Riding Horses Back to Changyun County

After the three collateral Wang Clan members finished looting all the supplies from the mountain stronghold and the bandits' hidden gold and silver, Wang Yue went alone into the room of the highly skilled bandit leader. He began to search carefully. A martial artist who could repel him with bare hands might be hiding a secret.

He crouched down and tapped the bed board with his finger. Suddenly, he sensed something unusual beneath the bed. Lifting the mattress, he discovered a secret manual made of Xuan paper hidden in the reversed underside of the bed board.

Opening the manual, he found it filled with distorted symbols, like scribbles. It was neither text nor a cultivation diagram. Wang Yue couldn't figure out its purpose after looking for a long time. Though puzzled, he carefully folded it and tucked it into his robe, thinking it might be useful later.

As soon as he stepped out of the room, Wang Yue saw the three collateral members squatting on the ground, gently wiping the bloodstains from the faces of the four deceased, their movements so gentle as if afraid of disturbing the departed.

His original dissatisfaction with the collateral members inexplicably vanished. All that remained in his heart was a sense of ignorant fear.

Wang Yue walked forward, his voice low, "Fetch the horses from the foot of the mountain. We'll take them back."

The three did not show their usual fear or perfunctory attitude. They simply lowered their heads and responded with a "Yes." As they turned to walk down the mountain, Wang Yue faintly saw tear stains on their sleeves, a few drops of tears falling onto the snowy ground.

Only when the figures of the three disappeared into the woods did Wang Yue withdraw his gaze. He then saw Jiang Peiling staring at him blankly.

She had removed her veil, and traces of un-wiped blood still lingered on her fair face. Her eyelashes trembled slightly. Seeing Wang Yue look back, she managed only a strained smile.

Wang Yue sighed inwardly. If not for the clan's faulty intelligence stating "only two ordinary Blood Condensation Realm cultivators," they wouldn't have suffered the loss of four lives.

He suppressed the heaviness in his heart and broke the silence, "Let's first take stock of the bandits' belongings. Don't delay our return."

Xu Li still stood to the side, his eyes vacant, clearly blaming himself deeply for his earlier cowardice, his fingers trembling slightly.

Wang Yue looked at him, his lips twitching. His tone carried a hint of sternness, "Alright, the deceased are gone, and the past is the past. Xu Li, if you remain so dejected, I will truly look down on you."

Xu Li trembled all over and suddenly raised his head, his eyes gradually regaining their light. He clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself to cheer up, "Yes, Brother Wang, I understand!"

Jiang Peiling beside him was much calmer, but her eyes kept drifting towards Wang Yue unconsciously, as if observing his reaction.

Wang Yue was the first to walk to the wooden table where the treasures were piled and began to count: two hundred and ten taels of silver, three hundred and twenty taels of silver notes, a pile of gold and silver jewelry of various colors, and two wooden boxes.

The two boxes were inscribed with the character "Wang," clearly indicating they were the clan's looted supplies.

Beside them lay over a dozen weapons, both sabers and swords, mostly low-grade first-tier.

Wang Yue casually picked up a saber and scanned his Martial Soul interface. There was no prompt for extraction, indicating it was just an ordinary weapon. He casually put it down.

As he finished counting, he reached out and pocketed the jewelry and one hundred taels of silver notes. His movements were as natural as if he were taking his own belongings.

Jiang Peiling's eyes widened, and she looked at him incredulously, her gaze clearly conveying, "You actually just took them so openly?"

Xu Li simply closed his eyes, adopting an "it has nothing to do with me" demeanor.

Wang Yue paid them no mind. He packed the remaining treasures—two hundred and ten taels of silver, two hundred and twenty taels of silver notes, and the boxes marked with "Wang"—into a large wooden box and sealed the lid.

As he stood up, he saw ten horses being led up from the foot of the mountain. The three collateral members were holding the horses not far away, their expressions restrained.

Wang Yue walked towards them, while Xu Li and Jiang Peiling remained in place. Jiang Peiling puffed out her cheeks and glared at his back furtively, as if complaining about his "greed."

"Young Master Wang." The three collateral members lowered their heads immediately upon seeing him, their voices trembling.

With Xu Li and Jiang Peiling behind him, Wang Yue took out the jewelry and a one-hundred-tael silver note he had just pocketed and handed them to the leading collateral member. He lowered his voice and said, "The fallen brothers cannot be resurrected. Take this money and use it to compensate their families. Consider it my token of goodwill."

The man looked up in shock and hurriedly declined, "The clan will provide compensation. You absolutely must not spend your own money!"

"Take it," Wang Yue said, shoving the items into his embrace before he could refuse, and turned to leave.

When he returned to the scene, Jiang Peiling happened to catch a glimpse of the corner of a silver note peeking out from the collateral member's embrace. The corner of her mouth curved into a slight smile, then she immediately put on a stern face and muttered to herself, "Only you can be the good guy? Don't treat me and Xu Li as invisible!"

With all the items sorted, Wang Yue couldn't suppress his curiosity. He picked up the two unmarked wooden boxes and opened one. It contained seven porcelain bottles, each with a label stating "Blood Replenishing Pill." Judging by the name, it seemed to be a pill for strengthening Qi and Blood.

He then opened the other box. Inside lay a ginseng root, entirely blood-red, with soil still clinging to its base, a faint golden glow emanating from its surface.

The Martial Soul interface immediately popped up a notification:

[Item: First-tier Spiritual Item, Scarlet Blood Ginseng] [Extractable Spiritual Attribute: [Strengthen Blood] (One-time effect, can enhance Qi and Blood capacity after extraction)]

Wang Yue's expression froze. He hadn't expected to encounter a spiritual item that could be extracted!

But just as he was about to examine it further, he sensed Jiang Peiling's gaze on his hand. He could only silently close the box and tuck it into his robe. This annoying woman! If she weren't watching, he would have truly wanted to pocket this Scarlet Blood Ginseng on the spot!

Wang Yue was momentarily stunned. Thinking of the leader's long saber, he picked up the saber from beside Xu Li, and a golden light flashed.

[Item: First-tier Mid-grade, Good Victory Saber] [Extractable Martial Soul: Grandmastery Tiger Might Saber Art, containing Grandmastery Tiger Might Saber Art, Grandmastery Tiger Might Breathing Method, Grandmastery Tiger Might Footwork.]

Wang Yue mused silently. In the future, weapons should never be separated from oneself. This person was the best negative example.

It was a pity that the extraction was on cooldown. Otherwise, he could have gained a Grandmastery Martial Soul to enrich his martial path.

After tidying everything up, he hung the heads of the three martial artists on the horses.

The group consisted of ten riders, but only six were seated on horseback.

The horses' hooves trod the mountain path, galloping towards Changyun County. The once lively procession was now filled only with the sound of silent hooves.