Chapter 59

"Young boys and girls?!"

Zhou Peide's body stiffened upon hearing this, and he looked at Yuan Qu in disbelief: "Isn't he a disciple of the Dharma lineage? What does he want these for? And in Xianyang City, he doesn't want to live!"

"My Feng Feng Shixiong Zhou..."

Yuan Qu shook his head slightly: "Rules are just rules. If everyone in this world followed the rules, how could so many people rise to prominence?"

"If Councilor Lu, the Left Councilor, followed the rules, could he climb to a high position?"

"If Master followed the rules, would he take me as a disciple?"

"If I followed the rules, could I handle those dirty jobs Master entrusted to me? And would the Zhou family have its current momentum?"

"Rules are set for fools. Throughout history, among kings, princes, generals, and ministers, who relied on following the rules to rise?"

"Heh heh, if we followed the rules, Zhou Bai's revenge shouldn't be sought!"

Seeing that Zhou Peide was still hesitant, Yuan Qu sneered: "Feng Feng Shixiong, do you really think I did these things without Master knowing?"

"Chen Dashi opens a shop in Xianyang, doing whatever he wants, and I haven't seen anyone from the Law Enforcement Hall come to find trouble. Others aren't afraid, so what are you afraid of?"

Zhou Peide's eyes were flickering. After a long while, he finally said in a deep voice: "The tooth agency is also under your control. Find a few that aren't so difficult..."

"Difficult!"

Yuan Qu shook his head: "If it were that simple, they wouldn't need us. The birth dates must match. I've already searched everywhere I could."

"Doesn't Feng Feng Shixiong have the roster of young people who signed up for the Divine Fist Society in various villages? There are birth dates on it. Chen Dashi is still missing three. If you can help them gather enough, avenging Zhou Bai will be easy."

"And Chen Dashi also said that Zhou Bai's injury is not incurable..."

"What?!"

Zhou Peide stood up abruptly, unable to believe: "Feng Feng Shixiong Wang invited several medical experts, and they all said there was no way. Is he lying to us?"

Yuan Qu shook his head: "I have already brought the words. Whether to believe it or not, Feng Feng Shixiong decides for himself. Once they finish the job, I fear they will leave immediately."

"Feng Feng Shixiong, if you miss this village, you won't find this shop..."

Zhou Peide took a deep breath and stood up to leave.

"Tomorrow, I will send the roster over..."

……

Watching Zhou Peide's departing figure, Yuan Qu let out a sigh of relief.

Creak~

The side door of the main hall slowly opened, and a tall figure walked out, wearing a red robe and a flower on his head; it was Zheng Heibei, the leader of the Iron Blade Gang.

He gave a cold sneer, sat on the chair like a boss, and cursed: "This old thing has always looked down on us. He's asking for help and still has this attitude. Why do you bother with him?"

"What do you know!"

Yuan Qu sat down, drank a cup of tea, and said lightly: "In the situation in Xianyang City, fighting back and forth, the most dangerous ones are us."

"Old Man Zhang and the others are holding onto us and won't let go. According to Master's temperament, even Zhou Bai can be abandoned, so he will definitely use our lives to clean himself up."

"How rare."

Zheng Heibei sneered: "From the first day I worshipped him as a master, didn't I expect today? Anyway, if the situation is not right, I'm ready to retreat."

"Retreat?"

A trace of evil fire flashed in Yuan Qu's eyes. He looked around and said in a deep voice: "This family property was built by me through hard work. You are willing to part with it, but I am not."

"Hmph, that old ghost thinks beautifully, dragging the Zhou family into the water to see if he can still stay out of it!"

Zheng Heibei did not refute and was silent for a moment before suddenly asking: "What about that group of swordsmen? In case..."

"There is no 'in case'!"

Yuan Qu directly interrupted his words: "Zheng is also not honest, always secretly arranging, thinking that Master will sell us out and then take his place, but he didn't expect that those swordsmen were raised by me!"

