Third uncle and his people had finally come to them with a group of experienced fighters. After meeting with Lin Wan and the rest, a few leaders started to plan how to bring Li Mu out of the Shen Family’s hands.

Mrs. Hong described the situation to them. A stocky middle-aged man said, “Fifth Brother, what do you think?”

“The Shen Family. I've never heard about this clan. If they are cultivators, no matter how ancient their clan is, there is no way we have not heard of them. This matter is a little weird.”

“Humph, what a Shen Family! Can't you recall anything?”

Fifth uncle looked at his brother perplexedly because he could not understand why he said that. However, he knew that his brother had recalled something and he asked him the question to test him.

The Shen Family...

Suddenly, Fifth uncle's eyes widely opened. He patted on his thigh fiercely, “This Shen Family. D*mn it! I know of a family with the surname Sheng. They must have changed their surname from Sheng to Shen!”

“The Sheng Family?” Mrs. Hong repeated the name and then exclaimed, “Fifth uncle, are you referring to the Sheng family who had retired from the underworld?”

“Yes, it must be that family. The Shen Family is actually the Sheng Family. I never expect them to hide here. It's getting interesting here!”

“This matter is easier to resolve if they are the Sheng family.” Mrs. Hong said optimistically, “The Lin Family and the Sheng Family used to be good friends. The Lin Family escaped overseas and the Sheng Family decided to hide themselves during the sudden disasters. Since we have found them, we could rebuild our relationship with them. Then, Li Mu's case may be resolved easily.”

The family leaders nodded and reckoned that it was good news to find back their good old friend through this matter. They would gain many benefits if they formed allies with the Sheng Family again.

Everyone's attention was on Lin Wan since she was the head of the family. She had the authority to make the final decision. Without any hesitation, Lin Wan said, “No way. We shall not have anything to do with the Shen Family for the moment. And do not expose our identity. We got to find a way to save my husband out of their hands first!”

They looked at one another and did not seem to agree with her suggestion. However, they didn’t dare to talk back to her in front of everyone. Everyone turned to Mrs. Hong and signaled her to persuade Lin Wan to change her mind.

Mrs. Hong fell into a dilemma. Her suggestion was the best way to solve the problem. Also, the Lin Family would gain many benefits if they followed her suggestion.

However, Miss Lin disagreed with it. So it was rude for Mrs. Hong to talk back to her. For now, she didn’t dare to go against Lin Wan because she was afraid that Lin Wan would chase her away from the family because of impulsiveness.

Yet, if she didn’t dare to say anything, nobody else would.

Mrs. Hong had no choice but to bite the bullet and said, “Lin Wan, listen to me...”

“You should hear me out!” Lin Wan interrupted her unceremoniously, “I'm not trying to make trouble and being unreasonable here. I have no choice because I dare not take the risk!”

“What risk?” Mrs. Hong asked puzzledly.

“It is the risk of them not letting Li Mu go. Think about it. We have killed their people. Though they were rude to us, we can't deny that we have killed twelve of them. If the Shen Family uses this against us, how are we going to request them to let Li Mu go?”

Nobody responded to her. Everyone fell into silence.

What Lin Wan said was right. Indeed, they had killed their people. Though the two families used to be allies, it was something that happened a few hundred years ago. Would the Lin Family compensate twelve lives for them if they did not care about the relationship and wanted them to pay for their losses?

“Even if the Shen Family is willing to forget the past, I'm not sure whether Shen Xingyue will let him go.”

This was what Lin Wan worried about the most. Shen Xingyue and Li Mu were each other's first loves. Their relationship lasted for four years. And most probably, their relationship was quite firm.

Lin Wan knew the reason for their break-up and it was not unforgivable. They separated from each other because they did not give in to each other about where and how they would develop their careers. They broke up on impulse after that.

Their break-up was not because their personalities did not match each other or one of them had betrayed another person. In short, the reason for their break-up was not irreconcilable. Once they went back to each other, it might rekindle their relationship. Then, it would be impossible for Shen Xingyue to let go of Li Mu.

Judging from the Shen Family's actions, it seemed like Shen Xingyue was an important family member. The whole clan dared to go against the law of nature and use black magic to increase her lifespan. If she was such an authoritative member, the family would not let him go if she did not allow it.

Lin Wan didn’t dare to take the risk, including asking for Li Mu from the Shen Family. She was worried that it would be even more difficult to save her husband from them if they started to be defensive towards outsiders. They might as well attack them all of a sudden and take Li Mu out of their hands.

All of them were experienced in life. Though Miss Lin did not explain in detail, they could somehow guess her worries.

There was nothing much to discuss if that was her decision. Mrs. Hong responded to her and started to get ready for a storm!

