The fighting had finally ended.
Fung Ching dug out inner cores from the bodies of the ironhead mastiffs and put their bodies away in his brand-new storage ring. They might have to resort to eating the meat of magical creatures once they were deep in the forest.
It is said that the position of the inner core is different for every magical creature. For the ironhead mastiff, this position was about three inches below its heart. Wun Fan picked up one of the inner cores to inspect. It was about as wide as three fingers put together, with a smooth, jade-like surface. Power flowed within it.
Meanwhile, the inner core of the leader of the mastiffs was four fingers wide. Wun Fan realized that the size of the inner cores was probably related to the strength of the magical creature.
The three of them travelled for another kilometer in the dark before setting up another camp. Fung Ching took out the compass. It indicated that they were at (-21260, 18).
Wun Fan took out his wooden tub and poured clean water into it. He took off his bloodstained garments and washed them thoroughly. Thankfully, Chan Chi Yuet had prepared plenty of food and water for him. He would still have to replenish his water supply if they came across a water source, though.
It had only been two days since he left. Why did he miss her already?
Like always, Old Lei took out the Meridian-Forging Powder and the Bone-Strengthening Pill and poured them into the tub. A horrible screeching noise could be heard the whole time as Wun Fan squeezed the side of the tub with his fingers as he endured the terrible pain, but he survived.
Wun Fan continued soaking in the tub when the treatment was done. He let himself and his muscles relax. Suddenly, he thougt of Hung Yu Fei’s smile from earlier and what she said, Wun Fan, you owe me a drop of blood for the rest of your life.
Wun Fan couldn’t help but shiver. What did she mean? He felt like something was off, but he didn’t know what. It was a very strange feeling. He hoped it wasn’t something troublesome. After all, Old Lei’s comment about his luck with girls was getting to him. He didn’t really want to get too involved with that girl.
Especially since that girl’s uncle was the mayor. Her father was probably someone very important as well.
Wun Fan suddenly lost any interest in soaking in the tub. He quickly put away the water in the tub, with plans of disposing it somewhere else later.
He quickly put on his clothes and circulated soul energy throughout his body. He felt warm and comfortable now and slowly walked back to the tent. When he entered, he saw Hung Yu Fei, who looked a lot less pale than before. He felt a wave of relief and said, “Brat, you alright?”
“I’m fine,” said Hung Yu Fei with a gentle smile. She seemed completely unlike her usual bratty and arrogant self, which unnerved Wun Fan. He quickly stepped out of the tent to keep watch for the rest of the night as he said, “Rest well for tonight.”
“Mm,” said Hung Yu Fei with a nod, before nestling herself into her sleeping bag.
Fung Ching could feel the strange atmosphere between the two of them. He felt cold sweat drip from his forehead. He reminded himself, “This is all imaginary. It is absolutely just part of my imagination.” With that, he got into his own sleeping bag and avoided getting involved in the situation.
A silent night.152Please respect copyright.PENANAdvrJordXDi
Back in Green Sea Town, inside the study room of the Hung Clan’s mansion, Hung Yun Zak was bent over in frustration, with his head in his hands. He held a portrait of Hung Yu Fei in his hands, the same one that the Green Wolf Gang had put out at the Martial Artist Guild.
He had not seen Hung Yu Fei in a long time, but he could still recognize his own niece.
Hung Yun Zak was troubled by this development of events, but there was nothing he could do. According to the information he received, Hung Yu Fei had vanished into the Green Sea Forest alongside the Wun Fan, the third young master of the Wun Clan. They were probably going in there to train. Hung Yun Zak felt a cold shiver run down his spine when he thought of his brother’s smiling face. He snapped his fingers and a silhouette landed in front of him, kneeling on the ground.
“Send two members of Wither to Green Sea Forest to protect them,” said Hung Yun Zak as he shook his head. This niece of his was always causing trouble wherever she went. He tapped his fingers against the table as he considered the situation. If Hung Yu Fei was able to build a relationship with Wun Fan, he might not have to kill him…
“Yes, master,” said the guard faithfully, no hint of emotions or opinions in his voice.
“Also, are we prepared for the Chan Clan’s auction tomorrow,” asked Hung Yun Zak.
“The funds have been prepared, master,” said the guard. He paused for a moment before continuing, “However, we are still unable to trace the source of these pills.”
