Start with a red name

Chapter 169: Mobilization and return to Changping at night

The next day.

November 27th, noon.

At lunch time.

Hong Quan, Luo Qing and others took advantage of the opportunity to report to Geng Xuan on the details of the Lvyi Garden operation.

Hong Quan said:
"Boss, after careful interrogation, we found four spies directly affiliated with the Jinsha Gang in that restaurant and teahouse.

There were five other people directly involved in the matter, and all parties cooperated very actively.

They all know that they are working for the Jinsha Gang. Their biggest goal is to officially join the Jinsha Gang. They act without any bottom line and are the ones doing a lot of the dirty work.

Of the three people you singled out, two fall into this category.”

Hearing this, Geng Xuan, who was reaching out to pick up some food, couldn't help but pause.

Hong Quan's report continues.

"...You really have a keen eye. These two people have handled the most dirty and tiring work, and have come into contact with the most secrets. They themselves are not people with strong wills.

With just a little trick, he spilled all the beans, telling everyone everything he knew."

"With these two people as a breakthrough point, the rest of the things will be sorted out soon."

"In other words, there are four members of the Jinsha Gang, five peripheral activists, and the rest are shop assistants who are completely unaware of the situation?" Geng Xuan asked.

"Yes."

Geng Xuan nodded to show that he understood, and continued to eat.

Luo Qing next to him reported some other situations.

"The main gains from this Luyi Garden operation included gold, silver, copper coins, etc., which were converted into silver taels worth 7,846 taels and 570 coins.

Three hundred and forty-seven blood-replenishing pills, eighty-five essence-replenishing pills, and fifty-two tranquilizing pills.

Other types of medicines are worth about 1,500 taels.

There are 148 weapons, including 116 of ordinary quality and 32 of high-quality weapons.

Eleven parts of various cultivation techniques."

At this point, Luo Qing added: "After this harvest, the number of skills in the gang's inventory has increased to 413."

Geng Xuan was surprised when he heard this:

"That is to say, among the eleven techniques obtained from Green Ripple Garden, only three overlap with the techniques we already have in stock?"

Luo Qing nodded and said, "Yes."

The look of surprise on Geng Xuan's face became even more intense.

Logically speaking, as the Giant Bear Gang accumulates more and more skills in stock, the chances of newly acquired skills overlapping with those in stock should become higher and higher.

Luo Qing explained:
“Not only the techniques, but also the various weapons seized from Lvyi Garden are very different from those in our inventory.

Generally speaking, it is more conducive to combat in water, but of little help to combat on land, and may even be a hindrance.

However, these weapons and techniques are somewhat unfamiliar to practitioners who are used to fighting on land, so it is inevitable that they will feel unfamiliar when dealing with them, but they will not suffer any disadvantages. "

Geng Xuan understood that the weapons and training methods of the Jinsha Gang were more conducive to water battles.

Even the most common swords have been slightly modified to suit water battles, and they all have some of the characteristics of "strange weapons".

In addition, there are various corresponding cultivation techniques.

Combined together, they form a very unique advantage.

For practitioners who have never had direct contact with it, it is easy to suffer losses.

"In addition, there are thirty fine horses from Yuanzhou, twenty horse-drawn carriages, as well as some food, horse feed and other sundries." Luo Qing said finally.

After lunch, Geng Xuan, under the leadership of Hong Quan, went to the room where four members of the Jinsha Gang and five peripheral members were being held in solitary confinement.

He pointed at two of them and said, "Forget about him and him, let's deal with the other seven."

The two people he pointed at were a formal member of the Jinsha Gang and a peripheral member. Their common feature was that the concentration of red names above their heads was less than fifteen points.

Hong Quan naturally had no objection to this.

He still can't be sure how the gang leader makes the distinction.

But also thanks to this "gift", he not only survived, but got a new life.

There is no other choice except to firmly support it.

Just as he returned to his room, clusters of red mist came towards Geng Xuan's brow.

The seven balls of red energy brought him a total of 135 points of good luck and 6 points of bad luck.

Of the six points of bad luck, five came from the four peripheral members who died.

There is only one thing, which comes from the three official members of the Jinsha Gang who died.

……

After arriving at the specially designated training area, Geng Xuan continued his practice.

Not long after, he felt that the four skills he had just advanced to the minor success level yesterday evening.

From body to mind, all the gains have been absorbed by him and completely internalized into his own understanding and mastery.

Geng Xuan did not hesitate and invested twenty-four points of red luck.

The four skills of "Iron Knee Charge", "Iron Arm Kung Fu", "Iron Shirt" and "Iron Eagle Claw" were taken one step further.

So that all of them can be promoted from small success to great success.

After completing the improvement of these four skills and initially digesting and absorbing what he had learned, Geng Xuan focused all his energy on the "Mountain-Destroying and Steel-Breaking Fist".

