Page 58

Page 58

Zhao Xihai thought, damn, do you think I'm a three-year-old kid? I tell you whatever I think, you really take me for a fool. Zhao Xihai said in a relaxed tone, Secretary Zhang, I have always been public-spirited. When I first came to Pushui, I heard from people below that Feng Xiangyang had many problems. The former Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Wang Yaozhong, may have been concerned about some people at the time, so he didn't investigate. And the ordinary people in the county committee were given important positions for many reasons. I'm wondering now?

Zhang Fugui said that this person has many faults, but..., the county committee reused him after the Standing Committee meeting discussed it, it was not the idea of ​​one person.

Zhang Fugui actually wanted to say something, but Feng Xiangyang's background was rather special, as he had a brother-in-law who was the deputy mayor. But before Zhang Fugui could finish his words, he was interrupted by Zhao Xihai.

Zhao Xihai said, Secretary Zhang, you are the top leader of the county. If you know that this cadre has many problems but still recommend him, then it is your fault. Such an approach may have a bad impact on the entire social atmosphere of Pushui, including the work style of government agencies. Since I am the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, it is my duty to strictly control this aspect.

Zhang Fugui thought, you speak in official language, you really think you are an important person. Last time, in order to investigate Zhao Chenyang's matter, no matter how I discussed it with you, you refused to let go. I tried every possible way to catch you, and now you act like a big shot in front of me. I thought that after your son arrived in Pushui, it would be more convenient for me to do things, but I didn't expect that you would make things difficult for me everywhere and don't take my words seriously at all.

Zhang Fugui was so angry with Zhao Xihai that his teeth itched. He really had no choice but to say, "Secretary Zhao, you are doing the right thing. I just want to have a casual chat with you. This county-level agency is different from when you were in the city. Secretary Zhao, you have to be more careful. I am worried that you will...

I fell into someone's trap and was used as a gun, but I didn't even know anything.

After hearing this, Zhao Xihai laughed and said, "Secretary Zhang, you are worrying too much. Although I, Zhao Xihai, am not very smart, I can still distinguish good from bad in many things. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and time reveals a person's true character. I know how to do things in moderation. Thank you for your concern, brother."

Zhao Xihai smiled on his face but cursed in his heart, "How dare you say that you are worried that I will be used as a gun by others? If you hadn't instigated me to deal with Qin Shukai, how could I have ended up like this? From now on, as long as Qin Shukai tells me to do something, I will definitely obey him. In this way, I will lose so many opportunities to gain benefits."

Zhang Fugui said, "I feel relieved that my brother can do this. People in the officialdom are treacherous, so you have to be careful."

Zhao Xihai said, yes, thank you Secretary Zhang for the reminder.

Zhang Fugui could tell that Zhao Xihai was very disgusted with him, so after hanging up the phone, he thought to himself, since Zhao Xihai was asking for trouble, and he said there was nothing he could do about it, he should have known that Feng Xiangyang was Ma Chenglong's brother-in-law. Since he dared to make it clear at the Standing Committee meeting that he was picking on Feng Xiangyang, maybe he really had evidence that was unfavorable to Feng Xiangyang in his hands. Anyway, Feng Xiangyang was not a good guy, and he could easily find a lot of evidence to use against him.

However, Zhang Fugui also knew that if Feng Xiangyang's recommendation failed, Ma Chenglong would know about it soon. Zhao Zhengyang was not a fool and knew how to transfer the conflict to outsiders. As the top leader, he was the best target. Therefore, this time Feng Xiangyang's recommendation failed, and Zhao Zhengyang suffered the biggest loss on the surface, but in fact, Zhang Fugui was also responsible.

Zhang Fugui had no idea that there was another reason why Zhao Xihai was against Feng Xiangyang. As the director of the county government office, Feng Xiangyang was exposed to many core things, so he became the object of flattery for many cadres, at least to avoid offending them.

Once, Feng Xiangyang accepted the invitation of Guan Guojiang, the head of Hexia Township, to conduct an inspection in Hexia Township. This inspection by leading cadres at the grassroots level was originally a means for grassroots leaders to curry favor with their superiors. The reason why Guan Guojiang invited Feng Xiangyang to come down was mainly because of Ma Chenglong behind Feng Xiangyang.

After all, people always want to move up, and if Feng Xiangyang wants to curry favor with Ma Jackie Chan, this is indeed a good way.