The Lin Family started to mobilize its people at once. Fighting against the Shen Family was different from fighting with another clan. Their opponent was also a big clan that had existed for many years. They were experienced and strong. If they were to attack them without enough preparation, they might suffer losses and fail to bring Li Mu back.

Though they had fought once, and the Lin Family won in the fight, they should not be too optimistic just because of that.

The Shen Family was not well prepared during the last fight. That was why they were murdered by Lin Wan and her people because of their carelessness. If they were well prepared, they might not get to defeat them.

Since they had decided to fight, firstly, they had to find out the Shen Family’s location and know their defense capabilities. This would ensure a better plan in defeating them.

Third uncle and Fifth uncle went to explore the enemy territory personally. By tracing their Qi, they got to find the Shen village. Both of them stopped outside the protection formation of the Shen Family and didn’t dare to act rashly.

They stayed put in the dense forest for a good two days. Finally, they saw a villager who came out of the village to buy things. Then, they caught him and hypnotized him to get the information they wanted to know.

Lin Wan's speculation was correct. Both of them were helpless after listening to what the villager said. This matter was indeed very complicated. If they did not deal with it carefully, they might cut ties with the Shen Family after this.

If they followed their will, they would not offend the Shen Family for Li Mu. To the Lin Family, this was the most undesirable decision to make.

However, they were clear that Miss Lin's decision was irreversible. She would not be entertained by their idea if they advised her to prioritize their clan's benefit. Now was not the time to discuss whether it was worth it for them to do it or not, but to discuss the problem of how to attack the Shen Family.

As expected, Lin Wan was furious when they brought the news to her.

She scolded Li Mu for being ungrateful to her and then scolded Shen Xingyue for sneaking in their relationship.

The situation was worse than she could have imagined. Both of them were about to get married to each other. Lin Wan almost cried because of anger. She thought Li Mu was not serious when he said he wanted to start a new life. She did not expect him to mean it!

Surprisingly, He Xiaoyu responded to the news calmly. She was neither sad nor angry about it. She only sat at the corner listening to them quietly.

She was the weakest among all. So she could not afford to offend these two clans. Though she had a mixture of emotions within her, she had to be patient and calm for now.

They started discussing some specific countermeasures and came out with two conclusions at the end.

The first strategy was to launch an attack before the enemy realized it. The second strategy was to sneak in quietly and bring Li Mu out of the village.

The first suggestion was rejected at once because the price to pay might be too high. The Lin Family might have to sacrifice their people as they walked past the deceptive formation. They might encounter many unknown situations even if they got into the village. These were the risks that even Lin Wan didn’t dare to take herself.

They had no choice but to deploy their people to sneak into the village silently. Then, they would look for opportunities to bring Li Mu back. Though this strategy was at high risk, it was better than attacking them directly.

After making up her mind, Lin Wan immediately chose a few candidates to go for the mission. She decided to pick Third uncle, Fifth uncle, Mrs. Hong, and herself. Too few people would result in lesser attacking power but too many people would allow others to detect them easily. The four of them would form a good team in executing the plan.

Everyone agreed to it since it was not something favorable to do. Though He Xiaoyu wanted to follow along, she was clear of her strength level. She would become a burden to them if she followed along. It was better that she waited at home.

They started to get ready for their weapons and decided to take action three days later. However, they did not expect Li Mu to take his own action two days later.

Li Mu's strategy finally worked. The sisters kept asking him to tell them stories. And their longing to see the world became more intense each day. Under his encouragement, they finally thought of going out to see the world.

However, they didn’t dare to put their thought into action because of the restriction of their clan rules and their Master's instructions. They did not dare to offend the rules.

Having said so, Li Mu used to be a salesman who could bluff intelligent and successful people. Fooling two innocent girls was not a big deal to him at all!

Eventually, the girls agreed to join his plan because of his encouragement and assurance. They decided to sneak out of the village and visit the city.

First, they would have to get ready their vehicle if they wanted to travel. They would never get to the city if they walked down the mountains on foot. Besides, they would most probably be caught by the Shen villagers before they could even reach their destination.

Li Mu drove a car here when he first arrived. However, he could not use the car this time. It was not because it was spoilt, but because it was difficult not to be noticed with its movement and size.

Many villagers had their own bicycles. Li Mu hesitated for a while and gave up on the idea. The bike was too slow and was not that fast compared to walking. They would be caught by the villagers if they used that to escape.

Other vehicles like carriages, ox carts, and donkey carts were eliminated by Li Mu too. Firstly, those vehicles were not faster than the bicycle. Secondly, he did not know the correct way to control the animals. If they were out of control and ran into a mountain stream, all of them might die because of it.

This was a big problem now. If they could not find a suitable vehicle, running away could lead to death. Li Mu knew that he had one chance only. If he failed this time, he would never get to walk out of the mountain unless Shen Xingyue allowed him to do so.

After looking around for quite a while, his hard work paid off. And he found a good thing in the end.