This morning, shortly after waking up, he had already used up six points of luck and advanced his "Mountain-breaking and Steel-breaking Fist" one step further from the entry level, bringing it to the realm of minor success.

Although this technique requires more complex skills and experience to digest and master.

However, with Geng Xuan's full devotion, he managed to fully grasp all the gains he had made in the Lesser Success Realm before the end of the day's training.

And after consuming twelve points of good fortune, it can go one step further on this basis and also be elevated to the state of great success.

……

During this period, Geng Xuan still failed to concentrate and devote all his energy to cultivation.

It was almost evening and Geng Xuan stopped practicing and was eating dinner.

Luo Qing led Fang Jintang, who had come from Santongji, into the hall.

Fang Jintang came here this time because he received a message from a carrier pigeon and came to pick up Luo Qing and others who were preparing to go to Santongji in advance.

Originally, according to Luo Qing's original suggestion, the entire Giant Bear Gang should now move to Santongji.

However, as Geng Xuan brought back the family members of nearly thirty gang members from Kangleji, this suggestion became temporarily unfeasible.

Like Shi Jun's family who chose to stay away at the first opportunity, many of these family members secretly regarded the Giant Bear Gang as a "den of thieves".

However, since they have now learned from various channels what kind of vicious person "Su Ruiliang" is, everyone can only suppress this emotion in their hearts.

No one dared to show it in words or actions, but instead everyone was extremely respectful and polite.

However, Luo Qing was the kind of person that he could naturally see through these people's thoughts at a glance.

At this time, if they were all moved away from Kangleji and moved to a strange place hundreds of miles away, who knows what these people would think.

Luo Qing didn't care much about their thoughts.

But their thoughts will definitely affect their families, as well as the group of people who are also members of the Giant Bear Gang.

Although, due to their strength, the status of these people in the Giant Bear Gang is being marginalized little by little.

But no matter how marginal you are, as long as you don't commit suicide, your future prospects can be guaranteed.

As the first group of people to join the gang, it can be said that the basic appearance and organizational structure of the current Giant Bear Gang were shaped through their personal participation and enthusiastic discussions.

If someone is confused and is influenced by his family and goes astray, it will not only be a great regret for these people themselves, but also a major loss for Luo Qing and others.

Therefore, Luo Qing not only did not mention the overall relocation to Santongji again, but also gave new suggestions.

If all the gang members leave and go to Santongji, these families can move into Kangleji and ask Master Fan to take care of them.

This is much safer than letting them stay in the inner city.

——This is not only about guarding against external dangers, but more about preventing trouble from happening within these families.

……

This time, Fang Jintang also brought the latest situation of the Wu family in Anleji.

"As the news of Wu Youxin's Xuanyou Iron Cavalry's demise at Yixian Gorge spread in Anleji and Baiyuanji, the public was in chaos for many days.

Starting from the 20th, Wu Yi issued an emergency transfer order to Anleji and Baiyuanji.

However, apart from the comprehensive assembly and mobilization within the Wu family, the responses of both Anle Group and Baiyuan Group were far less active and rapid than before.

The situation in Anleji was better. On the afternoon of the 23rd, Wu Yi personally stepped forward and barely gathered together the guards of Anleji, as well as the forces under the command of other guilds and their leaders.

Then, Wu Yi spent another day.

All these small groups from different sources were disbanded, with the Wu family and their close confidants as the skeleton.

A team of about 400 people was put together to carry out unified dispatch and command.

On the 25th, which was the day before yesterday, Wu Yi led a team of more than 400 people to Baiyuanji.

Originally, Baiyuanji, which was a little slow in responding, also quickly completed the assembly.

According to what we have learned, Wu Yi had forcibly recruited more than 500 people from Baiyuanji yesterday afternoon."

When Geng Xuan heard this, he was immediately surprised:
"Wu Yi has recruited more people in Baiyuanji than Anleji?"

Anleji itself is richer and larger than Baiyuanji, and the number of practitioners and overall strength are also higher than Baiyuanji.

Another thing is that Anleji is the Wu family’s old nest and has been operating there for many years.

Although the Wu family has been secretly "eroding" Baiyuanji for quite some time.

But it has only been more than a month since it was actually swallowed, so the foundation is far from solid.

Logically speaking, it would be reasonable for the Wu family to collect more power from Anleji.

Fang Jintang nodded and said:
“It is said that many people in Baiyuanji have complaints about this.

However, the reason Wu Yi gave was that among the nearly 300 people who died in Yixianxia, more than half were from Anleji.

If this group of people is also counted, the strength recruited by Anleji has exceeded 600 people, which is basically close to the limit of a market.

With Wu Yi's personal explanation, the dissatisfied voices in Baiyuanji were suppressed. "

To Geng Xuan, Wu Yi's explanation sounded like a rhetorical trick.

Of the 270 people who died in Yixianxia, most were from Anleji, and the other half were from Baiyuanji.

