From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 102 Take the initiative
County camp.

Xu Xiaoniu looked at the several cases reported by his soldiers and felt a headache coming on.

Another merchant has been robbed in another city.

There have been quite a few similar cases recently.

Logically, his jurisdiction was limited to Tonggu County; matters outside the county were not his concern. However, the merchants had no other options and could only place their hopes on him, the county constable.

At best, they'll be robbed; at worst, they'll be robbed and killed.

The merchants knew that the hope of punishing the robbers was slim, but they had to seize any opportunity, no matter how small.

Xu Xiaoniu has no control over matters outside the area, let alone the robbery and rebellion.

Those who cultivate immortality through tribulation should be under the jurisdiction of the Demon Subduing Division.

"Lord Xu, your third brother is outside."

Someone relayed a message.

"San Gou is here? Quickly, invite him in."

Xu Xiaogou strode in, and seeing that no one else was around, he didn't stand on ceremony with his elder brother: "Brother, something terrible has happened to my father-in-law's family, you have to help."

"What's the matter? Tell me."

"My brother-in-law, Fu Zhigang, who managed the security escort agency, was robbed and killed near Qingqiu Mountain..."

Another cultivator undergoing tribulation!

“I know about this. They’ve committed several crimes. My fourth brother’s tavern was robbed twice, but luckily they only lost money and no one was hurt.”

The fourth brother, Xiaoyun, had mentioned to Xu Xiaoniu that his silver had been stolen.

"Them? Could there be more than one?"

Xu Xiaogou learned from others that there was only one Qi Refining cultivator when Fu Zhigang was killed.

"Yes, there are three people in total. I just went to the Demon Subduing Division yesterday. As a county lieutenant, I don't even have many innate martial artists under my command, let alone Qi Refining cultivators. I'm powerless against Tribulation Cultivators."

Only the Demon Subduing Division can handle this, but Director Jing said that it is not within the jurisdiction of Tonggu County, so he cannot interfere.

He also said that even if the prefectural government didn't send anyone, the Lan family of Qingqiu Mountain would take care of it, and told me not to be greedy for this credit.

"Ah."

At this point, Xu Xiaoniu gave a helpless, bitter smile.

Is he greedy for credit?

He simply couldn't bear to see those merchants being robbed and killed.

Some merchants with insufficient financial resources will be completely ruined if they are robbed even once.

"What is the strength of those three?"

Xu Xiaogou pressed for more information.

"Director Jing said that they are probably all in the middle stage of Qi Refining, definitely not in the late stage of Qi Refining."

The most obvious difference between the late stage of Qi Refining and the mid-stage of Qi Refining is that one can control Qi and fly into the air.

“The three of them are at the mid-stage of Qi Refining… Given my father-in-law’s temperament, I’m afraid this matter will not end well.”

Xu Xiaogou was somewhat worried.

Fu Yuanzhen is a Grandmaster Level 3 cultivator, capable of competing with mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, yet he is alone.

"Third brother, I know the Fu family has treated you well, but... this is a matter of life and death, you must be careful."

Xu Xiaoniu was worried that if the Fu family went to fight Jie Xiu head-on, it would be dangerous if Xu Xiaogou were dragged into it.

"Ah."

Xu Xiaogou was preoccupied with worries.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Wilderness, cave dwelling.

Xu Fugui observes the outside world from within his internal space.

"What's going on? Why aren't they robbing people? Why are they staying in their caves to cultivate?"

He noticed that only the fair-skinned young man was absent from the cave; the other two were present.

He had been hiding in the inner space for five or six days, without finding a chance to leave.

Just then, he saw the fair-skinned young man return, looking excited.

Following Chu Wuyang's advice, Lü Hou and Zuo Zhen stopped frequently robbing and killing rogue cultivators and instead sought out "fat sheep".

After observing the market in Qingqiu Mountain for two days, Lord Lü finally spotted his target.

"What a great opportunity! This is truly a great opportunity. There's a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator selling a high-grade magic weapon flying sword. A high-grade magic weapon flying sword is worth at least two hundred spirit stones!"

"A high-grade magic weapon? Worth the effort."

"Where is that man now?"

"Still setting up a stall in the market, looking for buyers."

