Zhao Mei then asked, "Sansan, why would Hermit Shan visit my parents' clan? Are we going to transport the carcass of the flood dragon to Zhao Clan?"
Before Arthur could answer his grandmother replied, "Meimei, why would we transfer the dragon carcass to town? Hermit Shan would visit our clan for the energy crystals and we will keep him in our clan for a day because we will send your father away with a crystal, only to be returned the next day."
Arthur exclaimed, "Grandma fox is too clever." And he laughed like an idiot at his grandmother.
"Who are you calling fox?" Aren't you the most cunning one? You are the cruellest baby fox. You played your grandfather and me within your fingers and now you want a Connate Realm expert to do your bid," retorted Qinyang and laughed back at Arthur. She was satisfied with how Arthur wanted to deal with Connate Realm, he wasn't afraid a bit and instead wanted to play him like another chess piece in his game.
"Sansan, you cannot keep the Dragon blood and its meat with you. You should hide it away," said Zhao Qinyang.
"I know, but since you mentioned it I'll things from you instead of going to the market to buy them, Hehehe. Grandma Qing, I want many airtight metal boxes and many glasses, metal or porcelain jars to store the meat and the blood. I'll list out the specifications and give them to you before leaving, we shall be leaving the town by tomorrow so please sent everything within a month," said Arthur.
"So, you have lots of blood left with you but wanted to give us only a bowl, aren't you too stingy?" Complained Qinyang saying how disappointed she was in him. Zhao Haoran also looked at Arthur with a little dissatisfied eye.
Arthur explained, "Look Grandma Qing, it's not like what you think. I'm already giving you enough, the blood is too potent even my grandfather who has reached the Tribulation Realm faces difficulty in assimilating it directly. It is too difficult to restrain inside one's meridian. You can only use it by diluting it in water. One drop will be sufficient for lower cultivators to address for a long time. I don't need to explain it to you you'll know when you see the blood. Yes, I have more of it, in fact, I have tons and tons of it to make your whole clan go crazy. But, I'll give you more when you guys need it. Just don't ask me for more now. I don't let even my clansman use it as they please so letting your clansman have it as they wish is out of the question, they have to gain my trust first. Another thing, my clansman who went crazy after seeing the blood and who tried to use more blood power to boost their cultivation were among the slowest when it comes to growing their spiritual power. Do you get it now? Relying too much on external powers will harm oneself and getting too excited erstwhile changing the approach of one's perception of cultivation inclining towards more dependence on the external elements surely deviates themselves from the right path hampering thyself in overcoming the cultivation bottlenecks. My clan members aren't knowledgable like your clan so they were cool-headed when we discovered the dragon but if your clansman sees large quantities of dragon's blood won't they go crazy? If I give you more will you be able to keep it to yourself alone? Don't you need to discuss with your clan members about the allocations and distributions of the dragon's blood? Do you still think that I'm stingy? Haven't I thought about the welfare of your clan more than you? About crystals, it is fine because the crystals are too limited and also you guys are the clan's heads, using them yourselves will only make your clan more powerful but the blood is different because it is not just one drop or one vial. It is a bowl that can make your whole clan turn frenzy. If I share more then everything will blow up disproportionately and our so-called secrets will be exposed on the same day itself."
What Arthur said was completely true but he also had another motive he wanted to let them know who is the real boss here.
By this time both his grandparents were a little ashamed of themselves for losing their cool and were completely convinced by Arthur's way of thinking.
They apologised and reassured Arthur that the clan would not leak any of their secrets. Arthur also told them not to worry much when they apologised. He soon made them comfortable his with humour and with the introduction of another topic. He asked, "Where are my uncle's family, I have never met them. Are they not here in town?"
"Don't worry, they'll come back shortly. Your cousins are attending the town Academy now and both your uncle and aunt are conducting some business with other clans. They'll be here by evening for family dinner. We'll introduce you to one another when they return, " said Zhao Qinyang.
Zhao Haoran announced, "Leave the tea now, let's go to the courtyard and have a delicious meal. They must have finished preparing dinner for all of us by now." Since Arthur's gang had said they had already eaten lunch outside and refused to be served anything else, the hosts were only serving them tea but after a long discussion, the evening almost approached.
As soon as Zhao Haoran said that and stood up a small girl around 6 years of age came running and shouting, "Grandpa you should redress my grievances and punish gege' Delun. He stole my lunch again."
Then shortly another plumpy boy of 10 years came chasing after the small girl and yelled, "Grandpa Ran, don't believe in Ling'er. She said I cannot eat 20 dumplings in one go. Mom packed only 15 dumplings for me and I was short of 5 so I had to eat some of hers too."
Zhao Liling cried back, "But you ate 8 of...who are you?" As soon as she saw Arthur her attention shifted from the complaint she was reporting to her grandfather to Arthur who was sitting beside her grandparents.
"Liling, you have grown so big, come and hug your Aunt Mei, " cried Zhao Mei and soon Liling jumped into Zhao Mei's arms happily. On seeing Zhao Mei, Zhao Delun also came running into her aunt's embrace.