Anleji suffered heavy losses, but did Baiyuanji suffer less losses?

The overall strength of Anleji is stronger than Baiyuanji.

In other words, the loss of Yixianxia actually weakened Anleji and Baiyuanji to a similar extent.

It is not difficult to guess the purpose of Wu Yi's harsh treatment of Baiyuanji.

He was taking advantage of this crisis to speed up the digestion and absorption of Baiyuanji in another more cruel way.

Fang Jintang's report is still continuing.

“According to my discussion with Qi Mingcheng, although Wu Yi suppressed Baiyuanji’s resentment and dissatisfaction on the surface.

But if he wants to truly bring these 500 people under his command and complete basic integration with Anleji's team so that they can be dispatched and commanded in a unified manner, it will take at least five days."

Geng Xuan nodded and said, "That is to say, if this thousand-man group wants to form real combat effectiveness, it will take at least until the 30th of this month."

Fang Jintang nodded and said:

“Yes, this is consistent with our original estimate.

Moreover, it is not just a matter of people, the dispatch and collection of various materials also takes time.”

At this point, Fang Jintang suddenly laughed and said:

"Although you took us to Yueluyuan for a tour, it seemed to have wasted some time.

But in terms of actual results, there was no delay.

Now, the food that is being transported from Yueluyuan in an endless stream means that we don’t need to spend any time on collecting and dispatching supplies.”

Geng Xuan thought for a moment and asked, "How is the mobilization of personnel in Santongji and Qingyuanji going now?"

Fang Jintang nodded and said:

"Very smooth.

First, we have already achieved a great victory in Yixianxia, and no one dares to disobey our conscription order.

Another thing is that we are the defenders, while Anleji and Baiyuanji are the attackers who came from afar.

For us, we have an advantage over the Wu family in mobilizing manpower.

Many things can even be directly handed over to civilians.

With Qi Mingcheng and I personally in charge, the situation in Santongji and Qingyuanji has been almost sorted out.

According to the plan we have discussed, after I return this time, I will take everyone to Qingyuanji to meet up and adapt in advance."

After analyzing the situation of Anleji, Baiyuanji, Qingyuanji and Santongji with Geng Xuan, Fang Jintang did not stay for long. He led Luo Qing and twenty members of the Giant Bear Gang, who had already prepared to set off, and left Wanfufang.

Geng Xuan did not give them Xuanyou horses, but instead arranged three Yuanzhou horses for each of them, which was enough for them to reach Santongji before tomorrow morning.

……

In the evening, Geng Xuan improved his "Mountain-Destroying and Steel-Breaking Fist" to perfection.

Instead of falling asleep, he passed through the Wei family's underground secret room alone and entered the underground tunnel.

Soon, Geng Xuan entered the underground tunnel network of Kangleji.

And his face, unknowingly, returned to its true appearance.

Not long after, Geng Xuan passed through the secret cave and re-entered the underground tunnel of Changpingfang, and then returned to the underground space he had dug with his own hands.

Looking at the narrow passage that can only be passed by people slithering through.

Geng Xuan inexplicably felt a sense of homesickness.

——The last time he left, Geng Xuan filled up the upper basement, which was used to cover up camouflage but was also more easily discovered, leaving only a narrow tunnel for him to snake through.

Geng Xuan took two deep breaths before going in.

After a while, Geng Xuan came out from the hidden corner of the ground floor room.

Geng Xuan looked around the room. If he looked carefully, he could see that a thin layer of dust had accumulated on the floor, tables, chairs, and bed.

Geng Xuan, feeling inexplicably emotional, did not go out directly, but cleaned the house.

After finishing cleaning, Geng Xuan went to the closet and took out a set of home clothes that he often wore. He went to the well in the backyard, fetched water, washed himself carefully, and put them on.

This action completely separated Geng Xuan's mentality from the identity of "Leader of the Giant Bear Gang", and he returned to the state of an eighteen-year-old neighborhood youth.

After finishing everything, Geng Xuan opened the door.

He was about to step out, but suddenly stopped.

Because no one had lived there for a while and there had been no special cleaning, there was a thin layer of dust not only inside the house, but also under the eaves in front of the door and in the small yard.

If you don't look carefully, it would be difficult for ordinary people to notice it even during the day, let alone at this night when the stars and the moon are very dim.

But Geng Xuan, with his amazing eyesight, saw it with just a casual glance.

He saw not only the floating dust, but also footprints.

The footprints were small and shallow.

Some of these shallow and small footprints look very fresh, as if they were left just in the past two days.

Some are very old, as if they have been there for quite some time, and have been broken and messy due to new footprints, so that only a few traces can be seen.

These footprints were scattered under the main hall in front of the door, in the small courtyard, and next to the stone table.

Looking at these footprints, Geng Xuan could already imagine that a little girl of four or five years old often lingered at the gate of his courtyard and peeped inside during the time when he was away.

