knife

Chapter 674 Reliance
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Lu Xin wiped his face and found that his nose was also bleeding. His thick eyebrows shot up, and he roared at Li Dachui, who was rubbing his wrist not far away, "Enough! If you hit me again, I'll fight you to the death!"

Li Dachui sneered, "You talk as if you can win by fighting desperately!"

Lu Xin was taken aback, and after a long while, he said, "If you make another move, I'm going to run away!"

Li Dachui laughed heartily: "That's more like it. If you try to run, I really won't be able to catch you. Hey, you surnamed Lu, why did you choose to admit to me now that your Lu family was also involved in what happened back then?"

Lu Xin spat out a few more mouthfuls of blood, gritted his teeth, and glared at Li Dachui, saying, "Isn't it because you need my help this time? I thought you needed my help to get out of this predicament, so naturally I had to take this opportunity to settle the old score. Once we settle things, we won't have any more grudges or grievances to entangle us!"

"I didn't expect that I could get away without your help!" Li Dachui laughed, swinging his wrist as he walked over.

Lu Xin cautiously took a few steps back, maintaining a certain distance.

"I really didn't expect that!" Lu Xin looked at Li Dachui as if he were a monster: "How exactly did you train your martial arts skills? And, do you really practice the Qi of Heaven and Earth?"

Li Dachui raised a finger, and blue sparks swirled around it. Then, a hazy white shadow hovered around the sparks before everything vanished into nothingness, as if nothing existed anymore. But Lu Xin could clearly feel a power that was even more unsettling than before.

“More than three hundred years have passed, and the Qi of Heaven and Earth can still reappear in the world!” Lu Xin sighed. “He Qingqiu achieved the Divine Travel Realm at the age of twenty-something, which is unprecedented and will never be repeated. Perhaps the only one who can do this again is his son.”

"I can't take it anymore, I'm almost thirty!" Li Dachui waved his hand, and a package burst out of the snow. He took out a flask of wine from it, rubbed it for a moment, and then Lu Xin watched as steam began to rise from the flask, filling the air with the aroma of wine.

Li Dachui then took out two delicate little cups from his bag, sat down on the spot, placed the two little cups on the snow, filled them with wine, and raised his chin at Lu Xin.

Lu Xin walked over, sat down cross-legged, first grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it haphazardly on his face to clean the blood, then picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

The two of them had known each other for a long time!

At that time, Li Dachui was still a bandit leader in the wilderness, and Lu Xin was not yet a master of innate martial arts.

Many of the valuable items that Li Dachui stole were sold through Lu Xin, while Lu Xin also had a lot of contraband that he dumped into the wasteland through Li Dachui.

Several years ago, when Li Dachui rose to prominence and replaced Linghu Ye as the King of the Pass, Lu Xin finally stepped into the Innate Realm.

"After my father died at your mother's hands, my Lu family of Fanyang lost its pillar of strength and has lived a miserable life for decades. It's so miserable that I, the head of the family, have to collude with you, the bandit leader, in order to ensure that the family has enough money to survive!"

"I have no sympathy for you dogs fighting each other!" Li Dachui sneered. "My identity has been known for a long time, so why do you still choose to cooperate with me?"

Lu Xin sighed: "Do you think I'm not panicked? I'm very panicked. It's just that you've already established your power. Your plans in Guanzhong, Sichuan, and Jiangnan are complete. You're bound to sweep across the world next. If you still only had Guanzhong, I wouldn't care about you! I've been thinking about this in my room for several days. I even made a special trip to Guanzhong and had a deep talk with Old Master Zhou. The old man said that since my father died on the spot, if my Lu family can cooperate sincerely with you in the future, given your personality, you definitely won't pursue the past anymore!"

Li Dachui snorted.

When he was in Jiangnan, the reason he decided to accept Linghu Ye's invitation was because he still had Lu Xin as a trump card.

At that time, he really didn't know that Lu Xin's father had also been involved in what happened back then.

Thinking about it now, I feel a bit scared. I don't know what the old man was thinking. He didn't tell me about such a big thing. If I hadn't been able to escape on my own when I was surrounded by the four of them, I really don't know what Lu Xin would have done.

Of course, there's no doubt that Lu Xin will cooperate sincerely with me now.

Cooperation has always been based on strength. Now, Lu Xin will no longer hesitate and will definitely stand on my side, even at a considerable cost.

Just like the fight between him and me just now, he didn't really need to get himself all bloodied; he just wanted to vent his anger.

This man may look rough and boorish, but he is actually very thoughtful.

Can a rough and uncouth fellow become the head of a household?

Lu Xin was right about one thing: after his father died, the powerful families in the Central Plains were indeed unwilling to include the Lu family of Fanyang in their dealings.

After all, the Lu family was too far from the Central Plains, and could be considered half-barbarians.

"Linghu Ye will soon launch a war against the Protectorate of Beiting outside the pass!" Lu Xin picked up the wine pot and poured himself a cup: "The Cui family of Boling has agreed to send five thousand armored soldiers?"

"Old Cui actually brought out his most treasured possessions?" Li Dachui raised an eyebrow and said.

“You scared him!” Lu Xin said, “I told him I had no soldiers, but I promised to provide one million shi of grain!”

"Are you that rich?" Li Dachui asked, somewhat surprised. "We're desperately short of grain in the area outside the Great Wall right now! How much can you give me?"

“I dare not do business with you now,” Lu Xin shook his head: “Everyone will be watching, and I can’t let them suspect that I’m colluding with you! Besides, my little bit of grain is just a drop in the ocean compared to what you have outside the Great Wall.”

"If we can take Boling County in one fell swoop, we should be able to seize a lot of grain, right?" Li Dachui said, stroking his chin.

"Next, Lu Ming will definitely mobilize all the powerful families and clans to contribute money, soldiers, and grain!" Lu Xin said, "They want to attack Yangguan, and isn't your wife in Yangguan right now?"

"Linghu Ye's tactic of using one tiger to devour another is brilliant!" Li Dachui said. "Regardless of who wins or loses, it's a sure win for him!"

"So Linghu Ye is your opponent!" Lu Xin said. "Everyone else, including myself, is no different from a child in your eyes!"

"Therefore, this battle must be won quickly!" Li Dachui pondered. "If the battle drags on and the losses are too great, it will just be exactly what Linghu Ye wanted. Lu Xin, you must personally deliver the grain to Boling!"

"After this battle, I'll have been exposed!"

"If we can wipe out the elite forces of all the major families in Boling in one fell swoop, then whether you show your true colors or not will no longer matter!" Li Dachui smiled and personally poured Lu Xin a glass of wine: "This time, we're counting on you. Only after we finish this will we be truly even!"

"You're really the type to use people when you need them and then turn around when you don't! You're arrogant at first and then obsequious later!"

“We’ve been working together for many years, so let the older generation handle their own affairs. Oh, by the way, our parents’ generation has already perished together. We, the younger generation, should look to the future, shouldn’t we?” Li Dachui said with a smile.

"Yes, we need to look forward!"

The two cups clinked together, making a crisp, ringing sound.

(End of this chapter)