Tang Xiu was somewhat surprised as he could see that Song Donglai was attempting to curry favor with him. Nevertheless, he still felt at ease as he recalled the influence of the Liu Family's Patriarch and Old Cripple, since the eminent families nowadays did have the power to make these "Little Bosses" have great importance attached to them.

Yet, Tang Xiu recalled the unusual circ.u.mstances shrouding this agritourism venue and he said immediately, "How about we have a private chat?"

Song Donglai's heart thumped and groaned inwardly upon hearing Tang Xiu. He thought that Tang Xiu harbored a grudge after his disrespectful att.i.tude previously so he wanted to get rid of him secretly. His lips quivered a few times as he put on a long face and said, "I admit that I'm in the wrong and I shouldn't have neglected you previously, Mr. Tang. But please don't stoop to my ignorance and spare me. You have my word that I'll treat you as my ancestor in the future."

Cough, cough…

Tang Xiu, who just took a sip of tea, couldn't help but choke upon hearing his words. He put the teacup down and took a tissue to wipe off the corner of his mouth. With an expression of being at a loss of whether he should laugh or cry, he said, "Boss Song, is it? Since when did I, Tang Xiu, become a petty and narrow-minded man? I want to talk to you alone because of something else, mind you."

Most of Song Donglai's worry was finally relieved upon hearing that as he asked with caution, "Then, what do you want to talk to me about, Mr. Tang?"

Tang Xiu got up and looked at Li Qiang, "You stay here and continue to have your meal. This G.o.d's Nectar is good stuff, so drink it to your heart's content. I'm going out to talk to Boss Song."

"Okay."

Li Qiang himself usually hated drinking. But as a salesman, he had to entertain his clients and drink with them whenever he had to. Yet, there was also a type of liquor he didn't hate and even hoped that he'd be able to taste again one day. That's right, he always wants to drink it again.

It was because he had met a certain Big Boss six months ago, who, by coincidence, tried to force him to drink two cups of wine. It was a taste full of flavor that he could never forget—G.o.d's Nectar.

The full moon hung high above the lake and the moonlight was as though a downpour of water that sprinkled over the lake's surface. The cool breeze slowly gusted away, creating glistening waves on the rippling surface of the body of water. Tang Xiu stood straight up on the sh.o.r.e of the lake like a tall pine tree with eyes that gleamed with an unusual light. As he did so, he released his spiritual sense to quickly seep into the lake.

He could sense a faint b.l.o.o.d.y smell from there.

After a long while, he took back his spiritual sense and felt a bit regretful. His spiritual sense was rather weak, so he could only scour ten meters under the lake's surface, making him unable to detect much deeper towards the bottom of the lake.

"Boss Song."

Finally, Tang Xiu turned his head to look at Song Donglai whose face looked restless.

The latter hurriedly said, "Mr. Tang, you said…"

Tang Xiu nodded at him and said, "I know. You want to know why I kept insisting on staying and dining here, even though all the boxes in your place were occupied, don't you? Even I didn't hesitate to use my connections and contacted the Lius in order to do so?"

Song Donglai blanked out and shook his head, "I didn't know that…"

"To be honest with you, the venison your Green Lake Agricola is serving is quite good, but it can't be said to be a delicious dish like some others say. The reason I've been insisting on staying was that I felt a concealed killing intent just as I entered your place. However, this killing intent isn't being emitted from someone, but is rather concealed in the surroundings."

"I don't understand everything you said." Song Donglai shook his head, feeling restless deep down.

He was restless because he knew that Tang Xiu was correct. His Green Lake Agricola did conceal such a killing intent. Not only was it because Ao Wei and Gong Quan brought some experts to hide here, but also, more importantly, it was due to the presence of the Cruor Python in the lake. He was well aware of how powerful this fierce beast was as it would emit a vague but fierce ominous aura even if it was unintentional.

Tang Xiu squinted his eyes and faintly said, "I know that every person and place has their own secrets. This is your place and I shouldn't have asked about that. But you have many guests who dine here, and given my ident.i.ty, you are required to explain to me the whole situation."

With that said, he took the green notebook and swayed it before Song Donglai, making his expression enormously change instantly. Tang Xiu then continued, "If my guess is correct, you should be from the Occult Sect. But don't worry. I don't mean to be hostile to the Occult Sect's people, even though I have once killed many people from your sect myself."

"How did you guess it?" asked Song Donglai with quivering lips.

"The Occult Sect's concealing and divination traditions and arts are the subjects that many powerful array experts in your sect know best, yet they don't have the best materials for it. I know that your Green Lake Agricola has many jades in storage. Additionally, you have an aura like that of many Occult Sect's people I have met."

"Your eyes are truly sharp," said Song Donglai bitterly. "That's right. I'm indeed someone from the Occult Sect, a member of the Song Family. It's just that I made some mistakes and was driven out by my family, so I've been staying in Chang City for a few decades and finally opened this agritourism here."

Tang Xiu nodded at his explanation and asked, "So tell me now; what is there in this lake, exactly?"