Finally, she went straight into the yard, walked to the eaves in front of the door, and circled and lingered in front of the closed door.

Sometimes she would play alone in the yard, going to the stone table where Geng Xuan used to have breakfast, kicking and stepping on it with her small shoes.

The traces captured by his keen eyes and the images restored in his mind made Geng Xuan feel an inexplicable warmth flowing in his heart.

As for who this little girl was, Geng Xuan already had a clear answer in his mind.

Geng Xuan stood at the door for a while before stepping over the threshold and stepping on these small and shallow footprints.

Geng Xuan walked across the courtyard, opened the carefully closed, dilapidated gate of his own house, and arrived at the gate on the opposite side.

"Bang bang bang-"

Geng Xuan raised his hand and knocked on the gate.

No one answered.

Geng Xuan paused for a moment before knocking on the door again.

"Bang bang bang-"

After a moment, a somewhat alert female voice came from inside the house.

"Who?"

"Aunt, it's me." Geng Xuan said.

"Ah?! Brother Xuan?...Wait a minute...Pah...Wait a minute..."

Zeng Rou's unexpected and anxious voice came from inside the house, accompanied by the sound of an object falling to the ground.

Geng Xuan judged from the sound that the oil lamp must have fallen to the ground.

Zeng Rou, who should have been soundly asleep, got up and prepared to light the oil lamp that was placed nearby, but she ended up dropping the lamp on the ground in a hurry.

Geng Xuan couldn't help but remind him:

"Auntie, please slow down, don't fall down."

"okay."

"Mother, what's the matter..."

At this moment, another childish and confused voice came from the house.

Then, without waiting for Zeng Rou to reply, the childish voice turned into a long scream——

"what!!"

Then, Geng Xuan saw a small figure coming out from the door that was only slightly opened, and like a trail of afterimage, it quickly crossed the courtyard. The small figure, wearing only a thin inner garment, jumped up and threw itself into his arms.

Because she didn't jump very high, Geng Xuan bent down and grabbed her hands to prevent her from falling to the ground, and caught her steadily.

Chen Xiaoyu didn't say anything either, just lay on Geng Xuan's shoulder.

Soon, Geng Xuan felt the area where his shoulder touched Chen Xiaoyu's cheek gradually getting wet.

Geng Xuan was surprised and asked, "Why are you still crying? Are you unhappy to see me?"

After saying this, he only felt the little head on his shoulder shaking rapidly, but no one said anything. Instead, the area on his shoulder wet by tears became larger and larger.

She was clearly crying even harder.

Geng Xuan had to comfort her, “Alright, alright, don’t cry. I was just joking. I know you are happy to see me, and I am happy to see you, too. Alright, alright…”

Geng Xuan didn't know what he had said wrong. Chen Xiaoyu, who had been crying silently on his shoulder, suddenly burst into tears without any warning.

He could kill a big man weighing two or three hundred pounds with a snap of his fingers, but now he has no way to deal with this little thing weighing thirty pounds.

Geng Xuan, who was feeling at a loss, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the door open again and his aunt Zeng Rou hurried out of the room while tying the belt of her skirt.

Zeng Rou walked quickly across the courtyard and quickly put the clothes in her hand on Chen Xiaoyu.

In order to make it easier for her to act, Geng Xuan wanted to temporarily separate Chen Xiaoyu's hands that were tightly hugging his neck so that he could put her hands into his sleeves.

But after feeling his movements, Chen Xiaoyu, who had begun to cry slowly, suddenly cried even louder.

The little hand around his neck tightened a little.

Geng Xuan couldn't help but freeze.

Zeng Rou simply wrapped her clothes tightly around Chen Xiaoyu and said:

"Xuan brother, if you don't mind the trouble, please hold her for a while longer.

This girl is very stubborn. We have tried to persuade her many times, but the more we persuade her, the more she becomes convinced that you have left and will never come back."

Geng Xuan paused for a moment and said quickly, "Then I'll hold you for a while longer."

He knew that when Zeng Rou said that Chen Xiaoyu believed that he was "gone", she actually meant that she believed that he was "dead".

Although Chen Xiaoyu is only four or five years old, she already understands many things that she should know.

Every year, there are always separations and deaths in the neighborhood.

This is the norm in Changpingfang.

It's not surprising that Chen Xiaoyu would think this way since he hasn't shown up for such a long time.

Geng Xuan held Chen Xiaoyu in his arms, and Zeng Rou led him into the house.

Geng Xuan asked curiously:

"Aunt, where is Uncle Chen? And Brother Zheng, are they not at home now?"

Zeng Judao:
"I am currently discussing matters with Master Chai and the others in Li Xun's courtyard. We are about to start the large-scale migration, and we should be making the final arrangements now."

Geng Xuan nodded and said nothing more.

Zeng Rou saw his reaction and asked in surprise:
"Brother Xuan, you already know about this?" Geng Xuan's expression froze when he heard this.

