The people of the Thousand Poisons Cult saw that Su Muqing had received the Lord's Token. Moreover, everyone else acted as if they were bewitched, willingly submitting to an outsider girl.
Though their hearts were unwilling, their fists couldn't fight off four hands. Seeing that staying longer was pointless, the Right Protector led the Thousand Poisons Cult members away in anger.
Huaxia City! Although it still called itself a city now, listening to Su Muqing, was the no-man's-land preparing to establish a new regime?
Thinking of this, Huo Qixiao couldn't wait any longer. He stood up and bid farewell to Tianji Elder and the others, stating his immediate departure for Shengjing.
Tianji Elder stopped him, then quickly wrote a letter, asking him to help deliver it to the Old Duke.
The Thousand Poisons Cult people left, and Huo Qixiao also left. The remaining people on the scene were basically supporters of Su Muqing.
Oh, and the Blood Robe Sect members. They were now leaderless, a perfect opportunity to recruit them. She wanted to use Huaxia City as a starting point and expand her influence outwards.
Building a new city required a large labor force. The more people, the better.
Su Muqing gathered the Blood Robe Sect members. She asked if they wanted to continue staying in their original sect or if they were willing to rejoin the Righteous Sect.
Several people among them with slightly higher status discussed among themselves.
Now that Cangze's future was precarious, the Blood Robe Sect could probably not return to its former peak. However, it was different for the Righteous Sect. Su Muqing was a member of the Righteous Sect and was now the City Lord of Huaxia City.
One must know that Huaxia City had always been a lawless, independent entity. Moreover, judging by her tone, she wasn't content with just being a City Lord! It was even possible that Huaxia City would be renamed Huaxia Kingdom in the future.
After a period of analysis and careful consideration of pros and cons, the Blood Robe Sect members unanimously decided to rejoin the Righteous Sect.
Everyone proposed to celebrate properly and congratulate Su Muqing on becoming the City Lord. So she told everyone to rest at the Wuji Sect for the night, and she would host a banquet for everyone tomorrow.
Others were only responsible for setting up stoves, moving tables and chairs, and carrying tableware. Su Muqing and her group were responsible for providing ingredients and cooking.
Lu Yuzhi wanted to have Old Third and the others drive the carriages to Mu Cang County to collect some fruits and vegetables. Unexpectedly, Su Muqing directly said no. How much could a carriage carry?
She casually found an empty room near the kitchen and went in alone. When she came out a while later, Old Third and the others who went in afterward saw that the room was already filled.
There was no shortage of chicken, duck, fish, and meat. Potatoes, vegetables, radishes, cucumbers, and many other things that even Old Third didn't recognize. The variety and quantity were large, it seemed the girl was preparing new dishes this time.
Since this was a banquet for ten thousand people, many people from other sects voluntarily stayed to help. They peeled, washed vegetables, and cut vegetables. Some large meat dishes were prepared tonight, and they only needed to be reheated tomorrow. This would save more time.
Everyone ate a little something casually and then began to sort the ingredients that would be needed shortly.
Su Muqing quietly asked Lu Yuzhi, who was washing vegetables beside her, "Brother Lu, why don't you want to be the City Lord?"
Before, she had discussed with Lu Yuzhi privately more than once. She wanted him to be the City Lord, and she would support him from behind the scenes. But Lu Yuzhi refused to agree to anything.
If he had previously considered that his identity might be exposed and cause inconvenience within the Great Yu Dynasty, then Huaxia City did not belong to any country now. Why did he still refuse?
Lu Yuzhi's hands paused from washing vegetables, and then he said, "I just feel that it's the same whether you or I become it..."
"But you still have to avenge your parents! If you become the City Lord, wouldn't it be more convenient to do things?" Su Muqing didn't understand why it was the same.
Lu Yuzhi heard her words, turned to look into her eyes, and asked, "Then now that you've become the City Lord, will you still help me?"
"Of course! I came here for you..." Su Muqing blurted out without thinking.
"What did you say?" Came here for him? Lu Yuzhi didn't quite understand what she meant.
Realizing she had let slip, Su Muqing quickly rephrased, "What I mean is, I decided to become the City Lord to help you. Otherwise, I wouldn't be willing to be so tired!"
She absolutely couldn't let Lu Yuzhi know that because of her lack of skill, he had suffered twice through an ordeal worse than death! After completely resolving the poison in him, she would still need his righteous soul and destiny to help her stabilize this small world. What if Brother Lu got angry and stopped helping her?
"That's why I said it's the same whether you become the City Lord. Because I know you will definitely help me." Although Lu Yuzhi felt that her previous words might not have meant this, he was still very happy to hear her answer without hesitation that it was for him.
Sensing his gaze, Su Muqing always felt some other meaning within it. It looked a bit like Leng San Ge staring at Cui Ping Jie. Was she overthinking?
However, his gaze really made people lose themselves. So Su Muqing turned her head away and continued cutting her vegetables.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yuzhi suddenly asked, "What kind of life do you want to have?"
