Promise!

Chapter 177, Dragon and Tiger

Not long after that.

Teng Yuansong came over and sighed, saying to Zhuang Jin, "The operation with the Yao family failed... Alas, the Yao family is indeed cautious. My spy was discovered when he drugged someone and committed suicide..."

"Also, my martial arts intuition tells me that the Yao family has a Meridian Opening martial artist. It seems that the Yao family made a deal with the Medicine King Gang, and broke through after receiving the benefits... The other party's condition is a bit abnormal, I can't say for sure, but he probably didn't sense me..."

Yao Shaoli's condition was indeed somewhat special. He had made a breakthrough, but he was not a fully recovered martial artist who had opened his meridians... This was because of that meridian-opening pill!

—The Medicine King Gang's Qingyuan Liquid is in short supply and there has been a recent shortage. The main ingredient of the Meridian Opening Pill is not old enough, so in order to ensure the medicinal effect, wild, over-aged auxiliary ingredients were used... With such haphazard methods, even their own people dare not take the Meridian Opening Pills they produce.

Sikong Rui had long since completed the accumulation of the first meridian realm, but was stuck at the bottleneck between the first and second meridians. Theoretically speaking, a single meridian-opening pill could break through to the second meridian, but he was unwilling to take such a pill and instead used it to trade with the Yao family... Well, one can only say that this kind of inhumane style is indeed very much like the Medicine King Gang!
In other words, Yao Shaoli was talented enough, young and hardworking, and managed to break through after taking this Meridian Opening Pill. However, the medicinal power of the Meridian Opening Pill was extremely unstable, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, causing considerable damage to his meridians. Now he has broken through, but the breakthrough is not perfect, and he is in a state of injury and blood loss.

"Our original plan was to behead the upper and middle classes of the Fei and Yao families, purge all martial artists above the seventh level, support puppets, and completely control them... Now, things haven't gone well with the Yao family, and they've become wary. They also have a martial artist who has reached the Meridian Level, along with their privately amassed elite soldiers, hidden powerful bows and crossbows... This is going to be difficult!"

"It's better to loosen the reins than to tighten them up. We should concentrate our manpower to digest and integrate the Fei family first, and then turn our attention to dealing with the Yao family!"

As Zhuang Jin spoke, he looked at Teng Yuansong and said, "Magistrate Teng, think about our status. Your setback this time was not a real intervention... which may not be a bad thing."

Teng Yuansong understood Zhuang Jin's meaning: as an official, his involvement in the struggle between the Shen family and the Medicine King Gang was highly taboo; it was also not good for Zhuang Jin, as the Fei family and the Yao family were both powerful families under the Shen family, a wealthy clan in the prefecture. Ultimately, it was an internal matter, and it was not good for Zhuang Jin to bring in outsiders.

Previously, due to the urgency of the situation, Zhuang Jin and Teng Yuansong were determined to be ruthless and eliminate all potential threats... Now that they have dealt with the Fei family first and gained the strategic initiative, there is no need for them to cross the line anymore.

"As of now, that's all it can do."

Teng Yuansong nodded slightly in agreement, but he also knew that this meant he would have to reduce his share of the distribution.

……

The Medicine King Gang's core stronghold in Linji County.

There were bound to be spies from the Medicine King Gang in the Fei family. After midnight, the news leaked out and Sikong Rui was woken up from his sleep. He hurriedly put on his clothes and got up.

"What? Zhuang Jin has already arrived, killed Fei Yuanlong, and taken control of the Fei family? Didn't I arrange for people at the outposts along the way to keep watch? What were they doing? Why didn't they report it? And the dockworkers, are they all blind and useless? How could they let Zhuang Jin slip in so easily?!"

Sikong Rui slammed his fist on the table, questioning her repeatedly, his anger barely contained.

No wonder he was so angry. He had laid a trap, waiting for Zhuang Jin to fall into it, and thought it was a perfect plan, but Zhuang Jin inexplicably dodged it and even tore a corner of it open...

No, this is no longer just about tearing open a corner. In Sikong Rui's eyes, the Fei family has long been a piece of fat meat that is within his grasp. Now Zhuang Jin is snatching food from the tiger's mouth. It's like slapping him in the face!

"Sir, Zhuang Jin is at the Meridian Opening Realm. Such a master is impossible to keep an eye on if one is willing... The dockworkers haven't found him, probably because he's in disguise... The presence of county government personnel suppressing the Fei family suggests that this person is cooperating with the county government..."

The subordinate began to complain, but before he could finish speaking, he was beheaded with a single blow, falling to the ground with a thud, his eyes wide open in death.

"That makes a lot of sense, but I only care about the results!"

Sikong Rui sheathed his sword with a clang, clapped his hands twice, and ordered his men to drag the body out and wash the floor. After killing someone, he calmed down.

