Bring a scumbag girl to bully me, and you are afraid of using modern weapons.

Xie Jinglan was delighted when she heard this. "Since it's a spirit beast, let Qing'er sign a contract with it!"

The spirit beast possesses extraordinary strength and speed, and has various magical abilities. If Qing'er can successfully sign a contract with it, no matter whether he faces dangers or challenges from the outside world in the future, ordinary people will find it difficult to hurt him. This is undoubtedly an extremely reliable and powerful guarantee for his younger brother, and his family will have less worries when he goes out in the future.

"Yes, we can." Zong Zhengyi picked up the little fox spirit and said, "Let them sign an equal contract!"

"Equal contract?" Xie Jinglan was stunned.

She knew that an equal contract meant that one could not force the other party to do anything, nor could one harm the other party, which was the same as a friendship.

But aren't spirit beast contracts usually between master and servant? This way, the spirit beast will obey its master's orders.

Beitang Yuan and Xie Wanying also looked at Zong Zhengyi, both puzzled.

"The Spirit Fox Clan has a powerful bloodline and extraordinary abilities. This red fox was born not long ago. If Qing'er were to enter into a master-servant contract with it now, firstly, the Spirit Fox's abilities would be restricted, slowing its growth. Secondly, if the Spirit Fox's abilities surpass Qing'er's in the future, Qing'er would be unable to control it and would suffer backlash.

Of course, if Qing'er becomes stronger than the fox spirit in the future, we can sign another contract." Zong Zhengyi explained to them.

After hearing what he said, everyone understood.

"Qing'er, close your eyes and make seals with your hands." Zong Zhengyi said.

Xie Yunqing did as he was told, made hand seals and closed his eyes.

"I swear by my life that I will form an equal contract with you, sharing life and death with you."

At this moment, a mysterious light flashed between Xie Yunqing and the red fox, connecting the two together.

Suddenly, a strange feeling came from Xie Yunqing's heart, and he could clearly feel the presence of the red fox in his mind.

The contract was concluded successfully, and there was a small fox mark on Xie Yunqing's palm.

"Okay."

"Thank you, Grandpa." Xie Yunqing was very happy after contracting the spirit beast, and kept calling Zong Zhengyi "Grandpa".

Xie Wanying blushed and put the red fox on the table next to her. "Let's eat first."

However, Xie Yunqing was unaware of the subtle relationships between the adults. He climbed over to the seat next to Zong Zhengyi and asked, "Grandfather, I heard you're the Second Elder of the Xuanji Sect and are incredibly powerful. Can you teach Qing'er? I want to be as powerful as you when I grow up."

"Sure." Zong Zhengyi didn't seem to be very good at communicating with children, and his answers were just a few concise words.

"Qing'er, stop making trouble with your grandfather and have your meal." Xie Jinglan took a bowl and scooped a small bowl of soup for Zong Zhengyi and placed it in front of him.

Hearing her call "Grandpa", Xie Wanying looked over helplessly.

This dinner was a joyful one for everyone as Qing'er was there.

After dinner, Xie Jinglan saw that Zong Zhengyi had no intention of leaving, so she tactfully took her brother away, allowing the two to resolve their previous misunderstanding.

Now that they are facing a powerful enemy, I hope they can put aside their past grudges and work together to rescue their parents as soon as possible.

After returning to Qingyun Pavilion, Xie Jinglan took her brother into the space and gave the remaining spirit stones to the little red fox.

The little red fox is too weak now and needs to be fed with spirit stones so that Qing'er can be protected as soon as possible.

It seems that she has to go to Mincheng again to get some more spirit stones.

At Zhongli Xiao's suggestion, Xie Jinglan and Beitang Yuan stayed on Linggun Mountain for the time being to see the direction of the world.

However, after five days, news came back from all over the place that Shura Sect and other sects, as well as Luofeng Kingdom and Nanyang Kingdom were all calm, as if they had reached some kind of tacit understanding.

That morning, Beitang Yuan came back and told Xie Jinglan that the pills she had given to her master and the elders had been stolen again.

"Very good." Xie Jinglan smiled coldly.

She has poisoned those pills with Hundred Days' Laughter, and anyone who eats them will suffer from unbearable pain all over the body. This is going to be a good show to watch.

"Did you see who took the pill?"

"No, I asked everyone to withdraw, just to let that person take the pill without worry." Beitang Yuan said.

Instead of catching the thief, it is better to let him take the poison pill. When the poison takes effect on him, we will know who did it.

Two days passed like this, and there was still no news from the martial arts world. Beitang Yuan temporarily returned to Yuyong Kingdom because of matters in the court.

Xie Jinglan went to find Zhong Lixiao and decided to take the initiative. Since they wanted peace, she was determined to stir up the situation.

The purpose of those people kidnapping my mother was to cut her blood. If they continue to wait like this, it will only allow those people to refine more elixirs of resurrection and immortality.

The emperor of Luofeng Kingdom promised Zhan Zhang to protect the Zhan family, wasn’t it just for the elixir of immortality?

The Emperor of Nanyang Kingdom also wanted her blood, so that Beitang Hui could return to Yuyong Kingdom without having to conspire with Empress Zhangsun to kill Beitang Yuan.

"What do you want to do?" Zhong Lixiao's face was gloomy.

"I want to go to Mincheng again." She said, "Both the Cao and Cheng families have problems. I want to start with these two families."

The Cao family has spiritual stones and is related to the middle world; while the Cheng family is very likely to be related to the Netherworld Palace.

They recalled what Zhan Zhang said before he died. She now suspected that the Zhan family was just a chess piece they pushed out, and the people who were secretly manipulating all this behind the scenes also had a part in these two families.

These two families act so low-key yet still make a lot of money. They must have some connections with certain forces outside. They will get nothing if they wait any longer.

Zhongli Xiao stood with his hands behind his back, looking out the window, pondered for a moment, and nodded.

Xie Jinglan left that night.

Mincheng.

After the Zhan family was wiped out, the Xiao family was also forced to leave. Mincheng was in panic for a period of time. After all, the commotion that day was too terrifying, and so many people died.

But soon the court of Luofeng Kingdom sent people to put everything of the Zhan and Xiao families into the national treasury.

I thought that with such a big incident happening, the imperial army would carry out some reorganization in Mincheng.

However, the opposite is true!

Mu Wenye came here again and not only restored all the illegal industries of the Zhan family, but also changed the appearance of the Xiao family's shops, turning them into smoky and foul places.

There were gambling houses, brothels, and a large underground black market.

The black market is full of all kinds of shady transactions, such as the business that the Nether Palace can do, killing people, buying lives, and completing tasks. As long as you can afford to pay the commission in silver, you can trade there.

Xie Jinglan was wearing ordinary clothes and a fake leather mask. She was sitting in a wonton stall, eating the wontons in her bowl while listening to people's discussions and sneering in her heart.

Is Mu Wenye jealous of the business of the Zhan, Cao, and Cheng families and wants to steal their jobs?