Just This?

The night was silent enough to hear a needle drop. Leaning against the wall, Gu An seethed with frustration. Why was his heartbeat so fast?

For some reason, although he could not hear any movement outside, he inexplicably felt that the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost was approaching his room.

His gaze shifted back and forth between the door and the window. Moonlight seeped through the cracks beneath the door and around the window, bright—terrifyingly bright.

The White Spirit Mouse trembled so hard that Gu An's chest began to itch, making him want to throw her out, yet he could not bear to do so.

Time slowly passed as Gu An held his breath and focused.

Never had Gu An longed for daylight as much as he did now.

This Taixuan Sect was not safe at all!

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

Gu An's thoughts ran wild. Who knew how much time passed before his gaze suddenly fixed on the threshold.

The door was less than a meter to his left. The threshold lay beneath the moonlight, and a Dark Shadow appeared in the crack under the door. At that moment, his scalp went numb.

The Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost!

She was coming!

Gu An's heart leaped into his throat, and his entire body tensed.

He even had the urge to rush outside!

Suddenly!

Gu An's body stiffened. He felt a wet hand press down on his head. Sharp nails dug into his forehead, sending chills down his spine.

His mind went blank in an instant. He cautiously looked up and saw a pale arm emerge from the darkness above him, like a woman's arm. Its hand pressed against the top of his head, its nails sharp as claws.

The owner of that arm leaned out from the darkness. A ferocious face framed by disheveled hair squeezed out of the shadows. He could not see her true features, only her mouthful of blood-dripping fangs.

She was smiling!

Damn it!

Scared utterly mad, Gu An flung up his arm in fury and slapped the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost across the face.

Boom!

The roof was blasted straight open. Flesh and blood splattered across the room, while roof tiles and turf shot more than ten zhang into the air and vanished into the night.

The night sky was so dark, and the mountain forests surrounding Medicine Valley seemed like standing demons and ghosts.

"Phew... phew... phew..."

Gu An panted heavily. His raised right arm trembled, his palm covered in blood, while the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost's blood spattered all over his face.

Even after everything fell silent, Gu An could not calm down.

Moonlight spilled down and illuminated the room.

A huge blood flower bloomed upon the wall, horrifying and grotesque. A pale severed arm lay at Gu An's feet.

More than a dozen breaths later, Gu An finally calmed down.

[You successfully seized 52 years of lifespan from the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost (Second Rank)]

Looking at the prompt before him, he was still gasping for breath, but his expression became strange.

"Just this?"

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

Just as he was confused, he faintly heard the sound of doors opening. He immediately lay down and closed his eyes, casually draping the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost's arm over himself.

That was not enough. He raised a hand again, pried open the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost's fingers, then used her hand to grip his own neck. After doing all that, he spread his arms wide and pretended to have fainted dead away.

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

Gu An was harvesting in the Calm Heart Grass garden while Li Ya and Meng Lang stood outside the wooden fence, watching him work.

Half of Li Ya's body was wrapped in white bandages, and two shocking scars marked his face, nearly reaching his right eye. It was hard to imagine what he had gone through.

Meng Lang appeared unharmed. Staring at Gu An, he clicked his tongue in wonder. "This brat can be so happy even while picking herbs, as though he never encountered the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost."

Li Ya remained expressionless, though the scars on his face lent him an extra trace of Killing Intent. He said calmly, "Perhaps he is finding joy amid bitterness. How do you know he can keep smiling after closing his door?"

That night from four days ago felt as though it had happened only last night. Recalling his battle with the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost, Li Ya could not help but feel lingering fear.

He had survived purely because he was lucky.

Chu Jingfeng's injuries were even worse than his. One of his arms had been torn off alive. As for Cheng Xuandan, Zhang Chunqiu, and Meng Lang, they had escaped without a scratch.

That morning, Taixuan Sect sent several cultivators, all with higher cultivation than Chu Jingfeng. The strongest had reached the Ninth-layer Foundation Establishment Realm. They questioned Gu An about the details. Gu An put on the appearance of someone still shaken to the core, claiming he knew nothing. In the end, the cultivators concluded that someone else had acted and saved the Handyman Disciples of Medicine Valley. After all, Gu An did not possess a trace of spiritual power, so he could not possibly have slain the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost.

Afterward, Gu An even deliberately changed rooms. Zhang Chunqiu's attitude toward him improved considerably, as though he felt deeply guilty.

While Li Ya and Meng Lang discussed Gu An, Gu An was enjoying the delight of seizing the lifespan of second-rank herbs.

Second-rank herbs could grant him two to five years of lifespan. He was helping Li Ya and Meng Lang harvest them, and this time there were sixty second-rank herbs in total. It was simply too satisfying.

At the same time, he could not help thinking of the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost.

Slaying the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost had granted him fifty-two years of lifespan. Did that not mean slaying demons and exterminating evil could bring him even more lifespan?

But once he recalled that night's horrifying experience and the injuries suffered by Chu Jingfeng and Li Ya, he immediately abandoned the thought.

There was no need!

He was not in a hurry to become stronger, so why risk his life outside?

Mm.

He could not be reckless. He needed to develop in a cowardly, low-key manner!

After a while.

