185: megaphone

"Wow... this is actually quite nice!" Xu Ruoying's beautiful eyes lit up as she exclaimed. She had never heard of such commoner's liquor, yet unexpectedly, it was a rare delicacy, catching her completely off guard.

"How about another bowl then?" Long Yuan said with a smile.

"One bowl? That won't do! I want ten jars! Hmm, I'll store them first and drink them slowly..."

"That makes sense..."

"Giggle, in light of you introducing such a good drink, I'll forgive your tardiness! Quickly, tell me, what business delayed you just now?"

Long Yuan was slightly stunned. Wasn't she here to discuss the contract? Why was she prying so deeply into his personal affairs? Or was it possible that Lady Ruo Ying just wanted to chat a little longer?

He swept his Divine Sense lightly and couldn't help but realize the truth: Xu Guanghu and Xu Guanghai were in the room next door, listening with their ears pricked up...

"These two actually snuck out of the County Government Building; it's clear they value the assessment of me more. That's right, this was their main mission for coming to Fengyang! Well then, I'll let you two serve as my mouthpieces..." Long Yuan thought to himself.

He said to Xu Ruoying, "You might not know this, but something major might happen in Fengyang recently!"

"Something major? What major event could possibly happen in a small place like Fengyang?!" Xu Ruoying huffed.

"Hehe, even small places can have major events. For example, a while ago in our Fengyang, the Genius youth Ye He was attacked by a Fusang assassin, and this incident even hit the national trending list several times..." Long Yuan said with a smile.

"This... I have heard of that incident. Could there be anything more serious than that?"

"Indeed! Tomorrow is the Inter-school Competition between the various middle schools in Fengyang. I heard that some people intend to cause trouble during this time. I have already reported this to the county, and just on the way here, I discovered two anomalies! I had intended to go to the county office to report it, but thinking that you were waiting here to sign the contract, I came here first..." Long Yuan said.

"Oh? What kind of anomalies? Are they very serious?" Hearing this, Xu Ruoying didn't dare to speak carelessly and asked hurriedly. She actually knew the news that a cult would cause trouble tomorrow, so hearing Long Yuan say this, she immediately associated it with that matter.

Long Yuan nodded and said, "I saw a group of people enter from the East City Gate. Judging by their attire, they don't look like local Xuan Practitioners. After they entered, they split into two groups; one group headed towards the northern part of the Fengyang Mountain Range, and the other headed towards the Martial Arts Market!"

"Out-of-town Xuan Practitioners? Can you tell how high their cultivation Realm is?" Xu Ruoying's expression changed slightly, and she asked anxiously.

"Hmm, the cultivation Realm of the three leaders should have already entered the Innate stage! Among them, the person in the lead has a scar on his face, and the other two are a one-eyed man and a female monk. Judging by their Aura, they seem to be even stronger than Qi Team Leader, whom I met before..."

"Good heavens! Could it really be them?!!!" Xu Ruoying exclaimed, and after realizing what she had done, she quickly covered her mouth.

Long Yuan nodded with a heavy expression, "It is very likely. Moreover, because my talent for Mental Energy is quite good, I also overheard some of their conversation..."

"What did they say?!" Xu Ruoying asked anxiously.

"Well... they were talking about splitting their forces into two paths. One path is going to the vicinity of Qianlong Middle School to set up Mystic Cannons overnight, and one path is coming here to the Martial Arts Market to set up Mystic Cannons. Also, their aircraft is parked in the wilderness not far outside the East Gate; they likely intend to retreat from there after causing trouble!" Long Yuan said in a low voice.

"These Evil Cultists are truly bold!!!" Xu Ruoying gritted her teeth and huffed.

Long Yuan nodded, "Indeed, their goal is to cause chaos here at the Fengyang Martial Arts Market to divert the government's forces, and their main focus is the teachers and students participating in the competition tomorrow! Oh, by the way, they have two other important targets!"

"Which two?!" Xu Ruoying asked.

"They seem to be in urgent need of talent to research the Gene Strengthening Fluid, so the first target is the Alchemist at the Fengyang Alchemist Guild. The person in the lead assigned that female monk to be specifically responsible for this matter!" Long Yuan said.

"Oh? And what is the second target?"

"Naturally, it's me! Didn't I cure three of Geng County Magistrate's female relatives last time? Next, I am supposed to treat Ye He, who has a damaged Qi Sea, so they plan to capture me to research the Gene Strengthening Fluid. Originally, they intended to grab me tonight, but considering that doing so might affect their large-scale operation tomorrow, they decided to wait until tomorrow to act. So, well, I should still be safe for now..." Long Yuan said with a smile.

Xu Ruoying felt a sudden chill. She didn't expect that those Evil Cultists would actually set their sights on Long Yuan. If her father and third uncle hadn't come along this time, wouldn't Long Yuan be in great danger?

Most importantly, she had finally managed to acquire a young singer with a bright future, as well as a great opportunity to marry into the royal family in the future, and those Evil Cultists actually wanted to take all of this away from her. It was simply too, too, too hateful!

Thinking of this, her hatred for the cult reached its peak. In the past, because she had never come into contact with a cult, her understanding of them remained only in her imagination. But now, she had a personal realization. If a Genius like Long Yuan was to be captured by them to research some Strengthening Fluid, and other elite students would have it even worse—being captured to serve as medicine testing tools—they would surely be tortured by the cultists until they were neither human nor ghost. It was easy to imagine just how evil those cultists were...

She thought for a moment and said, "Is that all you heard?"

Long Yuan smiled, "Indeed! So let's hurry up and sign the agreement so I can go find County Magistrate Geng to report the situation..."

Xu Ruoying waved her hand and said, "Rest assured, the situation you just mentioned will be conveyed to County Magistrate Geng immediately. As for the signing, that is the main reason I traveled thousands of miles to handle it; how could it be rushed?"

"Oh? You mean... someone heard our conversation just now?" Long Yuan's expression changed slightly as he asked.

"Rest assured, this tea room has been sealed with soundproofing measures by my third uncle, so others cannot hear. My third uncle didn't walk very far just now, so he must have happened to hear our conversation. But as for now, he has definitely gone to the county office, giggle giggle!" Xu Ruoying giggled.

"So that's how it is..." Long Yuan said, appearing "suddenly enlightened."

"Don't worry, with my third uncle here, these Evil Cultists will eventually be brought to justice! By the way, this is the cooperation agreement I brought with me this time. Take your time to look it over, and if you have any questions, feel free to bring them up!" She took out a stack of documents and handed them to Long Yuan.

Long Yuan quickly browsed through it and said, "No problems, but aren't the terms given to me a bit too good? I don't think I'm worth this kind of cooperation from you!"

Because he saw from the agreement that the share he would receive in this cooperation seemed quite large, and there were also various other benefits. It looked as if they were rushing to give him money; this definitely did not look like a simple cooperative relationship...