"About this…"

Song Donglai's body trembled and the already surging bad feelings inside his heart became more intense. The Cruor Python was a fierce, ominous beast that could cause calamity in the eyes of many people, to begin with. While Tang Xiu… he had an ident.i.ty as a member of a certain special bureau of the state, so he was undoubtedly against the idea of having such a beast reared in the city.

Just in case! That if… he knew of the existence of this Cruor Python, the hard work of the three bothers for decades would be down the drain.

'What should I do?'

Never once had Song Donglai ever felt so powerless as he felt now. He could never beat Tang Xiu, and it was unlikely that he had the chance to escape either. More so that the Liu Family was also aware that he and his two brothers were in Chang City. Even if the three of them could now escape, they could trace and track their whereabouts.

"What's wrong? Does Boss Song not want to explain it?" asked Tang Xiu lightly. "If you really can't explain it, then I'll send my men to thoroughly investigate this lake."

"Please don't," blurted out Song Donglai.

Tang Xiu's brows creased and he said thoughtfully, "You don't want my men to act, so tell me about it now! Otherwise, you will find that today's matters won't end up good for you."

Suddenly, his expression changed and the tone of his voice spiked up as he continued, "Of course, it's also fine with me if there's someone else who wants to come to explain it."

"Please let me do the explanation!"

Ao Wei and Gong Quan appeared from the dark corner. As they came to the front of Tang Xiu, they cupped their fists and the former said, "I'm Ao Wei from the Ao Family. Greetings to you Grandmaster Tang."

Tang Xiu turned and looked at them before he slowly asked, "Do you know me?"

"This Ao has heard of the resounding reputation of Grandmaster Tang for a long time. It's truly an honor and great fortune for me to be able to meet you today," said Ao Wei.

"Dismiss the flattery and just answer my question," said Tang Xiu with a faint smile.

Ao Wei nodded to Song Donglai without a word. Then he spoke to Tang Xiu, "Grandmaster Tang, this lake actually has a Cruor Python that we put here when we came yesterday. We three brothers have been raising it slowly for dozens of years."

A Cruor Python? A fierce, ominous beast?

Tang Xiu instantly understood and curiously asked, "What exactly do you wanna do with this Cruor Python? This kind of ominous beast is something only demonic cultivators want to rear."

"We are arranging the Blood Python Array, so as to help us to break through our current barriers. We want to leap through the dragon gate as carps, embarking from our martial art path into the Dao of cultivation to become cultivators like you," smiled Ao Wei bitterly.

"The Blood Python Array?" asked Tang Xiu with astonishment. "What is that?"

Ao Wei was also perfectly aware of their current situation, so he didn't attempt to conceal anything, "The Blood Python Array is a kind of array that is formed by using the Cruor Python's blood essence and mixing it with human blood aligned in an array arranged by jades. It only has one effect—to infuse the blood in order to cleanse our physique and refine our qi essence, leading to qualitative changes in our strength. We learned about this array from an ancient record."

Tang Xiu quickly understood it, yet he frowned and said, "I understand if it needs the blood essence of the Cruor Python. But for it to require human blood, what it will be like?"

"It's by sacrificing eighteen living people," answered Ao Wei.

Tang Xiu's complexion slightly changed and he shouted in a heavy voice, "Do you know what you're talking about? Sacrificing living people for their blood is nothing but a diabolical demonic art and the behavior of those evil cultivators on the demonic path."

"Grandmaster Tang, we know that sacrificing people and their blood is indeed the methods of those evil cultivators of the demonic path, but what if we use the blood and lives of our mortal enemies?" asked Ao Wei.

"Enemies? What do you mean?" asked Tang Xiu with a heavy tone.

"I dare not conceal the truth from you, Grandmaster Tang," said Ao Wei. "We have been in a deep blood feud with the Lian Family in the Occult Sect because of some issues. It's a situation in which one of us perishes once we meet. We can never sacrifice the lives of ordinary people, but we have no mental burden to do it to the Lian Family, our mortal enemy who also wants our lives. It's just that we have already spread out rumors before we came to Chang City, so the Lians must have surely caught the news and already arrived by now. Maybe it won't be long before a large number of the Lian Family's experts storm this place to kill us."

"You aren't lying to me?" asked Tang Xiu.

"Every word I said to you is but the whole truth, Grandmaster Tang," Au Wei said with a severe countenance. "Please think. We could've already accomplished our plan and not have waited until now had we sacrificed the lives of ordinary people and their blood. The main reason why we have yet to fight the Lian Family was not just us waiting, but is rather due to not having enough strength to contend against them. But now, we haven't only trained many trustable and reliable confidants to become experts, but also have invited another expert from the Occult Sect. Hence, we intend to wage life-and-death combat with the Lian Family shortly after we arrange the Blood Python Array in this place, and then break through to a new realm in the battle."

Tang Xiu calmly observed the trio, and only after a long while did he lightly nod and say, "This is the internal fight between you all—the people of the Occult Sect—so I won't involve myself in this matter. But answer a question for me—how long will it take for this issue to be concluded?"

Ao Wei ruminated for a moment and said, "Three days at most."

"Since it's only three days, I'll stay here". Tang Xiu nodded and continued, "I'll leave Chang City after you've dealt with your enmity. But I hope you haven't deceived me, or you'll know what end will await you otherwise."