The emissary came to report to Li Hu, his tone seemingly not so pleasant.
"Three days from now, at night, you must deceive Chenzhou City into opening its gates," the emissary added once more. "The leader has said that this time, your family will certainly be reunited and will no longer be restricted..."
Although Li Hu was somewhat disgruntled, upon hearing the latter part of what the emissary said, he agreed.
"It's a deal."
The emissary left.
Li Hu felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
His family was held hostage in the mountains, while he smuggled for the Li Clan in the outside world, only able to visit them at set times each month.
That was his brother's only child, the only continuation of the family line.
He would be free in another month.
"At that time, I'll take out the money that belongs to me, buy him an estate, and then wash my hands of this business for good."
The rest of the property was to be handed over to Xu Xuan; Li Hu himself couldn't take so much, and neither could his elder brother's son, or it would spell disaster.
The next day.
The servant notified Xu Xuan.
Xu Xuan went to the ancestral hall.
The hall, with its foreboding and dark atmosphere, filled with the curling smoke of sandalwood incense, and divine statues with fierce expressions.
An old man stood before the divine statue.
Li Hu lit three sticks of incense and prayed to the gods with all his sincerity.
"May the Exorcism God bless me, and may everything go smoothly," he prayed.
After he had finished praying, Li Hu then turned his head to look at Xu Xuan.
"What's happened?" Xu Xuan asked.
Apart from smuggling salt, Li Hu was pretty much in a state of rest and relaxation under the sun.
"There's a big operation in three days. You take the bodyguards and go back to the Xu Family; the Family Head will inform you of the situation then," Li Hu instructed.
"And you?"
"Me? I have other tasks to attend to."
Li Hu didn't want Xu Xuan to be involved in such a perilous matter.
Although Chenzhou's military preparedness was lax, it still had a basic garrison.
"Alright."
"Go on, you'd better go back and rest; I'll notify your brother and sister later," said Li Hu.
Xu Xuan didn't say much more and turned to leave, his instincts telling him that things might not be good.
The situation had changed now.
Perhaps those from wealthy families still felt that times were as peaceful as before, but a look outside would reveal the severity of the situation.
Large numbers of common people were fleeing the famine, and there were plenty of uprisings by displaced people from other regions.
In the northwest, King Chuang had also made a name for himself.
Although the specifics of this world varied, Xu Xuan knew that the future would see the downfall of the Great Ming, followed by the Jurchen soldiers entering the pass.
Looking to the future, there were decades of warfare ahead.
"For now, I can only take care of myself; if the opportunity arises, I will certainly try to prevent the tragedy from occurring," Xu Xuan thought to himself.
A change of dynasties is one thing, but the loss of the world is unacceptable.
Of course, the few fireballs he had were not enough to stop an army, let alone be effective for assassinations.
For the moment, it was best to keep a low profile and quietly build up his forces.
Three days later.
Xu Xuan, alongside Xu Yong and Xu Ling'er, boarded a carriage and departed.
This was not Xu Family of the city, but the rural Xu Family Manor, Xu Guangting's old home.
The city was no longer a safe place to stay; the Xu Family found an excuse to return for ancestral worship.
Otherwise, once the war started, the Xu Family would indeed become a target.
The only followers of the three were two coachmen; the rest had been summoned away by Li Hu.
Xu Xuan closed his eyes and began to count the resources within his territory.
"Eight Bleeding Stopping Talismans, ten Detoxification Talismans, five Hunting Talismans, two Stomachache Relief Talismans, and most importantly, eighteen Fire Summoning Talismans."
The power of the Fire Summoning Talismans was quite considerable—the explosion could sever a tree, equivalent to a grenade.
So it meant that Xu Xuan had a total of eighteen grenades on his person.
If it weren't for the urgency and the low success rate, there would be more.
"Have you notified Wu Xiong and Gui Zhegu?" Xu Xuan inquired.
"I have notified them. Gui Zhegu is about to lead three hundred men from Wupo Stockade to the Xu Family to await orders. As for Wu Xiong, nothing changes, we only need to show up for him to offer up the city."
This was Xu Xuan's plan.
To reveal a part of his power, and after stabilizing the situation, he would gradually infiltrate the Mountain Barbarians. This way, he could take over Chenzhou, with its population of one hundred thousand, without any bloodshed.
As for who would control Chenzhou...
Xu Xuan opened his eyes and swept a glance at Xu Yong beside him.
Xu Yong was watched with bemusement.
...
