Chapter 32: The County
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"What have you guessed?"
Fang Yuan went up slowly with an apathetic face. His cold look caused Song San to feel the brink of death.
"Hold on a second…."
He shouted. "You killed Song Yujie and Song Zhong will definitely not let you go. He is crazy and he wants everyone to die together with his son…. I can help you since I know that old man…."
He spoke halfway and was horrified after coughing out a mouthful of blood.
"I will settle that old man myself. You should be on your way now!"
Fang Yuan did not know anything else which could cure the Pearl Tail Snake's Poison other than the Yama's Order.
This martial artist should also be easily poisoned even though he was highly skilled like Fang Yuan.
Not long after, Song San became a corpse with a blue-black face.
"Unfortunately…. The poison is so effective that it killed Song San before I could get more information from him…. It seems like it is not worth to give him a pill of the spiritual medicine to let him survive a little longer…."
Fang Yuan felt a little regretful after watching Song San died. He waved and said, "Flower Fox Ferret, go and patrol the area. Kill anyone who dares to come close to this area!"
"Keke!"
A bright white light flashed past and the Flower Fox Ferret was back not long after from its patrol. Its paws were clean and it shook its head.
"No one? So Song San came here on his own?"
Fang Yuan had a suspicion and sighed after looking at Song San's body. "You are lucky!"
If Song San had given up, Fang Yuan would naturally send Zhou Wenwu out and end their relations. However, Song San had the intention to interfere on his own and got himself into trouble in the end. He was indeed unlucky.
Moreover, he was unconscious and did not know Fang Yuan's attitude and performance previously.
It would then be worth saving his life.
"Song Zhong must be really crazy to get the whole Zhou family killed. Luckily, I've saved Zhou Wenwu's life to allow him to find his sect for help. Any sects who know about his situation will definitely help him in any way!"
Once a faction consolidated its power, it would never allow its own men to kill each other. Otherwise, where would the cohesiveness among the men be?
If everyone from the Zhou family had been killed and there was no leader left, Song Zhong could find a few people as scapegoats and allow himself to be not traced as the murderer.
Now with Zhou Wenwu alive as the sole witness, Song Zhong would not be able to escape when others knew about this!
Hence, in Fang Yuan's eyes, Zhou Wenwu was worth saving as he was useful.
After all, Fang Yuan killed Song Yujie and he had to kill Song Zhong so that there would be no further threats.
...….
"Father….. Ah Fu…."
In his dream, he could faintly see Song Zhong struggling to stay alive.
Zhou Wenwu shouted and woke up from his dream feeling shocked.
He was previously injured in his chest but now he felt much better.
"Yes….Father fought against the enemies desperately so that my sister and I could escape through the secret pathway. Unfortunately, we were still being chased even though he was fighting the soldiers. In the end, we split….."
He began to regain consciousness and took a look at his surroundings. "Is this place….the secluded valley?"
"You have woken up?"
Fang Yuan served a bowl of medicine and showed concern for him.
"Thank you, Master, for saving my life!"
Zhou Wenwu wanted to get up to show his gratitude but was stopped by Fang Yuan. "You are still injured. You should just stay in bed and rest…. What happened to the Zhou family?"
"The Zhou family…."
Once he mentioned this, Zhou Wenwu's eyes became teary. "From today onwards, there will be no Zhou family in Qingye City!"
"How is this possible? Are Old Zhou and Miss Zhou alright?"
Fang Yuan sounded surprised and asked, "Who is the murderer?"
"Song Zhong is definitely the mastermind of the murder!"
Zhou Wenwu bit his teeth tightly and said, "Even though the murderer had concealed himself, I had seen him with my own eyes. I shouldn't be wrong!"
"Ssss…."
Fang Yuan inhaled and asked, "How could it be?"
"That Song Zhong is a crazy man!"
Zhou Wenwu started to get up and said, "My sister and I were separated. I'm not sure whether you have seen us. When the soldiers and Song San came chasing after me, I then knew it was difficult to defeat Song Zhong…."
"I didn't see them…."
Fang Yuan shook his head and said, "Master Zhou, you are a good man. This place is very secluded and Song San probably would have been gone back…."
"I think so too!"
Zhou Wenwu couldn't believe what had happened, but when he thought about how Fang Yuan dealt with the situation, he understood what Fang Yuan meant and answered him.
"What plans do you have, Master Zhou?"
Fang Yuan cut to the chase by asking him that question.
"I will return to the sect, of course, and look for the leader for help!"
Zhou Wenwu's eyes were red. He clenched his fist and said, "If I'm alive, he will have to be dead!"
He himself knew that he couldn't fight against Song Zhong on his own and he needed help from the sect.
Furthermore, Song Zhong was the one in the wrong and he was definitely going to be punished as long as they were able to expose him!
"With your current injuries, you shouldn't move about so much. Luckily Qinghe County is just nearby. I can only prescribe enough medicine for you to find your sect but not enough to for you to regain your martial arts skills!"
