I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 68 The Only Winner
"I will follow the orders of Master Wei Xiang."

"Master Wei, please take good care of yourself."

Xie An and Zhang Lin bowed to Wei Dian and said goodbye, not forgetting to say some kind words of concern.

Only after Wei Xiangzhu walked away did the two stop, feeling relieved.

Eh.

Zhang Lin couldn't help but sigh in fear, "I never expected we'd suffer such heavy losses in our campaign against the Plum Blossom Monster. Seven deacons were killed, Xiangzhu Liu died in battle, and Xiangzhu Li lost both legs... The bandits in Dayin Mountain are truly terrifying!"

Although Xie An appeared calm, he was still a little scared.

They say it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Fortunately, I have always adhered to this principle. If I had been carried away by passion and bellicosity, and had been eager to make a contribution, I am afraid that among those corpses... I would be included.

It is really dangerous to be in the underworld, and you can't be careless for a moment.

Of course, Xie An also took advantage of the information gap. He had seen the Plum Blossom Monster kill the Chamber Pot boy before, and he knew about the fairy treasure and even took it in his hands.

So, when he just arrived tonight, Xie An realized that Chen Da and Fang Baiyu might be using fake fairy treasures to lure the plum blossom monster into the game.

At that time, Xie An felt that tonight's action was not about Baiyu Hall encircling the Plum Blossom Monster at all, but was just to satisfy Fang Baiyu's selfish desire for the immortal treasure.

Those incense masters and deacons who have been killed in the hall are just paying the price for Fang Baiyu's personal ambition.

It seems that this Master Fang is a very dangerous person.

A sentence from Wu Zetian in a Di Renjie movie in his previous life emerged in Xie An's mind: If you want to accomplish great things, even kill your closest relatives.

First of all, Xie An strongly disagreed with this statement, but he felt it was very appropriate for Fang Baiyu.

We need to be especially wary of this person in the future.

"We just had a big battle here. There's no guarantee that there will be other remnants of the Plum Blossom Monster coming over. Let's leave first."

Zhang Lin nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Since Wei Dian did not ask Xie An to hand over the horses, it was clear that he was doing Xie An a favor. Xie An naturally would not let go of this windfall, so he and Zhang Lin went to the woods to lead the tethered horses out and set off on their journey.

After all the trouble, it actually wasted a lot of time.

When he passed by the gate of Chen's house again, it was already late, the road was deserted, and on both sides of the road, the sound of the forest waves and the chirping of insects and birds was endless. Xie An felt relieved.

He reviewed tonight's actions in his mind.

In this campaign against the Plum Blossom Monster, it seems... everyone is a loser.

The only winner was Xie An.

Xie An learned the origins of the immortal treasure from the Plum Blossom Monster, which also implicated Li Changchun, the former dynasty's state religion and a leading monk. He also learned the key to unlocking the immortal treasure box—practicing the Mingyu Gong. Unfortunately, Li Changchun only taught the Mingyu Gong to two of his direct disciples, making obtaining the formula difficult. Fortunately, Xie An learned that the old man of the Tang family was one of Li Changchun's direct disciples. He knew that if he cultivated the health-preserving technique himself and developed a sense of Qi, he might be able to find the Mingyu Gong.

On the other hand, Xie An was keenly aware that after the heavy blow suffered by Baiyutang, a large number of core positions had become vacant. Perhaps... he would have a chance to be promoted.

Although Xie An was not too obsessed with promotion, there were undoubtedly too many benefits to getting promoted. The most important one was that he could get more resources for martial arts training, which was something Xie An had been longing for.

Finally, Xie An eliminated the hidden danger of Zhang Hengshui, and he no longer had to wear a mask.

Kill three birds with one stone!
Oh yes, there are twelve more horses... I got four or five hundred taels.

Is this killing four birds with one stone?
hiss!
Xie An's mind was a little excited. He secretly sighed that his operation was really too ingenious...

