Chapter 74 - 72: Guangyuan Bandits
A moment later.
After weighing the pros and cons, Wei Tu made up his mind. At this critical juncture, he decided to give his big brother, Kou Liang, a helping hand.
First, it was to honor the oath they took as sworn brothers and not set a bad precedent of abandoning one of their own.
Second, it was to fulfill the bond of brotherhood forged over more than twenty years.
—After he had done his part, if Kou Liang still couldn’t keep up with the other three in the future, it wouldn’t be too late to talk about giving up then.
He couldn’t be so callous as to not even give him a single chance.
Besides.
Who was to say that Kou Liang, who had fallen behind now, wouldn’t one day surpass the other three and take the lead?
At this thought, a solemn expression appeared on Wei Tu’s face. He glanced around at the three brothers sitting with him at the table and said, "Since Fourth Brother has decided to help Second Brother after reaching the Innate Realm, then as someone who is also Innate... it wouldn’t be right for me to do nothing..."
"If there’s a chance to help Big Brother reach the Innate Realm, and it’s within my power... I’m willing to help..."
The Immortal Path was long.
Some would inevitably fall behind in the future, but Wei Tu didn’t want those who went far to simply do nothing and coldly kick the others aside.
The four of them should support each other—even if someone fell behind, they would still have another reliable person to count on when things needed to be done, preventing them from becoming isolated and alone.
As his words fell.
The atmosphere in Celestial No. 3 Private Room fell silent for a moment, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone was stunned that Wei Tu had reached the Innate Realm, and just as stunned that he was willing to go to such lengths for their big brother, Kou Liang.
Among the four brothers, there were varying degrees of closeness. Kou Liang was closest to Fu Zhizhou, followed by Wei Fei, with Wei Tu being the most distant.
Just now, Fu Zhizhou’s words had hinted at giving up on Kou Liang, yet Wei Tu had done the exact opposite, planning to pull him along. It was truly unexpected.
Even Kou Liang himself hadn’t expected it.
"Thank you for your help, Third Brother." Kou Liang’s emotions were complex. It took him a long moment to force out those words.
Then, he added, "I will be sure to repay you for this in the future, Third Brother. I will never let you suffer a loss on my account."
After this small interlude.
At the eager request of Kou Liang and the others, Wei Tu described the process of his breakthrough to the Innate Realm and his discovery of nature’s spiritual energy.
...
A quarter of an hour later.
As the gathering drew to a close.
Fu Zhizhou pondered for a moment before revealing another piece of news. "I’ve heard recently that the bandits in Guangyuan Prefecture are ferocious and have defeated the Official Army several times... It’s possible they might invade Qingfeng Prefecture. For safety’s sake, we need to move our families somewhere else as soon as possible..."
"Otherwise, if the Prefecture City is besieged, we’ll be fine. With our Martial Arts, we can retreat with ease, but it’ll be a different story for our families."
"Bandits in Guangyuan Prefecture?" Hearing these familiar words, Wei Tu’s expression grew grim.
Guangyuan Prefecture bordered Qingfeng Prefecture and was a prefecture under the jurisdiction of Shannan Dao.
Over the past six months, like Fu Zhizhou, he had also learned some things through various channels about the Guangyuan Prefecture bandits, or as they were also called, the Rebel Army.
But he hadn’t expected the situation to become so perilous that they would need to evacuate their families in advance.
In his more than twenty years as an official, Wei Tu had heard of "bandit raids" and "peasant uprisings" at least thirty or fifty times, but without exception, none of them had amounted to anything and were quickly crushed and suppressed by the Official Army.
A bandit scourge that could sweep across an entire prefecture was unprecedented.
’A rebellion based on civilian strength alone reaching the point of overrunning a prefecture is unlikely...’
’Any Innate Martial Master could infiltrate their army and assassinate their leader.’
’Then...’
A sharp glint appeared in Wei Tu’s eyes. He looked at Fu Zhizhou, waiting for his explanation.
—If his suspicions were correct, then this rebellion in Guangyuan Prefecture might be an opportunity for him and Fu Zhizhou.
An opportunity to come into contact with the Cultivation Realm and the Court’s Innate Martial Masters.
"It seems Third Brother has figured it out as well." Fu Zhizhou spoke at the right moment. "This rebel army in Guangyuan Prefecture, behind Xiao Mountain King Wu Yisan... I suspect there’s a force that doesn’t belong to the Court supporting them in secret."
"And this force definitely has Innate Martial Masters helping them. Perhaps... even the legendary Immortal Families..."
"Therefore, we must prepare for a rainy day and plan ahead."
...
Evacuating the families.
It was better to be early than late.
After the gathering at Xuanhe Tower ended, Wei Tu returned home and immediately instructed Xinghua to pack their valuables and wait for the time to evacuate.
All four of them were Military Officers with some measure of military authority, so their families had always been monitored by spies from the Government Office.
Normal comings and goings were not restricted.
But if they tried to move their entire households, they would surely be detained by the Government Office and questioned about their reasons.
「A few days later.」
Wei Tu and the other three finalized their strategy. The plan was for the three families to leave through the West Gate in seven days, at 3:15 AM. Fu Zhizhou would escort them to Xiaoyi Prefecture under the pretext of visiting relatives, and they would stay temporarily at the Fu Family’s home there.
By then, the dust would have settled.
As long as they kept a low profile during that time, the Government Office, operating on the principle of "it’s better to do less than more," wouldn’t go out of its way to bother the four of them.
—After all, they weren’t the only officials who had heard the rumors and were evacuating their families from Qingfeng Prefecture during this period.
However, what Wei Tu never expected was that on the evening of the fifth day of their preparations, a haggard old woman with graying hair and tattered clothes suddenly knocked on the Wei Family’s back door.
"Grand-matron?" Xinghua recognized the old woman. After a servant led her inside, Xinghua couldn’t help but exclaim in astonishment.
"I’ll go get Brother Wei."
After composing herself, Xinghua didn’t rashly ask why Mrs. Li Tong was in such a dire state. Instead, she had a maid serve tea and then walked straight out of the living room to find Wei Tu in his study.
With Wei Tu’s lingering favor and protection, it should have been difficult for the Li Family to fall into such a miserable plight.
She guessed that the Li Family must have suffered a great disaster, which was why Mrs. Li Tong had fled to the Prefecture City, hoping to rely on their past connection to ask Wei Tu for help.
A short while later.
Wei Tu arrived in the living room and saw Mrs. Li Tong sitting in the guest’s seat, looking slightly nervous.
"Grand-matron, what brings you to my residence for this visit?"
Wei Tu had no intention of making small talk. He sized up Mrs. Li Tong and asked directly.
Nearly thirty years had passed. He had long since repaid the Li Family’s favor, and then some, through County Captain Xu.
In fact... it was more than enough.
Three years ago, if he hadn’t stepped in to save the Li Family, their household would have long since fallen into ruin.
"This time, it’s about that business with Xingye again." Mrs. Li Tong cradled the teacup, her head lowered, not daring to look up at Wei Tu. She spoke slowly, "Two months ago, Xingye ran away from home and joined the King of Mingzhou. He became an advisor under his command..."
"The Government Office found out about it and immediately threw all thirteen members of our Li Family into prison. We were interrogated, tortured, and tormented day and night..."
"If it weren’t for an old acquaintance of Captain Wei’s in the County Yamen, I never would have been able to escape and come before you..."