"I know my days are numbered, but I cannot bear to leave my daughter behind. I hope Young Master Bu can look after her. I have left some savings in that jar, and I hope Young Master Bu will accept it!"
Zhao Huaishi weakly raised his hand and pointed to a large vat inside the room, his face filled with hope.
He knew that someone like Lü Sen wouldn't let things go so easily and would definitely send people to hunt down him and his daughter. He was beyond saving, but his daughter was innocent.
But given their current situation, they need to find a capable person to rely on in order to ensure their daughter's survival; otherwise, even leaving the city might be a problem.
He had already sent Zhao Da to disguise himself as a beggar and scout ahead. The Blood River Gang had deployed experts at all three city gates; otherwise, he wouldn't be hiding here in such a miserable state, barely clinging to life.
This is also the main reason why he was waiting for Wang Hao to arrive.
He didn't mention revenge, because he knew that as long as this Young Master Bu arrived, Lü Sen would definitely not have a good ending.
Although he had a grudge against Lü Sen, it wasn't a serious one; Lü Sen had only robbed the goods they were transporting.
He didn't take it to heart at the time, but he was worried about how to explain it to this young master Bu.
After all, nothing in the martial arts world is guaranteed to succeed. He had been forced to lose several shipments before, losing a lot of money to others, so he didn't consider it a big deal.
But as soon as they returned, Lü Sen led his men to kill them to silence them.
You must know that his own strength is not weak, and the strength of the escorts in the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau is also not bad. The Blood River Gang will have to pay a high price if they want to kill them. This kind of loss-making transaction should not be done by Lu Sen.
But the other party still did it, so there's only one explanation: what they were transporting was extraordinary, or that Young Master Bu's identity was terrifying, forcing Lü Sen to risk losses to bring people over to silence him.
Since that's the case, as long as this young master Bu knows the whole story, then Lü Sen will definitely not survive, and naturally he won't need to talk about revenge.
I agree to this!
After a moment's thought, Wang Hao nodded solemnly.
After all, this was nothing to him, and the base on Treasure Island of Ryukyu was in dire need of manpower, so having another little girl wouldn't make a difference.
"Thank you so much!"
Upon hearing Wang Hao's agreement, Zhao Huaishi breathed a sigh of relief, thanked him, and collapsed onto the bed, losing all sign of life.
He was only holding on by sheer willpower; if Wang Hao had arrived a few days later, he wouldn't have been able to hold on any longer. Now that his last concern was gone and his last breath had dissipated, there was no need for him to keep going.
"Prepare a fine coffin; I'm going to deal with those tails that have followed us!"
Wang Hao walked out of the room and gave an order to Zhao Da, the beggar who was squatting in the yard talking to the little girl. Without stopping, he went outside.
Actually, he had been watched as early as when he came with the middle-aged beggar Zhao Da. It was probably because the Blood River Gang had also left people around the Zhenyuan Escort Agency.
Previously, unaware of the situation, I hadn't paid any attention to it; now, naturally, I wouldn't keep them there any longer.
"Miss, please come with me!"
He got up, walked to the door, glanced inside, Zhao Da, and led the still bewildered little girl outside.
On the other side, Wang Hao quickly captured the two Blood River Gang members following behind. After using hypnosis to question them and obtaining the general information that matched what Zhao Huaishi had said, he casually killed the two guys.
Although he had a lot of blood on his hands and had destroyed 80% of the martial arts forces in the border regions, he only acted according to the list collected by Xie Feng, only killing the ringleaders and those who colluded with foreign tribes.
As long as no one attacks him during the process, no innocent people will be harmed.
But the Blood River Gang went too far by wiping out the entire family in order to maintain secrecy; such people deserve to die.
The rest was not difficult. After Wang Hao had Zhao Yamato and Zhao Huaishi's daughter bury Zhao Huaishi, he sent them north to the Mount Heng Sword Sect to find Xie Feng.
He still needed to investigate the Blood River Gang and Lü Sen's affairs, so it wasn't convenient for him to bring a young girl along. It would be better to let Xie Feng arrange the trip to Treasure Island of Ryukyu.
