I planted the spiritual roots for my people, and they bestowed upon me a body inscribed with incense

Meanwhile, in the courtyard of County Magistrate Mo Zifan, two bandits knelt before him, and beside them lay a corpse wrapped in a white cloth. An old man dressed as a coroner was examining the body.

"My lord, everything you say is true, my lord."

"The boss told us to scout ahead, but when the two of us returned, we found the ground littered with corpses and the boss cut in two."

The two bandits kowtowed to Mo Zifan as they spoke.

After examining the body, the coroner came to Mo Zifan's side.

"Sir, this is probably standard military equipment, and this knife is extremely sharp. This man was killed with a single blow."

Mo Zifan, sitting at the head of the table, glanced at Mo Long, whose eyes were wide open in death, a look of pity flashing in his eyes. However, he quickly regained his composure and looked at the two kneeling figures.

"Did you see anyone from the Li family when you entered the village?"

Seeing this, the two bandits quickly spoke up:

"I only saw a seven or eight-year-old child and a woman; I didn't see the Li family father and son."

Seeing this, Mo Zifan's eyes narrowed. Could it be that the Li family knows? No, no, the strongest person in the Li family is only third-rate. How could that be?

As he thought about it, Mo Zifan's expression suddenly changed drastically.

"not good."

Mo Zifan immediately searched Mo Long's body, but after failing to find the key, Mo Long quickly returned to his room, took out a key, and then Mo Zifan soon arrived at Yichun Tower.

Coincidentally, the city guard captain had also woken up at this time and led the city guards to surround Yichun Tower.

When the city guard captain saw Mo Zifan arrive, he quickly stepped forward.

"Lord Mo, what brings you here?"

At this moment, Mo Zifan didn't give him a friendly look at all, but thinking of what was inside, Mo Zifan suppressed his anger and spoke to the city guard captain:

"Why did you surround this place with your men?"

Seeing this, the city guard captain was somewhat embarrassed and said:

"Last night, while I was on a mission, a group of people suddenly broke in. Even though I fought them with all my might, I was knocked unconscious by the thieves. I heard that the madam here has gone missing as a result. I have come here to discuss this matter."

When Mo Zifan heard that the madam had disappeared, he knew something was wrong.

"Immediately, he crossed the encirclement and headed towards the kitchen of Yichun Restaurant. Seeing the signs of disturbance around him, Mo Zifan's face was extremely ugly."

Looking at the city guard captain behind him

"What are you looking at? Open this door for me now!"

Upon hearing this, the city guard captain quickly ordered two city guards to move the large pot that the county magistrate had pointed to, and sure enough, a huge pit was revealed there.

Just then, another sound came from behind them.

"What is it that has caused our dignified county magistrate to fly into a rage?" As soon as the words fell, Zhou Boyuan was seen leading several yamen runners toward Mo Zifan.

The two didn't get along to begin with, but for the sake of what was below, Mo Zifan endured it.

"Haha, it's Boyuan. It's nothing, just investigating missing persons. I happened to find a large hole here, so I came to take a look."

"Oh? Did you notice anything, sir? But we yamen runners can handle this kind of thing, there's no need to trouble you, sir." Zhou Boyuan said calmly.

Seeing this, Mo Zifan quickly spoke up:

"Nonsense. After Lord Tang left, I became the magistrate of Luoshan County. Now that I have witnessed this matter, it is only natural that I must take care of it."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Boyuan did not criticize him.

"Alright, in that case, I'll accompany you down to take a look."

After saying that, Zhou Boyuan took the lead and went inside. Seeing this, Mo Zilong quickly followed Zhou Boyuan's steps. The two groups outside naturally couldn't stand each other.

As soon as Zhou Boyuan entered, he saw a corpse lying on the ground. Mo Zifan, who was right behind him, obviously saw the scene as well.

However, Mo Zifan didn't care about the man's life or death. Instead, he looked at the small stone chamber that had been opened. Mo Long almost tripped when he saw that there was nothing left inside. It was completely empty.

Suppressing his anger, Mo Zifan left the stone chamber without looking back. After returning to his own courtyard, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and started smashing things in the yard. He was so tired that he sat down on the ground after a while.

The servants standing nearby were so frightened that they stood there at a loss for what to do until Mo Zifan stopped what he was doing.

"It must have been a backup plan arranged by that Zhou fellow. Zhou fellow, Li family, you just wait and see!" After roaring, Mo Zifan went into the study. When he came out again after a while, he had a letter in his hand.

Li family.

After obtaining the two jade stones, Li Yuan discovered that they could absorb the spiritual energy in the vicinity. This discovery excited Li Yuan for a while. As for the other two medicinal herbs, judging from the spiritual energy they contained, they should be ordinary spiritual plants.

