Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 40 Heroes List

The Tianxing Sword Sect incident was of unparalleled importance in the eyes of those in the know. It was a sign that the battle for the throne had entered a white-hot stage.

The princess was nearly killed, the King of Qi was demoted to a commoner, and a storm ensued.

But ordinary people don’t know the connection between Tianxing Sword Sect and the royal family, and everyone’s attention is focused on another thing.

The Sixth Young Master of the Huo Family investigates a murder at the old mansion in Xiazhou. He somehow discovers that the city lord, Xu Bingkun, is colluding with demons. He bravely fights back, but dies at the hands of the demons. Fearing the consequences, his left and right guards kill the others and flee.

This is one of the most eye-catching things in recent years.

It’s not because the city lord colluded with demons, similar things actually happen frequently; nor is it because there were many deaths, the death toll is far less than that of the Tianxing Sword Sect.

It was because the Huo family was a prestigious and powerful family, and it had been many years since the eldest son of the Huo family was killed...

No matter how many peasants die, it is not as good as the death of Master Huo to attract attention.

Huo Xingyuan, the head of the Huo family, angrily smashed an antique porcelain vase at home: "Asshole! How did Xia Zhou protect Xiao Liu!"

The group of Huo family members around were watching closely, not daring to say a word.

Ever since Huo Xingyuan was awarded the title of First-Class Zhenyuan Marquis, Old Master Huo passed the position of Patriarch to him, and he himself was in semi-retirement. At this moment, Old Master Huo leaned back in his chair, squinting at his son's angry expression. After a long while, he slowly interrupted, "What do you think of the whole story reported by Xiazhou?"

Huo Xingyuan said angrily, "That's obviously impossible! Although Xiaoliu is useless, he is very loyal to Brother Huo Lei. How could they possibly let Xiaoliu die?"

Grand Tutor Huo said calmly, "What if the elixir leaks out, and there's a huge temptation ahead?"

Huo Xingyuan fell silent.

Although the Huo family themselves would never leak the secret of the elixir, they also knew how some of their brainless children did it - several of them hid the elixir in the shadow's body, thinking that it was safer, but they never thought that the shadow might also leak the secret.

Once the elixir leaked, nothing would be surprising, not even the Huo family being ransacked.

The so-called sweet potato proposal was merely the catalyst for the Huo family's arrival in Beijing. The real reason Grand Tutor Huo regained favor was when His Majesty was severely injured by the Demon Emperor. Grand Tutor Huo, under the guise of an ancestral elixir, cured him completely. This feat was the key.

If people knew that what the Huo family had was not an elixir, but an elixir furnace, and that the so-called elixir passed down from ancestors was an attempt to refine a few years ago, and that its efficacy was not even as good as the one Huo Yu had now... then the Huo family would be doomed.

Thinking that this might leak the secret, Huo Xingyuan didn't even have time to get angry. He frowned and weighed the pros and cons for a long time before whispering, "If they really did this because they coveted the elixir, I'm afraid we can't make it public and can only swallow our loss in silence."

"I'm afraid they've seen that we dare not speak out..." Grand Tutor Huo sighed. "Xiao Liu fought the demons and died heroically. He deserves this posthumous reputation. We shouldn't cause any more trouble... Of course, no matter how we say it on the surface, we can't just take Xiazhou's word for it. We must investigate this matter thoroughly. Xingyuan, choose a capable person to take over as the city lord. This time, we should make sure the situation is good..."

Huo Xingyuan was a little embarrassed: "We recommended Xu Bingkun, and now he has caused such a big mess, His Majesty is furious. I'm afraid the new Lord of Xiazhou will not be willing to use our people anymore..."

"It's His Majesty's business who he chooses. Can't you bring him in? Besides, we just want justice for the child, not to violate the law."

"Yes."

"Besides...is that Lu Xingzhou really Xiao Qi..."

Huo Xingyuan looked a little embarrassed: "This matter...should I send someone to investigate it?"

Master Huo ignored him and whispered to himself, "He's been hanging out with His Highness... If that's true..."