Feng Xiangyang's personality was well known to everyone. He indulged in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling on weekdays. In the past few years since he entered the officialdom, although his status had changed from a street vendor to a legal state cadre, the filth in his bones was innate. Since someone invited him to the grassroots for inspection, for him, it was just eating, drinking and having fun. There was no talk of inspecting the work or anything like that.

Fortunately, General Guan Guojiang had no intention of inviting him to come and guide any work. After a simple report in the conference room, General Guan Guojiang arranged for someone to accompany Feng Xiangyang to play cards in a private room of the hotel. After all, it was still early for dinner, and he couldn't just sit in the room like this.

In recent years, the game of throwing eggs has become popular in Pushui County. "Lan Dan" is a poker game widely spread in northern Jiangsu.

It evolved from the local poker games of "Run De Kuai" and "80 Points". The game is played by four people in pairs, and the winning and losing are upgraded. This makes the game more entertaining and exciting. It is popular in Huai'an Guandan, Suqian Guandan, Lianyungang Guandan, Yangzhou Guandan, Super Guandan, New Guandan, and Shuyang Guandan. There is even a saying that if you don't play Guandan before a meal, it's like you haven't eaten.

Since the game of throwing eggs is ranked in such an important position, it is natural to highlight it. When General Guan Guo arranged for someone to accompany Feng Xiangyang to play cards, he also arranged for the young and beautiful Wu Yidan to play. Recently, Wu Yidan has been very important to Yao Xiaoxia. It seems that no matter what kind of reception she attends, Yao Xiaoxia likes to bring Wu Yidan with her. General Guan Guo saw that Wu Yidan had been trained and was sensible, so he arranged for her to come and accompany Feng Xiangyang to play throwing eggs.

Unexpectedly, this arrangement caused trouble. Who is Feng Xiangyang? If there is an election for the most handsome man in Pushui County, he will definitely be on the list. How could he not be tempted when such a beautiful woman like Wu Yidan stands in front of him?

When playing cards, Feng Xiangyang kept saying some flirtatious words to Wu Yidan in front of everyone, which made Wu Yidan blush. For example, if Wu Yidan won, Feng Xiangyang would shamelessly say that Wu had good luck today, and it seemed that in addition to good luck in playing cards, he might also have good luck in love.

Wu Yidan remained silent, and the other two partners didn't say much either.

If Wu Yidan lost, Feng Xiangyang would say that Wu lost the cards but not the person. Even if she lost the cards, her smile was still attractive. Fortunately, Wu Yidan often participated in such occasions, so she didn't take Feng Xiangyang's double entendres to heart.

Unexpectedly, Feng Xiangyang saw that Wu Yidan kept smiling no matter what he said. He thought that Wu Yidan was interested in him, so he became bolder. He put one foot under the card table and kept touching Wu Yidan's naked leg as if accidentally, trying to test Wu Yidan's reaction.

Wu Yidan blushed a little now. She tried her best to dodge Feng Xiangyang's leg that kept attacking her. On the surface, she was still calm and played cards. Feng Xiangyang saw that Wu Yidan did not show any displeasure on her face during his attack. He thought to himself that Wu Yidan was in tune with him and he was very happy.

After the banquet, he pretended to be drunk and asked Wu Yidan to take him to his room to rest for a while. Everyone present saw Feng Xiangyang's crude intention, and Wu Yidan naturally saw it as well. However, Guan Guojiang was concerned about Feng Xiangyang's face and did not stop him. Seeing that Wu Yidan was a little unhappy, he advised her that it would be enough to just take her to the door of the upstairs room, and she should not go into the room, as he might eat her in broad daylight.

Wu Yidan thought about it and it made sense. It was noon now and there were waiters on duty on every floor. She only had to send the guests to the room door and then return them. Feng Xiangyang would not dare to do anything to her.

Wu Yidan bravely supported Feng Xiangyang all the way up the stairs. Feng Xiangyang was pretending to be drunk at first, but now that he saw the beauty so close to him, he could no longer hold back. While going up the stairs with one hand, he began to deliberately rub against Wu Yidan's private parts.

Wu Yidan tried to keep a distance from him with some disgust, but he kept sticking to her like a fly.

Wu Yidan finally sent Feng Xiangyang to the door of the room, but Feng Xiangyang, who was drunk, dragged Wu Yidan into the room. This really scared Wu Yidan. She never dreamed that Feng Xiangyang would dare to attack her in broad daylight.

Chapter 70: Field Expansion

The Lingxiao Palace market was as busy as usual, and the several restaurants were full of drinkers who came to enjoy themselves.