"If the three of us pool our spirit stones, we should be able to scrape together a little over a hundred. We can haggle with him, and then offer some treasures as payment, like the second brother's magic weapon sword..."

The idea came from Chu Wuyang.

Upon hearing that he was asked to give up his magical longsword, Zuo Zhen immediately shook his head: "No, no, if I give him my sword, what will I use?"

"Listen to me!"

Chu Wuyang rolled his eyes at him and continued, "We have to buy his flying sword first, otherwise we won't have a chance to make a move until he leaves the market. Once we buy the flying sword, he'll have the spirit stones and naturally won't stay."

"Then the third brother will plant a spiritual mark on him, and no matter how he tries to disguise himself, he won't be able to escape our grasp!"

"Okay, let's do it!"

This is indeed a good idea.

The three left the cave excitedly, discussing how to divide the work and how to ambush people around the market.

"Wait a minute, Brother Chu, Second Brother, I need to go back for a bit, I forgot to bring something."

Lord Lü suddenly stopped and asked the two to wait for him.

"Hurry up, you're so slow."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Outside the cave, Lord Lü waited for a moment.

He rushed in abruptly, looking left and right, but didn't see anyone: "It's really strange. I have a feeling that the person used some means to hide nearby."

He was very sensitive to auras, and that day he clearly sensed the spiritual imprint disappearing there.

"It might just be my imagination."

He suddenly realized that he was making unfounded accusations and being overly suspicious, so he turned and left, this time for real.

internal space.

Xu Fugui continued to wait patiently.

He saw the three of them leave at the same time, but he didn't rush to go out.

He worried that the three of them might have some special methods, or perhaps they were lying in ambush on him.

As expected, the cultivators returned.

An hour later, nothing happened. He exited his inner space and carefully observed his surroundings.

"go!"

Without lingering, he gripped a flying sword in his hand and quickly departed.

Although he hid in his internal space, he was not seen by anyone, which was fortunate.

If he suddenly disappears from other people's sight, he'll be in big trouble.

He used his lightness technique to bypass the direction where the calamity cultivators appeared and left the place.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The Fu family mansion. After Fu Yuanzhen finished arranging the funeral for his eldest son, he summoned his second son Fu Zhiqiang, third son Fu Zhiren, and son-in-law Xu Xiaogou to discuss matters.

He had already learned the general situation of the Jiexiu from his son-in-law.

"I can't let go of the grudge against your elder brother. Zhiqiang, Zhiren, what about you?"

Fu Yuanzhen's gaze shifted between his two sons.

"I'll do whatever Dad says. If Dad says we should fight, then we'll fight!"

"We practice martial arts for the sake of our spirit, and I'm not afraid of death."

Both of them were deeply troubled by their elder brother's death.

"..."

Fu Yuanzhen wanted revenge, but didn't want to put his son in danger.

He was over sixty years old. For ordinary people, reaching that age would mean being in a helpless old age. As a martial arts master, he only had twenty or thirty more years of prime of life than ordinary people. In less than twenty years, he would also be old and frail.

He is not afraid of death.

But his sons are still young and have to take care of their wives and children.

“I’ll go alone. I’ll be content as long as I can kill one of the murderers. The three cultivators can’t stay together forever. If I only deal with one person, I have a chance of winning.”

Fu Yuanzhen is a Grandmaster Level 3. He uses his martial arts skills to assassinate mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators with a high success rate.

The pain of a parent outliving their child is so intense that he feels he must kill the murderer to find relief; otherwise, he will carry this burden in his heart for the next twenty or thirty years, a burden he will never be able to escape until his death.

"Father, no!"

"There are no cowards in our Fu family."

The two could not bear to watch their father risk his life to seek revenge.

Fu Yuanzhen remained silent for a long time before turning to Xu Xiaogou: "Son-in-law, you are a member of the Xu family. I'm shamelessly asking you to go home and discuss this with your family. Could you perhaps ask your brothers for their help?"
If we can kill the cultivator who has undergone the tribulation, the Fu family will not take a single coin from any of the treasures; we only want revenge.

It's perfectly normal to be unwilling; it involves life and death, so caution is paramount.

