The 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've got quite the killing intent!"

The disciples of the martial arts academy exchanged glances, involuntarily taking several steps back. "We didn't attack you, so why are you trying to shoot someone?!"

"That's right."

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

"Private property?"

Chen Sanshi was skeptical.

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

Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy's medicinal garden?

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

Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy, which means it's the Liang family's territory.

While the Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy doesn't do much business in medicinal herbs, it doesn't mean they don't have their own medicinal gardens.

What a vast valley.

For someone surnamed Liang to reach Bone Tempering at twenty-five or twenty-six, he must have consumed a lot of medicinal herbs.

"What's all the commotion?"

"Young Master!"

A young man in Brocade clothing, holding a folding fan, approached, and the disciples parted ways.

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

"Young Master!"

A disciple complained, "A soldier from the garrison is here. We didn't do anything to him, but he's trying to shoot us with an arrow. He's incredibly arrogant!"

"Oh, Brother Chen?"

Upon seeing Chen Sanshi, Liang Zhan berated his subordinates, "You dare to block my brother? You deserve to be shot dead!"

"Young Master, he..."

"Slap!"

Liang Zhan hit the disciple on the head with his fan. "Get lost!"

"Yes!"

The martial arts academy disciples retreated.

"Brother Chen, I trust you are well."

Liang Zhan cupped his fists. "I was presumptuous to visit you last time. Please accept my apologies."

"No need."

Chen Sanshi couldn't be bothered to argue with him. He put away his bow and arrow and left.

Killing this guy isn't an option for now.

He also wouldn't dare to make a move on me easily. There's no point wasting time here.

"..."

Liang Zhan didn't stop him, quietly watching him leave.

"Young Master!"

A disciple stepped forward. "You're just going to let him go?"

"Nonsense!"

Liang Zhan cursed. "If you provoke him, aren't you afraid of attracting the soldiers from the garrison? Think more carefully next time you do something. I shouldn't have to come out and smooth things over for you. Speaking of which, why did he come to the medicinal valley?"

The disciple guessed, "Everyone has been searching for White Deer all over the mountains and plains recently."

"Searching for White Deer?"

Liang Zhan fanned himself. "I recall that finding White Deer requires a Treasure Mushroom, right? Do we still have any hundred-year-old Treasure Mushrooms in our medicinal valley? If so, pick one and send it to him later."

"Young Master?!"

The disciple was shocked. "A hundred-year-old Treasure Mushroom is worth dozens of taels of silver."

"Just do as I say!"

Liang Zhan turned and walked into the valley.

News of Chen Sanshi reaching Minor Accomplishment in Blood Tempering after only a little over a month of practicing martial arts had long since spread from the military camp.

He always thought things through before acting in his life. The only thing he regretted was offending this person to help Qin Feng.

But the problem was, who the hell would have thought a poor hunter from the countryside would be a martial arts prodigy?

What was even more terrifying was that this kid held grudges!

Plus, he came to their doorstep and interrogated them forcefully, cementing their enmity.

The thought that Qin Feng's body hadn't even been found yet sent shivers down Liang Zhan's spine.

Kill him directly?

He wasn't tired of living yet.

Not to mention Fatty Wang was protecting him.

Xiang Tingchun also needed him right now.

If he dared to touch Chen Sanshi, Xiang Tingchun would drag him to the grasslands as a vanguard to die next year!

Now, he was afraid that as the days passed, that kid's cultivation would soar, reaching a height where he would be completely unshakeable.

In comparison, if they could resolve their grievances beforehand, what was a bit of silver?

Even if they couldn't resolve it, now wasn't the time to turn hostile; they needed a suitable opportunity to make a move against him.

"Why is that Liang guy hiding in the deep mountains and old forests?

"Whether it's for picking herbs or planting, there's no need for the young master to come personally, and he's brought so many people with him, not even allowing anyone within two miles to get close.

"Wait..."

"Could the disappearance of the mountain hunter be related to them?"

A terrible guess suddenly arose in Chen Sanshi's mind.

But logically, it didn't add up.

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

"I'm probably overthinking it."

Chen Sanshi refocused on searching for the White Deer.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of it until Shen Shi (around 3-5 PM).

"It seems I still need to use the Treasure Mushroom as bait.

"I'll go hunt something else for some silver first!"

Exotic beasts were hard to find, but there were plenty of fierce beasts.

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

"Rustle--"

As soon as he stepped into the territory, he heard light jumping sounds from overhead, rapidly approaching from the east, west, north, and south.

In the dim jungle, patches of eerie green light flickered.

Those were the pupils of leopards!

Five leopards stood on the treetops, looking down at the intruder on the ground from a distance.

"Roar--"

They attacked simultaneously, closing in with incredible speed in a pincer formation, rushing towards the hunter in the middle.

Leopards were naturally swift.

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

For an ordinary hunter, such a short time was only enough to shoot one or two arrows.

The target was moving at high speed, and it might not even be hit. Once they got close and started tearing, you either had to win in close combat or become a meal for the beasts.

On the ground.

Chen Sanshi took a deep breath.

Then, his bow sang like thunder!

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh--"

He turned into a killing machine, firing arrows in rapid succession towards different directions, each arrow precisely piercing the target's heart.

In just over three seconds, four leopards fell to the ground.

Only one leopard from behind, hidden by trees, managed to get close. It leaped from a tree, revealing sword-like claws and fangs, but was pierced by a cold glint and hung suspended in mid-air forever.

Chen Sanshi's Reed Leaf Spear had been waiting for a long time.

Simply put, he hunted leopards.

Tracking (Minor Accomplishment) Progress: 105/1000 Skill: Archery (Minor Accomplishment) Progress: (190/1000)

The five leopards, with the most valuable parts kept for personal use, could still fetch thirty to forty taels of silver for the rest.

Combined with the silver saved at home, it was just enough to buy the Treasure Mushroom.

Chen Sanshi loaded all the leopards into the rope net he had brought, then slung them over his shoulder and headed back the way he came.

By the stream.

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

Their earnings were meager, only a few pheasants and rabbits.

They were already used to the young man hunting leopards.

"Did you encounter any danger?"

Chen Sanshi asked.

"No."

Zhao Qiao shook his head. "The three of us stayed together, so we didn't run into any trouble."

"Uncle Zhao, the missing villagers aren't just the hunters who went up the mountain, are they?" Chen Sanshi pressed.

"That's not it."

Wu Da interjected, "Many people were still at home the night before and disappeared the next morning.

"It's not just the countryside; people are disappearing in the county town too, but not as many as in the villages."

Was I just being overly cautious?

Glancing in the direction of the medicinal valley, Chen Sanshi didn't linger. He descended the mountain with the others, pondering in his mind.

There must be a secret behind this.

It definitely can't be explained by the Witch God Cult's bloodlust alone.

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

Could it be related to the lamp oil?

After all, everything started when the Immortal Treasure appeared in Poyang.

Before that, Poyang County was a godforsaken place; where did all these troubles come from?

Even if the possibility of a connection was slim, Chen Sanshi would try to investigate.

It was frustrating to have the Immortal Treasure in hand but not know how to use it.