"Have you heard? A miraculous event that has not been seen in a thousand years has happened in our Lingxiao Palace." In a restaurant with quite good business, at a table near the window, a young man dressed in luxurious clothes deliberately showed off his authenticity.

"What's so strange?" several drinkers at the table asked.

"It's the guy named Lu Xiaotian who got the most foundation-building pills last time he entered the Blood Forbidden Land. He hasn't succeeded in building his foundation yet." The elegant young man laughed happily. "Do you know Lu Xiaotian? He was originally a casual cultivator from Wangyue City and entered Lingxiao Palace with me. His aptitude is really poor. I offended him at the beginning. When I heard the news that he came out of the Blood Forbidden Land, I was shocked. I didn't expect him to be so unlucky. He failed after taking dozens of foundation-building pills. It's really a waste of those pills. If it were me, I would have succeeded several times long ago."

The young man in Chinese clothes said this with both relief and regret.

"You? You are only at the eleventh level of Qi Refining now. If you want to build a foundation, you may have to wait for a few years, and you need a foundation-building pill." A young drinker next to him knew the young man in fancy clothes, but the relationship was obviously not very reliable. He questioned, "But even if you reach the thirteenth level, I'm afraid you may not be able to get the foundation-building pill by then. Besides, Lu Xiaotian hasn't shown up yet, and his retreat may not be over yet."

"With half a year, he would have completed the foundation building process even if he was slow. Why wait until now? If he succeeded, he would have come out to show off. He would have kept silent only if he failed. Maybe this kid has failed in the foundation building process and is too ashamed to face people, so he may have left Lingxiao Palace with his tail between his legs."

The young man in fancy clothes said with disdain that if he succeeded, he would have held a banquet to entertain all his relatives and friends, and spread the news. Other new foundation-building cultivators in Lingxiao Palace, big and small, would have celebrated. He had been in Lingxiao Palace for more than eight years and had many friends. He knew all the cultivators who had built their foundations in the nearby peaks, not to mention Lu Xiaotian who was also from Qinglian Peak.

"It seems that I will disappoint you. I don't have to leave Lingxiao Palace with my tail between my legs." A faint voice sounded from the staircase.

The young men in fancy clothes looked over and saw a young man in green clothes with a slightly handsome appearance emerging from the stairs. The strong spiritual pressure coming from him clearly showed that he was a foundation-building cultivator, and judging from his tone, he seemed to have bad intentions.

"Senior, I am an ignorant and offensive person. Please forgive me." The young man in fancy clothes turned pale and knelt on the ground begging for Lu Xiaotian's forgiveness. Although they haven't seen each other for eight years, he can still tell from the ordinary-dressed young man's eyebrows that this person is Lu Xiaotian whom he just made fun of. Thinking of the verbal offense just now, the young man in fancy clothes broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead. He was so regretful that he didn't care about the embarrassment and slapped himself in the face. "Senior! I have been criticizing you behind your back without reason. Please punish me."

The other few people also looked anxious and uneasy, and they all apologized to Lu Xiaotian. Although the foundation-building cultivators could not punish them without reason in the market,

The point is that they have to be in the right. Now they are not only criticizing others behind their backs, but also being caught. They will suffer losses wherever the lawsuit goes. Besides, the backers behind them are far inferior to those of a foundation-building cultivator. Even if Lu Xiaotian does not do it himself, there will be many people willing to help.

Lu Xiaotian had never expected to run into Guo Yun, the son of an aristocratic family who had joined Lingxiao Palace together. Although he did not have a favorable impression of Guo Yun, he did not have so much time to waste on such a boring person. He had important matters to attend to, so he waved his hand impatiently and said, "Okay, get out."

Guo Yun looked up, his face full of disbelief, he didn't expect Lu Xiaotian to let him go so easily. Others were also somewhat surprised.

"Do you need me to say it again?" Seeing that several people were still stunned, Lu Xiaotian's face turned cold.

"Yes, yes, I'll get out of here right away." Guo Yun and his companions escaped from the restaurant thankfully, as if they had been pardoned.

"These guys are so lucky to have met such a good-tempered Foundation Establishment senior." Other Qi Refining cultivators discussed privately.

Lu Xiaotian glanced around the restaurant and his eyes fell on a drunk with a scruffy beard and a strong smell of alcohol occupying a table in the corner. He walked over and sat down, saying, "This must be Alchemist Zhang Yang, right?"

