"Follow you, and I'll have a future?" Lin Zheyu asked in return.
"As long as you join the Xing clan, I can raise your strength to the Qi and Blood Realm in a short time and give you a certain measure of security in these chaotic times!"
"Even—if your talent is outstanding enough—reaching the Second Blood Transformation, even the third, isn't out of the question."
The old man spoke mildly, a faint smile on his face.
"Not interested."
"I may be inexperienced, but I know one thing well: there are no shortcuts in martial practice. I only want to move forward steadily, one step at a time."
"I have no desire whatsoever to join the Xing clan. Please do not disturb me again, and do not threaten my friends."
"When it comes to relatives and friends, the Xing clan has far more of them than I do."
Lin Zheyu spoke flatly, then turned and walked away.
He no longer needed to fear the Xing clan all that much.
At the Second Blood Transformation, paired with his masterful Golden Goose Skill, even martial artists at the Qi and Blood Three Transformations—even four transformations—might not be able to catch him.
"Hmph. This fellow has no idea what he's up against, to dare turn around and threaten the Xing clan."
After Lin Zheyu left, the young man beside the old man snorted coldly.
"What a pity. I hadn't wanted to use such crude methods." The old man shook his head.
If it could be helped, he didn't want to use drugs to ruin Lin Zheyu's mind and train him into a mindless deathsworn.
He had heard that Lin Zheyu had comprehended 'momentum' after only half a year of martial practice—his comprehension was astonishing.
If the brain were destroyed, that comprehension would be worthless.
Pity that Lin Zheyu wasn't willing to join the Xing clan. If he were cultivated to the Qi and Blood Realm while his heart was set against it, even poison restraints would be useless and would only cause a backlash.
Poison restraints could only bind those who feared death.
"Grandpa, should I send people to seize those friends of his, and then..." the young man said.
"No need. Those people are nothing but small fry." The old man spoke mildly.
...
After leaving the tavern, Lin Zheyu's expression was cold.
The Xing clan was growing ever more unbridled.
"I'll find a chance to kill that old bastard!"
Lin Zheyu's heart hardened. He disliked the feeling of being threatened and marked.
With his Second Blood Transformation strength, combined with the aura-concealing ability of the Turtle Breathing Art, killing a few people would still be easy.
Only when enough of them had died, when the Xing clan was thrown into disorder, would they stop thinking about him all the time.
"Phew..."
"Huff... huff..."
The moment he walked out of the tavern, Lin Zheyu saw Xu Qinyi come running up, gasping for breath.
Beside him followed a middle-aged man whose aura was exceedingly strong, at the level of Qi and Blood Gossamer.
"It's good you're fine. That old bastard didn't do anything to you, did he?" Xu Qinyi asked.
When Lin Zheyu had left with that servant, he had sent a Feihong Gang underling midway to notify Gang Leader Xu. He had worried the Xing clan might drop all pretense entirely and move against him inside the city.
"I'm fine. The old bastard threatened me with my friends and told me to join the Xing clan and work for them." Lin Zheyu shook his head.
"The Xing clan grows more unbridled by the day!" Xu Qinyi said, his expression grim.
The middle-aged man beside him looked none too pleased either.
The middle-aged man raised his head toward the second floor of the tavern. At the window there, that Xing clan elder poked his head out and watched them with a beaming smile.
The young man beside the old man even waved at Lin Zheyu, watching him with a faint cold sneer.
"Let's go. We'll talk after we get back." Xu Qinyi said.
The three left the tavern and came to Funing Garden.
Seeing that Lin Zheyu was unharmed, the middle-aged man departed, leaving only Lin Zheyu and Xu Qinyi.
"Didn't you say the Xing clan wouldn't dare act rashly inside Songyi City?" Lin Zheyu asked.
"The situation is looking bad. I suspect the City Lord is no longer in the city. Songyi City is about to fall into chaos!" Xu Qinyi said with a frown.
Though ordinary people like Lin Zheyu felt nothing of it, in recent days the great families of Songyi City had been seething with undercurrents behind the scenes, suffering a good many casualties. In just the few territories outside the city, several families had already fought any number of chaotic, free-for-all battles, though it had not yet reached the point of a complete falling-out.
"What do you mean?" Lin Zheyu asked, puzzled.
The City Lord could be said to be the key to Songyi City maintaining its present situation.
The Xing clan, as the strongest great family in Songyi City, controlled a third of the City Guard. Had the City Lord not been holding them down, the Xing clan would long ago have dominated the city alone.
