Black Wind Bandits

The Liang Family's talisman shop was called Five Talisman Hall. It was located in the East Market, one of the county seat's nine wards and four markets, and had three halls from front to back.

The front hall sold talismans, the middle hall was for drawing talismans, and the rear hall was for resting.

After Liang Zhaohuang restored the Five-Colored Buddha Light, he saw that dusk was nearing and came to the front hall.

A woman in the hall, with delicate brows and clear eyes, immediately came forward when she saw him and bowed. "Little Uncle, you've come out of seclusion?"

"Ruifang!" Liang Zhaohuang nodded and returned the greeting. This was his cousin's daughter, a generation younger than him.

The Liang Family had established itself as a clan only about a hundred years ago, its inheritance spanning no more than four generations. The fifteen characters "sacred learning, bright auspiciousness, loyalty and kindness build flourishing enterprise, virtue carries the family name far" were used to rank the generations.

Liang Zhaohuang was the youngest of the Zhao generation. Among his nephews and nieces of the fourth generation, the Rui generation, there were even quite a few older than him.

"How has business been this past month?"

He had been sent by the family to the county seat more than a year ago to take charge of Five Talisman Hall's business. What they valued was his talent in the Dao of talismans, and it was also an intentional act of care and cultivation for him.

However, the ones in charge of daily sales were several Rui-generation nieces in the clan.

As for Liang Zhaohuang, he only checked the accounts once in a while. Most of the time, he was either cultivating, researching talismans, or studying some "treasures" he had picked up by chance.

Like this time, in order to study the Five-Colored Light Shield Talisman, he had already been in seclusion in the middle hall for more than a month and had not asked about the hall's business at all.

"Little Uncle, this is this month's account book."

On the other side, Liang Ruiwei walked out from behind the counter with the account book and handed it over.

Liang Ruiwei looked to be in her twenties, and she was one of the nieces who was even older than Liang Zhaohuang.

Liang Zhaohuang took the account book and casually flipped through it. His brows furrowed slightly. "This month, the combat-type talismans sold out again?"

To the side, Liang Ruiwei's expression was also somewhat grave. She nodded and said, "Yes, Little Uncle."

"Right now, whether they're offensive talismans, defensive talismans, or escape-type talismans, they're basically all in short supply."

"Cultivation families from several nearby villages and towns have all come to us to place orders."

"But the family is also tightening the supply now."

Liang Zhaohuang set down the account book, his brows knitting even tighter, and said in a low voice, "It seems the matter of the Black Wind Bandits not only hasn't been resolved, but they've become even more rampant!"

"Otherwise, people wouldn't be this jittery, like every tree and blade of grass was an enemy."

"Little Uncle, your guess is right." To the side, Liang Ruifang came forward at this moment and said with alarm on her face, "Just three days ago, news came that the Zhu Family of Vermilion Dragon Manor was also attacked by the Black Wind Bandits. Their whole household has been wiped out!"

"Vermilion Dragon Manor!" Liang Zhaohuang's expression also changed slightly when he heard this. "It's less than fifty li from the county seat now."

"The Black Wind Bandits have become this rampant? Could they actually be thinking of attacking the county seat?"

Liang Ruiwei shook her head and said, "Attacking the county seat is impossible. The cultivation families in the county seat are at least ninth-rank county gentry, and they have Foundation Establishment cultivators in their clans."

"I heard that the strongest among the Black Wind Bandits is only a Foundation Establishment cultivator. They can only bully the poor families in the villages and towns below the county seat, the ones that haven't entered the ninth rank and don't have Foundation Establishment cultivators holding the fort."

"Compared to the county seat, I'm more worried about the family's safety."

The Liang Family was only a poor family outside the ninth rank, with no Foundation Establishment cultivator holding the fort. If the Black Wind Bandits made a move against the Liang Family, the Liang Family absolutely would not be able to withstand them.

This indeed left the few of them unable to keep worry from their hearts.

"Hmph, those county-gentry families in the county seat are useless too."

"County Commandant Sun took men out of the county seat three months ago to pursue and suppress those Black Wind Bandits."

"The patrol inspectors everywhere are also supposed to be surrounding, chasing, and cutting them off, but in the end, up to now, the Black Wind Bandits have already wiped out three cultivation families."

