Chase Game

Meng Dong glanced at it and mentally categorized his second uncle as being on the opposite side.

At this point, an older man spoke up in rebuttal: "Yoona is good, but she is, after all..."

Wang Yun himself was present, so he didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present understood the two words he didn't say at the end.

"So what if I have a different surname?"

Second Uncle turned his head away: "When Yun'er was first brought to our doorstep, I was the one who carried him in. He should have been surnamed Meng, but you all disagreed, so he was given the surname Wang."

"Over the years, has Yoona made any mistakes?"

"If you ask me, it's not too late to change your surname back to Meng from today."

The second uncle finished speaking in one breath, without giving any consideration to Meng Dong's feelings as the eldest son.

Although the other uncles frowned, they did not immediately refute them.

After observing the surroundings, Meng Dong realized that's how it is.

Wang Yun lowered his head, gave a disdainful snort, and thought to himself:

"What good is being the eldest son if you want to truly become the head of the Meng family? You still have to be mindful of the elders' feelings."

"The family meeting in two days will be the time for us to truly prove ourselves."

After a moment of silence in the hall, Uncle Meng, the most senior member of the family, finally spoke:

"We'll discuss the matter of the head of the family in two days. We have more important tasks to attend to in the next two days."

When this was mentioned, the elders revealed a hint of resentment.

Uncle Meng continued, "That divine bird is gradually awakening. The success or failure of our family's liberation from the curse depends on this."

Uncle Meng continued, "The substitute plan in Dongshan Village has failed. We only have one path left to take now."

Meng Dong thought to himself, "As expected, the reason why another village was able to gather at the foot of Dongshan Mountain is not only due to people's greed, but also because of the Meng family's manipulation."

They naively believed that popularity simply meant people living there, and attempted to use Dongshan Village to replace their own.

Unfortunately, the divine bird refused.

So they turned their attention to the second path.

So, is it to sever the connection with the divine bird?

The answer is Afang's death.

Afang, now known as Ding Guifang, is the link between the Meng family and the divine bird.

But as a divine messenger, Afang had already transcended the realm of mortals, so how could she die so easily?

Therefore, the Meng family searched the world and found two treasures.

It was an oil lamp and a canvas.

Wang Yun was startled. An oil lamp?

Could it be the oil lamp in the master's room?

If I'm not mistaken, that oil lamp is probably already in Ding Guifang's hands...

Meng Dong didn't know where the oil lamp had gone, but the canvas was still in his hands.

Uncle Meng glanced at Meng Dong and Wang Yun with a subtle look in his eyes and said, "These two treasures have always been kept by the head of the family, and we have no right to inquire about them."

His gaze gradually shifted to Meng Dong: "The patriarch's departure was sudden... Dong'er, do you know the whereabouts of these two treasures?"

"I don't know. My father passed away suddenly, without giving any prior instructions or leaving me any last words."

Meng Dong remained expressionless, lying without needing to think before he spoke.

Uncle Meng looked for a while but didn't find anything amiss, so he turned to Wang Yun.

"Yoona, have you discovered anything?"

Wang Yun, with his seasoned experience, said, "I didn't know that I wasn't by the old patriarch's side when he passed away. Whenever I think of this, I always feel ashamed."

Meng Dong was speechless when he heard this. They had to subtly point out my flaws.

If you, as an adopted son, feel so ashamed, then shouldn't I, as his biological son, be ashamed to death?

However, this tactic was clearly very effective on the elders of the household, who repeatedly praised Wang Yun for his filial piety.

After a while, Uncle Meng made his final decision: "Since that's the case, then so be it."

"The two treasures were originally kept by the family head, so whoever finds these two treasures will naturally become the family head."

"What do you think of this?"

This question was not directed at Meng Dong and Wang Yun, but at the other elders present.

"Great idea!"

"Brilliant!"

"I think it's okay."

"Let's do it!"

"..."

Looking at this absurd scene, Meng Dong gained a general understanding of these so-called elders.

They viewed their daily suffering from the burning as a sacrifice to their family, and in doing so, they demanded power and status.

However, due to the pain of being burned, they were unable to receive a normal education and had almost no social interaction.

Therefore, they can only focus on traditional concepts of seniority and hierarchy, as if being an elder would prevent them from showing their ignorance.

