Chapter 153: Chapter 85: Crisis and Opportunity

Time passed.

The situation in Songyi City was becoming increasingly tense, and even the commoners sensed something was amiss.

The conflicts between the three major gangs intensified significantly.

The Feihong Gang and the Nine-Star Gang gradually retracted their forces, abandoning most of their territories outside the city, consolidating wealth, and preparing to move their entire families to other cities.

The families backing these two major forces had few members in the city guard, making it relatively easy for them to disengage and leave. However, the Xing Family was deeply tied to the city guard and couldn’t easily extricate themselves.

But this wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

This turmoil was both a crisis and an opportunity for the Xing Family.

As long as they won this battle and secured Songyi City, after annexing the properties of other families, the Xing Family would become the only influential family in Songyi City!

The spring breeze blew.

All things revived.

Yet, in people’s hearts, it felt even more desolate than in the cold winter.

There were few pedestrians on the streets, and Hundred Flavors Street lost its usual bustling atmosphere, with many stalls closed down.

In Bidan Tea House.

The tea house business was extremely quiet.

Over the past ten or so days, rumors had spread about Baohe City being captured by rebel forces.

Now, people inside the city were in a state of panic, with few in the mood or with spare money to listen to storytelling.

“Sigh…”

Mr. Wo let out a sigh, his chubby face looking extremely haggard.

As an ordinary person facing wartime chaos, his best choice was to stay put in the city.

Following the trend and fleeing carried great risks, with the highest possibility of becoming a refugee or ending up dead at the hands of bandits.

Even if one managed to reach another city, finding a job to support a family wouldn’t be easy.

“Stop sighing, I’ve heard it so much my ears have grown calluses. Here, have a drink to lift your spirits,” Xie Jiang said with a smile, pouring Mr. Wo a cup of wine.

“What do you think about the proposal last time? Are you interested in leaving with the Feihong Gang and heading to Bafang City?”

“Bafang City is far more prosperous than Songyi City. With your abilities, finding a job to make a living there should be quite easy,” Lin Zheyu said, looking at Wo Yinghe.

Brother Han’s situation was sensitive, and he couldn’t leave early, so he could only do whatever was within his power.

Wo Yinghe, as an ordinary person, would find it quite straightforward to leave.

As a member of the Feihong Gang, Lin Zheyu could take his family with him. Although he had no family, he could offer the place to Mr. Wo.

He didn’t have many friends in Songyi City; Jia Yanrong and some others were good hands in the Feihong Gang, so they didn’t need this opportunity.

“It’s not that easy; most people affected by the conflict have moved their families to Bafang City, and it’s probably in chaos now.”

“Going there may not necessarily be more comfortable than staying in Songyi City.”

Wo Yinghe shook his head, looking quite conflicted.

There were many strange rumors these days.

People were spreading that the rebel forces were a just army here to eliminate the tyranny of Great Wei, to free people from the oppression and exploitation of families and officials!

To make life fairer and more prosperous.

Wo Yinghe didn’t know whether to believe it. If the rebel forces were truly righteous, then staying in Songyi City might not be a bad choice.

“There’s still plenty of time, so think it over slowly,” Lin Zheyu said, patting Wo Yinghe on the shoulder.

“The evacuation plan for leaving Songyi City has been released. There are three stages in total. The first batch to leave are family members of the influential families, and we aren’t included.”

Lin Zheyu looked at Jia Yanrong and the others as he spoke.

Actually, he could have left with the first batch, but Lin Zheyu refused because he wanted to stay in Songyi City a while longer.

For ordinary people, the loss of order meant danger.

But for someone like him with second-stage Qi Blood, the loss of order meant opportunity.

The more chaotic things got, the more chances he had to fish in troubled waters.

“The second batch will leave when the rebel forces launch an attack on Guanning City. This group includes the families of those gang members who want to leave with the Feihong Gang. The specific timing will be announced later.”

“The third batch will leave before the rebel forces attack Songyi City. At this time, except for a few members, everyone else will evacuate Songyi City.”

Lin Zheyu explained the evacuation arrangements to them.

Although there was a plan to evacuate, these influential families hadn’t completely abandoned their businesses in Songyi City.

The businesses in Songyi City were the result of generations of effort from these families. After abandoning them and moving to another city, reaching the same level of prosperity would be nearly impossible.

If they could regain even twenty to thirty percent of their vitality, they would consider themselves lucky.

They planned to gradually evacuate, slowly giving up some interests. Even if Songyi City was eventually secured, the losses wouldn’t be too severe.

However, the Xing Family probably wouldn’t let them have their way and might create obstacles.

“Notify everyone later to collect a list of those willing to evacuate with us,” Lin Zheyu instructed them.

“Got it!”

Jia Yanrong and the others nodded in agreement.

After finishing the last bit of wine in the jug, they went to gather the gang members and collect information.

Back in the courtyard.

As usual, Lin Zheyu began his cultivation.

In the past ten or so days, his skills had seen tremendous improvement, and he was not far from reaching Seventh-Layer Perfection.

Swish, swish, swish.

In the courtyard, blades of light flashed, and the long saber in Lin Zheyu’s hand moved with skillful precision.

After months of hard practice, he was also nearing Perfection in the Six Harmonies Blade.

However, achieving Perfection in saber skills didn’t significantly boost Lin Zheyu’s combat ability.

His main combat method now was to rely on his far superior Lightweight Skill, using it in conjunction with his saber skills.

Even with average saber skills, under the mastery of the Golden Swan Skill, his attacks could unleash terrifying power.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep