Chapter 311: Chapter 304 Perching Phoenix Mountain Range_1

The He Family had not chosen a new family head for a long time, yet there was no internal strife among the seven sons of the He Family, and it remained stable.

This indicated that the He Family definitely had elders or formidable individuals capable of suppressing the seven sons.

People say that the most merciless are the imperial families.

When the royal family vies for the throne, cases of kin slaughtering each other are too numerous to count.

The struggle for power within a large clan is equally ruthless.

In the face of absolute interest, what’s the worth of kinship?

To sit in the patriarch’s seat, the seven sons of the He Family could totally make moves against each other.

Qin Niu hinted to Xiao Qing to behead a coachman of the He Family. Although it was meant to establish authority, some restraint was still shown.

If they had slain Lord He Si on the spot, that would have constituted a deadly feud, one with no end until death.

Now, it was only the beheading of a servant of the He Family, which intentionally left some room for the He Family to step down gracefully.

It all depended on how the real power holder of the He Family would handle this matter.

If the He Family continued to be unyielding, then there was nothing to talk about, and Qin Niu just happened to want to become a new noble in the area.

Eliminating this old established family, the He Family, would just free up space for his own growth.

“Xiao Qing, were you scared when you killed just now?”

“I wasn’t scared when killing, but I was a bit scared afterward.”

After all, Xiao Qing was still a child, even though she followed her adoptive grandfather through various hardships across the south, experienced in the jianghu, and accustomed to all sorts of cruel scenes. But to personally take a life was still a great psychological test for her.

“Being scared is normal,” he said. “You’ll get used to it in time. We don’t provoke others, but we won’t let ourselves be bullied either. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, being fierce and resolute when you’re strong is a good thing.

We want to smoothly take over this hundred acres of good farmland. If we can’t intimidate the He Family in one fell swoop, even if we manage to take it over, it will inevitably be fraught with troubles.

Now that we are not seeing eye to eye, we directly beheaded a servant of the He Family. This is to establish authority over the He Family.

Even if the He Family is somewhat unhappy, as long as the person in charge is not foolish, they will certainly weigh their options. At the very least, the He Family will take us seriously and not dare to be as overbearing and aggressive as before.”

Qin Niu was training Xiao Qing as a confidant.

He didn’t mind giving her some pointers on how to conduct oneself in society.

“Understood,” she said.

She nodded with much relief showing on her face.

Qin Niu was not idle but was marking his territory at the boundary of his hundred acres of good farmland.

Just like a tiger spraying urine on the edges of its territory to declare sovereignty. If any other beast dared to trespass, it would be seen as an offense and the tiger wouldn’t hesitate to kill the offender.

It had been half an hour since Lord He Si fled, and the carriage and the coachman’s body had been left there the whole time.

Logically, even if he went back for reinforcements, they should have been assembled by now.

But the continued absence was thought-provoking.

“It seems that the He Family either has not unified in opinion or they are secretly probing my background. Let’s go back!”

After taking over the farmland, Qin Niu returned home with Xiao Qing and Green Ox.

He was not going to stay here and wait for people from the He Family to come, nor would he demean himself by complaining to the He Family.

…

After returning home, Qin Niu took Xiao Qing into the mountains to cultivate.

Having slain a person today, her mental state should have undergone a breakthrough, presenting a great opportunity.

If it could be seized, she might be able to advance to the Acquired Realm today.

“Xiao Qing, you go and cultivate under the banyan tree first, and strive to break through today,” he instructed.

“Mm,” she responded eagerly.

She nodded vigorously, already running towards the Ancient Banyan Tree.

Qin Niu, on the other hand, went towards the Termite Nest.

“Ant Queen, Ant Queen, if you can’t evolve any further, I’m out of options. I’ll feed you this king worm of Taiyin Yaoyao.”

The last two corpses of Taiyin Yaoyao were all fed to the Ant Queen.

“`

The Ant Queen was proving truly difficult to evolve.

After feeding the Ant Queen and nurturing all the newly emerged termites, Qin Niu didn’t rush to practice under the Ancient Banyan Tree.

Instead, he began to wander leisurely through the mountains.

In a few days, he planned to make a trip to the city, likely before the wedding. Apart from procuring some cultivation materials, he wanted to select a valuable gift for each of his two wives.

During his last battle with a formidable enemy, he had obtained an inner armor that could withstand the strike of an Ink Blade and was suitable for a woman to wear.

This top-tier treasure was the first thing he thought of giving to his wife.

But with two wives and only one piece of inner armor, he couldn’t exactly favor one over the other, could he?

This was indeed a tricky matter.

The sword he acquired from killing Elder Jiu Yin would have been of a similar grade to the inner armor.

However, as a wedding is a joyful occasion, presenting a weapon seemed inappropriate.

The omen was also not good.

Weapons signify violence, while a wedding is about auspiciousness and celebration. He definitely couldn’t give gifts haphazardly.

He was not short on money now and wanted to go to the city to look for a respectable treasure to purchase.

There was another matter; he intended to buy the entire mountain and turn it into his private land.

He would surely need to inquire about this at the government office.

Tang Yan held an official position in the city, so asking him should be a good idea.

Qin Niu had some acquaintance with Deputy City Lord Bai, whose official rank was many times higher than Tang Yan’s. But in Qin Niu’s view, buying land was a minor matter, unworthy of calling upon someone as high-ranking as Deputy City Lord Bai.

Since he was preparing to purchase this mountainous area, he definitely wanted to get the lay of the land first to see what size purchase would be appropriate.

The part of the mountains where he currently was should all belong to the Qifeng Mountain Range.

The two peaks behind Shuangfeng Village were merely at the very end of the Qifeng Mountain Range.

As to whether it was actually the Qifeng Mountain Range or something else, no one could say for sure.

Some even thought it was the “Qifeng Mountain Range,” as there were many maple trees in the mountains.

In autumn, red maple leaves decked the large and small maples all over the mountains.

They were a characteristic scenic splendor of the Qifeng Mountain Range.

Those who believed it should be called the “Qifeng Mountain Range” did so because no matter how strong the wind was, once it blew into Shuangfeng Village, it couldn’t escape.

It all blew deep into the mountains.

People believed the wind had found a dwelling within the Qifeng Mountain Range.

Regardless, everyone currently called it the Qifeng Mountain Range. Not only because the name sounded more prosperous, but also because of an extremely ancient story passed down from generation to generation among the local populace.

It is said that in ancient times, terrifying crows would often emerge from the mountain behind the village to attack humans.

These crows flocked together; some had already cultivated some mystical powers, becoming demonic birds.

They were very picky eaters when it came to humans, preferring young children.

They liked to eat babies held in their parents’ arms the most, as well as toddlers under three years old who ran around everywhere.

Just as eagles prey on chicks, the villages in this region often experienced the loss of children.

When parents went searching, they could only find leftover bones and clothing in the mountains.

Sometimes, if they searched too late, even the bones were consumed by the ferocious beasts in the mountains.

Not even the skeletons remained.

After nearly eleven years of this hardship, the crows had eaten so many of the nearby villages’ children that few were left.

The crows then began to target young adults.

They did not discriminate between young men and women; all were consumed.

Those who could escape had already fled to other lands.

The village had nearly ten homes empty for every occupied one, becoming sparsely populated.

“`