Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 402 Conflict
"If you dare, say it again?"

Enraged, the one-armed youth kicked the table occupied by several idlers, scattering bowls, chopsticks, food, and drinks all over the floor.

The man who had laughed stood up defiantly, glaring at him angrily: "Who are you? How dare you come here to cause trouble?"

"I'm not only going to cause trouble, I'm going to take your life!"

The one-armed youth grabbed the man's collar with one hand, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

In the nick of time, the bald, burly man reached out and grabbed the wrist of the one-armed youth, slowly saying, "Young man, haven't you gone too far?"

"release!"

The young man with the missing arm suddenly exuded a fierce aura.

Seeing the tense atmosphere on the field, a loud shout rang out: "Lin Hao!"

Lin Hao turned around and saw a middle-aged cultivator with a sallow complexion and a weak appearance walking over, with a few other people behind him.

"So it's Commander Lü, my apologies for not recognizing you."

The bald, muscular man narrowed his eyes.

Lu Mao ignored him and glared at Lin Hao with a stern look: "As soon as I said you weren't here, I guessed you went drinking. Now you're acting like a drunkard. What kind of behavior is this? Have you forgotten what I said?"

"Commander, it's me."

"Still not letting go?"

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Hao finally let go of the person.

Seeing that there was a chance to ease the situation, the bald, burly man quickly lowered his arm.

Lu Mao then looked at him and said meaningfully, "Hu Qidao, drinking can lead to trouble."

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving behind the words, "Manager, put all the losses on my tab."

Looking at Lü Mao's limping figure, Hu Qidao's face darkened. He knew that Lü Mao was warning him that if this weren't Taibai Restaurant, he and his drinking buddies wouldn't be able to escape.

Despite the significant loss of strength in the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group, it's not surprising that members of ordinary demon hunting groups would cause trouble in the tavern and die in the streets. Lü Mao simply dismissed it with a casual remark about keeping track of the bill.

This is what they mean by "even a starved camel is bigger than a horse".

The Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group had been operating in Puyin Mountain for many years, and ultimately, it was not something that these "lone wolf" demon hunters, who didn't even have a demon hunting group, could resist.
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"Captain, those people slandered our demon-hunting team and even talked about you. Why won't you let me teach them a lesson?"

On the way back, Lin Hao was still dissatisfied and kept muttering to himself.

Lu Mao was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "These are turbulent times. We should avoid causing trouble as much as possible. I only have a few of you left by my side now."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

After a long while, Lin Hao said resentfully, "It's all that brat Chi Laiyong's fault! I've disliked him for a long time, that son of a bitch!"

"Alright, Lai Yong has been with me for many years, you're not allowed to talk like that."

Lü Mao frowned.

Lin Hao was even more dissatisfied and shouted, "Commander, you're still speaking up for him? This kid clearly wants to usurp your position. Now that we're back in the regiment, they look at us like we're outsiders."

“That’s right. That kid Chi Laiyong is good at winning people over. Now most of the regiment is on his side. If this continues, you’ll lose your position, Regiment Commander.”

Others nearby echoed this sentiment.

Lü Mao remained silent.

A while ago, he led a group of elite members of the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Team to Daishan to escort the spirit herbs for Zhao Jindou.

Unexpectedly, they encountered a formidable enemy, resulting in heavy casualties among the group.

It was only because the other party was fixated on Zhao Jindou and determined to kill him that these demon hunters were given a chance to survive.

In the end, he led Lin Hao, Chi Laiyong, and a few others back to Puyin Mountain.

But back at Puyin Mountain, the matter was far from over.

First, there were everyone's injuries. In order to cover the retreat of the group, he personally covered the rear and lost a leg. Lin Hao and the others were also on the verge of death. The cost of treating their injuries alone was a large sum of spirit stones.

In addition, six demon hunters died on the spot.

These people had become accustomed to the life of the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group, and most of them had brought their Daoist partners and children with spiritual roots to settle near Puyin Mountain. He had no choice but to provide them with compensation.

However, although the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group has made a lot of money in recent years, it has basically distributed all of its profits.

Of course, Lü Mao took the lion's share.

Normally, he didn't think there was anything wrong with doing this. In his eyes, the so-called demon-hunting group was just a group of like-minded friends who got together. The leader was more capable and naturally earned more, while also bearing the responsibility for the daily expenses of running the demon-hunting group.

The problem is that the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Team is now facing huge medical expenses and compensation, and most of them, including him, don't have many spirit stones. Demon hunters don't have the concept of saving; they are used to exchanging the spirit stones they get for pills, talismans, magic weapons, and other things that can truly enhance their strength.