Su Muqing pondered carefully, then replied, "A few close friends, with enough food and clothing. Wandering the world, considering everywhere home. When I'm too old to walk, I'll find the most beautiful place to settle down and grow old."
Lu Yuzhi just nodded after hearing her words, and said nothing more. Su Muqing didn't pay much attention and continued with her work.
Su Cuiping and Old Third were tearing open instant noodle bags and sausage packaging, pouring Lao Gan Ma into basins. These were all verified delicacies by them...
The crowd worked busy all night and into the next morning. By around four in the afternoon, the feast began.
The sect leaders and people of status from various sects were seated separately at twenty tables in the square. The other disciples and members combined the tables into long rows, forming twenty columns.
Each column could seat about two hundred people, and all rows could seat about two thousand people at once. Nine main dishes were placed on every two tables: fried chicken, roast duck, braised pork, whole roasted lamb, potato stew with beef, two cold dishes, two vegetable dishes, and each person received a small bread.
Even with this, more than half of the people couldn't get a seat. The first batch of people ate, and the second and third batches continued to cook. While the second batch ate, the first and third batches cooked. When the third batch ate, the first and second batches cooked. It went on like this.
In the beginning, they had overestimated themselves. They hadn't considered that preparing a banquet for ten thousand people would require at least ten days of advance preparation. Last night, they had spent half the day expending time and effort, and only managed to make braised pork.
The fried chicken, roast duck, and whole roasted lamb were all purchased directly by Su Muqing from the spatial mall. Not only were they delicious, but they also saved them a lot of trouble.
The people of Huaxia City, especially the ordinary followers and civilians, couldn't help but swallow their saliva at the sight of the abundant food on the tables. Where had these people ever eaten such things? They had never even seen them!
Was the new City Lord a deity? Otherwise, how could she have prepared so many delicacies in just one night?
Even Tianji Elder was very surprised! Before, Master Bujie had said that only Su Muqing could save all living beings. Tianji Elder was still a bit hesitant. But seeing her skills, her strength, and her mystery now, she was indeed different from ordinary people.
However, even though these things seemed unbelievable, he wisely asked nothing. Since she was the chosen one, she must have her own extraordinary merits.
Following this, he began to publicize and promote Su Muqing everywhere, saying that she was a person with supernatural abilities, someone who could lead them to a new life.
This meal started at four in the afternoon and lasted until past one in the morning. Everyone was excited, feeling that this meal was exceptionally satisfying.
At the dining table, Su Muqing and Tianji Elder discussed the future development direction of Huaxia City extensively. The model adopted was modern, with only slight differences in titles.
Military construction, administrative execution, business scope, factory production, sales channels. For daily life, it included housing, work, healthcare, education, and so on.
Su Muqing roughly outlined everything related to people's lives. Everyone listened to her eloquent talk, envisioning the future Huaxia City she described. It seemed distant, but it made people unable to help but yearn for it.
Watching Su Muqing talk about her future plans, Lu Yuzhi felt as if she was radiating light at that moment. It attracted his gaze, making him unable to see anyone else.
Le Xiong and the others were also very interested in Su Muqing's plan. However, when they thought about her proposal to concentrate resources and establish a unified regime, they hesitated slightly.
After all, being a leader of a sect meant that the followers under them were their strength. But once these manpower were pooled together and handed over to the public, wouldn't they have nothing?
Su Muqing noticed their hesitation and did not urge them. Instead, she asked Tianji Elder to subtly hint at them.
There might be wars in many places in the future, and their Huaxia City was surrounded by many countries. Once war broke out, this place would be a crucial battleground. Therefore, she hoped everyone would make a decision soon.
When all was quiet, two masked figures in night clothes appeared at the entrance of the Thousand Poisons Cult. Su Muqing asked Lu Yuzhi to wait outside to cover her, while she went in to investigate.
Lu Yuzhi disagreed, worried that she would be in danger alone. Su Muqing had no choice but to perform a原地消失 (原地消失 - disappear on the spot) to reassure him, and then reappeared out of thin air, astonishing him.
Seeing her maneuver, Lu Yuzhi finally believed she could escape safely. Then Su Muqing sneaked into the Thousand Poisons Cult alone. Guided by the space detector, she avoided the patrolling women.
For Su Muqing, the people of the Thousand Poisons Cult were like a large tumor. If they were not driven away, it would be difficult for all her subsequent plans to proceed smoothly here.
However, she could not arbitrarily suppress others just because she was the City Lord. Therefore, Su Muqing thought of a night raid on the Thousand Poisons Cult. It would be best to find a reasonable excuse to expel them. If she couldn't find one, then she would have to resort to some extreme measures.
Since they could not be used for her benefit and posed a significant potential threat, she could only deal with this matter from her own standpoint.
Anyway, Su Muqing and the Thousand Poisons Cult members couldn't stand each other. And judging by the behavior of their Saintess, others were likely not much cleaner.