Chapter 15: Watch, Be on Guard, or Kill

"Spiritual infant statue?"

Li Che's eyes were extremely cold, as expected...

Even though they moved into Xu's Woodcarving Shop and were protected by Xu, they still couldn't completely avoid the Lingying Cult's coveting of Xixi! The Lingying Cult showed up right after the birthday party!

"The ghost is still there..."

Li Che clenched his fists, murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

However, thinking back to the figure that had just disappeared, his brows furrowed.

"This spirit infant statue has not appeared since our family moved into the Xu family compound, but it appeared today... The only outsiders it has come into contact with are the servants and cooks we hired from Chunfeng Tower."

"However, these helpers and cooks have long been sent out of Xu's compound by Steward Sun and are not allowed to stay. Therefore, we can rule them out. There are many masters in the surrounding courtyards. They are powerful and have sharp perceptions...but the other party was able to hide the Spirit Infant Statue from them and placed it in front of my courtyard..."

Li Che took a deep breath and felt that the wind and snow between heaven and earth were a little colder.

A hint of fierceness was reflected in the dark pupils.

"That is to say... this Lingying Sect member... is likely an acquaintance of Xu's Woodcarving Shop!"

There are people from the Lingying Sect in Xu's Woodcarving Shop! The chill seemed to penetrate into his body through his pores at this moment.

"This possibility... is very, very high!"

"I was a little careless... Is there any place that is absolutely safe?"

Li Che shook his head and stared at the staring wooden sculpture of a spirit infant on the ground with a cold expression on his face: "There is someone from the Spirit Infant Cult in the woodcarving shop... who could it be?"

Many faces flashed through Li Che's mind, but in the end he still couldn't be sure.

Shaking his head, Li Che grabbed the wooden sculpture with its eyes wide open on the ground. His energy and blood surged out from under his skin. His five fingers suddenly glowed with golden light. With a "pop", the wooden sculpture was instantly crushed to pieces.

"I will find you..."

"Don't underestimate the determination of a father who protects his father."

…

…

"The spirit infant statue...appeared outside your courtyard?"

The next day, Chen Dabao, who had slept soundly all night, suddenly froze when he heard Li Che's words.

"Do you suspect that there will be followers of the Spirit Infant Cult in the woodcarving shop?"

Chen Dabao narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice.

Li Che nodded, but he couldn't guess who it was.

"It is indeed very likely that he will appear outside the Xuji compound, even in the outer city, which is not an easy task..."

"The followers of the Spirit Infant Cult have long since spread throughout Feilei City. If someone in the shop becomes a follower, it's hard to say for sure."

"No, it should be said that it is bound to happen. If the Lingying Sect... wants to shake the rule of the major powerful families in Feilei City, it must place people there, and faith erosion is indeed the most effective way."

Old Chen said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, I will check it out. It's not difficult to find out... It's not easy to hide as a follower of the Lingying Sect. If I find out, I will tell you as soon as possible. You should also keep an eye on it and be on guard against it."

"The third shopkeeper was sent out of the city to clear out the evil things in the strange temple. During this period of time... there is actually no one in charge of the shop. This is also the best time for the other party to take action."

"But even if I really know the other party's identity, I can't just take action before I make a move on Xiao Chouxi..."

Old Chen said with a frown.

Upon hearing this, Li Che expressed his understanding.

The Lingying Sect spread throughout Feilei City. If one became a follower of the Lingying Sect, various forces might feel disgusted, but they would not deliberately kill or purge him.

After all, before anything gets out of hand, it’s just freedom of belief.

"But at least I know who it is. It will make me feel more at ease and I can be more cautious."

Li Che said sincerely.

When Old Chen heard this, he thought it made sense.

…

…

It took Old Chen three days to complete the investigation.

During these three days, Li Che increased his practice time. After all, the practice feedback given by the [Dragon Elephant Vajra] Dao Fruit made him full of enthusiasm for practice.

After three days of hard training, the maturity of [Dragon Elephant Vajra] has been increased to 5%. When the power of the Dao Fruit is fully unleashed, it is even more powerful than the perfect skin grinding, and its force can reach a thousand pounds.

However, after all, it is just a complete skin resurfacing.

In the training ground, Li Che was sweating profusely, his skin was glowing red, heat waves were rolling, and the air was hazy.

He put down the stone lock and lowered his eyes.

"I want to break through to the stage of opening meridians now, and I need a method of cultivation for opening meridians... but I can't go to find Xu Beihu. After all, the cultivation I have shown to Xu Beihu now is only the great success of grinding the skin..."

Two days ago, Xu Beihu came to check his cultivation, and Li Che demonstrated his advanced level of skin polishing.

The perfect performance of the skin resurfacing has not been fully exposed.

