Outside the house, on the corridor, extending to the entire inner palace, and then to the outer palace, white lanterns are hung outside the entrance hall, with the word "Fu Shou" engraved on them, in order to pave the way to the underworld and illuminate the way home.
Teams of patrolling clan guards, wearing strong armor and holding steel knives, patrolled back and forth around the house. Although they all looked uneasy, everything was in order.
In the darkness, there are countless shadows, hidden in places that ordinary people cannot see, watching the entire Xu Mansion.
In recent times, Xu has been almost on full alert.
At this time, the red oak door in the meeting hall was closed tightly.
The guardian hall, the medicine hall, the heads of the Xu family's main hall, and the clan elders all sat in attendance.
Among them, the first person on the left is Gu Deshan, the current head of the Hudao Hall, and behind him is the next confidant Sun Xinglie.
Then the first person on the right is the great pharmacist of the medicine hall. He is an old man with a long beard. He is very old, but his beard and hair are dark in color and does not look old. His name is Sun Shicheng.
Then there are the three elders of the Xu family, all of whom have obscure auras and are destined to be high-ranking martial artists.
Xu Guowen, the current patriarch, sits at the top and unifies everyone.
At this time, Xu Guowen had changed a lot compared to before. His hair had turned white, and there were a few more wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. In less than two years, he had aged nearly ten years.
However, as the current leader of the Xu clan, his figure is more majestic, his aura is more obscure, and his power is far greater than before. Different from the elegant and easy-going nature of the previous years, he now shows his sharp edge and gives people great oppressive power.
Sitting in the hall is like holding a needle in the sea.
"Now the news has been confirmed. The other party is the Fengxing Thirteen Bandits from Guanshanxia, Linyu County. This group of thieves is now becoming more and more powerful, annexing many bandit leaders in the surrounding area. They have become the famous Green Forest bandit leader in Huaiping County. What can you do to deal with it? "
Xu Guowen picked up the tea cup on the table, sipped it carefully, took a sip, looked around at the crowd, and said in a deep voice.
Strong masters cannot appear out of thin air. The stronger the strength, the more traces will be left in the world. This is the law.
And the Thirteen Thieves' ability to grow from a small force in a county to a county-level giant in just a few years shows that there must be someone behind them.
In this case, what if we defeat them? Without the Thirteen Feng Xing Thieves, there are still the Feng Xing Fourteen Thieves.
Thinking of this, the meeting hall fell silent. Everyone looked at their noses and hearts without saying a word.
"It is true that the other party is stronger than us. It is said that the leader of the bandits, Shanlin Qinglong Lu Hesheng, is a master master. He once seriously injured the leader of Black Wind Village Dali Village in a battle. We can't deal with it anyway.
And since he didn’t make a fatal move from the beginning, it means that he still cares about the Duanmu family’s face, and there is room for maneuver in this matter.”
The speaker was Sun Shicheng from the medicine hall. While talking, he was stroking his long dark beard.
The Duanmu family is the current backer of the Xu family. It is a thousand-year-old family and belongs to a famous family. It has a great reputation throughout Huaizhou. The Xu family is famous for its medicine refining skills, so it has an opportunity to rely on it.
"At this point, can the head of the family tell me exactly what opportunity the second master got and what great deeds he did to attract such a powerful enemy?" He sighed and looked up at Xu Guowen, who was sitting at the head of the table.
"Now it is not the so-called small fight when several caravans were destroyed at the beginning. Recently, two medicinal fields have been destroyed. Two deputy hall masters of the Protector Hall have died. The medicine hall has also suffered.
He has three alchemy masters and will destroy the clan at every turn. When doing things, you must prescribe the right medicine.
You can’t still not know where the disease is now, right?”
As he spoke, he looked at Gu Deshan, who was sitting across from him, as if he wanted to get a response, but Gu Deshan didn't seem to see the obvious look in his eyes, lowering his head and circling his beads without saying a word.
The same was true for Xu Guowen, who was sitting in the first seat. There was no trace of sadness or joy on Guozi's face, and he still drank lightly from time to time.
After hearing this, after two breaths, he looked up seriously.
"The matter has become clear. When Cheng Yuan was traveling, he encountered an opportunity. God did not take it, but he took the blame, so he got it. This is how things happened here."
"Then why not hand over the opportunity? If virtue is not matched, there will be disaster. Is it worth the destruction of the family for the so-called opportunity?"
Hearing Xu Guowen's calm tone, Sun Shicheng said coldly and angrily, "This is a breach of defense."
The reason is very simple. Some time ago, the Shaoshan Medicine Field was destroyed, and everyone in the stronghold was wiped out. His youngest closed disciple was among them. And this disciple was his nephew. For him who had no offspring in his life, he was as close as his own son.