You can't say that when Bajiafang proposed this decision, I was there and personally nodded in confirmation, and only then was it passed and implemented?
I could only vaguely respond, "Yeah."

It can be seen that Zeng Rou still has many questions to ask, but every time the words came to her lips, she swallowed them back.

This made her look a little uncomfortable after she was busy inviting Geng Xuan to sit down and making him a pot of hot tea.

I wanted to chat about some meaningless topics, but I really couldn't bring myself to say it.

I want to ask something I'm really curious about, such as where have you been during this period, why did you leave so suddenly without even a message, how are you eating, how is your accommodation, is your work hard, is it dangerous...

There were so many things she wanted to know, but she remembered her man's instructions and couldn't say them out loud.

Finally, she simply stood up and said, "Take Xiaoyu and sit in the room for a while. I'll go call your uncle back."

Geng Xuan said, "It's okay. Waiting a while won't delay anything."

Zeng Rou, on the other hand, made up her mind and said:

"When the decision is made in the workshop, he just runs errands. It won't affect anything whether he is there or not."

"Uh……"

Geng Xuan thought that if Uncle Chen heard this, he would probably be very hurt.

……

Anleji and Baiyuanji are both mobilizing, so there is no reason for Geng Xuan to do nothing.

In addition to Santongji, Baiyuanji, and the Giant Bear Gang, they are all actively preparing for war.

The eight central districts, including Changpingfang, Wanfufang, Yonghefang and Tianrunfang, are also making corresponding mobilizations.

Putting aside individual strength, when it comes to militarized mobilization, compared with Anleji, Baiyuanji, Santongji and Qingyuanji, Bajiazhongfang is the real expert.

During the annual autumn hunt, the entire neighborhood, except for those who are too old, too young, or too weak to do the work, must participate.

Everyone should do his or her job and do his or her best.

The residents will not have any resistance to the mobilization that affects the entire neighborhood, but will instead actively cooperate.

It was not Geng Xuan's designation that Bajiafang should be mobilized, but it was Bajiafang's initiative to request it.

In this conflict with Anleji, they also want to do their part.

Instead of retreating to Kangleji and pretending that everything has nothing to do with them anymore.

Geng Xuan still has no plan to let them charge into battle, but he will not refuse their request.

During this period, Bajiafang had abundant supply of resources.

Not only did he purchase more and higher quality weapons, but he also invested heavily in purchasing nearly a hundred Xuanyou Iron Cavalry.

With the accumulation of a large amount of cultivation resources, many practitioners who were stuck in the bottleneck period have seen a significant improvement in their cultivation strength.

——A practitioner is stuck at a bottleneck period, unable to make further progress with his limited family resources, or is unable to make a desperate decision due to factors such as being burdened by family and children, being older, and having his potential exhausted.

For this type of practitioners, the neighborhood will not invest resources in them either, as they have to consider the issue of input and output "returns".

Now, with the huge income of one or two million taels, the people in the neighborhood no longer have to worry about this.

With sufficient supply of resources, many practitioners who were stuck in the bottleneck period were able to take advantage of the upward trend of the entire neighborhood and rise along with it.

For example, Chen Rongshan, who was at the advanced flesh refining stage, took advantage of this favorable situation and advanced to the blood refining stage.

There are many people like him in Bajiafang.

There are also many senior blood refining masters who took the opportunity to advance to the bone refining level.

In addition, there was one senior bone refiner in his fifties and two senior bone refiners in their forties in Bajiafang who took the opportunity to break through to the marrow refinement level.

With the addition of the three people in the Marrow Refining Realm who were already in Bajiafang, the number of people in the Marrow Refining Realm doubled.

It is precisely because of the rapid growth of Lifang's strength during this period that Fan Hongsheng and others have the confidence to get involved in the next clash with the Wu family.

The plan for Balifang was to temporarily relocate all the residents of Balifang to Yonghefang, which had the best geographical location and was the easiest to defend and difficult to attack.

After all the practitioners are mobilized and assembled, the eight families can gather a total of more than two thousand combat-ready troops.

——Take Changpingfang as an example. During the autumn hunting period, the hunting team had nearly 160 people.

Together with the logistics team and other teams which also have a certain proportion of cultivators, it is not difficult to pull out a combat force of more than two hundred people.

This time, due to the influx of huge resources, members like Chen Rongshan, who have been tacitly withdrawn from the battle sequence and are responsible for various miscellaneous management, have seen a surge in their cultivation strength and a second spring. It is not difficult to increase the number of troops by fifty on the original basis.

Not only are there more people, but their average strength is also stronger.

The situation in other neighborhoods is similar to that in Changpingfang.

With these background connections, Bajiafang was able to mobilize 2,000 soldiers, which was twice the number of soldiers mobilized by Anleji and Baiyuanji.

