Chapter 110: Attachment

Li Xuanxuan went down the mountain, entered the large courtyard at the foot of the mountain in a few steps, and waved his hand. Li Xiewen hurriedly stepped forward. Li Xuanxuan whispered:

"Tell Mu Yalu that we agree. Find a place in the residence for her to live, teach her the rules, and send someone to investigate how many sons and daughters Mu Jiaoman has."

"Yes."

Li Xuanxuan waved Li Xiewen away, lowered his head, and read the "Talisman Method in Spirit" in his hand. Li Xiewen left the courtyard, sent out the manpower, and walked toward the town.

Mu Yalu waited in the town for a while. The tribesmen behind her were all sitting on the ground empty-handed, looking indignant. Even their leather armor and weapons had been stripped away. Finally, she saw the shrewd-looking youth walk up and cup his hands:

"Miss... my master has agreed. Please disperse your tribesmen and follow me to the residence. As for the girl from our clan sent to marry into the Shanyue, she will go with the merchants."

Mu Yalu's face brightened, and the tension on the faces of the tribesmen behind her dissipated a lot. She hurriedly thanked him and turned to the tribesmen:

"Everyone disperse. Go back and report to the village head that Lu'er has completed his instructions."

A dozen Shanyue nodded and promised, and a group walked out of the town. Mu Jiaoman was so afraid of arousing the Li family's suspicion that he hadn't arranged a single servant for Mu Yalu. For a time, only she was left in the courtyard, cold and clear.

"Seventh Madam, follow me."

Mu Yalu followed Li Xiewen for a while, and then saw a large courtyard appear in front of her, with blue bricks and black tiles, flying eaves and upturned corners, and the slanted stones in front of the door were wiped clean, looking very imposing.

She followed Li Xiewen into the courtyard. Several children of three or five years old were playing in the courtyard. Li Xiewen whispered:

"These are all children of the Yuan generation. In the future, if you have offspring, they will also be of the Yuan generation."

Mu Yalu nodded blankly, remembering what she had learned before leaving home, and hurriedly asked:

"Which one is the legitimate son?"

Li Xiewen glanced at her and said sternly:

"The legitimate sons are all on the mountain. Even these illegitimate sons, if they are found to have spirit apertures after seven years, must go up the mountain. Madam, do not have any crooked ideas. The means of cultivators are definitely not what you can imagine!"

Mu Yalu froze for a moment, knowing that Li Xiewen had misunderstood. She opened her mouth but had no way to explain. She felt aggrieved and thought to herself:

"My clan has been witches for generations, and my bloodline is pure and noble. As long as Li Xuanxuan is willing to be close to me, where can I not give birth to offspring with witch apertures and spirit apertures? Since I have married to the east, what crooked ideas could I have?"

Li Xiewen was completely unaware. He found an empty room for Mu Yalu and whispered:

"The servants in the house have been arranged. Madam, please make yourself at home."

After speaking, he took his leave, leaving Mu Yalu staring blankly at the narrow sky in the courtyard, her heart filled with mixed feelings. She pushed open the clean door and sat on the bed.

"From now on, I will live in this Li family. I don't know where the rest of my life will go."

Li Xiewen left the courtyard, and someone came to report. He listened for a while, hurriedly walked toward the courtyard at the foot of the mountain, and saw Li Xuanxuan still holding a book and reading. He said respectfully:

"Reporting to the family head, Mu Yalu has been arranged, and there is news about Mu Jiaoman."

Li Xuanxuan raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised:

"So fast?"

"Reporting to the family head, Mu Jiaoman is extravagant and has thousands of servants in his home. Some Shanyue tribesmen who came to flee from disaster a few years ago had served as servants there. Once I asked, I knew."

Li Xiewen finished speaking, and Li Xuanxuan put down the wooden slip in his hand and laughed:

"I thought that Lu Sisi of the Lu family had over a hundred wives and concubines, which was already astonishing. This Mu Jiaoman actually has thousands of servants. He truly does not care about the people's strength. No wonder the rain has been plentiful for years, but the Shanyue still have people fleeing every year."

"Exactly!"

Li Xiewen hurriedly agreed and replied:

"My subordinate went to inquire for a while and said that this person has three sons and four daughters, one son and one daughter of whom have spirit apertures."

Li Xuanxuan nodded, touched his chin, and said:

"I know."

"Yes! Manpower from two towns has been arranged to do it."

Li Xuanxuan then closed his eyes and thought for a while, and ordered:

"Yes."

Li Xiewen responded respectfully, and Li Xuanxuan lowered his head and continued to read.

————

The Li family's four towns: the west is Lichuankou, bordering the Mountain Yue; the middle is Jingyang and Lijing, surrounding Lijing Mountain and Meichi Mountain.

Lidaokou is the easternmost part of the Li family's territory, bordering the Huaqian Mountain of the Lu family. As the Li family's population gradually expanded, many villagers had reclaimed wasteland to the edge, a scene of vitality.

Huaqian Mountain had been slaughtered repeatedly, and the Tangjin Sect had slaughtered all the mortals. Although the later Ji family and Lu family had moved people there one after another, it was still sparsely populated. Therefore, many Li family hunters would cross the border to the Lu family's territory to cut wood and hunt.

Now, the vibrant village was greeted by two uninvited guests. One had a bald head and wore a long robe, and the other had white hair and held a jade ruyi in his hand. It was the two people, An and Lu, who had destroyed the Ji family together with Li Tongya.

The two kept shuttling through the forest, jumping up from time to time, constantly talking while looking at the trend of the mountains, holding the breath-concealing technique and staying for a full half an hour, seemingly looking for something.

"Brother An, is the mineral vein here?"

Lu Sisi asked, and saw the bald man look at his feet, pinch a magic formula in his hand, land on the ground, hold up a handful of yellow soil to look at it, and laugh:

"It can't be wrong. We have been looking for so many days. This green crow mineral is narrow and long, spanning several miles, twisting and turning. It is right under our feet."

Lu Sisi was overjoyed, strolled around, and jumped back and forth over the heads of the shivering villagers, but frowned again, muttering to himself:

"It is indeed more than half in the Li family's territory... This is difficult to handle. I am afraid it will be difficult to hide."

The bald man also looked embarrassed and said:

"Exactly! This is my An family's vein-seeking technique. Brother Lu agreed to give me thirty percent, but this mining is a big deal, and it can't be hidden anyway. We must share a few percent with the Li family."

"Sigh!"

Lu Sisi sighed and whispered:

"Although it is a micro-mineral vein, the output of this green crow mineral can reach dozens of spirit stones every year if developed well. It is truly unwilling to share it like this!"

"So what! Can you destroy the Li family and annex these four towns?"

The bald man shook his head with a bitter smile and replied:

"Li Tongya is cautious and has superb swordsmanship. It is not easy to kill him. What's more, I heard that the Li family has a close relationship with the Xiao family of Li Xia Prefecture, and there is a Qinghui disciple in the sect. The background is very big!"

Lu Sisi laughed lowly, put away his unrealistic fantasies, and said unwillingly:

The bald man surnamed An nodded, pinched the magic formula in his hand, and carefully identified the specific direction of the mineral vein.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 111 =====