As for the bronze lock on the box, he had not dared to tamper with it lightly last night, lest he make any noise.
Now, naturally, there was nothing to worry about.
Grabbing the firewood cleaver beside him, he brought it down in one stroke and split the box open.
When the first wooden chest was opened, it revealed a pile of silver.
There were roughly seven or eight hundred taels' worth.
Besides that, there were several dozen Silver Notes. The smallest denomination was fifty taels, adding up to more than a thousand taels of silver.
Chen Feng's eyes filled with amazement at the sight. "Huang Lao Si really was rich."
Lin Xue, standing beside him, was equally stunned. "Husband, did you bring these back from the Huang Family?"
Smiling, Chen Feng said, "Yes."
"Once we finish up a few more matters, we'll go to the County Town."
After what had happened last night, he had already been considering moving away.
Now that he saw these things, he was even more delighted. "With this silver, we won't have any major problems even if we move into the County Town."
Lin Xue's face was full of shock.
After all these years, this was the first time she had ever seen so much money.
Lin Xue said in astonishment, "Husband, you're truly incredible."
Chen Feng laughed. "This is nothing. I'll let you live an even better life in the future."
Chen Feng wore a smile, but there was still a trace of worry in his heart.
From what Huang Lao Si had shouted last night, Chen Feng had originally thought the man was after the Hunter Permit. He had not expected it to be because of Lin Xue instead. He did not know what Yin Shengzi meant.
However, Huang Lao Si was a member of the Demon Cult. Anything he mentioned was clearly no good thing.
He could only investigate information about it further later on.
Then came the second box.
Chen Feng was somewhat expectant.
The moment he saw this second box, a hint of surprise rose in his heart.
Compared with the first one, this box was clearly more refined.
Yet it only had a clasp, without any bronze lock.
It gave Chen Feng the sense that it was both valued and casually guarded.
He could only think to himself, It looks like Huang Lao Si probably believed these things would not be stolen, so he didn't lock it?
Chen Feng pondered this.
Then he opened the box as well.
The instant he saw what was inside, surprise flashed through Chen Feng's eyes.
"It's actually this?"
Inside the box were layers upon layers of soft silk, tightly protecting a Small White Porcelain Bottle in the center.
The porcelain bottle contained bright crimson blood.
"Evil God Blood!"
Chen Feng's eyes lit up with delight as he looked at it.
Previously, he had accidentally refined a wisp of Demon God Blood.
It had advanced his Nutrient Absorption skill by a great step.
Last night, Huang Haisheng had escaped with the Evil God Blood, and Chen Feng had still felt some regret over it.
He had not expected to see fresh Evil God Blood again today.
"Good stuff."
He could feel the fluctuations of blood and qi within his body.
The Evil God Blood in this porcelain bottle filled it to the brim. It vastly surpassed the wisp of blood and qi he had refined from the ground before.
"I wonder if refining this entire bottle of Evil God Blood will raise my Nutrient Absorption skill to an even higher level?"
Chen Feng considered this.
Then he hurriedly put away the porcelain bottle of Demon God Blood.
Turning to Lin Xue beside him, he said solemnly, "Xue'er, you absolutely must not let anyone else know about these things."
Lin Xue's eyes were somewhat blank, but she still nodded heavily. "Mm, I understand, Husband. These things are all very precious. I definitely won't tell anyone else."
Chen Feng nodded. "Good."
Then he prepared to check on the situation outside first. As long as there was nothing urgent, he would refine this bottle of Evil God Blood first.
Although he was still inside the room now,
he could hear some noisy sounds from outside.
It seemed that many people were outside investigating what had happened.
If he kept his doors shut for too long without checking, it would seem far too deliberate.
Just as he stepped out of his home,
a relieved voice sounded from nearby. "Chen Feng, you really are all right!"
"I was just wondering whether I should come over and see how you were doing."
"Last night, we heard sounds of fighting coming from the village. One of them seemed quite close to us. Are you all right?"
It was Liu Yuan nearby, concern in his eyes.
There was also a trace of lingering fear in Liu Yuan's eyes as he continued, "And I heard several corpses have already been found in our village. Those martial artists are truly terrifying."
Chen Feng replied, "Yeah, we heard it too. Some of the aftershocks even hit our house. Those martial artists were truly ruthless."
Fortunately, after returning yesterday, he had dragged the several corpses in his yard farther away.
Otherwise, the ground would probably have been covered in blood first thing this morning.
Liu Yuan nodded. "Then you really were lucky."
"Fortunately, the Great Qian Empire has laws. No martial artist is allowed to massacre commoners. Otherwise, they'll end up on the Demon Patrol Division's Blacklist Wanted Order, and then they'll really be finished."
"Blacklist Wanted Order?" Chen Feng asked in surprise.
Liu Yuan said, "Yeah. They're vicious criminals issued by the Great Qian Demon Patrol Division, hunted down by both the Demon Patrol Division and the authorities."
"Every one of them has a bounty of at least a thousand taels."
Chen Feng's eyes brightened when he heard this. "There was such a thing?"
"Then how strong do you need to be to take on one of these Blacklist bounties?"
Liu Yuan shook his head. "There are no requirements. As long as you can take the head of the person with the bounty on them, you can basically claim the reward."
Chen Feng said thoughtfully, "I see."
A realization also dawned in his heart.
The Great Gan Dynasty of today might be beset by countless crises.
Yet it still maintained a surface-level peace.
He continued listening to the clamor in the village.
All sorts of discussions drifted into his ears.
"It's too tragic. Have you heard? Steward Huang's household was supposedly slaughtered to the last person."
"What? Really? Were those vicious criminals from yesterday targeting Steward Huang's household?"
"No. They say Steward Huang was a Demon Cult believer and was killed by a Demon Patrol Envoy from the Demon Patrol Division."
"Steward Huang was actually a Demon Cult believer?"
"That old dog Huang is finally dead! The heavens truly have eyes!"
All kinds of discussions could be heard.
Especially whenever Steward Huang was mentioned, many people's eyes were filled with shock and horror.
A steward who had lived in this village for decades was actually a Demon Cult believer.
At first, some people did not believe it.
But after someone saw that among the Huang Family guards, some bodies had actually mutated and manifested certain traits of demons,
the many villagers of Black Mountain Village were immediately struck by fear and shock.
The anger they had long felt from being oppressed by Steward Huang had finally found a chance to erupt.
After all, over the years, people had often gone missing in Black Mountain Village.
In the past, the villagers had not known why.
Now, they immediately thought it must be connected to the Huang Family.
Many furious families even stormed directly into Steward Huang's home, venting their hatred upon the corpses on the ground.
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