Zhao Laosan knelt on one knee in the dimly-lit room. He put his hand to his forehead, feeling anxious and miserable.
The night before, not only had he sold himself cheaply, but he had also fought for the Liu clan and betrayed the Lord Governor's Mansion. He had put himself in deep trouble.
"There are beasts lurking in the shadows everywhere in this world!"
Zhao Laosan sighed. He hadn't expected that a sophisticated person like himself would have come to this stage one day.
"Creak—"
At this moment, the door opened.
It was Liu Tao. He walked in, smiling, with a bowl of herbal soup in his hands.
"Do you have a moment?" asked Liu Tao, who placed the bowl in front of Zhao Laosan.
Zhao Laosan glared back with hatred in his eyes. He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles were squeaking.
"Don't feel like talking?" Liu Tao asked.
Zhao Laosan's eyes were cold. He refused to utter a word.
Liu Tao smiled gently and muttered a series of numbers.
"173, 37D, 56, 95."
Zhao Laosan's body jolted. His eyes were as round as pancakes.
That's Ouyang Yue'er's height, as well as her bust, waist, and hip measurements!
By right, only two people in this world would ever know those statistics — Ouyang Yue'er herself and her husband, the old governor. But Zhao Laosan was lucky to be the third one to find that out 20 years ago.
Regrettably, Liu Tao had become the fourth.
Moreover, he had said it right in front of Zhao Laosan!
"You… are shameless!"
Zhao Laosan blushed with anger. He sprang up from the floor as if an electric shock had just run through his body.
His reaction was drastic because this incident had gotten on his nerves!
Liu Tao sneered. "You gave the measurements yourself. I'm afraid my level of shamelessness is no match to yours!"
Zhao Laosan stared at Liu Tao. He agreed with this despicable man, and he was even feeling a bit proud of himself.
"Who else in the entire world would dare to measure the old governor's wife's body statistics?!"
"Only me, Zhao Laosan!"
Zhao Laosan smirked. He held his head high in pride.
Liu Tao leaned in and asked with a grin, "Brother Zhao, can we talk now?"
Zhao Laosan looked at him. A light flashed across his eyes.
"Fine. Close the door and let's have a deep talk."
…
It was noontime. The sun was hanging high in the sky.
Many wandering fighters had arrived outside the Liu house one after another.
Some of them were young, some were old. But all of them were men and strong fighters.
A few bald old men stood out. Despite their dirty teeth and perverse looks, they had bulging temples. The vibe around them was frightening.
The old men were in high spirits. They peeked into the courtyard with their eyes glittering in green.
"Where is Liu Meimei?…"
All of them were here for Liu Meimei.
Three days ago, the Liu clan had announced that they would organize a tournament and the winner would marry Liu Meimei. The news had spread throughout the entire city and flitted into every wandering fighter's ears.
Therefore, many had come to check on the conditions of the Liu clan.
Gossips surrounding the night raid had already traveled far. Now, people knew that the Liu family had joined hands with the Lord Governor's Mansion and slaughtered Black Street residents the night before. Moreover, they had heard that there were grand martial arts masters present at the fight.
Grand martial arts masters were powerful figures even among the major forces of the city.
Usually, only royal families and established houses would have grand martial arts masters. Even an average upper-class clan wouldn't normally have such honor.
That's why it was surprising that a declining clan like the Liu clan would have their own grand masters. It was widely known that the Liu family had led a humble existence in Black Street for years and that they had almost been wiped out on multiple accounts when their enemies fought them in their nest. However, this clan had suddenly risen last night and dominated Black Street overnight. Therefore, many wandering fighters viewed this as a rare opportunity.
"Other family clans all have their own
They had come in the hope that the Liu clan would recruit them as their retainers.
"Pang, pang, pang…"
The drums caught everyone's attention. They thought that Liu Meimei was going to come out.
However, to their dismay, it was not Liu Meimei. An old man walked out, accompanied by Liu Dongdong. Leaves rolled up from the ground as the old man walked.
"My name is Liu Liuhai, the Sixth Elder of the Liu clan!" Liu Liuhai said loudly.
That caused a commotion in the crowd. People had started to question why Liu Meimei hadn't shown up yet.
"Sorry, but you guys are late. Meimei is already taken by the young lord of the Lord Governor's Mansion!" Liu Liuhai said with a raised voice. Liu Tao had told him to phrase it this way.
They were determined to create the impression that the Liu family now had unshakable connections with the Lord Governor's Mansion.
This was because they knew that their enemies might come at them again, even though they had won the fight last night.
Therefore, the tournament was actually a lie. What they truly wanted was to gather wandering fighters and recruit soldiers for their Scythe Army. Simply put, they wanted to enroll people who would willingly fight battles in the name of the Liu clan.
They wanted martial arts experts who had never pledged loyalty to anyone. People from complicated backgrounds were not trustworthy.
The crowd outside their door was angry. But they didn't have a choice.
Even those old men had become quiet.
None of them wanted to challenge the Lord Governor's Mansion.
Besides, many of them had seen Zhuo Tianyou walk into the Liu house with Liu Meimei the previous day. They looked like a lovey-dovey couple.
"As expected, this Liu family is hiding many secrets. They must have been allies with the Lord Governor's Mansion for a long time!"