"Sometimes, the old man also feels that it is better to put the overall situation first. You can't just ignore the family members for your own selfishness, right?"
An old man with white hair and beard sitting in the back said in a deep voice.
This person is Xu Dejiu, one of the few senior members of the Xu family who has established himself in a high position. He has always been on good terms with Sun Shicheng, and he is also Xu Ruolong’s master.
Hearing this, Xu Guowen was a little impatient and gently put the tea cup in his hand aside.
With a snap, the originally noisy scene was instantly silenced.
"Okay, I understand what you mean, and it does make sense.
In order to ensure the inheritance, starting tomorrow, the descendants of the Xu family will move into the Duanmu family, and Hall Master Sun and Elder Dejiu will be responsible for leading the team. You are free to choose whatever manpower is needed, and just make a final file for me."
He paused.
"As for me, I, together with Cheng Yuan, will lead a group of people to stay in the Xu family to resolve the matter together and everything will be calmed down."
The atmosphere in the meeting hall suddenly became more intriguing.
Xu Guowen's meaning is very obvious.
On the one hand, he left seeds for the Xu family and moved into the Duanmu family. This kind of move was obviously a closer relationship than today. No one would dare to be an enemy by then.
I want to struggle for Xu Guowen.
By this time, they all knew that in this situation, the opportunity Xu Chengyuan got was not so much that he didn't want to give it, but rather that he couldn't give it. This was the reason for the bitter consequences today.
"The clan leader should think carefully. Once he moves into the Duanmu clan, the name Xu clan in Ningyang may never be mentioned again, and the Xu clan cannot withstand any more trouble."
The person who spoke was the oldest clan elder in the hall. From the beginning until now, he had his head drooped and his eyes lightly closed. Now he raised his eyelids and spoke hesitantly.
"I have figured it out. Troubled times are coming. If you want to protect yourself independently without strong strength, it is a fantasy. Instead of holding a loud brand, it is better to rely on the strong and preserve the inheritance first.
As for the trouble, how can you see the rainbow without going through the wind and rain?" He paused and said,
"Ruolong will go with you."
At this time, no one spoke anymore. Everyone was analyzing their own pros and cons. Among them, the Xu clan elders did not mention it for the moment. Regarding the foreign pharmacists such as the Protector Hall and the Medicine Master Hall, in fact, from some aspects, moving into the Duanmu family was more
good
"That's it, it's settled, let's go down and prepare the list of people."
Xu Guowen picked up the tea cup again to see off the guests.
Sun Shicheng, who was originally the most angry, said nothing at this time. He was silent for a moment, took a deep look at the man in the front seat, sighed, and left with Gu Deshan and others.
Everyone has their own feelings in their hearts, which they cannot express.
But when the group of people left, the large landscape screen behind Xu Guowen suddenly creaked and moved.
Then came the sound of gentle footsteps.
From behind the screen, a handsome-looking man wearing a plain white coat walked out.
Who is it if it’s not Xu Chengyuan?
It turned out that he had been behind the screen and was also participating in the meeting that decided the fate of the Xu family, but he did not say a word and no one knew about it.
"Actually, there is no need for this. I can announce tomorrow that I will cut off all ties with the Xu family, and I will be alone from now on. Naturally, I will not be able to implicate the Xu family."
Xu Chengyuan sat next to Xu Guowen and said softly, with neither sadness nor joy on his face.
At this time, her face was even more beautiful, and her skin was as white as jade. When the light shone, it actually gave off a gleaming white light. She was truly like a jade woman, but her temperament was colder, like thousand-year-old ice, making her even more beautiful than ordinary women.
"You are thinking too simply. If they can't find anything, they will only vent their anger on the Xu family. By then, even the Duanmu family will lose face." Xu Guowen shook his head.
"Then I will face it alone."
"Do you know you are wrong?" Xu Guowen answered the question inappropriately.
Xu Chengyuan was startled.
"Wrong? The fault was that I didn't do things carefully, which exposed my flaws. My fault was that I didn't put more thought into it, which exposed my traces. My fault was that I was too weak." He smiled.
Xu Guowen stood up, walked in front of him, and looked at him carefully.
Xu Chengyuan is not like his eldest son Xu Ruolong, who has a face with the Chinese character "Zhang" and is resolute and courageous. Instead, his appearance matches his mother, but his stubborn eyes can be said to be exactly the same as when he was young.
"You are right, but the fault is that our strength is weak, and there are mistakes. In many cases, mistakes can only be made up for with blood and lives." Xu Guowen said.
