Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains-Chapter 115 - 098, Ding Dian’s malicious intentions [Wish you a healthy Dragon Boat Festival!]

New Yu Era 1322, April 29

Hou Yuxiao instructed Hou Yujie and Hou Yuduan with a few words, personally led people to escort them and the Gui Yutang party onto the official road, and after watching them leave, he turned and returned to the Hou Mansion.

In the following days, as martial artists came and went, news of a Five-Rank Demon spread in the prefectural city and also in Zhaoyang City, initially causing quite a stir. However, as time passed and nothing happened, the people were less afraid.

After all, seeing is believing, hearing is uncertain, and fear in humans generally requires some direct sensory stimuli to be triggered. Since it was just news they heard, and the City Lord’s Mansion made no moves, the citizens gradually eased their worries.

Then a miraculous scene appeared!

While the hearts of the people in Tongling County were filled with trepidation, Zhaoyang City was unaffected, the citizens going about their daily eating and drinking, presenting a picture of tranquility and peace, astonishing many martial artists from the county.

"Demons? Never even seen one. Master of Hou Family manages the city well, with numerous experts under his command, no demon dares to come!"

"Exactly, with the reputation of Master of Hou Family well known, even demons would be afraid."

...

These martial artists from the prefectural city, originally racking their brains not knowing where to flee, stayed a few days in Zhaoyang and found it to be just as the citizens said, with no signs or incidences relating to demons.

With that, these people settled down and bought property in the city.

You must know that these were all martial artists banding together, often accompanied by a large group of commoners. Once they moved in, they brought a wave of population growth to Zhaoyang City—the result was that the city’s population inexplicably surged in just one month from 330,000 to 400,000, and the one under the most pressure was Hou Yucheng. Previously, when Fifth Brother Hou Yuduan was around, he was not only in charge of managing various city affairs, but also provided strategies for his Zhaoyang Iron Guards. Now that Hou Yuduan had left, all the responsibilities fell on him.

Originally, Hou Yuling was there to help him, but Hou Yuxiao put her under house arrest as well, saying she was not allowed out until she broke through the Gang Qi Realm.

So, Hou Yucheng became the busiest person in the clan.

If not for Hou Ying, Hou Cun, Su Li, Xiong Nutao, and Zhang Kong, who could lend him a hand, given his temperament, he would probably have thrown in the towel already.

Of course, the main reason was that Hou Yuxiao had promised that as soon as his third mother broke through the Gang Qi Realm, she would come out to replace him, giving him time to close the door and make a breakthrough.

The eighty thousand taels of silver brought back by Hou Fei represented that the two businesses in the county had stabilized, and also that the systems set by Hou Yuxiao had enough financial support. While the whole of Tongling County was in a state of panic, Hou Yuxiao announced that he was going into seclusion.

Not only did he enter seclusion, but he also ordered his third, Hou Yuling, to do the same, and urged the family’s martial artists to go into seclusion for at least ten days each month after receiving their Body Strengthening Pills, to enhance their cultivation while studying martial arts.

Every ten days he would come out to offer guidance on their martial arts, answering any questions they might have.

At first, only a part of the clan that practiced the staff art was happy, after all, the talent of the family head in the staff art was well known. Later, whether it was practicing any kind of weapon, they all rushed to get Hou Yuxiao’s guidance.

This was because they discovered that Hou Yuxiao was not only good at the staff art but also skilled in swords, knives, spears, halberds, bows, axes... he was simply adept at everything.

With such favorable conditions, the Hou Clan martial artists plunged into a frenzy of cultivation. Even those martial artists who had not yet joined the clan but were serving in the Zhaoyang Iron Guards, upon hearing this, practiced like mad, hoping to join the clan sooner and learn the clan’s martial arts.

Under the leadership of Hou Yuxiao, the entire Hou Clan fell into a crazy competition of cultivation. Not to say that they did not care about news from the county, even within Zhaoyang County, if it was not under the Hou Family’s jurisdiction, nobody bothered with it.