Gu An finally finished harvesting all sixty stalks of Calm Heart Grass. Carrying a bamboo basket on his back, he walked before Meng Lang, ready to hand them over.

Meng Lang gave a fake cough and said, "This time, you should deliver them to Eldest Senior Brother."

Thinking of how cowardly he had been that night, he truly had no face to claim Gu An's credit again.

Gu An did not decline. Smiling, he said, "All right."

He politely nodded to Li Ya, then headed toward Zhang Chunqiu's pavilion.

Li Ya did not linger either. He turned and walked toward the distant woods, while Meng Lang looked back and forth, awkwardly rubbing his nose.

Inside the main hall.

Gu An handed all the Calm Heart Grass to Zhang Chunqiu. Zhang Chunqiu did not immediately dismiss him. Instead, he pulled Gu An over and asked after his well-being, asking whether he had been sleeping well lately.

Whenever Zhang Chunqiu thought of the sight of Gu An being choked by the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost, his heart filled with guilt. As Eldest Senior Brother, he had been unable to protect his junior brother. It was truly pathetic.

Gu An was usually so honest and obedient. If such a junior brother died, honestly, Zhang Chunqiu would be heartbroken just thinking about it.

"Right, do not mention the matter of the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost again. Today, when I went to the Outer Sect, I heard that demon was raised by one of the sect's senior figures. This matter cannot spread. Pretend it never happened," Zhang Chunqiu said seriously.

Gu An could not help frowning upon hearing this.

So that was why. No wonder that demon had been able to roam freely for so long.

Seemingly still worried, Zhang Chunqiu added, "Those senior figures are not people we can afford to provoke. A single word from one of them could make our entire Medicine Valley disappear. You come from humble origins, so you should understand better than anyone the gap brought by status and position. Only by enduring can one survive."

Then he raised a hand and took a secret manual from his robes. "This is a secret art Master prepared for you. Master spent five years' worth of sect contribution points to exchange for it. After all, you really have suffered an injustice."

Gu An was overjoyed. Taking the secret manual, he saw three words written on its cover.

Residual Wind Leg!

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

Zhang Chunqiu blinked and smiled. "Practice it when you have nothing to do. Perhaps it will protect you someday. Do not give this manual to Meng Lang. As for Li Ya, he has displayed extraordinary talent. Master has decided to help him break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. At most, he will leave Medicine Valley in two years."

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

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Gu An, Zhang Chunqiu dismissed him.

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

Gu An, who was walking downstairs, paused briefly before continuing downward.

Although the Greed-Hatred Demon Ghost's attack had not killed anyone in Medicine Valley, it had changed the atmosphere there. Li Ya became increasingly mysterious, hiding in the woods after finishing his daily chores. Even Meng Lang began cultivating diligently.

Gu An practiced the Residual Wind Leg manual for a month before he could barely make Residual Wind Leg appear on his panel. The blow left him deeply discouraged, and he directly gave up cultivating it, planning to spend lifespan on it later.

The sun and moon alternated, and autumn leaves carpeted Medicine Valley.

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

Autumn passed and winter arrived. Pure white snow fell, turning Medicine Valley into a vast expanse of white.

A new year arrived amid the heavy snow.

When the winter snow finally began to melt, someone from outside the valley came to visit, specifically seeking Gu An.

Inside the room, Gu An closed the door, then walked to the table and poured hot tea for the young man already seated beside it.

The young man wore the green Daoist robe of a Taixuan Sect Outer Sect disciple. Looking around the room, he asked, "How have you been this past year and a half?"

Five people had followed Ji Xiaoyu into Taixuan Sect. Of them, only Gu An and the young man before him had been household servants.

The young man was named Du Ye. He possessed a Four Spirit Roots aptitude and had entered the Taixuan Sect Outer Sect with the Ji Family's help. After more than a year apart, his entire temperament had changed.

"Not bad," Gu An replied casually.

Du Ye looked at him and shook his head slightly. "You, honestly. You insisted on coming here back then. With Third Young Miss and the Ji Family's influence, it would not have been difficult to find a way to place you in the Outer Sect. Why suffer here, where you cannot even see hope for cultivation?"

Gu An looked at Du Ye's lifespan of less than one hundred and fifty years, then compared it to his own lifespan of nearly a thousand years. Smiling, he said, "My aptitude is mediocre to begin with, and I am afraid of death and pain. A quiet place like this suits me better."

Du Ye shook his head with a laugh, criticized him a few more times, then finally revealed the purpose of his visit. "Young Master Ji Lin intends to build momentum for Third Young Miss within Taixuan Sect and gather connections. We also need to do our part. Gather medicinal herbs as best you can in ordinary days. I will come collect them from you every half year. These herbs can serve as bargaining chips for Young Master Ji Lin to win over other disciples."

"All right, no problem," Gu An readily agreed. In any case, medicinal herbs were not particularly important to him.

Seeing how agreeable Gu An was, Du Ye smiled.

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

The moment he returned to the courtyard, he saw Li Ya waiting for him.

Li Ya walked up to Gu An, pressed a secret manual in his hand against Gu An's chest, and said, "I am preparing to leave. Consider this sword art a farewell gift. Thank you for everything you have done for me over the past year and a half."