Chapter 240: Fenglin Manor

In the marketplace, the price of a low-grade magic treasure is usually between five and twenty spirit stones. A starting bid of two spirit stones is quite reasonable; even if one doesn't use it oneself, one can earn a price difference by selling it in the marketplace later. Thus, the three flying swords sold for nine spirit stones, the five-pronged golden fork sold for two, and the iron-wood shield sold for the most—it was taken by the old Daoist Hu Du, who actually coughed up five spirit stones for it.

The sixteen spirit stones were divided among the sixteen people who hadn't participated in the bidding, and everyone was happy.

There were still eight spirit stones, three pieces of spirit jade, and five hundred taels of silver left over. Liu Xiaolou didn't need to say anything, and no one else brought it up; this was what he was entitled to.

After this, everyone felt a bit more at ease. Liu Xiaolou took out a jar of Bamboo Leaf Green and let everyone share it, while he retreated to the side to check the account books brought back by Fang Bu'ai.

There were five account books in total, covering the income and expenditure of silver and money from January to May of this year. How much silver was spent, and how much silver and spirit stones were received, were all recorded entry by entry.

Liu Xiaolou couldn't quite understand the ledgers, but he could see the totals. Not counting the silver, the total income in spirit stones was three hundred and twenty-six.

Fifty-six were found in the box, so where did the remaining two hundred and seventy go?

Choosing to strike at the Hongji Restaurant, besides cutting off future trouble and taking revenge on Mount Tianmu, was also done in the hope of following the trail through the records of silver or spirit stone transactions to find the Lu family's next target. This was the reason he had Fang Bu'ai collect the account books.

To Liu Xiaolou's disappointment, the account books did not record the whereabouts of the missing two hundred and seventy spirit stones.

He took the empty box to his side again and observed it carefully, suddenly feeling that something was wrong with the box. This feeling came from his experience of custom-building wooden racks for his Universe Bag—the bottom part of the box was slightly thicker.

So, he broke open the bottom board of the box and indeed found a thin little booklet. Upon opening it, he was overjoyed.

This was an account book of spirit stones borrowed from Hongji Restaurant by the various branches, lineages, and manors of the Lu family since the beginning of the year. It recorded fifteen transactions in total, each for ten, twenty, or thirty spirit stones. Because there were so many branches and lineages of Mount Tianmu, and their relationships were intricate and complex, the manager of Hongji Restaurant had even made simple annotations so that he could clear up the threads and distinguish the priorities himself.

"16th of the first lunar month, Lu Ziyang of Hualin Hall requested a loan of spirit stones. He is the direct grandson of Elder Lu Er. Loaned twenty."

"22nd of the first lunar month, Hua Mengmei of Zongling Manor requested a loan of spirit stones. Her son, Hua Fuxin, is an Inner Sect deacon in charge of spirit wine brewing. Loaned thirty."

"1st of the second lunar month, Chang Sanlang of Baiye Mountain requested a loan of spirit stones. He is the wife's younger brother of Lu Wu, an Inner Sect disciple of the main branch of this sect. Loaned ten."

"7th of the second lunar month, Lu Yuanji of Fenglin Gou requested a loan of spirit stones. He is the younger brother of Inner Sect disciple Lu San and an Outer Sect deacon in charge of purchasing alchemy materials. Loaned twenty..."

Lu San was Lu Yuanlang, who ranked third among the Inner Sect disciples, hence he was called Lu San. In reality, he was the eldest brother of this generation of disciples in the second branch. The Lu Second Young Master who had been led into Xingde Mountain and killed by Liu Xiaolou was Lu Yuanlang's second younger brother, the second elder brother of this Lu Yuanji who was borrowing spirit stones.

And since this Lu Yuanji was an Outer Sect deacon, at most he was at the Qi Perfection stage.

After quickly reading through it once, he asked on the spot: "Who knows where Fenglin Gou is?"

Longshan Sanren said: "Forty miles to the northeast, between Mount Hufeng and Maolin Hill."

