Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 403 Questioning
"They're all gone! They've all gone!"

Seeing Liu Qingzhou and the others leave, Chi Laiyong immediately shouted.

The demon-hunting cultivators who were watching booed and then dispersed, no longer lingering.

"Li... Manager Li?"

At this moment, Lü Mao also noticed Li Xiangming and was greatly surprised.

Li Xiangming sized up the middle-aged cultivator with a full beard, especially staring at his wooden right leg, which was made using mechanical puppetry, for a moment, before saying indifferently, "Come over and talk to me."

With that, he led the way into the Taibai Restaurant.

Li Xiangfeng, Li Jihu, Chi Laiyong, and other demon-hunting cultivators followed suit.

"Captain!"

Lin Hao asked in a low voice, "Apart from that brat Chi Laiyong, the rest are all core members of the Divine Wind Demon Hunting Team and the Crimson Flame Demon Hunting Team. What do we do?"

Lü Mao sighed and silently followed.

Lin Hao and the others looked at each other, and had no choice but to grit their teeth and follow.

Taibai Restaurant occupies a vast area and was built by the Li family with a great deal of effort.

Only a small portion of the space was actually used for operating a business selling alcohol and meat; the majority of the space was converted into irregular and complex secret rooms.

In Li Xiangming's vision, these secret chambers were originally intended to serve as a clandestine place for various factions in Puyin Mountain to trade materials related to demonic beasts.

In fact, they were indeed very popular for a time.

Especially at the beginning of the establishment of the Puyin Mountain Guild Hall, a large number of guild hall merchants gathered at the Taibai Restaurant and conducted transactions with his customers right under Zhang Mazi's nose.

This didn't infuriate Zhang Mazi.

But he was completely helpless.

Even though he has a lot of channels and demon hunters don't dare to offend him, he can't very well forbid his customers from going to taverns to eat, drink, and have fun, can he?

After drinking, the leaders and key members of those demon-hunting groups would be systematically pulled away to discuss business. Basically, every time they went in and out, they would lose the most valuable batch of demon beast materials from their pockets.

By the time Zhang Mazi saw them, it was too late; he could only buy what was left over.

Of course, Li Xiangming's purpose was not to deal with Zhang Mazi, but to create a safe and reliable trading venue, stimulate the trading potential of Puyin Mountain, and incidentally support Zhao Jindou, Zhang Zhiang and others.

It can be said that Taibai Restaurant played an indelible role in the growth of Puyinshan Guild Hall.

Today, Puyin Mountain has a fixed and transparent trading venue – the Puyin Mountain Exchange, jointly run by the Li family and the Guild Hall.

No! It should be called a trading house now.

Therefore, most demon hunters and traveling merchants no longer need to secretly trade in the secret rooms of the Taibai Tavern.

Surprisingly, Li Xiangming still saw many cultivators coming and going along the way, including men, women, and children.

“These are all regular guests at the tavern.”

Li Xiangfeng offered an explanation.

There has always been a unique phenomenon in Puyin Mountain: the cultivation level of demon hunters is generally not high, and they dare not spend the night in the mountain.

Most people choose to find a place to stay near Monkey Valley, go into the mountains during the day, and return to rest at night.

Even among demon-hunting groups, this is often the case.

On the one hand, everyone wanted to be close to Monkey Valley, the largest "trading place" within a radius of a hundred miles; on the other hand, they did not want other demon-hunting cultivators or demon-hunting groups living near them.

This has led to a situation where the previously worthless wilderness near Monkey Valley has become extremely tense.

Especially in recent years, more and more demon-hunting cultivators have flocked to Puyin Mountain, causing constant disputes over strongholds and revenge against demon-hunting camps, and murder and robbery are commonplace.

Under these circumstances, Monkey Valley became a paradise in everyone's eyes.

Just as the demon-hunting cultivators believed that the Li family, a large landowner, must be rich and ruthless, they also believed that the Li family had the ability to protect a small valley.

As the core business of the Li family, Taibai Restaurant was virtually impregnable. Therefore, some relatively wealthy demon-hunting cultivators regarded Taibai Restaurant as an inn, settling their Daoist partners and children with spiritual roots there for extended periods.

Taibai Restaurant was happy to change its strategy and rent out its unused secret rooms under the name of "cultivation rooms"—even though these rooms did not have spirit-gathering arrays inscribed on them.

