The village chief of Lava Village was named Suoke. His hair was entirely white, and his beard was also white, suggesting he was very old.
However, Suoke’s eyes were piercingly bright, and his movements were not at all sluggish.
"Village Chief."
"Grandpa Village Chief."
Yang Guang and his daughter walked in and greeted Suoke with respect.
Suoke said in a hoarse voice, "Yang Guang, does your daughter wish to leave the village to find her beloved?"
Neither Yang Guang nor his daughter were surprised that the village chief had anticipated their daughter's intention, for in Lava Village, everyone knew that Suoke possessed mysterious precognitive abilities.
So, upon hearing Suoke's question, Yang Guang's daughter immediately nodded, "Yes, Grandpa Village Chief. My Alang has encountered an accident. I must see him alive or find his body, otherwise, I cannot rest easy."
Yang Guang had intended to speak more tactfully, but his daughter had spoken his mind for him. He could only let her have her way.
"Good, to love boldly and hate boldly, that is the spirit of a Miao Jiang woman. However, Qingzi, Grandpa Village Chief must also ask you, even though this journey outside the village might mean you may not return alive, are you still sure you want to do this?"
Suoke sized up Yang Guang's daughter, Qingzi, and nodded slightly.
Might not return alive?
Hearing Suoke's words, both Yang Guang and his daughter were slightly stunned.
"No! Absolutely not, I disagree with you leaving!"
If anyone else had said this, Yang Guang would have assumed they were cursing his daughter and would have fought them.
But now, the one speaking was Village Chief Suoke. This was entirely different.
Suoke possessed mysterious precognitive abilities. Since he had said so, it must mean his daughter would face great danger on this journey. As a father, he absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen.
"Grandpa Village Chief," Qingzi took a deep breath, "I still want to go. Every one of us in Lava Village is a warrior. From a young age, we have fought against the fierce beasts and venomous insects in the ten thousand mountains of Miao Jiang. If I retreat today, I will surely live with regret and confusion for the rest of my life."
The ten thousand mountains of Miao Jiang were vast and boundless.
They were filled with countless natural treasures, but at the same time, the number of fierce beasts and venomous insects was equally numerous.
The people living here, regardless of gender, were trained from childhood to dare to fight against beasts as large as lions and insects as small as scorpions.
Yang Guang was about to try and persuade his daughter when, to his surprise, Suoke raised his hand and waved it slowly.
Out of respect for the village chief, Yang Guang withdrew the words that were already on his lips.
"Yang Guang, I know you are very worried about your daughter. But since Qingzi has made her decision, let her go."
"However, as a member of Lava Village, I will certainly not stand by and watch her come to harm. In the next few days, I will have people gather the Five Poison Heavenly Venerates for her to carry for self-defense."
Suoke spoke slowly.
Upon hearing this, Yang Guang was immediately relieved. As for Qingzi, she thanked Suoke repeatedly with a smile.
Everyone knew the five poisons: centipede, gecko, snake, scorpion, and toad.
However, the Five Poison Heavenly Venerates that Suoke spoke of were five types of venomous insects cultivated by Lava Village using a secret method.
After being cultivated by the secret method, these five types of venomous insects possessed a toxicity and ferocity many times that of ordinary venomous insects.
With the Five Poison Heavenly Venerates by her side, Yang Guang felt much more at ease about his daughter's safety.
...
Night Wind Bar.
Shen Xiong and Zhang Zicheng sat facing each other.
Shen Xiong had sent his two confidantes downstairs to keep watch, while he himself was toasting and drinking with Zhang Zicheng.
"Third Brother, what wind blows you here today?"
Shen Xiong raised his wine glass to Zhang Zicheng, an undisguised smile on his face.
Indeed, it was no wonder Shen Xiong was all smiles.
Originally, when he went to Chuncheng, Shen Xiong had prepared for the worst, which was to hand over everything he had in exchange for his and his brothers' safe retreat.
But unexpectedly, relying on Du Fei's incredibly powerful skills, he had actually become one of the leaders of the Great Alliance of the Southwest region.
Although Shen Xiong had already started planning to go legitimate, now, controlling the entire Southwest region, even he could not refuse such a temptation of power.
The difference between the two was immense.
Now, although he and Zhang Zicheng opposite him had not explicitly stated it, they were tacitly managing their respective halves.
"To be honest, besides coming to drink with Brother Shen, I also plan to personally visit Mr. Du."
Zhang Zicheng clinked glasses with Shen Xiong, draining his wine in one gulp, and then said.
In truth, whether in terms of seniority in the underworld or the number of men, Zhang Zicheng was much stronger than Shen Xiong.
However, he knew very well that if Du Fei, whom Shen Xiong had brought, had not acted during the previous alliance meeting, no matter how many men he had, he would not have been a match for the Lin attendant invited by Hu Po.
He had been busy dealing with Hu Po and the changes caused by the upheaval in the underworld, so he hadn't had the time to visit Du Fei immediately.
After more than half a month, with all matters finally stabilized, he immediately flew to Rongcheng, intending to meet Du Fei.
After all, the latter was the great contributor to this entire affair.
Now, all the major figures in the underworld of the Southwest region knew of an expert called Mr. Du, whose word alone commanded obedience throughout the entire Southwest region.
However, Du Fei, the person in question, was completely unaware of this.
Upon hearing Zhang Zicheng mention visiting Du Fei, Shen Xiong scratched the back of his head, "This..."
"What's wrong? Is there any difficulty?"
Seeing Shen Xiong's reaction, Zhang Zicheng asked subconsciously.
Shen Xiong waved his hand, "It's not exactly difficult, it's just that Du Fei had mentioned earlier that he was a bit busy recently, so I was wondering if it would be inconvenient if I disturbed him."
In fact, before Zhang Zicheng arrived, Shen Xiong had tried to find Du Fei once, wanting to curry favor with him.
But Du Fei was busy with his Chinese patent medicine company at the time. After a few words on the phone, he had declined Shen Xiong's invitation.
Because of this, Shen Xiong was somewhat at a loss.
Zhang Zicheng was also taken aback when he heard this.
In his opinion, the reason he and Shen Xiong were able to defeat Hu Po and unify the entire Southwest region was entirely due to Du Fei's contribution.
Therefore, his intention in coming this time was to take the opportunity to thank Du Fei and gauge his intentions.
After all, the entire Southwest region was such a vast territory, and the annual gray income was undoubtedly an astonishing sum.
Before coming, Zhang Zicheng's bottom line was thirty percent.
As long as the income Du Fei was required to hand over did not exceed thirty percent, he would be able to accept it.
Otherwise, he had a large number of brothers under him to feed, and if he couldn't support them, his position as alliance leader would not last long.
Who would have thought that Du Fei was too busy to see him? What should be done now?