After a series of inquiries, only then did Tang Xiu find out the reason. It turned out that these four Ghost Generals obtained an ancient secret art manual in the Underworld, from which they learned how to create a channel between their world and the mortal world. The end of the tunnel coincidentally ended up in the Lian Family"s place.
"So, that Underworld Great Array outside and the Netherworld one inside were laid out by the four of you, and you also imparted the Underworld cultivation art to the Lians?" asked Tang Xiu with a heavy voice
"Yes, and please spare our lives, Venerable Immortal."
The two Ghost Generals were full of trepidation and were scared stiff as they replied.
Tang Xiu shook his head. He no longer cared about it after clearly figuring out the root of the matter. He turned to look at Gu Yan"er and faintly said, "Finish everything here!"
"Alright!"
Gu Yan"er"s eyes were gleaming with killing intent. Her mind moved, and she instantly killed the two Ghost Generals as well as the Lian Family"s 49 ancestors. Be it the Ghost Generals or the Lian ancestors, all were the same in her eyes—ants. She had her share of ma.s.sacring countless people in the past. Nothing would make her flinch.
"Expand your search to comb through every soul of each Lian Family"s member" said Tang Xiu. "Completely erase any of them who practice any cultivation art from the Underworld. Do the same to those martial artists under this family too."
"What about the weak; the elderly, women, and children?" asked Gu Yan"er.
"Spare those who had no ability to partic.i.p.ate in all of the wicked deeds carried out by the Lians," answered Tang Xiu indifferently. "Remember, we must not kill any innocents, but never let the sinners free whose hands are stained by blood."
In but a few minutes, all those who had practiced martial arts in the Lian Family"s manor silently met their maker, for a total of dozens of martial artists.. Gu Yan"er even conducted a thorough search on their souls to find out the situation of other Lian Family"s clansmen. Ultimately, tens of other clansmen of the Lians in every part of the country were all killed without anyone noticing.
Certainly, Gu Yan"er also did a thorough cleaning up regarding the Underworld Great Array as well as the Netherworld one, including the altars and the blood pools. She also destroyed the tunnel.
"Alright. Let"s head back," said Tang Xiu in a heavy voice after Gu Yan"er completed her tasks and handled all the problems.
In a flash, Tang Xiu and Gu Yan"er, as well as Miao Wentang and Mo Awu"s team who had been waiting in the vicinity near the Lian Family"s residence, all returned to the Miao Family"s residence. They arrived precisely at the living room of the villa belonging to Miao Wentang.
"Has everything been done, Brother Tang?"
Miao Wentang, who had been waiting anxiously for the news, found that everyone had returned back. He asked with a puzzled face immediately after they arrived.
"Everything"s been solved." Tang Xiu solved and said. "The malicious cancer that was the Lians has been completely rooted out. However, there is something you need to deal with."
"Me doing some things is not a problem, but did you say you"ve completely cleaned up everything?" asked Miao Wentang with obvious disbelief on his face. "How did you do it? Didn"t you just enter their residence?"
"Brother Maio, the Lians who have practiced the cultivation art of the Underworld have been killed by us," said Tang Xiu with a faint smile. "All martial artists under them were included. No longer will there be a Lian Family in the Occult Sect in the future. Any surviving members will decline by themselves."
With a shocked face, Miao Wentang shot a look at both Tang Xiu and Gu Yan"er. Especially the latter. Unprecedented shock struck him after knowing how powerful she was. After a long silence, he then said, "Then what is it that you want me to deal with, Brother Tang?"
"Well, the Miao Family will be the scapegoat. You"re to spread the news that you"ve removed the Lians," said Tang Xiu." It"s not all without benefits, though. Their industries will be yours, except those still being managed by the surviving members."
"Can you lend me Awu and his brothers for several days?" requested Miao Wentang with hesitation. "The Lians are from the Occult Sec, and if some of the other families have a good relations.h.i.+p with them, they will definitely use the pretext to attack my family, so I need some experts to help me."
Tang Xiu gave his consent with a nod. He then looked at Mo Awu and the rest, "You guys will all stay in Ning City for some time to carry out all the arrangements by Brother Miao. Stay here until all the issues related to the Lian Family have been completely dealt with. You can return to Shanghai to find me afterward."
"Understood!" respectfully replied Mo Awu"s team in unison.
Suddenly, Xue Yu interjected, "Tang Xiu, I want to go to Jingmen Island."
For a moment, however, Tang Xiu hesitated. He then looked at the smiling Gu Yan"er before he nodded and said, "Yan"er, Xue Yu wants to go to Jingmen Island, so bring her with you when you go back! Although she has obtained Dao Master Guai"s inheritance and has had her cultivation improved rapidly, she still does not have the ability to control her own power. Do well to help her control it. Also, it"s best if she can progress in her state of mind as well."
"No worries, I know what to do." Gu Yan"er nodded with a slight smile.
****
After some time, Tang Xiu had returned back to Shanghai since Gu Yan"er sent him back there. The two females, however, didn"t stay long and went directly to Jingmen Island.
Bluestar Villa Complex.
Tang Xiu had taken a shower and was recollecting everything that happened recently. There was a wry and bitter smile on his handsome face, however. He had gone through troubles and hard work to research the Six Starlights Array and was finally able to open that Immortal Trove, yet the result was meant for someone else—he had even taken the risk of having his ident.i.ty and whereabouts leaked.
"Haih, let"s drop it. Besides, it"s not like the results were obtained by some outsiders anyway."
