Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 103 Rebellion

"Master, think twice!"

Li Xiangming quickly tried to dissuade him. As the head of the Accounting Office, he naturally knew how much grain was collected each year.

If this grain were only supplied to the Li family, it would take several generations to finish it.

However, being assigned to two townships, they could only hold out for a few months.

Li Xiangming himself was still worrying about what to plant and eat in the two townships next year or the year after, and this sudden addition of 50,000 households was simply killing him.

"I didn't want to either. I've been negotiating with the Bailu Sect people for the past few days. You have no idea what kind of people they are."

At this point, Li Qianxiong appeared very angry: "Initially, they assigned 100,000 households to our Danggui Mountain. I threw a tantrum, and with Hua Lun's help, it was reduced to 50,000 households."

"The patriarch agreed?"

"No, but Bailumen said that even if we don't agree, they will forcibly move people here. Even if they die, these 50,000 households will die in Danggui Mountain."

"what?"

Li Xiangming was speechless, then angrily cursed, "This is too shameless!"

Bailu Sect, which prides itself on being a prestigious and righteous sect, is using the lives of innocent people to blackmail Danggui Mountain.

"Bai Lu Sect is also in a hurry. Some time ago, many forces in Zhangning Prefecture joined forces to put pressure on Hengyue Sect, demanding that Pu County be completely opened up so that they could get a share of the pie."

"Hengyue Sect also had this idea, and within three months, it sent six waves of envoys to urge Bailu Sect to act."

"Bai Lu Men had already abandoned Da Huang Town, but suddenly, they took a hard line and rejected all of the envoy's demands."

"When the news reached Zhangning Prefecture, it immediately caused a stir. Hengyue Sect did not want to fall out with its own son, so it remained inactive. However, the other Golden Core forces did not have this concern and forcibly blocked the trade routes of Bailu Sect in and out of Zhangning Prefecture."

"As you know, Pu County is suffering from a disaster and food is in short supply. Bailumen is worried about famine and is currently purchasing grain in large quantities in Zhangning Prefecture. However, the grain they have purchased suddenly cannot be transported back to Pu County, which has infuriated Bailumen."

"Bai Lu Sect immediately sent several inner sect elders to Zhang Ning Prefecture to demand grain. However, those Golden Core forces made a threatening statement: 'You blockade Pu County? I will blockade Zhang Ning Prefecture too. If I can't get into Pu County, you can forget about taking a single penny from Zhang Ning Prefecture.'"

Hearing this, Li Xiangming couldn't help but ask, "What about Hengyue Sect? As long as Hengyue Sect speaks up, these forces won't dare to make things difficult for Bailu Sect, right?"

"The Hengyue Sect chose to remain neutral, and the Bailu Sect's rebellion also caused internal divisions within them."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming remained silent.

"In short, after a month of negotiations, no agreement was reached. Bailu Sect took the lead in changing its thinking. Since the grain could not be transported back anyway, the mortals in the Pushui River Basin were just waiting to die, so it was better to let them die outside."

“Besides our Li family in Danggui Mountain, families like the Geng family in Meiling, the Liu family in Jimuyan, the Qin family in Hongshigu, and so on, all those who are well-known have had a portion of their population forcibly taken away. If they don’t want these people, they just watch them die.”

"Bai Lu Men's actions have gone too far."

Li Xiangming said slowly, "Although Bailu Sect has its own difficulties, this is not a reason to harm others."

"It's not just excessive, it's downright insane."

Li Qianxiong sneered.

Relocating people is no easy task, especially under such circumstances.

If any mishap were to occur along the way, such as an attack by a monster or a sudden illness, countless people could die.

"With such disregard for human life, aren't they afraid that the various families in Pu County will unite against them?"

"Why do you think Bailu Sect suddenly changed its attitude and even dared to do such crazy things? Naturally, there are even crazier people backing them up behind the scenes."

Even crazier people?
Li Xiangming's expression changed: "Master Xuanling has emerged from seclusion?"

"Nine times out of ten."

