After the three Wang Clan collateral branch members had stripped the mountain stronghold clean of its looted supplies and the bandits' hidden gold and silver, Wang Yue entered the room of the formidable bandit chief alone and searched it carefully. A martial artist who could force him back barehanded might well have hidden secrets.
He crouched down and tapped the bedboards with his fingers. Suddenly sensing something unusual beneath the bed, he lifted the mattress and found a booklet of secret instructions made of xuan paper hidden in the reversed boards.
Opening the booklet, he found it covered in twisted symbols, like a demon's scrawl. They were neither writing nor diagrams of cultivation techniques. Wang Yue stared at them for a long while without understanding their purpose. Though puzzled, he carefully folded it up and tucked it into his clothes. It might come in handy someday.
The moment he stepped out of the room, Wang Yue saw the three collateral branch members squatting on the ground, gently wiping the blood from the faces of the four dead men with cloth. Their movements were so soft, as if they feared disturbing the departed.
For some reason, his resentment over the collateral branch's accumulated grievances suddenly vanished, leaving only a vast, ignorant dread in his heart.
Wang Yue stepped forward, his voice low. "Bring the horses up from the foot of the mountain. We're taking them home."
The three no longer acted fearful or perfunctory as before. They merely lowered their heads and answered, "Yes." As they turned and headed down the mountain, Wang Yue vaguely saw tear stains on their sleeves, several drops falling onto the snow.
Only after the three disappeared into the woods did Wang Yue withdraw his gaze. Then he saw Jiang Peiling staring blankly at him.
She had already removed her face veil. Faint bloodstains remained on her fair face, not yet fully wiped away, and her eyelashes trembled lightly. When she saw him turn around, she only managed to force out a smile.
Wang Yue sighed inwardly. If not for the clan's faulty intelligence claiming there were "only two ordinary Blood Condensation Realm cultivators," four men would not have met such a fate.
Suppressing the heaviness in his heart, he broke the silence. "Let's inventory the bandits' valuables first. Don't delay our return."
Xu Li still stood to one side, his eyes hollow. He was clearly still deeply blaming himself for his earlier cowardice, even his fingers trembling slightly.
Wang Yue looked at him, the corner of his mouth twitching as his tone turned somewhat stern. "Enough. The departed flow on like water; what's past is past. Xu Li, if you keep wallowing like this, then I truly will look down on you."
Xu Li shuddered all over and suddenly raised his head. Light gradually returned to his eyes. Clenching his fists tightly, he forced himself to rally. "Yes, Brother Wang. I understand!"
Jiang Peiling, beside him, was much calmer. Still, her eyes kept unconsciously darting toward Wang Yue, as though she were observing his reaction.
Wang Yue walked first to the wooden table piled with valuables and began counting: two hundred and ten taels of silver, three hundred and twenty taels in silver notes, a pile of gold and silver jewelry of varying quality, and two wooden boxes.
The two boxes were carved with the character "Wang," so they were clearly the supplies stolen from the clan.
Beside them lay more than a dozen weapons, sabers and swords alike, most of them lower-grade first-rank weapons.
Wang Yue casually picked up a saber and swept his awareness across the Martial Soul interface. No extraction prompt appeared. It was evidently just an ordinary entry-rank weapon, so he casually set it down again.
When the inventory was complete, he reached out and tucked the gold and silver jewelry along with one hundred taels in silver notes into his own clothes, moving as naturally as if he were taking his own belongings.
Jiang Peiling's eyes widened at once as she stared at him in disbelief. Her gaze plainly said, "You're really just taking it like that?"
Xu Li simply closed his eyes, wearing an expression that said, "It has nothing to do with me."
Wang Yue paid no mind. He packed the remaining valuables—two hundred and ten taels of silver, two hundred and twenty taels in silver notes, and the boxes carved with the Wang character—into a large wooden chest and sealed the lid.
Just as he stood, he saw ten horses being led up from the foot of the mountain. The three collateral branch members stood not far away holding the reins, their expressions restrained.
Wang Yue went over to meet them, while Xu Li and Jiang Peiling stayed where they were. Jiang Peiling puffed out her cheeks and secretly glared at his back, as though grumbling about his "greed."
"Young Master Wang." Seeing him, the three collateral branch members hurriedly lowered their heads, their voices trembling.
With his back to Xu Li and Jiang Peiling, Wang Yue took out the gold and silver jewelry and the one-hundred-tael silver note he had just pocketed. He stuffed them into the arms of the leading collateral branch member and said in a low voice, "The dead brothers cannot be brought back. Take this money and give their families more support. Consider it a small token from me."
The man raised his head in shock and hurriedly tried to refuse. "The clan will provide compensation. We absolutely cannot let Young Master spend his own money!"
"Take it." Wang Yue gave him no room to refuse, directly stuffing the items into his arms before turning and leaving.
When he returned to the clearing, Jiang Peiling happened to glimpse the corner of a silver note peeking from that collateral branch member's clothes. The corner of her mouth quietly curved into a smile, but she immediately straightened her face again and muttered to herself, "So you're the only one who knows how to be a good person? Are Xu Li and I invisible or something?"
Once everything had been sorted out, Wang Yue could not resist his curiosity. He picked up the two unmarked wooden boxes and opened one of them. Inside were seven porcelain bottles, each bearing a label that read "Blood Restoring Pill." Judging from the name, they were pills that replenished Blood Qi.
He opened the other box. Inside lay a blood-red ginseng root, still carrying dirt at its base, its surface faintly gleaming with a golden light.
The Martial Soul interface instantly displayed a prompt:
Item: First-rank spiritual item, Scarlet Blood Ginseng Extractable spiritual gift: Strengthen Blood (one-time effect; after extraction, increases Blood Qi capacity)
Wang Yue froze. He had not expected to encounter a spiritual item that could be extracted!
But just as he was about to inspect it closely, he noticed Jiang Peiling's gaze fall on his hand. He could only silently close the box and tuck it into his clothes. That annoying woman—if she weren't watching, I'd really want to pocket this Scarlet Blood Ginseng for myself!
Wang Yue blanked out for a moment, then thought of the chief's long saber. He took the long saber from beside Xu Li, and a streak of golden light suddenly appeared.
Item: First-rank mid-grade, Good Victory Saber Extractable Martial Soul: great accomplishment, Tiger Might Saber, containing the great accomplishment Tiger Might Saber Art, great accomplishment Tiger Might Breathing Method, and great accomplishment Tiger Might Footwork.
Wang Yue fell silent. In the future, one must never let one's weapon leave one's side. That man was the finest cautionary example.
Unfortunately, extraction was still on cooldown. Otherwise, adding a great accomplishment Martial Soul to himself would greatly enrich his martial path.
After everything was packed up, they hung the heads of the three martial artists from the horses' backs.
The party had ten horses, yet only six riders.
Hooves thundered over the mountain road as they raced toward Changyun County. The once-lively party now had only the silent sound of hoofbeats.
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