He then immediately convened a meeting with his subordinates.

"Inform the team transporting the medicinal herbs back to immediately switch to the alternative route, just to be on the safe side... Mobilize the intelligence network in Linji County to the fullest extent. I need to know exactly how much Zhuang Jin knows... And the Yao family, temporarily sever contact..." After giving his orders, Sikong Rui waved his hand to send his men away. He knew that the wisest choice now was to cut his losses immediately, withdraw, and escort the medicinal herbs back. That would be a merit, but... he was unwilling to accept it!
"According to my original plan, I would drug and kill Zhuang Jin, then bring the Fei and Yao families on board... What a feat that would be! The resources I would gain could potentially propel me to the third or even fourth meridian. But going back like this, I'll only get one Meridian Opening Pill at most."

Should I just accept this?

Sikong Rui murmured to himself, opened a hidden compartment, took out a box, and looked inside at a brown pill... This was the problematic Meridian Opening Pill that he had traded with the Yao family.

……

Yao family.

As one of only two major families in Linji County, the Yao family was a local power. The Yao father and son learned about the Fei family's news as quickly as Sikong Rui, and even earlier.

"Well done, Zhuang Jin! As expected of the Shen family's retainer! That Hall Master Sikong is formidable, but this Retainer Zhuang is no less so. He secretly came and, in conjunction with the county government, decisively took action against the Fei family..."

"Father, tonight our family poisoned..."

The father and son both paled at the thought. They had initially thought it was just a trick by the Fei family, but now it seemed that it was not so simple. There were many mysteries involved, as if there were an invisible hand in the shadows, choking them.

"Don't scare yourself unnecessarily. If it doesn't work out, it's over."

Yao Gongyan analyzed, "I think it should be like this: That Zhuang Gongfeng secretly came and, through the county government's intelligence network, found some clues about the Fei family and our Yao family. He saw that they all had problems, but he wasn't sure how deep the involvement was, so he panicked and decided to strike first, attacking all the wolves and tigers at once..."

"Tonight's operation aims to wipe out the Fei family and the upper echelons of our family in one fell swoop, bring them under our control, and support puppets... After all, once everyone is dead, no one will cry foul!"

"How cruel!"

Yao Shaoli sighed, gasping for breath, when suddenly a thought occurred to him: "That Zhuang Gongfeng has connections with the Fei family, yet he's been so ruthless this time... Father, do you think Sikong Rui of the Medicine King Gang might have connections within the Fei family as well as outside of ours... to poison them..."

"That might actually be true! Good, good, good. We were just saying that Master Zhuang was powerful, but now it seems that Sikong Rui underestimated him too. He has a huge appetite! The Shen family and the Medicine King Gang are fighting tooth and nail, and our county's big families are caught in the middle and have suffered an undeserved disaster!"

The father and son were not stupid; they were both resourceful and quickly figured out most of the situation.

"Then, Father... what should we do next?"

"As for the looting of medicinal herbs, try to pin all the blame on the Fei family... Also, suspend the plan against that Elder Zhuang... What happens next depends on Elder Zhuang's attitude... The Shen family is a tiger, the Medicine King Gang is a wolf, and our Yao family is just a rabbit, but even a rabbit will bite when cornered!"

Yao Gongyan's face turned ruthless: "If that Elder Zhuang is relentless, we will join forces with the Medicine King Gang and fight to the death... If that Elder Zhuang is willing to turn a blind eye and help our Yao family cover it up, then we will stand on his side and turn against the Medicine King Gang!"

"The Shen family, the Medicine King Gang... The Medicine King Gang is too unscrupulous. The Meridian Opening Pills they traded seem to be of inferior quality, and they tricked us once. Relatively speaking, the Shen family is more reliable... According to the information, that Elder Zhuang is also trustworthy. Personally speaking, I am more willing to believe Elder Zhuang!"

"Yes, according to the information I have, that Elder Zhuang is not the kind of person who can't tolerate any wrongdoing, so I think he will agree... The previous Elder Zhuang was just frightened by the clues and didn't care about anything else for his own safety... Now that the Fei family is gone and has the upper hand, there is no need for them to keep targeting our family."

Yao Shaoli became more and more confident as he spoke, a smile appearing on his face: "After all, with two major families in Linji County taking action against the Fei family, that Zhuang family elder must be in a lot of trouble. If he were to take action against our family as well, how would he explain it to the Shen family?"

“That makes sense. Who knows, this time, we might even turn a bad thing into a good thing. The Fei family will never recover after this, but our family will have you, my son, break through to the Meridian Opening Realm... If we can get through this storm safely, our family will be the number one family in Linji County, the only one!”

……

(End of this chapter)