"My father's death mean my chance has come?"
This statement was truly perplexing.
Logically, with Zhu Fulu being the sole pillar of the Zhu Clan, his death should have led to the clan's collapse.
Why did Old Huang say that Zhu Fulu's death meant his chance had come?
Old Huang knew Xiaosuo couldn't understand, so he explained slowly.
"Zhu Fulu needed to take on missions from the local authorities and the Immortal Sect to obtain cultivation resources. Many of these missions were life-threatening, with little chance of survival. To ensure that cultivators had no worries about their families, the authorities and the sect established a rule: if a cultivator died during a mission, their family would receive a Vein Opening Pill as compensation. This ensured the continuation of their family line and eased the cultivators' concerns."
Hearing this, Xiaosuo's eyes lit up.
"You mean?"
"Exactly. Your father was nearing the end of his lifespan. To ensure the Zhu Clan's next generation wouldn't die out, he took on a mission from the Immortal Sect with no chance of survival and died during its execution."
"So, a Vein Opening Pill will be sent to the Zhu Clan?"
"Yes. According to the explicit rules of the Immortal Sect and the authorities, as his child, you are eligible to compete for this Vein Opening Pill."
Just as hope rose in Xiaosuo, it quickly faded.
"My father has so many descendants. How could I possibly get it?"
Old Huang smiled slightly.
Seeing Old Huang's expression of control, Xiaosuo suddenly thought of something and looked at Old Huang in disbelief.
"Could it be that the Zhu Clan's wives and concubines have gone mad?"
Old Huang nodded.
"Over the years, the infighting among the Zhu Clan's wives and concubines has been particularly fierce. Even one of Zhu Fulu's legitimate wives died an unnatural death. Now, only the children of two legitimate wives and two concubines are still alive, six sons and five daughters."
"With me, that's only a one in twelve chance."
Old Huang waved his hand:"According to the law, if the fallen cultivator is male, his sons have the priority to inherit the Vein Opening Pill. If the fallen cultivator is female, her daughters have the priority. So, you and your brothers have the priority."
"So, I have a one in seven chance of getting the Vein Opening Pill?"
"One in six. One of your brothers is already gravely ill with little time left. Next, it's up to you six brothers to show your skills and see who can secure the Vein Opening Pill."
"Do you know how the Immortal Sect will choose the inheritor of the Vein Opening Pill?"
"Knowing this much has already cost me half a lifetime of favors and over a decade of effort. As for further details, I don't know."
Xiaosuo then looked into Old Huang's eyes and asked:"If I don't get the Vein Opening Pill, there's a high chance that the brother who does will kill me. Currently, I have no information, and the surviving brothers are all experts in intrigue, having emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. My chances of winning are undoubtedly the lowest among the six. Isn't this venture too difficult?"
Old Huang didn't answer Xiaosuo, he just turned his back and looked at the sky, saying:
"Your analysis is spot on, indeed. Young master, will you take this gamble?"
Old Huang laid out all the information he had.
In Xiaosuo's eyes, everyone still alive in the Zhu Clan Courtyard was a blood-stained, bone-crunching demon.
Xiaosuo was Old Huang's only hope for revenge for his entire family.
If successful, Xiaosuo would become the Zhu Clan's King of Hell, and Old Huang would naturally become the executioner by his side, sending these demons through the eighteen layers of hell before reincarnation.
If they failed, Xiaosuo would die, and Old Huang would have no reason to live.
In Xiaosuo's view, Old Huang had survived alone until now, waiting for this day to turn the tables.
If the last glimmer of hope was extinguished, he should join his family in the afterlife.
But.
This life-and-death gamble had appeared suddenly, something Xiaosuo had never considered encountering.
He had always envisioned a steady climb to the pinnacle of life.
Minimizing risk and maximizing gain.
So, he didn't know what choice to make.
"How long do I have to consider?"
"You have no time to consider. Zhu Fulu died the day before yesterday, and I only got the news today. It takes half a day to reach the Zhu Clan in Mountain Chicken County. The Vein Opening Pill will be delivered to the Zhu Clan on the day of Zhu Fulu's funeral, which is tomorrow."
"So, if we set off now, even without any hindrance, we'll only just make it to the Zhu Clan by the night before the funeral."
"Exactly. And there may be more Zhu Clan bloodlines like you, hiding their identities to stay alive. To avoid complications and reduce competitors for the Vein Opening Pill, his wives and concubines will likely choose to hold the funeral at dawn."
"So soon?"
"Possibly even sooner."
