Acting Like a Tyrant

Chen Shi offered the hind leg of the Feng Xi and returned to the mountain stream.

"He saw me staring at him, thought I wanted his food, so he offered me the roasted hind leg," the Great Serpent Xuan Shan thought to himself.

He understood Chen Shi's psychology very clearly.

However, he had already abstained from blood-based food. For three thousand years, he had not consumed any meat. He breathed in the wind and drank the dew.

His aspirations were lofty; he wished to be like the True Gods beyond the heavens, eternal and unmoving, neither eating nor sleeping, merely watching the changes of the world.

But...

It smelled so good.

Staring at the hind leg of the Feng Xi, the Great Serpent Xuan Shan had to admit that this little fellow was quite skilled at barbecuing, stirring up his appetite.

"I must be controlled by my cravings."

The Great Serpent Xuan Shan hesitated for a moment before tasting the roasted Feng Xi hind leg.

I really am controlled by my cravings, he thought.

After finishing the roasted Feng Xi leg, the Great Serpent Xuan Shan's mind drifted away with Chen Shi.

"I want to be like the True Gods beyond the heavens, to see everything in the mortal world. I thought the Dao heart of a god was like a rock, unyielding and unchangeable. But a month ago, the sky darkened a quarter of an hour earlier."

The Great Serpent Xuan Shan's gaze grew deeper, and he murmured, "Even the True Gods are changing, though their changes are extremely slow. One of their changes might span generations of mortal life and death. This change in the True God, though seemingly having no impact on the world, how could it have no impact at all? Perhaps, I also need to change..."

This consumption of blood food had caused a slight ripple in his unmoving Dao heart. However, he was too ancient. To him, Chen Shi was merely a fleeting passerby in his long life, capable of bringing him only a single moment of enlightenment to his Dao heart.

That night, he sent a dream to the young man, guiding Chen Shi on how to breathe and circulate his True Blood, making it flow throughout his body according to his will.

When Chen Shi slept at night, he followed the Great Serpent Xuan Shan's instructions to cultivate. During the day, he would forget everything. When he fell asleep again, he would remember and continue cultivating with him.

After five to six days, the process of transforming True Blood was complete.

The Great Serpent Xuan Shan did not send any more dreams.

In his view, he had already repaid Chen Shi for the sacrificed hind leg of the Feng Xi.

Chen Shi closed his eyes. At this moment, he could feel the blood within his body surging from his heart, carrying a majestic innate Qi to all parts of his body.

With a single heartbeat, the True Blood reached the extremities of his limbs and bones, every blood vessel, every internal organ, and even the conditions on the surface of his skin were clearly reflected in his mind!

He could clearly sense the wounds on his skin, the scars left by past injuries.

He could feel the gentle breeze brushing against his skin, the subtle movement of every single hair.

He could even mobilize his Blood Essence to repair his injuries and heal his scars.

This was the miraculous effect of transforming True Blood!

Furthermore, with the refinement of True Blood, his internal organs were constantly nourished by it. As his Blood Essence flowed, his internal organs grew stronger and stronger.

The hidden dangers and congenital deficiencies in his internal organs were also gradually being replenished!

This was the second stage of the Saint Embryo, known as the Five Viscera Complete Truth.

Only after transforming True Blood, with the nourishment of the True Blood, could the Five Viscera reach the state of Complete Truth.

When Chen Shi activated the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art, the shrine appeared involuntarily, its Divine Light shining brighter and brighter. Even after he stopped cultivating, the shrine remained, only dissipating after a second or two.

He was overjoyed.

"If the shrine could remain for longer, I could attempt to practice the sword techniques in the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Art. However, to learn this magic spell, I would need to go to the private school in town."

He had saved some money, but he wasn't sure if it was enough for the tuition fees.

Chen Shi left the Mountain Lord Temple, holding the large pot that could easily stew him, using a found turtle shell as a lid, and walked out of the mountains.

After transforming his True Blood, he no longer felt the intense hunger he once did. He didn't need to hunt in the deep mountains anymore and could go home.

He had been away for many days for this transformation of True Blood and missed his Grandpa and Black Pot.

This was the first time he had been away from home for so long, and he had even taken the large pot used for boiling medicine. He couldn't help but worry that his Grandpa would punish him.

"But I really ate the house bare. If I didn't rely on the mountain for food, I would starve," Chen Shi thought. "Grandpa will definitely be angry, and Black Pot will surely speak ill of me. But if I admit my mistake proactively, even if Black Pot causes trouble, Grandpa won't beat me to death. At most, he'll hang me up and beat me."

He passed by Gangzi Village and arrived at Granny Sha's door, greeting her.

Granny Sha looked at him warily and did not let him enter.

"Too much indulgence spoils the child. There isn't a single grain of rice left in my jar!" Granny Sha cried.

Chen Shi put down the large pot, lifted the lid, and took out over a hundred catties of spirit beast meat, saying with a smile, "I've eaten so much of Granny's things, so I brought some meat as compensation."

