Return Journey

Old Master Sun's face turned green then white, and he stared blankly at the bloody mess in his arms, throwing it away as if it were hot to the touch, then he started to vomit.

Everyone finally realized what had just happened, and the scene descended into chaos once more.

"Ahhh, Junior Disciple, stay away from me!"

"Old Master Sun, please let me explain!"

"I, I, I, Young Hero, please listen to my explanation, I absolutely did not look down on the escort agency."

Jiang Yuan's expression was calm as he silently took in everyone's reactions.

It was as if no one had seen him kill seven strange phenomena just now.

Or rather, they couldn't see the seven strange phenomena, nor could they see himself when he killed them. Was his presence near the seven strange phenomena also hidden?

"Young Hero, Young Hero!" Wang Jie had already been pulled out of the dirt by the pale-faced Qian San. The blood all over his face couldn't hide his pallor.

Wang Jie looked at Jiang Yuan, his body went weak, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Jiang Yuan glanced at him and calmly uttered two words:

"It's fine."

Wang Jie's complexion then improved, and with Qian San's support, he slowly stood up.

Jiang Yuan glanced at the still-noisy Sun family residence. Old Master Sun had stopped vomiting and now looked like he was about to fight Guard Bai to the death.

Jiang Yuan shook his head. None of this had anything to do with him.

However, this mission did.

Previously, Jiang Yuan had thought it was too troublesome to bring a group of people to attack a mere stockade, so he went up the mountain alone.

This stockade did have some strength, with several Late Qi and Blood stage experts and a Stockade Chief who had touched the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate. It would be tricky for ordinary people.

Under Jiang Yuan, the people he brought hadn't even lasted a few rounds.

The entire stockade was burned to the ground by Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan had originally intended to return and submit the mission directly, but he hadn't expected these seven strange phenomena to appear.

However, it seemed to be of no consequence now.

Jiang Yuan placed a hand on Guard Bai, who was trying to counterattack Old Master Sun.

With a slight exertion, Guard Bai's leg trembled, and he knelt on the ground, facing Old Master Sun.

Old Master Sun was stunned, his anger subsided, and he said to Jiang Yuan with some reverence, "Thank you, young master."

"It's nothing, where is the token?" Jiang Yuan extended his hand.

"Oh, oh, the token is here, please take it, young master." Old Master Sun took a letter from his embrace. This was the token, which Jiang Yuan could use to report to the escort agency. This token indicated that Jiang Yuan had completed the commissioned task.

Old Master Sun looked at Jiang Yuan with immense reverence. This person had actually gone to Black Tiger Stockade alone and taken the head of the Black Heart Tiger. What about the other leaders?

Even if this person had only assassinated the Black Heart Tiger, he was still outrageously strong.

Who was this person? Were there any geniuses among the Zhenyuan Escort Agency's disciples who looked like this? Old Master Sun had already decided to investigate thoroughly. It would be best to build a good relationship with such a person.

"Young master, thank you for destroying the stockade. Here are five thousand taels in bank notes, a small token of my appreciation, please accept it." As he spoke, Old Master Sun took out a bank note from his embrace.

Jiang Yuan did not refuse and accepted it.

In fact, within the escort agency, merit was more valuable than bank notes, and Jiang Yuan had no use for bank notes.

His daily food and drink were naturally taken care of, and even for cultivation resources, the monthly allowance from the martial arts school had been sufficient. Later on, Jiang Yuan relied on killing strange phenomena to improve his Qi and Blood, and he no longer cared about cultivation resources.

Even so, Jiang Yuan, who had saved for so many years, had only accumulated over eight hundred taels.

In this world, twenty taels of silver was enough for a common family's food and drink expenses for a year.

But for Jiang Yuan, as the Young Escort Chief, saving this much in sixteen years was not much.

And now Old Master Sun had given Jiang Yuan five thousand taels in one go, which was a significant expenditure for the Sun family.

These silver notes would be quite useful to him.

Jiang Yuan knew that Old Master Sun wanted to befriend him, coveting his talent and strength.

Jiang Yuan was not afraid of showing some of his extraordinary abilities to others. Wearing the guise of a "genius" might not be a bad thing. Who would have thought that within this mere Qi and Blood genius's body lay such power?

The talent and strength he revealed now were all within a certain range, which could serve as his protective coloring.

Jiang Yuan casually snapped the neck of Guard Bai. He had clearly heard the grievances between Guard Bai and Old Master Sun while standing aside. There was no possibility of reconciliation between them. Since he had accepted Old Master Sun's money, he might as well help him solve the problem.

Old Master Sun watched as Jiang Yuan casually broke the neck of an expert of the same level, his reverence deepening.

"I will remind you again, Old Master Sun, the strange phenomenon just now killed most of the people in the residence."

After speaking, Jiang Yuan no longer said anything. He cupped his hands at Old Master Sun and left the Sun residence.

On the side, Wang Jie watched Jiang Yuan's departing back, feeling both relieved and unwilling, yet he dared not utter another word.

The Three Brothers of Hanshan exchanged glances and then silently left the residence.

Upon hearing Jiang Yuan's words, Old Master Sun's face turned pale, then he gritted his teeth and gathered the remaining people in the Sun residence.

These were all individuals with cultivation, who had only survived the recent strange phenomena because they weren't killed immediately.

Old Master Sun sent a trusted subordinate to check on the situation at the Sun family residence. As Jiang Yuan had said, most of the Sun family members had died in a bizarre manner.

Old Master Sun efficiently gave some money to the martial artists who had come to help, telling them to cause a commotion outside.

Then, he began sorting through the family's assets.

The Sun family was a prominent household in town, and a tempting prize in the eyes of other families.

Now that the Sun family's strength was greatly diminished, they were no match for other families. They could only sacrifice pawns to save the king.

He would abandon all of the Sun family's real estate and take the silver and other valuables. With his own martial artists and the Sun family's martial artists, the Sun family's foundation remained. They could absolutely make a comeback. Moreover, he had just forged a good relationship with the young hero from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency. Making a comeback was not a problem!

Old Master Sun, having lived for many years, was wise. Now, having experienced the ordeal of the strange phenomena, he gritted his teeth and summoned the courage of his youth, hiding all his sorrow deep within his heart.

Jiang Yuan couldn't be bothered with how the Sun family resolved their issues.

He was currently on his way back to the escort agency.

This trip out had been quite fruitful.

First, he had completed the commission, and then there was the income from the silver.

Old Master Sun had given him five thousand taels, and he had also found three thousand taels in bank notes at Black Tiger Stockade.

The assets within Black Tiger Stockade were naturally more than just these. However, Jiang Yuan had only taken the bank notes. The treasures were too cumbersome, so Jiang Yuan didn't take them. Instead, he distributed them to the unfortunate people who had been kidnapped and brought to the mountain.

Eight thousand taels in bank notes could accomplish many things.

For example, buying Exotic Beast meat!

After killing the strange phenomena, his Qi and Blood had increased again. However, due to his special physique, even with this significant increase in Qi and Blood, he still hadn't touched the Hua Jin Heavenly Gate.

Cultivating Qi and Blood might still be improved with Exotic Beast meat. This was the orthodox method for cultivating Qi and Blood.

Killing strange phenomena was something that couldn't be sought after.

Jiang Yuan's mind raced with thoughts, and he soon returned to the escort agency.

He walked towards the mission hall, intending to submit his mission to gain merit points, and then exchange them for the Dragon's Roar Spear Technique.

Then, he would tackle the Third Life and break through to Hua Jin...

However, he hadn't expected that upon arriving at the mission hall, someone would be waiting for him