Chapter 29: The Wu Family Takes Action

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Wu Family Takes Action

After detouring for several hundred meters, Fang Xu finally found a path leading up the cliff. He expended quite a bit of effort to climb up, only to immediately spot numerous corpses scattered haphazardly a short distance ahead.

"So many people died!?" he thought in shock.

Approaching the battlefield with utmost caution, Fang Xu could not help but shudder as he realized that all the tragically deceased were Government Soldiers.

Every single one of these Government Soldiers was at least a Martial Disciple. "Are the bandits in Tilan Mountain really that strong?" he wondered. "Slaughtering Martial Disciples as easily as slaughtering livestock?"

Suppressing the shock in his heart, he continued forward. Suddenly, he spotted piles of eerie white bones wrapped in black armor. Puddles of nauseating, rotting flesh and blood surrounded the skeletons.

"This... These are Government Soldiers too!?"

Fang Xu poked the black armor with his shovel and cast a bewildered glance at his surroundings. Seeing quite a few more of these bizarre, skeletal Government Soldiers, a single word instantly surfaced in his mind: Witchcraft!

"These Government Soldiers died in such a bizarre manner. This is definitely not the work of ordinary Martial Artists! Did Wang Erhu and his group encounter a witch?"

At the mere thought of that word, a chill rose from the soles of his feet and shot straight to the crown of his head. Humans possessed an innate fear of the unknown. The deeply unnatural methods of witchcraft naturally made Fang Xu’s scalp tingle with dread.

"Hmm?" Glancing at the skeleton before him once more, he made a startling discovery. Nestled in the middle of that puddle of foul-smelling, rotting flesh was a gleaming Gold bean!

Staring at the Gold bean, Fang Xu hesitated.

These Government Soldiers had only been dead for a little over four hours at most, yet their corpses had already decomposed to such a horrifying extent. They had undoubtedly been struck by some kind of poison. This Gold bean was soaking in the rotting flesh; there was no guarantee it wasn’t tainted by the same bizarre toxin. If he recklessly picked it up, would he end up just like them, becoming another pile of dry bones on the ground?

After hesitating again and again, Fang Xu suddenly took out the cloth bag holding his existing Gold beans from his chest. He poured them all out, tucked them securely into his clothes, and then used the shovel to fish out the Gold bean soaking in the putrid flesh. Using the dirt on the ground, he rubbed away the blood and gore before placing the newly acquired bean into the cloth bag.

Throughout the entire process, he did not dare touch it with his bare hands.

Afterward, he repeated this exact method for the Gold beans found in every pile of bones. He only used his hands to loot the bodies that were still intact.

One piece, two pieces, three pieces... fifty pieces... sixty pieces...

By the time he finished looting all the corpses present, the number of Gold beans in his possession had reached one hundred and thirty-four. Just the Government Soldier whose neck had been hacked open yielded ten pieces alone.

"I’m rich!" he thought.

Having gathered up all the Gold beans cleanly, Fang Xu swept his gaze over the ground littered with mummified corpses and dry bones. He knew very well that he could not stay here for long, so he immediately took advantage of the night cover to return to Fenglin Town.

Back in his room, Fang Xu poured all the Gold beans onto the floor, but staring at them put him in a difficult spot.

In a place like Fenglin Town, Gold rarely appeared. If he recklessly spent these Gold beans, it would undoubtedly arouse suspicion. "Do I have to make a trip to Qinghe County Town just for these?" he wondered.

After pondering for a long time, he ultimately decided that since he did not need to spend money in the short term, he should hide the Gold beans for now. He would figure out a way to exchange them for silver notes once the heat died down.

He drew a basin of clean well water from the courtyard, carefully washed the Gold beans in it, and placed them back into the cloth bag. Then, he pried open the floor tile hiding the Divination God Treasure and buried the Gold beans alongside it.

To be safe, he also took a thorough bath and threw all the clothes he had worn on the trip into the courtyard to burn them to ashes. Who knew how the witchcraft poisons spread? It was better to be careful.

After finishing all this, Fang Xu sat cross-legged on his bed. He took out five Qi Blood Pills and swallowed them, putting those little cuties to work.

