"Afan, I've heard that you ranked first in the Heroes League in this investigation of the Evil Spirits."
After talking about zombies, Xia Qiusheng fixed his eyes on his nephew and said happily, "You've done a meritorious deed in the investigation of the Evil Spirits. As your uncle, I'm also proud."
Seeing that Xia Qiusheng was looking at him with surprise and gratification, but there was also a trace of strangeness in his eyes, Lin Fan smiled honestly and said, "Uncle, actually, it's just that my results are good, not that I'm strong. It's just that I'm more sensitive to ghosts and monsters. Maybe this is the sixth sense that people often talk about."
"Oh, is that so?" Xia Qiusheng's eyes immediately lit up. "That's great. Afan, you have such a keen sense of perception that you can avoid danger as much as possible and save your life. You don't know how many martial arts experts have died because they couldn't detect the Evil Spirits in time. In fact, those ghosts and monsters aren't that powerful. What's terrifying about them is that they can hide their tracks and even turn invisible. Often, it's already too late by the time you discover them …"
"Well." Lin Fan smiled happily. "Uncle, I guess it won't be long before I can be promoted to an elite disciple … At that time, I'll be taught by a more powerful master. Who do you think I should be taught by …"
Xia Qiusheng was also quite gratified when he heard this. He pondered for a while and said, "It'll be great if you can be taught by the two deputy leaders, but ordinary elite disciples won't be accepted by them at all. The Four Great Protectors below them won't take disciples. Then there are the Seven Great Elders. Among the Seven Great Elders, the Great Elder Li Qingyuan has the highest cultivation and is respected by all. He's also my teacher and we have a master-disciple relationship. So if he wants to teach you, don't hesitate …"
Lin Fan said, "Does Leader Dinghaitian take disciples?"
Xia Qiusheng said, "Dinghai Tian also has apprentices, but he doesn't have many. He'd rather have none than have too many. It's good enough if he has one apprentice in a year. The key is that the competition is too fierce and vicious. Sometimes it's even accompanied by assassination. So I don't want you to become his apprentice …"
"The tallest tree in the forest will be destroyed by the wind." Xia Qiusheng sighed. "Lin Fan, remember Uncle's words. Sometimes, people's hearts are more poisonous than ghosts!"
Lin Fan nodded. "I understand."
While they were talking, the carriage was already far away from the city. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they passed by a village. They saw a row of county soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the village, inspecting the passing carriages. Xia Qiusheng and Lin Fan got off the carriage to be inspected. After Xia Qiusheng reported his name and identity, the head of the county soldiers saw that he was the Deputy Hall Chief of the Haitian Gang. He was very polite and immediately let them pass.
Xia Qiusheng made a fist salute to the head of the county soldiers. "Officer, may I ask what happened in this village?"
The officer looked a little shy, but he still lowered his voice and said to Xia Qiusheng, "It's all because of hairy zombies. They pretended to be humans and took advantage of the situation."
Xia Qiusheng nodded and didn't ask any more questions. When officers handled cases, they always kept it confidential. Although the head of the county soldiers' words were vague, he still revealed a lot. If he wasn't the Deputy Hall Chief of the Haitian Gang, he probably wouldn't have said anything.
After they got on the carriage, it continued to move forward. When they passed by the village, they heard two families crying. Obviously, they were the family members who had suffered.
The county soldiers surrounded them and were investigating.
"Alas, it's really not safe outside the city now. Even hairy zombies dare to take advantage of the situation in broad daylight." Xia Qiusheng shook his head and sighed.
Lin Fan said, "Hairy zombies dare to disguise themselves as humans and enter the village to harm the people in broad daylight. The bronze-armored zombies are even more aggressive and unbridled."
Xia Qiusheng said, "Well, compared to hairy zombies, bronze-armored zombies have degraded hair and their skin is more human-like. It's easier to disguise and harder to identify. Therefore, it's possible for them to come out during the day. We have to speed up." As he spoke, he told the disciple driving the carriage in front, "Speed up. We must reach Sanmiao Village within two hours."
Xia Qiusheng and Lin Fan were both martial artists at the Outer Forging Level, so they weren't afraid of bumps. Under Xia Qiusheng's repeated urging, the disciple driving the carriage sped up.
Before noon, they had arrived at Sanmiao Village.
From afar, they saw that Sanmiao Village was peaceful and nothing unusual had happened. Both uncle and nephew heaved a sigh of relief. However, before they saw Lin Haishan and his wife, they still couldn't completely relax, so they hurried into the village.
Xia Qiusheng's parents died early, and his sister Xia Cuilan was his only close relative in this world. Therefore, his worries were no less than Lin Fan's.
The carriage entered the village. Under the villagers' envious gazes and the children's cries, they arrived at the front of the Lin family's courtyard.
In the courtyard, Lin Haishan and Xia Cuilan saw a luxurious carriage stop in front of their house. Their faces showed surprise and confusion, and they stood there with their hands and feet tied. It wasn't until they saw Xia Qiusheng and Lin Fan get down from the carriage that the confusion on their faces disappeared and was replaced by surprise, excitement, and a little disbelief.
