Chapter 447: Encounter and Gratitude, Idle Move, Test and Opportunity

Cai Qiu Calendar Year 297, February 15th, Night

Qinghuacheng, Hong Mansion Guest Courtyard

Hu Tiejiang walked quickly from outside the gate with a worried look. Seeing a burly figure practicing with a spear in the courtyard, his expression was suddenly filled with surprise and joy.

"Tiechuan, has your body recovered?"

The person practicing with the spear turned his head, instantly revealing an extremely terrifying face.

More than half of his lower jaw had been sliced away. Seven or eight long scars, resembling giant centipedes, were distributed irregularly across his face: some slanted from the corner of his left eyebrow across his nose to his right cheek; some stretched from his left ear to his forehead; and there were several more in the mouth area... looking exceptionally horrifying.

"Ugh, ugh..."

Not just his face, Hu Tiechuan subconsciously opened his mouth to speak, revealing a tongue that had only a small stub left. He mumbled a few times, realizing he had lost the ability to speak, before changing to a smiling nod to respond, signaling that his injuries were no longer an issue.

It was just that his face looked somewhat creepy no matter how he smiled.

Hu Tiejiang naturally didn't mind, but seeing his younger brother's horrifying face, a bone-deep hatred still rose in his pupils. He first clenched his fists slightly, then immediately relaxed them, pretending to be relaxed as he laughed: "That's great. In two days, let's go together to thank the Lord."

Hu Tiechuan nodded, walked to Hu Tiejiang, pulled his arm with a bit of comfort, and shook his head gently at him.

The brothers had great tacit understanding. Even though his brother said nothing, Hu Tiejiang read the meaning he wanted to express instantly. The expression he had been pretending to be relaxed immediately tightened, the hatred in his pupils rose again, and it was only after a long time that he slowly suppressed it, speaking in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Big Brother won't be impulsive. I originally thought the Zhang clan only controlled the Red Tiger Ridge area and at most acted as kings and bullies in that small place. I didn't expect them to have people in Qinghuacheng as well. It's all Big Brother's fault that you ended up like this..."

Speaking to the end, Hu Tiejiang's face was full of regret. His heart was so guilty that his tone even carried a slight tremor.

The dream of shedding their lowly status that the two brothers had planned for years had been completely shattered from the moment they arrived in Qinghuacheng on the 17th of last month and entered the jurisdiction office.

Hu Tiejiang came from a place called Red Tiger Ridge in the middle of Changqing Valley. There were five villages in that area, and Tiger Tail Village, where he was, was one of them.

Although he and his brother lost their parents at a young age, fortunately, their cultivation talent was quite good, and they had a fierce drive to fight for their lives. They broke through to the Cold-Resisting Realm early. To seek better development, they entered the lowly status in Qinghuacheng as soon as they broke through, and then worked as laborers transporting goods around the Red Tiger Ridge area.

Laborer was also considered one of the lowly occupations, so the two doing this naturally wasn't a violation.

Originally, life would have continued step by step like this, and the two brothers could have lived peacefully, but after they got married, the situation changed.

Their wives, Fang Jing and Wang Qing, were both slaves of the village leader Zhang Yiqing's family in Tiger Tail Village. In fact, the marriage itself was arranged by Zhang Yiqing. At that time, the two were considered talents in the village, and lowly status marrying slaves was not a disgrace to anyone, so both sides were naturally overjoyed.

The cause of everything started when the two brothers each had offspring.

The Cai Qiu six-tier status system was hereditary. Whatever status the parents had, the children had. At the very least, if they entered the status before the age of fifteen, that was how it was calculated.

According to these regulations, the two brothers' five offspring could only be registered as slaves or lowly status. How could they be willing?

The two brothers were hardworking and capable, with active minds, and strong hunting abilities. A few years ago, they worked diligently and saved enough money, then directly approached the leader Zhang Yiqing to state their idea of wanting to shed their wives' status.

