My family tree hollow connects to the modern era : Chapter 14

The Fulu House boss caught Xian Yu in the Luoxia Stream of Luoxia Village. Luoxia Village was located at the border between the capital city and Lincheng, and areas beyond the seventh ring road were practically outside the city limits. Jiang Lin rushing over from the Management Bureau was far slower than Xiao Yu coming from the Lincheng branch.

The Lincheng branch office was already located in a somewhat suburban area, far from their main city district, but much closer to Luoxia Village which sat near the national highway.

Having received Jiang Lin’s call, Xiao Yu almost immediately gathered his team members and rushed toward Luoxia Village. If spiritual items were snatched away by foreign ability users on their own turf, he would be so angry he could not eat for three days.

Whether or not there was a spiritual item was another matter, but if there happened to be one, and they missed the chance to get there in time so that foreign cultivators seized it first, there would definitely be a round of criticism from top to bottom.

Xiao Yu was the captain of the Lincheng team under the Lincheng branch. All cultivators in this area were managed by the branch. He had far more people under him than Jiang Lin did. With one casual call, he mobilized three cars full of people.

Xu Mo, who usually followed beside him, got directly behind the wheel. Xiao Yu sat in the passenger seat, opening his computer to review relevant materials.

They had seen yesterday’s trending topics and the lively chatter in today’s Management Bureau internal group chat. But the strange fish was discovered in the capital city, and the main bureau of the Management Bureau was in the capital. It was also discovered by the East City team. They had originally thought this matter would never fall to their Lincheng branch, but they never expected the opportunity to land in their lap so quickly.

Xu Mo saw Xiao Yu looking like he already had victory in the bag, and could not help but remind him, “Although we suspect there might be a spiritual item, it might not actually exist. Why do you look like the spiritual item is already in your pocket?”

Xiao Yu said, “If there is not one, we lose nothing. If there is one, it will definitely belong to our Lincheng branch. By the time Jiang Lin gets there, the whole show will already be over.”

Although they united against external enemies, once the external threat was dealt with, internal resource competition existed. If a spiritual item was found by them, it would belong to their Lincheng branch. Even if they could not use it, they could exchange it for points to get other useful supplies.

There were only so many things with spiritual energy. Competition among cultivators had never been small.

Xu Mo said, “Do not forget that Ren Dao’an and Yue Yanting are already there.”

Ren Dao’an was at the eighth level of Qi Refinement, one of the few cultivators with relatively high cultivation. If he really fought with ability users, even He’er would not be his match. Although Yue Yanting’s cultivation was not as high as Ren Dao’an’s, he had also reached the fifth level of Qi Refinement. With the two of them, blocking those ability users was completely sufficient.

The reason Jiang Lin had them rush over was merely hoping to suppress the situation with numbers and avoid both sides fighting. After all, He’er and his people were here to distribute spirit soil. Making things too ugly would not be good for either side.

Xiao Yu said, “If they find the spiritual item before we arrive, it is their luck. If they do not find it, then it is our luck.”

After notifying Xiao Yu to rush over, Jiang Lin did not delay either. Taking Bai Zhizhi with him, he hurried toward Luoxia Village as well.

Bai Zhizhi was now quite skilled at riding in cars. Following Jiang Lin into the car, he learned from Lin Xiaoyang and pulled out the seat belt from the side to buckle it.

Jiang Lin looked at him and smiled. “You learn fast. You have already learned to buckle your seat belt when getting in the car.”

Bai Zhizhi lifted his chin slightly. “This is not hard. But what is the use of this thing? Why do you have to tie yourself down when riding in this car?”

Jiang Lin adjusted his seat belt for him. “It mainly serves a safety protection function. In case of a car accident, this seat belt can cushion the impact and protect people from being thrown out of the vehicle. So you must buckle your seat belt when riding in a car.”

Bai Zhizhi pinched the strap with two fingers and pulled. Then with a snap, the seat belt which was supposedly able to provide protection in a car accident broke directly into two pieces in his hands.

Bai Zhizhi held one end of the broken seat belt and looked at Jiang Lin, his eyes full of innocence. “It is so fragile. It seems like it cannot protect me.”

Jiang Lin fell silent.

Jiang Lin rescued the broken seat belt from his hand with some helplessness. “Its function is to protect ordinary humans. We are currently using ordinary people’s transportation, so we must follow their traffic rules. So do not pull on this next time.”

Bai Zhizhi made an oh sound, responding quite obediently, but he only behaved for three seconds before saying again, “If we really crash, this extra rope is quite in the way. It affects me flying out directly. Your car is also quite slow, and with more cars it gets jammed. Why not fly over instead?”

Jiang Lin said with good temper, “Because I still cannot fly.”

They were cultivators indeed, but their heritage was incomplete. These cultivators of theirs merely had some different powers compared to ordinary people. They still had no way to fly through the sky or burrow into the earth.

Bai Zhizhi said, “I can fly. If I fly away, would you be unable to catch me?”

Jiang Lin turned his head to look at him with a smile. “Would you run away?”

Bai Zhizhi smiled upon hearing this. “I will not run now. But if you bully me, I will definitely run.”

Watching him shake his head with a smug look, Jiang Lin also felt his heart soften slightly, and promised, “I will not bully you. I promise you.”

As long as you do not do evil or make enemies of humanity.

While Jiang Lin and Xiao Yu were rushing toward Luoxia Village from different directions, Ren Dao’an and Yue Yanting who were already in Luoxia Village had already confronted He’er and his group.

He’er knew Ren Dao’an. As cultivators who ranked among the names in China, they all knew something about one another. Ren Dao’an was an expert of China, but He’er was not afraid. This was an obscure little mountain village in China, not an officially marked territory they had drawn boundaries around. These people had no reason to drive them away.

