Chapter 375: Chapter 372: 372 New and Old Grudges

The gaunt old man sat behind Lord Beiyuan, feasting while possessing the cultivation level of an Intermediate Level martial master.

Upon hearing these words, he stood up and said nonchalantly, “Rest assured, my lord, such medicinal pairing is typical of mere amateurs. The Yu Family will easily handle this; they are just being overly cautious… I will be right back.”

Cultivator Wu was considered an expert in poisons, tasked mainly with ensuring Lord Beiyuan’s safety. Thus, despite being only an Intermediate Level martial master, he was a patron of the Earl’s estate, holding a highly revered status.

However, an expert in poisons’ combat prowess truly cannot be evaluated by their cultivation level alone. Within just twenty minutes, he had, in cooperation with the Yu Family Members, apprehended five poisoners. A table full of food had already been brought to the edge of the table, forcibly stopped by him.

But these five were not ordinary individuals; three of them bit into poison sacs in their mouths, dying on the spot—even with Cultivator Wu and the Yu Family Members working together, they could not save these three lives.

The remaining two were knocked unconscious on the spot. Cultivator Wu removed the poison teeth from their mouths, intending to wake them up, but he was stopped by Yu Zhengqing, “No rush, let the Divine Doctor deduce their identities first.”

Cultivator Wu remained silent but felt somewhat unconvinced inside: If the Divine Doctor was so miraculous, he could have divined the identities of the three dead as well.

Feng Jun did not disappoint Yu Zhengqing’s expectations, taking a trip inside the house and coming out with a grim face, he announced, “Yangshan Gu Family!”

Mr. Shi’s face darkened as he cursed loudly, “Bastards! The Imperial Court has been generous to the Gu Family, and they dare to be so crazed and heartless… If they had succeeded, how many would have died!”

Generally, the Imperial Court did not care about the lives and deaths of commoners, whether as a sacrifice or as collateral damage; casualties were normal. However, a quantitative change could lead to a qualitative change. If a celebration resulted in thousands being poisoned to death, the Imperial Court could not tolerate it.

—If you can poison thousands today, you might dare to poison tens of thousands tomorrow.

Today you dare to poison commoners; tomorrow, you might dare to poison princes and ministers.

This is absolutely intolerable…

“If he wishes to die so badly, today we shall uproot the Gu Family,” Feng Jun declared, then glanced sideways at Mr. Shi, “May I inquire whether the Prefectural Governor’s Office can lend its support?”

“We cannot tolerate such acts in the county,” Mr. Shi stated earnestly, “Before coming here, the Governor granted me the authority to act on his behalf. Gu Maoyuan is but a guarding hound; now I wonder… how will Doctor Feng repay the Governor?”

Feng Jun knew what he was implying and gave him a deep look, “Since Mr. Shi has put it that way and is here to enjoy a drink, I will capture that old traitor Gu Maoyuan and return to drink to our heart’s content.”

He was destined to deal with Gu Maoyuan sooner or later; it was just that he had been busy assimilating the benefits from dealing with the Princely Heir and Lord Beiyuan, as well as mining Spirit Stones and preparing for the Innate celebration—he simply couldn’t afford the time.

At the same time, he had quite a few affairs to manage on the Earth Plane. Under the relentless troublemaking of Cao Weihua, he was forced to eradicate the Cao father and son, leaving him somewhat suffering from post-battle syndrome, temporarily lacking the interest in another major battle.

After a climax, a refractory period is inevitable, as is human nature.

Even web novel authors are no different, needing a brief rest after crafting a climax to transition smoothly.

Otherwise, not only does the author get tired, but the readers also find it challenging to keep up.

Yet for the Gu Family to dare to poison at such a time, it was undoubtedly the most severe provocation against him.

Even the influential Wonderful Hand Pavilion was now trying to find ways to improve relations with him; the Gu Family, however, seemingly did not know whether they were alive or dead.

Of course, with the strength of the Gu Family, they wouldn’t dare to attack him at this time; otherwise, there would be no need for Feng Jun to act—the guests who came to congratulate would be more than enough to ensure the Gu Family’s defeat. Hence, they chose to poison, trying to sicken others and tarnish Feng Jun’s reputation simultaneously.

However, for Feng Jun, what the Gu Family had done was not as good as attacking directly.

If they attacked directly, I would respect their boldness and give them an honorable death. Venting anger at ordinary people… it genuinely sends chills down my spine; they’re all just trash!

He hoped for the Prefectural Governor’s Office’s cooperation, but if they intended to use this as an opportunity to demand conditions, he would lose interest—even if they helped him complete the task before making demands, he’d feel a little better. Can people’s lives be used as a bargaining chip?

Unfortunately, that’s just his character. Back on Earth Realm, why was Zhou Xiaotong such a hassle for him? Because she helped him without any consideration, and even though he knew she had ulterior motives, he couldn’t ignore it—that’s the helplessness of being a person of principle.

In any case, even without the help of the Prefectural Governor’s Office, he could still handle the Gu Family; the difference was merely in the cost.

Mr. Shi sensed his dissatisfaction and smiled as he spoke, “Divine Doctor, I meant no disrespect; I only wanted to remind you that there are times when you might need the official government’s support.”

“Gu Maoyuan?” Feng Jun offered a slight smile, “He is Innate, and so am I. Even if I can’t kill him today, I am confident I can chase him to the ends of the earth.”

