Making Contact

In Fengxi County, just as the spearhead of rumor and gossip had turned toward the Zhang family, news of their work-for-relief initiative was released, and the wind immediately began to shift.

Great crowds of commoners and refugees began lingering outside the Zhang family gates, eagerly awaiting further news.

With the great drought upon them, countless commoners felt the looming threat.

At such a time, who would be willing to miss this news?

As for the earlier rumors, they clearly had little to do with them. The Zhang family had mountains of rice and flour—did that not show the depth of their wealth? In times like these, only by following those with solid family means could one keep hunger from ravaging one's household.

At the Golden Jade Restaurant, several hundred meters from the Zhang family gates,

some figures with distinctly different temperaments also witnessed the scene. They were some of Fengxi County's wandering martial artists.

At this moment, they too were whispering among themselves, and most gradually set aside their hostility.

Through their various channels, they had also inquired into the Zhang family's reputation.

The Zhang family had always enjoyed a good reputation in Fengxi County. Though the family was powerful, under the restraint of its patriarch, Zhang Yi, its descendants had never dared act recklessly.

In previous years, the Zhang family's tenant farmers and lessees had always received land leases at lower prices than those offered by other great households.

Recently, they had even set up porridge kitchens to provide aid to refugees.

Most importantly, there was the plaque reading "A Family That Accumulates Good Deeds" that the county office had delivered a few days earlier.

No matter how one looked at it, the Zhang family was not the kind of heartless rich folk described in the rumors.

Of course, more importantly, the Zhang family had recently displayed the strength of quite a few estate guards. Many of them were skilled fighters, and after weighing the gains and losses, numerous wandering martial artists abandoned certain desperate notions.

"Senior Brother, who would have thought that such a tiny place could raise a 'flood dragon'?"

On the second floor of the Golden Jade Restaurant, a pair who looked like a golden boy and jade maiden stood leaning against the railing.

The man wore fine azure brocade and carried a sharp azure sword. He was tall and lean, his bearing cold and stern.

The woman had a graceful figure, fair skin, and a face veiled in gauze. She appeared exceedingly beautiful, and her voice was soft, sweet, and lilting.

They appeared to be senior brother and junior sister.

"It can hardly be called a 'flood dragon,' but its power is indeed considerable. I fear it is no weaker than those prestigious commandery clans. These local magnates are always adept at finding opportunities!"

"I just wonder whether they can hold on to such wealth and honor?"

The man's expression remained indifferent as he glanced toward the Zhang family.

"For the Zhang family to present the Large-Tube Waterwheel Diagram at a time like this is a service to the nation and boundless merit for the common people. There are fewer and fewer local magnates with a conscience in this age. I only hope they can weather this trial!"

Just then, the brows of the senior brother and junior sister furrowed. Looking down, they saw several figures filing into the Golden Jade Restaurant. Each of the five carried an unusual weapon.

The five figures all possessed deep, powerful auras, as though they had been forged from iron and blood.

They were five experts of external cultivation.

"The Northern Five Heroes!"

The senior brother and junior sister exchanged a look, their eyes turning grave.

The Northern Five Heroes were renowned body-tempering experts around Fengyang Commandery. They were not without backing; they were famous fighters of the Three Rivers Gang in Fengyang Commandery. Why had they come to Fengxi County at a time like this?

In another private room of the Golden Jade Restaurant, Zhang Jian was dressed in luxurious jade-patterned brocade, his hair bound beneath a crown. His face was fair as jade. Though still young, he possessed the air of a gentleman like polished jade, untouched by dust.

Today, he had shaken off Zhang Lu and come to the Golden Jade Restaurant for the rare pleasure of a few drinks.

The Golden Jade Restaurant's wine and dishes were quite famous in Fengxi County. More importantly, it offered all manner of entertainment; this was a paradise for scholars and refined gentlemen.

With his keen five senses, Zhang Jian had long noticed a group of wandering martial artists gathered in the restaurant. To his sharp senses, their auras were like candle flames in the night.

