Volume 1: Wudao Xiantian Chapter 13: Miaojiang Festival

  The Drums Festival is one of the biggest festivals in Miao territory, with streets and alleys crowded with people, very lively. However, Ye Xu had always focused on practicing martial arts and had never participated in this kind of festival before.

  Two people arrived at the foot of the city and, before entering the city, heard the sound of drums and music coming from afar. They looked up to see a large drum made of nanmu wood and cowhide on top of the city gate tower. Several Miao ethnic minority girls were dressed in new clothes, with bare arms and feet, dancing on the drum like butterflies, full of youth and wildness. As their feet landed, the big drum boomed loudly, the music was in perfect harmony, and it was exhilarating.

  As I was about to enter the city, I saw a bustling scene with cars and horses galloping by, people crowded together. On both sides of the street, family-owned shops were open, filled with all sorts of goods: high-quality silk fabrics, porcelain, clothing from the Central Plains; ironware, fine horses from Western Regions; local jade, jewelry, tea leaves... even some people brought young boys and girls from afar to be sold as commodities.

  Ye Xue even saw that some people put the demon beasts captured from Bai Man Mountain in cages and sold them, one by one. The huge demon beasts emitted a terrifying aura, their fierce might radiating everywhere, and not many people dared to approach and watch!

  Only wealthy families can afford to buy such a rare beast. Ordinary people don't have the financial resources, and even if they could afford it, they wouldn't be able to raise it!

  The Ye family has a large industry in Liu Zhou City, controlling several streets of storefronts. Moreover, the Ye family also owns two mines in Bai Man Mountain, producing jade stones and gold iron. The lower-grade minerals are sold to the Wu Shi in Liu Zhou City, while the higher-grade goods are sent to the Ye Fu for smelting and storage.

  Warlocks craft glyphs, weapons and talismans at a significant resource cost.

  Grey Eagle Ye Lun, in charge of the Wu Bei Ge, held a large black banner that was actually the witch treasure, called the Mother-Child Hundred Ghosts Banner. It had cost 500 catties of top-grade fine jade and 200 catties of gold thread carefully ground by skilled craftsmen. The banner pole was forged from hundreds of catties of high-quality steel.

  Ye Fan was originally a demonic path expert in Liu Zhou, and to refine the Child-Mother Hundred Ghosts Flag, he actually spent a huge amount of money to buy 99 boys and 99 girls, killing them all, taking their souls, and putting them into the flag, day and night, making offerings and refining.

  He was too evil, and in the end, it was Ye Suidao, the master of the mansion, who took action and subdued him, ordering him to take care of the Wu Bei Pavilion.

  This black flag weighs at least a thousand catties, ordinary martial arts masters can't even lift it up, and if they are lightly pressed by the black flag, their bones will be broken and their tendons will be torn!

  The large black flag in Ye Fan's hand was only the lowest level of witch treasure, and compared to other high-end witch treasures, the resources consumed were not many.

  Therefore, the Liu state's Wu Huang aristocratic families often occupy one or two mines, firmly grasping resources in their own hands. Those responsible for managing these storefronts are also all stewards of the Ye family's inner court, loyal to the Ye family with utmost sincerity.

  As for the other two major families of wizards in Liuzhou City, they also have similar industries, but on a slightly smaller scale.

  Every year, the three major families would fight over the mine resources, and even the Wu Shi would participate in it!

  Even so, the witch treasures in Liuzhou City are not many, and the three major witch families have a total of no more than ten pieces, which can be seen as precious and rare.

  The three major families mainly operated jade, gold and iron, leaving room for other scattered businesses to survive, so the commerce of Liuzhou City was still quite prosperous.

  Su Jiaojiao pulled his hand, excitedly strolling around the street, and the exquisite clothing and accessories of each family made this little girl linger. Although she was not very old, she had already begun to develop physically and was charming, her figure more attractive than those of girls in their prime.

  Ye Xuan secretly pinched his own purse, and let out a bitter laugh. During the period when his meridians were destroyed and he was unable to cultivate, he had spent all his money on inviting doctors to treat his illness. Even Su Jiaojiao had pawned her own jewelry and changed into simple clothes, looking like a young lady from a humble family.

  Now he has only a few taels of loose silver in his purse, not even enough to buy her a decent piece of jewelry.

  From now on, I will rise again from the east mountain and never let Qiaoqiao suffer again... Ye Xu thought to himself.

  Su Qiaoqiao stood by him through thick and thin, devoting herself to him wholeheartedly. The two relied on each other for survival in their predicament, sharing a bond that outsiders couldn't possibly understand.

  Su Jiaojiao strolled for a while, turned her head and saw Ye Xu being left far behind, just about to turn back to look for him, when a piercing voice suddenly came from the front.

  "Isn't this Jojo? How come you're dressed like a beggar and still dare to go out on the streets?"

