The Dry Well Abandons Secret Medicine, Claw Marks Remain on the Wall

After bidding farewell to Song Fugui, Zhou You didn't rush home.

He deliberately took a few detours, buying two catties of braised beef and some side dishes to go with it.

These shops were all old establishments in the city, using ancestral secret recipes, and their taste was beyond words.

Customers had to queue up daily, and if they were late, they couldn't buy anything.

More importantly, the addresses of these few shops were distributed around the Sweet Well District, with locations to the east, south, west, and north.

While queuing, Zhou You calmly surveyed the terrain of the Sweet Well District and chatted with the residents also in line.

"This Sweet Well District has been abandoned for over 20 years. I even drank water from the well when I was a child."

"Tsk tsk, back then, the eldest young master of the Qi Family in the city drank water from the Sweet Well's good water with every cup of tea. He was very particular, only allowing water to be drawn from the well when the first ray of morning sunlight hit the well's opening."

"There's no one there anymore. Ever since the well dried up, no one has been to the Sweet Well District."

"It's so overgrown in there, you could run horses and herd sheep. What would anyone go in there for?"

During the casual chat, Zhou You gathered all the information he wanted.

The wild grass in the Sweet Well District had grown to be as tall as a person. It was rarely frequented, and there were even rumors of ghosts.

Seeing Fang Guiqi come to this place, it was highly likely he was attracted by the hidden terrain and its significant advantages.

Carrying the purchased beef and braised dishes, he walked steadily all the way home.

His parents were very happy to see him return, and they chided him for spending money carelessly, saying he should have saved it to supplement his own health.

"Let's eat something good together."

It was a rare family meal. Although the food was simple, they ate very warmly.

After dinner, while his mother was washing dishes, his father took out a few taels of silver from his embrace. "Keep this."

Zhou You spread his palm open. The scattered silver pieces added up to a little over 10 taels.

"Don't mistreat yourself at the Martial Arts School. Treat people when you need to, make more friends."

"Your father never knew how to handle people, and spent his whole life as a laborer."

Zhou You nodded silently and accepted the silver. "I understand."

There was no way he would be treating people. When he became successful in the future, others would be the ones treating him.

Not a single copper of the money his father gave him would be wasted.

As night fell, Zhou You gazed at the Starving Tiger Painting on the wall, feeling a frantic hunger spreading through his limbs and bones.

That hunger wasn't from not eating enough dinner, but from dissatisfaction with his current situation, a craving for any resources that could improve and strengthen him.

Secret medicines, experience points, he wanted it all, the more the better.

In the middle of the night, moonlight shone into the room from outside the window.

After confirming his family was sound asleep, Zhou You lightly pushed open the door and went out. He glanced left and right; the street was quiet, with no one around.

Under the cover of night, he moved quickly through the streets, speeding towards the Sweet Well District.

The cool breeze entered his lungs, feeling exceptionally serene.

The Sweet Well District had been abandoned for decades. The wild grass in some places was over a person tall, snakes and rats nested there, and a chilling aura permeated the air.

Practicing martial arts builds courage. An ordinary person would absolutely not dare to set foot in this place late at night.

In the depths of the grass, Zhou You found a barely visible path, one that had been trodden by human feet.

He pushed aside the overgrown weeds and followed the path, burrowing into it. It was silent all around, with only the faint chirping of insects rising and falling reaching his ears.

"There's not the slightest trace of human activity in this place."

The lush wild grass stood tall and straight, and moss still clung to the uneven piles of rubble beneath the ground.

No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem like a place frequently visited by people.

An abandoned site, rumors of ghosts, could there really be a black market here?

Zhou You became increasingly vigilant, acutely sensing that he was getting involved in a dangerous situation.

However, he had come this far. Even if he turned back, he couldn't stay out of it. It was better to take a gamble.

A familiar pungent smell drifted in the wind—the unique scent of Tiger Bone Paste.

