Shanglin Neighborhood, Chen Residence.
Jie Jia walked into the cooling pavilion and looked at the spirited Chen Mu.
He frowned upon seeing the steamed fish on the table and said, “You can bathe three times a day.”
What does that mean? Chen Mu was puzzled.
“Even if you handle fresh fish every day, bathing three times would be enough to get rid of the fishy smell.”
“Why are you rubbing so much green onion juice on yourself? Do you want to be steamed like the fish?” Jie Jia said, pointing at the fish with its mouth gaping towards the sky.
You really dare to think; green onion juice?
“I’ve taken Solid Fragrance Pills, which are comparable to the latest incense and high-class goods!”
Scallion-scented incense? Or is it fried scallions?
Jie Jia said drily, “Your preferences are… quite unique.”
Chen Mu rolled his eyes, as if it were by choice. It’s all just to change his body odor.
According to the “Golden Wind Jade Dew Secret Method,” soul-locking bugs hate scallions and garlic the most.
Otherwise, he’d be crazy to use the scent of fried scallions as perfume.
“These Solid Fragrance Pills can make a person emit a floral fragrance?” After hearing Chen Mu’s explanation, Jie Jia raised an eyebrow and stared at Chen Mu.
“Thinking of making money? Forget it. I’m starting to doubt your abilities,” Chen Mu firmly rejected.
“Getting involved in selling Qingfeng Powder already implicated me. Selling Solid Fragrance Pills—what if it brings disaster again?”
Anyway, now that he had money on hand, he wasn’t worried about food or drink. He just wanted to peacefully increase his proficiency and eliminate any potential hazards.
Jie Jia fell silent for a while. “So, you’re saying that Lin Que was killed by you.”
Chen Mu immediately became annoyed: “Nonsense!”
“With my feeble strength, who could I possibly kill?”
“Don’t you know? I’ve always been kind to others.”
Jie Jia glanced at Chen Mu and scoffed.
…
Three days later, inside the cooling pavilion.
Chen Mu stuffed rice balls into his mouth while summoning the grey wall.
Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse: 1192/10000/Fourth Rank;
“If I had discovered the effects of the Divine Intent Diagram earlier, that would’ve been great,” Chen Mu ruefully thought.
With the Divine Intent Diagram replenishing his spirit, his daily progress on the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse sped up by at least fifty percent.
If he had found out sooner, perhaps he’d already be halfway through the Fourth Rank proficiency!
But it made him hungry quickly, consuming more food.
Not only did his own appetite increase, but the Five Ghosts Bag’s need for food grew as well.
“So, discovering it early might not have been useful after all. I can recover quickly, but the Five Ghosts Bag can’t. There’s just not enough fish to eat,” Chen Mu consoled himself, tossing a handful of bait into the pond.
The surface of the water instantly erupted into a flurry of splashing.
The fish hidden beneath the water frantically scrambled for the special bait.
As the proficiency of the Five Ghosts Bag improved, the consumption of fresh fish surged significantly.
Previously, filling the feeding well was enough to last a day.
Now, he had to feed them twice, at least one and a half wells each time.
Even though the Luo River was abundant in fish, he could only catch fish from a corner of it. The previous consumption was sustainable thanks to the miraculous bait.
With long-term fishing, the nearby sections of the river were becoming depleted of fish. To harvest abundantly again, he had to wait for fish from upstream and downstream to drift over.
He had recently become reluctant even to eat fish.
“Maybe I should buy some fresh meat from outside?” Chen Mu was slightly tempted.
“But what if it causes trouble?” he hesitated again.
Purchasing so much fresh meat every day, without running a restaurant, just the thought made one curious. What if it attracted prying eyes? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?
The bounty from the Startling Swan Gang was still out there after all.
…
Late at night, aboard a certain Red Ship on the Luo River.
Sikou Yu reclined comfortably, one girl feeding him grapes, another offering him wine, an expression of pure contentment on his face.
“Sun Fu, it’s been five days, and you still haven’t found any clues about the ebony wood?” Sikou Yu asked languidly.
Sun Fu was sweating profusely, feeling extremely tense. He could clearly sense Sikou Yu’s dissatisfaction.
