After Niu Si left, Shen Xiong forcefully had Zhao Tao taken to the hospital.
As for himself, he returned to the second floor of the bar with Sun Cheng.
As soon as they sat down, Shen Xiong poured and downed two glasses of wine in succession.
"How could I have known that Niu Si would dare to cause trouble at my bar? Turns out he found Hu Po as his backer! Damn it, that fox borrowing tiger's might kind of fellow!"
Shen Xiong slammed his wine glass onto the table with force, his expression somber.
In fact, not long ago, he had heard that Niu Si was getting close to Hu Po, but at that time, he was focused on going legitimate and didn't pay attention to underworld news.
However, today, Niu Si, whose influence was originally beneath his own and who had always kept to himself, actually brought his men to cause trouble. Only then did Shen Xiong believe that the previous rumors were true.
Because if Niu Si didn't have Hu Po as his backer, he wouldn't have dared to challenge him even if he had ten times the courage.
"Boss, Taozi crippled Niu Si's subordinate today. Should we have him lay low for a while?"
Sun Cheng asked from the side.
Shen Xiong waved his hand. "Although I can't afford to offend Hu Po, I don't take Niu Si seriously yet. He probably just wanted to probe my strength today. Just tell Taozi to be careful when he goes out, Niu Si probably doesn't have the guts to mess around in Rongcheng for now."
"Boss, in my opinion, Hu Po suddenly inviting everyone to a gathering can't be for any good intentions."
As Shen Xiong's confidant, Sun Cheng had naturally heard of Hu Po's reputation.
This guy was a super boss from Dian Province, far beyond what Shen Xiong, a boss of just one city, could compare to.
Moreover, it was rumored that Hu Po had support behind him, which was why he was able to unify the underworld forces in Dian Province in just one year.
"This is as obvious as Sima Zhao's intentions to the passerby. Hu Po must be tired of being the boss of Dian Province and wants to take over the entire Southwest region in one fell swoop."
Shen Xiong suddenly guessed Hu Po's thoughts.
In fact, this wasn't difficult to guess. If Hu Po didn't intend to swallow the entire Southwest region, why would he invite Shen Xiong and others to a banquet for no reason?
Did he just want to treat them to a meal and chat?
Even a three-year-old would believe such nonsense.
It was just that Shen Xiong found Hu Po's appetite to be too large, wanting to swallow the entire Southwest region at once. Where did he get such confidence?
Even though Hu Po had already taken over Dian Province, it was unlikely that everyone was willing. There must be many people harboring resentment.
Shouldn't Hu Po's current priority be to consolidate his territory and expand only after it was completely solidified?
For a moment, Shen Xiong's mind was filled with a thousand thoughts.
"Boss, if that's the case, should we go or not?"
Although Sun Cheng was intelligent, he still had to listen to Shen Xiong on such important matters, as he was the boss.
Shen Xiong couldn't think of a solution for a moment, then he waved his hand impatiently, "Let's not worry about him for now. We'll see in a while."
After that, Shen Xiong pulled Sun Cheng to drink with him.
However, because Shen Xiong was preoccupied, he got drunk soon after.
...
"Xiao Du, thank you so much. It's so rare to see such a warm-hearted young person like you these days."
"Exactly. Young people nowadays can't do this kind of manual labor at all."
"Alas, even our own boy is the same. He doesn't mind the dirt, but he minds the exhaustion. He can't endure any hardship."
In the fields by the roadside, Du Fei was helping the middle-aged women till the land.
He hadn't done anything else these past few days except eat, sleep, and help others with farm work.
After a few days, the elderly people in the vicinity would all smile when they saw Du Fei, their words full of praise.
"Sister Zhang, there's nothing else, I'll be heading back now."
After Du Fei had tilled most of the land, he said to a middle-aged woman with a long braid not far away.
"Oh, thank you so much. Why don't you come to my house for dinner tonight?"
The middle-aged woman straightened up and walked towards Du Fei.
Du Fei smiled and waved his hand. "No, Sister Zhang, I still have some leftovers from lunch at home. I'll just heat them up."
After declining the invitation again, Du Fei packed his tools and left the field, walking back along the small path.
Back in his small courtyard, Du Fei first took off his muddy shoes and washed them, then washed his hands before entering the house.
Sitting down on the sofa in the living room, Du Fei picked up a book he hadn't finished reading the day before and began to read.
These past few days, Du Fei had been living here very leisurely, like a hermit living in the countryside.
Finally, as the sky completely darkened and the moon and stars appeared, Du Fei put down his book and got up to go out.
He went into the yard and directly to the empty space where a mat had already been placed, and sat down cross-legged.
Still with his five senses oriented towards the sky, his mind was empty, clearing away all distracting thoughts.
This time, Du Fei did not immediately try to condense the true qi within his body.
He first recalled his time at the Chinese medicine clinic, diagnosing and treating people every day, feeling their joys and sorrows.
Then, he thought of his own recent life, living a leisurely life every day, enjoying a life of complete return to nature.
After a while, Du Fei suddenly had a flash of enlightenment.
Following this, Du Fei began to circulate the Myriad Phases Art.
Failure, still failure.
He failed to condense true qi several times in a row.
Du Fei exhaled a long breath.
Although he had failed several times in a row, he told himself not to rush.
Finally, after Du Fei had tried countless times, a trace of true qi was born in his dantian.
Du Fei was overjoyed.
Then, he was like a toddler taking his first steps, each step cautious and extremely careful.
It took him ten times longer than before to finally circulate that trace of true qi for one complete cycle and return it to his dantian.
With the first success, it became much smoother.
He circulated it for ten full cycles, and a warmth spread from his dantian, at which point he stopped.
Success!
Du Fei opened his eyes, which were filled with excitement and joy.
Although the true qi in his dantian now was less than one percent of what it was before.
However, being able to successfully condense true qi again made Du Fei very happy.
What's more, to his surprise, while circulating the Myriad Phases Art, Du Fei discovered that the true qi he condensed this time was actually a bit stronger than before.
Although it was only a tiny bit, Du Fei still sensed it keenly.
If things continued to develop like this, by the time Du Fei's cultivation recovered to its pre-injury level, he believed there would be earth-shattering changes.
Great adversity often brings great fortune.
Du Fei was beginning to believe this saying.
At the same time, he looked up at the sky and said silently in his heart, Dad, I didn't give up, I did it!