Longevity: Starting From Getting Down The Mountain And Marrying A Wife

Zhong Yan left Feixian Pavilion and put Ruoyun behind him.

Using a communication token, he found Li Shangwen in West Street.

This kid was actually selling groceries at a stall!

On his handsome face, a few strands of messy hair hung down from his forehead, and there was a tired look between his eyebrows. The luxurious robe had turned into a coarse linen robe, completely different from his previous gentlemanly image.

On the torn cloth in front of him were three first-grade talismans, several bottles of elixirs, and various other miscellaneous items such as animal skins.

"Uncle!"

As soon as Li Shangwen saw Zhong Yan, he quickly stood up from his small stool, his face filled with excitement.

Zhong Yan glanced at the stall and said, "Let's go."

"Okay!"

Li Shangwen rolled up the torn cloth, tied it around his waist, and followed Zhong Yan eagerly, recounting his experiences over the past few days.

First, he wandered around the market for two days to gain some knowledge. He found that the market was very safe, so he sold the talismans given by Zhong Yan to a large store, leaving only one communication token.

Then he started dealing with various goods and set up his own stall. Although he didn't earn much, he added a few taels of silver to the original price. After repeating this process, he unexpectedly earned over a hundred taels.

Li Shangwen smiled and said, "I still have twelve spiritual stones, and the goods in my hands are worth about ten taels. The silver is pure profit! This is the first time I've earned money since I was young, and it feels indescribably wonderful!"

Zhong Yan glanced at him and asked, "Where do you sleep at night?"

Li Shangwen pointed behind him and said, "In that alley. I've seen many people sleeping against the wall at night. The cost of staying at an inn in this market is much higher than in Qingyang City, so I'm too lazy to go. Besides, nothing will happen."

Zhong Yan nodded and praised, "Not bad."

After passing through an empty alley, Li Shangwen approached Zhong Yan and whispered, "Uncle, I've been thinking about it these past few days, and I have a doubt in my heart. I don't know if I should mention it."

"Speak."

"You told Master Ma that the Lord's Mansion would help deal with the aftermath. Was that a lie? What leverage do you have to negotiate with Lord Qin and make him agree to help?"

"I have no leverage, and I won't seek his help."

"What?" Li Shangwen stopped in his tracks, stunned.

Zhong Yan stopped and created a soundproof barrier with a wave of his hand. He smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you, Uncle, that I also like to gamble? I'm betting on Qin Ben's willingness to help."

Li Shangwen pushed aside the hair on his forehead and scratched his face, worriedly saying, "This is too risky! Uncle, you have a family. By not considering the consequences and putting your hopes on someone else, without even saying hello, if he ignores you, won't you have no way out?"

"If you think about it, what leverage can Qin Ben have to help if I don't have enough leverage to negotiate? If you completely rely on others without enough leverage, others won't bother with you. So, I can't go to him. I have to do it myself first."

Li Shangwen blinked, uncertainly asking, "If you don't inform the Lord's Mansion and do everything on your own, he will think that you have many tricks up your sleeve and can solve it without his help. This way, you can infinitely magnify the leverage you have, right?"

Zhong Yan nodded with a smile, "You catch on quickly, but that's not entirely correct. The key point I've told you before is that Qin Ben is dissatisfied with Xue Shanhua's behavior. By eliminating Xue Shanhua and supporting another obedient collaborator, he can achieve what he has always wanted but never done."

Li Shangwen's eyes lit up and he clapped his hands, saying, "I understand, Uncle. What you need to do is give a push and let Qin Ben do what he wants to do!"

Zhong Yan nodded, "Of course, the premise is to understand the whole situation, whether it's the opponents, stakeholders, or unrelated people..."

Pausing for a moment, Zhong Yan smiled and asked, "Do you have intuition? When you gamble and guess the outcome of dice, do you often have a feeling that you're going to win?"

Li Shangwen was taken aback, "Yes, but every time it turns out to be wrong!"

Zhong Yan couldn't help but laugh, "So you're just blindly gambling and guessing!"

