Chapter 166 : Stunned
Even if the misunderstanding was cleared up afterward, it would still leave an impression.
That Su Jingxing was closest to a certain faction.
Such a small trick was not considered a conspiracy.
Li Lilou, Yan Yuanfeng, and the others weren’t afraid of angering Su Jingxing.
Su Jingxing wasn’t angry, instead, he was rather amused.
The Qi Family would probably be calling to invite him soon.
In the end, it wasn’t just Qi Xinjue who called. Zhao Zhongyi also called on behalf of the Cross Alliance.
Aside from the four major martial arts families——Li, Zhou, Wang, and Qi, the three major sects——Iron Thread Sect, the Jade Sword Sect, and the Divine Fist Sect also made up the top powers of Qinghe City.
The Flying Cloud Sect in the Western District was nothing but an underground gang with limited martial artists and limited resources. They could only hole up in the city.
The Iron Thread Sect, the Jade Sword Sect, and the Divine Fist Sect were different.
They were sects with histories of more than a century. They had their own martial arts headquarters outside the city, and more than one fourth-grade expert guarding them.
In addition, there were also independent factions like the Cross Alliance, the Sky Water Chamber of Commerce, and the Green Cloud Court.
These were all those on the surface.
Su Jingxing wasn’t sure if there were any more like the He Family, which had been hiding behind the scenes for many years.
Even the martial arts universities led by Xuantian University were not to be underestimated.
Similarly, the several famous local martial arts universities all had fourth-grade martial artists watching over them.
And now, these factions were starting to get riled up because of the Mausoleum of Prince Qin.
It was foreseeable that the auditorium in Sky Water Block at Xuantian University would be packed with experts tomorrow night.
Similar to Su Jingxing, there were several independent fourth-grade martial artists in Qinghe City.
Unsurprisingly, these people were also invited by various large factions to attend the conference tomorrow night.
Therefore, putting the ancient manuals aside, the conference tomorrow night was a chance to meet the major factions and fourth-grade martial artists.
No matter what, Su Jingxing had to go there to take a look.
Of course, not in response to the invitations from Yan Yuanfeng, Li Lilou, and the others but alone.
Su Jingxing wasn’t stupid enough to put himself as part of a certain faction. Even if it was imperceptibly so, he wouldn’t allow it.
…
The Li Family.
“How did it go? Did he agree?”
The Li Family’s patriarch, Li Mingfang, asked with a frown as he watched Li Lilou put down his phone.
“No.”
Li Lilou shook his head. “Guest Elder Lin declined politely. He said he would attend on his own.”
“Heh, he didn’t even have a word of thanks?” sneered an old man whose hair was half white and combed neatly. “This Guest Elder Lin sure knows how to put on airs. Our Li Family has invited him several times, but he refuses without the slightest hesitation. If it were up to you, I wouldn’t be sucking up to him. And you call him Guest Elder Lin? I asked Lin Tuotian, but he doesn’t even know this fellow’s name!”
“And then?” asked Li Mingfang, looking at him expressionlessly.
The old man was taken aback. “Then? What then?”
“Don’t you have a glib tongue? You look down on Guest Elder Lin behind his back, and then what’s the next step? Find him, beat him up, or kill him?” said Li Mingfang expressionlessly.
“I…” The old man’s face was flushed. “That wasn’t what I meant. ”
“Then what’s the meaning of this?” interrupted Li Mingfang, his face still as expressionless as ever. “There’s no grudge between you and him. Is there a need for you to take on such a disdainful and contemptuous attitude every time you talk about him?”
The old man’s mouth moved, but no words came out. Instead, his eyes were burning with rage and shame.
The only reason why he had a grudge against “Guest Elder Lin” was because this “Guest Elder Lin” didn’t know what was good for him.
How many people wanted to join the Li Family?
Among them, there was no lack of fourth-grade martial artists who wanted to join the Li Family.
Yet, this “Guest Elder Lin” just kept ignoring them!
However, Li Mingfang and Li Lilou were well aware of this.
Many people in the Li Family were used to being arrogant and looked down on outsiders.
Whenever something did not go their way, they would get frustrated, embarrassed, and angry. In the end, they strike violently, resulting in casualties.
These people could be said to be the Li Family’s malignant tumors; they had existed in every generation for the past 300 years.
More importantly, the population was small a hundred years ago.
In the modern era, for some reason, there were now more and more of them.
As the patriarch of the family, Li Mingfang had a big headache over this.
He had been trying to come up with a solution, but failed to think of any good ones.
Fortunately, there were still sober people, like Li Lilou.
“Ahem, Seven didn’t mean it either,”
Li Lilou tried to persuade him. “It’s expected that Guest Elder Lin would turn us down. But what are we going to do about Xu Tailong?”
“Xu Tailong is at our door?” asked Li Mingfang, his frown deepening.
“Not yet,” Li Lilou shook his head. “But it’s only a matter of time before he comes knocking on our door. We have to be prepared. We can’t possibly wait for him to show up before we come up with a solution, can we?”
“This has nothing to do with us in the first place. Just because he knows the Seven Calamities Wheel Mantra, it means that he belongs to the Li Family?”
The sulking old man gritted his teeth and shouted, “If Xu Tailong is looking for someone, he should have gone to the transport surveillance center to check the surveillance footage!”
“Shut up,” said Li Mingfang irritably. “Xu Tailong’s only son is dead. Do you think he’ll listen to some irrelevant explanation?”
The old man opened his mouth, then closed it again.
“Should we invite Xu Tailong to the conference at Sky Water Block tomorrow night?” asked Li Lilou thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?” asked Li Mingfang, looking at him.
“Simple. Anyone who can kill Tian Huaizhao and a dozen of his subordinates in an instant must be a fourth-grade martial artist!”
Li Lilou analyzed. “And there will definitely be many fourth-grade martial artists present tomorrow night. Maybe one of them is the one who killed Tian Huaizhao! If we lure Xu Tailong over, maybe we can force this person out?”
Pausing for a moment, Li Lilou continued. “Laugh all you want , but I’ve always thought that the person who killed Tian Huaizhao is also looking for the map to enter the Mausoleum of Prince Qin!”
“You mean… the He Family?” Li Mingfang asked with narrowed eyes.
“What do you mean?” asked the sulking old man, confused.
Li Lilou ignored him and nodded. “That’s right, it’s the He Family! I suspect that the leaking of the news about the Mausoleum of Prince Qin was also the doing of the He Family. In Qinghe City, the He Family is most familiar with the Mausoleum of Prince Qin!
“Especially when we found out that the third-grade He Rengu had died. We allied with the Zhou and Qi Families, and were just about to make a move on the He Family and this matter was exposed!
“Lastly, I went to search for information this morning. 200 years ago, when the first half of the Seven Calamities Wheel Mantra was lost, there were records that it had appeared in Scholar Restaurant before. However, because we got it back in time, our ancestor at that time did not come into contact with the He Family.
“Now that I think about it, there might already have been people in the He Family who cultivated the Seven Calamities Wheel Mantra at that time!”
“What?!”
The sulking old man was stunned by what he heard.
“F-Four… you… you’re saying that Tian Huaizhao was k-killed by a member of the He Family?”
Li Mingfang was visibly moved. Shock revealed in his eyes.
“I’m just guessing,”
Li Lilou shrugged. “We can always find out if the He Family is behind this by sending Xu Tailong there.”
“The He Family will definitely be present at Xuantian University’s conference tomorrow night!”