"This marriage alliance must have been brewing for quite a while…"
"Agreed. This Liu clan is not that simple, after all…"
The fighters discussed.
Liu Liuhai was pricking up his ears to their discussions. After a few moments, he felt that it was time to recruit for the Scythe Army.
He closed his eyes and recalled the chapter in the Story of Ancestors that recorded how the ancestor had enlisted soldiers for the Scythe Army.
The book said that the Ancestor was a "talker"!
An impressive one!
It's said that he could talk roosters into laying eggs and talk ducks into swimming in the sea. There was even one time when he made a man pregnant with that mouth of his!
What a frightening skill!
Therefore, the Ancestor managed to recruit 3000 soldiers once he had started talking.
As Liu Liuhai tried hard to remember every detail from that chapter, he recited silently, "My ancestor, please listen to my prayers. Please give me a mouth like yours, one that can make men pregnant!"
Meanwhile, Liu Fan was lying quietly in the ancestral temple.
Suddenly, he sensed that Liu Liuhai was seeking him for help.
His mind swept across the area and he immediately understood what Liu Liuhai was asking for.
"A mouth like mine? Sure, your wish is granted!"
"The Love of the Ancestor — the Great Talker Spell. Go!"
Liu Liuhai was still praying to the ancestor in the yard.
Suddenly, he felt numbness on his lips, as if there had been an electric shock. His lips shuddered, and it occurred to him that something strange might have happened.
He opened his mouth and wanted to say something. However, a long chunk of words blurted out the moment his upper and lower lips touched…
"My lords, my friends, I am very grateful that you've made time to come to this tournament. I would like to express our sincerest gratitude and heartfelt wishes to you on behalf of Meimei and our Liu clan. We wish you health and good progress in your cultivation training. It is my pleasure to see you all today…"
Liu Liuhai was speaking increasingly faster. He wanted to stop, but he couldn't control his mouth anymore!
It was as if his lips were moving according to their own free will.
There was a certain magic in his words. His audience couldn't help but listen to him attentively.
Every single person inside and outside the yard was looking at Liu Liuhai absently, fully engrossed in his speech.
"Blah blah blah…"
"Blah blah blah…"
"Blah blah blah…"
Liu Liuhai's mouth was moving like crazy. Blisters and cracks had started to form on his lips due to their high movement speed. His lips were bleeding, but Liu Liuhai couldn't stop talking.
Blood was splashing out from his lips.
After a while, streams of blood started to gush out of the corner of his mouth like a fountain.
His blood wet his clothes and stained the ground in bright red.
It was a huge pool of blood.
The audience was moved.
This Liu Liuhai was trying so hard!
He was spitting blood from talking too much just to recruit retainers for his clan!
Liu Liuhai's body was swaying. He felt weak. He felt that he was going to die from the loss of blood!
But his mouth couldn't stop moving!
His lips were no longer under his control!
As he spoke, more blood was oozing out of his lips.
"Is this how the Ancestor trained his magical mouth?"
"If that's the case, what kind of talker can talk roosters into laying eggs and talk ducks into swimming in the sea?"
"Moreover, the Ancestor could talk men into getting pregnant. What kind of mouth did he have?!"
Liu Liuhai was in awe.
The ancestor was hardly a human!
Meanwhile, Liu Liuhai was already dying from talking for a short while. So how did the Ancestor talk men into having babies?!
Liu Liuhai didn't dare to talk any longer. He was scared!
He didn't want to die!
Without any other choice, he cried in his heart, "My ancestor, please stop! I don't want your mouth anymore. Please give me back my mouth…"
Despite sensing Liu Liuhai's situation, Liu Fan didn't withdraw his spell.
"Liu Liuhai will prove himself useless if he can't even recruit a full Scythe Army while under the Great Talker Spell!" Liu Fan thought.
In the meantime, Liu Liuhai was still talking with his lips covered in blood since the Ancestor didn't answer his prayers.
He looked at Liu Dongdong, hoping that he would start the enlistment soon.
Liu Dongdong took the hint.
He assigned a few clan members to help with the enlistment.
The audience had already been moved by Liu Liuhai's sincerity. Once Liu Dongdong had set up a table, people rushed forward to sign up for the Scythe Army.
"Name, age, place of birth, martial arts status. Fill in everything…"
Under Liu Dongdong's instructions, the fighters started to fill in the enlistment form.
Five hundred people had signed up in no time.
That included two bald old men.
Once they'd unleashed their aura, people were shocked to realize that they were martial arts masters of the Dragon State.
Liu Dongdong immediately came forward to personally attend to the two old men's registration and promised that he would introduce them to the head of the clan.
However, the remaining people outside the yard didn't seem interested.
All of them had been sent to gather intelligence by other forces in the city. Having seen that the Liu clan had recruited so many Scythe Army soldiers, they couldn't wait to report the situation to their masters.
"Puff!"
Liu Liuhai vomited blood.
The intense movement of his lips had touched his nerves, which made him vomit blood involuntarily.
Having lost all his strength, he collapsed to the ground. But his lips were still moving.
The crowd was deeply touched. Tears welled up in their eyes as they cried, "Sixth Elder, please stop talking! We pledge our allegiance to the Liu clan, now and forever!"
Liu Liuhai cried in his heart too. "I want to stop talking, but my ancestor doesn't want me to!"