Major life opportunities, chances to defy fate, are always rare and hard to come by.
Once encountered, they often require you to stake everything you have for a sliver of hope.
People like to call those who win big heroes, and those who lose wastrels.
In fact, before the outcome is revealed, both big heroes and wastrels are just gamblers with red eyes at the table.
Now, the chance to sit at the table was right in front of him.
This opportunity was squeezed out from a pile of corpses.
The lives of countless women and children had exchanged for his chance to sit at the table.
If all of Zhu Fulu's thousands of descendants were alive, Xiaosuo would never consider joining this chaotic battle.
The opportunity had come.
There were only five people at the table, fewer than the number of people at the poker table when he went to Las Vegas.
Although his capital was small and his opponents were stronger.
But he also knew this was probably his only chance to knock on the door of the Immortal Sect.
Before this, he had imagined the opportunity would come from meeting the girl who shot him in the knee.
She casually gave him five Spirit Stones, indicating her extraordinary status.
But two and a half years had passed, Aunt Yang's meat chickens had been sold batch after batch, and he had sold pot after pot of braised chicken feet, yet the girl hadn't come looking for him.
After all, there was a difference between immortals and mortals. She had already compensated him, so how could she come looking for him again?
There was no other way.
Either give up the path of cultivation and live another life in the mortal world.
Or go to the Zhu Clan, win and leave a name in the Immortal Sect, lose and report to the underworld.
But the odds of winning were too low.
Xiaosuo estimated it was less than ten percent.
If not for the five Spirit Stones he had, the odds of winning would be close to zero.
But when he looked back, his shop had already been demolished.
Years of hard work had been lost in an instant.
He couldn't stay in Yellow Dog County anymore and would return to a life without a fixed abode.
What else did he have to lose?
Now, it might be the most suitable time for him to sit at the life-and-death gambling table.
Heaven had invisibly pushed him.
In that case, he would gamble.
Gamble for a path to the heavens.
At this point, Xiaosuo's eyes no longer wavered with hesitation.
"Shop Assistant, prepare a horse carriage!"
The three of them planned to quietly leave Yellow Dog County by carriage.
But all the carriages in the county had been rented out.
According to the Shop Assistant's inquiries, they were likely all headed to Mountain Chicken County for Xiaosuo's father's funeral.
The bad news was there were no horses, but the good news was Aunt Yang's family was willing to lend them a mill donkey.
However, a donkey couldn't pull a carriage.
So the three of them had to sit on a wooden cart, pulled by a donkey, and set off for Mountain Chicken County.
Unexpectedly, the donkey ran incredibly fast.
Its four hooves moved so quickly they almost left afterimages.
Xiaosuo and the others were both happy and uncomfortable.
Happy because they should make it to Zhu Fulu's funeral.
Uncomfortable because the road was too bumpy, and they were sitting on a rapidly moving cart, bouncing up and down like food in a wok being tossed.
Before long, the three of them were dizzy and nauseous.
Old Huang was the first to give in, quickly calling for a stop and getting off to vomit.
Seeing the donkey cart had stopped, Xiaosuo and the Shop Assistant decided to make good use of the time and also leaned against a tree to vomit.
"Boss, is this donkey running or flying? It's too fierce, we've overtaken several carriages on the road."
"Young master, if we keep traveling like this, I think we'll end up having a joint funeral with your father."
"That's quite possible, ugh... Old Huang, how much longer?"
"Five hours. The donkey runs for three hours, we vomit for two, and we'll be there."
"Five more hours... ugh."
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind the trees: "You don't need to rush anymore. I can give you a quick end."
Hearing this, the three immediately became alert.
They saw shadows emerging from behind the trees, over twenty people in total.
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Leading them was a burly man less than five feet tall.
"Young master of the Zhu Clan, prepare to die! Brothers, attack!"
Hearing this, Old Huang and the Shop Assistant were shocked.
Especially Old Huang, who didn't believe Xiaosuo's identity had been discovered.
Xiaosuo was also surprised, but he had anticipated that the journey wouldn't be smooth, so he was somewhat prepared.
Seeing a group of burly men with blades about to surround them, Xiaosuo quickly stopped them.
"Wait!"
Xiaosuo looked down at the burly leader and asked: "Hold on, Zhu Clan? Which Zhu Clan? My surname is Xiao, I'm just a seller of braised chicken feet."
The short burly man gave a wicked smile: "You can fool others, but not me, Zhu Sangao. I've been to your braised chicken feet shop, you're no ordinary merchant!"