Zhou You jolted. The grass in front of him ended, and moonlight poured onto an open space ahead.

A three-meter-high well stood on the ground, surrounded by a railing made of thick wooden logs, each a meter long.

Sweet Well, the landmark of the Sweet Well District.

The well had long since dried up. The bottom of the well contained only dry soil, dead grass, and fallen leaves.

The scent of Tiger Bone Paste was emanating from the bottom of the Sweet Well, faintly swirling in the night sky.

Zhou You climbed onto the horizontal beam of the well's edge and held up his torch to shine down. Although he couldn't see clearly, the scent of Tiger Bone Paste became even more intense.

The square well plunged vertically downwards, tens of meters into the ground. The well walls were covered with tenacious wild grass and dense moss.

He grabbed the well rope and began to climb down. The torchlight was like a faint firefly, illuminating sections of the earthen wall.

Zhou You landed at the bottom of the well, finally letting out a sigh of relief as his feet touched solid ground.

Holding up his torch, he saw a breathtaking sight.

The deep well bottom was actually filled with piles of stones and fallen leaves, and the scent of Tiger Bone Paste was coming from a corner.

Piles of intact Tiger Bone Paste were casually discarded at the bottom of the well, stacked into small heaps.

Fang Guiqi had come to the Sweet Well District not to sell Tiger Bone Paste privately, but to discard it in an unoccupied corner.

But why?

Zhou You gathered the Tiger Bone Paste scattered around, totaling 13 sets.

Fang Guiqi had been at the outer courtyard for over three months, and this was the total amount he had received so far, meaning he hadn't used a single one.

"There's definitely something fishy going on here."

Tiger Bone Paste was a secret medicine for martial arts, containing many precious medicinal ingredients that were beneficial, not harmful, for physical training.

On the market, one dose of Tiger Bone Paste could be sold for 5 taels of silver.

Fang Guiqi would rather discard the Tiger Bone Paste than use it himself, or even sell it for money.

Such behavior did not fit the persona of a young refugee from Sucheng City.

Zhou You looked at the Tiger Bone Paste in his hands again. This was a fortune, a rare opportunity not to be missed.

He decided to go for it!

Gritting his teeth, Zhou You stuffed all the Tiger Bone Paste into his clothes and climbed up the well rope.

As he passed the well wall near the exit, his peripheral vision caught a claw mark as deep as if chiseled.

The claw mark was as large as a watermelon, incredibly terrifying!

Hmm?

There was no black market in the Sweet Well District.

Fang Guiqi had come here not to fence stolen goods, but to abandon the Tiger Bone Paste.

If such abnormal behavior were discovered, it would surely trigger a thorough investigation by the Martial Arts School.

Zhou You thought he absolutely could not get involved, or his efforts would be in vain, but he wanted all of this Tiger Bone Paste.

"To snatch chestnuts from the fire, one must only snatch them from the fire."

Zhou You looked back at the dark well bottom, recalling the claw marks on the well wall, as if seeing a mysterious and unpredictable future.

He finally made up his mind: the greater the risk, the greater the reward; he would take this risk.

There were still 7 days until the next distribution of Tiger Bone Paste. As long as he could cultivate Internal Force during this period, he wouldn't have to fear Fang Guiqi discovering anything unusual.

By then, he would have become a formal apprentice of the Martial Arts School and could report the situation to the Martial Arts School Master.

"I must check it to confirm that the Tiger Bone Paste hasn't been tampered with before using it."

After returning home, Zhou You packed the Tiger Bone Paste into an odor-proof lacquer box, wiped the mud from his shoe soles, and went to bed.

Before falling asleep, he looked at the Starving Tiger Painting on the wall. "I've already had my first delicious bite of meat."

The starving tiger always lurked, never to be satisfied.

After Zhou You fell asleep, he saw the fierce tiger again. The tiger licked its bright red tongue and let out a silent roar; the dream was incredibly close to reality.