Chapter 14: The Hu Family Banquet (Part 2)
There was only one person sitting at the table near the evil duo on the west side, and that was Tang Yu, the jade-like young master of the Tang Clan, who was ranked 20th on the Human List. Actually, when Tang Yu first received the invitation, he did not want to come. After all, he had already investigated some situations of the Hu family before, and the relationship between Hu Ling and the Hu family was far from that good.
If the invitation is sent out with Hu Ling's face, Tang Yu will definitely come, not only because of Hu Ling's strength, but also because of the relationship between Lujian Mountain and Tang Sect. The reason why Tang Sect has always been in a neutral camp that is both good and evil is that in addition to its own strength, it also has good cooperative relations with various major forces.
After all, the Tang Sect's hidden weapons are second to none. For new disciples from some large sects, each hidden weapon is considered a trump card, not to mention that the Tang Sect is also a sect that produces poison.
There is not much prejudice against the use of poison in the martial arts world, and the Holy Medical Alliance among the Eight Major Gangs also uses poison as a means of fighting their enemies. The reason why the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, which is the strongest in using poison, is classified as the Nine Nether Evil Way is because they have reached a paranoid stage in refining poisons, and even use mortals to constantly test the poisons.
Because there had been large-scale poisoning incidents, just to try out the effect of the poison, to be precise, they were a group of crazy people who used poison. Under the joint pressure of the four great dynasties, the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect slowly restrained its methods and has been hiding in the Sichuan-Shu area of the Datang Dynasty. After all, the Sichuan-Shu border is mostly dense forests, which are rich in medicinal materials and poisons.
Even though the Ten Thousand Poison Sect has restrained itself somewhat, the major sects still stay away from these lunatics who would poison people on a large scale at the slightest disagreement. Therefore, most of the poisons are sold by the Tang Sect, and a small portion is sold by the Holy Medical Alliance. After all, a gang that focuses on medicine still has to pay attention to its reputation as a doctor.
In this world, medicine is also integrated into martial arts, which means it can be used to heal people as well as kill people. And because doctors have a clear understanding of the body structure and acupoints, their moves are based on various powerful acupoint-pressing techniques, mainly using finger skills, supplemented by poison.
Every powerful doctor in the Holy Medical Alliance is also the strongest master. For example, the Holy Medical Alliance's leading master, Li Tianxiang, is ranked sixth on the Earth List and is also the strongest female master on the Earth List.
Having said that, the reason why Tang Yu came to the Hu family this time was mostly because of Lin Mo. After the two of them parted yesterday afternoon, Tang Yu went to the Tianji Mansion branch to buy some information about Lin Mo. After all, even if they were just friends, they still had to do some investigation when they first met. What was more crucial was the unusual movement of "The Art of Knowing Destiny".
The world of martial arts is full of traps. After all, Tang Yu is the face of the younger generation of the Tang Clan. Even among the friends he makes, he has to be careful, otherwise he will easily be misunderstood by some powerful forces.
After getting Lin Mo's information, Tang Yu was very shocked. First of all, Lin Mo's parents' information could not be purchased in the branch, and Lin Mo's information was just a few simple sentences.
He came to Jinyang City at the age of twelve, and then went to study in the academy. He was even introduced that the second young lady of the Hu family was Lin Mo's childhood sweetheart, but for unknown reasons, this childhood sweetheart Meng Ting married into the Hu family a few months ago.
Lin Mo, this frail scholar, drank and got drunk every day until recently when he suddenly walked around Jinyang City dressed as a warrior. He stayed in his own residence most of the time, and occasionally walked out with a knife on his back. In addition, three months ago, he sold a large number of animal bones and skins, mostly wild boars and wild deer. The Tianji Palace judged that his strength was between the fifth and seventh levels of body refining.
Tang Yu remained silent for a long time after receiving this information. Naturally, he had his own purpose in getting to know Lin Mo before, but as a master on the human list and the best young man in the Tang Sect among the eight major gangs, the pride in his heart still existed.