He was just Xu Xiaogou's father-in-law, and no matter how good he was to Xu Xiaogou, he couldn't expect the same things from him as he would from his own son.

A son-in-law is ultimately an outsider.

"Row."

Xu Xiaogou nodded in agreement, not wanting to refuse his father-in-law directly.

In his opinion, given his father's cautious nature, he certainly wouldn't agree to such a thing.

The reason the Fu family sought help from the Xu family was that the Xu family of today was no longer the Xu family that Xu Xiaogou had just married into.

When Xu Xiaogou married Fu Zhiyi more than ten years ago, Xu Xiaogou was not yet a Xiantian (innate) martial artist, but a high-level martial artist with exceptional talent and innate potential.

Now, Xu Xiaogou has two levels of innate ability.

His elder brother was a county lieutenant with official status, a martial artist with innate martial arts skills and a Qi cultivation cultivator.

His sixth brother was born with exceptional talent and had a great reputation.

This is a force that cannot be ignored.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The old residence of the Xu family.

Where is our father?

Xu Xiaoniu, Xu Xiaogou, and Xu Xiaoyun went home to discuss important matters with Xu Fugui, but they didn't see him.

“Dad said he was going on a long trip several days ago, and he hasn’t come back yet.”

Xu Xiaoan was also puzzled; it had been seven or eight days and his father still hadn't shown up.

Going on a long trip?
Everyone was puzzled, as their father had never traveled far from home before.

The Xu family doesn't have any distant relatives, so where would they go on a long trip?

"Let's discuss this together and see if it's feasible."

"No, even with Sect Master Fu, we still can't defeat three mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators."

"Besides Sect Master Fu, there are also his two sons, both of whom are quite powerful."

"It still depends on what Father thinks."

"..."

After waiting for a long time, Xu Fugui finally returned home. He had been delayed for quite some time because he had been trapped in his cave by the robbers.

When he got home, he found his sons were all there.

"how?"

"Father, you're finally back! We have important matters to discuss..."

Xu Xiaogou whispered a few words in Xu Fugui's ear.

Tribulation cultivator?

Xu Fugui was surprised. What a coincidence!
That group of cultivators committed numerous atrocities; he only survived because he had an internal spatial dimension. The others were not so lucky; many were robbed or killed.

"Let's go to the secret room."

Xu Fugui led his sons to the backyard.

In the distance, Xu Xiaohou watched helplessly as his father and brothers never included him in their discussions.

However, this time, the situation is different from before.

"Liu Zi, you come too!"

His father's shout made Xu Xiaohou's eyes light up, and he excitedly followed.

He is now a pre-natal being, knows the family secret, and is an adult!

Underground secret room.

In the dim light, the Xu family members discussed important matters.

Da Niu, San Gou, Si Yun, Wu An, and Liu Zi sat around Xu Fugui.

As everyone chimed in, Xu Fugui learned about many of the things Jie Xiu had recently done.

"San Gou, your father-in-law said that if we help, all the treasures will go to our family, but they don't want them?"

"Yes."

Xu Xiaogou was surprised. Could it be that his father was greedy for treasure?
This isn't like his father at all.

"This matter can be done!"

Xu Fugui's decision surprised everyone.

In the eyes of his sons, their father had always been low-key and cautious, so why did he agree to such a dangerous mission this time?
Xu Fugui agreed after considering the many benefits of the matter.

That group of robbers has become a stumbling block on the Xu family's path to development.

Xu Fugui was going to Qingqiu Market to sell spiritual plants and buy spiritual pills, and the Tribulation Cultivator posed a great threat.

The robbers stole money from Yun'an Tavern and disrupted its business, but that's a minor matter.

If Xu Xiaoniu, the county magistrate, can kill the calamity cultivator, he will be credited with a merit.

Obtaining treasures by slaying cultivators is very important for the resource-scarce Xu family.

With the Fu family's help, this matter can be done!
Xu Fugui was indeed cautious, but with such a win-win situation before him, he had no reason to refuse.

"Always on the defensive, it's time to take the initiative and remove the obstacles to the family's development!"

he thought.

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　　Illusion arrays, sword arrays, trapping arrays, killing arrays, riddle arrays, deadly arrays, and immortal arrays constitute the vast array system.

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(End of this chapter)