Ling Zhongyue raised his right hand, made a downward gesture, and continued: "First, let's pay homage to our ancestors." After saying that, he took a bowl of wine from the hands of the tribe next to him, took two steps forward, and poured it on the ground in the ancestral hall. superior.
What follows is even more boring. Ling Zhongyue talks about the thousand-year history of the Ling family as if he is endorsing it.
When Ling Zhongyue finished speaking, there was another burst of applause. This time, Ling Tianqi also subconsciously clapped.
"Down below, let's set off firecrackers and have New Year's Eve dinner." Ling Zhongyue counted the time and said loudly again.
Firecrackers are all bought from the city at a high price and will only be set off once before the annual meeting. The same is true for other villages.
The meal on New Year's Eve was extremely rich. Lingjiabao treated everyone equally and everyone got the same meal.
Among them, in addition to chicken, fish, meat and eggs that are rarely eaten on weekdays, there is also a bowl of fragrant dumplings and glutinous rice balls.
These meals reminded Ling Tianqi of the New Year's Eve in his previous life. Didn't they also eat these things?
New Year's Eve is the most nostalgic night of the year.
New Year's Eve is the most lively and noisy night.
As soon as it gets dark, children or young men have already taken incense and set off firecrackers in the east and west, boldly amplifying the firecrackers and gorgeous fireworks. The younger one covered his ears with one hand and leaned forward from a distance. The other children covered their ears with both hands, waiting nervously and anxiously... This feeling and scene can still be remembered even when one grows old.
New Year's Eve means "the end of the month and the end of the year". People have to get rid of the old and replace the old with the new. The meaning of New Year's Eve is to get rid of the old and replace it with the new in the coming year. It is the last night of the lunar calendar. Therefore, the activities during this period are centered around removing the old and bringing in the new, eliminating disasters and praying for blessings.
The New Year's Eve dinner in Lingjiabao is much the same as in the previous life, except that the people gathering together to eat have changed from a family to a village.
Thinking of the experience in his previous life, Ling Tianqi sighed in his heart and ate the New Year's Eve meal. Such a sumptuous meal could not be eaten at any time.
After finishing the New Year's Eve dinner, Ling Zhongyue stood up again and said: "This year, five children in the village have reached the age of fifteen, and they are considered adults after this night. Remember to do more things for your parents in the future. , make more contributions to the village, the future of Lingjia Village still needs to be carried forward by you."
The conversation was so passionate that one of the young men in the West clenched their fists and secretly decided to contribute to the family when they grow up.
Ling Tianqi looked calm, with no sadness or joy on his face, as if he didn't hear what the clan leader said.
Ling Zhongyue continued: "The children of Lingjiabao have been in the habit of practicing martial arts since they were young. Over the years, many outstanding figures in the literary world have also emerged, and some have even joined the local Tianhu Gang. Taking this opportunity, why not let them Five come up and compete."
Clan leader Ling Zhongyue's proposal was quickly echoed by several men, one of whom shouted the loudest with a proud look on his face.
This man was Ling Zhongtian, who had met Ling Tianqi before.
Ling Zhongtian has a young son who has just reached the age of sixteen.
His son Ling Tiancheng is a martial arts genius, having developed strong internal strength at a young age.
Among his peers, he is outstanding and invincible, and is deeply loved by the older generation.
Ling Zhongtian also wanted to use this opportunity to teach his son a lesson to the "trash" in the village and make a splash within the clan.
Ling Zhongyue smiled slightly, his eyes fell on Ling Zhongyu, and asked: "Zhongyu, what do you think?"
In the clan ancestral hall, candles emitted a faint light, and almost everyone's eyes fell on Ling Tianqi and his son.
Everyone's expressions are different, but the only thing is the same. They all have expressions of watching a good show.
Ling Zhongyu stood up and said: "Clan leader, my Tianqi has never learned martial arts, how can he defeat other children?"
Ling Zhongyue nodded suddenly and said apologetically: "I forgot about this. You are a cultivating family and have ancestral training. You cannot learn martial arts with other children." He paused and then sneered. , "In so many years, your Ling family has not produced a single cultivator, and you are still eating and drinking in the village for free. Do you really think that we dare not deal with you?"
Ling Zhongyu's face darkened, and he had an ominous premonition in his heart, but there was no worry on his face. "Chief, what do you mean by this?" He stared at the other party and asked confidently: "Our Ling family and Just like other families, they farm and pay for grain, but when do they get to eat and drink for free?”
Ling Zhongyue smiled coldly and asked: "Although these generations have farmed, what about the previous generations? You know whether they have free food or not." His voice became higher and higher, and he did not take Ling Zhongyu seriously at all. Inside, the cold questioning voice echoed over the clan ancestral hall for a long time.
Ling Zhongyu glared at the other party and asked word for word: "What do you want?"
Ling Zhongyue didn't seem to be worried about breaking his skin, and said calmly: "Aren't you a family of practitioners? The practitioners should be very powerful. How about letting your 'young master' compete with a few children in the village?"