After hearing this, Li Xiangming couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

A few years ago, who would have been willing to rent a room at Taibai Restaurant for an extended period?
However, times have changed and many things have changed.

"It seems that Monkey Valley has even greater potential than we expected."

Li Xiangming looked at Li Xiangfeng and smiled.

Li Xiangfeng, though puzzled, chimed in, "Indeed, you were farsighted to strictly forbid fighting in Monkey Valley back then! Now, an unwritten rule has been formed in the valley that conflicts are resolved outside. Liu Qingzhou is an exception! In short, everyone knows it's safe here. Not only are demon-hunting cultivators willing to come here to drink and eat, but also traveling merchants from other places who arrive at Puyin Mountain will visit Monkey Valley to inquire about news as soon as possible."

Li Xiangming nodded and pushed open the door to enter a room.

This was his living quarters when he was in charge of the animal trapping station. It has been vacant for a long time, but it is still clean and tidy.

"All sit down."

Li Xiangming sat at the head of the table, gave an order, and then rummaged through the table, finding some old tea leaves. He slowly brewed the tea while observing the people below.

Apart from the Golden Light Demon Hunting Team that goes out on missions, the core members of the three Demon Hunting Teams, namely Divine Wind, Crimson Flame, and Mad Lion, are basically all here.

After a while, Li Xiangming's gaze turned completely to the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group.

The situation of the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group is the most complicated. Lü Mao and Chi Laiyong's two groups are clearly distinct, and they are both somewhat uneasy when facing Li Xiangming's deep eyes.

"Commander Lü, thank you for your hard work on the Daishan trip."

Li Xiangming first said something to Lü Mao in a low voice.

Lu Mao raised his head slightly, his throat bobbing, but he didn't know how to reply.

The journey to Daishan was not only arduous, but also resulted in the loss of more than half of the elite cultivators trained by the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group over several years. Even those who returned were mostly crippled.

In a daze, Li Xiangming's voice continued: "The Demon Hunter Guild organized a gathering, why didn't you go? Lai Yong said that without your permission, no one dared to go."

Lu Mao snapped out of his daze, glanced at Chi Laiyong not far away, and respectfully replied, "The Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group is a misnomer. Even if they participate in the gathering, they won't contribute much and will only be put on the spot."

Fame is a double-edged sword. If used well, it can be invincible; if used poorly, it can easily hurt you.

Attending gatherings can certainly accumulate considerable fame.

But Lü Mao knew in his heart that the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group's strength was no longer worthy of its reputation.

If you try to stand out and other demon-hunting groups ask you to lead the charge against the Soul Suppressing Sect, wouldn't that just make things difficult for yourself?

Upon hearing this, a hint of appreciation flashed in Li Xiangming's eyes.

Lü Mao may not have good judgment, but he still knows how to behave appropriately and when to advance or retreat.

However, instead of showing any consideration for the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group's difficulties, he darkened his face and bluntly questioned, "Not living up to the name? Commander Lü has submitted reports to me every year on the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group's growing strength. Even if there are some exaggerations, you shouldn't use this word to fob me off, should you?"

Lu Mao opened his mouth, as if he were a mute eating bitter melon, unable to express his suffering.

With Li Xiangming's confidants like Chi Laiyong among the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Team, how could he dare to make any false reports?

In fact, the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group has indeed grown stronger.

It was just a trip to Daishan.
Before he could explain, Lin Hao, who was standing next to him, was already trembling with anger.

Others may not know the terrible price the Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group paid in Dai Mountain, but does your Li family not know?
Knowing the truth but pretending not to, deliberately making things difficult for the regimental commander, is utterly shameless!
Lin Hao's anger surged, and he immediately stepped forward, loudly retorting, "If we don't go to Dai Mountain, our Mad Lion Demon Hunting Group will still be one of the top demon hunting groups in Puyin Mountain. Why don't we even dare to participate in the gathering?"

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent.

Panic instantly filled Lü Mao's face as he gripped Lin Hao's arm tightly.

But it was too late. Li Xiangming, who was sitting at the head of the table, had a livid face. He looked around and finally slammed his fist on the table, shouting angrily, "Li Xiangfeng!"

　I haven't written anything for a few days, so there will only be one update tonight. I'm getting back into the swing of things, and I'll officially resume updates tomorrow!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)