After eating the Fire Apricot, his senses and spiritual perception had become exceptionally acute. His eyes in particular seemed able to see things ordinary people could not, something profoundly mysterious.

His hearing, too, was keener than that of ordinary martial artists.

Especially after he had mastered the Heavenly Dipper Boy Skill.

These wandering martial artists murmured quietly, believing they could escape the notice of others, but to his ears, they might as well have been speaking aloud.

His attention was mainly fixed on the senior brother and junior sister on the second floor. The auras emanating from them were extraordinarily mysterious, revealing them to be internal cultivation experts at the Essence Nurturing stage.

He had not seen many skilled internal cultivators in Fengxi County, and even those were mostly still at the Qi Sensing stage.

Only Zhang Yi stood far above his peers.

Then there were the five burly men in the main hall, their blood and qi pressing upon others, as well as two other groups. They too were external cultivation martial artists, surrounded by dense, baleful auras.

Zhang Jian heard the wandering martial artists mention the Zhang family in their conversations. Most held complicated feelings: chiefly wariness, but also admiration. Naturally, some were arrogant and hostile as well.

This put Zhang Jian somewhat at ease. It seemed his strategy had been correct; these wandering martial artists had indeed been intimidated by the Zhang family's strength.

"Still, there will always be reckless fools who think themselves invincible. I'm afraid a chicken will have to be killed to warn the monkeys."

Zhang Jian sighed inwardly. Yet when he walked out of the Golden Jade Restaurant, he saw a familiar figure entering it.

"Yang Zhonghuai!"

He saw a gaunt-faced figure enter from outside the restaurant, then head straight for the room occupied by those five vicious men.

Yang Zhonghuai was also of his generation, the son of County Magistrate Yang Qing.

Unfortunately, his luck had been poor. He had failed the provincial examination several times.

Yang Zhonghuai's contact with those five vicious men at such a time immediately put Zhang Jian on guard.

But when he tilted his ear to listen, he quickly grew frustrated. The six men were speaking in a local dialect he could not understand...

Still, he vaguely caught a few words.

"Suppress bandits, Zhang Kui!"

Just those few words already made him think of many things.

He rose and left the Golden Jade Restaurant. Before departing, however, the senior brother and junior sister by the window happened to look over. Zhang Jian's expression shifted slightly, and he gave them a small nod.

The two were mildly surprised, but they also nodded lightly in greeting.

That night, Zhang Jian suddenly awoke from his dreams.

The sound of metal clashing rang by his ears.

"Someone has entered the Zhang family by night?"

Zhang Jian woke in an instant, while a strange glint surfaced in his eyes.

The sound was not far from Fanglin Residence.

Fanglin Residence stood at the edge of the Zhang family's central inner grounds. Not far away were the courtyard of Zhang Yi and his wife, Qi; beside it lay the Zhang family's heavily guarded storerooms. The residences of the concubines were in the rear courtyard, separated by a smaller courtyard from where the Zhang brothers lived.

Zhang Jian was not worried that this foolish thief would find the storerooms. Rather, he worried that the intruder might have broken into the place where his younger brothers and sisters lived.

But his concern quickly vanished. He heard an intense tearing sound through the air, and in an instant, the hurried footsteps abruptly ceased.

"Dead?"

As the thought flashed through his mind, he sensed an extremely frigid aura emerge nearby.

It was Zhang Yi!

Zhang Jian was exceptionally familiar with Zhang Yi's internal breath. He specialized in an internal cultivation method called the Mystic Jade Method. His internal breath was incomparably cold, carrying an icy force that could freeze one's heart meridians stiff.

Yet the one who had struck was not Zhang Yi, but a peerlessly fierce blade-light.

It was Jian Yao, the Hundred Victories Blade.

Seeing that every trouble had already been dealt with, Zhang Jian did not leave his room.

After all, he truly disliked this sort of troublesome affair.

But a moment later, he rose again. He sensed two familiar auras appearing above Fanglin Residence.