Chapter 277: Chapter 277: The Return of the Still Young

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Lord Beiyuan indeed informed Feng Jun of all the details within.

He did not wish to kill off all the Zhao Family, and in fact, he could not eradicate the entire Zhao Family either, as there were always people from the Zhao Family not present in the village. To the uninformed, this could seem normal, but those with intentions knew this was the Zhao Family’s way of self-preservation.

Under such circumstances, unless Lord Beiyuan brutally sealed off the village, allowing no one in or out, it would be impossible to catch everyone at once.

Could Lord Beiyuan do such a thing? Don’t joke, these are peaceful times, and this is not his territory. In fact, even on his own turf, he would need to distance himself from the situation.

After all, with such a commotion and with local officials and the Princely Heir of the Yongyi Duke paying attention to the area, he must avoid suspicion.

Killing the core members of the Zhao Family made sense, as for taking away the direct descendants and the two old ladies, that was to ensure the Zhao Family kept silent about the Mysterious Iron Mine and the likes.

Next, what Lord Beiyuan needed to do was to have the Family Head of the Zhao Family voluntarily apply to relocate the village to the vicinity of the county town, and then the land would belong to him. After everything was on the right track, he would release the hostages.

By then, it would be too late to change anything, the rice would have already turned into cooked rice. Even if the Princely Heir of the Yongyi Duke wished to share in the profits of the Mysterious Iron Mine, he would need to find a reason—after all, one must maintain some appearances.

As for the people of the Zhao stronghold, once they had new farmland and houses and their lives had stabilized, even the deepest hatred had to be suppressed. Above all, survival was paramount. In a few generations, this grudge would probably slowly fade in the river of time.

Indeed, when Lord Beiyuan had integrated the resources of the Mysterious Iron Mine and started massive excavations, whether he released the hostages would be of no consequence. Generally speaking, he was not interested in being inconsistent over a few insignificant ants.

In short, when this fellow engaged in forceful plundering, every move was connected and well-conceived, quite skillful. Feng Jun even couldn’t help but wonder: how many times had this scoundrel committed such heinous acts?

But whatever the atrocity, Feng Jun was happy to see its success. He had no moral scruples. The Zhao Family had provoked him time and again, and they deserved such a blow—if they were wiped out, he would applaud.

This matter wouldn’t be resolved quickly, and Feng Jun wasn’t particularly concerned. What he cared about was: when would Brother Bao come?

What he was thinking of, of course, wasn’t Brother Bao, but that Seven-Colored Ribbon Grass.

The Princely Heir was also busy these past few days, attending to the purchase of Mount Zhige. Actually, such a matter didn’t require his personal attention. Mainly because he had suffered a conspicuous defeat recently, he wasn’t keen on wandering around the area.

However, before the Natural Treasures and Seven-Colored Ribbon Grass arrived, he did not wish to leave. He believed it was better to leave after ensuring the Immortal would not act out.

If there was a chance to curry favor with the Immortal, wouldn’t that provide him with more options?

However, all of these would have to wait until Deng Lao Er made progress in Xiyin City; for now, staying away from Feng Jun seemed a better choice.

The Gu Family owned many properties in Qingning Prefecture, but mainly concentrated in the prefectural city, Xiyin City.

Deng Lao Er, accompanied by the Princely Heir’s men, took two days to reach Xiyin City.

Arriving on the outskirts of Xiyin City, it was almost noon, and Deng Lao Er assessed the time and thought that going home now would coincide with mealtimes. However, his mother certainly had not prepared extra food. If he brought over twenty or so men, his mother would have to cook on the spot, which would be exhausting.

He and his brother had vowed to return home in glory when they left Xiyin.

Every young man stepping into the jianghu dreams and strives for such glory.

Now he did bring back a considerable number of people, all splendidly dressed, including five martial masters who were at his command.

This could be considered a success, right?

But since the timing was inopportune, he would rather have his men eat outside than to tire his mother.

The men he was leading were from the Princely Heir, but Deng Lao Er didn’t like to consider too much. What about the Princely Heir’s men? I myself am a man of the Immortal.

In fact, not all of the Princely Heir’s guards were so delicate. Of course, the Princely Heir had a grand entourage when he traveled, but someone had to do the scouting, alert, and defense work, which was inevitably arduous.

Plus, with instructions from the Princely Heir and respect for Feng Jun, nobody would casually criticize Deng Lao Er.

Deng Lao Er chose a rather large restaurant in the shanty area. Actually, the restaurants in the shanty area were quite simple; this one merely had a courtyard for parking horses.

When over twenty men walked in all at once, the restaurant owner was startled and immediately set about frying dishes and cooking rice.

Deng Lao Er, with the heart of a young man, knew that this expenditure would be deducted from the spoils against the Gu Family. He generously ordered a lot of dishes, spending a total of four silver dollars, nearly the price of the jade pillow that Feifei had sold.

He had only one requirement: no one was to drink more than half a jin of alcohol, as they might have work to do in the afternoon.

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They had arrived a bit earlier, and as their meals were served, people gradually began to file in for dinner.