"The war at the front is going badly—worse than we imagined. Though a great many troops were dispatched as reinforcements over these two months, they still can't stop the rebel army's advance."
"Yesterday the latest intelligence came in: the rebel army has already reached the outskirts of Baohe City."
"Intelligence takes time to travel back and forth. Baohe City may well have been broken by now." Xu Qinyi said grimly.
When they had received the latest intelligence yesterday, they had been badly startled too. It was too fast.
"This fast!"
Lin Zheyu was shocked.
He had assumed that with so many armies sent as reinforcements, the front could be stabilized. He hadn't expected the rebels to advance all the way to Baohe City.
The Lu siblings, who had given him his first big sum of money back then, had come from Baohe City.
Baohe City was not far from Songyi City—only two cities lay between them.
If Baohe City were broken, at the rebel army's rate of advance it would soon be Songyi City's turn.
"Yeah, too fast. Unbelievably fast, like crushing rotten stems and sweeping away dry branches." Xu Qinyi said, somewhat wistfully.
Great Wei had been strong and prosperous for hundreds of years, and they had all grown used to Great Wei's might. They had all believed that with the armies mustered after the new year sent to reinforce the front, the situation could be stabilized.
Who would have thought that before the rebel army, Great Wei's forces would be unable to withstand a single blow.
"You mean the City Lord went to reinforce the front?" Lin Zheyu asked.
"Very likely."
"From what my father says, many experts have appeared among the rebels. The front has plenty of troops and generals, but it falls well short in the number of top-tier experts."
"Even relying on the battle array, they still can't make up for the gap in top experts. That's precisely why they were defeated so swiftly."
"The Xing clan has been doing a great deal in the shadows—using the Nine Nether Cult's hand to probe the City Lord's bottom line step by step, while the City Lord never responded."
"That was when my father and the others began to guess that the City Lord was no longer in Songyi City." Xu Qinyi said.
Only after hearing Xu Jingwu's explanation had he come to understand a great many things.
The reason the Nine Nether Cult had been able to develop steadily in Lion Valley, recruiting refugees in every direction, was that the City Lord had no way to free himself and no time to deal with them.
Otherwise, given how deeply Great Wei loathed other demon-god sects, the moment the Nine Nether Cult poked its head out, it would have drawn utter destruction.
"If that's so, then we should start considering leaving Songyi City as soon as possible." Lin Zheyu said with a frown.
He had been rather comfortable here. He had expected to be able to lie low until he brought the Golden Goose Skill to perfection at the eighth layer, reaching the Qi and Blood Four Transformations, and only then leave Songyi City.
He hadn't expected the rebel army to wreck that plan.
"My father and the others are already preparing to leave Songyi City. They plan to set out within a month, heading for Bafang City in batches."
"Brother Lin, come with us when the time comes!" Xu Qinyi said, looking at Lin Zheyu.
Taking every Feihong Gang member along was impossible.
Feihong Gang members almost all had families and kin in Songyi City, and persuading them to leave would not be an easy matter.
For ordinary people, Songyi City being taken did not mean all hope of survival was gone; moving an entire household away was not necessarily a better choice than staying inside the city.
Only great families and wealthy merchants like them had to worry about being denounced as fat targets and having their fields seized and divided.
If the Xu clan moved as a whole, they could only try to bring along as many skilled fighters as were willing to go.
"Could I have a few days to think it over?"
Lin Zheyu pondered a moment, then said, "I want to ask Senior Brother Han and see what he plans to do. If he's short of men over there, then I may need to go lend a hand."
Lin Zheyu was closer to Han Mo, since he was his own senior brother.
Besides, Senior Brother Han had only just risen; his strength fell far short of the Xu clan's, and he would need Lin Zheyu more.
"We're not leaving that quickly. You just need to make up your mind before we set out." Xu Qinyi said.
He did not blame Lin Zheyu.
Leaving Songyi City was a major decision; when the time came, there wouldn't be all that many willing to follow them.
Besides, Lin Zheyu was going to help his senior brother; by comparison, Lin Zheyu's bond with Han Mo was closer than his ties to the Xu clan.
"During this month before we leave, you must be careful. Now that the Xing clan knows the rebel army has taken Baohe City and suspects the City Lord isn't in the city, they've grown even more unbridled."
"You've been marked by them. I'm worried the Xing clan will move against you directly." Xu Qinyi warned him.
