The sound of firecrackers outside was loud, and Lin Zheyu's fist hit the wooden pile in the yard, making a bang bang sound.
After practicing boxing for several hours, my understanding of boxing postures became a little better.
Walking on the street.
People everywhere are worshiping gods, and the sound of crackling firecrackers can be heard everywhere.
There are so many gods in the Wei Dynasty. On this day, people are either worshiping the gods or preparing to worship the gods.
Every household burns banknotes, lights incense religiously, and prays that in the new year, life will be better and the war will subside.
Most of the adults have no smiles on their faces and are full of sorrow.
Business is not good, bandits are rampant outside the city, and crops cannot be grown because they are all robbed by bandits.
Even Lin Zheyu himself is having a hard time, with his income shrinking repeatedly.
From the peak period, the income was about two thousand cash per day, but it has shrunk to now. Adding up all the income, plus the monthly salary from the Feihong Gang, it is just over a thousand cash.
Shrunk by nearly half.
Different from the difficult days of common people, the aristocratic families still live a peaceful life with fine clothes and fine food, singing and dancing.
The singer's clear and graceful singing voice was accompanied by instrumental accompaniment.
Xingjia Songningyuan, where singing and dancing flourished, was not affected by the war.
The dancer is extremely revealing, wearing a pink gauze with no strands underneath, which is very eye-catching.
Today is the New Year, and the younger generation of the Xing family gathered in Songning Garden to enjoy dancing, listening to music, chatting and having fun. There is no scene of economic depression at all.
The two brothers Xing Jinglong and Xing Penghai are also here. In addition to them, the sons and ladies of the Xing family's collateral and related families are also here.
"Wonderful, wonderful!"
The young master opposite Xing Jinglong clapped his hands lightly and said in appreciation.
The dancer invited today has a graceful figure and gorgeous dancing posture, which is really pleasing to the eye.
"Brother, if you like it, wouldn't it be nice to have a few people arrange for you to stay overnight?" Xing Jinglong said with a smile.
"Leave one for me by the way, I'll have a taste too, hehe."
Xing Jinglong and Xing Jing'an are biological brothers, with a thirteen-year age difference. Xing Penghai is the son of Xing Jinglong's third uncle and his cousin.
Although the two are brothers, their appearance looks very different.
Xing Jing'an looks delicate and well-proportioned, with a sense of handsomeness. Xing Jinglong is tall, fat and strong, and looks a bit wretched and sinister.
"It's not my turn. Someone has taken a fancy to these dancers, so it's not our turn to choose." Xing Jing'an shrugged and said with a smile.
"That's true. In previous years, those direct descendants had to be selected before it was our turn." Xing Jinglong said regretfully.
"There are plenty of beautiful girls. After the banquet is over, my brothers and I will go to Baihua Building to have some fun. I have booked a large private room." Xing Penghai said with a smile.
"Brother Hai, how is the progress over there?"
Xing Jing'an asked, how many years older than him is Xing Penghai, and he is his cousin.
"Those bandits are all human beings and are not easy to persuade. Moreover, the Lion Valley is full of dangers. With the help of the natural environment, it is easy to hide but difficult to find."
"After so long, I have conquered a small gang of less than fifty people. The leader's strength is pretty good and he has reached the peak of the Zang Refining Realm."
Xing Penghai said casually, keeping his eyes on the dancing dancer.
"It's the same here. Every family has taken precautions, so it's difficult to instigate rebellion." Xing Jingan said.
"Uncle, aren't they afraid of being discovered by the city lord for their blatant actions? The city lord's strength is extremely terrifying. If they are discovered, then..."
Xing Jinglong said with some worry.
"What are you afraid of? The city lord doesn't care about anything, as long as it doesn't cause too much trouble and doesn't disrupt the order of Songyi City."
"And we just recruited bandits outside the city into the city guard. This not only quelled the banditry, but also strengthened Songyicheng's strength. It was a great thing."
Xing Penghai chuckled and said he didn't take it seriously.
He turned his head to look at Xing Jinglong and asked, "Has the boy you've been paying attention to recently done anything?"
"His intelligence and talent are pretty good. If he can conquer and control him, use secret medicine to cultivate him, and stimulate his potential, he will be able to cultivate a powerful person in the Qi and Blood Realm in less than half a year."
