Gavin Bennett's in Luming Town, they basically never got a spot.

As for why Gavin Bennett was fighting for this spot this time, Brian Bennett knew very well: it was for him. His elder brother Henry Bennett was already over the age limit, so even if he entered Bixue Pool, it would be useless. His younger sister Claire Bennett was too young and couldn't withstand the violent energy inside Bixue Pool.

Gavin Bennett was fighting for this spot only for him.

Because even someone with an average constitution, as long as they could soak in Bixue Pool, had a fifty percent chance of advancing in rank!

At this moment, Brian Bennett truly felt what it meant for a father's love to be as deep as a mountain.

Gavin Bennett, this father, although he always appeared stern on the surface, his love for his son was unfathomably deep.

To keep him from feeling guilty, he wouldn't let his brother tell him about this. To launch a sneak attack on Hupao Stronghold—while not exactly a death sentence, the odds of survival were at best fifty-fifty.

This opportunity was something Gavin Bennett, as a father, was gambling his own life to win for him!

Brian Bennett could imagine that if his sister hadn't accidentally aggravated their father's wound today, and if he hadn't forced his brother to tell him, perhaps in a few days, when Bixue Pool was about to open, his father would have said to him with a calm smile, "You little rascal, you really have good luck. The spot for Bixue Pool just happened to fall to our Luming Town branch."