Blackmail of Fifty Thousand Taels!

"This is a ransom note."

Zhang Zhi handed the paper to Lu Longjing. He quickly took the letter and scanned it, his face turning ashen. Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth:

"Fifty thousand taels, what a bold demand!!"

Li Yong's underhanded move last year had put him in the crosshairs of Third Foot Zhou. Lu Longjing had seized the opportunity, and in the past year, he had beaten the Li Family into disarray. The Lu Family had become the largest medicine merchant in Lingbao County.

But they were only the largest medicine merchant, and their business was limited to the buying and selling of medicinal materials. They didn't even rank in the top ten among merchants.

To pay fifty thousand taels, Lu Longjing would have to spend all the money he had earned in the past twenty years. The loss was undeniably heavy.

But no matter how heartbroken he was, the money still had to be paid.

That was his son.

Let alone fifty thousand taels, even a hundred thousand taels would have to be found.

"Are there any clues? Who would be so ruthless!"

Lu Longjing stared at Lu Renjia and the corpse of Lu Renyi.

The heads of the two corpses were separated. It was likely that the Lu family had pieced the bodies together, otherwise Lu Longjing would have seen four sections of bodies.

Everyone looked at the two corpses, filled with shock and anger.

Zhang Zhi and Steward Shen both shook their heads slightly.

"The person who delivered the bodies was very cautious. They paid a carter ten taels of silver to deliver the bodies. According to the carter, the person who paid him was masked from head to toe, and only his tall stature was known."

Lu Longjing closed his eyes and fell silent, then said in a deep voice:

"Try your best to contact the kidnappers. Tell them I can pay the money, but they must guarantee Lu Cheng's safety! Not a single finger of his must be harmed!"

Steward Shen nodded: "I'll go find a way."

Lu Longjing looked at Zhang Zhi: "Old Zhang, after we contact the kidnappers, you'll have to come with me."

"I understand!"

Zhang Zhi nodded solemnly.

"I'd give my life to ensure nothing happens to Xiao Cheng!"

Over a decade ago, he had been severely injured and saved by Lu Longjing. Since then, he had never left the Lu Family.

The life-saving grace, coupled with over a decade of affection, had warmed even a stone. He had watched the two brothers grow up, and in his heart, the two brothers were no different from his own nephews.

"Hoo~~ Hoo~~~"

After running wildly for thirty minutes, covering a hundred miles, Lu Yuan finally stopped. He felt like there was a ball of fire burning in his throat, and every breath felt like he was spitting fire.

This feeling reminded him of running a 5,000-meter race in his previous life. Back then, he just wanted to lie down immediately.

"Hmm? Another smell of blood?"

Lu Yuan paused.

"Could it be bandits again?"

A thought crossed his mind, and he slowed his pace, crouching down and walking towards the woods by the roadside. After about seventy or eighty meters, he squatted behind a large tree that took two people to embrace and peeked out.

About fifty meters ahead, more than twenty people were surrounding and killing one person.

Corpses littered the ground, with at least thirty bodies already lying there. Blood flowed everywhere, forming pools of gore. No wonder the smell of blood was so strong it could be detected from over a hundred meters away.

"Bai Haihu, you have nowhere to run. Hand over the Dao Seed!! If you hand it over, I'll leave your body intact!" one of them shouted coldly.

The person being surrounded was a stern-faced, dark-skinned man. He sneered upon hearing this:

"If you want the Dao Seed, take it from my corpse!"

The leader's eyes showed a hint of fear. A cornered beast will fight. Bai Haihu had already killed more than thirty of his subordinates. If he fought desperately, not many of these twenty-odd subordinates would survive.

"Since that's the case, then I can only take it from your corpse!"

Bai Haihu took out the box from his chest and muttered to himself, "A Dao Seed, whether real or fake, has caused the deaths of dozens of people in my Bai family. Liang Guan, you really want this thing?"

"Give it to me!"

The greed in Liang Guan's eyes was almost tangible.

"Want it? Come and get it yourself!"

BOOM! Before he could finish speaking, Bai Haihu attacked. He stomped his foot, his body moving like a dragon. In an instant, he covered the dozens of meters, catching the attackers almost off guard.

His fists struck the air, causing it to crackle.

BANG BANG!

Two people had their chests pierced, their bodies sent flying.

CRACK!!

Three more had their throats slit by his hand blades, their neck bones snapping, killing them instantly.

Then, another five or six people were sent flying by him, as if hit by a car, their chest bones breaking as they died.

This Bai Haihu was at least a master with Qi and Blood like a Tiger. His movements were swift and powerful, carrying immense force, making him unstoppable, truly a human-shaped ferocious beast.

"Holy crap!"

Lu Yuan shrunk his neck.

A master like this could probably kill him in a few moves.

It was only in the few seconds he shrunk his neck that the more than twenty people were reduced to just a few, but Liang Guan had also found an opportunity to attack, worsening his injuries.

"Cough cough... Liang Guan, this is all you'll ever be, timid as a mouse. Even in this state, you don't dare to face me head-on..."

Bai Haihu coughed up blood violently, mixed with black and red fragments of internal organs. The ferocity in his eyes undiminished, his killing intent was palpable.

Liang Guan sneered, "Say whatever you want. The one who wins is me."

Bai Haihu suddenly got up. Liang Guan was startled and made a move to retreat, but he didn't expect Bai Haihu to fall backward, his breath ceasing instantly.

"You, go check if he's dead!"

Liang Guan ordered his three surviving subordinates. The three looked at each other, then slowly crossed over the corpses to approach Bai Haihu.

Throughout the process, all three were tense, holding their breath, staring intently at the motionless Bai Haihu.

After the check, the three confirmed Bai Haihu was dead. Liang Guan revealed a slight smile, "Bai Haihu, you're finally dead."

He walked over and bent down to rummage through the box.

The next moment, Bai Haihu's eyes snapped open, and a palm struck Liang Guan's chest. Liang Guan's scalp tingled. However, the distance was too close, and he had no way to dodge. He spat blood and was sent flying backward.

Bang bang bang!

The remaining three were caught off guard and had their heads crushed by Bai Haihu.

"Hiss... how insidious..."

Lu Yuan gasped.

As an observer, he had thought Bai Haihu was dead. He didn't expect him to have a trick up his sleeve, ambushing and killing all his enemies.

But after killing his enemies, Bai Haihu's life also came to an end.

Just as Lu Yuan thought both sides had perished, Liang Guan actually slowly got up again, staring at Bai Haihu's corpse and laughing maniacally, "Bai Haihu! I still won!!"

The laughter abruptly stopped.

Because he was also dead.

"This time, everyone should be dead, right?"

After a few minutes, Lu Yuan walked over to Bai Haihu's corpse and took a small box and two books from him. He then searched Liang Guan and the others, but found nothing besides some silver fragments.

He quickly left the scene and, passing through a small town, booked a room at an inn. Once the doors and windows were securely locked, he eagerly took out the contents of the box.

He was very curious about this Dao Seed.

Inside was a gray, oval bead, the size of a walnut.

Holding the bead in his palm and observing it closely, Lu Yuan was somewhat surprised. The patterns on the bead connected to form a fierce, wide-eyed face.

The face was naturally formed, definitely not carved afterward, but rather a confluence of natural textures that appeared as if meticulously engraved.

The gray face was ancient and natural, emitting a faint Dao charm.