From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 96 Foolish Thief
On the arena, the two stood facing each other, bowing with their hands clasped in greeting.

Xu Xiaohou achieved early success and was beaming with joy.

Kong Sen was on high alert, his expression solemn.

"watch out!"

Xu Xiaohou struck first, his powerful Arhat Fist aimed straight at Kong Sen's face.

The Arhat Fist is characterized by its expansive and powerful movements, exuding immense momentum. Its vocalizations are like thunder, and its explosive force is palpable.

Kong Sen retreated repeatedly, keeping his distance from Xu Xiaohou.

His Tongbei Quan fighting style is to extend the reach and strike from a distance, with immense power at the end of the punch.

The two exchanged dozens of blows, occasionally their fists and feet clashing. Their fists and feet, infused with internal energy, were like steel, producing a clanging sound.

Xu Xiaohou disrupted his opponent's rhythm with several sudden and unexpected footwork techniques, gradually gaining the upper hand.

"It's a pity I didn't bring any money with me when I came in a hurry, otherwise I could have added some stakes and won back the money I lost last time."

He thought to himself, confident of victory.

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.

There were many people watching the fight around the ring.

The martial arts students were worried about Kong Sen's situation; he seemed on the verge of defeat.

Li He remained calm; he had already foreseen the outcome of the battle and was not worried about Kong Sen at all.

Sure enough, the situation on the stage instantly reversed.

Kong Sen created a flaw, and Xu Xiaohou fell for the trap.

"call--!"

The fist, as swift as a meteor, whistled through the air and slammed into Xu Xiaohou's chest.

The sound was like a drumbeat. Xu Xiaohou was sent flying backward, his body thrown eight meters away, and he crashed outside the ring.

"this!"

Xu Xiaohou was completely bewildered. What just happened?

How did that punch extend by three inches out of thin air?
According to his judgment, that punch could not possibly hit him, but it suddenly grew three inches longer and added a powerful internal force to slam into his chest.

At this moment, his chest and ribs ached, but it was not as painful as the pain he felt from his defeat.

"Xu Xiaohou, you flatter me."

Kong Sen smiled and cupped his hands in greeting. He had planned this attack from the very beginning of the battle. Given Xu Xiaohou's temperament, he was bound to underestimate his opponent, which gave him the opportunity to win by surprise.

In terms of martial arts skills, Xu Xiaohou was slightly better, but the difference between the two was not significant.

Kong Sen has been at the Innate level for over a month now. The move he just made was a unique technique of Tongbei Quan that can only be used at the Innate level: loosening and freely extending and contracting the joints.

When one progresses from the Tongbei Lingyuan stance to the Xiantian stage, their hands reach their knees, their arms become even longer, and their shoulder and elbow joints are different from those of ordinary people.

Li He, who was watching the fight, quickly stepped forward to help Xu Xiaohou up, with a fake smile on his face: "Young Master Xu, are you injured? Our martial arts school has a doctor, would you like to take a look at you?"

Having learned of Xu Xiaohou's identity, he naturally could not take advantage of his misfortune or ridicule him.

"I am fine."

Xu Xiaohou stood up, shaking his head with a dark face.

He lost again, but thankfully he didn't place any bets.

He was quite straightforward and accepted his loss: "I never expected Tongbei Quan to have such profound moves at the Xiantian level. I've learned a lot this time. I admire you."

"It's just a trivial skill. Young Master Xu has advanced to the Innate Realm at such a young age, his foundation is still a bit lacking. After a few more days of practice, no one in our Tongbei Sect will be your match."

Li He knew that when dealing with a young genius like Xu Xiaohou, it was best to give him enough face.

He offered some polite compliments and then respectfully saw Xu Xiaohou out.

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.

Yun'an Tavern.

Xu Xiaoyun is checking the accounts.

Although his tavern business was large, he also had many people to support.

In addition to the expenses of hiring staff for the tavern itself, there were also expenses for the Xu family as a large household.

