Long Xiao agreed to help, making Zhang Minlan and the other two very happy. After chatting for a few more sentences, they began to educate Long Xiao about the major families in China.
In China, every major city has its prominent families. The most famous are the five great families of the capital. These five families possess immense power throughout China, with their influence felt in almost every industry.
Besides the five great families, the most influential forces are the Nine Sects of Profound Arts and the Eight Houses of Martial Arts.
The Nine Sects of Profound Arts represent the largest and strongest faction among China's various profound art sects. These nine prominent families are not only skilled in profound arts but also possess significant economic and military might.
The Eight Houses of Martial Arts are eight major families renowned throughout China for their martial prowess. Each of these eight families boasts a large number of highly skilled martial artists, and each family can individually contend with the Martial Alliance. The Zhang family is one of these eight.
In addition to these major powers, China also has significant forces within various denominations like the Daoist, Buddhist, and Medical sects, among many others. However, compared to these seventeen major powers, they are somewhat less influential.
After listening to the introduction, Long Xiao remarked, "I always thought that a prominent family like the Luo family would be an reclusive family. It seems I was mistaken."
Reclusive families are extremely mysterious, and whether they truly exist remains a mystery. However, legends about reclusive families have been circulating since ancient times.
In China, various forces exist at different levels, each with its own sphere of existence and its own set of rules.
Generally, when encountering situations, various sects, factions, and organizations tend to leave room for other sects, families, and forces, rarely seeking to completely eradicate any single power.
The three members of the Zhang family knew a good deal about the various forces in China. Long Xiao took the opportunity to ask, "What do you know about the Dragon Rising Association?"
Zhang Minlan informed Long Xiao that the Dragon Rising Association had not been around for long, and its leader was called Tian Long. This Tian Long was very mysterious and kept a low profile, with no one knowing his whereabouts.
The Dragon Rising Association had developed extremely rapidly and posed a great danger to society. Relevant authorities had been investigating and cracking down on them, but they had not managed to completely eliminate the association, likely because they had never found their leader.
"You're saying that the relevant authorities know a lot about the Dragon Rising Association, but because they haven't found their leader, they haven't completely eradicated them?"
Zhang Minlan nodded and replied, "That should be the case, otherwise the Dragon Rising Association would have been finished long ago."
After inquiring about the Dragon Rising Association, Long Xiao glanced at the time on his phone and said, "Let's go eat. My little brother is hungry."
Xiao Ming stood up and said, "I've been hungry for a while. You were all chatting happily, so I didn't dare to interrupt."
By the time the five of them finished eating, it was already dark. They returned to the vicinity of the Dragon Rising Association's hideout, and the people who were ambushing there were still present.
Long Xiao and his companions parked their car at a distance. As soon as they stopped, they saw a Jinbei van pull up to the entrance of the hideout.
This hideout was located in one of a row of single-story buildings, and from the outside, the house didn't appear large.
The van doors opened, and two people got out to observe their surroundings. Then, another two people got out, carrying two bags, and were about to take the bags into the house.
After the four of them had walked a few steps, they suddenly stopped, looked vigilantly across the way, and quickly returned to the van.
"Brother, they're going to escape," Xiao Ming shouted in a low voice.
"I don't think Ou Ye Tuo is coming. Don't let these scumbags escape," Long Xiao said as he opened the car door and got out.
"Brother Hu, let's not get involved in this kind of petty business. Our target is Ouyang Tuo," Zhang Minlan said.
"You don't want to deal with it, but I do. I can't stand these scumbags the most," Long Xiao said as he walked into the middle of the road.
Seeing that Long Xiao was determined to meddle, the three Zhang family members got out of the car to follow him.
As the van started to drive, it saw a person standing in the middle of the road, blocking their path.
"Ram him, kill him," the leader of the young men shouted.
The van accelerated and charged towards Long Xiao. Just as it was about to hit him, Long Xiao sidestepped and punched the van's door.