Fang Yuan nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Master, for your help!"
Zhou Wenwu was grateful towards Fang Yuan but he felt sorrowful. He was supposed to rendezvous with Zhou Wenxin but they had not met up till now. She probably had been killed.
In that case, he would be the only one left in the Zhou family.
"After my revenge, I will do anything you want to repay your kindness!"
"That will be unnecessary…."
Fang Yuan swayed his arms and glanced at Zhou Wenwu, "How about I escort you to the county since you are still injured?"
"What?"
Zhou Wenwu was dazed upon hearing that.
He also had this idea originally but didn't dare to request for it since he had troubled Fang Yuan so much already. Since Fang Yuan offered to do it, it made it seemed like he was a good man in Zhou Wenwu's eyes!
Little did he know that in Fang Yuan's eyes, Zhou Wenwu was extremely important in making sure that Song Zhong would be dead. Hence, Fang Yuan had decided to make that offer so he could make sure Zhou Wenwu reach his sect safely.
Of course, Zhou Wenwu didn't know the truth. In his eyes, Fang Yuan was kind-hearted with incredible medical skills.
...….
"Qinghe County…."
On the road, a cart moved slowly. Fang Yuan wore his hat and pondered over his thoughts silently.
In this world, the presence of the local authority was rare. For Qingye City, the families there were the ones controlling and making the calls instead of the local authorities.
The county was similar in a sense that the Spirit Returning Sect was in total control of it. The local authorities present there had no say in anything.
Rather, a portion of the high-ranking officials in the county were members of the Spirit Returning Sect.
Therefore, Fang Yuan could guess the state of the royal sovereignty of this county, which was similar to the one he had in his dream.
That was why after his whole family was killed, Zhou Wenwu did not even consider to report to the local authorities. Instead, he went to his Sect for help.
The cart was moving smoothly at a steady pace, which was helpful to the injured person lying in it.
'The Flower Fox Ferret will stay behind to guard the secluded valley. I am sufficient for this trip to the county!'
'Of course, I should not reveal my Black Sand Palm whenever possible. My Eagle Claw Iron Skin technique needs to be stronger as soon as possible!"
Fang Yuan was eager to improve his technique and he glanced at his stats window.
"Name: Fang Yuan
Essence: 2.7
Spirit: 2.6
Magic: 1.5
Age: 18
Cultivation: [Martial Arts (5th Gate)]
Techniques: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 4)]
Skills: [Medicine (Level 2)], [Botany (Level 3)]"
"Since I have the foundations for martial arts, I am able to improve my Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique quickly.…."
Even when he was still searching for the spiritual fertiliser, he still continued to train. Moreover, he was benefitting from consuming the meat of the spiritual beast. The result was way better than when he consumed the Vermillion Jade Rice.
"My Spirit has increased by 0.1. My Iron Skin Technique has gained a new grade and it is not far from reaching the peak of the 5th Grade…."
Fang Yuan was satisfied with his progress.
When he killed Song Yujie previously, he had revealed his ability in the Black Sand Palm Technique. Hence, he would try as much as possible not to execute this technique.
On the other hand, the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique didn't have such a disadvantage and he could train it till he attained the 12 Golden Gates. By then he would naturally gain more attention from the others.
Fang Yuan focused on the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique and a few messages appeared in his mind.
"Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique - A combination of inner and external techniques. When mastered, it would be similar to coating the entire body with iron, making it impenetrable by fire and water, as well as making the body difficult to wound. Currently at 4th Grade, this techniques strengthens the inner power of the Eagle Claw Technique!"
In the path of martial arts, before the Pain Gate is broken through, only inner power, and not inner force would be cultivated!
To Fang Yuan, this was the difference between the disorderly inner power and the rope-like inner force.
However, practising martial arts was also beneficial for one's inner power.
He had this feeling that since his power from his Dantian got stronger, he could feel a very strong energy inside it.
If he were to succeed in the conversion of his inner power, he would advance past the threshold for the standard of an expert in martial arts in Qinghe County!
"Master….Master Fang!"
Just when Fang Yuan was about to execute and train his Eagle Claw technique, a weak voice was heard from the inside of the cart.
"How are you feeling, Master Zhou?"
Fang Yuan opened the cart's curtains and saw Zhou Wenwu's pale face.
"I can still hold it!"
Zhou Wenwu coughed a couple of times, coughing out blood in the process. "That….that old man will not let me go easily. He will surely send his men to prevent us from reaching Qinghe County!"
"So what?"
Fang Yuan laughed and said, " We have nothing to worry about if Song Zhong doesn't personally stop us!"
He had easily defeated Song San, who was a disciple of Song Zhong. This clearly showed that his skills were comparable to the skills of Song Zhong's men.
Moreover, there were many ways to get to the county. He could purposely take a different road to make it harder for Song Zhong's men to locate them.
Regardless, they could still encounter trouble in the county.