“You might not be aware, but Zuo Sheng has already cultivated his Wandering Soul yesterday. He’s jumped to becoming the second best fighter in the Startling Swan Gang,” Sikou Yu remarked with a sigh, “Uncle Jin sure has taken a good disciple.”
Being the direct descendant of a noble clan, he was pampered from a young age, bathed in medicinal concoctions, learned the complete heritage, and took only the finest Secret Medicines.
After toiling for fifteen years, he had only barely managed to develop his Soul Strength last year.
As for Zuo Sheng? It’s said that Uncle Jin has not even had him for a year. Including all the training time before that, it definitely wouldn’t surpass ten years.
He might be some noble clan’s illegitimate child left in the outside world.
“It’s not worth making an enemy of such a genius,” Sikou Yu said indifferently.
Sun Fu’s heart clenched at the thought.
Sikou Yu was warning him. If he couldn’t come up with valuable information, he would be discarded.
And thinking about the more sinister possibilities, he could even be used as a bargaining chip to curry favor with Zuo Sheng!
How on earth did he allow himself to be so blinded by greed that he thought to investigate that scholar?!
Even if he had investigated, he could have tried to come clean to Zuo Sheng, to bet on the latter’s generosity. After all, he had been his confidant before and done many dirty deeds for him—not much difference with this one.
But now he was in too deep to escape.
After being with Sikou Yu for several days, Zuo Sheng had already considered him a traitor. If an opportunity arose, he would definitely kill him quickly!
Chen Mu! Chen Mu! Damn scholar, where on earth are you?!
Sun Fu’s mind raced.
That’s it!
The residence in that willow forest by the river!
Throughout all these days of investigation, it was the only place he hadn’t checked!
He remembered how the Soul Locking Bug had abruptly changed direction that day.
But for five days, there had been no similar behavior from the Soul Locking Bug.
There’s something wrong with that residence!
He was just about to speak up when Sikou Yu suddenly asked, “Tell me, who were the people who came to Nanyang with the Zuo Family originally?”
Sun Fu was caught off guard but quickly responded, “Chen Mu, Zhang Ye, Du Huai, a young Taoist boy, and two other women.”
“I remember you saying that Du Huai and those two women are locals from Nanyang Prefecture City. Only Zhang Ye, Chen Mu, and that Taoist boy are from Qingshan County?”
“Young master has a good memory!” Sun Fu complimented with a smile, and was about to share his recent suspicions, when—
“Did you ever investigate the background of that Taoist boy?” Sikou Yu interrupted suddenly.
Suppressing his eagerness, Sun Fu patiently answered, “That Taoist boy belongs to the Qingfeng Observatory outside Qingshan County. Upon reaching Nanyang Prefecture City, he left with his senior brother and never had contact with Head Zuo.”
“Young master, five days ago we discovered…”
“Did you ever look into what Qingfeng Observatory is all about?” Sikou Yu’s eyes lit up.
Sun Fu, interrupted again, struggled to recall, “I’ve sent people to inquire among the refugees from Qingshan County.” Stay connected with m v l e mpyr
“I heard Qingfeng Observatory is the top Taoist temple in Qingshan County. The temple master, Feng Ren, is known for expelling evil spirits, his fame spreading far and wide.”
“That Taoist boy is Feng Ren’s closed-door disciple.”
“Before the earthquake in Qingshan County, Qingfeng Observatory had also organized labor to build an altar to banish evil spirits and protect locals, earning widespread praise.”
Sikou Yu suddenly sat up. “Building an altar? Banishing evil spirits? Ha!”
He was all too familiar with this ritual. Wasn’t it just part of the essential rites for consecrating certain special Magic Artifacts?
If they had Magic Artifacts and knew the rites to consecrate them, then Qingfeng Observatory was no ordinary heritage.
That Taoist boy’s senior brother must possess formidable martial prowess!
Lin Que had achieved great success in Shape Cultivation. To kill Lin Que, one must at least be at the same level of achievement in Shape Cultivation.
And doesn’t that match up perfectly!
“Young master, at the Shanglin Neighborhood, we found…”
“Why didn’t you tell me such important information before?” Sikou Yu’s expression darkened abruptly as he scolded fiercely.
Sun Fu’s body stiffened, and he stood there dumbfounded.
This… is important?