22: Chapter 22 Hope for a Solution! The Xiao Family is Powerless to Protect Them!

Hearing Xiao Feng's words, the pride on Xiao Chang's face quickly vanished, as he also thought of the methods used by Grand Master Lin Jiuye, the head of Baiyun Martial Arts Hall.

"Old Man, Brother Qin single-handedly charged into Baiyun Martial Arts Hall to save people. It is a righteous act of loyalty, and we must never ignore him!" Xiao Chang said in an urgent tone, making his stance clear.

Qin Muyuan had done nothing wrong in this matter, and Xiao Chang was unwilling by any means to watch helplessly as Grand Master Lin Jiuye came looking for Qin Muyuan and killed him!

Xiao Feng sighed deeply and said, "At this point, we can only use our ancestors' connections, find old acquaintances in the imperial court, and send someone to persuade Grand Master Lin Jiuye. We must apologize and plead with him to let Brother Xiao Qin go this once."

...

Xiao Chang dismissed the maidservants following behind him and headed to a guest room in Xiao Mansion to find Qin Muyuan, who had already finished bathing and changing into clothes unstained by blood.

To be honest, seeing Qin Muyuan without any blood on him made Xiao Chang pause slightly in surprise.

After all, ever since he had known Qin Muyuan, his body had always been stained with fresh blood.

Not long after arriving at Xiao Mansion, finishing his bath, and changing clothes, he went out, encountered the incident with Baiyun Martial Arts Hall, and was once again covered in blood from head to toe after killing people.

It seemed as though ever since he got to know Qin Muyuan, Qin Muyuan was either killing people or on his way to kill people...

"Is there any difficulty with the aftermath? Why do you look so full of sorrow?" Qin Muyuan looked at Xiao Chang, who walked into the guest room, and asked upon seeing the worried expression on his face.

No exclamation mark lit up above Xiao Chang's head, indicating that there were no quests.

However, considering that Xiao Chang was an NPC who shared a similar personality with him and currently wore a sorrowful expression, Qin Muyuan still decided to ask.

After all, he had previously said that he would cover for Xiao Chang.

"N-Nothing, Brother Qin." Xiao Chang reined in his worries about Grand Master Lin Jiuye, shook his head, and said.

Hearing this, Qin Muyuan nodded and did not ask any further.

Since Xiao Chang was unwilling to talk about it, perhaps there was some unspeakable hidden trouble, such as being fiercely scolded as a simpering dog by the girl he liked.

If it was a matter like that, Qin Muyuan felt it was better not to uncover someone else's scars.

"Oh right, Brother Qin," Xiao Chang said. "The commoners rescued from Squire Chens Residence have all been properly settled. They have repeatedly expressed their gratitude for Brother Qin's life-saving grace, wishing to prepare a banquet of wine and food to show their heartfelt thanks, and specifically asked me to inquire when Brother Qin will be free."

When?

Qin Muyuan looked at the line on his interface: [No quests currently in the city, whether to accelerate time].

He said, "I am free right now."

"..." Xiao Chang said helplessly, "Brother Qin, those commoners have been away from their families for a long time and still need some time to reunite with them. Right now... it might be very difficult to hold a banquet."

Ah, right.

In this ultra-realistic game, those imprisoned commoners indeed needed some time to digest those tragic experiences.

They couldn't be like in other games, where an NPC could get shot in the foot just moments ago and then walk around as if flying the next second.

Therefore, Qin Muyuan said, "Then you can arrange it. I am free most of the time."

Xiao Chang nodded and noted down Qin Muyuan's words.

After chatting for a couple more sentences, Xiao Chang retreated from Qin Muyuan's guest room.

From beginning to end, he did not voice his worries regarding Grand Master Lin Jiuye, the head of Baiyun Martial Arts Hall.

After all, even if he spoke of it, it would only cause Qin Muyuan needless panic.

It would be better to first try using the Xiao Family's connections to resolve this matter for Qin Muyuan. Once it was resolved, he would then lay everything out and tell Qin Muyuan.

"If it cannot be resolved... then I will prepare silver taels and a carriage for Brother Qin so that he can hide away temporarily!" Xiao Chang thought to himself:

"Even though that Grand Master Lin Jiuye is arrogant, he shouldn't be so lawless as to dare break into our Xiao Mansion and make a move against my old man!"