It’s not that the potential of Anleji and Baiyuanji is only this great, but that this has reached the limit of what they can tolerate. If they continue to exploit and force them, these two markets will explode from the inside.

Just as Hong Quan summarized, after one or two hundred years of evolution, the practitioners in Yuanzhou have long been accustomed to fighting on their own and finding ways to protect themselves when danger comes.

The militarized and collectivist lifestyle is contrary to the nature of Yuanzhou practitioners.

The neighborhoods such as Changpingfang and Wanfufang, which depend on Chiwu Mountain for their food, have retained their militarized mobilization capabilities, and each neighborhood has a considerable number of practitioners, which is why such an astonishing result has been achieved.

Six people in the Marrow Refining Realm and more than two thousand combat-ready soldiers gave the eight families more confidence.

The plan of Fan Hongsheng and others was that he, Wei Wanzong, and a newly promoted marrow refining realm warrior would lead a thousand soldiers to Santongji in the east.

Another senior marrow refiner, together with two new marrow refiners, took the remaining soldiers to guard the house and stationed in Yonghefang, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack.

In this way, not only can the hometown be kept safe, but also as many forces as possible can be mobilized to participate in the clash with the Wu family of Anleji.

In order to avoid revealing signs in advance and allowing Anleji to respond, whether it is the mobilization and migration of the neighborhoods or the thousands of soldiers heading east to Santongji, they will all be launched at the most appropriate time.

The Wu family was unable to anticipate and prepare in advance.

……

When the hurried footsteps outside the door came closer and closer, Chen Rongshan, Chen Zheng and Zeng Rou returned home.

What was heard was Chen Xiaoyu's giggle.

Chen Rongshan, who had already walked to the gate of the courtyard, heard his daughter's laughter, stopped for a moment, rubbed his face, which seemed too serious, making his facial features look more casual and gentle, then he opened the gate and walked into the house.

Chen Zheng, who was following beside him, did nothing. Anyway, no normal person could tell any emotion on his face.

After entering the house, Chen Rongshan glanced at Geng Xuan, then looked at Chen Yu who was sitting on Geng Xuan's lap, and asked with a smile:
"Yu'er, what are you laughing about so happily?"

Chen Xiaoyu's smile did not fade. Upon hearing this, she immediately chirped and shared:

"Dad, Brother Xuan'er is making up stories to entertain me.

He said that there was once a king who loved to wear beautiful clothes.

Two swindlers found him and said they could make the most beautiful clothes in the world, which only the smartest people could see...

The king just walked around the street naked, and everyone praised his clothes.

In the end, only one kid said he was naked..."

At the end, Chen Xiaoyu seemed to think of the funny and absurd scene again, and couldn't help giggling again.

After hearing this story of "tricking children for fun", Chen Rongshan was stunned.

Chen Xiaoyu was young and only heard the funny parts.

However, he heard a bitter irony in it. He looked at Geng Xuan deeply and said to Chen Xiaoyu who was sitting on Geng Xuan's lap:
"Yu'er, go to your mother's place. I want to chat with your brother Xuan'er."

"No, no..." Chen Xiaoyu twisted her body and said coquettishly in a delicate voice.

Geng Xuan smiled and said, "It's okay. It won't cause any trouble."

Chen Rongshan nodded and asked, "When did you come back?"

Geng Xuan said, "I just came back and came to tell you and Auntie."

Chen Rongshan sat down next to him, opened his mouth and paused for a moment, then finally said:
"Have you had dinner? If not, ask your aunt to make some?"

After he said this, Chen Rongshan realized that what he said was a bit stupid.

It's already past midnight, so it's not appropriate to ask people to have dinner at this time.

But for Geng Xuan, this time is just right for having a midnight snack and drinking some wine.

Hearing this, he smiled and said, "I have already eaten dinner, but if Auntie doesn't mind, I would really like to have a couple of drinks with Uncle Chen and Brother Zheng."

Zeng Rou immediately stood up and said with a smile, "It's not a big deal. The materials are always ready. It will be done quickly."

This conversation instantly made the atmosphere in the room soft and natural.

Geng Xuan saw the concerns in Chen Rongshan's heart, so he took the initiative to ask about the mobilization plan in the neighborhood.

Speaking of this, Chen Rongshan has countless topics to talk about.

He no longer worried about what he should and should not ask, and went straight to talking about various things related to the mobilization of the neighborhood.

Not long after, Zeng Rou brought portions of cooked and cut pickled and cured cold dishes to the table.

With these pickled and cured cold dishes, and the homemade fire-baked bread from the neighborhood to add to his excitement, Chen Rongshan became even more talkative.

Chen Zheng next to him still had a wooden face and hardly said a word from beginning to end.

However, he never missed a toast every time.

Soon, Zeng Rou brought several hot dishes to the table.

Seeing that she was about to turn around and go to the kitchen, Geng Xuan quickly called her back and said:

"Auntie, that's enough, this much is enough, please don't do any more.

