Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 381: 381 Harvest (3rd Update)

Chapter 381: Chapter 381 Harvest (3rd Update)

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Because in this society, where vengeance is prevalent, Feng Jun is entitled to seek revenge since he was schemed against despite not being at fault.

And because the Gu Family’s methods affected innocent civilians and were extremely brutal, Feng Jun is allowed to kill a few more people when he takes his revenge.

Of course, even then, after he has killed people, he still has to explain the situation to the Official Government, and he might even have to pay a fine or something.

However, as an Innate Expert, as long as he has sufficient reasons, the Official Government will not intentionally make things difficult for him.

It is precisely because of this that when Feng Jun sought to take revenge on the Gu Family, various powers followed suit—even the County Soldiers were dispatched by the Magistrate.

Naturally, what everyone truly regards is his suspected Immortal identity, but the fact that others are willing to help, even to blatantly attack and kill, means that there will be no disputes from the Official Government’s side.

However, Feng Jun’s revenge can only go as far as killing: the masterminds, the accomplices, the beneficiaries…

As for pillaging … it doesn’t matter if he loots a little on the side, and seizing war spoils is only natural, but that’s about as far as it goes.

The task of pillaging a household is not for Feng Jun to undertake; such matters can only be managed by the Official Government.

So Mr. Shi reminded Feng Jun: Since he discovered that the Gu Family was colluding with bandits on the Imperial Court’s wanted list, such a crime is indeed sufficient for the government to justify a raid.

Upon hearing this, Feng Jun understood and asked with a smile, “Are we to raid them first, before the Official Government arrives?”

What they can pillage include only Natural Treasures and Gold valuables, but not things like houses and land.

Therefore, even if they raid the household first, as long as no one pursues the matter, it won’t be considered a major issue.

In fact, among the many heroes who came along, there were certainly those who had this idea in mind, not only to please the Divine Doctor but also to take advantage of the situation.

Of course, such actions must be done in secret, as it’s not good to be found out by the Official Government.

“I am an aide to the Governor,” Mr. Shi declared proudly, “I am the Official Government. If you wish to raid, just go ahead … Are you satisfied with this explanation?”

Feng Jun was about to nod when a historical reference suddenly came to mind, so he looked at the other party with a half-smile and said, “I feel that when it comes to raiding the households of the Family Alliance clans … the Official Government might find it inconvenient to intervene, right?”

Mr. Shi touched his forehead in resignation, thinking to himself how quick-witted this guy was despite not being familiar with local customs.

No wonder they say there is no foolish Immortal; indeed, none of them are dull.

But this time, he really wanted to earn the other’s forgiveness without any tricks, so he could only explain patiently, “With you, an Innate Expert, as a lead, the Official Government can get involved, and you can also take a big share of the raided assets.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Jun’s eyebrows lifted, “Can I take the land and houses too?”

“That …” Mr. Shi hesitated briefly before responding, “You can take less of those; if you take too much, where will the Official Government’s dignity stand?”

In this realm, land could be privatized, but when the Official Government conducts raids, the inability to take over non-movable properties like land and houses would indeed invite ridicule.

Feng Jun was contemplating the cause and effect when Lang Zhen suddenly spoke up, “Divine Doctor, don’t believe his words. Without us taking the lead, the Official Government would have a hard time conducting a raid against the Family Alliance—they’d have plenty of lawsuits.”

“Lang Zhen is right,” Mr. Shi nodded, with no intention of being manipulative, and pointed out, “But if you don’t come forward, it’s not easy for the Official Government either. Some things that could be raided would remain untouched … why should outsiders benefit from that?”

Lang Zhen nodded, “That’s true, but all items related to cultivation should go to the Divine Doctor. As for the rest, we can divide them … it wouldn’t be fair to let the friends who helped out return empty-handed.”

Mr. Shi gave him a meaningful look, “You mentioned cultivation, not ‘Cultivation’?”

Martial Cultivators talked about ‘Cultivation’, while only Immortals spoke of ‘cultivation’. As an aide to the Prefectural Governor, he was well aware of the difference.

“It was just a suggestion,” Lang Zhen, with his extensive experience in the jianghu, quickly took the hint and did not broach the subject again. It was enough that his point was made, “The rest is for Mr. Shi to discuss with the Divine Doctor.”

“That was also my intention,” Feng Jun nodded.

In fact, at this very moment, he was in a position facing the Gu Family’s private treasury, and he was concerned about others moving the assets.

This private treasury was something he had eyed for a long time. The exquisitely crafted Longsword and Qi Dissipating Powder in Gu Maoyuan’s possession indicated that this historic Clan possessed many fine items.

Initially, he had planned to wait for reinforcements to arrive and then divide the private treasury’s contents—everything that could be taken away, from Natural Treasures to Gold valuables. After all, wasn’t it also his wealth that the Gu Family was after in Zhige County?

As for leaving something for the Official Government … well, that could be considered, especially since Yangshan was under the jurisdiction of Qingning Prefecture, and the Magistrate had even lent out the County Soldiers.

However, since the Magistrate did not personally come, a token gesture would suffice; the main thing was to ensure the military officers didn’t toil in vain.

Now that the Prefectural Governor’s aide had spoken, naturally, they could take even more.

While various forces were still raiding the village, some had already reached the private treasury.

No one was in a rush to open the treasury doors, because being in the center of Gu Family Village meant it was convenient to support allies in all directions.

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Hearing Feng Jun and Mr. Shi’s suggestion, everyone nodded in agreement: “You make the decisions, we have no objections.”