They had lived in Sanmiao Village for half their lives, but they had never seen anyone drive such a luxurious carriage home to visit their relatives.
If this luxurious carriage had been placed in the relatively poor mountain village of Lin Fan's previous life, it would undoubtedly be a Porsche.
"Adai, my Adai is back!"
Lin Haishan shouted loudly, and excitedly ran out to hug his son. Then, he tried to carry his son as usual, but he suddenly found that his son had become much heavier, and the large knife hanging from his waist caused him to feel a burst of pain.
Finally, he gave up on the idea of carrying his son. He released his son and carefully sized him up. "Taller, fatter, sturdier …"
Then, he glanced at the large knife hanging from his son's waist and smiled. "You've learned martial arts, right?"
Lin Fan nodded. At this time, Xia Cuilan also ran over and hugged him.
Tears came out.
Seeing this, Xia Qiusheng looked dissatisfied. "Sister, Brother-in-law, I'm also your relative. You should at least look at me and consider my feelings, right?"
Xia Cuilan looked at her younger brother and saw that he was like a child competing with his nephew for attention. She glared at him and immediately burst into laughter. "How old are you? Why are you still acting like a child …"
Lin Haishan, however, opened his arms and hugged Xia Qiusheng. He smiled and said, "Let me hug my Qiusheng … Let me get some of Qiusheng's official aura …"
"Go away, go away. You stink of sweat …" Xia Qiusheng pushed Lin Haishan away, and then smiled. He pointed to the carriage and said, "Brother-in-law, what do you think of my carriage?"
"Oh, this carriage is not bad." Lin Haishan's eyes lit up. "Qiusheng, is this your carriage?
Why didn't you bring it back last time? "
Lin Fan said, "Uncle has been promoted to Deputy Hall Chief. The gang gave him a special carriage. It's so cool."
"Promoted again. Good news." Lin Haishan's face was full of joy, and then he looked at his son. "Qiusheng, you've been promoted again and again. With Adai following you, he won't be bad in the future, right?"
At this time, the villagers gathered around and looked at them with envy. Xia Cuilan rolled her eyes at her husband. "Didn't Qiusheng remind us last time that we can't call him Adai anymore? We should call him Lin Fan."
Lin Haishan patted his forehead and laughed at himself. "Look at my memory."
Xia Qiusheng said, "Don't worry, Sister, Brother-in-law. Afan is very smart and hardworking. To be honest, he's better than I thought. He's now an inner disciple and will soon become an elite disciple. His future is better than mine. Just wait and see."
Hearing this, Lin Haishan and his wife broke into a wide grin.
Their faces were full of relief.
The surrounding villagers were envious. The friends who grew up with Lin Fan in the village all looked at Lin Fan with envy and fear.
They were afraid of the big saber hanging on his waist, and they were also envious of the big saber hanging on his waist. They also wanted to practice martial arts and have a big saber of their own like Lin Fan. They also wanted to go to the city and become a disciple of the gang. They wanted to live a good life every day …
"There's one more thing that you won't believe if you hear it," Xia Qiusheng said, "Afan saved enough money to buy you a house in the county. He came back this time to take you to the city …"
Lin Haishan and his wife's eyes and mouths widened when they heard this, but they couldn't say a word. They really couldn't believe it.
At this time, the villagers were even more envious. Even at this time, someone asked, "Qiusheng, can we make a lot of money if we join the gang?"
Xia Qiusheng said, "You can't make a lot of money if you join the gang. You can't find another person like Lin Fan who can make a lot of money in the whole gang."
"It doesn't matter if you can make money or not. Qiusheng, recruit my San Wazi into your gang. You can even pay him some money."
"Brother Haishan, when your family moves into the city, won't you find a maid to serve you? Let my Qiuxia be your maid. I don't want money. I'll just give her a meal." A middle-aged man pulled a thin girl of 11 or 12 years old to Lin Haishan.
"Sister Cuilan, your family's Lin Fan should also find a wife. Do you think my Xueyan is suitable? I don't want a betrothal gift. It doesn't matter if there's a banquet or not, as long as she can go into the city with you …" A woman pulled a beautiful girl of 14 or 15 years old to Xia Cuilan, and then said to Lin Fan, "Adai, uh, Lin Fan, you and Xueyan have been together since young. My Xueyan has always missed you."
Lin Fan glanced at Feng Xueyan. This girl was picky in the village. She had both a face and a figure. She was a real beauty.
However, he had only seen Feng Xueyan before leaving the village. As for what happened when they were young, he had no memory of it at all.
He guessed that Xue Yan's mother wanted to marry her daughter to him because she wanted her daughter to go into the city. In fact, not to mention in this village where there was no safety, during the high-risk period of the zombie uprising, even if there were no such dangerous factors, with Lin Fan's current condition, the Feng family's daughter would be of a higher social status.
This seemed a little exaggerated, but in fact, it was completely reasonable.
Now, not to mention the remote villages, there were a lot of people who were forced to sell their children every day on the streets of the county town.