Then Let's Kill!

Yang Heng finished washing up and returned to his residence, falling into a deep sleep on the bed, completely unaware that a crisis was rapidly approaching him.

Even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have taken a group of mere weaklings seriously.

The twelfth day of gathering herbs on the mountain.

Today, Yang Heng did not go to gather herbs. He spent the entire day cultivating martial arts, diligently practicing Vajra Fist and honing the Levitation Technique.

After a day's training, his progress in both martial arts was astonishingly rapid.

At this rate, Yang Heng estimated that in another half a month, both of these martial arts would break through and reach the Minor Accomplishment realm.

Of course, all of this was contingent on having sufficient training time each day and a continuous supply of meat to replenish the stamina consumed during practice.

As for meat, Yang Heng wasn't worried. He had ample funds. The three hundred and fifty taels of Silver he had "borrowed" from the landlord last time, plus the one hundred taels extorted from the man in black, totaled four hundred and fifty taels.

During this period, he had spent twenty taels on meat, leaving more than half, which was enough for him to cultivate until the Blood Strengthening Realm.

From the day Shopkeeper Chen announced the trip to gather herbs on the mountain, Yang Heng had begun preparing for this expedition.

This time, instead of buying dried pork strips, he bought beef jerky, which had higher nutritional value. He bought thirty catties, costing fifteen taels of silver.

One tael of silver could buy two catties of beef jerky, making it five times more expensive than dried pork strips.

It was a bit pricey, but worth the cost.

One catty of beef jerky could provide 0.5% energy to the Marrow Cleansing Pearl, while one catty of pork strips could only provide 0.1%.

Eating one catty of beef jerky provided the same energy as eating five catties of pork strips.

Comparing the two, beef jerky clearly had the advantage.

It had been half a month since his last Marrow Cleansing and Bone Scouring. Currently, the Marrow Cleansing Pearl had accumulated 30% energy.

The speed at which energy was accumulating was incredibly fast, with the two Old Ginsengs contributing the most. By yesterday evening, both Old Ginsengs had been completely consumed by Yang Heng, not a trace left.

Over the past half month, the Marrow Cleansing Pearl had been accumulating energy at an astonishing pace, averaging a 2% increase per day.

However, with the depletion of the Old Ginseng, the rate at which the Marrow Cleansing Pearl accumulated energy would slow down.

But it wouldn't decrease too much. With the help of the beef jerky, maintaining the current pace shouldn't be a problem.

If the Marrow Cleansing Pearl could still accumulate energy at a daily rate of 2%, it would be fully charged again in about another month.

At that time, he would undergo another transformation, and his cultivation talent would be further enhanced.

Yang Heng secretly vowed that no matter what, he would ensure the Marrow Cleansing Pearl maintained a daily growth rate of 2%, even if it meant eating eight catties of beef jerky a day, or even more, until he was sick of it, until he felt nauseous, he would achieve this goal.

The thirty catties of beef jerky he had purchased for this herb-gathering expedition had dwindled to only seven or eight catties by today, and would soon be completely consumed.

Fortunately, the deadline for gathering herbs was approaching, and he would soon return to Qingyang Town, so it wasn't a major issue.

When a person is focused on one task, time often flies by.

Unknowingly, the sky gradually darkened. Yang Heng ended his training, went to the hidden storage place for herbs, took out medicinal materials worth one tael of silver, and started walking down the mountain.

Today, Yang Heng descended the mountain along the same path he always took, without changing his route.

In recent days, news had been circulating about apprentices having their collected herbs stolen while descending the mountain. Yang Heng heard about it and merely chuckled, not taking it to heart.

With his current strength, which apprentice could snatch anything from him? And whether they even had the guts to try was still unknown.

Within the camp's territory, the only person he feared was Lei Xiong. Yang Heng was confident he could handle anyone else.

However, reality soon slapped Yang Heng in the face. Someone had indeed ambushed him.

As Yang Heng reached a mountain hollow, his sixth sense reacted.

Yang Heng vaguely sensed that someone seemed to be lying in ambush around the bend of the mountain hollow ahead.

Yang Heng immediately stopped and scanned his surroundings. His gaze fell upon a large tree, over twenty meters tall, by the side of the road.

In an instant, Yang Heng had an idea.

Yang Heng turned his body, facing the direction of the large tree. He stepped forward with his left leg, leaned his body slightly forward, spread his hands, and with a light touch of his toes, his body soared into the sky, leaping up like an eagle.

In the blink of an eye, he landed steadily on a thick tree trunk, more than ten meters above the ground.

From the high vantage point, Yang Heng could see the situation around the bend of the mountain hollow clearly.

Seven or eight apprentices were huddled together on the ground, their bodies curled up. Each of them held a machete, their blades sharp and glinting coldly, seemingly honed. Their eyes were filled with ferocity as they stared intently at the road ahead, ready to charge at any moment.

As soon as anyone appeared at the entrance of the hollow, they would charge.

Seeing this scene, Yang Heng's face turned ashen, his eyes filled with a cold glint. His body trembled uncontrollably with anger, and the thick tree trunk beneath his feet began to creak and sway.

This path was usually only frequented by him; others rarely descended the mountain this way.

These people lying in ambush here were undoubtedly targeting him, intending to steal his medicinal materials.

Yang Heng hadn't expected that despite his caution, his low profile, and not submitting the most herbs among all the apprentices, he would still be targeted.

The wickedness of human hearts knows no bounds.

These people, holding their cleavers and sharpening their blades, looked as if their intentions were not merely to steal herbs, but also to take his life.

To this, Yang Heng could not tolerate it.

He sought no conflict with the world, only wishing to live his own simple life. His purpose in cultivating was also to live a better life and secure a place for himself in this chaotic era.

Who would have thought that instead of him looking for trouble, trouble would come looking for him.

Could he tolerate this?

If this can be tolerated, what cannot be tolerated!

Yang Heng decided not to let any of these people who harbored ill intentions and ulterior motives against him escape. He would bury them all in the wilderness, leaving no trace of their remains!

Killing these people wasn't difficult; the challenge lay in how to do so without attracting the attention of the apothecary shop. This was the real problem Yang Heng was concerned about.

After pondering for a moment, Yang Heng decided to stage a scene of mutual destruction, making the apothecary shop believe he was already dead.

This way, he could openly break free from the apothecary shop's control and go underground to do as he pleased.

After achieving success in his martial arts, Yang Heng remained at the apothecary shop precisely to gain an opportunity to join the Medicine King Gang.

And now, Yang Heng had obtained the Intermittent Flower that Lei Xiong desperately needed. In exchange for it, obtaining a voucher to join the Medicine King Gang should not be a problem.

With that, he would no longer need to stay at the apothecary shop, continuing to live a life of servitude.

As for how to make the apothecary shop believe he perished with them, there was an extremely simple method: leaving no complete corpse!

As long as no body could be found, who would know if he was alive or dead.

There were many wild beasts on the mountain. Bringing a few over to devour the corpse completely would be easy.

In the past few days, while searching for herbs, Yang Heng had discovered quite a few beast dens. He had looted the treasures within their caves, feeling a little embarrassed about it.

Now was a good opportunity to repay them.

Yang Heng let out a cold laugh.

After meticulously reviewing the entire plan in his mind and confirming there were no loopholes, Yang Heng's face contorted into a sinister grin, a murderous aura emanating from his eyes as he slowly walked towards the ambush site.

The slaughter began!