"A pauper, what does he have to play with me!"

"Remember, we are now grasshoppers on the same rope. If you don't want to be chased and killed in the martial world, cooperate well."

"Hmph! That old thing was right about one thing."

"The one who laughs last is the winner..."

…………

Ssh——! Ssh——!

Before dawn, Sha Lifei was woken up by the noise in the courtyard.

The sound of planing wood, chisels, and sawing... echoed throughout.

"Time to eat, time to eat!"

"Uncle, what did you make today? It smells so good?"

"Sour paste noodles, covered bowl meat, vegetable tofu..."

Sha Lifei was originally sleepy to death and wrapped his head in a quilt, but hearing the food, his saliva flowed wildly. He turned over, got up, and rushed out with messy clothes.

In the courtyard, it was indeed busy.

The carpenters were already sweating profusely. The autumn morning was cold, but everyone had white smoke rising from their heads, cleaning up the remaining work and preparing to eat.

When Sha Lifei ran to the front courtyard, his nose was crooked with anger.

He saw six large pots set up in the courtyard, flames surging. Two pots were boiling sour paste noodles, two were steaming covered bowl meat, and two were boiling vegetable tofu, the fragrance drilling straight into people's noses.

And Wang Fu and Li Yan were squatting on the steps, holding sour paste noodles, eating with covered bowl meat and vegetable tofu, sweating profusely.

"Good, you two!"

Sha Lifei was so angry that his mouth trembled: "You have good food and didn't call me!"

Li Yan picked up the sea bowl, stirred the chopsticks with a clatter, ate the last bite of noodles, and then let out a full burp, sneering: "You slept like a dead pig, and we couldn't wake you up even if we called, yet you blame us..."

"Hahaha!"

The carpenters burst into laughter. Sha Lifei couldn't care about arguing, went up and took a bowl of each, squatted on the steps, and ate until his eyes widened and his neck thickened.

Shopkeeper Wan also came, smiling with his eyes, holding a large tobacco pipe: "Little Feng Feng Shixiong Li, have you eaten well? Let's go, come with me to see the drums."

Li Yan's eyes lit up and he hurriedly followed: "It's already done, so fast?"

"Haha, how is that possible..."

Shopkeeper Wan shook his head while walking: "A drum, from material selection, cutting boards, pulling boards, drying, all the way to skinning, ordinary ones have more than a dozen processes, and our 'Sound-Hearing Pavilion' craftsmanship reaches more than twenty."

"No matter what, it takes more than a month."

"But you are lucky. The rhinoceros skin brought back a few days ago, I have already led people to make it, which saved a lot of time..."

As he spoke, he had brought him to the backyard.

Unlike the front courtyard, this is where Shopkeeper Wan lives. There are also many tools placed here, but they are all made of high-quality wood, and the patina is oily and shiny.

Li Yan even smelled some incense, clearly not ordinary items.

And on the rack, the lightning-struck jujube wood brought back had already been cut and roasted, turning into curved boards, neatly placed for drying.

!.

Jujube wood originally has a fine and tough texture, plus the patterns produced after being struck by lightning, it looks like it has a different kind of beauty.

Li Yan pinched the Yang Seal and smelled it. A kind of fierce, scorching smell suddenly flooded into his nasal cavity, making his brain clear.

It was exactly the heavenly lightning energy contained in the lightning-struck jujube wood.

It hadn't been refined into a magic tool yet, and it already had such power. No wonder it is a top-grade material for making tools.

Li Yan couldn't help but smile.

Shopkeeper Wan said on the side: "There is one more thing to tell the little brother. I have reduced the size of the war drum by half."

"It's not that I'm stingy, but once this drum is made and passed through the opening of light, it becomes a real magic tool. If it were made into the size of a Qin-Han war drum, I fear you wouldn't be able to beat it a few times a day before your soul would be shaken and injured."

