Emotions were complicated in the house.
Ji Yuan stood frozen with the bag. Even an idiot would know he had been played. He wanted to play the bird watching the mantis catch the cicada… yet even the person who executed the plan was played.
He threw the bag at Ji Jing, who was frozen in shock, in disgust. Holding his breath, Ji Yuan brought his men away.
They had their own fields too but had been enjoying the finer things in life since young. That was why they barely went to the fields. Even if they visited, they never did anything, just watched and took inventory in King City. If it wasn’t for Ji Ju’s secret, they would not have visited either. They had not ever experienced anything like this, walking around smelling like poop.
After Ji Yuan left with his frigid anger, Ji Jing broke everything she could break in the house. After that, she wondered, why should she break stuff in this smelly room? So she went to another clean house and continued to vent. When she was finally done, she had Luzhe brought over to shout at him.
Luzhe was the person driving Ji Jing’s carriage when she went to visit Ji Ju. At the time, Luzhe was kissing her ass but unfortunately, he’d met Shao Xuan and Black Bear that day.
This time, after hearing the story of Lubi from their Lu family getting beaten up, Ji Jing passed him this task as the Lu family was planning their revenge. He found some people who were willing to work for money and form a band. They were sworn to secrecy so they would never tell on their client. The Lu family had met these people before coming to King City. That was why Luzhe went looking for them.
With Ji Jing here with her generous payments, these people were very willing. Ji Jing only wanted the bag Shao Xuan carried. On the other hand, Luzhe, due to what happened with Lubi, directly gave the order to kill Shao Xuan.
In a twist of events, they suffered injuries and a death— all to retrieve a poop-filled bag.
It was no wonder Ji Jing was furious, even Luzhe was suppressing his anger. It was a series of unfortunate events with this bunch!
After breaking stuff and scolding Luzhe, Ji Jing brought her people back. She had to clean herself thoroughly. Unfortunately, after her bath, the pungent smell still lingered for a while. The fragrance of flowers could not even cover the smell.
Once Ji Jing left, Luzhe went back to the Linlu tribe’s base in King City.
“What?” Luming, who’d been waiting, asked hurriedly. He’d already known it was a failure from Luzhe’s darkened face. However, he had to know what happened.
Luzhe told him what he knew. “That lucky bastard!”
This was what Luming expected too. “A bastard who can defeat Lubi, how would he be killed so easily? The chief… the patriarch had to personally visit the Gongjia’s home to get the hammer back after paying compensation.” In the past, when they were a tribe, the leader was the chief. Here at King City, they used the term ‘patriarch’ or head of the family.
“Do we let the bastard go just like that?” Luzhe was unwilling. “He has already left Golden Grain fields, I worry he’ll leave King City soon. Once he leaves, it’ll be difficult to find him again.”
“Don’t worry,” said Luming with a grin. “He won’t be able to leave.”
Seeing Luzhe’s confusion, Luming explained, “The patriarch will personally attend to this!”
After Lubi was defeated, the Lu family was utterly humiliated in King City. Now, every time someone talked about the Lu family, they’d talk about the Lubi incident. The Lu family would never live with this and did not want to delay this any further. It must be solved immediately. After some thought, the Linlu chief (now known as the patriarch) planned to solve this on his own.
If the rest of the Flaming Horn people were still here, they would not make this decision so easily. Based on past experience, the Flaming Horn people were no easy opponents. Even the great six aristocrats had suffered. Right now, there were only two of them.
Just two. This was easy.
The Black Bears? They weren’t difficult. There were so few people in the Black Bear trading party. Now that all the Linlu tribesmen were here, they had the numbers. If only they had….
When he thought of the incident at the Gongjia’s entrance, Luming seethed with anger. However, this would be solved quickly. He was already planning how to bring up the Lu family’s reputation after this.
The people of King City loved drama and were very forgetful. They would only remember the final result. While the Lu family lost to Shao Xuan, as long as they win the next battle, their reputation would change.
As for the term ‘bullying using numbers’, no one cared. They would never admit to this either. The winner determined how history was written.
Shao Xuan did not know of these plots. After the robbery incident, the butler sent people with another carriage escorted by guards.
It was only when Shao Xuan arrived at the city gates when the carriage and guards left.
When Shao Xuan arrived at the Black Bear’s base, Black Bear had just arrived too.