To raise the funds, Lü Mao had to pawn his valuable magical artifacts, which barely allowed himself and his seriously injured confidants, including Lin Hao, to survive.

Some members of the demon-hunting team who had originally stayed in Puyin Mountain saw this and assumed that he was on his deathbed, so they secretly left the Mad Lion Demon-hunting Team.

That wasn't the end of it. The remaining members were restless and, encouraged by Ji Shilun, hit it off with Chi Laiyong, who had returned to Puyin Mountain, and began to play tricks to win people over.

Lü Mao knew, of course, that Chi Laiyong had his eye on his position as regimental commander.

But he couldn't retaliate.

Because the powerful backer behind Chi Laiyong is the Li family, the famous head of the Li family in Puyin Mountain, and the outstanding man from Puxian who just held a foundation-building ceremony a few days ago!
How could he and Lin Hao, who were missing limbs, possibly fight against the other side?
"Commander Lü?"

Suddenly, a young cultivator with phoenix eyes called out to Lü Mao, who was deep in thought.

Lu Mao turned around, his eyes showing surprise mixed with a hint of apprehension: "Commander Liu, what is it?"

The young man with phoenix eyes slowly approached Lü Mao, followed by more than ten people.

"What do you want to do?"

Seeing this, Lin Hao quickly stepped in front and shouted loudly.

Before the young man with phoenix eyes could speak, the people around him immediately stepped forward and pushed Lin Hao aside.

"be honest."

"Commander Liu intends to fight me in Monkey Valley?"

A hint of anger finally surfaced in Lü Mao's eyes.

"Don't worry, Commander Lü."

The young man with phoenix eyes replied indifferently, "I have no interest in beating a drowning dog. I just want to ask you where Zhao Jindou is."

A drowning dog?
Lu Mao's face turned pale and then red, but he finally suppressed his anger and said slowly, "Commander Liu, you've probably come to the wrong person if you're looking for Chairman Zhao. The Puyin Mountain Guild Hall has far better information than we do."

“I just came back from Puyinshan Guild Hall.”

The phoenix-eyed youth coldly interrupted, "The guild doesn't even know if he's alive or dead, they're even more anxious than I am! But I have heard some rumors that a demon-hunting group followed Zhao Jindou north some time ago and suffered quite a loss."

"What does Commander Liu want to say?"

Lü Mao clenched his fists.

The phoenix-eyed youth stared at him and said, word by word, "Zhao Jindou owes our Demon Hunting Group a large sum of spirit stones. It's fine if he's dead, but if he's alive and tries to hide and not pay back his debt, I, Liu Qingzhou, will be the first to not let him off the hook! I advise Commander Lü to be sensible and tell me where Zhao Jindou is, and then our past grievances can be wiped clean."

"Commander Liu thinks too highly of me."

Lu Mao shook his head: "How could I, a mere demon hunter, possibly know Chairman Zhao's whereabouts?"

"If you don't eat the toast, you will be punished with a drink."

Liu Qingzhou's face instantly darkened. Seeing this, his demon-hunting cultivators immediately surrounded Lü Mao and his companions.

The monks passing by stopped and watched.

"Could they have started fighting?"

"Impossible, this is Monkey Valley, the Li family's territory."

"How long has it been since the Li family showed up at Puyin Mountain? Besides, the person opposite is 'Viper' Liu Qingzhou. What wouldn't he dare to do?"

"That's true. I heard he killed a disciple sent by the Soul Suppressing Sect."

Just as tensions were about to rise, a person squeezed out from the crowd and shouted, "Stop!"

The newcomer was Chi Laiyong. He first glanced at Lü Mao and the others, then cupped his hands respectfully to Liu Qingzhou and said, "Commander Liu, please don't worry. The entire Puyin Mountain is searching for Zhao Jindou's whereabouts. Zhao Jindou not only owes your group spirit stones, but also hasn't paid us our dues. Otherwise, how could the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group be in such a sorry state today?"

"As soon as there is any news about Zhao Jindou and his chamber of commerce, Lai Yong will definitely report it to Commander Liu immediately. Then, if we join forces and demand justice from him, wouldn't we have a better chance of winning? Commander Liu is going to fight us because of some rumors. If Zhao Jindou is lucky enough to survive and has heard about it, he will laugh his head off!"

Liu Qingzhou frowned, his gaze falling on a green-robed cultivator beside Chi Laiyong. He then waved his hand and turned to leave.

"Commander, we finally managed to corner Lü Mao, are we just going to leave like this?"

"You talk too much nonsense, hurry up."

　The temperature suddenly dropped, and I caught a cold. My head has been foggy these past two days, and I'm only posting once today. I can't stay awake any longer, I need to go to sleep.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)