But despite this, Xu Beihu was already very surprised. In just one year... he had reached the pinnacle of skin resurfacing. His talent had already surprised Xu Beihu a little.

Unfortunately, Xu Beihu said that if one wants to practice meridian opening and internal strength training... then the skin needs to be polished completely.

Li Che was unwilling to expose his perfect skin smoothing ability. Being able to achieve perfect skin smoothing in one year could be interpreted as an extraordinary talent. Xu Beihu was at this level at the beginning.

But if you can finish the skin polishing in one year, that would be too exaggerated...

"So, I have to find this meridian opening and internal energy cultivation method myself."

Li Che changed into clean clothes, his eyes flickering as he pondered for a moment.

"I have quite a bit of savings now, so I can go to the market in the outer city. There might be cultivation methods for sale there, but I have to hide my identity before going there."

After finishing his training, Li Che returned to the wood carving workshop.

A few days ago, I took on a wood carving job, carving a "Eight Treasures Exquisite Maitreya Statue". The other party required it to have a fuller meaning, and the price he offered was a gold leaf, equivalent to one hundred taels!

This is the highest priced wood carving job Li Che has ever received!

Grab the carving knife and gently insert it into the wood, tearing open the wood structure, and the wood chips fall off like flying flowers.

[Immortal Craftsmanship] The Dao Fruit pulsed slightly, and Li Che's eyes were focused. Everything around him seemed to disappear without a trace at this moment. In his mind, all the carving techniques of the Maitreya statue came to his mind.

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

Old Chen, with a wine gourd full of juice on his waist, knocked on the carved wooden door of Li Che's workshop with a serious face.

"Old Chen?"

Li Che asked softly, carving on wood with a file in his hand.

"I found it." Old Chen found a chair, sat down, unbolted the gourd, took a sip of wine, and said in a deep voice.

"Who is it?" Li Che's eyes turned cold, and the movement of filing the wood with the file in his hand suddenly stopped.

"In the Xuji Woodcarving Shop in the outer city, there are quite a few woodcarving masters and their families who believe in the Lingying Sect this year. I was really shocked when I checked."

"But on the day when Xiao Chouxi turned one, only one person came to the banquet and secretly believed in the Lingying Cult."

Old Chen shook his head, a look of horror in his eyes.

The expansion of the Lingying Sect... was faster and more terrifying than he had imagined.

Li Che didn't care about these. He was more concerned about who was targeting Xixi.

"Who is it?"

Li Che asked again.

Old Chen sighed, "Butler Sun's second son, Sun Changbiao, has been married for four years but still has no son. He was very anxious. His wife was bewitched by the Lingying Cult and told that worshipping the Lingying Cult would give birth to a son, so Sun Changbiao also worshipped the Lingying Cult."

Sun Changbiao? Li Che was stunned, thinking of the housekeeper Sun who had smiled and taken their family to look after the yard.

Sun Changbiao is his second son and also the woodcarving master of Xuji Woodcarving Shop. He is a three-knife woodcarver and is usually gentle. Unexpectedly... he actually joined the Lingying Sect.

Moreover, he also set his sights on Xixi.

Li Che took a deep breath.

"What is Sun Changbiao's strength?" Li Che asked expressionlessly.

Old Chen raised his eyebrows and said, "His talent is average. He has been grinding his skin for three years. He just completed tendon opening and practiced internal energy in the past two years..."

"Thank you, Lao Chen. I understand."

A smile suddenly broke out on Li Che's face, and he thanked Chen Dabao with a smile.

"Don't be impulsive. You have just completed your level of skin polishing and cannot beat Sun Changbiao... Besides, you have no evidence. If you take action, you will be criticized, and it will not look good for Old Sun either."

Chen Dabao reminded Li Che and took another sip of wine: "Now we know who it is... let's be careful of him and keep a close eye on him."

"I'll take care of Xixi, so Sun Changbiao won't stand a chance."

Li Che nodded silently.

Chen Dabao didn't say anything else. He stood up and left leisurely humming a little tune. He didn't go to his workshop to work. Instead, he paddled to Li Che's courtyard and went to play with Xixi.

"Little Chou Xi, your Grandpa Chen is here!"

And the other side.

Li Che carved the exquisite Maitreya statue with eight treasures step by step.

After finishing today's work.

Li Che stood up, put on a bamboo hat, took out a black padded coat, and looked at the snowflakes falling from the sky in the courtyard.

"I said... don't underestimate the determination of a father who protects his father."

"You've given birth to so many daughters, but you're planning to trade my daughter for a son just because you don't have one?"

"It's really... unreasonable."

Reach out and pick a piece of snow.

Li Che's expression gradually turned cold, and Lao Chen said... just keep an eye on him and be on guard.

But in Li Che's opinion...

Watching and guarding are not as good as...

Killed.

(End of this chapter)