Granny Sha was filled with shame at this, and said sheepishly, "To be honest, I also bought some rice. We have enough to cook. Little Ten, will you stay for a meal before you go?"

Seeing that she didn't sincerely intend to keep him for a meal, Chen Shi declined, saying he missed home, and left with the large pot.

The large pot was filled to the brim with various spirit beast meats, the most delicious parts of the spirit beasts. He was reluctant to eat them himself, and besides showing filial piety to Granny Sha, he also wanted to honor his Grandpa and his Godmother, the stone tablet.

He returned to Huangpo Village and arrived at Grandma Yuzhu's door, put down the large pot, and knocked.

When Yuzhu opened the door, she saw no one outside. A piece of spirit beast meat, weighing about ten catties, was hanging on the door.

A knocking sound came from next door, which was the same as from her house. Yuzhu turned to look, and saw Chen Shi hanging meat on the door next door. It was about ten catties.

Grandma Yuzhu asked from behind, "Girl, who is outside?"

"Grandma, it's that dead kid you mentioned."

Yuzhu carried the piece of meat back into the yard and whispered to her grandmother, "He brought us this meat. Grandma, we haven't eaten meat in so long!"

Grandma Yuzhu was surprised. She tiptoed out of the yard and saw Chen Shi knocking on doors one by one. Before anyone could come out, he hung the meat on their doors.

Just like that, Chen Shi walked along, hanging meat, and soon the spirit beast meat in the pot was more than half gone.

When he arrived at Chen Shi's house, the pot was almost empty, with only two or three pieces left.

"This child is quite righteous. If only he hadn't died back then..."

Grandma Yuzhu sighed and turned to instruct Yuzhu, "Remember, you're not allowed to play with him! He's a dead kid!"

Chen Shi pushed open the door, carried the large pot into the yard, and with two chirps, he called Black Pot over. He reached into the pot and took out a piece of spirit beast meat.

Black Pot was overjoyed and immediately abandoned the thought of helping Grandpa scold him for not returning for many days. It took the meat and went under the table to devour it.

Chen Shi shouted into the main hall, "Grandpa, I'm back!"

"Hmph, you still know how to come back!"

Grandpa walked out from the main hall, holding a half-eaten candle in his hand. He was quite displeased and reprimanded, "You didn't even say a word when you went out. If you have the ability, die outside and never come back! Right, Black Pot? Black Pot! Where did you go, you dead thing? You don't even help me curse..."

After Grandpa scolded him for a bit, Chen Shi took out the remaining spirit beast meat from the pot and said with a smile, "Grandpa, we're eating this tonight!"

Grandpa hung the meat up and wanted to scold him again, but he didn't know where to start. He wanted to hit him but couldn't bear to.

"I did a business deal a few days ago and made some money. I bought you a new set of clothes. They're in your room. Go and see if they fit."

Chen Shi hurried into the room. He had grown a lot taller these past few days while transforming his true blood, and he felt that his clothes didn't fit. He was just thinking about how to get Grandpa to pay for new clothes when he didn't expect Grandpa to have already bought them.

On the bed was a new set of clothes. Besides the undershirt and underwear worn close to the body, there was a light cyan robe, white trousers, a blue-green straight-cut robe, and a red silk belt, and a blue sachet.

Chen Shi put on the clothes and found they fit him perfectly.

He was overjoyed and was about to go out when he noticed a red ribbon for tying his hair on the bed. It was a rose red color.

Chen Shi tied his hair and walked out of the room.

"What a handsome boy!" Grandpa praised.

Chen Shi was very happy and planned to go out for a walk, but he remembered that he was disliked by everyone in the village and had no friends, so he gave up.

"Grandpa said he did a business deal, what kind of deal was it?" he asked curiously.

"Shanyin Village was haunted. The Wang family's donkey died, it was stiff as a board. In the middle of the night, the donkey came back to life and started grinding grain all night. By dawn, it grew claws and sharp teeth and started trying to eat people, chasing them through the streets and biting several of them."

Grandpa sorted through the medicinal herbs and said unhurriedly, "The village's Godmother didn't care, so she had to invite me. I took a look and realized it had turned into an evil thing after being exposed to moonlight at night. However, since it turned into an evil thing within the village, the Godmother wouldn't deal with it."

Chen Shi asked, "What happened then?"

"Later? Later, I subdued the donkey, returned it to the Wang family, and earned one tael of silver, which I used to buy you these clothes."

Chen Shi was puzzled, "What did the Wang family want with a donkey that turned into an evil thing?"

"To grind grain."

Grandpa said as a matter of course, "The donkey died and turned into an evil thing. It was tireless. It could grind grain all night after basking in the moonlight. It earned much more than one tael of silver."

Chen Shi said "Oh."

"But I heard that the donkey died yesterday, probably from working too hard and being overworked by the Wang family."