"I know your situation. Martial arts is not a one-day effort, but this dark energy needs to be practiced at all times, otherwise it is sailing against the current, so this size is just right."

"This lightning-struck jujube wood is a heavenly and earthly treasure. It only needs to be dried for a few days, then skinned and nailed. In seven days, you will be able to use the treasure."

"I will follow the senior's words."

Li Yan knew the other party's good intentions and nodded hurriedly.

"Also."

Shopkeeper Wan took out a wooden box from his bosom and opened it carefully. Inside was a piece of leather rope, which looked ordinary, but Li Yan smelled an extremely rich scent of incense, and it carried a certain cold and murderous aura.

Shopkeeper Wan said in a low voice: "The size is reduced, and the remaining lightning-struck wood is ultimately obtained by me, so I can't let you suffer a loss."

"Among the batch of rhinoceros skins I brought back, one had already attained cultivation and was worshipped in the Tai Bai Mansion of the Dou Mu Temple. Made into a leather rope, it is used to make drum tassels."

"I hid some privately. Give me your blade tassel."

Li Yan's eyes lit up and he hurriedly took out the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin blade tassel.

Shopkeeper Wan easily dismantled it, came to the inner hall, lit three sticks of incense to the ancestor statue, and then began to weave.

His hands were as fast as light. Every time he tied a knot, he had to pinch the magic formula, chanting non-stop, pointing at the knot, and then proceeding to the next step.

Li Yan could smell that every knot had a cold evil aura mixed with the scent of incense injected into it.

Knotting Evil!

His eyes suddenly lit up.

Wang Fu had told him about this method. It is a widely circulated folk witchcraft.

"Knotting Evil" is injecting energy and evil aura into the talisman paper.

"Entering the Name" is writing down the name of the god.

Only after completing these two steps will the talisman be effective.

Shopkeeper Wan could actually integrate Knotting Evil into tool refining. The heritage is clearly extraordinary.

But it is also true. If it weren't for Wang Fu's reminder, who would have thought that this old shopkeeper with a kind face was actually an elder of the Xianyang Craftsman Guild, with a cultivation level of two stories high.

Finally, before the three sticks of incense burned out, Shopkeeper Wan finished making the blade tassel.

The new blade tassel was more rustic, not only hiding all the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coins but even the scent was restrained. If not activated, it was no different from an ordinary object.

Li Yan was full of surprise after receiving it.

From now on, he would no longer be afraid of the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coins attracting others' peeking.

After weaving the blade tassel, Shopkeeper Wan was clearly a bit exhausted. He smoked a few puffs of his pipe and smiled: "This blade tassel can also be hung on the war drum. If you beat the drum to drive away evil, the power will be doubled, but I'm afraid your spirit is not enough to activate it."

"Many thanks, senior."

Li Yan bowed deeply and arched his hands.

Shopkeeper Wan waved his hand: "No need. Zhao Luji told me that if it weren't for your help, I fear this lightning-struck wood wouldn't have been taken out, and my plan would have fallen through."

"We side-door sorcerers can't compare to the Mystic Sect orthodox, so naturally, we must support each other."

"Feng Feng Shixiong is righteous!"

Li Yan arched his hands again to thank him.

Shopkeeper Wan had helped a lot this time. Coupled with the gold obtained in the bandit lair, as long as the Xianyang matter was settled, he could go to Tai Bai Mountain to build the temple.

The magic tool was refined, and he was in a great mood.

After staying for another day, near noon, Li Yan felt bored. Thinking that there was nothing to do anyway, he picked up some wine and food and prepared to go up the mountain to find Zhao Luji for a drink.

However, before he could go out, a man rushed into the courtyard in a panic, knelt on the spot with a thud, and wailed:

"Uncle Wan, Zhuzi was abducted by someone. Please take action to save him!"

As he spoke, he kowtowed bang, bang, bang, his forehead full of fresh blood...

(End of chapter)