Meng Dong quietly observed this group of self-righteous elders, and her mind became clear.

If it weren't for the presence of normal people in the third son's lineage, plus the blessing of the divine bird's fortune, the Meng family would have been finished long ago, given the way these elders have been messing with them.

Wang Yun and Meng Dong were lectured again, and at this point, they seemed to have put aside their personal grudges and reached a consensus.

Finally, the time it takes for an incense stick to burn is almost up.

By this time, all the ice in the wooden bucket had been added, and the elders were starting to get restless.

They all urged Uncle Meng that it was almost time.

Uncle Meng also felt uncomfortable, so he waved his hand and said, "That's enough, that's enough, you can go now."

After the two took their leave, the servants who had been preparing downstairs began to transport ice blocks.

When Meng Dong saw it, it felt like he was looking at an anthill.

After that, Meng Dong and Wang Yun didn't say a word to each other, and went their separate ways after leaving Tiange.

As Meng Dong returned to his residence, he pondered something.

"The oil lamp... I didn't see it in the old patriarch's room. Could it be that Wang Yun took it first?"

"He shouldn't know the purpose of an oil lamp..."

"Never mind, as long as I have the canvas, that's fine. I also hope that Ling Yi can send back some new information."

Then several hours later...

That is, Ling Yi had just finished dealing with Zhao Dayou and was on his way back to the Meng residence.

He took out some more silver from Zhao Dayou, thinking that he would walk to the village where Old Man Ge lived and see if he could exchange it for a donkey cart or something, otherwise it would take most of the day to walk there.

However, to his surprise, before he even reached Old Man Ge's village, he encountered Zhang Qiang, who was riding a horse.

Zhang Qiang said it was like galloping at full speed, and it really was like galloping at full speed.

Ling Yi knew that Zhang Qiang was completely clueless about theory, but he was quick to grasp anything else.

For example, horseback riding, swimming, archery... he would spend time learning anything he could learn.

At the same time, he also dragged Ling Yi along, claiming that it was too lonely to be alone.

Ling Yi is always open to learning new skills.

Therefore, when Zhang Qiang handed him the reins of another horse, Ling Yi took them without hesitation.

While the horse was drinking and resting, Zhang Qiang handed the canvas to Ling Yi and explained his purpose for coming.

After listening, Ling Yi realized that there was a reason why the Meng family moved to the county town. He had previously guessed that there must be a reason.

"So, Lingzi, do you know what this canvas is for?"

"I don't know, but I know it will definitely be useful."

"Damn, isn't that obvious?"

"Haha, that's the question you wanted to ask."

Zhang Qiang was speechless for a moment.

Just as he was about to continue, he saw Ling stand up, mount his horse, and say, "Hurry up and get on the horse. We can talk as we go. You don't have much time."

Afterwards, Ling Yi recounted what had happened in Dongshan Village. When Zhang Qiang heard that Ling Yi had killed Zhao Dayou, his jaw nearly dropped in shock.

"You...you're not kidding me, are you?"

"Why would I lie to you if I had nothing better to do? Believe it or not."

Ling Yi, on horseback, moved his body in rhythm with the horse's movements.

Zhang Qiang ran alongside him, and at that moment, he gasped in shock from his horse's back.

He knew Ling Yi was strong, but this was way too strong!

Is it really that easy to turn the tables?

Why was it so difficult for me to even run away when I was a fugitive?

This is unfair!!

He cried out in his heart.

Ling Yi, however, added fuel to the fire: "What, Qiangzi, want to learn? I'll teach you!"

"Get lost! You're a monster! Forget about that, tell me what your next move is?"

He didn't get an immediate answer to the question, so he turned his head to look at Ling Yi and found that Ling Yi was also thinking.

For some reason, Zhang Qiang breathed a sigh of relief: thankfully, he still needed to think about it, which meant it wasn't particularly abnormal.

The moment his thoughts settled, he heard Ling Yi speak:

"There is no long-term, comprehensive planning, after all, situations are always changing rapidly, and most of the time we have to adapt to the situation."

"So what can you come up with now?"

"Let's go back to the Meng residence first, then go down to the underground palace!"

Ling Yi raised his whip, and with a sharp crack, his horse accelerated once more.

Zhang Qiang couldn't figure it out, but he knew that sticking close to Ling Yi was the right thing to do!