Grandpa paused and said, "Then the Wang family skinned the donkey and boiled it into ejiao, making another profit. One tael of silver was too little."

He sighed and shook his head.

Chen Shi's eyes widened. It could be done like this?

He couldn't help but get excited and looked at Black Pot, "If Doggy turned into an evil thing, could I keep getting black dog blood..."

Under the table, Black Pot quietly guarded its piece of meat, afraid that Chen Shi would crawl under the table and snatch it.

Chen Shi had done that before.

In Huangyang Village, Liu Fugui walked along the village path.

He was still a child and recovered quickly, but he still often felt cold and often woke up from nightmares at night. As for urinating, he didn't dare to go to the outhouse without an adult accompanying him.

Although the weather was pleasant, he was still wearing a thick padded jacket, and his face was pale.

He walked along, looking into the ditch. He remembered seeing a large silver carp in this ditch today and had made a hook and line, planning to catch it.

Just then, he bumped into someone. It felt like bumping into an iron frame, hard and solid. Even through his padded jacket, it hurt.

"Little thing, you're not looking where you're going!"

The person he bumped into couldn't help but get angry and kicked him into the ditch.

Liu Fugui was wearing thick clothes and panicked, worried he would drown. He struggled desperately, but found his feet slipping on something smooth. It was the silver carp. He quickly grabbed it.

The water in the ditch was not deep. He held the thrashing silver carp and looked towards the bank. He saw that the person who kicked him into the water was a young man about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a square scarf on his head, a blue robe with white lapels, and black square-toed shoes. He looked very neat and tidy, likely a scholar from the city.

Behind this young man were mostly young men and women in similar attire, ranging from fourteen or fifteen to twenty or thirty years old, a total of six people.

Behind the six people were thirty to forty Imperial Guards, dressed in red flying fish robes and horse-face skirts, with sabers at their waists.

The leading Imperial Guard was a middle-aged man, burly, with a dark complexion, a full beard, and thick, dark eyebrows that slanted downwards like an inverted "eight." His eyes were dark and bright, and he carried a Three-Eyed Firearm on his back. He exuded an imposing aura, drawing considerable attention.

"Brother Yan, be polite to the villagers. If word gets out to other noble families, they'll laugh at our Zhao family for bullying children!"

A scholar in his early twenties, his face darkened slightly, reprimanded, "We're here to investigate the disappearance of Second Sister, not to throw our weight around! All of you, restrain yourselves and don't cause trouble!"

The scholars all agreed, saying, "Third Brother is right."

This "Third Brother" was the third son of the Xuan Ying Mansion of the Zhao family in Xinxiang Province, named Zhao Yue.

The Zhao family was a prominent clan with a large population. Zhao family ancestors had fought alongside the Great Ming's founding emperor, earning significant merit. Thus, the founding emperor had spared his entire family.

Later, the Zhao family relocated to the Western Ox Continent. Far from the emperor's reach, they were not purged.

In recent years, as imperial power waned, the Zhao family seized the opportunity to rise, establishing their influence in Xinxiang Province and developing considerable scale. They opened four prefectures: Tian Lu, Di Gang, Xuan Ying, and Huang Ting.

Second Miss Zhao and Zhao Yue were from Xuan Ying Mansion, and their father, Zhao Yanlong, was the prefect.

However, Xuan Ying Mansion was vast. Zhao Yanlong had not only his principal wife but also concubines, maids, and outside women, resulting in a large number of children – nineteen in total.

Furthermore, besides Zhao Yanlong's direct line, there were many branches, mostly Zhao Yanlong's siblings, who had branched out. The next generation of the Zhao surname alone numbered two to three hundred people.

And this was just Xuan Ying Mansion.

If the other three prefectures were included, the number would be even greater.

This was why Zhao Yue and his companions traveled with such restraint, not wanting to give other noble families any leverage or provide their kin from the other three prefectures any excuse to attack Xuan Ying Mansion.

A moment later, Zhao Yue sat in the elder's seat, while the tall and imposing bearded Imperial Guard stood behind him, striking fear into hearts.

Zhao Yue picked up his teacup, blew on a few remaining bubbles on the surface of the tea, inhaled the aroma, and then slightly raised his eyelids. He swept his gaze over the sea of kneeling Huangyang Village villagers below and said with a hint of helplessness, "You may rise. Although I am an official, I am not here on official business this time. It would reflect poorly if word got out that you were kneeling to me."

The villagers of Huangyang Village hesitated for a moment before slowly standing up.

Zhao Yue looked up at their sallow faces, hesitated, and then said helplessly, "You should kneel again. It makes me uncomfortable to see you standing."

The villagers immediately knelt down again, remaining motionless.

Zhao Yue took a sip of tea, put down his cup, and said calmly, "Speak. The Iron Brush Old Man stayed in your village for one night and was murdered a few days later. Who killed him? How dare you hire assassins to kill someone from my Zhao family?"