  Su Jiaojiao looked up and saw a girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a beautiful dress, standing not far away, looking her up and down with a proud and mocking expression.

  The clothes on her body were luxurious and extravagant, any one of which was more expensive than all the clothes Su Jiaojiao had put together!

  Next to her stood a lazy youth, thirteen or fourteen years old, surrounded by three or four girls in fine clothes, like stars surrounding the moon, looking very comfortable.

  That lazy young man saw Su Qiaoqiao's appearance, his eyes lit up involuntarily, and he whispered to the woman in fine clothes.

  "Zi Juan sister, Ninth Master..."

  Su Qiaoqiao was slightly stunned, this woman was none other than the maid Zixia who had served Ye Xu with her before. Later, after Ye Xu's cultivation was abolished and she was demoted to a slave, Zixia and another two maidservants took some of Ye Xu's belongings and fled to that lazy young master, Ye Jia's ninth young master Ye Jian.

  Zi Juan and Ye Jian whispered to each other for a few sentences, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly burst out laughing: "Qiao Qiao, are you still following that useless young master? Let me tell you some good news, the Ninth Master has taken a liking to you. Why don't you leave that useless person and come serve the Ninth Master instead? Once the Ninth Master takes your body, you'll become his concubine, and your status will increase exponentially. You might even be able to sit on an equal footing with me!"

  Ye family's young disciples, due to years of martial arts training, developed physically early. Ye Jian, although a few months younger than Ye Xu, was already knowledgeable about worldly matters and often fooled around with the maidservants, sleeping together under the same blanket.

  Zi Juan fled to Ye Jian and was taken to bed by him the next day to serve as a concubine.

  In the Ye Manor, many of the younger generation of the imperial clan led extremely dissolute private lives, and it wasn't just Ye Jian who was like this. Only Ye Xu was infatuated with martial arts, and Zi Juan had tried to seduce him several times, but he had ignored her each time.

  Su Jiaojiao had also heard about this matter, her face suddenly turned red, and she spat: "Shameless..."

  Zi Juan's face turned red with rage, and she coldly sneered: "You cheap thing, it's your honor that Master Jiuzi has taken a liking to you, don't be so shameless!" After speaking, she raised her hand and slapped Su Qiaoqiao's face fiercely!

  She had been practicing martial arts since she was a child, and although it was the lowest level of martial arts in the Ye Manor, she thought to herself that she was still much stronger than Su Jiao Jiao, who never liked to practice martial arts.

  But before her palm could even fall, a small and tender hand suddenly landed on her face!

  Bang!

  The sound is crisp and loud!

  The magpie was stunned, and five bright red finger marks appeared on its face.

  Su Jiaojiao was also stunned, staring blankly at her own palm. When she saw Zi Juan rushing towards her, she instinctively slapped back without thinking, but unexpectedly, this slap landed on Zi Juan's face a step ahead of time.

  This palm was passed down by Ye Xuan's Butterfly Hand, which is known for its swiftness in the Ye family's martial arts.

  "The martial arts that Young Master passed on to me are indeed very powerful!" Su Jiao Jiao was both surprised and delighted, her heart greatly settled.

  "You dare hit me?!"

  The purple sparrow was both ashamed and angry, raised her hand again, but before it fell, another slap sounded, and she was slapped in the face again!

  Zi Juan swung her hand again, and another slap landed on her face. Only then did she realize that Su Qiaoqiao was able to hit her not by luck, but through the hard work of these short ten or so days, this little girl's strength had already far surpassed her own!

  Su Jiaojiao's movements became more and more fluent, and in the blink of an eye, she had already landed a dozen or so butterfly-like palm strikes.

  "Master Jiuye, you must take charge for me!" Zi Juan turned around and knelt down in front of Ye Jian, her originally beautiful face swollen like a pig's head as she tearfully pleaded.

  Ye Jianling let out a cold snort, waved his hand to push her away, and slowly walked towards Su Qiaoqiao, sneering: "Dare to hit my woman, little girl, you're quite in need of discipline!"

  Su Jiao's eyes were in a flurry, somewhat timid, she could beat Zi Juan, but was far from being Ye Jian's opponent. Zi Juan had only practiced shallow martial arts, while Ye Jian was a master of the Tianming Cultivation Technique!

  "However, I, young master, like to tame a little woman with an attitude like yours..."

  Ye Jian licked his lips, let out a sinister laugh, and raised his hand to slap Su Qiaoqiao's face. Before he could land the blow, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew in his face, and with a loud crack, his own face was slapped with great force!

  The power of this palm was so strong that it actually made him spin around in place for four or five circles before he barely managed to stop!

  Only a familiar voice softly laughed and said: "Dare to hit my woman, Ninth Master, you're quite in need of discipline. However... I like disciplining this kind of obedient little man."