Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 69 68 Target
It’s the end of the year and the winter is very cold.

With no food to eat and no clothes to wear, and with demons attacking, how can we survive?
However, after entering the inner city, the miserable scene seemed to be wiped out out of thin air.

The sounds of hawking can be heard everywhere, and the pedestrians are dressed simply but cleanly. From time to time, you can see young men dressed in fine clothes and carrying fat horses like Li Cunxiao.

Aroma of wine, meat, and cosmetics
With mixed feelings, Li Cunxiao once again walked into Zuichunlou.

In the box, in addition to Shen He, Jiang Qi, Xiao Mei, and Ye Chengxiao, there were several other unfamiliar faces.

But without exception, they all wore brocade clothes and jade ornaments.

When they saw Li Cunxiao, everyone greeted him warmly and introduced themselves.

After some pleasantries and another round of drinks, they finally got to the point.

"Brother Li, the purpose of this gathering is secondary. The most important thing is to invite you to join a small gathering organized by us."

"Senior Sister Jiang told me that they had contacted various martial arts schools in the inner city for the purpose of sparring, right? I remember that only martial artists who have mastered Qi and Blood can participate?"

"That's right," the young man said with an expression of pride when Li Cunxiao spoke to him.

"If Brother Li has any promising talents, he can also bring them over for discussion and exchange."

"Brother Shen, for example, often recommends some young talents to participate. After all, martial artists value actual combat first, and working in isolation does more harm than good."

"That's true," Li Cunxiao nodded.

After all, fighting for life and death is dangerous. The so-called breakthrough in the battle means completely entrusting your life to luck.

Generally speaking, if a warrior wants to gain practical combat experience, he should mainly rely on sparring, bit by bit, and everything will come naturally.

There are dozens of martial arts schools of all sizes in the city, each with its own unique skills. Fighting with others more often and experiencing different types of fists, kicks and weapons will only bring benefits and no harm.

"Then I would like to recommend two people to join," Li Cunxiao thought of He Bi and Qin Yu when he heard this.

Wei He has good talent. In just a few days, he has been able to sense qi and blood. This has rarely attracted the attention of the Cui brothers, who seem to be willing to teach him some skills.

But now, he has not yet mastered his qi and blood, and his realm is not high enough.

He Bi was the first person to invest in Li Cunxiao, and he treated people sincerely. Li Cunxiao always remembered this friendship in his heart.

As for Qin Yu, although he seemed a bit snobbish at first, he was able to stand up to the Wei siblings despite the pressure from Shen He.

On the one hand, it shows his cleverness and decisiveness, and on the other hand, it indirectly helps Li Cunxiao gain the favor of Zhang Lishi, and he is also a person worth making friends with.

Since we are all friends, why not help each other?

"Oh? Brother Li must be surrounded by young talents, so we are naturally..."

The man was about to agree immediately when he heard this. Shen He, who had remained silent all along, suddenly spoke up:

"I wonder who these two people are that Junior Brother Li is talking about?"

Li Cunxiao looked over in surprise. The other party was not as enthusiastic as before and was quite cold.

The others also shut their mouths after hearing this.

But on second thought, he understood.

He emerged as a rising star and became so popular that he overshadowed all the other disciples of Zhang Lishi.

It is true that these people are from aristocratic families, but no matter how big the family's mission is, it is impossible to override all personal likes and dislikes.

envy? envious?
Li Cunxiao didn't care about these and his tone remained calm.

"It's none other than the two young escort masters from our escort agency, Qin Yu and He Bi."

"They are all experts in controlling Qi and blood, so they are just right for participating in the small meeting."

Upon hearing this, Shen He raised his hand and glanced at the people in gorgeous clothes.

"Those who attend our gathering are all descendants of prominent families, business groups, and martial arts schools in the inner city."

"Only in this way can we maintain the threshold of the small meeting and ensure that both parties can gain something from the competition."

He said this with a gentle smile.

There was no malice in his eyes, but the words he said next made the atmosphere in the box a little colder.

"I remember that Qin Yu's family only ran a herbal medicine shop, and it took him several months to manipulate the Qi and blood."

"Then why not hurry up? The He family's good grain shop is also quite famous in the outer city."

"Junior brother, why bother? As for Qin Yu, let's just forget about it."

After the words fell, there was a deep silence. Many people quietly retreated a few steps, leaving the few people from the escort agency in the middle.

"What family background or talent? Shen He is clearly targeting Li Sanlang."

"This is terrible! Why would they be so different from each other? Aren't they from the same sect? Didn't they discuss this beforehand?"

"This gathering was originally initiated by Zhang Lishi's disciples. If these two start a fight, what will happen if the event fails?"

"Alas, I can't fit into the circle of the three major families. I finally found a suitable place for fighting and exchanging ideas."

Li Cunxiao looked at the people around him who were silent as a mouse, and glanced at Shen He who had a fake smile on his face. He was not surprised.

Be it the so-called talent or background, Shen He was unwilling to let Qin Yu join the small group. Although these factors played a role, they were not the main factors.

To put it bluntly, whether Qin Yu joins or is rejected depends not on himself, but on Li Cunxiao, the recommender.

How can a small circle have so many rigid rules?
If Zhang Lishi said that he wanted to join this small club, even if he was a three-year-old child, Shen He would probably grin and invite him in.

"Shen He is very dissatisfied with me."

"Yes, in the past, when the eldest brother was away, Shen He relied on his cultivation background and always regarded himself as the acting eldest brother."

"Now I'm here to hold the line. Shen He wants to go up, but Master Zhang ignores him."

