"Sister, he is a friend I made, his name is Xiao Nan, I met a bandit last time, thanks to him for helping us. ”

Xiao Nan looked at the woman in front of him with a smile, and also called the eldest lady.

This time, the woman did not nod, and the soft expression that had greeted others before also retracted.

After listening to Xun Yue's introduction, she was stunned, looked at her sister suspiciously, and then looked back at Xiao Nan calmly.

Xiao Nan's heart trembled, he had a bad premonition, but his expression did not show the slightest apprehension, and he still smiled gently.

In this moment of stalemate, Xun Yue broke away from her sister's embrace, reached out and pulled Xiao Nan's sleeve, "Brother Xiao, this is my sister, I told you before, her name is Xun Qianhu, my sister is amazing." ”

"Well, I remember. Xiao Nan nodded in response.

Xun Qianhu didn't seem to hear the conversation between the two at this time, he pulled Xun Yue very ignorantly, and said to Gongsun Lian and his party next to him: "You inform the convoy to turn back, store the goods at home first, and don't go to Xunjiabao for the time being." ”

Hearing this, everyone's eyes suddenly widened, and they looked at Xun Qianhu who was speaking.

"Miss, are you ...... Are you saying that we will bring the goods back?" Gongsun Lian finally regained some composure from his stunned astonishment, and asked with a little stammer.

"Well, that's what it means, don't ask why now, I'll talk about why when I get back to your house. ”

So, more than 2,000 people turned their horses' heads helplessly and with a sense of chagrin.

The shock and confusion caused by the convoy returning to the city for several kilometers can be imagined to be huge.

The Gongsun family welcomed Xun Qianhu and the others into the mansion in a panic, her identity was too special, and the cultivators in the entire eastern part would maintain absolute respect for her.

Xun Qianhu told the head of the Gongsun family about the general situation, and then instructed him to gather the major families in Anqing City, gather at his house at night, and say that he had something important to tell him.

After Xun Qianhu finished speaking, he was led to the guest room to rest. The placement of more than 100 people who came with her made the housekeeper and subordinates of the Gongsun family busy for a while.

After arranging these people without slackening, they had to take care of their mounts, not to mention the more than 200 wagons full of goods that belonged to their grandson's family had to be unloaded and placed in the family's warehouse.

In the exquisite guest room, Xun Yue didn't care whether Xun Qianhu was tired or not, she snuggled in her sister's arms, and was very excited to tell her experience of traveling away from home.

When describing the part that was attacked by bandits, Xun Yue said in more detail, and emphasized several times how good Xiao Nan was and how much he played in that battle.

When night fell, Gongsun's house was like a festival, the huge courtyard was brilliantly lit, and the courtyard was crowded. The guests were talking in droves, and the servants were shuttling back and forth, busy arranging the banquet inside and outside the hall.

Soon everyone entered the table in the housekeeper's loud polite words, Xiao Nan wanted to find a random place outside the hall, but Xun Yue found him in the crowd, and pulled him into the hall without saying anything, and also pulled him to the most obvious main seat in the hall.

On the top sat her and her sister Xun Qianhu, and Xiao Nan was pressed by Xun Yue on her right hand, and opposite sat the head of the Gongsun family and the head of the Fan family, the head of the Fan family was an old man with a long white beard.

A table of eight people. The other three, Xiao Nan didn't know, must be very prominent figures in this Anqing City.

Gongsun Lian, Gongsun Yan, and Fan Xiao are also in the hall, but the seats are in the corner of the hall.

There were dozens of people in the hall in total, but he was in such an obvious position, Xiao Nan felt a little awkward.

He secretly signaled to Xun Yue a few times, and wanted to go to Gongsun Lian's side to sit, but he was stopped by Xun Yue's pouting expression.

Xun Qianhu squinted at the small movements of the two, pulled Xun Yue, and then stood up, looking at the people in the hall more seriously, and the more than 100 people in the hall suddenly quieted down.

"I'm Xun Qianhu from Xunjiabao, and if I gather everyone here tonight, you will definitely have a lot of doubts. Xun Qianhu said slowly.

"I rarely go outside of the Wuman Forest, and today you have seen that I and more than a hundred disciples of Xunjiabao have arrived here, and let the convoy you have sent to Xunjiabao reverse back. ”

Xun Qianhu paused, and then said calmly: "I'm not deliberately making things difficult for you, the business dealings between our Xunjiabao and you have been at least a hundred years, and our relationship has always been mutually beneficial.

"I'm sure you all know what's going on in the west of the Chongyang Continent. There are so many evil spirits in the Zongyun Mountain Range, constantly attacking and trampling on the cities around Jingcheng, we still don't know what the reason is. ”

"The four major sects still can't settle those evil spirits? It's been nearly three years since this mutation. A middle-aged fat man with a bulging body stood up and asked.