The Yun'an Tavern was responsible for the food, clothing, daily necessities, and expenses of hiring maids for Xu Fugui and Jiazhen at the Xu family's old residence.

Xu Xiaoan's family, including his wife and children, all had their expenses covered by Yun'an Tavern.

There's also Xu Xiaohou.

To be precise, Xu Xiaoyun was in charge of the Xu family's accounts, not the other way around. The Yun'an Tavern's current success is due to everyone's joint efforts, and its brewing materials are grains from the Xu family's farmland.

"Shopkeeper, something terrible has happened!"

Just then, someone rushed into the shop; it was one of Xu Xiaoyun's employees. His clothes were covered in dust, as if he had been rolling around on the ground.

"Is it another shipment to Puye County that's gone wrong?"

Xu Xiaoyun frowned.

The man said with a long face, "It was fine when I delivered it, but I was robbed on the way back and lost all my money. They almost stripped me naked. Luckily, they spared my life, otherwise I wouldn't have made it back."

Shopkeeper, please don't assign me this job next time, I'm really scared...

This waiter was hired by Xu Xiaoyun a long time ago. He had worked for him for many years. He was honest, reliable, and wouldn't lie. His status was no different from that of the assistant manager of Yun'an Tavern.

Xu Xiaoyun trusted him, knowing that he wouldn't pretend to be robbed to deceive her.

"It's alright if the money is lost, as long as the person is back. We'll postpone the delivery of goods to Puye County."

Xu Xiaoyun was heartbroken, but this was all she could do to comfort her employee.

This is already the second time.

He had just expanded his Yanqi Wine business to the neighboring county of Puye, but unexpectedly he was robbed twice.

The goods delivered were the most expensive Yanqi wine, because ordinary wine was worthless, and it was too much trouble to make money delivering it so far.

Hundreds of jars of fine wine, each selling for ten taels of silver, were stolen, resulting in a devastating loss of several thousand taels of silver.

"We've lost a lot of money. Just considering the cost, the cost of one jar of wine is at least eight ounces."

Xu Xiaoyun thought to himself.

Just as he had calmed his men down and was thinking about what to do next, another person arrived.

Manager Jia of Yiwu Pharmacy came to collect payment and greeted him politely, "Boss Xu, business has been booming lately."

"Haha, your Yiwu Pharmacy is truly thriving. My little tavern can't compare to yours."

Xu Xiaoyun greeted Manager Jia with a smile and welcomed him inside. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Manager Jia took out the account book and said, "I haven't been here for several months. I happened to be passing by on another business, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to settle our recent accounts."

"That's to be expected. How much money do I owe?"

As Xu Xiaoyun spoke, he casually took out the money. His accounts were worth at most a hundred taels of silver.

"The total is 1,654 taels and 9 mace. If we round down the 4 taels and 9 mace, then it's 1,650."

"How many?"

Xu Xiaoyun raised her voice, her hand, which was about to take out money, froze, and she looked at Manager Jia in disbelief.

One thousand six hundred and fifty?

He must have misheard.

His wife usually buys a few doses of medicine for the children to treat colds, headaches, and fevers, and occasionally buys some medicine to nourish yin and replenish qi for Jiazhen, which can cost more than 1,600 taels of silver.
"It's your younger brother who bought too many Qi and Blood Pills."

Manager Jia was a little puzzled. Could it be that Xu Xiaohou took the Qi and Blood Pills without telling his brother?

Qi and Blood Pills?
Xu Xiaoyun remembered that once Xu Xiaohou wanted Qi Xue Wan (a traditional Chinese medicine), and he asked him to go to Yiwu Pharmacy to put the bill on the tab.

"Could you please show me the ledgers?"

Manager Jia opened the account book and handed it to Xu Xiaoyun.

Xu Xiaoyun recognized Xu Xiaohou's handwriting and confirmed it was correct. He thought to himself: With so many Qi and Blood Pills, does he eat them like candy?

"Wait a moment, I'll count the money for you."