The Xing family has an ancestral secret medicine recipe that can inspire the future potential of talented warriors, allowing their strength to skyrocket in a short period of time.
However, this recipe requires extremely high potential of warriors, and is only useful for those geniuses with amazing understanding and talent. Ordinary people will have no effect after using it.
After using it, regardless of success or failure, the warrior's lifespan will be greatly reduced to less than five years.
Therefore, the Xing family always looks for outside geniuses, uses medicine to control them, and then uses secret medicine to increase their strength and make them become the family's thugs.
This secret medicine is extremely expensive, has a lifespan of only five years after use, and is not cost-effective.
Only in times of war would they use secret medicine to enhance the strength of those talented warriors to deal with the upcoming crisis.
"People are already staring at him, but that guy is very slippery and doesn't go out much. In the city, there are many people and it's hard to do anything."
Xing Jinglong said: "As soon as he leaves the city, people from the Wuding Gang will report to me, and then I will lead people to control him outside the city."
"Well, this matter can't be rushed. It's really hard to do something in the city. If you pull your hand and move your whole body, it will cause a backlash from other companies."
Xing Jing'an nodded and said, and everyone's eyes turned to the dancing girl again.
The dancers invited today are indeed very beautiful. Even they who are used to seeing beauties can't help but want to take a few more looks.
……
Cross the street and come to Bidan Tea House.
When he has nothing to do on weekdays, Lin Zheyu likes to sit in the teahouse or Baihualou to cultivate his sentiments.
Although the Feihong Gang doesn't have many things to do, many small things can be handled by those little guys.
But Lin Zheyu and Jia Yanyong cannot just wander around and need to respond to possible emergencies at any time.
With the influx of people from other cities, there were more people making trouble in Songyi City, but they were easily dealt with.
In this young year, there are more people with their families in the teahouse.
Jia Yanyong and others were also there, but there were only three of them, mingling together and laughing so obscenely.
The three of them all like the story of the Condor Shooting, and Lin Zheyu often drinks tea here, and gradually this place becomes their base camp.
From time to time, I just stay here to drink, gamble, and gossip.
"It's a young year, and you guys are not helping at home. What are you doing here?"
Lin Zheyu walked over and sat with them.
"Hey, it's boring to stay at home. My mother-in-law and parents are taking care of this and that. It's very annoying." Jia Yanyong said impatiently.
The other two nodded in agreement.
These guys are not the masters of the Gu family. They hang out all day long. Lin Zheyu feels worthless for their mother-in-law, but he doesn't say much.
"Mr. Xu asked you to come over yesterday. Was there any good thing?" Xie Jiang asked curiously.
"I went over to have some drinks and met Mr. Chen and Mr. Ren." Lin Zheyu said.
"No more?"
"No, what else do you want?"
Lin Zheyu glanced at him. He didn't want to tell this gossip that Xu Qinyi wanted to introduce a girl to him.
After saying this, it will probably spread throughout the Feihong Gang tomorrow.
He took a sip of tea and changed the subject: "Do you know the strength of the city lord?"
He asked Gang Leader Xu before, but Gang Leader Xu didn't say anything.
Later, I also secretly inquired about the news with other people, but they didn’t know much about the city lord.
The city lord has always been extremely low-key, and many people in the city only know him as the lord of the government office, but they don't know that there is a city lord in Songyi City.
"City Lord?"
"Why do you ask this question?"
Jia Yanyong wondered, in his personal opinion, the city lord actually didn't have much sense of existence.
"I don't know. I only know that the city lord's surname is Chen, and his name is Chen Qingfeng. He was appointed by the Wei Palace."
"I have been here in Songyicheng for more than ten years, and I have no sense of presence. The city lord is elected every twenty years. In a few years, he will be transferred and replaced by another adult." Xie Jiang said.
"You have been in Songyicheng for so long, have you ever seen him take action?" Lin Zheyu asked.
After he went back that day, he searched through the memories of his predecessor, and his impression of the Lord of Jiunan City was extremely vague.
My predecessor was devoted to reading, and the most important contents in my memory were those countless books by saints and sages.
"No."
Jia Yanyong and Xie Jiang shook their heads.
"I know some gossip about the city lord, but please don't tell anyone."
Ning Hui looked around carefully and saw that no one was eavesdropping, so he continued speaking in a low voice.
