Longzang

Chapter 167 Completed
Before dawn, a convoy set off from Quliu Town, heading east.

Inside the central carriage, Xu Jingfeng sat leaning against the wall, his body swaying slightly with the carriage. His eyes were half-closed, as if he were resting. Two maids sat opposite him, both looking drowsy, nodding their heads occasionally.

The two women had been kept awake all night by their master, and tonight, while it was still late, they were pulled onto the carriage again, told they would be taken into the pass to play for a while before returning. The two were only at the ordinary Body Tempering stage, unlike Xu Jingfeng, whose cultivation was profound; they were now extremely tired.

The journey is long, and we'll inevitably have to endure some roughhousing along the way.

Xu Jingfeng took a deep breath, his palms slightly sweaty, as he gripped a drawn flying sword.

The convoy continued its journey, and soon it was noon when a dense forest appeared ahead. They were familiar with this route, and the commander of the escort had already sent two men ahead to scout the forest. At that moment, a column of blue smoke rose from the forest, indicating that there was no danger inside.

The caravan maintained its speed, preparing to pass through the forest. However, at that moment, a hail of arrows suddenly burst forth from the woods, instantly riddling the driver, guards, and horses of the lead carriage with bullets!
The guard commander was both shocked and furious, and shouted, "Who's blind enough to dare intercept the Xu family's caravan?"

Another arrow shot out from the forest, instantly piercing the throat of the guard commander!
Xu Jingfeng stepped out of the carriage without any sign of panic. His eyes were slightly narrowed, his gaze deep, as if he were deep in thought.

At that moment, a loud laugh rang out from the woods. Xu Jingzhe stepped out, bow in hand, and said, "Brother, I was just about to spare your life, but why did you insist on taking on this task? You've really put me in a difficult position!"

Upon seeing that it was Xu Jingzhe emerging from the forest, many guards looked bewildered. A few clever ones, their faces pale, quietly began to look for a way out, while tearing off the Xu family's insignia from their bodies.

Xu Jingzhe suddenly fired two arrows, killing two guards who were trying to sneak away, and then laughed: "No manners! This young master is here, do you think you can run away?"

Xu Jingfeng took a deep breath and said, "I only have one question."

"Ask away. After all, you are my elder brother. I want you to understand the situation clearly before you leave. It's just a pity about your two girls."

Xu Jingfeng said, word by word, "Does Father know?"

Xu Jingzhe gave a sneer: "What in our family doesn't he know? What isn't arranged by him?"

The last glimmer of light in Xu Jingfeng's eyes died out, and he said, "Alright, let's do it."

Xu Jingzhe was taken aback, then chuckled, "You still want to fight me? Why struggle? If you can withstand three of my moves, I'll spare your life!"

Xu Jingfeng's heart sank. He knew his younger brother was quite strong, but he hadn't expected him to have reached this level. Nevertheless, he pointed and sent his flying sword flying.

"Then I'll just play around with you." Xu Jingzhe sighed, and pointed, sending a flying sword like lightning to intercept the incoming sword. He planned to first break Xu Jingfeng's flying sword, and then pierce through his opponent.

However, just as the flying sword was launched, a blade of light suddenly appeared halfway through its flight, gently and skillfully striking the flying sword!
The sharp flying sword, like an insect caught in a spider's web, instantly lost its momentum and became stuck to the blade. Xu Jingfeng's flying sword, however, was unimpeded, piercing Xu Jingzhe's chest and then emerging from behind!
Xu Jingzhe clutched his chest wound, utterly shocked, staring intently at the girl who had suddenly appeared before him. The girl turned her long sword around, stretched out her arm, and finally removed the flying sword stuck to the eight-foot blade.

"Who, who are you...?"

The girl ignored her, simply reaching out to grasp the tip of the flying sword and snapping it off with a snap. Then, with a series of cracking sounds, she broke the sword into pieces, scattering fragments all over the ground.

The flying sword was connected to his primordial spirit. Each time it broke, Xu Jingzhe's face paled a little more, and he even vomited several mouthfuls of blood! His heart was filled with shock, and he couldn't understand how his natal flying sword, a high-grade magic weapon, could be broken by someone's physical strength so easily.

The girl didn't give him a chance to ask another question. With a swift movement of her eight-foot-long sword, Xu Jingzhe's head flew off.

Xu Jingfeng never expected to be driven to such a dead end. His younger brother, who claimed he couldn't withstand three of his moves, was killed so easily, as if it were child's play.

Moreover, he had never seen this girl before; it was as if she had fallen from the sky. Even if Wei Yuan himself had taken action, he wouldn't have been so shocked, but now Wei Yuan had casually sent someone to kill Xu Jingzhe.

The blade flashed through the forest, and in a moment the dense woods fell silent. When the girl emerged again, she was covered in blood. She bowed to Xu Jingfeng's back and then disappeared.

Xu Jingfeng turned around abruptly and saw a man in black robes standing behind him. Although he couldn't see the face, he instinctively knew it was Wei Yuan, so he quickly bowed and said, "Master." As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that his voice was completely hoarse.

After exchanging greetings, Xu Jingfeng asked, "Where are we going to transport these things?"

