A few days later, the amount of healing medicine sold daily at the Jia Lie Clan's shops in Wu Tan City became increasingly scarce. By the last day, the final bottle of healing medicine was sold out. The Jia Lie clansmen had no choice but to awkwardly force smiles at the mercenaries crowding outside the door. "We are extremely sorry, but our store is facing a stock crisis and will temporarily close."
Standing outside the commercial street, hearing these words, the mercenaries who had been jostling and pushing suddenly fell silent. They glared fiercely at the medicine seller for a long time before grumbling and dispersing.
After dispersing, a few mercenaries unceremoniously cursed loudly, making the medicine seller's face turn pale with anger.
The Jia Lie Clan's healing medicine was almost completely sold out. In less than an hour, almost all of Wu Tan City knew the news. Immediately, some were stunned, some secretly gloated, and others felt regret and sighed.
Without the healing medicine to sustain them, the Jia Lie Clan's battle against the Xiao Clan would undoubtedly end in a crushing defeat. After this great defeat, the Jia Lie Clan would clearly suffer a severe blow to their vitality. In the future, it would likely be difficult for them to regain their former glory in Wu Tan City.
Xiao Clan, Deliberation Hall.
"The Jia Lie Clan's healing medicine is gone?" Hearing the subordinate's report, Xiao Zhan was momentarily stunned. Then he stood up, his face revealing an unconcealable look of joy.
Similarly, the three elders exchanged excited glances, their faces also showing expressions of wild delight. Xiao Zhan paced excitedly in the hall. After a long while, he finally suppressed the joy in his heart and asked the subordinate who had reported the news, "Where is that alchemist, Liu Xi?"
"I don't know. Ever since Jia Lie Ao and Liu Xi had a conflict with Young Master Xiao Yan, we haven't seen him appear again."
Hearing this, Xiao Zhan and the three elders were startled. Their gazes all shifted towards Xiao Yan, who was sitting in a chair.
"Why are you looking at me? This has nothing to do with me." Seeing the four people staring at him, Xiao Yan rolled his eyes innocently.
Xiao Zhan shook his head helplessly. After all, he didn't believe Xiao Yan's words. "It has nothing to do with you? Then why did that person disappear immediately after having a conflict with you?"
"Oh, right. Clan Head, I accidentally learned a piece of news from a Jia Lie clansman. It seems that Second Elder Jia Lie Nu was killed by a mysterious black-robed figure while transporting medicinal ingredients." After a slight hesitation, the subordinate reporting the news suddenly said in a low voice.
Pacing in the hall, Xiao Zhan's footsteps suddenly stiffened, and his eyelids twitched. He then nodded and waved his hand, signaling the subordinate to retreat. His gaze fixed on Xiao Yan as he smiled and said, "Yan'er can easily kill a three-star Da Dou Shi like Jia Lie Nu. This kind of strength, in Wu Tan City, besides your master, I'm afraid no one else can do it?"
Xiao Yan rubbed his nose. He sighed and nodded helplessly. "Jia Lie Nu is indeed dead."
Hearing Xiao Yan's personal confirmation, Xiao Zhan also shook his head with a sigh. The Xiao family and the Jia Lie family had been fighting for several decades, and now, because of a young man, the Jia Lie family was slowly declining. This feeling... Xiao Zhan let out a bitter laugh and sighed, "I know that old gentleman helped our Xiao family more than half because of you. But when you have time, you should still thank him on behalf of our Xiao family. We have received too many favors from him."
Xiao Yan shrugged, nodding casually.
"Next, let's see how the Jia Lie family cleans up this mess." Xiao Zhan chuckled, his laughter revealing unconcealed schadenfreude. The healing medicine used to compete for the market was gone, and the Jia Lie family's disastrous defeat was a given. This crushing defeat severely damaged the Jia Lie family's vitality, while the Xiao family, in this competition, reaped huge profits.
In just two short months, the Xiao family, which had almost seemed to fall into a bottomless abyss, turned defeat into victory. The profits from the healing medicine were not only equivalent to a year's normal income, but now the Xiao family had become powerful in Wu Tan City, clearly surpassing the Jia Lie family and the Ao Ba family. Moreover, because of Xiao Yan, even the Mi Te Er Auction House was constantly building good relations with the Xiao family. All these conditions had made the Xiao family the leading power in Wu Tan City.
However, even though the Jia Lie family suffered a crushing defeat this time, a centipede still has a thousand legs. Even without the profits from the healing medicine, the Jia Lie family's strength still could not be underestimated. The armed forces the family had cultivated for many years in Wu Tan City were not something many people dared to provoke.