...

New Yu Era 1322, May 29

At the Hou Clan’s separate residence in Tongling Prefectural City,

"Old Fifth, has the Prison Admin Department made a move?"

Hou Yujie, donned in a dark red robust outfit, sat opposite Hou Yuduan, both with a faint trace of worry in their brows.

Hou Yuduan nodded slightly, answering, "The Prison Admin Department has dispatched a total of twenty gang qi warriors, divided into four teams, each tasked with the responsibility of exploring for demon trails within a twenty-li radius of the Prefectural City, Yulin, Baiye, and Zhaoyang."

Hou Yujie lowered his head and pondered for a moment before a glint of sharpness appeared in his eyes, "Which team are you on?"

"Great Luo Sect’s Shen Xiao, Bai Clan’s Bai Dongyu, West Cloud Escort Agency’s Liu Jiangyu, Hongdao Gang’s Qin Kai, and myself!"

Upon hearing this arrangement, Hou Yujie could not help but chuckle without amusement.

"Heh... then there’s no need to say, the twenty-li radius around the Prefectural City will definitely be your team’s responsibility to investigate, right?"

Hou Yuduan nodded again, his demeanor showing little change.

This time, the Prison Admin Department pulled people from nine powers within the county, apart from the two from the Great Luo Sect, the other eight powers contributed one person each, totaling ten people. With four teams and five people per team, it was clear that these five families were deliberately grouped together.

He and Old Fifth arrived at the Prefectural City on the 30th of April. The Prison Admin Department did not make any movements for a month, and he thought they might have forgotten about them, but the expected still occurred.

There have been confirmed reports in recent days that the demons are now approaching the Prefectural City. The surrounding areas of the Prefectural City are certainly the most dangerous, and Ding Dian’s intentional grouping of the five into one team made it clear that these areas would fall under their jurisdiction!

Despite knowing Ding Dian’s malicious intent, Hou Yujie glanced at Hou Yuduan casually and felt little worry in his heart.

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, within a twenty-mile radius, we must complete the investigation within ten days, and report back to the Prison Admin Department every day with the findings!"

Hou Yujie nodded slightly and said, "Then you should rest first. Whatever you need to take with you, just ask Hou Fei to prepare it. If there are any other developments, let me know then."

After exchanging a few cautionary words, Hou Yuduan went back to his room to rest.

"There’s definitely no need to worry about Old Fifth’s safety. If he was in the city, I’d be more concerned about Ding Dian playing dirty tricks. But once he’s out of the city…"

Hou Yujie shook his head slightly and chuckled. As he looked up, noticing the darkening sky, he walked slowly toward the martial arts training ground of the residence.

Upon entering the training ground, his entire demeanor changed instantly. A chill emanated from his body as Gang Qi surrounded him; he drew the brown longsword at his waist at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

The longsword, when unsheathed, flashed a dark light that was striking even in the night. Following his ghostly figure, the longsword created a series of sword shadows in the night sky. The shadows were so fast the previous ones hadn’t faded before new ones were added, all lined up like a flock of swans, dazzling to the sight, truly living up to the name "Swan Shadow Sword."

Hou Yujie’s eyes narrowed slightly as the longsword circled behind him, as if hiding the sword on his back. Gang Qi flowed through the twelve primary channels. The longsword suddenly stretched forward from behind, moving with an inconceivable speed, dancing dozens of moves in front of him.

If his movements were earlier described as ghostly, now he had completely transformed into a blur of red shadows, with only his silhouette visible in mid-air, not his figure.

Dozens of sword glows swept out like a violent storm, creating numerous blood-red afterimages in the air, and the sword edge tore through the atmosphere, leaving behind cracks. Ordinary folks present might think he had slashed through space itself.

"Seventy-eight sword shadows, twenty-two short of the Transformative Realm!"

