Chapter Twenty-Four: Gathering

  Throughout the meeting, Xu Haoliang was so angry that his face turned red and his neck thickened. However, his identity was not comparable to the city master and the Xiao and Wu families' masters. His cultivation was also inferior to others. Li Wanpeng, Xiao Rugui, and Wu Meng seemed to be secretly united, so Xu Haoliang couldn't compete with them at all. In the end, he could only hold back his anger and swallow his pride, nodding in agreement before returning to his family with a dejected expression.

  When he told the contents of the meeting to the various Tang masters and elders who had been waiting for him until midnight, the great hall immediately erupted like water splashing into a hot wok.

  Xu Haobo and some others who didn't see eye to eye with Xu Hao immediately accused him, saying that he handled things poorly. If the clan leader hadn't fainted, this wouldn't have happened. Those who stood on the same side as Xu Hao all hung their heads in silence, thinking to themselves that Xu Hao had indeed handled things poorly - wasn't this just asking for trouble?

  They were making a big fuss here, without arguing out a result, but the city master's mansion, Xiao family and Wu family immediately took action, closing their own shops, no longer selling medicinal materials and talismans, and even sending people to buy from Xu's shop. The city master's mansion, Xiao family and Wu family were all busy, anxiously refining elixirs and making talismans.

  Only the Xus' shop didn't receive the notice and foolishly continued to sell their goods, happily counting their money in the store. After finishing counting the money, the owners of each shop excitedly closed up and rushed back to the clan, preparing to report back to the various patriarchs.

  When the news finally reached the top of the hall, the high-ranking officials of the Xu family only then reacted, and once again they were preempted by others, causing another explosion.

  Xu Haoliang was also furious, his sleeves fluttering as he shouted sternly:

  "Stop arguing, our family is at a critical moment of survival. Look at what you're doing! Can your quarrel bring any benefit?"

  Everyone shook their heads, thinking to themselves that it was still his fault for messing things up. However, at this moment they all felt that in Zhongdu City, their own families were in danger, and continuing to argue would only be detrimental to their own families, so they all fell silent, hanging their heads and not speaking a word.

  Xu Haoliang took a deep breath, steadied his emotions and slowed down his tone as he spoke:

  "Alright, Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, and Twelfth Younger Brother, Seventeenth Younger Brother, take 500 inner sect disciples and 500 outer sect disciples to Tongyu Valley tomorrow to block the demonic beast."

  Xu Haobo immediately refused, the people Xu Hao sent were all from the patriarch's lineage, wasn't this sending them to their deaths? This way, it would weaken the patriarch's power, while he preserved his own power. With one side decreasing and the other increasing, wouldn't his power eventually surpass that of the patriarch? Thus, with a hint of mockery in his eyes, Xu Haobo said:

  "What's Ninth Brother planning to do at home?"

  Xu Haoliang glanced at Xu Haobo calmly and said lightly, "Now that the situation in Zhongdu City is unclear, I need to stay in the family to deal with any unexpected situations. How about it? Second brother doesn't want to work for the family? If so, then second brother can stay in the family, while I, third brother, fourth brother, twelfth brother and seventeenth brother go to Tongyu Valley."

  Xu Haobo didn't dare let Xu Haoqiang take his men to Tongyu Valley, that would be letting Xu Haoqiang clean up the mess. For a moment, Xu Haobo also lost his composure, his mind was in disarray.

  "It's settled then, immediately temporarily close the family shops, the alchemists and talisman makers in the family start refining pills and making talismans right away, and distribute them to the disciples according to their cultivation levels. Departure is the day after tomorrow."

  Xu Hao snorted, flicked his sleeve and walked out of the main hall while muttering to himself:

  "Temporarily closing down the family store? Do we still need to close it? Everything has been sold out."

  Xu Hao's expression was gloomy as he gazed at Xu Hao's distant back, gritted his teeth and suppressed the anger in his heart, thinking to himself:

  "We'll talk about it when you return from Tongyu Valley alive."

  The struggle between the upper and lower levels did not increase, and the orders were passed down layer by layer. The outer hall also received the order, and after Xi Ziyan finished adjusting her breath, she had just washed up when she heard the "thud" of knocking on the door outside.

  Xu Ziyuan walked to the door, opened it, and was taken aback. Seeing a large group of people standing outside her door, Xu Li and Xu Qingshuo, along with over thirty new disciples, were all standing there with anxious faces.

  "What's going on? What are you doing?"

  Xu Ziyuan saw that there were too many people and it was impossible for everyone to enter the house, so she stood at the door and asked.

  "Zi Yan sister, the city is mainly our family's disciples who are sent out of the city to block the demon beasts. Our outer hall has to send 500 people to fight. What should we do?" Xu Li anxiously spoke up first.

  Xu Ziyuan's heart sank, but she knew that this matter was not something she could decide on her own. What she could do was to let Second Uncle keep her in the family. At this time, Xu Ziyuan still did not know that Second Uncle had also been sent out by Xu Haoliang. However, Xu Ziyuan's heart was not willing to stay in the family. She really wanted to go out and take a look, see what the demon beast looked like. Last time she only watched from the city wall, but didn't experience the battle personally. And she also knew that battles were the best way to improve one's realm, just staying at home to cultivate was not the right path.

  In her heart, Xu Ziyuan had already made up her mind that this time she must participate in the family action outside the city, and she was fully prepared. She looked up at the new disciples in front of her and saw the anxious look on their faces, and Xu Ziyuan said calmly:

  "It's good to go out and see the world, you can't stay in the family all your life."

  "Well said!"

  As soon as Xu Ziyanyan's voice fell, a shout of approval was heard. Xu Ziyanyan looked around and saw a group of people walking towards her from the back of the crowd. The four leaders were none other than the bosses of the four external halls: Xu Gan, the boss of Yonggan Hall; Xu Wen, the boss of Jinxiu Hall; Xu Tianxiao, the boss of Lingtian Hall; and Xu Dongxue, the boss of Meihua Hall.

  Xu Ziyuan looked over the shoulders of the crowd, and saw that Xu Gan was tall and sturdy, with bulging muscles all over his body, and a fierce glint in his eyes. Xu Wen wore a white robe, and on this snowy day, he still held a folding fan in his hand, occasionally shaking it back and forth, looking very arrogant. Xu Ziyuan thought to herself, he's not afraid of the cold either.

  Xu Tianxiao was of medium build, but very lean and agile. His eyes sparkled with precision. Xu Dongxue wore a bright red dress, her eyes shining with colorful movement.

  New and old friends, if you feel that this book is still short of words, then just keep it for now. You can go take a look at my previous book "Phoenix Chirps in Song", the link is below.