"And I haven't heard of them catching a single Black Wind Bandit."

"What I have heard is that every time, they just trail behind the Black Wind Bandits, getting fat off disaster wealth!"

"In my opinion, they and the Black Wind Bandits are simply birds of the same feather."

Liang Ruifang said this rather bitterly from the side.

"Thirteenth Sister!" When Liang Ruiwei heard this, her face immediately darkened, and she scolded, "What nonsense are you spouting? Don't you know disaster comes from the mouth?"

When Liang Ruifang heard this, although her face was still puffed up with anger, in the end she said nothing more.

At this moment, Liang Ruiwei turned to Liang Zhaohuang and instead comforted him. "Little Uncle, you don't need to worry too much either."

"I heard news from the family that in the dozen or so townships under the county seat, dozens of poor families have already united to petition the county magistrate, demanding that he send people as soon as possible to resolve these Black Wind Bandits."

"Otherwise, they'll petition the commandery city and find the commandery's Lord Zhongzheng to lodge a complaint."

"Besides, autumn harvest is almost here, and the biggest matter in the county is tax collection."

"If the Black Wind Bandits delay tax collection, the powerful families in the county won't be able to shoulder that responsibility either."

"In my view, these Black Wind Bandits won't be able to run free for many more days."

Although Liang Ruiwei was a generation younger than Liang Zhaohuang, she was nearly ten years older than him and had practically watched him grow up, so she often acted more like an "elder."

When Liang Zhaohuang heard this, he nodded slightly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "This time, I discovered a new kind of talisman. Its defensive effect is comparable to a top-tier defensive magic artifact. I'll draw some over the next two days, then send them back home."

"With these talismans, the family will be a bit safer too."

Liang Zhaohuang still decided not to sell the Five-Colored Light Shield Talisman for the time being, but to send them to the clan to serve as part of the family's foundation.

When Liang Ruiwei heard this from the side, her face showed both joy and worry. "Why don't I deliver them instead? Little Uncle, you stay in the county seat..."

Liang Zhaohuang only waved a hand and said, "No need."

As he spoke, he circulated his magic power and revealed his aura. "I've already broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining and advanced to the late stage of Qi Refining. I'll be safer than any of you going back."

Sensing the aura around Liang Zhaohuang, both Liang Ruiwei and Liang Ruifang showed joy on their faces.

"Little Uncle, when did you break through?" Liang Ruifang asked in delighted surprise.

"Just last month," Liang Zhaohuang said. "Cultivating here in the county town is indeed faster than cultivating out in the countryside, and advancing is easier too."

"If even a county town has such an effect, I truly wonder what a commandery city is like? What a prefectural city is like? And what it must be like inside the Heavenly Capital!"

Cultivation in this world meant awakening the "Spirit Light," using the "Spirit Light" to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, then refining that spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate.

However, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was all extremely violent, and was not suitable for direct refinement in cultivation.

Only after being suppressed and cleansed by the "Human Way" could it transform into "Human Way Spiritual Energy" suitable for humans to refine and cultivate with.

Therefore, the more flourishing the population and the more prosperous the Human Way in a place, the denser the Human Way Spiritual Energy would be, and the more suitable it would be for humans to refine and cultivate.

When cultivators cultivated within it, advancing naturally became easier and faster.

Taking the "Great Jin Immortal Dynasty" where Liang Zhaohuang currently lived as an example, the place with the largest population and the most flourishing Human Way was naturally the capital of the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty, "Heavenly Capital." Beneath it were the prefectural capitals of each prefecture, then the commandery cities of each commandery, and then the county towns of each county.

Last of all were the towns and villages beneath the county towns.

The Liang family was a humble clan that had not entered the ninth rank, and they had no way to establish themselves within the county town. Thus, the clan could only occupy a town beneath the county town, relying on the town's population to cleanse the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Their cultivation speed and efficiency were both much lower.

However, the various humble clans were able to open some shops in the county town's market district.

These could be used both to conduct some business and to cultivate certain important juniors.

It was just that there were strict limits on both the number of shops and the number of people allowed to be stationed there.

Moreover, the government offices in the county town would also levy heavy taxes on these shops.

It could be considered each side taking what it needed.