“Mm,” said Hung Yun Zak with a nod, before muttering to himself, “First, there were the Pills of Meridian Fortification, then now, a large amount of Energy Restoration Pills and Mortalmaker Pills. It’s impossible to produce such amounts without a high-Grade alchemist.”
Hung Yun Zak remained silent in thought for a long while. Finally, he took out a bottle and sprayed some perfume on his face. The perfume had the effect of calming his nerves. He composed himself for a moment before saying, “Dig into any unusual changes in the Chan Clan’s movements in the past few weeks. I don’t believe the Chan Clan left no traces of their supply.”
“Yes, master.”
“Go.”
Less than a second later, the silhouette had vanished from the room, leaving Hung Yun Zak alone in his room with his thoughts.152Please respect copyright.PENANAquPArf630L
Dawn. A fine mist hung in the air.
A whole night had passed by quickly. Old Lei had scoured Wun Fan’s body with his mental energy, inspecting his soul energy and his organs, even diving as deep as his bone marrow and his mind. However, he found nothing.
It seemed like that strange drop of blood had been purified by the Spiritstartler Ring and turned into fuel for Wun Fan’s growth.
Wun Fan saw Old Lei freely looking around his body and couldn’t help but ask, “Old Lei, my soul energy is filled with death aura. Why doesn’t it affect you?”
Old Lei chuckled and said, “If your piss-weak soul energy could affect me, it would be like standing in a puddle and drowning!”
“...”
However, the results of Old Lei’s examination finally allowed Wun Fan to relax. At least there was nothing wrong with him.
The sun rose on the horizon and purple energy seeped in from the distance. Wun Fan didn’t bother climbing up the trees today. After all, he was a responsible member of the party. There would be no point in him keeping watch if he strayed too far away.
However, this decision came at a cost. The towering trees blocked out much of the purple energy, causing him to only absorb around 40% of what he usually would be able to get.
Wun Fan waved his arms about. His limbs felt strong and his wounds were healed. Even his power as an advanced Martial Mortal had stabilized. He was only one small step away from peak Martial Mortal and he couldn’t feel better about it.
He had the Spiritstartler Ring replenish his soul energy, before standing up to stretch. After all, he had spent the whole night sitting, watching his surroundings carefully and absorbing aether. It was quite tiring.
If it hadn’t been for his talent to multi-task, there was no way he could have done so much in a single night.
“Mm, morning,” said Hung Yu Fei as she emerged from the tent. She looked at Wun Fan’s silhouette and suddenly felt shy. She quickly averted her gaze.
Wun Fan wasn’t used to this behavior by Hung Yu Fei. He got close to her and touched her forehead. Hung Yu Fei immediately turned re as a rose. Wun Fan pressed the other hand against his own forehead and said, “Weird, you don’t have a fever at all.”
Hung Yu Fei wasn’t so dumb as to not get that Wun Fan was making fun of her. She immediately shouted at him, “What are you trying to say?”
Wun Fan saw Hung Yu Fei return to her usual self and let out a breath of relief as he said, “Now that’s the usual you. Acting all shy and embarrassed, that just creeps me out.”
“You stupid…” said Hung Yu Fei with gritted teeth. She wanted nothing more than to beat him up, but she couldn’t help but wonder, Didn’t that old hag say that this technique would leave a mark in his martial heart and that feelings would naturally rise?
Why isn’t it working on Wun Fan?
Wun Fan ignored Hung Yu Fei and pulled open the tent to wake Fung Ching, “Sun’s up. We gotta get moving.”
Fung Ching didn’t get much rest either. After all, he had to recover his soul energy even while he was lying down. He couldn’t rely on Wun Fan’s Energy Restoration Pill all the time. However, when he saw Hung Yu Fei wake up earlier, he knew better than to get in the way of the two of them. After all, he heard what Hung Yu Fei said last night…
Wun Fan was also intentionally ignoring whatever happened between him and Hung Yu Fei. He quickly packed up. For some reason, he was afraid of looking at Hung Yu Fei directly today.
Was it because of that martial technique of hers? Or did he feel guilty for some strange reason?
Just like that, the three of them continued on their journey.
Meanwhile, another group of people arrived at their previous campsite. They looked around and saw the place ravaged by the battle that had taken place earlier. There was blood and arrow marks everywhere. It seemed like the battle had been very intense. Moreover, there were signs of a camp, with a leftover pile of burnt wood. It was obvious that someone had stayed here the night before.
They were members of the Green Wolf Gang.152Please respect copyright.PENANAraA2qr0UrL