Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 110 Su'an Township

The locust demon wreaked havoc in Pu County. It was expected that Hengyue Sect would take action, but Hengyue Sect remained inactive.

Bai Lumen was in a panic and had no time to pay attention.

This caused the locust plague to last for nearly half a year.

Fortunately, Bailu Sect is finally about to make its move.

"Don't worry, Patriarch Li, the locust demon won't be able to run rampant for long."

Hua Lun confidently stroked his beard.

Upon hearing this, Li Qianxiong's eyes flickered.

The reason why Bailu Sect has hesitated to take action against the locust demon is not only because its energy is being diverted, but also because it wants to preserve its strength.

After all, a locust plague of this scale is likely caused by a powerful demon at the Core Formation stage.

The White Dew Sect naturally didn't want to sacrifice the lives of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

His current confidence must be due to the spirit of Xuanling Zhenren.

Since Master Xuanling emerged from seclusion, the Bailu Sect has resisted the Hengyue Sect externally and forcefully suppressed the Mang Sect internally.
Judging from the changes in Bailu Sect, Xuanling Zhenren is by no means an easy person to deal with.

If Bailu Sect withstands the pressure from Hengyue Sect and does not completely fall out with Hengyue Sect, Pu County may truly belong to Bailu Sect.

What will become of the Li family?

Thinking about this, Li Qianxiong couldn't help but feel anxious.

On the other side, Ma Houchen kept giving Hua Lun meaningful glances, signaling him not to say too much.

Although investigating the locust demon's movements was no secret, the two were just the first wave, and other Foundation Establishment cultivators would follow, so it couldn't be kept quiet.

However, it shouldn't be told to outsiders directly, since if the locust demon is found, the next step is to exorcise it.

Who will eliminate it?
He is naturally a Golden Core cultivator.

If the Li family were so inclined, this information alone would be enough to deduce the whereabouts of Master Xuanling.

This could be a hidden danger.

Hua Lun realized he had misspoke and quickly shut his mouth. His intention was to remind the Li family not to take it to heart, but he didn't want to let it slip.

Fortunately, Bailu Sect has no major enemies, and Xuanling Zhenren has no enemies in Puxian County.

Seeing that Hua Lun was obedient, Ma Houchen then looked at the other members of the Li family.

Li Chengkang goes without saying. He had never dealt with him, but he had heard of him. He was the previous head of the Li family and had the cultivation of the late Foundation Establishment stage, which was even better than his own.

Li Xiangyu, a genius disciple of the Li family, has already reached the ninth level of Qi Refining at a young age. He's quite remarkable.

The last one, Li Xiangming, I've never heard of him before, but wait, he looks kind of familiar.

"Have we met?"

Ma Houchen frowned.

Li Xiangming hurriedly bowed and said, "I encountered a snake demon on the Pu River in the past, and Elder Ma saved my life. I have not yet thanked him in person, which is truly my fault."

If Ma Houchen hadn't appeared in time, Li Xiangming and Qingyang Daoist would have already died.

"The snake demon of Pushui?"

Ma Houchen recalled the past and nodded slowly, confirming that the boy was indeed present at the time.

"No need to thank me. You've survived a great calamity, and you're sure to have good fortune in the future. Looking at you now, you're not bad off at all."

Ma Houchen had his own judgment. Although he saved Li Xiangming by chance, he did not do so to save him, but only to uphold the dignity of Bailu Sect.

Moreover, if he and Wen Zhengju hadn't forced everyone to stay and guard the boat, Li family members like Li Xiangming would have run away long ago, and thus wouldn't have faced any danger to their lives.

Therefore, he did not accept this favor.

After passing through two villages, the group entered Danggui Mountain.

"Your town is well-organized, and the surrounding villages are scattered in a pleasing manner. It seems that your Li family has some capable people."

Ma Houchen paid close attention to the layout of the two townships, looking at it again and again, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"Not at all, Elder Ma, you flatter me."

Li Qianxiong was delighted to hear this, as he had initially established the Shangjifang (Shangji Office) with the intention of giving it a try.

As a result, the work of the accounting office was remarkably effective. Not only did they collect more money and grain, but they also recruited more spiritual root seeds than in previous years. All of this was proof of his skillful leadership and far-sighted vision as the head of the family.