The other members of the Gu Family were one thing, but the only concern was Gu Maoyuan. If an Innate Expert chose not to confront directly but instead waged a guerrilla war, it would indeed be a significant headache.

But in fact, Feng Jun believed this likelihood wasn’t great. On this plane, the concept of clan loyalty ran deep. Even if Gu Maoyuan abandoned the Gu Family to save himself, his primary concern in the remaining years would still be how to continue the Gu Family lineage.

Therefore, after Gu Maoyuan escaped, the likelihood of him returning for guerrilla warfare wasn’t high. What he should do most was to take a few young members of the Gu Family and hide in an inconspicuous corner, silently recuperating and propagating his lineage.

By the time the Gu Family regained its strength, Gu Maoyuan would probably have already been enjoying offerings in the ancestral temple.

However, the less interested Feng Jun was, the more intrigued Mr. Shi became. “As I’ve said, I’m just reminding Divine Doctor Feng, and it’s not that the Governor must repay…”

Just as Feng Jun was about to speak, Mr. Shi gestured again, “How about this, I’ll help Divine Doctor locate Gu Maoyuan, what do you think?”

Of course, it would be great to find Gu Maoyuan! Feng Jun nodded, “Then many thanks… What do you want in return?”

To him, this was an unexpected joy. Even if the Prefectural Governor was willing to help, he hadn’t expected to be able to apprehend Gu Maoyuan for certain—it was merely a slightly improved probability.

Being able to guarantee the capture of that person would significantly reduce his costs—at the very least, he wouldn’t need to use a lot of explosive powders, and his own side could avoid some unknown personnel losses.

Mr. Shi’s cultivation level was not far behind Zhou Xiaotong. He smiled slightly, “I ask for nothing in return. The Governor has granted me the freedom to act, and the actions of the Gu Family have been too excessive… If there comes a day, I hope to look after the Governor a little.”

“You’re not making demands, which is even more outrageous than if you had,” Feng Jun shook his head, “Let’s forget it.”

Seeing this, Mr. Shi actually laughed. To speak frankly, everyone liked dealing with reasonable people. “We can talk about this later. The urgent task at hand is to act against the Gu Family as soon as possible, before the news leaks and it becomes troublesome.”

Feng Jun looked at him in surprise, significantly raising his estimation of the man, then nodded slightly, “That’s true.”

If they were to make a move, it should be done without delay. Fortunately, besides those young members of helping families, Feng Jun had control of over five hundred County Soldiers.

These County Soldiers could be mobilized at any time, and everyone quietly began assembling their forces.

On the surface, most people remained in place, and the feast continued, but in fact, the families had gathered more than five hundred proficient individuals who had quietly departed.

Among these five hundred-plus individuals, besides the four hundred County Soldiers, there were over thirty martial masters among the remaining hundred or so people.

Feng Jun went specifically to the area where the fireworks were being set off and brought a large amount of fireworks, “Make it last longer, continuously set them off, use up everything, don’t save a single firework.”

After he said this, he left, but one of the Tian Family’s young members was a bit stunned, “It can’t be, right? The sound of the fireworks is so loud, we whisper and Divine Doctor knows, are we thinking of saving some fireworks?”

“Isn’t he called Divine Doctor for a reason?” someone huffed, “A capable person is omnipotent, don’t play your little tricks…”

Amidst the sky filled with fireworks, the back door of the small courtyard opened, and a large group of people arrived at the flat ground behind it in batches, where twenty agricultural vehicles and ten all-terrain vehicles were parked.

To get to Yangshan from here, one would have to pass through Dongmu, a distance of almost three hundred miles; walking was definitely not an option.

Apart from the few vehicles in the yard, all the others were here. However, currently, there were barely over thirty people who knew how to drive.

Thirty vehicles for five hundred people was indeed a bit tight, but that was all they could make do with for now. Honestly, Feng Jun was worried some drivers might accidentally flip the vehicles into a ditch.

He chose a motorcycle for himself and turned on the headlights, “I’ll scout ahead, you all follow behind… I need a guide.”

The other vehicles’ lights also lit up in sequence, and the already quite bright parking area became even more illuminated.

People got into the cars one after another, and then the vehicles lined up, forming a long procession that moved off into the distance with the sound of their engines.

Until they were far away, those in the courtyard could still see the glaring line of lights, a moving light dragon in the dark night.

Lord Beiyuan, Princely Heir, and the Magistrate were all in the courtyard, watching the convoy intently, not even caring about the fireworks in the sky.

After a long while, Lord Beiyuan sighed lightly, “If only this device… this device could be so convenient for use on the battlefield.”

He had known what the vehicles here could do, but after witnessing thirty vehicles moving out in unison, rapidly launching a night raid, he truly felt the shock of mechanized troop movement.

“Yes,” the Magistrate also couldn’t help but sigh, “One vehicle can carry so many people. While speeding up troop movement, it can greatly conserve the soldiers’ energy. No… I’m so inspired, I must compose a poem.”

“Compose ten poems, and still the vehicles won’t be used by the military,” Lord Beiyuan said, pouring cold water on his excitement, “They just won’t sell them.”

But the Princely Heir was dumbfounded, taking a long time to exhale slowly, “To think there is such a maneuver, these vehicles… I really want to buy hundreds of them.”