"Intuition may sound like something elusive, but it often has certain evidence and phenomena as a basis. It's just that many people don't know how to organize and classify various clues. For example, in the matter of you gambling on Qin Ben's involvement, I analyzed the situation in Qingyang, speculated on his psychology and temperament based on what Qin Ben has done, and so on. This gave me the intuition that 'Qin Ben will take action.'

And what I need to do is to make this intuition stronger, to increase the possibility of Qin Ben taking action.

So, although I haven't privately conspired or discussed with Qin Ben, it may seem like pure gambling, but I am quite confident."

Li Shangwen listened in a daze, scratching his head.

Zhong Yan looked at his face and continued to teach him carefully, "Let me give you a simple example. Do you know Xue Hongyi?"

"Yes, Xue Laohu's adopted son, at the Innate Fourth Stage of martial arts."

"What about Guo Qingxue?"

Li Shangwen silently repeated the name twice, "Guo Qinglin, the steward of the Xue family, should be related to him."

"She is Guo Qinglin's sister, also known as Xue Shanhu's wife."

"Oh, her!"

Zhong Yan nodded and asked with a smile, "Putting these names together, what do you think?"

"Stepmother and stepson, what's the problem?"

"If one day you see them walking together on the street, talking and laughing, what would you think?"

Li Shangwen looked puzzled.

Zhong Yan continued, "After some time, you happen to see them coming out of a room in an inn, and you notice that Guo Qingxue's clothes are disheveled and her face looks strange. What would you think then?"

Li Shangwen widened his eyes, "Are they having an affair?!"

Zhong Yan laughed, "You see, you have no evidence at all. This is just your intuition, based solely on speculation. In fact, it's normal for the main wife and stepson to walk together on the street, and even if they come out of a room with disheveled clothes and strange expressions, it could be due to some misunderstanding, or even Xue Shanhu being in the room.

And as time goes on, if you discover more similar traces and gather all the clues, your intuition will become stronger. Even if there is no evidence of catching them in bed, you can still judge whether this intuition is true."

Li Shangwen pursed his lips and pondered, then took a breath and said, "Uncle, I think I understand a bit!"

Then, he curiously asked, "So, do they really have that kind of relationship?"

"When thinking about a problem, you need to approach it from multiple angles. That's not the key issue."

After a pause, Zhong Yan said meaningfully, "The key is whether Xue Shanhu would suspect his wife and stepson of having an affair."

"..." Li Shangwen blinked his eyes and looked at Zhong Yan with admiration and awe. He smiled and said, "Uncle, if Xue Peng knew that he had brought such an enemy to his family, he would probably break open his coffin and kneel before you to beg for forgiveness!"

"Alright, go back and ponder on your own. Think more, compare more, and summarize more when encountering problems. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. When your experience and knowledge are enriched, you will naturally understand how to evaluate so-called intuition, whether it is reliable or not, and whether you should take risks."

"Yes, Uncle! I will remember!"

At this moment, in Li Shangwen's heart, Zhong Yan was like a divine being, and he was extremely grateful that the other person was teaching him so patiently and tirelessly.

Then, the two of them went to the Fire Cloud Pavilion and obtained the materials for talismans.

Zhong Yan was surprised to see two guards, and he inexplicably had a sense of foreboding. One of them, an old man in gray, he had seen at the Fire Cloud Sect's sect meeting. His name was Song Yunfei, an elder in charge of internal affairs. Zhong Yan didn't know his specific cultivation level, but he was definitely at least in the mid-stage of Foundation Building.

For an elder in charge of internal affairs to leave the sect and come to Yangquan Fangshi, something must have happened here, and it was not a small matter.

The other guard, a young man in his twenties with narrow eyes and thin lips, had a distinctive face and was not a regular guard of the Fire Cloud Pavilion. However, his identity was not difficult to guess. He must be a disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall who came with Song Yunfei.

Zhong Yan immediately stepped forward and respectfully saluted, "Zhong Yan pays respects to Elder Song, Senior Brother!"

Song Yunfei nodded slightly, not surprised to be recognized.

Zhong Yan immediately knew that Lin Zhengping had introduced him to Song Yunfei. He looked at Lin Zhengping with embarrassment and said, "Elder Lin, how can I trouble Elder Song to send me back to the city!"

