That's it?

The night was silent, quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Leaning against the wall, Gu An felt a surge of resentment—why was his heartbeat so loud?

For some reason, even though he couldn't hear any movement outside, he had a strange, inexplicable feeling that the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost was approaching his room.

His gaze darted between the door and the window. Moonlight seeped through the cracks, so bright it was terrifying.

The White Spirit Mouse shivered, making Gu An's chest itch. He wanted to throw it away, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Time ticked away slowly as Gu An held his breath and focused his mind.

Gu An had never longed for the arrival of daylight as much as he did now.

This Taixuan Sect was not safe at all!

In the future, he had to accumulate more lifespan. While keeping a low profile, he could not let his strength stop growing!

Gu An's thoughts wandered. He didn't know how much time had passed when his gaze suddenly locked onto the threshold of his door.

The door was to his left, less than a meter away. The threshold was illuminated by moonlight, and a black shadow appeared in the crack of the door. At that moment, his scalp went numb.

The Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost!

It was coming!

Gu An's heart leaped into his throat, his entire body tensing up.

He even had the urge to charge out!

Suddenly!

Gu An's body stiffened. He felt a wet hand press down on his head, its sharp nails digging into his forehead, sending a chill down his spine.

His mind went blank for a split second. He carefully looked up and saw a pale arm emerging from the darkness above his head. It looked like a woman's arm, the palm pressing against his scalp, the nails as sharp as claws.

The owner of the arm leaned out from the darkness, a hideous face with disheveled hair pushing through. He couldn't see her true features, only her fangs dripping with blood.

She was smiling!

Damn it!

Gu An was driven to the brink of madness by fear. He swung his arm up in a rage, slapping the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost right in the face.

BOOM!

The eaves of the house were blown away instantly. Flesh and blood splattered inside the room, and the tiles and turf from the roof flew dozens of feet into the air, vanishing into the night.

The night sky was so dark, and the mountains and forests surrounding the Medicine Valley stood like looming demons and ghosts.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

Gu An gasped for air, his raised right arm trembling. His palm was covered in blood, and the blood of the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost was splattered all over his face.

Even when everything fell silent, Gu An still couldn't calm down.

Moonlight spilled in, illuminating the room.

A massive, gruesome flower of blood bloomed on the wall, and a pale, severed arm lay at Gu An's feet.

Ten-odd breaths later, Gu An finally calmed down.

[You have successfully plundered 52 years of lifespan from the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost (Tier 2)]

Looking at the prompt that popped up before his eyes, he was still gasping for air, but his expression turned strange.

"That's it?"

Gu An found it absurd. Was he too strong, or were Chu Jingfeng and the others just too weak?

Just as he was confused, he faintly heard the sound of a door opening. He immediately lay down, closed his eyes, and simultaneously grabbed the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost's arm and draped it over himself.

That wasn't enough; he reached up, pried open the demon's palm, and used it to grip his own throat. After doing all this, he splayed his hands out and pretended to have passed out.

Autumn was approaching, and the weather was no longer so scorching.

Gu An was picking herbs in the Calm Heart Grass field. Li Ya and Meng Lang stood outside the wooden fence, watching him work.

Half of Li Ya's body was wrapped in white cloth, and there were two shocking scars on his face that nearly reached his right eye. It was hard to imagine what he had been through.

Meng Lang looked fine. He stared at Gu An and clicked his tongue in wonder: "This kid can still be so happy picking herbs, as if he hadn't run into the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost before."

Li Ya remained expressionless, though the scars on his face added a touch of ferocity. He said calmly: "Perhaps he is finding joy in suffering. How do you know he can keep smiling after he closes his door?"

That night four days ago felt like it was only yesterday. Li Ya couldn't help but feel a lingering fear when he recalled his encounter with the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost.

He had survived purely by luck.

Chu Jingfeng's injuries were even worse than his; he had had an arm ripped off. As for Cheng Xuandan, Zhang Chunqiu, and Meng Lang, they had come out unscathed.

That morning, several cultivators from the Taixuan Sect had arrived. Their cultivation levels were all higher than Chu Jingfeng's, with the highest reaching the ninth level of Foundation Establishment. They had interrogated Gu An about the specific details. Gu An had pretended to be shaken and claimed to know nothing. In the end, the cultivators concluded that someone else must have intervened to save the Handyman Disciple of this Medicine Valley; after all, Gu An had no spiritual power, so it couldn't have been him who killed the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost.

Afterward, Gu An even intentionally switched rooms, and Zhang Chunqiu's attitude toward him improved, as if he felt guilty.

Just as Li Ya and Meng Lang were discussing Gu An, Gu An was enjoying the pleasure of plundering the lifespan of Tier 2 herbs.

Tier 2 herbs could grant him two to five years of lifespan. He was helping the two of them pick herbs, and this time he could harvest a total of sixty Tier 2 herbs—it was simply too satisfying.

At the same time, he couldn't help but think of the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost.

Slaying the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost had granted him fifty-two years of lifespan. Did this not mean that he could gain even more lifespan by slaying demons and eliminating devils?

However, the moment he recalled the terrifying experience that night and the injuries sustained by Chu Jingfeng and Li Ya, he immediately dismissed the thought.

There was no need!

He wasn't in a rush to become strong, so why go out and risk his life?

Hmm.

Must not be reckless; play it safe and develop steadily!

A while later.

Gu An finally finished picking the sixty stalks of Calm Heart Grass. He carried the bamboo basket over to Meng Lang, preparing to hand it over.

Meng Lang gave a fake cough and said, "This time, you should be the one to hand it to the Senior Brother."

