"Pfft!"
"By the way, Senior Apprentice Brother, do you have any leads on the thing I asked you to find?" Lu Sheng suddenly asked.
At the top of the nine-story Golden Tower, Lu Sheng stood on the observation deck, dressed in white robes, his sleeves fluttering in the wind. He gazed into the distance.
"Reporting to Sect Master, Squire Xiao Hongye has sent an invitation to Squire Xiao's banquet."
The sect member immediately stepped forward respectfully and handed the invitation to Lu Sheng.
The terrain between the Northern Lands and the Central Plains was extremely complicated. There were mountains, forests, grasslands, forests, and everything else. Li Shunxi was quite lucky. There were a few times when he was on the brink of despair, encountering ghosts and Anomalies. Either he escaped by sheer luck with his own skills, or he ran into the Liu Family sisters, who were equally alone.
The two of them rested for a while at the top of the tower. Lu Sheng then settled some sect affairs. When it was almost noon, he took a carriage home.
A black rock came flying at him from the side with great force, hitting the knight's left shoulder squarely.
He lifted the knight's arm with practiced ease, his razor-sharp fingernails slicing across the knight's forearm. Instantly, his clothes and skin were torn, and he drew out a thin piece of yellow parchment along with the blood.
Lu Sheng nodded and turned around, "Shangyang Family obviously doesn't care much about the Northern Lands. Shangyang Jiuli has been stationed here. Ever since Scarlet District retreated two months ago, she hasn't even seen me once. She's been cultivating in seclusion all the time."
Li Shunxi laughed bitterly and turned back to look at the Liu Family sisters.
In the ninth year of the Song Dynasty's Tang Sect, the Northern Lands' Zhen Hong's rebellion was quelled. With the Noble Families empty, ghosts began to grow rampant.
The vast Mountain-Edge City could be seen from this height. It was like a large simulated sand table. Large patches of red roofs occupied most of the field of vision. Only a few buildings stood out from the rest. Most of them were tall towers, stone tablets, and ornaments.
The person at the front had delicate features, a handsome face, and fair and delicate skin. At a glance, one could tell that he was a noble young master who was used to living like a prince. The linen clothes he wore seemed to be out of place with him.
The Lu Family had also gained a firm foothold in Mountain-Edge City. After heeding Lu Sheng's advice, Lu Quanan had stockpiled quite a lot of rations. Now, it had become the first bucket of gold to rebuild the family business. Borrowing this huge sum of money, he opened up several more shops and directly started the herb business.
Just like that, the small cauldron fell into the hands of Lu Sheng. He studied it for a while, but didn't find anything, so he threw it into the dark box and left it alone.
…
"Not necessarily. The young lady of the Liu family trusts you a lot … There are some things that you don't know yet, but you'll slowly understand in the future. "Master Qingshui looked at the Liu sisters behind Li Shunxi with a meaningful look.
Without the protection of the Heavenly Weapons, the Northern Lands were unable to ensure the safety of the trade routes, and soon showed signs of decline. Large amounts of fur and fur products were piled up and could not be transported out. The amount of food purchased fell drastically, and the entire Northern Lands gradually fell into a food crisis. The prices of various commodities rose sharply, and the common people lived a miserable life.
Lu Sheng nodded.
"The trade routes are shrinking, and the monopolization of profits is not as good as before. What's the use of that?" Lu Sheng shook his head. "Senior Apprentice Brother, you're not in your position. Instead, you've let go of everything."
"It's just that we're weak. Even if we join your side, what can we do?" Li Shunxi said helplessly.
Lu Sheng claimed to the outside world that he liked collecting antiques. He even held an appreciation meeting previously, but still didn't find anything.
The three of them joined forces because of their common enemy, Duke Ashoka. Halfway through, when they were seeking shelter in a run-down temple, they met this fat, big-eared monk who called himself Master Qingshui.
"Mm." Liu Caiyun quickly responded shyly.
"Little pawn of Ashoka Manor. Oh, it's a message from the Blackguard!" A bald monk dressed in filthy and sloppy clothes jumped out from the grass by the roadside.
"There are already refugees now, and the number of robberies is increasing. But this should be a matter for the yamen to worry about. We just have to do our job well."
But this way, the source of Yin Qi would be cut off.
"You're the remnants of Cloud Province …!" The knight in black suddenly recalled something and his eyes widened.
Liu Qin crossed her arms angrily and strode past Li Shunxi, chasing after the fat monk.
"You … who the hell are you!!?" The black-clothed knight was thrown off his galloping horse, and his body smashed into several rocks. He was already seriously injured, and at this moment, he began to vomit blood. Seeing that he was on the verge of death, he was still unwilling to give up. He glared at the black-clothed knight and asked sternly.
"Hyah!"
If not for the fact that this lass was so smitten by Li Shunxi, they wouldn't have given half of the most precious thing in their house to Li Shunxi's body. By the time she realized it, it was already too late.
Receiving the post, Lu Sheng gently flipped it open. There were some general contents written on it. It was an invitation to discuss something important with him.
"Young Master Li, you're here. Here, I happened to catch a little pawn of Ashoka Manor. I thought I'd get some valuable information, but it turns out to be some major incident that has nothing to do with us, "the fat monk tossed the parchment to the newcomer, bored.