Lu Xiaotian didn't know anyone, so he wouldn't come to this restaurant for no reason. After he went around the Lingxiao Palace market, he didn't find a suitable alchemy furnace. Alchemy furnaces are not mass-produced like weapons. Every cultivator needs weapons, but not every cultivator needs an alchemy furnace.

He looked down upon the alchemists' use, and as for the alchemists. It was said that there was only one senior alchemist in the entire Lingxiao Palace, and only a dozen intermediate alchemists. There were only dozens of primary alchemists. With so few alchemists, the alchemy furnace was naturally not in great demand like spiritual tools and magic tools. Therefore, it was actually much more difficult to obtain a suitable alchemy furnace than to obtain a suitable weapon.

He asked around and heard that there was a junior alchemist named Zhang Yang who seemed to have a problem recently. His success rate was too low and he had wasted more than a dozen furnaces of pills. No one asked him to make pills anymore. Zhang Yang was getting drunk in the market all day. So he came to him with the attitude of giving it a try.

"You want me to make pills? You've got the wrong person. No one will believe me anymore, and I can't make pills anymore. Oh, you're a foundation-building master. Excuse me." After a long while, Zhang Yang opened his drunken eyes, smiled dazedly, and said so, but he didn't show much respect for Lu Xiaotian.

Lu Xiaotian didn't care. Alchemists never judge their status by their cultivation. The other party used to be a junior alchemist, and this status was much more popular in Lingxiao Palace than him, a foundation-building cultivator. "Of course, I'm not here to make pills for you. Although I don't know what happened to you, I don't care to ask. But if I may be presumptuous, since you can no longer make pills, do you want to sell the alchemy furnace?"

"You want my alchemy furnace? Dream on!" Hearing Lu Xiaotian's words, Zhang Yang stood up and shouted loudly, then poured the wine jug into his mouth, but failed to pour out a single drop of wine. Zhang Yang held the wine in his hand.

He shook the pot a few times, but it was empty, so there was no sound. So he shouted, "Hurry up, man, give me some wine."

A middle-aged man dressed as a shopkeeper, in the middle stage of Qi Refining, walked up to the restaurant and saluted Lu Xiaotian first, then looked at Zhang Yang with a bad face and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, you owe me thirty-seven low-grade spirit stones on credit. This is a small shop, so why don't you settle the bill first?"

"Are you afraid that I can't pay you back for your drinks?" Zhang Yang got furious when he heard that.

"I don't dare to question Fellow Daoist Zhang like this, but our small shop really can't afford to sell on credit. Since Fellow Daoist Zhang can afford it, please settle the previous bill first." The middle-aged shopkeeper said in a flat tone.

Zhang Yang reached into his storage bag and found it was empty. Even some of the alchemy materials had been sold out. He could not help but sit back dejectedly.

"Here are forty spirit stones. Use the extra ones to pay for his bar." Lu Xiaotian placed forty lower-grade spirit stones on the table.

"Yes, I will follow your instructions." The middle-aged shopkeeper said humbly, wondering what the relationship was between this senior who was in the building stage and Zhang Yang. Fortunately, he was polite to Zhang Yang before, otherwise he would not be able to bear the blame if he was blamed by this senior who was in the building stage.

Lu Xiaotian nodded, stood up and walked downstairs.

"Fellow Taoist, wait!"

"Have you figured it out?" Lu Xiaotian stopped. He had put down dozens of spirit stones to impress Zhang Yang, but he didn't hold out much hope. Seeing that Zhang Yang's attitude had softened, he was naturally a little happy.

"This is not the place to talk. Fellow Daoist, please follow me." Zhang Yang sighed and led Lu Xiaotian out of the restaurant. After turning a few corners, they came to a dilapidated courtyard.

There was still some smell of waste elixirs in the courtyard, including Peiyuan Pills and Yuanqi Pills.

"How about your opinion of my alchemy furnace?" Zhang Yang took out an alchemy furnace from his storage bag. It was black and crystal clear, like black jade.

"A furnace made of Haolong stone? With your level as a junior alchemist, there is no reason why you can't make elixirs with such a good furnace." A hint of surprise flashed across Lu Xiaotian's face. This kind of furnace is extremely rare and is the best among all alchemy furnaces.

"With my normal alchemy level, refining pills will naturally have no problem. But in order to obtain this alchemy furnace, I spent nearly five years. After finally getting it, I was ambushed by someone and was hunted down. I fled into a thousand-year-old ice cave and my lung veins were frozen. Now my sensitivity to fire has become extremely low. After a while, I may completely lose my sensitivity." There was a trace of hatred and pain on Zhang Yang's face.