Such a cautious look instantly aroused the curiosity of several people.
"Especially you, Xie Jiang, please swear not to tell anyone, otherwise you won't listen." Ning Hui looked at Xie Jiang, full of distrust.
Xie Jiang looked at Ning Hui speechlessly, cursing.
But he still swore a poisonous oath very reluctantly, because he was also very curious!
"More than ten years ago, there were five largest aristocratic families in Songyi City, but now there are only three left. Do you know why?"
Ning Hui said mysteriously.
"Didn't it mean that a plague broke out and everyone in the two families died?" Jia Yanyong said.
He was still young at that time, but he had some impression that many people died at that time.
One night, without any warning, two of the five major aristocratic families in Songyi City died silently the night before.
Even some farmers near them and many people in the city died quietly that night.
Afterwards, the government began to investigate, and it didn't take long for them to come up with an explanation, saying that there was some kind of severe epidemic in the city.
"That's just an external statement."
"I heard that it was the city lord who wiped out those two families overnight!" Ning Hui lowered his voice and said.
"Holy shit, is it true?" Jia Yanyong said in shock.
"Where did you hear this rumor? How come I haven't heard of it?"
Xie Jiang asked with some doubts and disbelief, "And what big thing did they commit that would cause them to be quietly wiped out, leaving no one left?"
Jia Yanyong also raised doubts: "At that time, the two families disappeared overnight and quietly, leaving no one alive."
"If the city took the initiative, how terrifying the city lord's strength would be!"
Lin Zheyu also thought of this problem.
To quietly wipe out the populations of two families, including Qi and Blood Realm warriors, is unimaginable.
"I have a basis."
"Come on, come closer, don't let others hear you."
"My father was a steward of the White House a few years before the incident. Later he committed an offense and was kicked out, but he knew the White House very well."
"According to my father, the White House may be suspected of treason!"
Ning Hui lowered his voice very low and said seriously.
"Fuck!"
Jia Yanyong couldn't help but say something, and Ning Hui covered his mouth. His eyes showed that if you dare to tell me, I will bite you.
"It's true!" Xie Jiang was also shocked.
"Really, I can still lie to you."
"Do you still remember the great famine more than ten years ago?"
"During the Great Famine, there was a nursery rhyme circulating in Songyi City, saying that Huang Tian is dead, the sky will stand, and so on."
"Those who spread nursery rhymes were all caught and beheaded."
"And by chance, my father discovered that the Bai family was secretly worshiping other gods, called the Supreme Emperor of the Heavens, the Supreme Ten Thousand Daos, the Supreme Golden Tower."
"This is the title of a god that only the ancestor of the dynasty can possess!"
Ning Hui whispered, "So I guess they were secretly involved in rebellion, and after being discovered by the city lord, they were wiped out overnight."
Xie Jiang: "..."
Jia Yanyong: "..."
Lin Zheyu: "..."
After hearing this rumor, several people were a little shocked.
Ning Hui felt proud when he saw the shocked looks of several people.
"You kid didn't just make up a story to deceive us, did you?"
Xie Jiang came over slowly, still a little unconvinced.
Even if those two aristocratic families are really suspected of treason, the city lord is still too powerful.
What kind of strength does it take to wipe out two aristocratic families with strong Qi and Blood Realm masters overnight and silently?
"Really, why did I lie to you?" Ning Hui said seriously.
"I have heard the name of this Supreme Emperor of the Heavens, the Supreme Golden Tower of Ten Thousand Daos, I have heard of it before."
Lin Zheyu said: "Didn't I live as a refugee for a period of time? Among the refugees, I heard the name of the Supreme Golden Tower, the Supreme Emperor of Ten Thousand Daos in the Sky."
"Many people directly call the Cangtian Emperor, make clay statues to worship, and pray for survival."
Among the refugees, there are some who believe in all kinds of gods.
However, the largest number of them believe in the Cangtian Emperor, and it seems that some people are spreading it secretly.
Lin Zheyu didn't care at the time. When people face despair, they always like to believe in some empty gods and pray for miracles.
At that time, he secretly prayed to Jesus, Bodhisattva, Buddha, God and other gods in previous lives.
But it’s useless.
If it weren't for Ren Qingying of the Ren family who desperately grabbed a bowl of porridge when he was serving porridge, I think everyone would have died long ago.