The next morning.

Fang Xu was just about to stew some Blood Food and begin his cultivation when he saw the woman from the Wang Family run in in a panic.

"Fang! Something terrible has happened!"

Seeing her panicked state, Fang Xu knew right away that the corpses of those Government Soldiers must have been discovered by the hunters entering the mountains. "Don’t panic, Mrs. Wang. Sit down first." Putting down the Blood Food in his hands, he helped the woman from the Wang Family to a seat nearby.

The woman from the Wang Family gripped his arm tightly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Fang, the Blood Food Shop’s Hunting Team went into the mountains early this morning and discovered a large number of Government Soldier corpses! Those men were all turned into mummified husks, just like our family’s plow ox!

"I also heard them say that quite a few of the Government Soldiers’ corpses had been reduced to dry bones. They died in a terrifying manner!

"Fang... Do you think Erhu... Do you think he’s already..."

Seeing her in such a state, Fang Xu was momentarily at a loss for words. Wang Erhu was already dead, and he had buried the body himself, but he could not tell her that. He could only comfort her, "Mrs. Wang, Erhu has luck on his side. I’m sure he’ll be fine."

Comforted by his words, the woman from the Wang Family calmed down slightly. "Sigh, I really don’t know why you men all want to become Martial Artists. What’s so good about it? You hover on the edge of life and death every day. How could that ever be as comfortable as living a peaceful life here in Fenglin Town?"

Hearing her complaints, Fang Xu smiled and shook his head.

There was a common saying that women had long hair but short foresight, and another that a heavy bosom meant an empty head. The woman from the Wang Family certainly fit both descriptions perfectly. Fang Xu did not want to debate the issue with her, so he simply changed the subject. "The Blood Food Shop must be getting busy. You should head back first, Mrs. Wang."

At the mention of the Blood Food Shop, she suddenly spoke up again. "Fang, Mr. Lu’s Blood Food Shop is probably in trouble."

"What happened?" Fang Xu asked curiously.

She explained, "Early this morning, a group of servants from the Wu Family completely demolished the town’s Land God Temple. They said they are planning to build a shop on that plot of land and open their own Blood Food Shop too."

The Wu Family? "So they really are preparing to stick their hands in?" Fang Xu thought. Out loud, he asked, "What did Land Master say?"

The woman from the Wang Family shook her head. "How would someone like me have the right to see Land Master?

"However, Li isn’t panicked in the least. He even seems somewhat eager for the Wu Family to open their Blood Food Shop."

Li Yunshan could be considered Lu Zhiyuan’s personal butler and undoubtedly knew the depths of his master’s background. The fact that he wasn’t panicked about the Wu Family interfering in the Blood Food business clearly meant he believed they wouldn’t pose a real threat.

Thinking of the Divine Attendant Pill that Lu Zhiyuan had given him earlier, Fang Xu also felt that the Wu Family’s power was simply not in the same league. After all, a faction capable of refining a Heaven-defying Elixir like the Divine Attendant Pill, even if it had fallen into decline, was absolutely not something a local tyrant like the Wu Family in this remote small town could shake.

"Be careful lately, Mrs. Wang," Fang Xu reminded her. Even though he guessed that Lu Zhiyuan wouldn’t take the Wu Family to heart, there was no guarantee the Wu Family wouldn’t harbor malicious intentions toward the Blood Food Shop’s employees.

Touched by his concern, a hint of sweetness bloomed in the woman from the Wang Family’s heart. She tilted her pretty face up to look at him. "Fang, how much longer until you break through to become a Martial Disciple?"

Taken aback, Fang Xu replied somewhat awkwardly, "Soon... It should be soon."

Seeing his reaction, she covered her mouth and giggled, looking at him with eyes as alluring as silk. "Then I will wait until you break through to become a Martial Disciple before I come back."

With that, she stood up and left the small courtyard before he could even respond.

Watching her graceful silhouette retreat, Fang Xu gently shook his head.

"Isn’t this woman just playing with fire day in and day out? Does she really think her delicate body can withstand the conquests of a Martial Artist?"