The sun set beyond the western hills.
At the Xu Family ancestral hall, a group of people carrying torches made it as bright as day.
As the family head, Xu Guangting had hosted banquets for guests over the past few days, summoning many young and robust men from the Xu Family as well as hired guards and displaced people they had accumulated over the years.
There was a force of eight hundred in total—armed with armor, strong crossbows, and long swords, along with twenty horses.
All of these were recruited at great expense, costing the Xu Family a large portion of their wealth.
Inside the ancestral hall.
The Li Clan, representing the Mountain Barbarians, joined in as well. Besides Xu Guangting, several young men including Xu Feng were present.
"I am the commandant, and you, Feng'er, command two hundred men squads. Your cousins Xu Yuan, Xu Chong, Xu Jie... each command one hundred men," Xu Guangting said with an intense gaze, transformed as if he was another person. "The world will soon be in chaos—this is the chance for the Xu Family to rise. Seize Chenzhou, which allows us to carve out our territory; if we retreat, we can surrender and become officials. We cannot afford to fail!"
"Understood!!"
The young men were boiling with enthusiasm, filled with admiration for Xu Guangting.
These years, the family head had donated to build schools for the village and even hired people to teach them martial arts, all for preparing them for today.
"The eldest son has arrived!!"
Someone announced from outside.
Immediately after, Xu Yong and Xu Xuan came in.
Following an elder, the two offered incense to their ancestors, then came over to greet Xu Guangting.
"Father, mother…"
Suddenly, Li Hu asked, "Where are the eldest and the third? How does the Family Head plan to arrange them?"
"The positions have already been assigned. Let them follow Feng'er as his personal guards. There is no Xu Family man who can hide in the rear," Xu Guangting said with a flicker in his eyes.
"Perhaps we could form a small team of scouts, a dozen men or so, and let them explore the path ahead for the army?" Li Hu suggested out of the blue.
It was a thoroughly ruthless plan. Normally, if brothers were in the army and close to Xu Feng, even if they didn't get along, Xu Feng wouldn't dare let his brothers deliberately march to their deaths.
Otherwise, his reputation would be terribly maligned.
But scouts were different; it was easy for them to meet their end.
Xu Guangting's brow furrowed, realizing that this woman was becoming more and more bold due to her maternal family's influence.
Yet it wasn't an appropriate time to say anything; Xu Guangting was just about to agree when Xu Xuan interrupted, saying, "Father need not worry, I already have my own soldiers."
Boom boom boom...
A clamor came from outside, particularly the striking sound of horse hooves.
"Not good, a large force is coming!"
"Wupo Stockade! It's Gui Zhegu from Wupo Stockade!"
Panic spread from the voices outside.
Everyone in the ancestral hall was startled.
Xu Yong, the younger brother, smiled and said, "Honorable elders, there's no need for alarm..."
At that moment, someone else entered.
"Gui Zhegu requests an audience!"
With this news, relief flooded through everyone, as a requested audience meant no battle would ensue.
"Agreed!" Xu Guangting responded.
Xu Feng, especially, brightened up, suggesting, "Why not bring Gui Zhegu into our fold..."
At this time, a figure came through the main entrance.
This person was nine feet tall, a towering figure with facial scars and a hooked nose that added a ruthless ferocity, just as the rumors had described.
The moment he entered, a wave of bloody killing intent washed over everyone.
Most people present were frightened, but Li Hu failed to notice that her supposedly timid husband, Xu Guangting, was not among them.
"So, it is the Chief of the Gui Zhegu Stockade. I have long heard of your reputation!"
Gui Zhegu bowed in return and then knelt on one knee towards Xu Xuan and Xu Yong, respectfully saying, "All three hundred strong men of Wupo Stockade await the commands of the eldest and third young masters!"
Wow!
The crowd erupted into commotion.
Xu Guangting, Li Hu, Xu Feng, and others were surprised, not expecting the often-overlooked eldest son to have made connections with these fierce bandits.
Xu Feng's expression turned somewhat unsightly at this moment.
Regaining his composure, Xu Guangting chuckled and said,
"Since the chief is a friend of my son, then let me be direct. The Mountain Li Clan is preparing to take Chenzhou, and in response, we're planning to deal with the Wei Clan of Mei Mountain. What are your thoughts, Chief?"
Gui Zhegu didn't answer but simply stood up and moved to Xu Xuan's side, making his stance clear.
Having been in this world for more than twenty years, today Xu Xuan revealed his sharp edge for the first time.