The group of over twenty men took up three tables, each one brawny with arms sturdy enough to gallop horses on, plainly not to be trifled with.

However, everyone was in the service of the Princely Heir, and although among them were figures recruited from the jianghu, by following the Princely Heir, they all more or less abided by certain rules. The mission this time was rather secretive, so they wouldn’t act too ostentatiously.

With more patrons arriving, the conversation among the crowd picked up.

Deng Lao Er had only drunk a modest amount of alcohol, and his meal was not particularly slow-paced. After setting down his chopsticks and noting that everyone was still eating, he took out a cigarette, intending to relax a bit.

This bad habit he had picked up from the Divine Doctor. As the saying goes, “As above, so below,” and though the Divine Doctor mentioned that smoking was bad for one’s health, Deng Lao Er felt it had quite a bit of style—otherwise, why would he and Brother Wolf both smoke?

He glanced around, pulled out a lighter, and flicked it in his hand, showing off a little—toys like this were common in Zhige County, but it was said that in Xiyin City, they now sold for three silver yuan apiece.

But this look around inadvertently caused him to notice two men communicating with winks and gestures, deep in discussion.

Being a local from Xiyin, Deng Lao Er knew that the shanty areas outside the city were rife with petty thieves and ne’er-do-wells. Out of curiosity, he unconsciously pricked up his ears to hear what they were saying—after all, he had nothing better to do.

What he overheard infuriated him; these two were plotting against his own father.

“If that’s the case, why not directly approach Deng Yifu and have his house taken over to settle the debt?” one of them suggested.

The other hesitated a bit, “Our boss believes that since his loan hasn’t reached the deadline, as figures who are known in public, it’s really inconvenient to press for repayment. Moreover, his house has caught the eye of the Hall of Heroes—is it really appropriate to act now?”

The first man scoffed disdainfully, “With your constant second-guessing, how will you ever accomplish anything significant? All you need to tell your boss is that if the house ends up in the hands of the Hall of Heroes, doesn’t that mean the money you lent out might as well be thrown into the water?”

“Well, that’s not necessarily true,” the other shook his head, speaking earnestly, “Deng Yifu’s two sons are said to have secured decent positions. It’s only natural for a son to pay off his father’s debts; we can just ask them for the money when the time comes.”

The first was about to persuade him further when someone nearby suddenly bellowed, “Bastards… Is it that you’re itching to die?”

Immediately afterward, a figure darted over, and a sharp knife was placed against the persuader’s throat.

The persuader, a High-Rank Martial Warrior himself, had been so engrossed in conversation and slightly tipsy, he couldn’t react in time.

The one being persuaded was infuriated at the sight; just as his eyes widened in anger and he was about to speak, he realized: Was this bastard from those three tables?

He was somewhat known in the shanty area, so he stood up and spoke with a deep voice, “My friend, let’s talk this out nicely—this is a place for dining… if you want to fight, let’s change the venue, and I will certainly oblige!”

Deng Lao Er looked at him and sneered, “Are you sure you want to oblige?”

“This…” The man didn’t dare to continue the conversation. His previous “I will oblige” was just to show he wasn’t a pushover—that he could find a martial master to stand by his side just as well, so there was no need to act tough here.

But when challenged directly, he no longer had the nerve to respond. It was obvious that the other party was in a rage. At this point, any talk of face was laughable—he hadn’t had much face to begin with, just relying on his boss’s favor to strut around like a peacock.

The commotion in the restaurant was not something the owner could ignore; he shouted, “Stop it! This is a place for eating. Take your fight outside if you must, but don’t blame me for not being cordial if you start trouble.”

“Pssh,” came a cold scoff from one of the Princely Heir’s guards, an Intermediate Level martial cultivator, who sat there with one leg on the bench, looking disdainfully at the restaurant owner, “Not giving face… what do you think you are?”

The owner faltered, knowing his place as someone who read people well in his line of work. He was aware he couldn’t afford to provoke this crowd, but having a majority doesn’t necessarily mean they would dare to start trouble—an outsider group, would they really dare to run amok in the prefecture city?

But as the other party turned hostile, he no longer dared to stand his ground. He could sense that they were actually prepared to come to blows.

Just then, Deng Lao Er spoke up, “Forget it, this place is after all inconvenient. Let’s leave after we finish eating.”

After all, he was a native of Xiyin City and couldn’t afford to ruin things completely,

The Intermediate Level martial cultivator then snorted coldly and pointed at the restaurant owner, “You ought to learn how to speak properly. If it weren’t for Second Young Master’s sake today, I’d have smashed this trashy joint!”

The restaurant owner wanted to retort, to say “This place is under the protection of the Hall of Heroes,” but then thought, why bother? They had already decided to leave, so why should he stir up enmity unnecessarily?

In the end, he ran his restaurant to make money, not to feud.

Deng Lao Er’s group were martial cultivators who ate like a whirlwind, devouring food and drink voraciously. He gave the signal to hurry, and within three to five minutes, they had polished off all the food and beverages—those who did not eat like this would starve wandering the jianghu.

Following that, they grabbed the two men, mounted the fast horses in the courtyard, and in the blink of an eye, vanished from the sight of the crowd.