"In this way, we can rest assured to move people to Dangui Mountain. These are all valuable young and strong people. We hope your family will make good use of them."

Ma Houchen said with a smile.

Why don't you take it back if it's so valuable?

Li Xiangming was speechless for a moment. "You're still young and strong, so you must eat even more, right?"

In any case, these people eventually settled down in Danggui Mountain.

Li Qianxiong hosted a banquet for the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, but Li Xiangming was too busy to join them, as he and Li Xiangyu had to personally supervise their entry into Danggui Mountain.

Due to the long distance, only 20,000 households were sent from Bailumen in the first batch, far less than Li Xiangming had expected.

According to Hua Lun, the second batch of 20,000 households will arrive in a month, and the third batch of 10,000 households will arrive in two months.

The reason for the phased deployment was to take into account the allocation of transport capacity and the escorting monks.

Li Xiangming was quite accepting of this; sending people over a month or two later meant spending less food.

After checking, Li Xiangyu confirmed that there were no cultivators among them and left with the people from the Guardian Hall.

The magistrate then directed people to the refugee camp, and nothing unexpected happened during the process.

This is a good sign.

Taking the opportunity, Li Xiangming named the camp Su'an Township, hoping that in the near future, it could become a peaceful township where doors are left unlocked at night and lost items are not picked up.

Su'an Township has five large camps, each of which has five smaller camps: East, West, South, North, and Central.

The small camp uses wooden boards and strips of cloth as partitions, and can accommodate about 3000 households.

Of course, only the four camps in the east, west, south, and north housed refugees, while the central camp was garrisoned by troops and also served as a place for meals.

The first order issued by Li Xiangming was to impose a curfew, prohibiting people from moving around at night.

They then ordered officials from the two township offices to come and register these people, recording their identity information.

Hua Lun was kind enough to assign a group of relatively wealthy people to come over. Li Xiangming had his men investigate and found that they still had about ten days' worth of rations left.

Besides provisions, they also carried a considerable amount of gold and silver treasures obtained from selling their land and houses.

This indicates that they were among the first residents to agree to the relocation of Bailumen, which is why they received compensation.

Later, Bailumen's finances declined, and the people who gave up their fields and houses received no money.

However, even if you get the money, it won't be of any use, because all the gold and silver treasures are worthless on Danggui Mountain.

The second order announced by Li Xiangming was to prohibit the circulation of goods and currency in Su'an Township.

This was done to avoid linking food to money, as this was the only way to ensure that most people would not starve.

However, many ordinary people are unaware of the reason and cannot accept that their money has become worthless.

Some people even received promises from Bailumen, thinking that it was just a change of location to settle down. They thought that coming to Danggui Mountain would mean having land and property and not having to worry about food and drink. They never expected this situation.
Immediately, the refugee camp was filled with complaints, and many people were clamoring to leave.

The Shangjifang (a government agency) was already very familiar with this situation and dispatched troops to suppress it, and the chaos was quickly quelled.

Li Xiangming really wanted to get rid of these people, but if he let them go, they would be devoured by beasts within a hundred miles.

It would be better to stay in Su'an Township as a refugee.

Li Xiangming said they were refugees, so he really treated them as refugees, only giving them two meals of porridge a day, which caused another uproar.

These things were observed by Hua Lun and Ma Houchen, who had not yet entered Puyin Mountain.

"Houchen, the Li family refuses to accept these people. It seems that the situation is similar elsewhere."

Ma Houchen remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "Forcibly relocating people here will inevitably encounter resistance; these are normal phenomena."

normal?

Hua Lun frowned. The usually mild-mannered Ma Houchen actually thought this was a normal phenomenon.

However, he had no intention of arguing, and just grinned and said, "We're still here, and the Li family is doing this. What will happen when we leave?"

Watching Hua Lun's retreating figure, Ma Houchen sighed, "Even the sect leader has no choice. If we leave him near Pucheng, let alone two meals of porridge, we won't even be able to afford to grow leaves."

Ma Houchen shook his head. Forced by reality, he believed that the Li family did not do this to mistreat these people, because if they remained under the rule of Bailumen, these people would only suffer more.

(End of this chapter)