However, thinking about it, the contents were the accumulations of the Gu Family for over a thousand years, and everyone couldn’t hide their excitement. Even the normally composed Yu Zhengqing’s eyes shone with anticipation—after all, this was a clan listed among the Family Alliance; just imagine how many treasures there might be.

The clans within the Family Alliance were not invincible, but those capable of defeating them were known to be extremely powerful. The forces involved in today’s battle, though somewhat famous in the martial world, were truly not qualified to partake in such matters.

Not to mention, among these families or their corresponding official systems, were there any Innate Experts?

All in all, to be able to participate in such a lavish banquet was already exciting enough for everyone.

No one even cared about the descendants of the Gu Family in the county town anymore.

In the end, it was Tian Lewen from the Tian Family who led a team of over fifty people to the county town. As for the distribution of the materials in the inner treasury, he entrusted it to Doctor Feng—”Whatever you give us, we will accept.”

By the afternoon, the outcomes of the various battles were in.

The descendants of the Gu Family in the county town were taken into custody. Their fighting power was not very strong with only seven or eight martial masters; someone initially resisted and three managed to escape, which was a loss for the defenders.

The Gu Family Courtyard in the town trusted its defenses too much—or perhaps had too much faith in its local connections—so they chose to make a last stand. Who would have expected that even County Soldiers would appear from the direction of the county town?

Many townspeople lived off the Gu Family, but upon seeing the County Soldiers, the number willing to rush forward and draw swords in support dwindled significantly. More people were inquiring: What exactly did the Gu Family do wrong?

The Gu Family Courtyard was breached by force; the dead accounted for more than fifty percent. This was truly the toughest bone of the Gu Family, who fought to the death against the fierce assault of the County Soldiers without retreating.

After the battle, the Gu Family Courtyard was in a state of death and injury; only about twenty people managed to escape through a secret passageway — they were not deserters; more than five hundred people in the courtyard fought to their deaths to protect their escape.

Those who escaped were mostly elite descendants, accompanied by two martial masters for protection.

The fate of these escapees was quite tragic in the end, but that is a story for another time…

Gu Family Village, as the clan’s stronghold, only had one Innate there, and, while there were many clan elders, in terms of defense capability, it actually wasn’t as good as the Gu Family Courtyard.

But because it didn’t have walls and was open on all sides, the number of people who ran away from Gu Family Village was actually the highest, nearly half.

With good news coming again and again, in the afternoon, Feng Jun and a few decision-makers discussed and decided to open the inner treasury.

Such a large family’s treasury would definitely be protected, and there might even be traps.

However, Mr. Shi said that the Gu Family’s treasury defense was indeed strict, but their traps were quite average. I’ll let the County Soldiers show you how they can be broken.

Most of the County Soldiers present were from the stationed forces of Qingning Prefecture and were under the Magistrate’s command. But since they were known as County Soldiers, when the Prefectural Governor’s aides spoke, they had no reason to refuse.

A hundred County Soldiers with a determined look took half an hour to forcibly open the treasury, and then everyone was pleasantly surprised to find that… indeed, there was no danger?

Brother Bao acted as a hindsight Zhuge Liang, “The older the clan with a long history, the stronger their self-confidence, with no need for unnecessary worries… The Gu Family’s own people need to access the treasury, and too many traps would inconvenience themselves.”

The Gu Family’s treasury was really large, filled with gold and silver treasures, martial arts manuals, natural treasures, weapons, and elixirs—everything you could wish for.

There were eleven Spirit Weapons, among which three were top-quality pieces, comparable to Gu Maoyuan’s longsword.

Feng Jun unapologetically took the Spirit Blade for himself.

But after a while, Deng Yifu was puzzled, “For a prominent Gu Family, is this all they have?”

“Yes, I’m also baffled,” Yu Changzhu spoke up with a look of confusion, “It’s not that there aren’t many treasures here; the wealth is indeed staggering. But… this is the Gu Family, the thousand-year-old Gu Family.”

“That can’t be said either,” a martial master from the Mi Family next to her spoke up, “Old and established clans have deep reserves, but maintaining their corresponding status also comes with hefty expenses… There are many Spirit Weapons here, but there are fewer elixirs, and even fewer natural treasures.”

“That’s right,” Yu Zhengqing nodded, “To maintain a clan’s status, one must cultivate outstanding talents vigorously. In this way, no matter how substantial the family’s reserves, they are never enough, so they have to exploit others constantly.”

Upon hearing this, Deng Yifu laughed heartily, “It was just a passing comment; honestly, as long as there’s a lot of gold and silver, I’m already quite content.”

There really was a lot of gold in the inner treasury, amounting to thirty or forty thousand taels—gold leaves, gold bars, gold ingots, and even golden daggers.

There were also many manuals, over a thousand, and several thousand more miscellaneous books. Keep in mind that the Gu Family also had their own library.

What truly reflected the depth of the clan’s heritage were their collected books!

Everyone knew Feng Jun was interested in books—in fact, among those present, the majority valued books the most.

The Yu Family, Mi Family, Tian Family… including Deng the escort and Lang Zhen, everyone wanted to enrich their own family’s heritage.

Even Mr. Shi placed a special emphasis on books. Supposedly, he was there representing the Prefectural Governor’s office, and surely the Imperial Court would not lack these things—could the Gu Family have books that the Imperial Court didn’t?

But Mr. Shi wanted to read them for himself, being a scholar with his sword hanging at his side…