Zhang Yiqing agreed very readily, promising that since they were all from the same village, as long as the two brothers helped him hunt for two years without pay, he wouldn't want a single cent and would directly hand over Fang Jing and Wang Qing's slave status documents.

But when the two-year period expired, the subsequent development took a sharp turn. Zhang Yiqing actually reneged on his word. The two brothers were truly furious, and since they were in the right and had saved enough money to shed their status, they simply gathered their courage, stole their wives' status documents, and planned to go to Qinghuacheng first to shed their status, intending to make it a done deal before saying anything else.

The dream of shedding their status was shattered starting from here.

Rushing all the way from Tiger Tail Village to Qinghuacheng, Hu Tiejiang had never seen Zhang Yiqing chasing them from behind. He was originally rejoicing, thinking the other side hadn't discovered it, or had discovered it too late and was still far away.

It was only after truly entering Qinghuacheng that he realized Zhang Yiqing had never intended to chase them from the beginning; the other side had already made full preparations in the city.

On the 17th of last month, for the sake of safety, Hu Tiejiang originally planned to take his family to the jurisdiction office to shed their status himself, but his younger brother Hu Tiechuan volunteered and rushed ahead of him.

Helpless, Hu Tiejiang could only hide in the dark and watch.

He didn't expect that as soon as his brother went in, the whole family was immediately arrested.

Hu Tiejiang was naturally anxious, and after some secret inquiries, he realized that the Red Tiger Ridge Zhang clan, where the leader Zhang Yiqing was, actually had considerable power in Qinghuacheng.

Zhang Yiping, captain of the fifth squad of the Law Enforcement Team, was actually Zhang Yiqing's cousin.

When he learned this news, he felt like he was mourning his parents, his heart instantly filled with despair. Not only was the dream of shedding their status completely shattered, but even the safety of his brother, wife, and children had now become a problem.

It could be considered a case of grasping at straws in desperation. Hu Tiejiang truly had no other way, so he took Hearing Hong Yu, who had been rumored to be miraculous in Qinghuacheng recently, as his life-saving straw.

So, on the day of the 25th of last month, at the final moment of being chased by Zhang Yiping and his men, he risked his life to run to the gate of the Hong Mansion, hoping that Hearing Hong Yu would save them for the sake of having traveled together once.

This was no longer just madness; it could even be called wishful thinking.

Hu Tiejiang didn't hold much hope in his heart. Whether Hearing Hong Yu remembered him was a question, and even if he did, given the other party's status in the city now, it was basically impossible for him to pay any attention to him.

But the result far exceeded his expectations.

Hearing Hong Yu didn't come, but his four disciples did!

As soon as Su Jing and his three siblings arrived, that group from the Law Enforcement Division released their whole family almost without asking for reasons. Moreover, after eight or nine days of investigation, they even reached the conclusion that Zhang Yiqing was in the wrong. Ten days ago, they actually obediently delivered Fang Jing and Wang Qing's slave status documents to the Hong Mansion.

They even personally handed them to Hu Tiejiang.

Recalling ten days ago, when Zhang Yiping placed his wife's slave status documents into his hands, that fawning expression to the extreme, the anger in Hu Tiejiang's eyes not only didn't decrease in the slightest, but instead became increasingly intense.

Especially seeing his brother's facial injuries, thinking of how his tongue was cut off alive in prison, and now he couldn't speak, he breathed even more heavily, the hatred in his heart becoming increasingly deep and intense.

During the few days they were arrested by the Law Enforcement Team, not only did Hu Tiechuan suffer inhuman torture, but their wives Fang Jing and Wang Qing were the same. Even the two brothers' children, who were not yet one year old, all froze to death in prison because the Law Enforcement Team confiscated the items they used to keep warm.

These blood debts, one after another, never mind those few people in the Law Enforcement Team, even if Qinghuacheng Lord Cai Yunzhou came to apologize with a smiling face, it couldn't erase the hatred in Hu Tiejiang's heart. ===== CHAPTER 448 =====