Recalling his own cowardly performance that night, he truly didn't have the face to snatch credit from Gu An again.

Gu An didn't decline and smiled, "Alright."

He nodded politely at Li Ya and then walked toward the pavilion where Zhang Chunqiu resided.

Li Ya didn't linger either, turning to walk toward the distant woods. Meng Lang looked back and forth, rubbing his nose in embarrassment.

Inside the main hall.

Gu An handed all the Calm Heart Grass to Zhang Chunqiu. Zhang Chunqiu didn't let him leave immediately, instead pulling him aside to ask about his well-being and whether he had been sleeping well lately.

Every time Zhang Chunqiu thought of the scene where Gu An was throttled by the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost, his heart was filled with guilt. As the Senior Brother, he had failed to protect his junior brother, which was truly pathetic.

Gu An was usually so honest and obedient; if such a junior brother had died, truthfully, it would have been heartbreaking to think about.

"By the way, do not mention the matter of the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost again. When I went to the Outer Sect today, I heard that the demon was kept by a certain senior in the sect. This matter cannot spread; just pretend it never happened," Zhang Chunqiu said seriously.

Upon hearing this, Gu An couldn't help but frown.

So that was it. No wonder that demon could roam freely for so long.

Zhang Chunqiu seemed worried and added, "That kind of senior is not someone we can afford to provoke. A single word from them could make our entire Medicine Valley disappear. You come from humble beginnings and should understand the gap created by status and position best. Only by enduring can one survive."

He then raised his hand, took a secret manual from his robe, and said, "This is a secret technique prepared for you by Master. Master spent five years of sect contribution points to exchange for it. After all, you truly suffered a grievance."

Gu An's face immediately lit up with joy. He took the manual and saw three words written on the cover.

Residual Wind Leg!

"Thank you, Senior Brother! Thank you, Master!" Gu An immediately bowed in gratitude.

Zhang Chunqiu blinked and smiled, "Practice it more when you have free time. Perhaps it will help you protect yourself in the future. Don't give this manual to Meng Lang. As for Li Ya, he has shown extraordinary talent, so Master has decided to help him break through to the Foundation Establishment realm. I estimate he will leave Medicine Valley in two years at most."

Gu An was not surprised upon hearing this. It was indeed a waste for someone with Li Ya's cultivation to remain in Medicine Valley.

Afterward, Zhang Chunqiu exchanged a few more pleasantries with Gu An before letting him withdraw.

Once Gu An closed the door, Zhang Chunqiu sighed softly, "What an honest child. He will surely be able to take care of Master for me in the future, and I will finally be able to go down the mountain... Xiao Lian, wait for me..."

Gu An, who was walking downstairs, paused for a moment before continuing his descent.

Although the attack by the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost didn't result in any deaths in Medicine Valley, it changed the atmosphere of the valley. Li Ya became increasingly mysterious, hiding in the woods after finishing his chores, and even Meng Lang began to practice diligently.

Gu An practiced with the Residual Wind Leg manual for a month before he could barely get the skill to appear on his panel. This was a huge blow to him, so he gave up on practicing and decided to just rely on "lifespan-burning" in the future.

As the sun and moon alternated, autumn leaves blanketed Medicine Valley.

Gu An's figure appeared constantly in various gardens, making him the busiest person in the valley. Zhang Chunqiu trusted him more and more and no longer supervised his work. As for Cheng Xuandan, he stayed locked in his room refining pills all day, and it was hard to see him even once a month.

Autumn passed and winter arrived. Thick white snow fell, and Medicine Valley was plunged into a vast expanse of white.

A new year arrived amidst the heavy snow.

It wasn't until the winter snow began to melt that someone from outside the valley finally came to visit, and they were specifically looking for Gu An.

Inside the room, Gu An closed the door and walked to the table to pour hot tea for the young man already seated there.

The young man was wearing the green Daoist robe of a Taixuan Sect outer disciple. He surveyed the room and said, "How has this year and a half been?"

There were five people who followed Ji Xiaoyu to join the Taixuan Sect, and only Gu An and this young man were servants.

The young man was named Du Ye, possessing a four-element Spirit Root. With the help of the Ji Family, he had joined the Taixuan Sect's Outer Sect. After more than a year, his entire demeanor had changed.

"It's alright," Gu An replied casually.

Du Ye looked at him and shook his head slightly, "You, oh you. You insisted on coming here back then. With the influence of the Third Young Miss and the Ji Family, it wouldn't have been difficult to get you into the Outer Sect. Why come here to suffer and have no hope of cultivation?"

Gu An looked at his lifespan of less than one hundred and fifty years, then compared it to his own nearly one thousand years, and smiled, "My talent was mediocre to begin with, and I'm afraid of death and pain. A quiet place like this suits me better."

Du Ye laughed and shook his head, criticizing him a few more times before revealing the purpose of his visit, "Young Master Ji Lin plans to build momentum for the Third Young Miss within the Taixuan Sect and gather connections. We must also contribute. In the future, do your best to collect medicinal herbs. I will come to get them from you every six months. These herbs can serve as bargaining chips for Young Master Ji Lin to win over other disciples."

"Alright, no problem," Gu An agreed immediately. In any case, medicinal herbs weren't very important to him.

Seeing Gu An so easy to talk to, Du Ye smiled.

The two chatted for a while longer, and Gu An walked Du Ye to the valley entrance before turning back.

As soon as he returned to the courtyard, he saw Li Ya waiting for him.

Li Ya walked up to Gu An, pressed a secret manual into his chest, and said, "I am preparing to leave. Consider this sword technique a farewell gift. Thank you for what you have done for me over this past year and a half."