No wonder!
With a Golden Core cultivator in charge, the White Dew Sect naturally isn't afraid of being the first to act; they're probably just waiting to make an example of him. Li Xiangming's expression was solemn; he had long heard of the name of the Suspended Spirit True Man.

It is said that Xuanling Zhenren has a special identity. He was the son of a former leader of Bailu Sect. He joined Hengyue Sect in his childhood and served Hengyue Sect for a hundred years, making great contributions.

Only after advancing to the Golden Core stage did he announce his departure from Hengyue Sect and return to Bailu Sect.

It is worth noting that, according to Li Huinan, all of the fellow disciples who were in the same batch as Xuanling Zhenren and had close relationships with him, except for some with low cultivation levels, held important positions in Hengyue Sect.

Therefore, Hengyue Sect greatly favored Bailu Sect and appointed it as their agent in Pu County.

However, as Xuanling Zhenren went into seclusion for a long time and his influence gradually declined, Bailu Sect lost its former favor and was forced to open a corner of Puxian County.

Now that Master Xuanling has emerged from seclusion, will Puxian County remain open to the public or not?

Li Xiangming couldn't help but ask.

"The White Dew Sect naturally doesn't want to open up, but the Eternal Moon Sect is keen to 'suppress' the White Dew Sect, you understand?"

Even if Bailu Sect and Hengyue Sect were to become close, that would all be within the Zhangning Prefecture.

Now that they've moved to Puxian, far from the capital, and are embroiled in a dispute with Hengyuemen over whether to open Puxian to the public, this has naturally aroused Hengyuemen's vigilance and concern.

The cutting off of Bailumen's trade routes is likely orchestrated by Hengyuemen, with the aim of forcing Bailumen to submit.

"When the two sides are fighting, it's the ordinary people who suffer."

Li Xiangming sighed.

Bailumen clearly did not want to back down, and even went so far as to come up with a terrible idea: to relocate millions of ordinary people from Pushui before the famine arrived, leaving only Pucheng behind, in order to reduce their own burden.

In any case, Bailu Sect has no food and cannot feed so many people. Rather than watching them starve to death, they might as well try their luck.

What if some powerful force has deep pockets and can handle these people?
Even if they can't bear it and there are starving corpses everywhere, they are not under the jurisdiction of Bailu Gate.

What does this have to do with Bailu Gate?

Li Xiangming found this attempt to evade responsibility unacceptable: "Couldn't we have imported grain from places like Qingshui County and Qi County?"

Although famine is inevitable in Puxian County, it has not yet arrived. Most people still have some food reserves, which should be enough to last for three to five months.

Bai Lumen clearly still has time and more options to salvage this crisis.

"Qingshui County is backed by the Suxin Sword Sect, and Qi County is backed by the Shaoyang Sect. These powerful forces from various prefectures in Linan Road are all waiting for the Bailu Sect to come knocking on their door."

"Bai Lu Sect is 'pure and upright,' so naturally they wouldn't violate this taboo. Otherwise, they would face more than just suppression. You should know that Heng Yue Sect would never allow Pu County to fall into the hands of other major sects."

"At this point, Bailu Sect is still worrying about these things. Are they really going to just stand by and watch Puxian fall into famine?"

Li Xiangming questioned.

"Boy, you're still too young and can't see the true nature of things. The White Dew Sect depends on the Eternal Moon Sect for survival. Don't be fooled by the current conflicts; given enough time, they're nothing. They won't bother contacting other major sects and creating trouble for themselves. As for the lives of mortals, how could they possibly be of any concern to a True Person?"

Li Qianxiong's face showed a sneer. For a Golden Core cultivator, a hundred years is but a blink of an eye. What difference is there between a mortal dying of old age and dying of famine?

In any case, Hengguo has no shortage of people. If Puxian is empty, they can ask other counties in Zhangning Prefecture for more. If Zhangning Prefecture is empty, they can ask other prefectures in Linan Circuit for more.

Preserving one's own traditions and status is of utmost importance.

After hearing the explanation, Li Xiangming clenched his fists in resentment, then released them: "So, the relocation of people from Bailu Gate is a done deal?"

"Unless grain from Zhangning Prefecture comes in."

(End of this chapter)