I woke you up in the middle of the night and made such a fuss. Why don't you sit down and eat something?"

Zeng Rou was stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded:
"That's fine, but there are two more dishes in the kitchen. I'll bring them over."

When Zeng Rou returned with the dishes, Geng Xuan was pouring wine into an empty glass and said to her:

"Auntie, you should drink some too."

"it is good."

Zeng Rou responded, wiped her hands with the apron around her waist, and sat down next to Geng Xuan.

She held up the wine glass with both hands, moved closer to Geng Xuan, opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only said:

"Xuan'er, I can't say anything else. I just wish you all the best... all the best."

As she spoke, her eyes inexplicably turned red and her voice became a little choked.

Geng Xuan paused for a moment, then nodded and said:
"Everything is fine...you, Uncle Chen, Brother Zheng, Xiaoyu, everyone is fine."

Zeng Rou nodded, held the wine glass to her lips with both hands, paused, and drank it all in one gulp.

The next moment, her face turned red, and she went to the side and coughed several times before she stopped.

Geng Xuan saw this and realized something. He said apologetically:
"Auntie, have a cup of tea to moisten your throat... This Liehuoshao is indeed a bit hard to swallow for people who don't drink alcohol on weekdays, and it burns the throat."

As he spoke, he poured her a cup of almost cold herbal tea and placed it next to her.

Zeng Rou, with red cheeks, took two sips of the herbal tea, then recovered and said hurriedly:

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm really happy. I drank too much and I'm fine now."

The midnight snack took nearly an hour.

At the beginning, Chen Xiaoyu was happy to join in the fun.

Later on, I began to feel a little overwhelmed.

In the end, he just fell asleep, and no matter how noisy the noises were, he was not disturbed at all.

When no more wine could be poured out of the jar, the drinking party came to an end.

The lively atmosphere quickly cooled down without anyone noticing.

Chen Rongshan suddenly asked: "Ah Xuan, will you return to Changpingfang in the future?"

Geng Xuan nodded and smiled, "Of course, but I can't say for sure when... If I leave for too long, I won't be expelled from the neighborhood, right?"

Chen Rongshan shook his head and said:

"How could that be? There are many young men from the Lifang who travel outside. Ten, eight, twenty, or thirty years, as long as they remember to come back, they are all young men from the Lifang."

Geng Xuan nodded, was silent for a moment, and said:

"Uncle Chen, Auntie, Brother Zheng, that's it for today. I'm leaving."

Chen Rongshan and Chen Zheng just nodded slightly, and when Geng Xuan stood up, they also stood up.

Zeng Rou, on the other hand, was more sentimental, and her eyes suddenly turned red again.

She reached out to hug Chen Xiaoyu who was sleeping in Geng Xuan's arms. Geng Xuan said:
"If she moves too much, she'll wake up easily. I'll just put her on the bed."

Zeng Rou nodded and quickly led Geng Xuan into the bedroom.

What Geng Xuan feared most was not waking the little girl up, but that she would wake up and know that he was leaving, and start crying again.

Zeng Rou gently put Chen Xiaoyu into the soft bed and stayed in the room to take care of Chen Xiaoyu.

Geng Xuan left the bedroom and said goodbye to Chen Rongshan and his son again.

When Geng Xuan was about to leave, Chen Rongshan said:
"Ah Xuan, Master Chai also knows that you are back. He asked you to visit him when you are free."

Geng Xuan nodded. Even if Chen Rongshan didn't say anything, he would still go to Mr. Chai's place.

After leaving Chen's house and returning to his own home, Geng Xuan took down a black bow hanging on the wall.

By the way, this black bow was lent to me by Master Chai before the Autumn Hunt. It has been so long since the Autumn Hunt, and I haven't found a chance to return it.

Of course, considering how busy Mr. Chai is now, if I don’t mention it, he probably won’t remember this matter anymore.

Geng Xuan weighed the black bow in his hand, then turned around and left the room again.

At this time, it was already past midnight and all the households in the neighborhood had gone to sleep. Apart from Geng Xuan, there was no one else on the road.

All the way to Mr. Chai’s courtyard.

"Bang bang bang-"

Geng Xuan raised his hand and knocked on the door.

The next moment, Master Chai's voice rang out from inside the house, "But the Geng family kid?"

"It's me." Geng Xuan replied.

"You still remember to come here, I thought you had forgotten about me!
...I have no sympathy for the elderly. Don’t you know that staying up late is harmful to my health at my age?!

Come in quickly, do you want me to open the door for you personally?"

Although Mr. Chai did not show up, his complaints had already reached Geng Xuan's ears.

Geng Xuan pushed open the gate and entered the house.

Mr. Chai was lying on a recliner in the main hall, wearing a fur coat and with his eyes half open. When he saw Geng Xuan coming in, he opened his eyes and sat up, asking:
"Where have you been all this time? You disappeared without a word, and everyone thought you were dead!"