After arranging everything, Wang Hao rushed to the Blood River Gang, hundreds of miles away, based on the information he had extracted from the Blood River Gang members, only to find a vast expanse of white land.
The entire headquarters of the Blood River Gang was burned to ashes, leaving not a trace.
"What a brilliant escape strategy!"
After making some inquiries about the Blood River Gang, Wang Hao gave a cold smile.
According to those around them, the Blood River Gang was attacked by their enemies and wiped out overnight, with no survivors. The entire gang was then burned to the ground.
But what a coincidence! It was clear that Lü Sen, seeing that he couldn't silence them, had resorted to a clever escape plan.
Wang Hao ignored this and continued his journey eastward by boat, intending to deliver the secret manual he had to Dongfang Bai first.
As for the secret manual that was taken from Lü Sen of the Blood River Gang, he didn't care much. Anyway, he had memorized it all, and making another copy would be no trouble.
As for Lü Sen, he didn't plan to find him immediately. After all, since Lu Sen had used the "golden cicada shedding its shell" trick, he would definitely hide himself well. He didn't know where he was hiding right now!
He had no intention of dragging out such a well-hidden Nezumi. Although he could use the system's Treasure-Seeking Function to find this person, it wasn't worth wasting so many Fortune Points on this kind of guy.
The reason he took this matter so seriously was simply because he didn't want to expose Dongfang Bai.
Since Zhao Huaishi did not reveal the destination of the old mansion in the east, it doesn't matter.
As for Lü Sen, he would find an opportunity to find and eliminate him later. He didn't believe that Lu Sen could hide forever!
They traveled east along the Yellow River, then turned onto the Grand Canal, and finally reached the shore two days later.
The old house in the east is not far from the Grand Canal; it only takes half a day to walk there.
"This is the old Eastern mansion! We're back!"
Looking up at the gilded plaque of the old house in the east, Wang Hao felt a complex mix of emotions.
Although the annihilation of the Dongfang Lineage was the result of multiple forces, his predecessor played a key role in it.
Back then, it was his own past self who infiltrated the Dongfang Lineage by relying on his honest and simple appearance, and then took the opportunity to poison them, leading to the silent annihilation of the Dongfang Lineage.
Otherwise, given the Dongfang Lineage's resources, even if they faced a combined attack from the Eastern Depot and the Brocade Guard, at least some of them would have managed to escape.
After all, for such a powerful and influential family, secret rooms and passages are practically indispensable. Who knows how many escape routes they've dug within their family?
If he hadn't been poisoned beforehand and hadn't been unable to escape through the secret passage, how could he have been the only one Dongfang Bai to be wiped out?
"No, we also need to count an old lady. According to the intelligence, she was Dongfang Bai's father's wet nurse when he was young. She happened to be visiting her family in the countryside and escaped the disaster!"
Wang Hao then remembered another piece of information: although the old house in the east was abandoned, there was still someone guarding it.
"I was unaware of your presence and have failed to greet you properly. Please forgive my inadequacy!"
Wang Hao hadn't stood in front of the door for long when a slightly hunched figure slowly walked out from inside the gate—it was Granny Song, the one mentioned in the intelligence report.
Meanwhile, Granny Song was warily watching the man in brocade robes wearing a bamboo hat in front of her. She had sensed the aura emanating from him while she was still in the old house. He was definitely a Grandmaster- level expert, and even among Grandmaster, he was among the top tier.
Why would someone like that come to the old Eastern mansion?
Could the other party be connected to the murderer who massacred the Dongfang Lineage years ago?
Thinking of this, Granny Song became even more vigilant.
"You must be Granny Song! I am Zhu Yanzu, a friend of Xiao Bai!"
Wang Hao took off his bamboo hat and said with a smile, his tone very polite and sincere, after all, this was Dongfang Bai's elder!
That's right, he's currently using the pseudonym " Zhu Yanzu".
" Zhu Yanzu! So it's you, son-in-law! Please come in quickly! I'll send a message by hawk to have Miss return right away."
