Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains-Chapter 525 - 246, the sixth white petal

"A mere Great Grandmaster, certainly doesn’t count as having fully attained divine skills. Although it was clear that everyone was flattering him, it did not affect Hou Yuxiao’s greatly improved mood at the moment. After smiling and waving for the crowd to leave, he then led Hou Yuling and two others into the main hall.

After sitting down in the main hall, Hou Yuxiao’s face showed a trace of weariness, and after a long silence, he didn’t start talking. It was Fifth Brother Hou Yuduan who broke the silence first.

"Big brother, when will you set off?"

On October 15th, when Hou Yuxiao returned to Tongling, he had already told them that he would go north to the capital with Zhan Taiqing, but he never mentioned the departure date. Seeing his breakthrough in cultivation now, Hou Yuduan quickly realized that beyond catching up on the family situation, Hou Yuxiao’s return this time was likely for the sake of advancing his cultivation, which prompted the question.

"The Great Yu capital’s feast is scheduled for January 15th next year. The Zhongzhou Jingji Path is a good 70,000 li away from here, and it will take at least two months on the road. Hence, Zhan Taiqing only gave me five days. In three days, which is October 20th, Lu Family’s ships will arrive, and at that time I must set off with Zhan Taiqing and the others."

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The three of them fell silent upon hearing this. Since the year before last, Hou Yuxiao, the Family Head, was often not at home, and they seldom gathered together. They had thought that he would stay for a while this time he returned, but didn’t expect him to leave so soon.

Hou Yuduan was quickest to recover his composure, speaking softly, "It’s about right; starting from the Tongtian River and going north by waterway is more than 5,000 li until entering the Gujiang Basin. Going east along Gujiang is another 25,000 li. Just the water journey alone takes at least thirty days to reach the southern foothills of Cangyuan Mountain, the closest to Zhongzhou, where we’ll land, and then we continue north for another 40,000 li to reach the Jingji Path. Even on top-grade horses that travel 3,000 li a day at full speed, it takes at least ten days, plus all other delays put together, indeed it will take at least two months to arrive."

No need to even mention traveling such a long distance, just listening to Hou Yuduan made Hou Yuxiao’s head throb a little. The key issue was that he would have to travel those 70,000 li with Zhan Taiqing, whom he already disliked. Thinking about having to spend two months, or even four months, in close company with her every day, Hou Yuxiao felt instantly irritated.

"Big brother, maybe Zhan Taiqing has taken a fancy to you?"

Such teasing was something only Hou Yuling dared to utter. Hou Yucheng and the others chuckled quietly upon hearing this, but quickly stopped their laughter when they saw Hou Yuxiao’s face darken.

Hou Yuxiao glared fiercely at Hou Yuling, who teased him, and after a moment’s thought, he sneered, "That woman, in cahoots with Sikong Yue, is very wary of me. In Hedong, she deliberately separated me and Second Elder, probably because she feared I would sabotage their plans. This Old Devout Woman insists on dragging me to the capital, and I suspect it’s to keep me away from the Yong and Xu battlefield. Despite all the scheming I’ve done for her, attacking Wanyang County, fighting in Hedong, she still guards against me at every turn, hmph!"

This snort came from the depths of Hou Yuxiao’s heart. Admittedly, he was only loyal to his or the Hou Clan’s interests, and could not be said to be devoted to the Rakshasa Holy Sect, having secretly defected several times already. But since the Zhaoyang Disturbance, while the Hou Clan profited, they did not harm the Rakshasa Holy Sect a bit, and indeed, had offered much help.

During the Zhaoyang Disturbance, he aided Sikong Yue in resisting the Mountain Sword Sect members; before the Tongling upheaval, he killed Gu Chenfeng from the Wanjian Holy Sect, which was both a personal release of anger and an indirect removal of Sikong Yue’s enemy; then in the incident with Maiden Hong, although he was involved, when Xuzhou’s army attacked, he stood firmly on Zhan Taiqing’s side, not to mention his previous efforts in attacking Wanyang County and the battles in Hedong, where he exerted much strength for the Rakshasa Holy Sect.

The single reason Hou Yuxiao was not keen on defecting to another power was that, deep down, he felt that the Rakshasa Holy Sect could no longer provide a firm safety net for the Hou Clan, and it wasn’t that he harbored betrayal; in some ways, he did not wish for the Holy Sect’s demise, as that would mean chaos in Yongzhou, plunging the Hou Clan into even greater warfare.

Yet despite all this, Zhan Taiqing still did not trust him. As for Sikong Yue, that women with a thousand suspicious thoughts, it was even less worth considering.

A feast in the capital, sweeping all Holy Lands throughout The World, had nothing to do with him, a mere little clan head, a Master Realm Martial Artist. Zhan Taiqing insisting on taking him along, apart from not wanting him to get involved in the Hedong war affairs, Hou Yuxiao could not think of any other reason.

That’s why he was even more concerned about Hedong. Zhan Taiqing was so intent on not leaving him there that it indicated that during his time in the capital, major changes were likely to happen in Hedong. Now, he could only place his hopes on Fifth Brother.

"Yuduan, there are still five thousand soldiers in Hedong. Second Elder can’t stay at the Baiye Camp much longer. Once he returns to Hedong to lead the troops, you must keep in touch with him at all times, or even go there yourself. I’ve already explained the situation in Hedong to you in detail. If anything changes, remember that preserving our own strength is the priority. In disputes among Holy Lands, if we can avoid getting involved, we should. In the current murky situation, taking sides would be a massive gamble for the Hou Clan, with the loss meaning the destruction of the clan and death of the people, so be extremely cautious!"