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Leaving the separate residence, they skirted a long courtyard wall, ducked through a stone archway, and arrived at the kitchen yard, where the grunts of exertion rang out within the courtyard.
They stopped in their tracks and fixed their gaze.
Over a dozen Protectors were gathered around the well, each shouldering a wooden ladder.
One end of the ladder lay flat on the ground, while the other rested against the well's edge.
A massive stone lay atop the ladder, as big as a millstone. More than a dozen men were jointly trying to lift the ladder, hoping to roll the stone onto the well to block it off.
Su Gui was also there, waving his arms and shouting loudly for the Protectors to exert their strength together.
As the Protectors exerted force, the ladder was gradually raised.
The end that had been on the ground slowly lifted, hovering in the air, and continued to rise.
The stone began to roll, but before it could fall into the well, the ladder seemed overwhelmed and creaked ominously.
Crack!
Two wooden beams snapped in the middle.
The stone, now without support, fell downwards, heading straight for the foot of a nearby Protector.
The event happened too swiftly, the Protector hadn't the time to react.
The others, however, screamed in terror. With the stone, weighing thousands of pounds, plummeting down, one could only imagine the consequences. That leg was most likely beyond saving, not to mention the uncertainty of how to live out the rest of his life.
But the sound of bones and flesh being smashed into pulp did not arise.
In the middle of the courtyard.
A shadow flashed by, and Su Heng appeared amongst the crowd.
He extended one arm forward in a casual manner, almost without any evidence of effort, yet the thousands-of-pounds-heavy stone hung steadily in midair, while the other end rested on the well's rim.
"Young master!"
The unlucky Protector, his legs weak from fright, sat down hard on the ground. Only then did he realize what had happened and repeatedly expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Second Young Master, thank you for saving my life."
"You all step back," Su Heng ordered.
The other Protectors hastily made way, while Su Gui, a bit nervously, whispered a reminder, "Be careful."
Su Heng nodded.
His arms stretched out, his two large hands each grasping a side of the stone.
His legs spread apart, his center of gravity sinking slightly with each inhale and exhale, his arm muscles tensed.
With a low grunt, he lifted the stone, shifted its position, and set it steadily upon the well, perfectly sealing the opening.
The surrounding Protectors and servants stared with wide eyes, too astonished to speak.
They knew their young master practiced martial arts.
But they had not expected him to be this ferocious. The gigantic stone that took ten men using tools to barely lift weighed thousands of pounds.
Yet Su Heng had lifted it on his own without any sign of strain.
This kind of strength had already surpassed human limits; even a being of iron sinews and diamond hardness would not appear otherwise.
"Due to the incident that occurred at the Xu Family, you've decided to seal off the well," Su Heng said, dusting off his hands as he looked towards his father.
Su Gui nodded.
"It is indeed the right thing to do," Su Heng commented in surprise, "but what about the water for daily use? There are quite a few people in the residence, and water is a big necessity."
"We plan to fetch water from the Nine-Bend River outside the city."
One of the Protectors eagerly replied, "Using a horse carriage, a round trip only takes about an hour. It's somewhat troublesome, but it's safe."
"That's fine then, but it will be hard on you all."
Su Heng nodded slightly, "The world is becoming increasingly chaotic. The person in charge of this task may collect an extra allowance at the accounting office."
"Young Master Su is generous," the Protectors said, their faces lighting up with excitement.
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"However, this is not a long-term solution," Su Heng looked up at Su Gui, "Do you have any other plans?"
"I won't hide it from you, I just had a discussion with the heads of a few other major families, as well as some officials from the county yamen," Su Gui gathered his sleeves, his expression serious.
"Did you come up with any solutions?" Su Heng asked curiously.
"We plan to hire someone to exorcise the demons," said Su Gui, his face stern.
"..."
Su Heng said with a loss for words, "Although our family has plenty of money, there's no need to waste it like this.
Moreover, didn't you spend quite a bit of Silver to invite the mages from Dinglin Temple to perform rites in our residence half a month ago?
Yet, the incidents of the water ghost harming people still occurred, and it was completely useless."
"At least it didn't happen in our family, right?" Su Gui, feeling his authority as Family Head dwindling by the day, couldn't help but retort in a soft voice.
"Moreover, this time is different from before," Su Gui explained, "These two grandmasters are from Qingmao Mountain.
Do you understand Qingmao Mountain?
It's an ancient legacy that predates the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
These two masters are not only famous grandmasters on the Jianghu, but they indeed have a record of demon-slaying.
They've assisted the government in dealing with many tough and bizarre cases and are quite renowned in Jiangzhou."
"Backed by the official endorsement?" Su Heng's face showed surprise.
"Hmm," Su Gui nodded, "The county yamen facilitated the connection, and we several major families contributed the funds."
"That does lend some credibility," Su Heng sighed, "I hope they can solve this trouble quickly."
Su Heng had reviewed numerous records.
While those accounts were a mix of truth and falsehoods, one thing could be confirmed.
Demons had not made their first appearance on the land of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and since such incidents had occurred in the past, it was normal for methods to deal with them to emerge and even to form unique legacies.
Qingmao Mountain might just be one of the ancient sects capable of combating demons in the Jianghu.
"I wonder what kind of methods these Taoist priests have," with this thought, a bit of curiosity sprang up in Su Heng's mind.
Qingmao Mountain was not far from Changqing County.
At a distance of about seven or eight hundred li, even if they encountered any mishaps on the way, an hour's time would be enough to make the journey.
After chatting a few more words with Su Gui and eating something, Su Heng returned to his own courtyard.
By then, it had grown dark.
Su Shang had stopped studying and, after washing up, went to rest and sleep.
A figure stood silently waiting in the courtyard, it was Su Heng's driver, Li Si.
"Have you taken care of the matter I entrusted to you?" Su Heng lowered his voice to avoid waking his already sleeping younger brother.
"There are results, young master," Li Si said.
In this period, a significant factor in Su Heng's rapid accumulation of attribute points was the Special meat.
However,
after purchasing it several times, the old farmer who sold the Special meat on the black market mysteriously disappeared without a trace.
Su Heng had sent Li Si to investigate, and now he was reporting the results to him.
"We searched around and found the village where the old farmer lived in a valley of Heikui Mountain, a remote place cut off from the world, but the local customs were quite simple. We asked the villagers and located the old farmer's residence.
Unfortunately, by the time we got there, he was already gone.
Perhaps he had saved enough money and moved away from the village with his family."
"Although we lost this clue, we didn't give up and continued to inquire about the Special meat in the village." At this point, Li Si's expression turned somewhat odd.
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