Xun Qianhu nodded slightly, "It's been three years, and although the offensive of the evil spirits is becoming more and more ferocious, it is still under the control of the four major sects. ”

Then she continued: "The four major sects also have the consideration of the four major sects, and they all have reservations. They only arranged a part of the cultivators of their respective sects, and the mission of these cultivators was mainly to lead the eastern sects, and these sects under their command were the main strength to resist the evil spirits. ”

As soon as Xun Qianhu's words fell, the hall suddenly gasped for air, and subtle discussions followed.

"Isn't this using the sects below as cannon fodder?"

"They're too selfish, too. ”

......

Although the various voices of discussion were suppressed by them very subtlely, they were full of resentment towards the four major sects.

"I understand your feelings, I think all the people sitting here are cultivators, right? If so, presumably everyone has their own cultivation experience, may I ask you, is there any kind of cultivation method in this world that does not experience blood and death?"

As soon as Xun Qianhu said this, the hall returned to quiet.

"No matter where there are demonic beasts or spirit beasts, or friction between gangs, how have there been no bloodshed and sacrifices? I just heard today that just a few days ago, the convoy of the Gongsun family and the Fan family was robbed by bandits, and the number of dead and wounded on both sides was no less than 100.

"The evil spirits in the west are under the control of the four major sects, and they will not let the evil spirits wantonly slaughter cultivators, but death and injury will definitely happen. But there will always be people who make their strength grow by leaps and bounds in this catastrophe, stand out, and become strong. Those who are more fortunate will be valued by the four major sects and will be accepted as disciples.

"The cruelty is a little crueler, and it is only a little crueler than the ordinary cultivation path, but it can allow the magic strength of the entire continent to be tempered and improved at the fastest speed. ”

Xiao Nan, who was on the side, had a blank expression at this time, but he listened to every word said by the woman in front of him.

In his contemplation, he suddenly thought of a sentence from Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities", he changed it slightly, and said in a very unintentional whisper: "This is the best world, this is the worst world!"

Xun Yue heard his words clearly, turned his head to look at him, Xun Qianhu also heard this sentence clearly, and also looked sideways at him, as did the other people at the table.

After a while, Xun Qianhu retracted his gaze, faced everyone again and continued: "I talked about it for a long time just now, and it was all about the west of the continent, but what happened in the west has implicated us in the east, and the implication is getting more and more serious.

"In the first month or two, seven or eight out of ten convoys transported to our Xunjiabao from all over the country encountered banditry, not counting the loss of property and goods, and it was difficult to count the casualties alone, and it was roughly estimated that there should be as many as three or four thousand people. ”

"How is this possible? This is something that has never been done again!"

"How did such a strong bandit appear?"

"Our Anqing is the smallest city, and our strength is also the weakest, so what should we do in the future?"

There was a boiling in the hall, and everyone showed a panicked and sad look.

"Everyone, let's listen to me first. Xun Qianhu raised his voice.

"Most of these bandits took advantage of the rebellion of evil spirits, and the four major sects and sects were either flawless or unintentionally interfering, and they were temporarily put together, and at first they were only in the eastern region, and now they have spread to the entire continent.

"There are even many gangs that used to be regular, taking advantage of this chaos, to rise up the heart of bandits, and start to rob and buy and sell.

"We in Xunjiabao will not sit idly by when we see these things happening, we are different from the west of the mainland, we have our own operating rules in the east.

"Our east is mainly based on commerce, and this chaos has no direct connection with Xunjiabao, our homeland is in the Wuman Forest in the east of the eastern part of the continent, and it is impossible for bandits to provoke us. However, Xunjiabao is the largest force in the east after all, and there is still an indirect relationship between us.

"So Xunjiabao dispatched more than a thousand disciples this time, dispatched to various places, and tried to control the rampant bandits, but it is impossible to completely rely on our Xunjiabao to maintain this vast east, after all, Xunjiabao is not a monopoly in the east.

"The strength of many big cities in the east is not weak, such as your neighboring Jingyun City, Wanshun City, etc., especially Wangxing City, which is controlled by the four major sects, and it is mainly relied on these strengths to solve the problem of banditry.

"I don't say hypocritical words, the reason why these people I brought came to Anqing is mainly because my little sister happened to be here to play. ”

When Xun Yue heard this, she looked at her sister with a sweet expression, and Xun Qianhu also looked back at her dotingly.

"Since you're here, I'm going to inform you of these situations, so that everyone can be prepared, your Anqing is indeed weak, and the magic cultivation of the bandits from the west is higher than that of our east, and you are more united, and the chances of survival are greater. ”

Xun Qianhu said this, sighed, through her understanding of those bandits, this Anqing City is simply a group of lambs to be slaughtered, she raised her hand and touched her forehead, and then said: "During this time, I and the more than 100 disciples of Xunjiabao will help you guard for a few days, and then go around the surroundings, we can only do this." ”