A month ago, after Shangyang Jiuli's trip to Scarlet District, he had contacted Zhuo Wenyu again to collect Yin Qi items. However, the latter seemed to have vanished. Either Scarlet District had discovered him, or he was different from before. His status and exposure were too high, so Zhuo Wenyu had given up.
The masked knight in black was sweating profusely. Thin black veins bulged on his forehead, and his back was drenched in sweat.
"Indeed …" he too felt that such a random search was too inefficient.
The horse's hooves kicked up a cloud of dust and gravel on the greyish-yellow mountain path. A sturdy yellow buckskin horse galloped on the mountain path, bringing with it a strong gust of wind that pressed down on the grass on both sides of the path.
The younger sister lowered her head shyly, while the elder sister snorted coldly, glaring at her in displeasure.
"Where's the Family Head?" Lu Sheng asked casually as he alighted from the carriage.
"Isn't that better?" Hong Mingzi replied casually. "Our Crimson Whale Sect can completely monopolize the Northern Lands."
"Master Qingshui acted too quickly. If we can leave this man alive, perhaps we can find out Duke Ashoka's next move from him," Li Shunxi smiled bitterly.
"Us? After so many dealings, haven't we figured it out? " The monk had a fat head and big ears, and his kasaya was covered in black and grey oil stains. He immediately laughed when he heard this. Ignoring the knight in black, he turned to the parchment in his hand.
In the small hall at the top of the pagoda behind him, Hong Mingzi was picking at the dishes on the table with his chopsticks, chewing slowly.
"Let Lord Zeng take a look at the intelligence. 'Zhen Family escapes … chaos in the Northern Lands … Shangyang Family enters …'"
"I'll go meet this man tonight. Ashoka Manor, a force between a Noble Family, a ghost, and a mortal, is rather mysterious. This is the first time we've had such a banquet. Let's see what this steward Xiao Hongye is up to. "
"Yeah … Shangyang Family is a Noble Family of the Central Plains after all …" Lu Sheng nodded. After Scarlet District retreated, the District Mistress had yet to return. His greatest opponent in the Northern Lands was umbrella girl.
"Let's go, let's go! Don't dawdle!!" Master Qingshui ignored his salute and walked away with a wave of his sleeves.
"Collecting antiques … I found a few more, but they're similar to the ones you've seen before. I'm afraid you won't find anything you like, "Hong Mingzi shook his head.
Mountain-Edge City, Golden Light Pagoda.
Closing the letter, he muttered to himself.
"Ladies, let's go together?"
The yellow buckskin horse neighed and fled at an even faster speed. Leaving the knight in black, who had fallen off his horse, struggling to get up.
Now that he was in charge of Crimson Whale Sect, he had great authority. From time to time, he would meet with Taoist Bai Feng and Xiao Hongye to discuss matters. Troublesome matters would be settled by the three of them. This was the so-called small meeting.
"Very well. If one day I can take my revenge, I won't forget Master's guidance today," Li Shunxi bowed respectfully to Master Qingshui.
"Report!" Suddenly, a sect member in uniform ran up the stairs and knelt on one knee.
This Ashoka Manor's Grand Butler had popped out of nowhere to host a banquet. Who knew what he was up to?
"Young Master is back!"
"Give me the invitation," he said mildly.
His chest caved in under the fat monk's foot, and he breathed his last.
Coincidentally, the Northern Lands were stocked with medicinal herbs. Very few of them could be shipped out. Their prices plummeted and they were purchased by Lu Family in bulk. Crimson Whale Sect was in dire need of medicinal herbs, so Lu Sheng secretly shared some of his business with Lu Family. It was a good development.
"Alright, let's go. Ashoka Manor's experts should be catching up soon. We must hurry to our destination, "the fat monk urged.
He continued, "There are pros and cons to this. The pro is that we don't have to worry about power seizing. The con is that unless it's extremely urgent, there's no difference in having Noble Family experts stationed there."
"Get him!" A low shout suddenly rang out.
With a loud bang, he was knocked off his horse.
"Bam!"
"We've been at odds with Ashoka Manor for a long time. We know everything we need to know. You and the Liu Family girl just follow this monk obediently. You'll know when we get there. Duke Ashoka has committed too many heinous crimes. There are many like-minded people who want to punish him, "the fat monk, Master Qingshui, said with a smile.
"Xiao Hongye?" Lu Sheng was stunned.
"Neigh!"
Lu Sheng rode a horse carriage through the city for a while before returning to Lu Manor in no time.
This Young Master Li was none other than Li Shunxi, who had just left Mountain-Edge City and had been roaming between the Central Plains and the Northern Lands for a long time. Following behind him were the extremely ugly Liu Family sisters.
The scorching sun hung high in the sky. The weather had completely entered the scorching hot season.
"Master!" Not far away, a few people emerged from the cliff. Seeing the people on the ground, they hurried over.
Immediately, a manservant came forward to welcome them.
A huge foot clad in riding boots stomped hard on the man's shoulder, pressing him back down onto the ground.
"It's not that we've let it go. It's just that we're truly lacking in power now. Without the suppression of a local family like Zhen Family, Shangyang Family can at most ensure the normal operations of Crimson Whale Sect. But they won't do anything about the growing number of ghosts and monsters. At the end of the day, we're just ordinary people. There's nothing we can do, "Hong Mingzi raised his wine cup and took a sip.
"If we don't curb this famine, it'll only get worse …" Lu Sheng frowned and said in a low voice.
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