Huo Xingyuan narrowed his eyes, understanding his father's intention. Everyone in the hall looked at each other with different expressions.

The Huo family didn't know who Shen Tang was before, but now that Prince Qi was deposed, it's hard to know for sure. Under the current circumstances, no one dared to openly deal with Shen Tang in the short term. Even if the other princes wanted to deal with him, they would probably have to suppress him quietly through some gang fighting tactics, let alone them.

If Huo Shang and Shen Tang got together, what would happen in the future...

"If he really is Xiao Qi..." Master Huo sighed, "Let someone get in touch with him first and see if it's possible to dispel his hatred. If not..."

Before he could finish his words, Huo Xingyuan understood what he meant and nodded, "I understand."

Grand Tutor Huo looked around at his children and grandchildren in the hall and said coldly, "No matter whether Xiaoliu died for this reason or not...anyone who still puts the elixir on Shadow will be taken back and Shadow will be dealt with."

Everyone bowed and said, "Yes."

…………

"Why won't you let me go back to Beijing?" Sheng Yuanyao was furious at the subordinate sent by his father in the Demon Suppression Division. "Even if we don't mention the hard work I put in solving several major cases here, he should have seen how much risk Xiazhou has been in such a short period of time. Am I still his biological child?"

When saying this, Sheng Yuanyao still felt a little guilty.

Her contribution to solving several major cases was difficult to assess. In the case of a Huo family servant, she concluded the crime was the work of Huo Shang, but it turned out that "Huo Shang" was actually hanging around right under her nose, and they had a good relationship. In the case of a Huo family guard and the death of Liu Qingcang, the conclusion was completely fabricated. And in the case of Huo Yu, from the reason for Huo Yu's visit to the cause of his death, she could almost be considered one of the murderers.

What was commendable was that she solved the case of the city lord secretly raising a demon, fought the demon fiercely and never retreated, and finally captured the demon's corpse. However, this most worthy achievement was inexplicably taken away by Huo Yu, who did nothing. At least now, the focus of other people's discussions was on Huo Yu, and she had nothing to do with it.

It was such a mess... She really didn't want to continue like this. It would be better for her to go back to Beijing and do her job. At least there wouldn't be so many complications.

The subordinate was helpless: "Miss, you have only been here for less than a month, how can you go back? There is no such rule of duty in the world."

"Don't give me that shit! He's the one who decides these rules. Haven't they used excuses like 'my achievements are enough'? My achievements are enough for a promotion!" Sheng Yuanyao said angrily, "What do you mean by 'one month'? Do you know how I spent this month?"

"Uh..." The subordinate lowered his voice: "Miss, Huo Liu died here, everyone has to bear some responsibility..."

Sheng Yuanyao exploded: "Are you trying to take away my credit? I worked so hard to fight the demons, my life is hanging on my belt! What does this useless Huo Yu have to do with us?" "No, no, at most we can postpone it. We just don't want to provoke the Huo family at this time."

Sheng Yuanyao was furious, but he also knew that this was normal. It was good enough that his contributions were not reduced.

The subordinate continued, "Also, you may not be aware of the decree that was just issued from the capital..."

Sheng Yuanyao pricked up her ears: "What melon?"

"The emperor has issued an order to protect the Tianxing Sword Sect."

Sheng Yuanyao was confused for a moment: "What happened?"

The subordinate's voice became lower and lower: "Shen's Trading Company is the Tianxing Sword Sect."

Sheng Yuanyao: “!”

"Before, your father didn't dare tell you, fearing that you were too young to keep secrets. Now I can tell you... I think the Shen's Trading Company will probably change its name back to the Tianxing Sword Sect in the next few days."

Sheng Yuanyao paced back and forth, feeling very conflicted: "They have so many melons..."

"There will undoubtedly be more complications to come. We don't know the details, but your father certainly knows. Since he still believes it's beneficial for the young lady to stay in Xiazhou, then it must be truly beneficial."

