Li Yan pondered and said, "Senior, by doing this, while Zhai Tianbao is surely in trouble, the Salt Gang won’t have an easy ti either."
"Hahaha..."
Feng Laohai chuckled with a hoarse voice, "Since the heavy salt and iron tax, our Salt Gang has never ceased. Having lived this life, why would we fear the damn court? The pugilistic world is where the Salt Gang belongs!"
Saying this, he turned and shouted, "Kids, this old man is returning to the Salt Gang to reclaim what is rightfully yours. But we’ll have to risk our necks. Are you willing?"
"To the Clan Leader, yes we dare!"
"Damn it, scared of nothing!"
"Right, can’t live like this another day!"
The crowd imdiately responded loudly.
Seeing this, Li Yan wasn’t surprised.
Once you step into the pugilistic world, departing is not easy. Sotis one cannot help it, sotis one is unwilling to leave.
Having grown accustod to being a wolf, how could one bear the life of a sheep?
But if you want to be a wolf and eat at, you have to snatch it from the mouths of other beasts. There’s today, but maybe not tomorrow, living a life of constant fear.
This was their choice, and Li Yan didn’t bother to say more, speaking gravely, "So, senior, what would you have do?"
"Nothing at all."
Feng Laohai shook his head and said, "This concerns the future. Whether it’s the Princely Heir or Zhai Tianbao, neither will easily give up; attacks will undoubtedly co wave after wave."
"The reason Zhai Tianbao can stabilize the Salt Gang is because he spent heavily to recruit a group of pugilistic experts, eliminating dissidents everywhere, making everyone anxious."
"The experts the Prince Mansion has drawn to them are not fools. Having seen so many die, they will naturally refuse. At that ti, Zhai Tianbao can only use this group of people."
"After we part this ti, I will take my clan and hide in the shadows, contacting those old friends and those dissatisfied with Zhai Tianbao."
"As long as Young Hero Li kills these people, you can just sit back and watch the show for the rest!"
"Alright!"
Li Yan agreed without hesitation.
After all, relations with the Shu Prince Mansion had already broken down.
Whether he agreed or not, those people would act anyway.
Might as well see what this old man can stir up...
...
"Everyone, until we et again!"
"Farewell!"
At the Fu River dock, the Demon Hunters clasped their hands and took their leave.
Feng Laohai, once a Salt Gang Elder, was indeed decisive; once he made up his mind, he acted imdiately, sending people back to Baixi Village to scatter and hide the won, children, and elders.
From this point on, they will hide in the shadows.
Re-entering the bloody winds of the pugilistic world.
And these Demon Hunters were no fools, either.
They followed Wang Daoxuan hoping to cling to "Daoist Youji" for a living but it didn’t an they dared offend the Shu Prince Mansion.
The affair in the Dragon Worship Sect village had already terrified them, knowing that going further was beyond their capability.
Therefore, they took their leave as soon as they reached the dock, planning to sail away from Shu to seek sustenance elsewhere.
Li Yan and the others understood without speaking, too lazy to point it out.
Watching the small boat of Demon Hunters gradually drift away, Sha Lifei slightly shook his head, "Brother Yan, what’s our next move?"
Li Yan looked into the distance, pondering:
"For now, we can’t go to Qingcheng Mountain. It’s still in chaos over the fight for the position of Master, and rashly climbing the mountain might get us targeted. We’ll wait until the position is settled..."
"After the winter solstice, entering the twelfth lunar month, there’s a Yellow Springs gathering in Fengdu, not much ti left, so we can’t go too far."
"So demons from the Dragon Worship Sect escaped, and combined with the Shu Prince Mansion, surely many people will trouble us. We can’t avoid it, so we might as well deal with them first while there’s ti."
Wang Daoxuan pondered for a mont, "How about we go to that desolate mountain to practice, so there aren’t too many people, and we can fight freely?"
"No."
Li Yan shook his head, "If it were before, that would naturally be best, but now it’s different."
"The Shu Prince Mansion has assembled a few firearms teams, all with new firearms. If a Mystical Sect expert sets up, if we get surrounded outdoors, we have no advantage whatsoever."
"But they don’t dare to use those firearms openly, so it’s safer to go where there are many people."
"Over at Guangde Temple, they’re holding several days of ceremonies. We might as well go enjoy the bustle and inform them about the Dragon Worship Sect’s affair. No matter how much they want to avoid trouble, as the chief Buddhist sect of Shu’s orthodox sects, they can’t just sit idly by..."