"If I leave, I'm afraid I won't be able to bring myself to do it. It would be strange if I don't hate me." Li Cunxiao thought, and glanced at everyone in the room.
"Do you all think so?"

"This"

A group of people hesitated, their eyes shifting between Shen He and Li Cunxiao.

Either they said nothing, or they said something like "Brother Li and Brother Shen can discuss it" or "We have no objection."

'Opinions? How dare they have opinions?'

Shen He looked at everyone who was pretending to be flattering and showed a triumphant smile.

This small meeting was initiated by him in his capacity as the eldest son of the Shen family and a disciple of the Flying Tiger Escort Agency.

Those who can come here all have good family backgrounds in the inner city, but they cannot reach the threshold of the three major families.

Zhang Yuelu has her father and Shi Yifu as her practice partners, so she never participates in small meetings.

Xiao Mei specializes in the family's inherited charm skills, and her martial arts skills are really poor. She comes here just for fun.

As for Ye Chengxiao, he is a newcomer to the club.

To put it bluntly, he and Jiang Qi are the core of this small meeting.

Shen He specifically asked Jiang Qi to invite Li Cunxiao, not to win him over as the latter thought, but to give him a warning!

Whenever Shen He thought of what happened to Wei He and his brother last time, he felt as uncomfortable as a cat crawling.

From childhood to adulthood, apart from facing the legitimate sons of the three major families, when had he ever suffered such a great loss?
A kid from a restaurant, who had just become Zhang Lishi's disciple for a few days, was already using his master's name to bully others?
And you're threatening him?!
Unfortunately, he had no way to deal with it.

But Shen He really couldn't swallow his anger.

After much thought, he finally came to a conclusion:

For the benefit of the family, it is still necessary to win over Li Cunxiao, but simply showing goodwill will not work. Strength must be demonstrated at the right time.

The other party came from a humble background and suddenly rose to a high position. I'm afraid he became so arrogant that he doesn't take anyone seriously except Master Zhang and Shi Tie.

At such times, the more you obey, the more the other party will take it for granted and will not feel the slightest gratitude;

On the contrary, if we refuse appropriately, Li Cunxiao will realize the limitations of his own power, and he will show respect to those who can help him.

Combining kindness and strictness is the correct way to get along with others.

It's true that you are a genius, and it's true that you are favored by Master Zhang, but that doesn't mean you can ignore your senior brothers!

The world of martial arts is not about fighting and killing, but about human relationships.

If the other party refuses to change his ways, Shen He doesn't mind teaching him a lesson.

No matter how talented he was, Li Cunxiao had only been promoted to the second realm for half a month.

He had been immersed in this realm for five or six years, and his muscles and bones had been trained to perfection. He also had much more combat experience than Li Cunxiao, who had only made two escort missions.

The last time I was captured by the Wind Weasel King, I didn’t die. That was luck.

Now I want to suppress you, Li Sanlang, so what!

"Brother Shen is a bit too harsh. Why bother? Qin Yu is from the escort agency, and Junior Brother Li is the guarantor."

Jiang Qi came out with a frown to smooth things over, a little dissatisfied with Shen He's unexpected attack.

"Junior Sister Jiang, you're too kind. This little meeting wasn't anything unusual."

"I see that Junior Brother Li has been very close to Chief Cui and Chief Cui recently. Why not let them guide Qin Yu directly? Isn't that better than our petty quarrels?"

Shen He hinted at something, and Jiang Qi fell silent upon hearing that.

Although they didn't know about the Tiankeng Lake Demon, they could see the change in Zhang Lishi and the Cui brothers' attitude towards Li Cunxiao.

In addition, the time when several of them were not in the escort agency that day overlapped, which made it easy for people to think that these three people gave Li Cunxiao special treatment or told him some secrets alone.

This feeling of being left out is not only uncomfortable, but also sends a dangerous signal:

They are being marginalized.

Jiang Qi and Shen He racked their brains but couldn't figure out the reason, but Li Cunxiao knew that after Zhang Lishi got the Yiluo River treasure, he was more confident than before, and correspondingly less patient.

As Li Cunxiao's weight in Zhang Lishi's heart grows, the space left for children of wealthy families like Shen He will continue to shrink.

Unless they are willing to lower their proud heads and fully side with Zhang Lishi - but this is impossible.

Jiang, Shen, Han, and Yang sent their sons to escort agencies and martial arts schools, and also married their daughters to Murong, Ye, and Xiao.

Putting eggs in two baskets has become a habit among the rich.

The three upper families and the four lower families in the inner city have intricate relationships and can fight but not break up. The so-called Seven Family Alliance is not just a joke.

Jiang Qi was silent, but Xiao Mei smiled softly with her hands covering her mouth when she saw this. Her soft voice tickled the men's hearts.

"Senior Brother Shen's words are not without reason. Junior Brother Li, I know you are alone and weak, and you want to gather some capable subordinates."

"But simply showing kindness won't earn them gratitude, and it won't foster their loyalty."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone suddenly became thoughtful, and their eyes looking at Li Cunxiao also had some other meanings.

Yup!

I didn't expect that Li Sanlang, who is famous for his righteousness, is actually a scheming person.

But then again, how can there be goodness without a reason in this world? How can there be loyalty that comes from the heart?

There was no betrayal, it was just that the price was not high enough.

How could Li Cunxiao have no ulterior motive when he showed favor to He Bi and Qin Yu?
As troubled times approach, every family is gathering strength. If we could recruit a few loyal warriors to provide comprehensive protection, wouldn't that be an extra layer of insurance?
(End of this chapter)