Looking at the people blocking their path, He’er sneered carelessly. “This should not be your private territory, right? Everyone blocking our way, is that not a bit overbearing?”

Yue Yanting could not resist rolling his eyes. A group of overbearing ability users actually saying they were overbearing. This was the funniest joke he had heard this year.

Ren Dao’an had a steadier temperament and was not affected by his words. “According to the Management Bureau’s tests, the fish we discovered yesterday naturally carries neurotoxins. To avoid unknowing villagers and fishing enthusiasts accidentally catching it, this entire area has been taken over by the Management Bureau. Unrelated personnel please do not enter.”

He’er looked around left and right, his attitude still somewhat arrogant. “You say taken over and it is taken over. Where are the documents? Where are the people fencing the area? Where is your armed force for taking over? You open your mouths and say taken over, I do not believe it.”

After speaking, he even took a few steps forward with his people.

Yue Yanting raised his hand and shot a stream of spiritual energy at He’er’s feet. “Leave now and everyone will be fine. If you are asked to leave later, it will not look good.”

He’er brought five people, all ability users with decent skills. One of them, an earth type ability user, stomped his foot fiercely, and a wall of earth rose from the ground, sweeping toward the direction where Ren Dao’an and the other stood.

Yue Yanting struck the earth wall with one palm, instantly dispersing the opponent’s earth type power. Before the earth that had lost its condensed power could scatter down, Ren Dao’an immediately erected a barrier to protect himself and Yue Yanting, and also sent some scattered dirt back as a counterattack.

The earth type ability user was naturally sensitive to earth elements. Before the dirt could hit his own people, he blocked the dirt debris in midair with one thought. Then with a wave of his hand, he scattered the dirt that still carried the opponent’s spiritual energy onto the ground.

His own side’s attack was blocked, and He’er did not care much, merely smiling and praising, “We have not seen each other for some time. Fellow Daoist Ren’s cultivation has improved again. According to your Chinese way of speaking, this is how it should be said, right?”

Ren Dao’an was about to speak when the grass patch not far away swayed. It was an extremely subtle movement, but Ren Dao’an still noticed it. Without thinking, he struck a palm toward the source of the movement.

A squeaking sound rang out, and the grass patch swayed. It was obvious that something was scurrying inside.

Yue Yanting’s face immediately turned ugly. He remembered that He’er had a treasure hunting mouse. A mouse smaller than a palm was already hard to catch in such a mountain forest, and it was naturally drawn to things carrying spiritual energy. In some energy fields in the past, He’er had often relied on the treasure hunting mouse to search out and obtain more things one step ahead of them.

No wonder this group was dawdling here confronting them. It turned out they were stalling for time.

Their own treasure hunting mouse’s movement was discovered, but He’er was not worried, and even taunted them, “Spiritual items are born and raised by nature and earth. Before being discovered, anyone has a chance. If you say this is your Chinese territory, and every inch of soil and every tree belongs to you, we can leave immediately right now.”

The territory was naturally their country’s territory, but according to the cultivator convention, undiscovered spiritual items, no matter where they were, were obtained by the abilities of each country’s cultivators. If they dared to claim territory as ownership today, in the future when their cultivators discovered spiritual items in other countries, others could use this as an excuse to seize the items.

Seeing them not speaking, He’er laughed proudly twice. “If you do not want our people to find it first, you had better speed up.”

After speaking, he led the few people behind him toward the stream. According to the information received, the strange fish had previously grown in the stream ahead. If there was a spiritual item, there was a high probability it grew in the water.

Yue Yanting looked at Ren Dao’an. Ren Dao’an gave him a reassuring look. “Captain Xiao should be arriving soon. In terms of manpower, we will only have more than them. Do not worry. Carefully sense the spiritual energy fluctuations. As long as we find it one step ahead of them, they cannot snatch it away.”

Yue Yanting checked the time, only hoping that Captain Xiao’s people would arrive quickly.

Although He’er’s treasure hunting mouse was very small, its usefulness was not small. The hamster sized treasure hunting mouse had a black collar around its neck. He’er relied on this collar to control the treasure hunting mouse.

But things controlled by external force, how could they compare to true submission and spiritual connection? The treasure hunting mouse only knew its master wanted it to find things, to find good things. But it could not comprehend exactly what kind of good things. So it could only dig out whatever it felt would be good to eat.

It did not find a spiritual item, but instead found a wild ginseng plant. It looked like it had not been growing for very long, maybe only about ten years or so. Although it was wild, the ginseng body was dry, shriveled, and small, looking malnourished, just like weeds. He’er casually threw it away, and also flung the treasure hunting mouse out. “Go find something useful!”

Yue Yanting picked up the wild ginseng that He’er discarded. Although the wild ginseng was small, wild grown ones were also hard to come by, and their nutritional value was not low. Taking it back to stew a soup or brew a ginseng tea could also provide some nourishment.

He’er mocked upon seeing this. “You Chinese people just like picking up garbage.”

For something without spiritual energy, he would find it tiring even to bend his waist.

Yue Yanting gave him a sidelong glance. He had only eaten well for a few years and already stopped acting like a decent person. Those who waste treasures will sooner or later pay the price for their behavior.

“Whether we like picking up garbage or not is our business. It is still better than some people who do not understand the rules and trespass.”

Xiao Yu led his people directly to He’er, showing him an official document with a red letterhead. “The red fish discovered here carries neurotoxins. The entire mountain has now been taken over by the Management Bureau. Unrelated personnel please leave as soon as possible.”

Just as Xiao Yu finished speaking, the people He’er brought shouted, “Boss, we found something!”