Medicine Valley

"Stop?"

"Why should I stop?"

As he spoke, Chen Sanshi had already nocked a Wolf-fang arrow onto the string of his Kaiyuan Bow.

"You're a bloodthirsty one!"

The martial arts academy disciples looked at one another and instinctively retreated several steps. "We didn't even attack or hurt you. Why are you trying to shoot people the moment you arrive?!"

"That's right."

Someone accused him, "We told you to stop because the land ahead is private property!"

"Private property?"

Chen Sanshi was dubious.

The martial arts academy disciples continued, "The valley ahead is Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy's medicine garden. Isn't that private property?"

Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy's medicine garden?

Officer Jiang had mentioned before that much of the nearby land suitable for growing medicinal herbs had been sold to martial arts academies. It seemed Chen Sanshi had stumbled upon it by accident.

Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy was Liang family territory.

Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy did not do much business in medicinal materials, but that did not mean their family lacked its own medicine garden.

What an enormous valley.

That Liang fellow had reached Bone Refining at only twenty-five or twenty-six. He must have consumed no small amount of medicinal herbs.

"What is all this commotion?"

"Young Master!"

A richly dressed young man carrying a folding fan approached, and the disciples hurriedly stepped aside.

It was Liang Zhan, the eldest young master of Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy.

"Young Master!"

A disciple complained, "Someone from the garrison has come. We barely did anything to him, yet he immediately wanted to shoot us with arrows. He's outrageously arrogant—ten parts arrogance, nine parts overbearing!"

"Oh, Brother Chen?"

Upon seeing him, Liang Zhan snapped at his men, "You dared stop my brother? If he shot you dead, you'd have deserved it!"

"Young Master, it was him..."

Smack!

Liang Zhan rapped the disciple on the head with his fan. "Stand down!"

"Yes!"

The martial arts academy disciples all withdrew.

"Brother Chen, I trust you've been well."

Liang Zhan cupped his fists. "Last time, I rashly came to your door and offended you. I have come especially to offer my apologies."

"No need."

Chen Sanshi could not be bothered to wrangle with him. He put away his bow and arrows and left.

For now, he could not kill this fellow.

The other man did not dare act against him lightly either. There was no need to waste time here.

"..."

Liang Zhan did not stop him, merely watched silently as he departed.

"Young Master!"

A disciple stepped forward. "We're just letting him go?"

"Idiot!"

Liang Zhan cursed, "If you provoke him, aren't you afraid he'll bring the garrison soldiers here? Use your brains when you do things in the future. Must I always come clean up your messes? More importantly, what was he doing in Medicine Valley?"

A disciple guessed, "Recently, people have been scouring the mountains and wilderness for the White Deer."

"Looking for the White Deer?"

Liang Zhan fanned himself. "I remember that finding the White Deer requires precious ganoderma, doesn't it? Do we still have any century-old precious ganoderma in Medicine Valley? If so, pick one and send it to him later."

"Young Master?!"

The disciple was astonished. "A century-old precious ganoderma is worth dozens upon dozens of taels of silver."

"If I tell you to send it, then send it!"

Liang Zhan turned and walked into the valley.

Word had long spread from the Military Camp that Chen Sanshi had reached Minor Accomplishment in Blood Refining after practicing martial arts for barely a month.

All his life, Liang Zhan had thought thrice before acting in everything he did. The only thing he regretted was offending this man to help Qin Feng.

But who the hell could have imagined that a poor hunter from the countryside would be a martial arts prodigy?

The most terrifying part was that this brat held grudges!

And he had even gone to Chen Sanshi's door and forced answers out of him. Their enmity had been tied into a dead knot.

Whenever Liang Zhan thought of how Qin Feng's corpse had still not been found, a chill ran down his spine.

Kill him outright?

He was not tired of living yet.

Not to mention Fatty Wang was protecting him.

Xiang Tingchun was also in need of men.

If he dared touch Chen Sanshi, Xiang Tingchun would dare force him onto the grasslands next year as a vanguard sent to his death!

What he feared now was that, as the days passed, that brat's cultivation would soar until he reached a height that could not be shaken in the slightest.