The Jia Lie family also understood very well that the Xiao family was indeed powerful now. Knowing that competition was hopeless, they were just like venomous snakes, quietly waiting, secretly biding their time for an opportunity to counterattack their opponent.
However, this reclusive life did not seem to last long. After the news that the Jia Lie family's healing medicine was depleted, on the second day, that medicinal herb family from Te Lan City sent two great Dou Masters with a group of people, aggressively entering the Jia Lie family. They "very politely" demanded that Jia Lie Bi pay the thirty thousand gold coins owed for the medicinal herbs within two days.
This action by the medicinal herb family in Te Lan City was like a heavy blow to the Jia Lie family's head. However, no matter how angry Jia Lie Bi was, he dared not offend a force with far greater strength than the Jia Lie family at this moment. Therefore, he could only grit his teeth and endure, desperately trying to earn money to pay off the debt.
However, the Jia Lie family tried every possible method but only managed to gather ten thousand gold coins. Compared to the debt, there was undoubtedly still a long way to go.
Having no other choice, Jia Lie Bi had to rely on the forces with whom he usually had good relations, preparing to ask for their help. But seeing the Jia Lie family's current predicament, and with the Xiao family lurking like a tiger nearby, how could the forces that used to have good relations with the Jia Lie family dare to help?
Helping the Jia Lie family at this time would undoubtedly offend the Xiao family. Therefore, even if the Jia Lie family had dispersed more than half of its assets, it was still not enough to pay off the debt.
At the Jia Lie clan, Jia Lie Bi's expression was grim. After an outburst of anger, he reluctantly proposed an idea that astonished everyone in the clan: sell the marketplaces!
The Jia Lie clan owned three medium-sized marketplaces and four small-sized marketplaces in Wu Tan City. This time, Jia Lie Bi intended to sell the three medium-sized ones, which were the most popular and prosperous among all the Jia Lie clan's marketplaces.
As soon as this idea was proposed, it not only caused a strong reaction among the Jia Lie clan members but also shocked everyone in Wu Tan City. One must know that the profits from the marketplaces basically accounted for fifty percent of the Jia Lie clan's total profits. For Jia Lie Bi to come up with the idea of selling the marketplaces, it was clear that the Jia Lie clan had reached a dead end.
Operating a marketplace guaranteed profits as long as there were people. However, in Wu Tan City, there were only a dozen large marketplaces, which were usually divided and controlled by the Jia Lie clan, the Xiao clan, and the Ao Ba clan. The businesses of all three clans from the marketplaces did not primarily come from trade but mainly from casinos and brothels. Therefore, when people learned that the Jia Lie clan was preparing to sell its marketplaces, many paid attention but were not overly enthusiastic. Currently, in Wu Tan City, the popularity was almost monopolized by the Xiao clan's marketplaces. Apart from the Xiao clan's marketplaces, which reaped large profits across the board, other marketplaces could only maintain normal operations. Buying a marketplace at this time would undoubtedly not yield much profit. Anyone who bought the Jia Lie clan's marketplaces now would be effectively offending the Xiao clan. Thus, many people who had intended to buy the marketplaces reluctantly abandoned the idea.
Having put the marketplaces up for sale, originally thinking it would solve the problem, the Jia Lie clan once again tasted the bitterness of embarrassment. They had not expected the Xiao clan to be so powerful now.
The two-day deadline was approaching, yet Jia Lie Bi still hadn't gathered enough money to pay the debt. He was sweating profusely from anxiety. But just as Jia Lie Bi was burning with urgency, a stranger walked in. The two parties eloquently discussed the price until past noon. Finally, that person bought two of the Jia Lie clan's marketplaces for a paltry sum of two hundred thousand gold coins, making Jia Lie Bi's face so dark he looked like he wanted to kill someone. The other person smugly tucked the transfer deed into his chest and swaggered out of the Jia Lie clan.
With an additional two hundred thousand gold coins, the Jia Lie clan managed to send away the medicinal herbs clan. Watching the group of debt collectors, who were no different from bandits, leave, Jia Lie Bi almost felt like crying tears of blood.
No sooner had the debt collectors left than a clan member rushed in to report that the two marketplaces just sold had now been transferred to the Xiao clan. Upon hearing this news, Jia Lie Bi froze, anger surged to his heart, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood before collapsing unconscious.
Watching everyone frantically carry Jia Lie Bi into the room, all the Jia Lie clan members let out a mournful sigh. From now on, in Wu Tan City, the Jia Lie clan was considered to have completely declined into a second-rate power.