Geng Xuan smiled and said, "Thanks to you, I am doing fine now."

Then he raised the black bow in his hand and said, "I'll return this to you. Thank you."

Mr. Chai asked, “No need?”

Geng Xuan shook his head and said, "No need."

Master Chai sighed, patted the armrest of the recliner, and said:

"Yes, you have climbed up the social ladder now, and an old man like me is useless in your eyes."

Geng Xuan was stunned and asked, "What do you mean? Climb up the high branch, whose high branch should I climb up?"

Mr. Chai looked at him sideways and asked, "Where have you been during this time?"

"Uh……"

Geng Xuan hadn't finished composing the lyrics yet. Under Mr. Chai's gaze, he could only blink innocently.

"Don't tell me that you have gone to a secluded place." Master Chai suddenly said again.

“Uh…” Just as he was about to use this to fool people, Mr. Chai predicted his prediction in advance.

"You haven't been seen for a while. Is it related to the Giant Bear Gang?" Mr. Chai asked again.

"..." Geng Xuan blinked again.

"I knew it."

As if he had gotten an answer, Mr. Chai lay back in his chair and sighed:

"Be more careful, kid. Don't just look at us and cooperate with the Giant Bear Gang and try to get close to them.

Let me tell you, the leader of the Giant Bear Gang has a very wild mind.

If you don't pay more attention, you might be killed at any time."

"The Giant Bear Gang leader wants to harm me?" Geng Xuan looked at Master Chai with a "surprised" look on his face.

Master Chai glanced at him and laughed:

"Does he have the leisure to come and harm you?"

"Then..." Geng Xuan blinked again.

"Just wait and see, the Anleji Wu family, the Wuyou Palace, and now the Jinsha Gang... They are clearly planning to cause trouble, don't you know how many people will die?
You're so close, your little arms and legs will get folded if you're not careful!"

"Wait, I haven't told you what connection I have with the Giant Bear Gang!" Geng Xuan said quickly.

"Then don't say anything." said Mr. Chai.

"...Since you have such a prejudice against the leader of the Giant Bear Gang, why are you so proactive this time? You are eager to help even though the leader hasn't even asked?" Geng Xuan asked.

Master Chai opened his eyes and looked at him, saying unhappily:
"Which eye of yours saw that I had a prejudice against the Giant Bear Gang Leader?
I have great respect for him!
This time I go to Santongji, even if I have to sacrifice my old bones, I am willing to do it! "

"…But you just said that to me."

"You kid, you don't understand anything!"

Mr. Chai glanced at him again, as if he was too lazy to say more to him about this matter.

When Master Chai saw Geng Xuan standing there, he said:

“It must not be easy for you to come out this time. Since you have made your decision, then stay in the Giant Bear Gang.

I don't have anything else to do, I just can't help but want to see you and talk to you, maybe there won't be a next time.

...Okay, you can go back."

Geng Xuan was speechless and wanted to say that what you said was too unlucky and you didn't have to be so pessimistic.

Have more faith in the Giant Bear Gang Leader!

But of course, I just thought about it in my mind.

Geng Xuan looked at Master Chai, and then looked around the courtyard which was always deserted and empty with only him there every time he came. Suddenly he couldn't help but ask:
"Master Chai, I never asked, where are the rest of your family? It's impossible that you are the only one, right?"

"other people?"

Master Chai was stunned for a moment, his voice became a little bleak, and he said:

“The old woman died more than ten years ago, leaving behind two sons and a daughter.

The older one died in an autumn hunt, and the younger one went out traveling and never came back.

Two years ago, a business firm sent me a message saying that he had established himself in Yuanjing, had married and had children, and asked me to go over... Bah, he has the nerve to show off to me when he's just a guard at someone else's house.

I am so old and have been upright all my life. Now I am old, do I have to do the work of serving others?

What is this bastard thinking! "

Geng Xuan nodded and asked, "What about your daughter?"

"Daughter?" Master Chai's expression suddenly eased a lot, and he said:
“After marrying to Tianrunfang, I would occasionally bring my children over to live for a while.

However, I told her to come here less often. Since she is already a wife and a mother, there is no reason for her to go back to her parents' home every other day.

Don’t let people say behind my back that my daughter from the Chai family has no upbringing.”

When Geng Xuan heard this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I even can't help but complain that your stubbornness deserves your loneliness now.

I was originally worried that the old man would have a bleak old age and a lonely and empty life, but now it seems that he was overthinking.

This was clearly a choice the old man made on his own initiative.

Well, in that case, Geng Xuan has nothing more to say.

In Mr. Chai’s opinion, this was a rare meeting.

There’s no telling if there will be a next time.

But for Geng Xuan, it was just a matter of seeing each other every day, so naturally he didn't have any special feelings about it.

He bowed and prepared to say goodbye and leave.

at this time--

"Wait." Mr. Chai suddenly spoke.