Ling Zhongyu knew that his son would be beaten passively if he went there. He couldn't afford to lose this person and denied it: "No, Tianqi has never learned martial arts and is no match for them." He clenched the fist in his hand tightly. If If he wasn't worried about his son's safety, he would have gone up to teach the patriarch a lesson.
Ling Zhongyue snorted coldly and said with a look of contempt: "How do you know it won't work before I get on stage?"
"I said no, does the clan leader want to force Tian Qi to compete on stage?" Ling Zhongyu seemed determined and repeated again.
Ling Zhongyue didn't seem to let Ling Zhongyu go, and said aggressively: "It's not up to you today. Your 'young master' can be promoted or not." When he spoke, he deliberately emphasized the word "young master" in his tone. , the meaning of which is self-evident, that is, he wants to humiliate Ling Zhongyu in front of everyone.
There is a gap between ascetics and mortals. Ascetics look down on mortals, and mortals also look down on the superior ascetics. The ancestors of the Ling family rarely communicated with the name of the Lingjia Village back then. Later generations also relied on their excellent bloodline and did not pay much attention to the name of the Lingjiabao village. Under such circumstances, it caused some invisibly The grievances of the common people.
Just when Ling Zhongyu was about to reject the clan leader again, he heard his son's voice, "Father, let me compete with them! It's just a competition anyway, they won't hurt me."
Ling Zhongyu sighed. He knew that his son was thinking about him and did not want to see the scene where his family and Lingjiabao were at odds.
But he was also thinking about his son and didn't want the people in Lingjiabao to know that his son was already able to practice Taoism.
After all, Ling Tianqi had been practicing for nearly two years and was still at the first level of the Qi training stage. He was unable to practice Taoism, so he was naturally no match for the few people in front of him.
But he knew in his heart that in this competition, the lighter ones would be injured, and the severe ones would probably be paralyzed. His father was seriously injured when he was young, and later died just after he was fifty.
Ling Zhongyu knew the powerful relationship, so when he was young, he asked him to compete on stage, but he tyrannically refused. This also caused the relationship between him and everyone in the Ling Family Fort to worsen.
Before Ling Zhongyu could start, Ling Zhongyue sarcastically said: "It's a blessing that you have lived for decades, but no child can understand it. This is just a simple competition, and your Ling family will not be exterminated." He probably raised his voice at the last few words, causing everyone around him to burst into laughter.
Ling Zhongyu sighed secretly in his heart. He didn't expect that this annual meeting would be such a big fuss. It seemed that if his son didn't go on stage to compete, they would never give up.
Thinking of this, Ling Zhongyu looked at his son and saw that he looked not worried at all. He couldn't help but said: "Tianqi, if you can't defeat them, remember to run down the stage. Father is waiting for you below the stage."
Ling Tianqi nodded, deliberately showing an unworried look, "Father, don't worry, I will be fine." How could he, a man who had lived for hundreds of years, not see the powerful relationship between this.
The people of Lingjiabao deliberately bullied Ling Zhongyu this time so that he would never be able to raise his hands in the clan and live with his tail between his legs.
After a while, the young man from the west stepped onto the platform from the side steps.
Ling Tianqi glanced at the young men of his own age. Among them, there was no one who insulted him last time. He said with some disappointment: "Father, I'm going."
Ling Zhongyu followed closely behind his son and came to the platform.
If they really dare to seriously injure Ling Tianqi, they will take Ling Tianqi away even if they risk their lives. The worst case scenario is leaving Lingjiabao and never coming back.
However, where can I go after leaving Lingjiabao?
Ling Tianqi had neither skills nor knowledge. Even the martial arts that almost everyone on the mainland knew was deprived of him.
The Ximing children on the platform were three boys and one girl. The leading boy had a look of disdain on his face, obviously not taking Ling Tianqi seriously.
The girl looked at Ling Tianqi curiously. Maybe she wanted to see how this child, who was called "waste", was different from them.
Walking onto the platform, Ling Tianqi stood aside like a statue, saying nothing.
Ling Tiancheng snorted, then turned around and bowed to Ling Zhongyue in a mature manner, "Clan leader, how will this competition proceed?" In his eyes, there is no difference between a competition and a sparring. They are not just two people competing in martial arts. .
In fact, competition and discussion are not the same meaning. Competition is just a simple comparison between two people, while competition is a substantive exchange.
Ling Zhongyue was very satisfied with Ling Tiancheng's question and nodded: "Since Tianqi has come up, let Tiancheng compete with him!"
"Yes, clan leader!" Ling Tiancheng said with his hands raised.
The three teenagers stood aside. Except for the girl who looked slightly worried, the other two smiled in unison as if they were watching a show.
The three of them all knew how powerful Ling Tiancheng was. In their eyes, Ling Tianqi would be knocked to the ground just by looking at him.
Ling Tiancheng glanced at Ling Tianqi coldly, and said calmly: "You go first!" This posture really showed the demeanor of a martial arts master.
After Ling Tianqi heard this, he said calmly: "You should go first!" He really had no interest in taking action against the child in front of him.