Compared to that, if he could settle their grievance beforehand, what did spending some silver matter?

Even if it could not be settled, now was not the time to fall out with him. He needed a suitable opportunity before making a move.

"What is that Liang fellow doing, hiding in the deep mountains and old forests?

"Whether gathering herbs or planting them, there was no need for the eldest young master to come personally. And he had brought so many people, not even allowing anyone within two li.

"Wait...

"Could the missing hunters in the mountains have something to do with them?"

A terrifying suspicion suddenly arose in Chen Sanshi's heart.

But there were parts of it that did not make sense.

Why would a martial arts academy kill people for no reason?

"Perhaps I'm overthinking it."

Chen Sanshi refocused on searching for the White Deer.

Unfortunately, he found nothing at all until the hour of Shen.

"It seems I still need to use precious ganoderma as bait.

"I'll hunt something else first and trade it for some silver!"

Exotic beasts were difficult to find, but fierce beasts were plentiful.

In a dense forest, Chen Sanshi found the paw prints of a large feline on the ground.

Rustle—

The moment he stepped into its territory, he heard light leaps overhead, rapidly closing in from all four directions.

In the dim forest, clusters of ghostly green light flickered to life.

They were cheetah pupils!

Five cheetahs stood atop the trees, looking down from on high at the intruder below.

Roar—

They attacked at once, racing toward the hunter in the middle at incomparably swift speed, forming a pincer attack.

Cheetahs were born swift as the wind.

A distance of forty or fifty zhang took them only four or five seconds to cross.

For an ordinary hunter, that brief span was enough to fire only one or two arrows.

And the targets were fast-moving. There was no guarantee the arrows would hit. Once the beasts closed in and began tearing with their fangs, one either won in hand-to-hand combat or became a meal in their bellies.

On the ground.

Chen Sanshi took a deep breath.

Then his bow boomed like thunder, its string startling the skies!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!—

He became a killing machine, loosing arrows in rapid succession in different directions. Every arrow pierced its target's heart with flawless precision.

In barely more than three seconds, four cheetahs fell in response.

Only the cheetah behind him managed to approach under the cover of trees. It leaped from a branch, displaying claws and fangs sharp as sword edges, only to be pierced by a point of cold light and left forever suspended in midair.

Chen Sanshi's Reed Leaf Spear had been waiting for it all along.

A simple hunt for some cheetahs.

Tracking (Minor Accomplishment)

Progress: 105/1000

Skill: Archery (Minor Accomplishment)

Progress: (190/1000)

He would keep the most valuable parts of the five cheetahs for himself, while the rest could sell for thirty or forty taels of silver.

Together with the silver he had saved at home, it was barely enough to buy precious ganoderma.

Chen Sanshi packed all the cheetahs into the rope net he had brought, hoisted it onto his back, and returned the way he had come.

By the stream.

Zhao Qiao and the others had been waiting since early morning.

Their harvest had been meager, only a few pheasants and rabbits.

They were no longer surprised by the young man hunting cheetahs.

"Did you run into any danger?"

Chen Sanshi asked.

"No."

Zhao Qiao shook his head. "The three of us stuck together, so we didn't encounter any danger."

"Uncle Zhao, it wasn't only hunters who went up the mountains who disappeared, was it?" Chen Sanshi pressed.

"Not exactly."

Wu Da interjected, "Many people were still home the night before, then vanished by the next morning.

"It wasn't only the countryside. People have also gone missing in County Town, though not as many as in the countryside."

Was I really just being paranoid?

Chen Sanshi glanced toward Medicine Valley, then stopped lingering. He went down the mountain with the others, quietly mulling it over.

There must be some hidden secret to this.

It absolutely cannot be explained merely by the Witch God Cult's bloodlust.

He thought of the lamp oil that could ignite scarlet flames.

Could it be related to the lamp oil?

After all, everything had begun when the immortal treasure appeared in Poyang.

Before that, Poyang County had been a place where birds did not even bother to shit. Where could so much trouble have come from?

Even if the possibility that the two were connected was small, Chen Sanshi would still try to investigate.

Having an immortal treasure in hand yet not knowing how to use it was truly vexing.