“Shao Xuan, you’re just in time. On the day before, Master Heng sent someone with a message that your knife and sword are ready. You can get them when you’re returning.” Black Bear was delighted too because Gongjia Heng also promised to make him an axe. However, it was expensive and he had to wait. Black Bear had no comments on this, he was already fortunate enough for Master HEng to make him a weapon. Golden leaves were nothing. He could always earn more money.
“It’s ready? I was about to get a new one.” Shao Xuan was overjoyed. His sword was chipped and he needed a new one.
He thought about how great it’d be if he had top-grade rock here. He could make more tools and grind this blade. Unfortunately, other than the good rocks at the city wall, he didn’t see any good materials.
“I’ve settled my business so I can accompany you. Eh, what happened to your sword? You fought someone at the field?” Black Bear turned to look at Guang Yi’s sword. There were marks on it too.
A sword with marks like that showed that it was no small scuffle. A few more hits and this blade would snap.
Shao Xuan explained what happened to Black Bear.
Balck Bear was silent, his smile disappeared. “Shao Xuan, I advise you both to leave King City as soon as possible. Recently, the Linlu tribe had already moved almost everyone from their tribe here. Once they settle, I’m worried they’ll attack you. Shao Xuan, you don’t know that when you were at the Golden Grains fields, some of my men betrayed us. If it weren’t for the tight security, your stuff would’ve been stolen already. Especially in the grain store and underground chambers. Your grains are there.”
“All this for the Thousand GRain Gold?!” said Guang Yi in a low voice.
“No, not really. That’s just one of the reasons. More importantly, you both have become targets. A lot more things will happen to you,” said Black Bear.
It was no good targeting Black Bear but there were more opportunities to attack Shao Xuan. He did not have his own territory here and did not have an army.
“Alright, I understand.” He had already thought of this during the robbery. After meeting Gongjia Heng and learning about Thousand Grain Gold, it was time to leave. It was dangerous for him to stay.
“Why don’t you leave tomorrow? Maoda intended to leave in three days but since this happened, it’s best you all leave earlier,” said Black Bear.
“Thank you!”
“You don’t have to thank me. Old Black borrowed your name to get Golden Grains and even met Master Heng. You helped a lot.” Black Bear let out a guffaw.
When he went to get the sword, Gongjia Heng was working in the forging room so Shao Xuan did not see him. However, he already instructed his apprentice to bring over the sword, knife and more axes.
At the Flaming Horn tribe, Gongjia Heng had heard that the hunters liked axes. That was why he got his apprentices to make some axes for them.
Shao Xuan took the sword and unwrapped the cloth. The sword was golden, though the colour was darker than the previous. However, Shao Xuan felt like it was a lot sharper. The patterns on the sword were different. Within the golden sword, the silver etchings shone like a white flame.
He tossed a piece of wood the apprentice passed to him and could easily chop it in half.
“Do you want to try with a rock?” asked the apprentice excitedly.
“It’s fine, I already know.” Shao Xuan kept the sword. After its modifications, it might still be not easy to split middle to top-grade rocks. Even if the sword did not chip, it would still affect the blade. And that could lead to future problems like breaking.
If he had the chance, Shao Xuan wanted to make a sword for himself. However, the tribe’s core seed was on the other side of the ocean and the seeds here were all controlled by the great six. The Gongjia family would never let outsiders benefit from it.
He sighed, wondering when he could return. Shao Xuan kept his sword and turned to Guang Yi, also testing his blade.
“How is it?”
Guang Yi was glowing. “It’s awesome!”
“Help me thank Master Heng. Tell him that the next time I have something good, I’ll get the Black Bear people to bring it here,” said Shao Xuan to the apprentice.
Black Bear was happy to hear this. He was basically the line connecting Flaming Horn and Gongjia Heng now, and he was happy to be the messenger. He would benefit greatly from this!
After taking his stuff and thanking them, Shao Xuan did not stay. They had to leave tomorrow.
When he left the Gongjia residence, Ji Fang was coincidentally here.
Shao Xuan greeted him and continued walking. They weren’t close anyway. However, Ji Fang stopped him.
“Wait.” Ji Fang turned around. “If you have no other business, do not stay at King City any longer.”
This wasn’t an insult, it was a reminder. The three people, including Shao Xuan, understood.