Chapter 392: The Rui Family (II)
Although there was a valuable spirit jade mine in the area controlled by the five families, the spirit veins and spiritual energy seemed to have been concentrated around the mine, leaving the rest of the land barren and severely lacking in spiritual energy. This made it extremely difficult for the Rui Family to grow Spirit Paddies and other spirit crops, forcing them to resort to various means to barely survive.
Seeing Rui Qiongcuo's submissive demeanor, Li Xicheng organized his thoughts and continued, "Our family head understands your situation. We are not demanding tribute from you for nothing. We permit the Rui Family to send people to our Yuting Peak to cultivate paddies and study. Our family will only take a twenty percent tax."
The old man was stunned for a moment, his eyes no longer showing his usual cunning but rather a deep confusion. He looked at Li Xicheng, somewhat dazed, and murmured, "To Yuting Peak to grow paddies…?"
Rui Qiongcuo muttered these words twice, his eyes reddening, and he quickly asked, "What kind of tribute does your esteemed clan require?"
"We only ask for the water from your spirit spring and the twenty percent tax as your tribute!" Li Xicheng declared as he waved his hand dismissively. Rui Qiongcuo still could not believe these words and stared at him in a daze.
Rui Qiongcuo was well aware of how fertile the lands of clans were and how abundant their spiritual energy was. He had once harbored greedy thoughts, but during his tenure, the Ji Family was at its peak, especially Ji Dengqi, who was particularly domineering, leaving no room for Rui Qiongcuo's ambitions.
Later, when the Ji Family was replaced by the An Family and then the Li Family came, with their White Jade Fist and Celestial Moon Sword, they were even stronger, capable of obliterating the Rui Family with a mere breath.
As for secretly selling the ores, the Xiao Family had a profound technique for detecting veins. They knew exactly how much was missing from the mine and how much was delivered. If discovered, it would lead to the extermination of the entire Rui Family.
The Rui Family had thought about escaping from this impoverished place, but the Xiao Family sent people annually to collect the ores, making them too afraid to act. They could only struggle year after year.