Lin Zhengping smiled and said, "No problem. Originally, I arranged for two other people, but Senior Brother Song happened to be going on a mission and can accompany you. Let's go together."

"In that case, I am grateful to Elder Song, Senior Brother."

Zhong Yan bowed and lowered his head, his gaze flickering, and then he stood up awkwardly and said, "I have an impolite request..."

Not long after, the four of them walked out of the Fire Cloud Pavilion.

Zhong Yan was in front, Li Shangwen disguised as a servant by his side, and Song Yunfei and the man in black revealed their cultivation at the fifth level of Qi Refining, giving off an air of guards.

When they reached the gate of the city, they met up with Ma Zhida, who had changed his appearance and received a message from Zhong Yan in advance, so he didn't make too many formal greetings.

Even so, the many curious gazes in the city retreated.

With such a powerful lineup, this trip, barring any accidents, should go smoothly.

In mortal cities like Qingyang, most of the bandit cultivators who roamed the roads to nearby cities were at the Qi Refining stage, and there were very few at the late stage of Qi Refining.

With Ma Zhida alone, it was basically safe. Even if they couldn't kill their pursuers, escaping would not be a problem.

Moreover, there was now an elder at the Foundation Building stage.

Shortly after the four of them rode away, a burly man with a beard walked out of the city, following them from a distance on horseback.

He hesitated at first, then became determined, and finally turned into excitement. He found an empty spot and stopped to pass on the message.

At the same time.

In the maple forest 200 miles away from Qingyang City, the middle-aged man in a green robe took out a talisman and learned the news - two more Qi Refining fifth level cultivators and one Qi Refining seventh level cultivator, it's feasible!

Several bandit leaders couldn't hide their excitement.

Not to mention the resources Zhong Yan carries, just the wealth of two mid-level Qi Refining cultivators and one late-stage Qi Refining cultivator is worth taking action for.

"Brothers, rest well tonight! We'll make a fortune tomorrow!"

...

Qingyang City, Zhong Mansion.

These days, the Zhong Mansion's family members have been unusually low-key. They only send food and drinks to the soldiers outside the courtyard and don't even step out of the main gate.

Even the three industries in the city have temporarily closed down because on the second day after Zhong Yan left, Yuelai Restaurant was vandalized by 'unknown individuals'.

Everyone in the mansion was worried and inevitably had bad thoughts - the master has abandoned his family and fled!

Ordinary people naturally dare not speak it out.

However, Xia He secretly pulled Qiu Xiang aside to discuss, "It's been eleven days, why hasn't my husband sent any news back?"

Qiu Xiang: "Fourth sister, do you think my husband might have left us and run away?"

Xia He: "..."

Qiu Xiang rolled her eyes, "You came to ask me so late, don't tell me you didn't think that way!"

Xia He: "I did think about it, but I don't think my husband would abandon us. We still have children! Let's just talk about it privately, don't let our eldest sister hear!"

"I know, I'm just afraid..." Qiu Xiang glanced at the door, lowered her voice and said, "I heard that cultivators are indifferent to family ties, abandoning their families is quite common."

Xia He thought for a moment and said, "That can't be true. My husband is different from other masters. If he really left, what are you planning to do, sister?"

Qiu Xiang pursed her lips and said, "What can I do? If my husband doesn't come back, everyone in the mansion will have only one way to go - death!"

After a pause, she added, "Perhaps it will be even worse!"

Xia He fell silent for a while, her eyes filled with determination, "If the Xue Mansion comes to kill us, I will die with them. I will not let them have an easy time!"

Qiu Xiang's face fell, and she weakly said, "I don't know any martial arts."

Xia He blinked, a smirk forming at the corner of her mouth, "Then, when they come to the door, should I kill you first?"

Qiu Xiang was speechless and laughed, "Don't worry, sister, I'll take care of it myself!"

The two of them playfully wrestled with each other, finding joy in their misery.

If we were to talk about the calmest person in the entire Zhong Mansion, it would naturally be Yan Sandao, but he was 'locked up tightly' and couldn't leave the house.

...