Zhang Lin, who was walking beside him, was also in a good mood. "Brother, I know a horse farm owner in Shuideng Town. His surname is Ma. He specializes in horse breeding for a living and is also responsible for training military horses for the garrison. Tomorrow I will ask Mr. Ma to go to the black market and sell these horses. I hope to negotiate a good price." Xie An readily agreed. "Okay. When the horses are sold, we will split the money in half."

Zhang Lin was shocked. "How can that be? This was Big Brother's idea, and he's already helped me a lot. How can I be so thick-skinned as to ask for money? I'm just running an errand for Big Brother."

Today, Zhang Lin's posture has become very correct.

Xie An took a step back and pretended to be tough. "Then it's 30-70. If Brother Zhang still doesn't agree, it will seem alienated."

Zhang Lin agreed only after realizing Xie An's firm attitude, which showed that he would not tolerate any discussion, but he was deeply moved.

Twelve horses could be sold for around five hundred taels. Thirty percent of that was one hundred and fifty taels, equivalent to Zhang Lin's harvest for half a year, and by no means a small sum.

After finalizing the distribution of money, both of them felt very relieved.

"According to what Xiangzhu Wei said just now, the hall has suffered heavy losses this time. Xiangzhu Liu is dead, and Xiangzhu Li has a leg injury. These two Xiangzhu positions are now vacant. Hall Master Fang will find someone capable to fill the vacancies. With my brother's ability, it won't be long before he is promoted to Xiangzhu."

Incense owner?

Xie An repeated this word in his mind and felt a little dazed.

It had been more than half a year since Xie An joined the Tigers and Wolves, and he had been steadily developing and practicing. It wasn't that Xie An didn't have ambitions, but he felt that the position of Incense Master was too far away, and he had never thought about competing for it.

Now that the hall has suffered huge losses, an opportunity has indeed emerged.

But after careful consideration, Xie An was not so optimistic.

This time, the hall was severely damaged and faced reconstruction. Fang Baiyu might indeed be secretly promoting a capable person to replace the vacant Xiangzhu position. In such a situation, Fang Baiyu is more likely to promote his own confidants.

But... Xie An also noticed that Wei Dian and Fang Baiyu didn't have a good relationship. Furthermore, Wei Dian was seriously injured and no longer valuable to Fang Baiyu. It was possible that Wei Dian's position as the incense master would be taken away by you, Fang Baiyu.

Since I was following Wei Dian, I might also be implicated and suppressed.

Maybe, after this incident, my treatment will be worse than it is now.

Crisis crisis...is when danger and opportunity coexist.

I'm afraid the danger is greater than the opportunity.

Xie An naturally didn't say any of this, but said modestly: "Brother Zhang, you're joking. I don't have any big ambitions. I just want to manage the black market well and live a stable life."

Zhang Lin just smiled and thought to himself that his elder brother had a really good attitude.

At this moment, a miserable cry for help came from inside the wall of Chen Mansion.

"Sir, please spare my life!"

Xie An and Zhang Lin were both surprised.

"Weren't all the Plum Blossom Monster's gang killed? How come someone is still killing people in the Chen Mansion? And judging by the cries for help, it seems to be the Chen family. Could it be that... there are still some of these Plum Blossom Monster's bandits alive?"

Xie An shook his head. "Since Bai Yu Tang has won, there is no way we can leave the evil bandits alive. The one who massacred the Chen family... I'm afraid they weren't evil bandits."

hiss!
Zhang Lin gasped: "It's... someone from my Baiyutang!"

Xie An lowered his voice and said, "There is only one person who can give such an order... But remember, I asked Wei Xiangzhu if he wanted to go in and clean up the mess, and Wei Xiangzhu said that Master Fang wouldn't let him..."

Zhang Lin blurted out three words: "The one who ordered the massacre of the Chen family was... Fang Baiyu."

(End of this chapter)