Chapter 39 The Layout Begins

  The major forces in Ning City are concentrated on the east and south sides of the city. The east side is dominated by the Guo and Wei families, while the south side is controlled by the Zhu and Wu families. The Hu family's countermeasures were also very clever, with the two strongest branches, Ze Bai and Li Qing, respectively garrisoning the northeast and southeast corners. The slightly weaker Beiji branch was located in the southwest corner. These three major branches, combined with the main line of the Hu family in the center of Ning City, formed a encirclement against the four major families.

  The market in the east of the city is built along the Red River, which runs north-south through Ning City. It has a serene and natural atmosphere like that of Jiangnan's water towns. The main shops gathered here are some daily necessities stores and some basic cultivation supplies stores, with relatively small profits. After Hu Jiaji withdrew from this area following his defeat at the hands of Bai Xiaochun, it is now completely managed by the Guo and Wei families together.

  The market in the south of the city is quite different, for this is the core of the entire Ning City, as the entire southern city is a huge trading market, and even in the entire Longhua country, it is one of the best.

  Due to the existence of the Dragon Scales Mountains, many adventurers have made the South City market an important transit point. Unlike large cities with auction houses, this place is where various merchants take advantage of resources and time differences to endlessly plunder the rich materials that adventurers work hard to obtain. They want concentrated wholesale processing, quick, simple, and efficient, which is their favorite way of doing business. As for profits, that's a problem for businessmen to worry about!

  A genius, Hugao, with a tired face, returned home from the misty forest road in the east of the city, which had been out of repair for years, crossing the market and Hongshui River that had not yet woken up, and fell asleep like a dead dog.

  Last night, after Xiaowu broke through to the mid-first stage, the two foodies launched a ruthless and inhumane massacre against the outer circle of Tu Shan. The surviving demons could only sigh that sometimes having a good life was also a sin, and that without the demon dan, they would be able to attain true happiness.

  Two consecutive nights of fierce battle, even Hu Gao, a steel warrior who had been in an internet cafe for three days and three nights, was a bit overwhelmed. Especially after combining yuan force with physical strength, the consumption speed was so fast that even he, a pervert, couldn't keep up, it was simply a bottomless pit!

  As for the newly learned Fire Dragon Technique, it's even more terrifying. Hu Gao only needs to release it twice, and the entire ocean of yuan power can almost be drained! Hu Gao can't help but want to change the name of the Fire Dragon Technique to "Ocean of Yuan Power", this damn thing is completely using yuan power to smash people, with his current cultivation level in the Condensing Shadow Realm, he's not even qualified to play.

  Hugao soon fell asleep under the profound meditation law, and in his dream, he kept thinking about what Boss Pang had said to him. He couldn't think of any changes that would happen in Ning City, let alone the Lang family suddenly attacking them like this?

  With a mind full of questions, when Hu Gao woke up, he found that his stomach was very hungry. Since having Xiao Wu, it seemed that even his stomach had become hungrier.

  "Why hasn't Qinglian come over for the past few days?" Mentioning food, Hu Gao started to miss that all-knowing and all-powerful little loli who would bring him delicious things. He thought he should also go visit the Qing branch, after all, it was also his birthplace back then.

  After going out, I casually found a fellow clansman on the side of the road to ask for directions. Hu Gao finally had a general idea of the layout of Ning City. Speaking of which, the Qing branch is actually not far from here either, should have gone to take a look earlier.

  However, going south of the city is much more crowded than the east side, and there are many more warriors on the road. Hu Gao did not rashly probe the strength of these people. He already knew that Ning City was a place where dragons and tigers were hidden, so it's better for him to be careful and low-key.

  Just as they were about to part ways at the fork in the road, a loud voice suddenly emerged from the crowd, shouting: "Hú Gāo? You're here too?"

  Hu Gao looked around and only then discovered Yue Jie standing in the corner. Speaking of which, the North Pole branch was also located in the south of the city, so it wasn't strange for him to be here either. However, Hu Gao, who was always good at catching information from others' conversations, still detected a hint of surprise in Yue Jie's tone, especially when he mentioned "that person" as well, which seemed to imply that there was some unusual reason for Yue Jie being here.

  "What's going on?" Hu Gao took a few steps forward, keeping a subtle distance from Ji Le. This guy had the appearance of a street thug, and if it weren't for his relatively clean face, he would have wanted to stay far away from him.

  Ji Yue's face revealed a hint of bitter smile, thinking to himself, how could this be so coincidental? Yesterday, he was with Hu Gao, and then something like this happened. A deep concern for his family floated onto his face.

  "Speak up." Hu Gao saw the look on Yuè Lè's face and had a bad premonition, a feeling that had been lingering in his heart since he started dealing with Fatty Boss.

  "Hu Gao, last night the Fifth Elder was assassinated." Ji Le's eyes suddenly turned red as he spoke, and several tears fell like rain from the eaves, "The Fifth Elder used to be the kindest to me, and said that my future achievements would definitely surpass those of my three brothers..."