"Let’s go; this ti, we’ll enter the city boldly!"
...
The old city of Sui Ning has a long history.
During the Western Jin Dynasty, De Yang County was established, with the county seat at De Yang.
In the third year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin, after Huan Wen pacified Shu, he abolished De Yang County, and rged the southeastern region of De Yang to form Sui Ning County, with the aning "restoring peace to chaos".
The na "Sui Ning" originated from then.
Due to the presence of Guangde Temple, the leader of the Buddhist sect in the Southwest, the worship of Buddhism is thriving within Sui Ning’s borders, and wealthy gentry often contribute to the construction of temples in the countryside.
Most of these temples are dedicated to The Bodhisattva Guanyin.
The weather after entering winter has beco even more abnormal.
A few days ago, salt-like snowflakes were still falling, and today, suddenly freezing rain has started, the sky is gloomy, and the bamboo forest seems to have turned dark.
On both sides of the official road leading to Sui Ning City, there are dense ancient trees and bamboo forests. The freezing rain knocks down dead leaves, sticking ssily to the ground.
A cold wind blows, freezing it into a sheet.
Crack! Crunch!
Walking on it, a crisp sound is heard.
Several monks, wearing bamboo hats, walk along the official road.
They walk in a line, the leader holding a tin staff, carrying a bowl, silently walking with his head lowered.
When they see passersby, they stop by the roadside to salute.
These are wandering monks from the Buddhist sect, and they are ascetic monks.
They travel to various places, carrying only the eighteen items of ancient Mahayana monks, including willow branches, bath beans, three robes, bottle, bowl, tin staff, incense burner, water strainer, etc.
Passersby who see them often also stop.
These ascetic monks are highly respected, but they do not accept financial offerings, so people often give them so stead buns and water as food.
And the ascetic monks will also stop to chant and pray for blessings.
Soon, the monks arrived outside a tea house.
The tea house is quite large, built on the open space where bamboo forest is cleared by the roadside, made of brick and wood, the color is dark, and with open windows, the wind leaks in from all directions.
The only bright color is the red lantern hanging at the door.
Such small tea houses can be found all over Shu, even on the Shu Road. They are common, dedicated to providing rest for passing travelers.
Especially on such cold days, having a cup of hot tea is imnsely comforting.
The monks have been walking for a long ti, although they are all strong, their faces are inevitably frosty pale.
"Amitabha Buddha."
The leading monk ca to the outside of the inn, put his palms together, and said: "Shopkeeper, may I have a cup of hot water."
The shopkeeper hurried out from behind the counter, "Master, what are you saying, co in quickly, sit down, and have a cup of hot tea to warm up."
In Sui Ning, Buddhism is revered, whereas in so other places, the shopkeeper would impatiently drive the monks away.
"Thank you."
The monks are also very polite, specifically finding the most secluded corner, not affecting the shopkeeper’s business, and only ask for hot water, swallowing hard dry food.
The shopkeeper wanted to offer so vegetarian als, but they would not accept.
These high monks...
The shopkeeper, seeing this, respected them even more.
Inside the tea house, there were also quite a few people gathered.
Due to the Dharma assembly at Guangde Temple, various Three Religions and Nine Sects have gathered, and business was much better than usual.
In casual conversations, most were about the arrangents of the Dharma assembly.
Suddenly, soone took two sips of wine, and mysteriously said: "Everyone, there is a big event in Sui Ning this year, aside from the Dharma assembly!"
"Wang the Cripple, don’t keep us in suspense, just hurry and tell us sothing interesting, and I’ll cover your drink!"
"Alright!"
The speaker was waiting for this reply, and raised his eyebrows at once: "There’s a big event in the city today."
"Have you heard of the Goose Rooster Daoist?"
"Recently seems to have gained quite a fa."
"It’s more than fa, actually there really are Twelve Primordial Spirits, and they are the ones who received rewards from the Shu Prince Mansion earlier. They are said to have arrived in Sui Ning."
"Hahaha, it’s a joke!"
One of the n laughed heartily: "Heard that several pugilistic seniors got caught, would anyone still be eyeing those rewards?"
"Hardly anyone would still be eyeing them."
Wang the Cripple leisurely took a sip of wine, "I just heard that the disciples of those victims have united, and invited the Shu Divine Fist Association, heading to Sui Ning to stand up for them."
"This overland dragon, it’s tough being one..."
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