With a thunderous crash, the van was knocked sideways for three to four meters, veered off course, and slammed into the wall, with the entire door dented inward.
Xiao Ming took a step forward and reached the van's side. He kicked the door.
With another bang, the door caved in deeply, and the young man driving was squeezed inside the vehicle, letting out a scream.
Zhang Minlan and the other two approached the van. Zhang Mingguang reached out and pulled open the door, saying, "All of you, get out."
As soon as the door opened, a long saber thrust out. He grabbed the saber and pulled the person, along with the saber, out. Before the person holding the saber even landed, Zhang Mingguang kicked him away.
The four people in the van were all dragged out and beaten soundly.
"Spare our lives, brother, spare our lives, sirs, please stop hitting us," the four young men who were being beaten began to beg for mercy.
Xiao Ming got into the van, sniffed the air, and found a cardboard box. Inside the box were several ginseng roots, along with some Polygonum multiflorum and Reishi mushrooms.
Fearing he would be recognized, Xiao Ming didn't eat them directly this time and put them all into his backpack.
He opened the two bags, expecting something valuable, but instead, he found two children, about eight or nine years old, inside.
Both children had been drugged and were unconscious.
"Brother, there are two children here," Xiao Ming shouted.
Long Xiao got into the van and looked at the children. He grabbed their wrists and gave each of them a trace of his vital energy, helping to counteract the effects of the drugs.
When the two children woke up, they were terrified and started crying. Long Xiao quickly lied and said he was a police officer who had come to rescue them.
After the two children stopped crying, Long Xiao took them out of the van and saw that the four Dragon Rising Association members had been beaten to death by Zhang Minlan and the others.
After asking for the children's addresses, Long Xiao said, "Let's go, Minlan. We'll take them home."
"Brother Hu, do you still have time for this? Let them stay here, the police will be here soon."
"It's already dark. If these two children stay here, it will frighten them," Long Xiao said with a smile.
After taking the two children home separately, Long Xiao prepared to bid farewell to Zhang Minlan and the others.
"Brother Hu, aren't you waiting for Ouyang Tuo?" Zhang Minlan asked.
Long Xiao shook his head and said, "Ouyang Tuo isn't that foolish. With people dead here, he definitely won't come."
Zhang Minlan nodded and said, "You have a point. We're preparing to go to Donghai. Are you coming?"
"No, I have some business to attend to. Don't worry, I'll call Long Xiao later. You can go find him directly; he's very approachable and will surely help you."
After saying this, Long Xiao and Xiao Ming hailed a taxi and left.
"Second Brother, do you think we'll be able to invite Long Xiao?"
"We should be able to. Didn't Hu Lei say he has a good relationship with Long Xiao?" Zhang Mingguang replied.
Long Xiao and Xiao Ming found a small motel to rest for a while. After midnight, they left the motel and headed straight for the Dragon Rising Association's hideout.
As they approached, they carefully observed their surroundings and, finding no one ambushing, arrived outside the single-story building.
They directly twisted open the lock and entered the house. After a search, they found several bags of medicinal herbs. In a chest, they discovered some porcelain items, hundreds of copper coins, and a bronze sword.
The moment Long Xiao picked up the bronze sword, he felt a surge of golden energy enter his body and quickly move to his dantian.
The golden energy from the bronze sword was too little. Long Xiao looked inward at his dantian and found no change in his five-elemental vital energy.
Seeing Long Xiao's expression change from joy to disappointment, Xiao Ming asked, "Brother Long, what's wrong?"
"Nothing much. This bronze sword has some golden energy, but it's too little."
Xiao Ming took the bronze sword and looked at it, saying, "This is easy to solve. Museums have this kind of bronze sword. Let's go get a few more, and you'll have the golden energy you need."
Long Xiao shook his head and said, "Even if there are more, it will be too little to have any effect."
Taking the medicinal herbs and antiques from the house, Long Xiao and Xiao Ming returned to the motel. They decided not to search for any more medicinal herbs and would return to Donghai at dawn.