Tang Yu was very clear that Lin Mo's strength was at the third level of marrow refining. In addition, his swordplay and body movements in the fight with Dugu Demon Sect yesterday were both very impressive. The power of that swordplay could threaten a master at the eighth level of marrow refining. Although this strength was still not enough for Tang Yu, it had only been a short time since Lin Mo had practiced.
Tang Yu has the strength he has today because he had the Tang Sect's medicinal baths to lay the foundation for his strength since he was young. He gradually shaped his bones and began formal training at the age of eight. Although the early training was mainly focused on stability, the important thing was to build his own foundation. But Tang Yu is now eighteen years old, and it has been ten years since he started training to the middle and late stages of the acquired realm. The speed is already very fast.
According to the information from Tianji Palace, how long has it been since Lin Mo went from body refining to marrow refining? After all, the previous information made it very clear that Lin Mo is now eighteen years old, but he has only practiced martial arts for less than a year, and before that he was drunk every day.
But looking at Lin Mo's skills yesterday, his foundation was quite solid, and it was not completely stimulated by the elixir. Moreover, he was very experienced, and he must have gone through a certain life-and-death struggle. Thinking of this, Tang Yu couldn't help but shake his head. If Lin Mo didn't die, just based on his cultivation speed, it would be extremely amazing.
After Tang Yu thought about it, he guessed that Lin Mo must have had some adventure or met some master. After all, in this heyday of martial arts, it is often the case that retired elders from major sects would recruit disciples from outside, and then teach them quietly, and wait until the disciple made a name for himself before formally accepting him as a disciple.
Or they may have obtained some skills from some powerful and secluded cultivators. This kind of thing happens very frequently in this world. Even Tang Yu once obtained the inheritance left by a cultivator and learned the current magical skill of the formless flying fan. He even asked the elders of the sect to go to the Zhujian Peak to make a folding fan for him, thus earning the reputation of being as graceful as jade and as elegant as jade.
Tang Yu did not covet Lin Mo's adventure. After all, the martial arts of the sect were already very powerful, and he had only learned the second level of the Wuxiang Flying Fan.
However, as a first acquaintance, Tang Yu did feel that Lin Mo was someone he could make friends with. Sometimes, it only takes a few words to express like-minded people. So as a friend, after reading the information from the Tianji Palace and Lin Mo's intentional inquiry about the Hu family yesterday, he knew that Lin Mo and the Hu family had a lot of grievances. Although he didn't know what it was, he still came to find out the truth about the Hu family.
If he could take the opportunity to deepen the cause and effect relationship between the two of them, then his own strength would probably see a surge due to the improvement of "The Art of Knowing Destiny through Cause and Effect".
As a result, after arriving, the head of the Hu family, Hu Weidi, simply greeted all the major sects and then asked everyone to take their seats.
However, judging from everyone's seats, the Hu family was indeed the local boss. In just a few days, they knew the closeness of each person. After all, Tang Yu had fought with Han Xiao of Jianxie Sect in the restaurant, so he was the farthest away.
The evil sect was closest to him, and the remaining six swords and seven families were placed on one side. As for the table in the middle, there were three people from the imperial court sitting there. The person in the center was a middle-aged official in his thirties, and judging from his attire, he should be a civil servant, while the two people beside him were dressed as constables.
Usually, a city only has one chief constable, so it can be seen that these two were transferred from surrounding cities because of the underground palace. The court still attaches great importance to the opening of the underground palace. After all, the people of the Great Mo Dynasty are also in their own territory, so it doesn't seem abrupt to sit in the middle.
But this weird atmosphere really made Tang Yu feel uncomfortable. Hu Weidi, who was at the top, had his eyes closed to rest. The three officials in the court just lowered their heads, playing with the wine glasses in their hands, and whispering to each other from time to time.
The two evil people who were close to Tang Yu had their expressions hidden by their hoods, but one could tell from their trembling lips that they were talking in low voices.
