CHAPTER 633: CHAPTER 501: SECRETS OF THE LONG FAMILY

On their way back to the camp, Ye Lingyue told Emperor’s Slaughter that the mastermind behind the assassins was Long Baobao’s Uncle Long.

Both of them also agreed that no matter what reason Housekeeper Huang had, concealing the difficulty of the task was unacceptable. They immediately decided to sever this relationship.

Housekeeper Huang panicked and hurriedly explained,

"Gentlemen, I did not intend to deceive you. It’s just that this involves the Long Family’s scandal. Moreover, I never expected that the Fourth Young Master would be so malicious to actually hire so many assassins."

"Grandpa Huang, what are you talking about? Are you saying that all those bad people were sent by Uncle Long? That can’t be. Uncle Long is so kind to me at home. He personally initiated me into Artifact Refining; I don’t believe he would harm me." Long Baobao shook his head and clutched tightly at Housekeeper Huang’s sleeve, utterly unwilling to believe his words.

"Young Master, this old servant is useless..." Housekeeper Huang’s voice choked with emotion as he looked at Long Baobao’s innocent and adorable little face, tears welling up in his eyes.

At this point, Housekeeper Huang knew that the truth could no longer be contained.

The Long Clan of Cang Country is the oldest Artifact Refining Family on the Qing Province Continent.

Each Long Family Master knew a special method of Artifact Refining called the Five Elements Melt Spirit Technique, but this technique could only be learned by the designated heir of each generation.

Long Baobao’s father, Long Si Hai, was the eldest son of the current Family Master, Long Huai, and was chosen from a young age as the heir to the Five Elements Melt Spirit Technique of this generation of the Long Family.

However, Long Si Hai and his wife tragically encountered a major accident while refining artifacts at the age of twenty-four.

Long Si Hai died instantly protecting his pregnant wife, leaving behind their unborn child, Long Baobao.

Although Long Baobao’s mother miraculously survived, she passed away less than a month after giving birth to Long Baobao due to the profound grief for her deceased husband.

Since infancy, Long Baobao was raised by his grandfather, Long Huai. When Long Baobao was three years old, he was identified by a Great Alchemist from Cang Country as a once-in-five-hundred-years Star Power holder.

Upon knowing this, Long Huai designated Long Baobao as the future heir to the Family Master.

This decision caused a lot of dissatisfaction within the Long Clan, including Long Baobao’s Uncle Long, Long Sixuan.

This man was crafty and deep, and for many years kept a low profile within the Long Clan. He took great care of Long Baobao as his elder.

Until one day, Housekeeper Huang, who took care of Long Baobao, inadvertently discovered that Long Sixuan was tempting Long Baobao into revealing the mnemonic of the Five Spirits Melt Spirit Technique. Housekeeper Huang immediately stopped Long Sixuan and reported the matter to Long Huai.

Long Huai was furious, confined Long Sixuan to three months of solitary confinement, and ordered him never to approach Long Baobao again.

On the surface, Long Sixuan appeared remorseful, but he harbored a grudge against Long Baobao and Long Huai deep in his heart.

Taking advantage of Long Huai’s declining energy and advancing years, Long Sixuan secretly colluded with the Long Family’s external relatives, bringing the family’s Spiritual Artifact business entirely under his control and even bribing several Artifact Refiners within the clan.

By the time Long Huai discovered it, it was already too late.

Just then, the World’s First Forging Competition was about to begin. Worried that Long Baobao might encounter danger, Long Huai took this opportunity to command more than a dozen of the most trusted Long Family guards to follow Housekeeper Huang’s orders and secretly escort Long Baobao to participate in the World’s First Forging Competition.

Unbeknownst to them, however, their whereabouts were eventually exposed. Not long after leaving Cang Country, they suffered several sneak attacks.

Thanks to those guards who fought to the death to protect him, but even so, the number of guards continued to dwindle.

Worried that Long Baobao would be upset, Housekeeper Huang constantly made various excuses to mollify him, saying that those people had all gone back to Cang Country.

When the master and servant were near Mercenary City, even the last guard protecting Long Baobao had perished, leaving Housekeeper Huang with no choice but to use all of his savings, which was only enough to hire two Mercenary Teams, not nearly enough to afford a large Mercenary Corps.

Left with no alternative, Housekeeper Huang concealed the true nature of the situation.

After listening to Housekeeper Huang’s account, tears streamed down the old man’s face.

The people from Emperor’s Slaughter and Blood Drink were also silent.

Among them, there were also descendants of large families and Sects, who knew all too well the bloodshed and turmoil stirred up by the contest for fame and profit between families and Sects.

"It can’t be, Grandpa Huang, you must be lying to me, are you saying Uncle Qing and the others are all dead? Uncle Long wouldn’t hurt me."

Tears filled Long Baobao’s large eyes.

His eyes, red and swollen, were like those of a little rabbit.

"You’re a bad person, a very bad person; you must be lying to me, I want to go back to Cang Country to find Grandpa."

Long Baobao clenched his little fists, pushed Housekeeper Huang away, and tried to rush out.

"Young master, you can’t go back, I’m afraid the Family Master’s luck may have already run out."

Housekeeper Huang said as he knelt on his knees before the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I previously deceived you, which was my own fault. I beseech you, for the sake of the Long Clan having only this little descendant left, please help the young master. Just get him to Sifang City to participate in the World’s First Forging, let young master make a name for himself there, that’s how he will be able to survive."

As long as Long Baobao became famous in the World’s First Forging, his talent and age would surely attract the attention of countless powers on the mainland.

They would woo him and provide him shelter before he came of age.

Both Long Family Master and Housekeeper Huang knew that participating in the World’s First Forging was the only hope for Long Baobao to regain control of the Long Clan.

Housekeeper Huang spoke, his head striking the ground with a heavy thud.

The sound hitting the ground was shocking to the ears.

Yet, not a single one from the two big Mercenary Teams moved.

They all understood that Housekeeper Huang’s frankness implied a new mission, a mission undoubtedly much more difficult than the previous escort task.

Behind it lay the current rulers of the Artifact Refining Family of the Long Clan.

Unless absolutely necessary, no one wanted to offend an established Artifact Refining noble family.

Moreover, both Long Baobao and Housekeeper Huang were now penniless; helping them would be a thankless task.

Any sensible Mercenary wouldn’t take on such an unprofitable deal.

After last night’s attack, Blood Drink had utterly failed in this escort task; they had lost the initiative.

Unless the people from Emperor’s Slaughter agreed first, even if Blood Drink wanted to take on this mission, it would be impossible.

"Thump, thump, thump"

Housekeeper Huang, the loyal old servant, still hadn’t given up and his forehead was already bleeding from knocking against the hard ground.

"Grandpa Huang, don’t plead with them. Baobao can take care of himself. We don’t need to beg anyone!"

Watching Housekeeper Huang in such a state, Long Baobao felt a mix of shame and anger, resembling a furious little lion as he suddenly charged out of the tent.