"Give me time, I can break through the master." Xu Chengyuan opened his mouth, hesitated to speak, and finally just whispered.
"Okay!" Xu Guowen suddenly responded in a deep voice.
Xu Chengyuan raised his head.
"There is only one chance. You and I, father and son, will fight in the near future. Only then will we be qualified to speak and wait for you to become a grandmaster."
Xu Chengyuan was silent for a moment, without saying a word, and just nodded vigorously.
Seeing this, Xu Guowen smiled happily, even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to relax a little, and took out a lacquer seal from his sleeve.
"By the way, I received a letter yesterday. It should have been sent by a friend of yours. It's time to give an explanation during this last period."
"Letter? Friend?" Xu Chengyuan's expression returned to normal. He took the letter after being startled and looked down.
The letter was sealed with fire paint to prove that no one had opened it, and there was a line written on it:
‘Xu Chengyuan personally initiated’
It's really for him.
But the name is a bit strange: Silver Bear?
Does he have a friend with such a weird name as Silver Bear?
‘No, Yin Xiong, Yin Xiong, is it Lao Lin?’ A flash of inspiration flashed in his heart, and he immediately understood the whole story, and the corners of his mouth could not help but raise slightly.
Lin Mo didn't know Xu's current situation at this time.
In late September, the autumn rain continued.
Leave every day.
Lin Mo walked out of the Yamen and opened an oil-paper umbrella to protect himself from the rain.
He walked to the street and waved slightly.
Soon a carriage stopped.
"You can greet me wherever you go, sir." The coachman was a young man. His smile never stopped after getting in the car. He carefully looked at Lin Mo's crimson clothes and laughed in a low voice.
"Go to Yulinzhai." Lin Mo said in a deep voice.
"okay!"
Hearing this, the coachman nodded, which immediately confirmed Lin Mo's guess that he was a big shot. You must know that Yulinzhai is the largest jade shop in Huaiping Si Mafang. A piece of jade can be enough for an ordinary family to live for several years. People who come and go can only say that they are either rich or not.
expensive.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but be more careful when driving the horse, striving to be smooth and trouble-free, and he was obviously very experienced. After a while, the carriage moved, except for the unavoidable shaking at the beginning, but everything after that was stable.
Lin Mo sat in the car, opened the curtains, looked at the passers-by outside the window, sighed softly, and lowered the curtains.
During this period of time, he concentrated on practicing Qigong and trying to figure out the prescriptions, without wasting almost any time, and the results were naturally very gratifying.
If he went to the secret base of Blue Split Whale Trading Company today, it was to discuss the sale of the improved Blood Mill Pill.
But even so, he was not in a good mood, because as he expected, Huaiping really became chaotic.
In recent days, there have been many unrests in Huaiping's various rings and neighborhoods, even in the inner ring streets.
A series of vicious incidents, such as vicious murders, smuggling of banned goods, rape of women, gang crimes, etc. suddenly sprung up like mushrooms after a rainstorm, attracting the great attention of various street government offices.
.
Immediately, the anger in Huaiping City disappeared a lot. At night, almost everyone was in danger, and few ordinary people dared to go out and wander around for fear of being kidnapped.
Moreover, outside Huaiping City, bandits looted caravans and carriages, seeming to want to cut off the food supply in the city, so as to increase prices and cause greater panic in the city.
This behavior was no different from rebellion. Almost the next day, strong men from Zhou Sheng's army came to suppress it.
In less than half a day, the results came out, and Zhou Shengjun returned with a great victory.
But it seems like a victory, but in fact it is already very dangerous if such signs appear.
‘It’s just as I expected, the leisurely and ordinary days like now are numbered after all.’ Lin Mo said with emotion.
For the current plan, what he can do is to rapidly improve his strength and truly control his destiny in his own hands. This is what he has been pursuing with great concentration, and he is constantly working hard for it.
After reciting it, I stopped thinking about it and started to meditate on the exercises and pharmacopoeia.
Not long after, the carriage drove along without any accidents. After turning two streets, it finally arrived at its destination.
Lin Mo paid and got off the bus.
This is a relatively secluded neighborhood called Guyi Street. Most of the shops doing business are jade, calligraphy and painting, etc., so it is very quiet.
He took two steps and finally stopped in front of a shop called 'Yulin Zhai'.
The decoration is extremely elegant and quiet, the plaque is carved from stone and wood, and the calligraphy is like a dragon and a snake. It is obviously made by an expert.
When I walked into the store, there were already several customers in the store, all of whom were dressed in luxurious clothes. It was obvious that they were wealthy.
When the shopkeeper who was greeting the big customer saw Lin Mo walking in, his expression suddenly changed, he apologized, and he came directly to greet him.