Xiao Chang left. Inside the room, Qin Muyuan did not just look at the [No quests currently in the city] prompt and decided to accelerate time for a while.

He wanted to see what reactions the commoner NPCs outside would have once time was accelerated and his reputation spread throughout Qinghua County.

Given the game's level of realism, it should be quite interesting.

Qin Muyuan slowly closed his eyes and entered the time acceleration.

From the perspective of an outsider—referring to the wolf demon Wangcai—it appeared that his own master suddenly went to bed and closed his eyes to rest his mind.

And his aura rapidly changed from its Peak to nothingness, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

However, even if he was in a deep sleep, Wangcai wouldn't dare do anything to this master.

After all, considering the master's strength, his ruthless and unblinking murderous aura, and the decent meals provided by Xiao Mansion after arriving there...

Wangcai felt—well, actually, acknowledging a master wasn't shameful at all.

Their wolf demon clan knew how to adapt to circumstances. Previously, an ancestor of theirs had followed an immortal cultivator master, and from then on left the Southern Wilderness with the immortal cultivator master to head toward a higher realm.

His current master was young, yet his strength was already capable of slaying a third-rate Peak, half-second-rate branch master of Baiyun Martial Arts Hall.

Moreover, he possessed a thunder-light technique that closely resembled immortal magic!

At a glance, he was extraordinary, and his background was estimated to be quite impressive!

If he buttered up his master nicely... served him comfortably, perhaps he could even follow along and achieve the Dao, ascending to heaven along with him!

Thinking this, Wangcai closed the door of the guest room and quietly lay down at the entrance of the room.

Hug the powerful thighs!

He must tightly hug this master's thighs!

...

The moon set and the sun rose.

Early the next morning, inside the main hall of Xiao Mansion, Xiao Feng, Xiao Chang, and some collateral relatives of the Xiao Family sat upright and properly in their respective seats.

At this moment, Xiao Feng was holding a piece of letter paper with an ugly expression on his face, slamming his palm heavily onto the table:

"Simply too much! This is simply too much!"

Seeing Xiao Feng, who was usually well-mannered and remained calm regardless of honor or disgrace, display such a reaction, other collateral relatives of the Xiao Family quickly took the letter from Xiao Feng's hands and checked it.

Upon reading it, expressions of shock and anger identical to Xiao Feng's also appeared on their faces.

"That Lu Hong really had his conscience eaten by dogs! Back then, our Xiao Family spared no financial resources and tried our utmost to support him, only to send him into the imperial court. Now that our Xiao Family is asking a favor of him, he has actually turned his back on us and pretends not to know us!"

"Lian Xiu is an even more shameless scoundrel! In the past, how many generous gifts did our Xiao Family present to him just to be on good terms with him? When he took the money back then, he made solemn oaths, promising that he would definitely mediate; who would have known that in the blink of an eye, he would break his faith and refuse to handle a single thing!"

"It's fine if he doesn't handle the matter, but he actually dares to claim that Grand Master Lin Jiuye is extremely furious and that he lost face trying to persuade him, demanding instead that we send money to make up for it—simply insatiable!"

"Beasts! This bunch that takes money and doesn't get things done are all beasts!"

Inside Xiao Mansion, the members of the Xiao Family were filled with righteous indignation and gnashed their teeth.

This group of people never held back at all when taking money on a daily basis, claiming to be on good terms with the Xiao Family for generations.

But when it came time to actually do something, they made excuses here and evaded responsibility there, unwilling to handle a single task!

Right at this moment.

A servant of the Xiao Family holding a letter bowed and walked quickly into the main hall, handing the letter to Xiao Feng.

Looking at the sender's name, Xiao Feng's face revealed an expression of hope.

The sender of this letter was Xiao Feng's dearest friend from their youth while studying, who was now currently serving as the prefect in Hongyan Prefecture, holding immense power.

Yesterday, he had written a letter overnight to plead with him, thinking that relying on the other party's power in the imperial court and their friendship, he would definitely be able to mediate and save Qin Muyuan's life.

However.

When he unfolded the letter paper and his gaze hurriedly swept across the words, the anticipation on his face instantly froze, turning instead into an ashen expression.

In the letter, that prefect whom he regarded as a close friend not only flatly rejected his plea, but also explicitly stated in the letter that he wanted to sever all friendly relations with Xiao Feng!

From then on, they would cut off all contact and draw a clear line between them!