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Hou Yujie stopped, looking at the lingering blood-red sword shadows in the air, and pulled out a porcelain bottle from his chest. He uttered a white Minor Rejuvenation Pill, with a faint glint of sharpness in his eyes.

Suddenly, a noise came from outside the door, Hou Yujie tucked the elixir back into the porcelain bottle and returned it to his chest, then turned his head to see a man in black walking in from the door and bowing respectfully to him.

"Fourth Master, the Dragon Head has sent me to report to you; there’s an opportunity tonight. Tong Long didn’t stay at the Ling Cheng Escort Agency, he’s residing in his house in the western city!"

Upon hearing this, Hou Yujie’s face immediately showed a trace of joy. He turned back into his room, changed into a black outfit, and took out a three-headed green jiao (flood dragon) demon mask to wear. Blended with the night, his appearance instantly became more terrifying.

Once he spoke, his normally soft voice became a bit more delicate.

"Take me to Gao Hu!"

"As you command, Fourth Master. Please follow me."

...

The very outskirts of Tongling County, fifteen miles out, were the grounds of third-rate forces, where the Hou Clan currently had no base. Their residence was located in the northeast corner of the territory belonging to the Bai Clan.

Whereas, the grounds of the Ling Cheng Escort Agency were in the northwest corner. Dressed in black and wearing a mask, Hou Yujie moved through the still, deserted night without making a sound. In approximately half an hour, he arrived at a mansion that covered an area of more than a hundred meters square.

He didn’t rush in. His gaze swept around the perimeter, noticing a large tree on the right side of the residence that would take three men to encircle. With his energy focused, he leapt onto the tree. Peering through the shade at the mansion, only the cold glint of his pupils could be seen from behind the mask.

Not more than a dozen breaths later, two figures in black leapt up from the ground. They bowed slightly to Hou Yujie and then spoke in a low voice, "Fourth Master, it has been confirmed, Tong Long is here tonight. He arrived during the Xu hour and should be resting in his room if nothing unexpected has occurred!"

"Information about Tong Long, how many in the courtyard, how many in the room?"

Hearing Gao Cheng’s voice, Hou Yujie’s gaze remained fixed on the mansion, simply asking a succinct question without a waver in his expression.

"Tong Long is the Chief Escort of the Ling Cheng Escort Agency, the younger brother of the agency’s Family Head, Tong Yun. He’s been practicing martial arts with him since childhood, skilled in using the spear, with their ancestral Po Yun Spear Technique mastered. He’s now at the peak of the Coagulate Gang realm!

There are currently only his twenty-seven followers in the courtyard, two of them are warriors of the Tenth Level of Body Opening, the rest are ordinary attendants around the fifth-level body refinement, all sect members of the escort agency.

There are only two people in the room, Tong Yun and his concubine Liu Yuzhu. Liu Yuzhu is an ordinary person and poses no threat!"

Hou Yujie nodded slightly, his gaze scanning the surroundings of the mansion, all the while counting softly to himself.

"One, two, three… seven, eight… twelve, thirteen, fourteen… nineteen… twenty-six, twenty-seven…"

After counting to twenty-seven and confirming that no one else was visible, Hou Yujie let out a soft breath and spoke in a low voice.

"Give me the Silver Order!"

Gao Cheng and Gao Hu’s faces, albeit covered by masks, clearly showed a flicker of excitement when Hou Yujie spoke. Gao Cheng immediately took out a palm-sized silver-bordered token from his chest and handed it to Hou Yujie.

"Fourth Master, let us go ahead and deal with those attendants for you," Gao Hu said respectfully, ready to jump down from the tree with his brother after speaking. However, Hou Yujie gently stopped them.

"No need, I can handle it alone!"

The voice of Hou Yujie echoed in their ears. Despite him deliberately softening his tone with Gang Qi, it still sounded chilling to Gao Cheng and Gao Hu, sending a shiver down their spines…

PS: Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, and prosperous Dragon Boat Festival. May your families be joyful and all your wishes come true.

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