Xiaosuo frowned in confusion. Could it be that his research on spiritual energy had been discovered?
"What makes you say that?"
Zhu Sangao was confident.
"Your braised chicken feet are better than any in Mountain Chicken County. They're so good, yet you haven't opened a branch, there must be something fishy. This means you're confident you can get more treasures, so you don't care about opening branches. Plus, you're rushing to Mountain Chicken County for the Zhu Clan head's funeral, you must be one of the Zhu Clan's young masters!"
Listening to Zhu Sangao's series of assumptions, it was quite the leap in logic.
"That's it?"
"Isn't that strange enough? Why not make more money if you can?"
Xiaosuo never thought he'd be troubled for not expanding quickly, so he could only hold his forehead and say: "Is it possible that opening a branch requires money, and I haven't saved enough?"
Zhu Sangao hesitated after hearing this.
Xiaosuo continued to explain:"If I had money, I should at least rent a carriage for the journey, why suffer with a donkey cart? Ugh..."
Zhu Sangao thought for a moment and felt Xiaosuo made sense.
At this point, a skinny old man stepped out from the group of burly men.
"Zhu Sangao, you should speak less. There's no doubt, I said this chicken feet shop owner must be from the Zhu Clan. The reason... hehe, long time no see, Old Huang!"
Old Huang didn't recognize the skinny old man at first.
After a closer look, he was suddenly shocked.
"You... you are... ugh..."
Zhu Sangao glanced disdainfully at Old Huang, not knowing if he was carsick or disgusted by the skinny old man on their side.
Old Huang wiped his mouth and said word by word:
"It's you, Zhu Wuhua!"
"Hehe, recognized me? Zhu Sangao, this Old Huang is the clan head's father-in-law, you understand what I mean?"
"Got it, avenging father-in-laws aren't rare. A father-in-law going to see his son-in-law's funeral has no good intentions! Going to Mountain Chicken County at this time, he must be after the Vein Opening Pill. Fifth Master, why didn't you tell me earlier this old man was the clan head's father-in-law, made me guess blindly."
"Knowing less is good for you. Forgot how you offended the second wife?"
Listening to Zhu Wuhua's blunt reprimand, Zhu Sangao pouted and didn't respond.
"Enough talk, let's do it, clean it up!"
"Brothers, attack!"
Xiaosuo panicked.
Why weren't the villains following the script? Weren't they supposed to talk a lot before making a move?
Killing so decisively, how could he have time to think of a way out?
Just then, they suddenly heard a loud laugh: "Zhu Sangao, your nonsense almost made me miss the young master, what a ridiculous deduction! Luckily, I stayed to watch the show. Since he's from the Zhu Clan, I'll protect him!"
They saw another group of a dozen burly men emerging from the other side of the woods, led by a man in his forties with a broad back-cleaving blade.
Zhu Wuhua's face instantly turned grim upon seeing him.
"Zhu Wude, what are you doing here?"
"Zhu Wuhua, don't expect to use my slave name to claim kinship. I'm no longer a Zhu Clan servant, I've returned to my roots, and my name is Wang Zhengwu!"
Seeing Wang Zhengwu's defiant demeanor, seemingly at odds with Zhu Wuhua and Zhu Sangao's group, Xiaosuo suddenly felt a glimmer of hope for survival.
Was the protagonist's aura kicking in?
Zhu Wuhua was furious, his eyebrows twitching: "Fine, Wang Zhengwu it is. You should know, I'm working for the third wife. If you insist on interfering, the third wife will make you regret it!"
Wang Zhengwu planted his broad blade into the ground and sneered: "The third wife? I remember the third wife, Gu, died of illness last year. Who are you talking about? Oh, I remember, you must mean Liu. It's hilarious, a mere concubine daring to call herself a wife. Liu really doesn't know her place."
Zhu Wuhua had lived in the Zhu Clan for over forty years and wasn't inexperienced.
Wang Zhengwu was the Zhu Clan's weapons instructor, skilled in martial arts. When he left the Zhu Clan, he took a group of disciples with him, all trained fighters.
If it came to a real fight, the tallest Zhu Sangao, barely over four feet, would likely be cut down by Wang Zhengwu in a few strikes.
The other lackeys under Zhu Sangao naturally weren't a match for Wang Zhengwu's disciples.
Unable to win, he could only try to persuade.
Knowing his master's name couldn't intimidate Wang Zhengwu, he immediately thought of other ways to prevent him from interfering.
Xiaosuo was a Zhu Clan member, and Zhu Wuhua had to kill him, or the third wife wouldn't spare him.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan