Chapter 266: Chapter 117: Monster Martial Pill! Star Patterned Gold Alchemy Furnace!_2
Su Changkong exited the city with ease and headed straight towards the Ghost Market in East Forest Mountain.
“I hope… he doesn’t betray me.”
Having killed the Chen family’s brothers, he had fulfilled the contract, but what was most important for Su Changkong was whether he could obtain the Pill Recipe from Zhou Zhengye’s hands.
This transaction, in reality, had many unguaranteed aspects; he had killed the Chen family’s brothers, meeting the terms of the contract, but Zhou Zhengye might not necessarily honor the agreement and could choose to hide away.
It was even possible that Zhou Zhengye never possessed the so-called Pill Recipe and had lied just to make Su Changkong avenge him.
However, Zhou Zhengye did indeed share many pieces of information about the Demon Monster, which didn’t seem like lies, and such transactions were indeed hard to safeguard without mutual understanding.
Even finding a third party to guarantee or restraining Zhou Zhengye in advance would be futile.
After all, the Pill Recipe was in Zhou Zhengye’s mind. Whether it was real or fake, only he knew; if he stubbornly refused to tell, or deliberately provided a wrong Pill Recipe, it would be hard to judge.
Thus, there was no other way but to trust each other. Su Changkong had killed the Chen family’s brothers, then Zhou Zhengye, in gratitude, would willingly hand over the Pill Recipe to complete the transaction.
After confirming the veracity of Zhou Zhengye’s story about the Chen family’s brothers falsely claiming the achievements of others, he decided to trust Zhou Zhengye, acted to eliminate the Chen family’s brothers, and at worst, he would have simply busied himself in vain.
Of course, if Zhou Zhengye indeed was deceiving him, betraying his trust, then Su Changkong would use every means to find him and make him pay a price!
He had arranged with Zhou Zhengye to meet in the Ghost Market in East Forest Mountain after the task was completed, where Zhou Zhengye was to hand over the Pill Recipe to him. What the situation actually was, he’d know once he went there!
Su Changkong arrived at the Ghost Market in East Forest Mountain. Since it was daytime, and the monthly mid-month opening of the Ghost Market was far off, the Ghost Market now was just a silent, abandoned small mountain village with not a single living person.
Su Changkong didn’t rashly enter the Ghost Market; he concealed his aura and observed the surroundings of the mountain village for a while. After making sure there were no anomalies, he finally stepped into the village.
At this moment, Su Changkong was wearing an ape mask, making his way inside the village, to the residence where he had previously conversed with Zhou Zhengye.
“No one’s here.” Su Changkong could sense the silence without entering the room, there was no one inside. Zhou Zhengye was not waiting for him there as agreed.
Nevertheless, Su Changkong still pushed the door open and entered the room.
“Hm?”
With a surprised expression on his face, Su Changkong saw that although there was nobody in the room, a scroll lay on a table inside, with an envelope placed underneath it.
Su Changkong stepped forward, picked up the envelope, and took out the letter inside.
“Many thanks to you, my benefactor, for exterminating the Chen family’s brothers and avenging my wife and children! I have nothing with which to repay you, this ‘Monster Martial Pill’ recipe was once bought by my grandfather for a great price from a down-and-out aristocrat. The news about the Demon Monster was also learned from him. As agreed, I offer this Monster Martial Pill recipe to my benefactor! Unable to thank you in person, I present the recipe with both hands and hope for your understanding. The journey is long, let’s take care of ourselves!”
The content of the letter was straightforward, unsigned, but it was clearly left by Zhou Zhengye.
In reality, three nights ago, Zhou Zhengye was also within the Feng State City, blending into the distant crowd, and personally witnessed the Chen family’s brothers being killed by arrows flying from afar. Zhou Zhengye understood that the one who did the deed, as he had commissioned, was Su Changkong!
With his adversaries receiving the punishment they deserved, Zhou Zhengye’s mind was finally at ease. He left Feng State City before Su Changkong and reached this Ghost Market village in East Forest Mountain. He wrote this letter at the agreed-upon location and left the promised reward.
Zhou Zhengye truly did not deceive Su Changkong. The many pieces of information about the Demon Monster that he knew came from a down-and-out aristocrat, including a recipe for refining a Demon Monster’s Crystal Core.
Zhou Zhengye did not seek revenge for kindness nor did he turn back on his word, firstly because Su Changkong, as promised, had killed the Chen family’s brothers on his behalf, for which Zhou Zhengye was grateful, and secondly, Zhou Zhengye was afraid of Su Changkong’s power. Being able to kill the Chen family’s brothers in Feng State City meant Su Changkong had great Divine Skills, and if Zhou Zhengye deceived him, the latter would surely stop at nothing to hunt him down.
Rather than live in fear, it was better to honor the agreement, and the Pill Recipe, in truth, was of no use to Zhou Zhengye either. Giving it to another person meant no loss to him.
As for why Zhou Zhengye did not personally thank him, it was still out of fear of Su Changkong, not understanding or trusting him.
What if, after obtaining the Pill Recipe, Su Changkong decided to silence him by killing him?
Therefore, the smartest approach was to not be present, to leave the Pill Recipe at the agreed location, and let Su Changkong come for it himself.
Su Changkong’s mind was at ease. Zhou Zhengye’s absence, leaving only the Pill Recipe, was actually a move to assure Su Changkong. His goal had been achieved, and he could have simply hidden away and disappeared.
Zhou Zhengye didn’t do so, however; he honored the agreement and left the Pill Recipe, thus the authenticity of the Pill Recipe could be guaranteed.
Su Changkong channeled his inner strength and tore the letter into fine dust, then he picked up the scroll and gently unfurled it to review the contents, which detailed the method of refining a Demon Monster’s Crystal Core, a type of Pill Medicine named ‘Monster Martial Pill’.