Zhao Mei then introduced Arthur to his cousins and vice versa. Arthur learned that the 10-year-old boy is Zhao Delun and the 6-year-old girl is Zhao Liling. Children of his mother's brother Zhao Chaun. His uncle Zhao Chaun's wife was Zhao Hein and their eldest daughter whom they haven't met yet was Zhao Niu.
The whole time Zhao Liling was trying to get the full attention of her Aunt and looked at Arthur from time to time to pout and hug or kiss his mother. She was trying to make Arthur jealous which Arthur found too amusing and ignored her. Zhao Delun approached Arthur and started boasting to show off how strong his father was or how good he was at cultivation and how much he can eat. Arthur smiled at the two children and stayed silent. He only thought, "Kids how annoying, looking after kids is surely a taxing job and it requires a great deal of patience."
After some time a beautiful girl around 16 years of age came inside the courtyard and before she opened her mouth she noticed strangers in the house, hence she shyly and hesitantly walked towards them. And on recognising everyone except Arthur she bowed and welcomed the guests and then began chatting with her Aunt. When Zhao Mei introduced Arthur to Zhao Niu. She opened her arms and said, "What a cute little boy? Come to sister Niu. Don't be afraid I'm your elder sister Niu."
Arthur was afraid, not frightened the same way that a child feels on seeing new people but scared of this girl going crazy over him like any other girl becoming completely crazy when they find a cute baby or a small child. Arthur was very likeable, he was good looking and he was very neat and clean. And before he could say anything or his mother could warn her niece she jumped and hugged Arthur squishing and kissing him everywhere. She then carried Arthur and ran away to her room screaming and crying out to be called only when dinner is ready.
Arthur's protests completely turned useless as Zhao Niu held him right and sprang into her room and before Mei could respond to her son's call, Zhao Niu ran. Seeing her son's distress, Zhao Mei, like any protective and caring mother stood up placing Zhao Liling into her father-in-law's arms who sat next to her to rescue Arthur but unexpectedly she got clasped by her mother. She then pleaded, "Mother, let me go...Sansan needs me, Niu'er doesn't know Sansan's character."
Qinyang laughed and said, "Relax Meimei, Niu'er won't harm your boy, she is only going to doll him up like herself. Let's see how Sansan will react, hahaha...this is fun." She was currently enjoying Arthur's predicament and to see him helpless, who previously tossed them like a coin according to his wishes, was a course of delight to her.
Sometime later when a happy mother and a worried daughter stopped by Zhao Niu's room they found a completely different scene from what they expected. They found Zhao Niu and Arthur sitting on the bed and conversing peacefully like they were old playmates. From time to time they heard them laugh and chat like two different souls living in their own world and exclusively oblivious of the other's existence.
During dinner, Arthur met his uncle and aunt for the first time...His uncle was more like an uncle to her mother, their age gap was huge. They were all loveable and simple people, unlike his grandmother. The following day Arthur and his family left the Zhao family to return to their village. To the surprise of all, when the Zhao family escorted the Lu Family to the town's gate to see them off, they saw Zhao Niu hugging Arthur and promising him that she would visit him soon once she is granted permission to take a leave of absence by the Academy.
"Niu'er, how did Sansan become so close to you?" Asked Zhao Hein, Niu's mother. It was completely different from how her daughter acted and behaved. The affection shown by her daughter was not of an elder adoring a child but like one's behaviour towards close friends.
Zhao Niu beamed and replied, "Mother, Niu'er and Sansan are going to open a boutique shop, Niu'er is going to become a rich businesswoman. On hearing it everyone laughed. They inquired more but Zhao Niu brushed it off by saying that it was a secret.
After returning to the Woodsman village they organised the new members who were led by Zhao Xiang to build more new houses and roads instructed according to Arthur's city building plan. The punishment process was to turn them into the labour force for most of the construction work required in the village.
Next, Lu Donghai, Lu Yehan, Arthur and their men went to the three snow-capped mountains to make an arrangement for concealing the Dragon's blood and meat in the Bull-blooded bear's lair. Inside the cavern system, they first located the bear's excrement chamber, where they removed and stored all the faeces, then below it, they dug out a huge pit, placed all the sealed containers inside it, then covered it with metal sheets and laid dirt above it then placed boulders on it again to be covered with a thick layer of dirt. Then finally they placed the previously emptied faeces of the bull blooded bear over it and removed all the excess dirt out of the cave. It didn't appear untouched like before but from the looks of it hardly anyone could make any difference that changes have been made. The Dragon's aura was not leaking out from it but to keep it safe Arthur chose the most unexpected place where no one could think of hiding their precious belongings. Since it was completely sealed inside the glass jars and covered with hides to protect them, to be placed again inside an airtight metal container it was completely safe and clean, besides bear's faeces was not like human poops which were disgusting as the bear ate mostly plants and excrete plant fibres. The next reason for choosing this place was because even if a Connate Realm expert passes through the area, the aura of a Bull blooded bear would completely seal the Dragon's aura. Well, the flood dragon was more powerful than the bear but it was currently dead and sealed off completely. Thus, the aura of the Blooded bear would overpower the region and conceal the treasures lying inside the cavern.