"Alright." Sheng Yuanyao's greatest love for eating melons finally overshadowed her other concerns. She snorted coldly, "Lu Xingzhou owes me so many favors anyway. If I can't do my job anymore, I'll ask him to do it."

Sheng Yuanyao immediately took action, grabbed a booklet, and went out to find Lu Xingzhou: "I have something to ask him anyway."

When they arrived at Shen's Trading Company, the guards did not dare to stop Sheng Yuanyao, so Sheng Yuanyao went straight in. Sure enough, Lu Xingzhou was refining pills in the alchemy room.

What was surprising was that the person helping him was not Anuo, but Dugu Qingli, who was standing upright behind him to guard him.

Sheng Yuanyao almost wanted to ask when they got together, but seeing how calm the two looked, she refrained from asking and only asked politely, "Where's An Nuo?"

"Shen Tang went to find Liu Yan'er. They didn't know each other, but An Nuo was familiar with them, so I brought her in as an introduction."

"So you guys switched places and transferred Miss Dugu to protect you?"

"Yes."

Sheng Yuanyao felt something was weird. This was happening inside Shen's Trading Company. Why were you so anxious? Was the pill you were refining very important?

The elixir that is refined is indeed important. This is the elixir that Lu Xingzhou made to treat his legs.

In theory, the first batch of pills to be refined should be for bone recovery. First, the bones should be put back together, then the tendons should be repaired, and finally the muscles should be restored.

But other medicines are more difficult to make, so Lu Xingzhou is still trying to make the simplest tendon-repairing medicine.

Lu Xingzhou's situation was far more difficult than Shen Tang's. He was very young when his leg was broken, and his calf hadn't grown enough over the years, leaving even the bones deformed. Even if it were reattached, he'd still need to administer additional medication to stimulate bone growth to a compatible degree, which was extremely difficult. Finally, the recovery of the muscles, which had atrophied for ten years, was equally challenging. It was unclear whether the fruit alone would be sufficient to handle all of this.

Therefore, Lu Xingzhou's mind was always heavy, and Sheng Yuanyao's presence did not distract him at all. He just asked casually, "What brings you here, Commander Sheng?"

Sheng Yuanyao said, "You know that the Demon Suppression Division is also responsible for compiling a list of the world's most powerful people? The list of heroes and the list of demons."

"I know. It's a shame there's no beauty list. If you want to eat melons, this one will be so delicious..."

Sheng Yuanyao: "...That makes some sense."

Lu Xingzhou continued, "Anyway, this has nothing to do with us, right? I'm only a seventh-rank..."

"Your cultivation is average, but Miss Dugu is under eighteen and is at the upper fifth rank. You should have been included in the Rookie List of the Heroes List long ago. The fact that you have remained unknown to the public is a dereliction of duty on the part of the Demon Suppression Division. And you, at the age of nineteen, are an upper seventh rank alchemist, which qualifies you for inclusion in the sub-list of various professions."

Dugu Qingli asked, "If I'm not on the list, will they force me to be on it?"

"Yes." Sheng Yuanyao said, "There are so many demonic cultivators, we didn't bother to ask for their opinions, we just listed them based on their battle records. After all, we are familiar with them, so we came to inform them. In addition, it's not just Miss Dugu, but also An Nuo, this is even more outrageous..."

Dugu Qingli asked, "Does the Demon Suppression Division obey the royal family?"

Sheng Yuanyao said honestly: "Of course I listened."

"Then you can go back now. The princess will give you a verbal order later, asking you not to be listed."

Sheng Yuanyao: “?”

Lu Xingzhou suddenly interrupted, "I support the work of the Demon Suppression Division. I can be included in the vice-list of alchemists."

Sheng Yuanyao felt that Lu Xingzhou was being very respectful, and her mood improved a bit: "Didn't you always hide your incompetence before? Now you don't hide it anymore?"

"No choice. It's now sold to Shen's Trading Company... Having a well-known alchemist is a useful signboard for the company and will be beneficial to its future development."

Sheng Yuanyao had no expression on his face.

It turns out that the face you gave to me was not for me, but for Shen Tang.

(End of this chapter)