LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 322 - 0321: Seven Great Families (Three more)_1
Chapter 322: Chapter 0321: Seven Great Families (Three more)_1
“`
By noon, when they descended the mountain, the three women were exhausted beyond words.
The four people found a restaurant, and they feasted to their hearts’ content.
After satisfying their hunger, the three women seemed to be fully reenergized and ready to start shopping at the mall.
The shopping trip was a spur-of-the-moment decision because Yang Xinyi saw in her social circle that there was a one-day-only event at the mall on Saturday, with a 20% discount on everything.
Hearing about the shopping plan, Ye Xiong immediately objected—not because he was afraid of spending money, but because he dreaded being used as a beast of burden.
Unfortunately, his objections were in vain.
Never underestimate a woman’s desire for a good deal; Ye Xiong would rather spend a hundred thousand than squeeze into a crowded place. Yet the three women were extremely excited about their purchases—buying items worth a thousand for eight hundred, and they were delighted beyond words.
It was because of these bargain-hunting women that the mall made a huge profit today.
Never underestimate the madness of women shopping.
By evening, the trunk of Ye Xiong’s car was packed full, even though he knew that many of the items might end up unopened in some corner.
Women shop not because they like it but because they are after a bargain or just to join in the excitement.
They enjoy the process of shopping, not necessarily the items themselves.
When he got home that night, Ye Xiong was too tired to function; frightened of being pushed further, he immediately set an alarm and then pretended to take a phone call, seriously stating that he had to leave for Capital City the next day.
After hearing that, Yang Yueru and Tang Ning were very sorry, while Yang Xinyi felt quite disappointed.
Early the next morning, Ye Xiong returned to the company and had He Mengji take over his duties, telling her to get ready to set off. Then, he chose his travel companions for this mission.
He Mengji couldn’t go, as she had to stay and manage the headquarters. With Phoenix gone and Chen Xiao on another assignment, his best choice was the An Family Sisters.
“An Le, come to my office with your sister,” Ye Xiong phoned An Le.
A moment later, the twin sisters arrived.
“I’m getting ready for a mission, and you two will come with me. Go pack your things; we’re leaving immediately,” Ye Xiong said.
“What kind of mission?” the sisters asked, startled.
“We’re heading to the Lingnan Sect to track down Mr. Ghost’s whereabouts. Right now, Ghost is very likely receiving treatment from Mr. Ghost, and our mission is to take Ghost down,” Ye Xiong explained.
“Can we not go?” Angel asked timidly.
“What do you think?” Ye Xiong asked back.
“Then, during the mission, are you going to take advantage of us?” Angel asked.
Ye Xiong was left speechless, wondering why everyone treated him as if he was led by his lower half.
“Go pack your things; we’re leaving immediately,” Ye Xiong said sternly.
At two in the afternoon, the three of them took a car to the province and then a plane towards Lingnan.
The Lingnan Sect was universally known in the southern region of Huaxia.
“`
That was a representative of traditional Southern Chinese medicine, the highest level of medical excellence throughout the Lingnan region.
The Lingnan Sect, originally named the Lingnan Lineage, does not refer to a single sect but to the collective term for the Seven Great Families that represent the medical path of Lingnan.
These seven families are respectively the Mukong Family, the Situ Family, the Shangguan Family, the Ouyang Family, the Du Mu Family, the Southern Palace Family, and the Gongsun Family.
All Seven Great Families have compound surnames, as it was rumored the founding patriarch particularly favored compound surnames, thus all of his disciples’ names were changed accordingly, and the convention was passed down through the generations.
These families delve deeply into traditional Chinese medicine, particularly famous in the acupuncture field throughout the Huaxia region, with the most renowned being the legendary Nine Acupoint Divine Needles.
The Nine Acupoint Divine Needles, needling a specific acupoint to treat a specific disease, are regarded as supremely divine throughout the world.
Originally one lineage, the Seven Great Families of Lingnan later split into seven, with the ancestors’ intention being to enhance and glorify the Nine Acupoint Divine Needles through competition.
Every five years, the Seven Great Families would hold a Divine Doctor Exchange Congress.
Anyone over the age of eighteen and under fifty and belonging to the Lingnan lineage could potentially participate.
The one who emerged victorious would be that session’s Lingnan Divine Doctor.
The title of Lingnan Divine Doctor is not a personal accolade but an honor, awarded to the one with the highest medical skill in that session.
The Murong Family had already won the title of Lingnan Divine Doctor for three consecutive sessions, as a medical prodigy of unparalleled talent, Murong Feng, emerged from their ranks; starting from the age of thirty, he won the title in three consecutive sessions.
Now, at forty-five, Murong Feng was soon to welcome another session of the Lingnan Divine Doctor Exchange Congress. If he secured first place once more, he would become the longest-reigning holder of the title in the Lingnan lineage, for an entire twenty years.
On the road, Ye Xiong gave the An Family Sisters, Angel and An Le, an overview of the Lingnan Sect’s Seven Great Families and the mission at hand.
“Master, how are we supposed to find Mr. Ghost?” Angel asked.
“In this Lingnan Sect, with the Seven Great Families, so many people, how can we know which one is Mr. Ghost?” An Le also seemed puzzled.
“An Le, you’ve worked with Ghost before, so you should know his standards for choosing people, right?” Ye Xiong asked in return.
“Ghost has very high standards for selecting people, even his disciples, without ability, one finds it hard to catch his Dharma Eye,” An Le replied.
“I’ve found that Ghost values Mr. Ghost highly, which means that within the Lingnan Sect, Mr. Ghost, even if not someone of very high status, must be a person with exceptional medical skill. I surmise that it’s highly possible he’s the head of one of the families.”
“Even if he is a family head, within the Lingnan Sect, there are Seven Great Families. How would we know which family he belongs to?” An Le asked.
“Among the Seven Great Families, the Murong Family has been securing the title of Lingnan Divine Doctor for three sessions, and their champion Murong Feng is a man of strong character and patriotic spirit; he wouldn’t betray his country, so he couldn’t be Mr. Ghost. The Nangong Family is an all-women clan, taking only female disciples, so their head, Nangong Yu, couldn’t be Mr. Ghost either. The head of the Situ Family, Situ Weiming, is a short man under one meter sixty, and according to our information, Mr. Ghost’s height is approximately between one meter seventy-two and one meter seventy-six, leaving only four suspects: Du Mu Kuang of the Du Mu Family, Gongsun Yang of the Gongsun Family, Ouyang Tian of the Ouyang Family, and Shangguan Jinhong of the Shangguan Family,” Ye Xiong analyzed.
Luckily, the An Family Sisters had familiarized themselves with the information of the Seven Great Families on their way; otherwise, just remembering these compound surnames would be headache-inducing.
“What do we do now? Should we infiltrate these four families one by one to investigate?” Angel asked.
“If the other party is really Mr. Ghost, they won’t let us investigate them so easily,” An Le stated.
“I have another clue; Ghost’s daughter was once severely wounded by me, and Mr. Ghost went to treat her. If we can determine which head of a family was absent during that time, that person will become a prime suspect.”
“It’s been such a long time; is it really that easy to find out?”
“This is a long-term mission; we can’t rush it. Let’s first find a foothold in Lingnan and then proceed with the investigation slowly,” Ye Xiong suggested.