With this question and answer, everyone gathered around again, and they heard Liu Xiaolou say: "I want to take advantage of Mount Tianmu not having reacted yet to pull off another job. This Lu Yuanji is a brother of the same branch as Lu Yuanlang, and his cultivation should be below the Qi Perfection stage. The only problem is whether his manor in Fenglin Gou is big or small; does anyone know?"

If it were the main manor of the Lu family's second branch, then it couldn't be attacked; going there would be suicide. If it were Lu Yuanji's own small villa, then it could be considered.

The heroes present had traveled far and wide and were knowledgeable. Mu Shenyi immediately informed them that he had been there a few years ago: "That manor isn't big. When I passed by five years ago, I went in to treat someone, not knowing it was a manor of the Lu family's second branch. After the treatment was finished, the manor master actually tried to cheat me out of the consultation fee. A human life, is it not even worth ten spirit stones? Ten! From beginning to end, did I ask for even one extra? Damn it!"

After venting his resentment, Mu Shenyi added: "In short, there aren't many people in this manor. It looks like a private residence with quite a few women and children. It can be done!"

Liu Xiaolou pondered: "Let's go and take a look."

Huang Ye Xian said: "Xiaolou, if this manor is the private residence of Lu Yuanlang and his brothers, breaking it is inevitable, but I hope you fellow Daoists will not kill the women and children."

The women and children she spoke of referred to those without the power to resist. This was also the rule among practitioners in the world, and even the heroes of Wulong Mountain acted accordingly. But Huang Ye Xian saw that the crowd was filled with righteous indignation, so she was still worried and urged them again.

This urging was indeed useful. The four brothers of Guzhang Mountain were silent for a moment, then finally sighed and nodded in agreement. Their fourth brother had been killed by Lu Yuanlang right in front of them, and they wished they could kill everyone around Lu Yuanlang to get even!

Everyone set off in the starry night, led by Mu Shenyi, and rushed toward Fenglin Gou. When they arrived and looked down from the hill on the south side, this small manor was indeed not big.

Liu Xiaolou was making up his mind; whether to break it or not was all in his one word. After pondering for a moment, he finally waved his hand. They had worked hard traveling half the night, and the manor was right before their eyes; there was no reason not to break it!

Everyone descended from the hill, surrounded it from left and right, and quickly surged to the front of the manor. Just as they were about to attack, they suddenly acted like headless flies, bumping around the manor walls.

Such a small manor actually had a magic array protecting it. Although it was an illusion array of the lowest level, it also indicated that there must be good things in the manor.

For those who didn't understand arrays, being trapped in the array meant they could only attack with brute force. But for Liu Xiaolou, there was nothing strange about it.

He also hurriedly broke into the array, calculating with his fingertips and stepping in the Big Dipper pattern. To be honest, this manor-protecting illusion array was only slightly stronger than the first version of the Lin Yuan Xuan Stone Array he had obtained back then, and only limitedly so. In the time it took to burn a stick of incense, he broke the illusion, and the green willows and white walls of the manor appeared before everyone's eyes.

However, although the illusion array didn't stop the heroes of Wulong Mountain, it gave the manor a period of early warning. Five cultivators from the manor stood on the high walls, looking down at the heroes. One of them shouted loudly: "Where did these ignorant fools come from, daring to attack Fenglin Manor? Don't you know this is a manor of the Lu family of Mount Tianmu?"

The heroes of Wulong Mountain didn't bother with nonsense. Longshan Sanren, Huang Ye Xian, old Daoist Hu Du, and the four brothers of Guzhang Mountain, who were wielding blades, went up to entangle them in a chaotic fight, while Captain Hu greeted his group to charge directly into the manor.

After watching for a moment, Liu Xiaolou discovered that the cultivation of these five people was not low. The highest one was at the Qi Perfection stage, the one next to him was also at the Qi Refinement Stage 10 or 9, and the remaining three were between Stage 5 and 7. He immediately flew out the Lin Yuan Xuan Stone Array, wrapped up one at Stage 6, and called for the old lame man and Qi Laoqi, who were keeping watch, to join the chaotic fight, immediately gaining the upper hand. ===== CHAPTER 241 =====