Chapter 2229 — The Family Council
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Those scattered herb traders, minor clans, and small gangs who went up the mountain to gather herbs all had to pay a hefty commission before they were allowed to set foot on it!
Of course, you could also go up by some unguarded path, but there was only one road up the mountain; everywhere else the jungle grew thick, to say nothing of venomous insects and poisonous plants — you might well run into savage beasts besides. And most of these small herb-gathering clans and gangs were not cultivators at all; even those who were, cut a rather poor figure. Better to spend a little money and buy some peace of mind.
Seeing Young Master Tagan Long and Lazi come stumbling and staggering down the mountain, the Third Protector of the Tagan family, who had been posted there to receive them, hurried forward at once: "Young Master Tagan Long, what has happened? Why such panic?"
"I'm furious, absolutely furious!" Tagan Long began bawling at the top of his lungs. But after two shouts he lowered his voice and said to the Third Protector: "We'll talk when we're back..."
There were others in the vicinity besides the Tagan family's people — retainers of the Lu family and the Shangguan family, and men from the Fire Wolf Gang and the Red Conch as well. So Tagan Long kept up his act of being a brainless fool, hollering and carrying on, letting everyone think him a worthless dandy.
Only, this Third Protector was a core figure of the core family, Tagan Long's own uncle, and naturally knew all about Tagan Long's affairs. He grasped the hint at once, and together with the still-shouting Tagan Long he quickly climbed into the Hummer they had come in, and they roared off back to the Tagan family estate!
In the Tagan family's secret chamber, the family head, the First Protector, the Second Protector, the Third Protector, and Tagan Long — five men in all — sat gathered around a round table.
These five were the core figures of the Tagan family at present!
The head of the Tagan family was Tagan Long's grandfather, Tagan Hao; the Second Protector was Tagan Hao's eldest son, Tagan Sha, who was also Tagan Long's father; and the Third Protector was Tagan Hao's younger son, Tagan Long's uncle, Tagan Mo.
In truth, the "Protectors" of the Tagan family were much like the elders of other clans and sects — it was simply that among the families of Ruileida Town, the title "Protector" was the customary form of address.
The First Protector, however, was not a member of the Tagan family by blood — and yet he was one of its Heaven-rank experts! The Tagan family, of course, had more than just him; Tagan Hao's father was a Heaven-rank expert too, and stronger than the First Protector at that, only he spent his years in seclusion and never came out.
And yet, whether it was Tagan Hao the family head, or the Second and Third Protectors, or Tagan Long, or even Tagan Hao's father, the Tagan Patriarch — all of them took their lead from this First Protector!
Not because the First Protector's strength was overwhelming — his cultivation was only of the early Heaven rank — nor because he was a core member of the Tagan family. Strictly speaking, he counted as no more than a distant relative of the Tagans, and one with no blood tie at all.
But his standing in the Tagan family was extraordinary, for a simple reason: he came from a place of great mystery...
And if the First Protector was the Tagan family's number one figure, then Tagan Long was its number two! For he was the man the First Protector had his eye on!
Tagan Long held nothing back. He recounted everything that had happened on the mountain, exactly as it was, to everyone seated there — and this time Tagan Long had shed his former brainless-dandy manner entirely; he spoke with perfect clarity and order.
When he heard that the hunt for the Fire Lion had failed, the First Protector did not seem to mind much. He waved a hand and said: "Failed, did it? Then it failed. So long as no one was hurt, that is what matters!"