Xu Xiaoyun wouldn't default on his debt; he counted the banknotes on the spot and settled the debt owed by Yiwu Pharmacy.

As Manager Jia was leaving, Xu Xiaoyun couldn't help but say, "Manager Jia, my sixth brother doesn't know how hard it is to make money; he's very extravagant. From now on, if he wants to pay for Qi and Blood Pills, don't put it on his tab."

"Row."

Manager Jia kept this matter in mind.

After he left, Xu Xiaoyun thought to himself: I need to go and give Xu Xiaohou a lecture.

He spoiled his sixth brother so much that he dared to buy blood-nourishing pills on credit for more than a thousand taels of silver without telling his family.

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.

Remote villages.

Two men who looked like farmers fled in a disheveled state, panting heavily.

One of them was tall and strong, while the other was thin and small.

"Quickly, get down!"

There was a gentle slope by the roadside. Wang Nian used his strength to push his younger brother down it.

His younger brother, Wang Yue, was tall and strong. He wasn't prepared to be pushed off and rolled around in the air, his body covered in thorns.

Wang Nian was small and agile, and he jumped down the slope in a few leaps.

"Come on!"

He pulled his younger brother up and, ignoring everything else, plunged into the overgrown ravine.

Wang Yue ignored the pain and let her brother lead the way to escape.

Fortunately, the two had martial arts training, so they had the stamina to keep up even while running so fast.

Not long after the two left, a group of people chased after them with hoes, sickles, and wooden sticks.

Where did it go? Has anyone seen it?

"Damn it, trying to steal children from our village? You're asking for it!"

One of the leaders, who appeared to be a martial arts expert from the village with a third-level stance training, said: "Search! He can't have gone far! Search along the mountain gullies and fields. If this kind of scoundrel gets away, how many families will he harm?"

"..."

Meanwhile, the two brothers, Wang Nian and Wang Yue, ran far away and hid deep in a remote mountain valley where no one could find them.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

Wang Nian's chest heaved violently. He looked at his younger brother and kicked him in the butt in anger: "You idiot, how many times have I told you to use your brain and not act recklessly! You'll get me killed sooner or later!"

For those in their line of work, getting caught means certain death.

They wouldn't even need to be sent to the yamen; they would be beaten to death on the spot.

Wang Yue knew she was in the wrong, so she lowered her head, panting, and dared not reply.

The two had been keeping watch in several nearby villages for some time, and today they had a good opportunity. However, Wang Yue was too reckless and took the child away too directly, which led to her being discovered.

They had no choice but to abandon their children and run for their lives.

If they hadn't been trained in martial arts and were fast runners, they would have been beaten to death by now.

"No, we'll be too conspicuous together. We'll have a higher success rate if we split up next time. How come they can succeed so often, but we can't?"

Wang Nian only came up with this idea by chance after learning that this line of work was very lucrative.

Children are trafficked; a boy can be sold for two or three hundred taels of silver, and a girl for one hundred taels.

How much money can you earn by farming hard all year? You can earn more by simply taking a child away.

The two were not locals of Tonggu County, but had come from elsewhere.

They were originally poor peasants in the village, but became fugitives after a dispute over farming and a fight in which they accidentally killed someone.

"We'll stop once we've earned three thousand taels, buy some land, hire farmhands, and marry a beautiful wife, hehe~"

Wang Nianchang thought to himself.

In fact, the two of them have never successfully sold a child.

The only time she succeeded, the child didn't survive because Wang Yue used too much sedative.

Thinking of this, Wang Nian kicked his younger brother again.

"This time, success is the only option; failure is not an option!"

Besides the family we just met, they also have another target in mind.

In Baihe Village, there lived a wealthy family with a chubby, fair-skinned three-year-old boy.

Babies that are too young are difficult to survive and also difficult to steal.

Children who are too old can remember things, but they don't fetch a good price.

Three- or four-year-old children are just right; they don't remember things, are easy to raise, and can be sold for a high price.

(End of this chapter)