Lu Xiaotian was speechless. As an alchemist, if he lost the ability to sense fire, he would be worse than an alchemist.

Zhang Yang said in hatred, "If you can swear a poisonous oath and kill that man's entire family for me, I will give you this alchemy furnace for free. I won't take a penny. And I will give it to you right now."

"I can't agree to your request. Actually, I don't really need your alchemy furnace. With some time, I can find some alchemy materials and have someone build one for me." Lu Xiaotian shrugged.

Although he encountered misfortune, he was not the kind of person who meddles in other people's affairs. He was ruthless to his enemies, but he would not easily kill an entire family for an alchemy furnace.

"Don't you want to know who your opponent is? The opponent is just a family of immortal cultivators in the Qi Refining stage in a secular country. With your strength, you can destroy them with a wave of your hand." Zhang Yang said hurriedly.

"I am not a person with an excessive sense of justice, and I don't want to get involved in grudges that have nothing to do with me. I can't help you with your request." Lu Xiaotian shook his head and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute." Zhang Yang shouted from behind.

"Is there anything else?" Lu Xiaotian said with a frown.

"Then let's make a deal. I'm originally from Yue State. After I embarked on the path of cultivating immortals, I left my homeland. It's been more than 40 years ago. I originally had a son. If you can go to Yue State, see if there is a child with spiritual roots in my family. If so, bring him back to Lingxiao Palace, accept him as a disciple, and take good care of him. I can also give you this alchemy furnace of mine." Zhang Yang said, his momentum suddenly deflated.

"What if your family doesn't agree? You have experienced it yourself, the path of cultivating immortals is not easy." Lu Xiaotian said. He was not willing to force others to do anything.

"Let it be. If they don't want to, then so be it." Zhang Yang sighed.

"Why don't you do this yourself?"

"The cold has penetrated into my internal organs. There is no cure. Even if there is, I don't have the ability to do so now." Zhang Yang smiled bitterly.

"If they have spiritual roots, I can take them to Lingxiao Palace, or let them practice on the mountain where I am, but I don't plan to accept disciples yet, so you should consider it." Lu Xiaotian pondered for a while. The mission of this training trip has been chosen by the monks in front of him. The remaining remote places, the Yue Kingdom mentioned by Zhang Yang, are close to the Beiliang Kingdom. It is not too much trouble to go there.

"Well, that's fine. It's my good fortune to get Gu Fu, a foundation-building cultivator." Zhang Yang thought for a moment, then he stretched out his hand and the black alchemy furnace floated in front of Lu Xiaotian. "If you agree to it right away, I'll have some doubts. At least you seem to be a man of your word. I'll leave my affairs to you."

It turned out that the previous one was just a test. Lu Xiaotian smiled when he heard it. Of course, if he agreed directly, this test might not be a test. For this person, he wanted to take revenge the most, or entrust his funeral affairs. It was none of his business. Lu Xiaotian took the alchemy furnace and left directly.

Qingyue Peak, located in the northeast corner of Qinglian Peak, is relatively remote and has a moderate distribution of spiritual energy. In fact, Lu Xiaotian does not have too many requirements for the richness of spiritual energy. The spiritual energy he needs for cultivation is basically obtained directly from absorbing pills. After all, with his qualifications, absorbing spiritual energy directly from the air is too slow. At this speed, it will take him a long time to improve his cultivation level.

However, at the foot of Qingyue Peak, there was a young disciple standing there respectfully. Lu Xiaotian, who was flying in the air with his sword, looked familiar, so he landed. He saw that it was Luo Kang, who had taken good care of him when he was in charge of chores. Next to Luo Kang, there was a young girl who was about fifteen or sixteen years old. Although her appearance was not stunning, she was also a beautiful girl from a small family.

"Lu, Uncle Lu!" Luo Kang saw the joy on Lu Xiaotian's face at first, and then he quickly saluted.

"Why are you here? Who is this?" Lu Xiaotian asked.

"This is my cousin, He Liping. Yes, I want to send her here to take care of Uncle Lu's food and daily life. She can do some chores." Luo Kang looked at Lu Xiaotian flatteringly. (To be continued.

Chapter 71 Victory

'Don't breathe!'

'Don't breathe!'

Tang Hong, who had just finished two servings of extraordinary food, didn't quite understand.