As for the two tables on the east side, the atmosphere was too weird. Hu Yi, who was next to Hu Weidi at the head, had a greedy look on his face towards Liu Emei, and at the same time, he had a hint of hostility towards Han Xiao of Jian Xie Sect. But after Liu Emei smiled sweetly at Huangfu Lingyun, he turned his hostility towards Huangfu Lingyun.
Han Xiao was the same. At first, he only focused his eyes on Liu Emei. After noticing Hu Yi's gaze, he looked at Hu Yi with murderous eyes. After Liu Emei smiled at Huangfu Lingyun, he looked at Huangfu Lingyun from time to time. Although there was no obvious hostility, a hint of resentment and jealousy could be seen in his eyes.
As for Liu Emei, she kept looking down at the food being served on the table, occasionally smiling at Huangfu Lingyun. As for the strong smell of gunpowder on Han Xiao and Hu Yi beside her, she seemed not to notice it and took a few sips from the wine glass from time to time.
Huangfu Lingyun and Dongfang Huai at the last table were even more interesting. Huangfu Lingyun raised his eyebrows at Liu Emei from time to time, and then kept provoking Hu Yi and Han Xiao as if he was watching a monkey show. He did not take the hostility between the two seriously at all. This behavior made Hu Yi and Han Xiao more anxious, and the hostility became more and more obvious.
Dongfang Huai beside him had been playing with the wine glass in his hand, occasionally whispering a few words to Huangfu Lingyun, but seeing him provoking Hu Yi and Han Xiao from time to time, his eyes twitched and he sighed deeply.
Tang Yu did not find Huangfu Lingyun's behavior strange. After all, the Huangfu family was famous for doing whatever they wanted. If not for the fact that the ancestor of the Huangfu family, Huangfu Xiaotian, was a master on the Heavenly Ranking.
It is estimated that the Huangfu family, who always tease the younger sister and provoke the younger brother , would have been exterminated long ago. However, this is also due to the Huangfu family's martial arts. The Huangfu family's magical skill "Seven Apertures and Nine Channels" can only be practiced with a free-spirited mentality, so the more willful the Huangfu family members are, the more powerful they are.
The Dongfang family's "Oriental Treasure Book" is mainly based on solid step-by-step practice, and the more you practice, the stronger you will become in the later stages, so the more stable it is in the early stages, the better. Therefore, the people of the Dongfang family are relatively strict and take people and things more seriously, but because of this, all major forces prefer to cooperate with the Dongfang family, at least there will be no betrayal.
It's just that the atmosphere in front of me is too depressing. I'm sitting alone at the table and there's no one to talk to. I can't help but sigh. I don't understand what Hu Weidi of the Hu family is thinking. Is it really okay to leave us alone like this? But when I look at the people from the Great Mo Dynasty and see that they haven't made any move, I'd better wait patiently and see how the situation will develop.
At this time, the people at the imperial court table were also a little impatient. One of the captains asked the man dressed as a civil servant in the middle, "Master Zhou, I wonder if Captain Mu and his men will be able to take this opportunity to go out and kill the Jiaoshe Gang and the Dihu Gang successfully. We are interfering in the affairs of the underground palace, and we don't know if it will ruin the arrangement of the masters above."
The civil servant in the middle, called Mr. Zhou, stroked his beard and said calmly, "Don't worry, Captain Mu has already reached the acquired realm. It's no problem for him to kill the two gangs. The Dihu Gang secretly colluded with the Hu family, and the Jiaoshe Gang was also a stall left by the Yiqi Society. Although they don't do anything blatant in the city every day, they smuggle and traffic in people in private. In the territory of my Great Mo Dynasty, if I encounter such a thing, I will take care of it!
Those martial arts sects won't care about such a small gang. As for the underground palace, it doesn't matter. After the evidence of the two gangs is read out in public, my government will organize the opening of the underground palace. As a member of the Hidden Ink Group of the Great Ink Dynasty, I still have this right. As for the Hu family, we have to find a reason to deal with them together."
