Eternal Beast Taming Family

"Have you seen it before? It's just an ordinary stone book, nothing special about it."

But something else was even more peculiar: the Chu family had only been established for a short time, yet they already had over a dozen new contract masters among their servants. Judging from their aura, they didn't seem to have been recruited from the town; rather, they seemed to have only recently awakened their spiritual powers.

Perhaps the Chu family's source artifact is more suited for awakening the spirit in others?

Tang Cheng lowered his head and thought for a moment, "That's possible. Didn't they offer three Spirit Awakening slots to celebrate at their banquet? That Source Artifact should have that ability."

After a two-second pause, Elder An told Tang Cheng the last and most crucial piece of information.

"Do you remember the Moon-Worshipping Rabbit and the Fragrant Pink-Eared Rabbit, those two Source Beasts that stirred up trouble in town?"

Tang Cheng nodded, "Of course I remember."

Old An rubbed his withered hand a few times before slowly speaking, "In the Chu family mansion, there are no fewer than two dozen of these two kinds of rabbits."

Tang Cheng stared in astonishment. These two types of rabbits were quite valuable, and their abilities certainly justified the price.

Tang Cheng was shocked to find that such a rare beast, which was sought after throughout the entire county, existed in so many within a small, humble ninth-rank aristocratic family.

"Is it possible that Sun Chunchen was fostered by the Chu family?"

After pondering for a moment, Old Master An shook his head. "It's unlikely. Sun Chunchen's courtyard is quite large; why would he send a few rabbits to the Chu family to raise?"

Even with the best of relationships, in a remote area like the Chu family's, if something happens, he can't possibly take care of it all at once. This source beast can only have been raised by the Chu family.

"You mean the Chu family might have produced a nurturing master?" Tang Cheng said this with some difficulty.

"It's highly likely that the Chu family just stumbled upon this by accident. How could a training master emerge from such a remote town? Talent, experience, and resource support—each of these requires enormous investment."

However, in any case, if you want to leave Heyu Town as soon as possible, you still need to carefully consider making contact with the Chu family.

Tang Cheng stared intently, remaining silent for a long while.

After a long silence, a soft sigh escaped, "The Chu family really has encountered good timing. If it were before, they would probably have been attacked by the other aristocratic families before they even showed any signs of trouble."

……

In the following days, Chu Jingyu maintained his routine of leaving early and returning late, and even the hunting team was divided into three groups.

Chu Jingyu stood floating in the air, while the other three teams centered around him, searching for and hunting source beasts in the vicinity of him. He would then provide assistance should any situation arise.

In this way, hunting efficiency has indeed improved a lot. Although Heyu Town is just a town, it has mountains, plains, rivers and all kinds of environments within its territory.

At first, we can only clear out the general area, so at least we won't encounter source beasts as soon as we go out.

As the hunting party grew more active, the more astute of the source beasts had already hidden themselves in the wild forests. Some of them were very good at concealing themselves and were not easy to find.

In just one week, the visible source beasts were almost completely eliminated, allowing the villagers who had suffered at the hands of the source beasts to successfully leave their homes and return to normal life.

Nevertheless, the calamity of the source beasts still caused the death of many people in the village, just like the time of the Liu family's grand sacrifice, and the village became somewhat desolate.

After two more weeks of meticulous searching and dealing with many more source beasts, Tang Cheng called off the hunting operation.

Afterwards, Tang Cheng held a banquet for all the surviving members of the hunting team and distributed their due rewards.

The hunting operation, which lasted for three weeks and more than twenty days, has come to an end, and the situation in the Yuzhen area will return to its previous peaceful state.

During the banquet, Chu Jingyu brought up the matter of Chu Shengfan's resignation.

Tang Cheng was quite surprised. "Xiao Fan was doing well working in town, why would he suddenly resign? Did you make this decision on your own without asking the little guy's opinion? Or has our town government mistreated him in some way?"

Beyond his outward surprise, Tang Cheng was thinking more deeply. Had the Chu family discovered something? Or were they trying to distance themselves from the town mayor's office?

"It wasn't a sudden resignation, nor was there any mistreatment. Xiao Fan is still young and his learning is limited. I want him to pursue further studies. After he has completed his studies, he can return to help build the town."

Chu Jingyu was unaware of Tang Cheng's true thoughts, but simply revealed his own plans, since it wasn't something worth hiding.

Upon hearing his words, Tang Cheng's eyes flashed with realization, then he chuckled softly, "I see. Old Master Chu truly has a deep love for his grandson."

However, going to the academy is extremely expensive. If someone is selected by the academy, the Chu family will have to support the entire clan to support them.

If I were in their shoes, I still wouldn't have found it easy to make such a decision.

Tang Cheng's words seemed to have a hidden meaning, and Chu Jingyu smiled faintly.

"Our Chu family is small in number and doesn't have many conflicts of interest, so we can naturally achieve this. I'm just afraid that as the number of people increases in the future, family members will become disloyal, and I don't know what kind of situation will emerge then."

Tang Cheng stretched his shoulders. "Elder Chu is farsighted. With such a family, how can we not prosper? I can only let Xiao Fan go home. In the days to come, I will need Elder Chu's help during my duty in Heyu Town."

"Not at all, Mayor Tang is a young talent who will surely make Heyu Town prosper."

After exchanging pleasantries, Chu Jingyu took the opportunity to say goodbye.

Tang Cheng did not linger at the banquet. He offered a few words of encouragement to the hunting team members before returning to the town mayor's residence.

Without these two "important figures" present, the atmosphere at the banquet became even more lively.

Inside the town mayor's mansion, Old Master An stared at Tang Cheng, who had returned to his study, and said in a hoarse voice,

"We received word from the family that someone will arrive tomorrow."

Tang Cheng paused, "Who is it?"

"Your second uncle."

……

Paper Kite County Government Office.

The county magistrate sat at the lower end of the table, looking somewhat reservedly at a robust middle-aged man sitting in the main seat.

Another man in a gray-blue robe stood below the hall and answered.

"The source beasts inside each town have been basically cleared out, and ordinary people have returned to normal life and recuperation."

However, many towns were attacked by the source beasts, resulting in numerous casualties. A full recovery will likely require several years of recuperation.

The man seated at the head of the table frowned slightly. "If there aren't enough people, just use the county's working capital to buy them. You, the county magistrate, are currently under investigation; I suppose you'd be willing to contribute some funds to atone for your sins?"

Upon hearing the man in the main seat speak, the county magistrate immediately nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes."

If simply spending money to buy back some people would be enough to escape this punishment, that would be fine.

But things certainly won't end that simply.

"Now that this matter is settled, it's time to discuss your crimes." The man in the main seat looked calmly at the county magistrate.

"Yes." A few beads of cold sweat appeared on the county magistrate's forehead, but he dared not refuse.

"The Huo family of Paper Hawk County, whose main branch fled with the town's source artifact, failed to discover and report it in time, almost causing a breach in the boundary. This is a serious crime. Do you admit it?"