Why did you provoke me?

Yu Meng nodded. "It could be a big problem."

Secretary Wu stopped eating, stood up and walked outside. "I'll go make some arrangements first. Teacher Qing, please take your time eating."

Qingyuan didn't stop them. Yu Meng had already said it was a big problem, so it must be a serious matter. It would be strange if Secretary Wu could sit still.

Yu Meng fiddled with her communication bell, then stood up. "Aunt Qing, I'm leaving now. I'll contact you if anything comes up. Don't go out these next few days."

"Yes, Aunt Qing will listen to you."

Back in my room, I sent a message to Sister Xiu.

Sister Xiu answered quickly, "Little sister, aren't you busy today? Mom's been talking about it these past few days, asking me to ask when you're coming back. It's almost Chinese New Year!"

"Are they alright? I'm not sure. I'll let you know when I have more information."

"Everything is fine. My sister-in-law is pregnant, and Mom is so happy. She's been making all sorts of delicious food for her." Sister Xiu's tone was full of joy.

"That's great, how's it going, big sister?"

"I heard he went to the group with his brother-in-law. They said they found some hibernating animals, and there were quite a few of them, so his older sister went to help."

Yu Meng's heart skipped a beat. "How long have you been gone? My older sister didn't mention this when I spoke to her last time."

"These past few days, my parents have been against it, saying the weather is too unbearable. But the dough my brother-in-law brought back was of very good quality, so my older sister couldn't sit still and went secretly without telling my parents."

Yu Meng paused for a moment. She knew Dali was obsessed with money, but this was going too far.

Sister Xiu didn't hear Yu Meng's voice. "Little sister, are you listening?"

"Listen again, Sister Xiu, contact your eldest sister these next few days and tell her not to go anywhere for the next ten days. Even if it rains gold bars outside, she's not allowed to go out and pick them up! The same goes for our family. Tell Mom and Dad that I said it was poison, and they absolutely mustn't pick it up, understand?"

"What happened?" Sister Xiu asked anxiously.

"It's hard to say right now, we'll know in ten days." Yu Meng's words seemed to be just a joke.

"Little sister, you must tell us the truth if anything is wrong, don't hide anything from us."

"It's nothing serious, just a bad dream. Let's avoid each other for a bit. I'm busy here, so contact your older sister and tell her to come back as soon as possible."

Oh, one more thing. I'll have someone pick up Xiaohao; please tell Mom and Dad as well.

"Are you really okay?"

"It's fine now, but who knows what will happen in the future." Yu Meng didn't completely hide anything.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of them. You and Niannian also need to take good care of yourselves."

For the next while, Yu Meng sat at the table, releasing all her lines and slowly stroking each one with her hand. The aliens in the backpack were all drained dry by her lines, leaving no survivors.

Slowly, a small black cat appeared. It was only the size of a palm, but its eyes had a certain intelligence. It nuzzled Yu Meng affectionately with its head. "Good boy!" Yu Meng patted its head in return.

And just like that, the day passed.

The next morning at breakfast, Secretary Wu, sporting dark circles under her eyes, approached Yu Meng. "These are the contents I've selected. Would you like to take a look?"

Yu Meng took the few pages and flipped through them. They read something about someone's child suddenly going crazy and hurting their parents.

Sisters from different families suddenly turned against each other and started fighting.

……

The Jia family also sent over some information. Secretary Wu, while eating, kept an eye on Yu Meng, saying, "I've got all the information from the Jia family."

Yu Meng traced lines with her finger, indicating that a disease had become prevalent in many places about a year ago. The cause and treatment remained unknown.

Lately, the bone-drawing artist at his studio has been a bit dizzy and not very sharp.

……

Yu Mengdu laughed in anger, "Is this news from the Jia family?"

"Hmm, they didn't take it seriously?" Secretary Wu said with certainty. "I've seen all these messages, and I didn't see anything."

"In a moment, send a message to the sect members and the teams that signed contracts, telling them to withdraw to the guild hall in eight days. As for the reason, you can come up with whatever you want." Yu Meng slowly explained her decision.

"They've all been withdrawn? Is it that serious?" Secretary Wu exclaimed in surprise.

"We'll know the result in nine days. We won't lose anything in the next few days, will we?"

"Okay, I'll take care of it after I finish eating." Although she didn't know why, Secretary Wu still believed Yu Meng. Just like she said, a few days wouldn't be a big loss.

But he was struggling to come up with a reason. They were all coming back; there were quite a few of them. He really didn't want any fighting to break out. Hmm, he needed to find them something to do, to distract them.

After Yu Meng handed over the instructions, she left it to her own devices.

She messaged Zhou Jingyan directly, saying that she had to go on a long trip due to family matters and asked him to take the child back. She said that if he still wanted Xiao Hao to stay, he could send him back in half a month. But he had to be taken away now.

Zhou Jingyan agreed. Back then, it was his third uncle's idea to let Xiao Hao stay at the Yu family's house. Now that the Yu family has something to do, it's normal to ask them to bring the child back.

To everyone's surprise, when Nangong Tianshou found out about this, he unusually lost his temper. He only calmed down after hearing that it could be sent back.

The first battlefield.

Upon receiving the message from Secretary Wu, Xiao Wen fell silent. They had just located the source of the cotton candy-like aliens and hadn't even finished setting things up yet. It would be such a waste to back down now.

Du Wenhe looked at him and said, "What are you thinking about? This is a direct order, don't be stubborn."

"I know, but I don't know what happened. Look at the excuse Secretary Wu came up with: friendly matches between various teams! It's just a perfunctory excuse."

"Why do you care so much? As long as the reward is real, that's all that matters." Du Wenhe was quite easygoing.

"Ask who else received the notification?"

"You don't need to tell me that. I already asked. Even Old Chen received the notification."

"Then let's retreat!" Xiao Wen made the decision.

Hua Shulang looked at Xiao Wen's message and fell silent. "You all received the notification. What happened?"

"I don't know, but I feel it's not simple. Would you like to come out with us?"

Hua Shulang looked at the strange formations before him; withered branches made up nearly half of it, about one-fifth. This was a strategic resource, and he couldn't bear to part with it, especially since he hadn't received any dangerous information.

"I have some dry branches here. I'll go out after I've collected them."

Xiao Wen stopped trying to persuade him and slowly shrank his troops, preparing to leave.

Captain Tian had been traveling with Yan Lei lately, and now that Yan Lei was leaving, everything left would be his. He patted Yan Lei on the shoulder, "That's the downside of being an assistant to a Bone Painter—too little freedom."

Although Yan Lei was unwilling, he didn't say anything. He was also preparing to withdraw.

Jingchuan Clubhouse. Secretary Wu came to Yu Meng's office. "Teacher Yu, should we give them some information about the Hou family?"

"Give it to them, after all, most of our people are on his territory. Let Jing San go, to put it bluntly, believe it or not is up to them," Yu Meng decided.

"Huh?" Secretary Wu looked at Yu Meng in surprise.

Yu Meng rubbed her forehead. "It's pretty much true. Send a message to Yan Lei's uncle too, and you can come up with a reason yourself."

"Should we have them stay at home?" Secretary Wu asked tentatively.

"One is staying at home, and the other is carrying the oddly shaped beads with me."

Despite her doubts, Secretary Wu did as instructed. After all, Yu Meng wouldn't make such a big joke.