After confirming that the two medicinal herbs were not precious, Li Yuan found a box and sealed the herbs inside.

He then began to absorb the spiritual energy from the jade to cultivate. Li Yuan cultivated for three days until the spiritual energy in one of the jade stones was exhausted. At this time, the spiritual power in Li Yuan's dantian also successfully broke through to thirty strands.

After finishing his training, Li Yuangang stepped out of the room, and Li Daqiang, who was practicing martial arts, came over.

"Yuan'er, go and survey the village to find the place with the strongest spiritual energy. That's where my Li family's new house will be built."

Li Yuan nodded. Since it concerned his future cultivation, he dared not be careless. Afterwards, Li Yuan began to wander around the village.

The entire fishing village is only two miles away from the nearby river. Because it is close to the river, the terrain is relatively flat and there are no particularly high peaks.

Li Yuan spent an afternoon wandering around the village and finally found a good place to build a house.

Ahead lay a lush green bamboo forest. As Li Yuan climbed upwards, he discovered that the concentration of spiritual energy at the top was increasing, almost comparable to that of a temple. Furthermore, the surrounding bamboo gave off a refreshing feeling, making it ideal for cultivation.

Standing at this highest point, Li Yuan discovered that he could actually overlook most of the small fishing village.

After wandering around for a while, Li Yuan decided on this location. The only downside was that he had encountered many small snakes along the way, most of which were poisonous.

Li Yuan didn't care about this; he could just have someone clean it up when the house was built.

After confirming the location, Li Yuan wasted no more time. He returned home, discussed the location with Li Daqiang, and then stopped paying attention to the matter, preparing to go back to his room to continue cultivating with another jade stone.

After hearing the location mentioned by Li Yuan, Li Daqiang pondered for a moment, took fifty taels of silver, and called Wang Tiezhu before heading towards the Niu family.

That's right, the land that Li Yuan chose belonged to the Niu family patriarch.

After bringing Wang Tiezhu along, the two arrived at the Niu family's house, which was not far from Wang Tiezhu's house, only about a ten-minute walk away.

As it happened, Niu Da and Niu Er were also at home when the two arrived. Upon seeing Li Daqiang, the two went forward to greet him.

"Captain, Vice-Captain, what brings you two here?"

"Could it be some kind of mission again?" The two rubbed their hands together after saying that. After all, they had only received twenty taels of silver from the Li family in one night, enough for their family to live on for two or three years.

Li Daqiang didn't hide anything and looked at Niu Da and Niu Er, saying:

"Niu Da, Niu Er, that piece of land with the bamboo grove to the west belongs to your Niu family, right?"

Seeing this, Niu Da and Niu Er nodded and then said:

"Yes, Captain, what's wrong?"

"I want to buy it. You two, put your minds together and name a price..."

Upon hearing this, the two were immediately shocked, and Niu Da spoke first:

"Captain, that plot of land is full of rocks and uneven surfaces. Are you sure you want to buy it?"

Seeing this, Li Daqiang nodded.

Before the two could speak, Old Master Niu spoke first, perhaps knowing that Li Daqiang had treated the Niu family well, so he spoke up to remind them.

"Captain Li, we'd love to buy our bamboo grove, but there are a few things I need to discuss with you."

Seeing this, Li Daqiang spoke up:

"Uncle Niu, please speak."

"About ten years ago, when I was cutting bamboo in the bamboo forest, I encountered an injured white snake in a corner of the bamboo forest. This snake seemed to understand human nature. When it saw me, it not only did not run away, but also stopped and looked at me."

"I originally intended to kill it with one blow, but seeing that the snake seemed to have something in its eyes and mouth and kept moving towards me, I put down the machete. As soon as I put down the machete, the snake crawled towards me."

The snake had a plant in its mouth. I watched closely as the snake's movements indicated that I should crush the plant and apply it to its wound.

Seeing that the white snake was so intelligent, I helped it down, carefully took the herbs from its mouth, crushed them, and carefully applied them to my body.

After applying the herbs to my body, the snake vanished in a flash. Soon after, the number of snakes in the bamboo forest increased. Strangely, though, while my son had been bitten many times in the bamboo forest, whenever I entered, the venomous snakes would all avoid me. Even if I approached them, they wouldn't bite me.

Upon hearing this, Li Daqiang pondered for a moment, then said:

"Alright, Mr. Niu, I'll buy the bamboo forest and the surrounding area. Please give me an estimate first, and I'll bring the money to you later. As for the snake, I'll have Yuan'er come over later. Could you please take him to the place in the bamboo forest where he encountered the snake? Is that alright?"

Old Master Niu thought for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Alright, as long as Captain Li isn't afraid, I have no objections."