Upon hearing Zhu Yanzu's name and seeing that Wang Hao's current appearance was exactly the same as in the portrait, Granny Song happily took Wang Hao's arm and led him inside.
This excessive enthusiasm left Wang Hao completely bewildered. He had considered various possibilities beforehand, but he never expected the outcome to be like this.
How did I end up becoming the son-in-law of the Dongfang Household?
Could it be that Dongfang Bai is planning to offer herself to me, Master Hao?
And so, Granny Song warmly welcomed Wang Hao into the house, and even had several maids prepare a sumptuous feast. She even personally wrote a letter to have her pet hawk take it to Black Wood Cliff.
At the dinner table, Granny Song kept staring at Wang Hao, looking at him with increasing satisfaction, just like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, and kept praising him.
"These must be martial arts classics Guanzhong the Guanzhong and border regions! You've worked hard, son-in-law!"
Halfway through the conversation, Granny Song's gaze turned to the two large boxes that Wang Hao had brought. Smelling the faint scent of ink, she immediately knew what was inside.
It was obvious that it contained martial arts manuals; she had experienced this several times before.
Although she felt the son-in-law was being a bit too crazy, she acknowledged his good intentions.
The fact that someone would go to such lengths for their mistress proves that their heart is absolutely sincere.
"It's not hard work, it's not hard work at all. As long as Xiao Bai happy, that's all that matters
Wang Hao waved his hand modestly, showing his great appreciation for Granny Song.
This is the only remaining relative of Dongfang Bai's, and judging from the information we've received, Dongfang Bai holds this Granny Song in very high regard.
Now that this powerful figure has agreed to his relationship with Dongfang Bai, things will be much easier from here on out.
This rekindled a small flame in Wang Hao's heart!
His original intention in coming here was to take advantage of the situation and force himself on Dongfang Bai, which was the only possible way he could think of to win her over.
When he first transmigrated to this world, he wanted to take advantage of Dongfang Bai's serious injury to get things done, but unfortunately, that old guy Dugu Qiubai was causing Dugu Qiubai outside, forcing him to give up.
But now he believes he is no longer afraid of Dugu Qiubai. Even if that old guy suddenly appears, he is confident he can beat him to a pulp.
With this, the last obstacle between him and his first wife would no longer exist, allowing him to carry out his plan of forcing himself on her.
To his surprise, things went much better than he had imagined. Upon meeting him, his mother-in-law, Granny Song, immediately gave him a high degree of approval and even called him "son-in-law."
This is fantastic news!
Unfortunately, this joyful mood didn't last long before it was interrupted by an old man who suddenly appeared.
Moreover, the other party was an acquaintance, none other than the Dugu Qiubai of that generation.
The suddenly appearing Dugu Qiubai circled Wang Hao several times, seemingly trying to ascertain something.
"What does Mr. Dugu mean by this?"
Granny Song, standing to the side, stared at Dugu Qiubai with a very unfriendly expression. This old fellow had come with her young lady last time and had been loitering around the Dongfang Old House ever since, eating and drinking for free.
If it weren't for the fact that this old man was her young lady's master, she would have kicked him out long ago.
She could tolerate it before, but now this old man was being disrespectful to her son-in-law, and that was unacceptable!
Her young lady is already in her mid-twenties, and she's finally found a son-in-law she likes. If this old man scares her away, wouldn't she be at a huge loss?
Dugu Qiubai ignored Granny Song's words, and finally seemed to have confirmed something, saying with a half-smile, "You brat, you actually went to such lengths to get close to Bai'er, aren't you afraid she'll kill you if she finds out the truth?"
However, you've surpassed your teacher, far exceeding even Old Ghost Chu's abilities back then. I almost didn't recognize you at all."
These words made Wang Hao's face turn cold. He realized that this old man had seen through his true identity, and a chilling murderous intent immediately arose in his heart.
I must not reveal my identity to Dongfang Bai, otherwise it might ruin the side quest of collecting secret manuals in exchange for Fortune Points. If that girl doesn't accept the manuals that are sent later, that would be a real problem.
so...