"Mm, I'll be careful."
Lin Zheyu nodded.
With his present strength, anyone capable of threatening him would at least have to be a Qi and Blood Three Transformations expert.
Powerful as the Xing clan was, they would not have many experts above the Qi and Blood Three Transformations, and Lin Zheyu did not believe they would send such an expert after a small figure like him.
...
Early morning.
Lin Zheyu came to Han Manor early.
Han Mo was in the rear courtyard, cultivating the Ten Thousand Armies Steps.
Seeing Lin Zheyu arrive, he stopped his practice and walked over to the pavilion.
"Is something urgent?" Han Mo asked.
He had known Lin Zheyu this long, and had never seen him come calling at the crack of dawn.
"Senior Brother, I had word from the Xu clan: the rebel army has taken Baohe City. What do you plan to do next?"
Lin Zheyu said.
"Hm?!"
"The rebel army has taken Baohe City? So fast? How is that possible!"
Han Mo could not help exclaiming; plainly he had not known this news either.
"I heard it from Young Master Xu Qinyi as well. They do business in Baohe City, so the news should be reliable," Lin Zheyu said.
Han Mo rose to his feet and paced back and forth.
Unlike Lin Zheyu, Han Mo had a family dragging behind him—not only wife and children, but a whole host of aunts, uncles, and other relatives to consider.
"Senior Brother, if you need it, you could evacuate together with the Xu clan," Lin Zheyu suggested.
Bandits ran rampant on the roads, and the journey was fraught with danger; evacuating together with the Xu clan would offer better security.
"No. It isn't time to evacuate yet. There are still two cities in between; the rebel army may not be able to break through them."
"Besides, I serve as a Centurion of the City Guard and draw Great Wei's pay, so I must put down the rebellion for Great Wei. Deserting in the face of battle is a grave taboo in the army—it would be treated as treason."
Han Mo shook his head.
He wanted to go badly, but he couldn't. Even sending his wife and children away was a troublesome matter; it would look like an intent to defect.
"If you want to leave, just leave on your own. When the city can't be held, I'll evacuate with the army."
Han Mo frowned, thought a moment, and said.
He had no way to go, and even his wife and children had no way to go.
As a member of the City Guard, his position was somewhat sensitive; any attempt to evacuate would easily earn him the label of deserter.
The same went for the Xing clan. Controlling nearly a third of the City Guard as they did, the greater part of their clan had no way to evacuate at all, and could only quietly send out a small portion of their kin.
That was also why they were so unscrupulous in their wish to strengthen the family as quickly as possible.
"All right. If there's anything you need, just say so."
"Right—I got a few Blood Pills off some bandits earlier. They can let a person break straight through from Viscera Tempering Peak to the Qi and Blood Realm."
"See whether you have any use for them. If you do, I can give you two," Lin Zheyu said after some thought.
"You even got hold of Blood Pills?"
Han Mo said, somewhat taken aback.
But he did not press the question—everyone had his own secrets. He felt this junior brother of his was someone blessed with great fortune.
"Sell me two. I'll pay forty taels of gold apiece."
"Don't wave it off. Blood Pills are far more valuable than you imagine, especially at a time like this," Han Mo said after thinking it over.
He wasn't buying them for himself; Han Mo was confident he could break through to the Qi and Blood Realm within a month. He was buying them for his clan members and his household guards.
Raising the strength of those around him would make them safer as well.
"Do you need more? I have two extra. I'd meant to keep two in reserve, but if you need them, Senior Brother, I'll hand them all over to you."
Lin Zheyu pondered a moment and said.
"At a time like this, I won't stand on ceremony either. Sell them all to me!"
Han Mo nodded, not declining.
The rebel army's approach had given him a sense of crisis. Only by building up the family's power as quickly as possible could they survive this war.
"All right!"
Lin Zheyu nodded, took the bottle holding the Blood Pills from his robe, and handed it over.
Before coming, he had already accounted for the possibility that Han Mo couldn't leave; his senior brother's position was rather sensitive, after all.
Not only that, he had also brought quite a few poisons and poison powders.
"Senior Brother, do you need poisons and poison powders? I have some here—keep them in reserve," Lin Zheyu said.
Though his strength had risen to the Second Blood Transformation, before a great army he was still nothing more than a slightly larger ant.
That was all Lin Zheyu could do. As for how it would turn out, it could only depend on his senior brother's fortune.
(The End)
Chapter 84