  Looking at Jile's crying on the side of the road, Hu Gao's heart softened. This guy who seemed to be without a conscience sometimes, but actually had a good heart, walked up and supported Jile's shoulder with one hand.

  "It's nothing!" Jile's face turned whiter than a woman's, wiping away tears, pushing away Hu Gao. "You'd better not go over there, according to yesterday's guard squad, the assassin might be from your Lianqing Sect, and now the dark guards are investigating this matter."

  Hu Gao's face changed, "A family scandal, trouble started from within the family" this sentence suddenly popped into his head, there must be some conspiracy in it. "No, Extreme Joy! I have to get past!"

  If there's anything that can stop the internal strife of the Hu family at this time, it would be his identity as the successor. At this moment, he is not suitable to stand by and watch the show, and he is also worried about Qinglian's safety. This little one who has not yet condensed into a totem should not be involved in this conspiracy.

  "Alright." He reluctantly followed, thinking to himself how come it just so happened last night? Wasn't he with Hu Gao at that time? No! Hu Gao was gone then, and he had dinner with other people!

  Ji Le Meng stopped abruptly, still not right! Even if Hu Gao was a person from Li Qing, with his current strength, he didn't have the qualifications to participate in the assassination of the Five Elders, let alone in a place like Zong Tang that was guarded extremely tightly.

  "Is Extreme Joy, the Five Elders one of your Northern Pole's lineage?" Hu Gao still wanted to confirm this point clearly.

  Jile regained his composure, and his mind was filled with the scene from last night's dinner. "Hmmm, Wu Changlao is the pillar of our North Pole lineage, except for a few family heads, his cultivation is the highest in the Elder Council. According to the death clue provided by Anshi, it basically ruled out the possibility of multiple people attacking together. Therefore, the object of suspicion is actually very limited."

  Hu nodded, "So the current main suspect is Qingju Elder?" At the same time, an image of a cunning old man appeared in his mind. Ah, yes, such a person could do anything without surprising anyone.

  Jile was shocked by Hu Gao's quick reaction, and before he could speak, Hu Gao continued on his own, "But now there are two questions in front of you. First, why would they leave behind obvious clues of the Liqing Sect? Second, what is the purpose of doing so?"

  "Huh? People say that those who lose their memories are most likely to gain some wisdom that normal people can't obtain. It seems this isn't a rumor, but fact." Yu Le's praise sounds quite awkward, however what Hu Gao said is exactly the same as An Xi's analysis.

  Having roughly figured out what was going on, the two of them quickened their pace and arrived at the large mansion of the Qingfeng Branch. There were many guards standing at the entrance of the courtyard, and Hu Gao stepped forward to explain their purpose.

  "Sorry, Your Excellency Successor, we need to go in and report."

  "No need for that, just lead the way, what's with this trick at this hour!" Hu Gao didn't bother to respond and directly charged inside.

  The guards looked at each other in dismay, but didn't dare to really block the way, and could only send a clever one to lead the way in front.

  The room of the elder Qingju was vastly different from that of the clan leader, it was a very simple and elegant tone. When Hu Gao first entered, he thought he had walked into a calligrapher's house, and a wave of inexplicable book fragrance wafted up to his nose, which was greatly at odds with Elder Qingju's image as an old cunning villain.

  It seems that Hu Gao brought extreme joy in, both Qing Jiu and Dark Shadow were shocked.

  "Hu Gao? How did you bring him here?" Elder Qingju's attention was all on Yu Le, Hu Gao had come, that was fine, but how could he have brought Yu Le along.

  One of the Dark Guards standing beside Qingju Elder happened to be an acquaintance of Hu Gao, who was the one that had brought him into Ning City in secret. Hu Gao still remembered his name being something like "Dark Shadow", which should just be a codename.

  Ying saw Hu Gao and was visibly startled, his eyes looking at the guards were also extremely unfriendly, completely a waste, with so many people guarding the entrance, how could they let Hu Gao, this Condensation Realm rookie, run in.

  The innocent-looking Hu Gao glanced at him, implying that he was the designated successor of the Grand Priest, and what could these small fries do to such a big shot.

  Of course, all kinds of eye exchanges in this series did not escape Hu Gao's eyes. He also knew that he seemed to have done something reckless, and it was not a good thing to bring extreme joy to investigate. So he spoke first: "Great Elder, I am here to find Qinglian. She hasn't come to see me recently, where has she gone?"

  Qing Lian's expression changed several times, like the changing faces in a Sichuan opera. The situation with Qing Lian was too complicated, and he didn't know how to explain it to Hu Gao. What worried him most was that if one day they became enemies on opposite sides, what would happen then?

  "Hu Gao, you go back to the ancestral hall first and find Chuan Gong Lao Lao. Qing Lian has been taken out by the clan members for training and won't be back for a while. I'll let you know when she returns." Qing Ju waved her hand in a gesture of sending someone off.