Wei Yuan said, "I have no interest in what you are transporting."

Xu Jingfeng's first reaction was disbelief. This was the convoy that transported tribute from the Xu family of Ningxi County to their main branch every six months. It could be said that all the profits of the past six months were contained in the convoy. This included the harvest of the entire Ningxi County, worth at least 200,000 taels of silver, which was a huge fortune even by Xu Jingfeng's standards.

Wei Yuan said calmly, "You'll know once you open the truck and take a look."

Xu Jingfeng felt a sense of foreboding. He went to the nearest truck, gritted his teeth, and tore off the talisman on the truck bed door. Once broken, this kind of talisman could not be restored, which meant that the truck bed had been opened. According to the Xu family rules, anyone who opened the talisman without authorization was sentenced to death; if the talisman was damaged before the convoy arrived, the commander would be executed, and the guards would be severely punished.

Inside the carriage were four ebony chests, also sealed with talismans. Xu Jingfeng, without hesitation, tore off the talismans, lifted the chest lids, and found them filled with stones. He couldn't believe his eyes. He opened the remaining chests, and they were also full of stones. He rushed to another carriage, opened it, and found it also filled with stones.

Two hundred guards, a dozen or so trucks, and five chariots, all for transporting stones?

With the blessing of good fortune, Xu Jingfeng's mind became much sharper, but unfortunately, his original foundation was too weak. At this moment, his head was buzzing, and he still hadn't fully figured things out.

He simply gave up thinking and asked, "Master, what's going on?"

Wei Yuan said calmly, "The income and expenditure of your branch do not match, and there is a serious deficit. As for where the deficit went, your father and your brother should know very well, or you can look through your father's secret treasury and you should have the answer. How can such a large deficit be made up? The best way is to send a tribute caravan that will never reach the main family."

Xu Jingfeng looked around, and the guards also saw the stone in the box. Their faces were filled with shock and anger.

This matter is too big to be known by anyone, so all the guards, including Xu Jingfeng, must die, and no one can be left alive.

Xu Jingfeng suddenly asked, "When you asked me to ask my father for this job, did you already know it would turn out this way?"

"almost."

Xu Jingfeng's voice was deep: "Then I understand."

Quliu Town, Xu Residence.

In a small courtyard in a corner, there could be bursts of rapid, heavy breathing.

The courtyard was very desolate, with moss covering the walls and the ground. In the corner of the courtyard stood an ancient locust tree, whose canopy almost completely blocked out the sky above the courtyard, making it dark even though it was just past noon.

In the main room, there was a large mahogany bed, the corners of which were worn smooth and shiny, indicating that it had been used for a long time.

A young man was lying on the bed, hugging a blanket and pillow, moving around as if he were pressing down on a stunningly beautiful woman.

A woman in red sat by the window, her beauty quite alluring. She was reading a storybook by the light of the daylight streaming through the window, seemingly oblivious to the young man on the bed, and the young man seemed equally oblivious to her.

The two were in the same room, yet it felt as if they were in two different worlds.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and the courtyard gate opened halfway.

A young man happened to walk by outside the courtyard. He paused briefly as he passed the gate, glancing inside. His handsome and resolute face was revealed; it was Xu Jingzhe. He only paused briefly before continuing on his way.

Suddenly, a human face slowly emerged from the trunk of the old tree in the courtyard. The face bore the natural texture of the bark, but even more so, the marks left by time. Judging from the face, it was an old man, a very old man.

The face in the tree looked in the direction Xu Jingzhe had left, seemingly puzzled, its brows furrowed.

At this moment, the young man inside the room let out a series of extremely comfortable low groans, then collapsed onto the bed. After catching his breath a few times, he got up, dressed, and said to the empty bed, "I have to go check-in! Yuan Jin, you stay here and hide well. Don't run around. If the elders in the family find out, you're dead, understand?"

He paused for a moment, then his face lit up with joy. "I knew you were the most obedient! I'll come see you again after dinner. Wait for me."

After saying that, he hurriedly left the house and the courtyard.

The old man's face reappeared on the old tree, looking towards the main house, but the window was empty, and the woman in red was nowhere to be seen.

Main house, rear courtyard, study.

A maid carrying ginseng soup gracefully walked to the study door. Just as she was about to enter, a pair of hands reached out and took the tray from her. When she saw the man's face, she quickly lowered her head, softly called out "Second Young Master," and used the gesture of bowing to pull her chest down sharply, almost causing everything inside her clothes to pop out.

Xu Jingzhe seemed to be in no mood for it. He glanced at it and then walked into the study, closing the door behind him.

In the study, Xu Zhiyuan was practicing calligraphy. Only after he finished writing the four characters "厚德载物" (hou de zai wu) did he look up and ask, "You came back so quickly. Did you get everything done?"

"Not a drop leaks." Xu Jingzhe placed the tray on the desk and said, "Your Muyuan Yangshen Soup will lose its medicinal properties if it gets cold."

Xu Zhiyuan picked up the soup bowl, brought it to his lips, but didn't drink. Instead, he stared at Xu Jingzhe and slowly said, "Is everything really taken care of?"

(End of this chapter)