He took a seat on the bed and couldn"t help but sigh. Suddenly, he recalled that he put his mobile phone inside his interspatial ring, and it had been many days since he had checked it, so he didn"t know whether any of his acquaintances had any issues they needed to talk to him about. Just as he took his handset out, however, he found it had been automatically shut down—out of battery.
Several minutes later, after he had it charged enough, he turned it on and was greeted by a swarm of incoming texts. There were tons of missed calls from many people. Most of the calls came from two particular cell numbers. One that he never expected was Zhang Xinye"s, whereas the other one was unfamiliar.
However, it was late at night, so he wasn"t in a hurry to call back. The most important thing he should do at present was to have a rest, as it had been more than four days since he last slept.
As morning came, the ringtone of his phone woke Tang Xiu up. He opened his eyes and grabbed the phone before seeing that it was a call from Zhang Xinyue.
"It"s strange. She keeps calling me; what could have happened to her?"
With that thought in mind, Tang Xiu pressed the b.u.t.ton to answer and spoke, "h.e.l.lo, Xinyue. It"s me, Tang Xiu."
Zhang Xinyue"s complaining voice came out from the phone, "You finally turned on your phone now, Tang Xiu? I"ve called you so many times these past few days, and you never picked up! Where are you now? There"s a very urgent issue, so I want to meet you."
"I"m at home in the Bluestar Villa Complex. What"s so urgent?" asked Tang Xiu.
After falling into silence for a moment, she finally replied, "I"ve not been looking for you regarding myself. It"s about my Big Sis. Can you see her, Tang Xiu? I…"
"Huh?" Tang Xiu was confused and asked, "What happened to Xinya?"
"She"s been in a very foul mood recently after she came back from Qingcheng Mountain," answered Zhang Xinyue in a bitter voice. "Especially very recently. She"s kinda tormenting herself by drowning all her time into work, and she flew around the world to accept a lot of business gigs without reserve at all. I just saw her a couple of days ago… I just realized that… she has lost weight so drastically—tens of pounds of weight…"
"She"s…"
Tang Xiu opened his mouth, but didn"t continue commenting and instead spoke out something else. "You also know that it"s pretty much impossible for me to be with your sister, Xinyue. I"d only stimulate her more if I were to contact her—and it won"t even help her in the slightest. I think cutting off all contact would be for the best to get out of this sentimental mess quickly."
"I"m well aware that quickly severing the relations.h.i.+p would be the best result, but I"m afraid that she"ll keep tormenting herself and continue cracking apart," replied Zhang Xinyue astringently. "Tang Xiu, she"s the most important person in my life. I can never allow myself to ignore her and let her fall into peril. Even if… I know that… her being with you is not a good decision either… I just can"t manage it anymore."
Tang Xiu fell into silence.
Severing all contacts to straighten out the mess caused by such feelings was indeed for the best, as he knew that he couldn"t give Zhang Xinya a future she deserved to have. Rather than letting her drown in agony in life, it was best to have her to suffer for a much shorter time until she could break free from all that. It was just that he didn"t expect that she was so stubborn in nature, giving him a great headache. But Zhang Xinyue was also presumably correct. He wouldn"t be able to let go of the guilt for a very long time if Zhang Xinya were to break apart and fall into trouble.
"Where"s she now?" After considering, Tang Xiu let out a bitter smile and asked.
"She flew to Thailand yesterday and I was unable to stop her," answered Zhang Xinyue. "I"m going to text you the address shortly."
"Alright!" said Tang Xiu and then hang up.
Suddenly, he remembered the dozen missed calls from another unfamiliar number these past few days. He then dialed the number to call it back.
"h.e.l.lo… Boss Tang?" an excited cry came out from the phone.
"I am Tang Xiu, and you are?" asked Tang Xiu back.
"I"m Yang Pengchao! The one who sold you the jade monkey. Didn"t you send someone before to fetch my girlfriend, Yue Li"s, mother in Shanghai previously? We"re already in Shanghai, but I"ve been unable to contact you recently."
It was Yang Pengchao"s voice.
Tang Xiu zoned out and let out a hollow laugh. Then he said, "I"m really sorry. Something happened recently so I forgot about it. Alright, where are you now? I"ll catch up with you later."
"We"re at Paradise Manor," answered Yang Pengchao.
"Wait for me there! I"ll be there in an hour," said Tang Xiu.
Previously, Tang Xiu thought that there wouldn"t be many other issues he needed to tend to after he opened the Immortal Trove. He never thought that things that he had to deal with come again one after another. It was like there was a pair of invisible hands that kept pus.h.i.+ng him forward.
The problem with Zhang Xinya, the treatment of Yang Pengchao"s future mother-in-law, his own preparations for going to Nine Dragons Island, and the issue regarding the jade pig, of which he had been waiting for the news of before he left for Thailand…
That was a pile of issues indeed, reminding him that he was truly busy enough.
As he recalled Nine Dragons Island, he immediately called Long Zhengyu. Then, he learned that the construction project there had reached the last stage and it was expected to finish in half a month. But he was required to be there to finish the work personally.
"Hey, Tang Xiu. I just came back to Star City a couple of days ago to deal with some things here. I"ll be back to Nine Dragons Island in a week, but when will you go there exactly?" Finally, Long Zhengyu asked about it from the phone.
Tang Xiu thought about it for a moment and then said, "About a week later. But, I"ll head over to Nine Dragons Island from some other place, though, so let"s keep in touch. Anyway, when you head back to Nine Dragons Island, can you help me by stopping by in Hong Kong? Go to Grand Fortune Jewelry and find Hao Lei. Tell her to prepare some jades and bring them with you there."
"Alright. Got it!" Long Zhenyu promised and then hung up.