After Shaoyang Market was breached, the market itself stagnated for a time.
Many Rogue Cultivators lost their livelihoods, but people still had to eat, so some began setting up street stalls outside their homes.
Gradually, the more spacious areas of the shantytown naturally formed one small market after another.
In the past, cultivation pills had only been sold by the various shops inside the market towns.
As for spirit rice, it had been monopolized by Qingxuan Sect, and even the largest shops were forbidden to sell it.
Now that the market was gone, these things had become the most sought-after commodities.
The evil cultivators in charge of security in the shantytown bribed True Demonic Sect disciples to obtain pills and spirit rice from inside the sect, then sold them to Rogue Cultivators at exorbitant prices.
In just a few days, a chain of profit had taken shape.
Su Fan and several evil cultivators who were on night duty with him also got involved with an Outer Sect Disciple of True Demonic Sect.
They collected the goods, distributed them to several Rogue Cultivators in their district, and then had them resold in the small markets scattered throughout the shantytown.
The True Demonic Sect disciple was called Wang Zhi, and he was at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.
That fellow was somewhat lustful, so Su Fan introduced him to several rather attractive female cultivators in the shantytown.
Thus, Su Fan became familiar with him.
As one of True Demonic Sect's forward bases in Chu Kingdom, especially during preparations for war, countless resources were transported from Liangzhou every day.
Even a tiny leak would amount to an extremely substantial sum.
Although Wang Zhi's aptitude was ordinary, his background was far from low. He belonged to one of True Demonic Sect's old-established families.
After some maneuvering by his elders, he had landed himself a cushy position here.
He neither had to risk his life nor miss out on spirit stones.
Moreover, every night that fellow stayed in the shantytown, taking a different bride in turn.
In just a few days, Su Fan had figured out his movements.
To leave this place as quickly as possible, he had drawn up several plans, and Wang Zhi was the most important link in one of them.
In the early hours of that morning, Su Fan and an evil cultivator patrolled the shantytown.
It was called a patrol, but in truth, there was nothing to do.
Their group had four people, divided into two teams that wandered around the shantytown.
"Little Fan, I have something to take care of later. I'm going to leave for a while..."
Hearing the evil cultivator beside him, Su Fan smiled and nodded.
"Is that little widow really that good..."
The other man laughed and said, "Brother, if you're interested..."
Su Fan hurriedly shook his head. Judging by what this fellow meant, did he want to take Su Fan along for a two-on-one? What the hell kind of hobby was that?
"Brother Liu, go ahead. I'll keep watch here..."
Su Fan ignored him, but the fellow only became more enthusiastic.
"Heh heh... It's fine. If you get interested, just say the word. That little widow, tsk tsk..."
Su Fan was caught between laughter and tears. What the hell would I be interested in?
Being able to share his own woman with someone else—just how broad-minded was this fellow?
After the man left, Su Fan continued patrolling the shantytown.
By then, the sky had begun to brighten, and several fading stars were set in the pale-blue heavens.
The earth was hazy and indistinct, as though draped in a veil of silver-gray gauze.
Su Fan arrived at a small alley, glanced left and right, then leaped into an abandoned courtyard.
After Shaoyang Market was breached, many houses in the shantytown had been left vacant. This courtyard had an underground cellar, which he had found two days earlier.
Su Fan went down into the cellar and sat cross-legged.
He took a deep breath, then slowly drew out the purple lightning from the Lightning Dao Seed with his mind.
The purple lightning of the Lightning Dao Seed was extremely violent.
Making the current flow slowly through his body was an exhausting task that consumed a tremendous amount of Spiritual Sense.
Su Fan controlled the current and slowly wrapped it around the Heart-Shattering Gu.
His eyes narrowed, and the purple lightning suddenly erupted violently inside his body.
He did not know how much time passed before he finally stopped. Sweeping his Spiritual Sense over himself, he discovered that the Heart-Shattering Gu had vanished without a trace.
Su Fan breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
It would have been a lie to say he had not been nervous. If he had failed, he would have been finished.
It had been like gambling with his life.
The first step of his plan had been to eliminate the Heart-Shattering Gu, and he had accomplished it perfectly.
If tomorrow night's plan went smoothly, he would be able to leave this place.
No, he should still inspect himself more carefully, lest any hidden danger remained.
Su Fan narrowed his eyes again, activated his Spiritual Sense, and slowly swept through his body again and again, not missing a single place.
When his Spiritual Sense passed over his arm, he suddenly noticed that the ghost-face tattoo seemed strange.
If he had not observed it carefully, he would never have discovered it.
Damn...
It couldn't be, could it? Had that woman come?
Su Fan hurriedly formed a hand seal and muttered under his breath, activating the secret technique Void Spirit Art.
Still uneasy, he took out a high-grade Invisibility and Qi Concealment Talisman and slapped it onto himself. Only then did he finally relax.
Su Fan sighed inwardly. Why did plans always fail to keep up with changes?
As things stood, all his plans had been for nothing.
After considering it for only a few seconds, Su Fan gritted his teeth, stood up, and left the courtyard.
Several hundred li away, Gu Qinghuan stood on the deck of the Bone Boat, looking toward Shaoyang Market Town. She gave a cold laugh.
"Little thief, let's see where you run this time..."
Suddenly, her brows furrowed. The little thief's aura had grown fainter.
Immediately afterward, it vanished completely.
"Quite clever, aren't you? Heh heh... Let's see how long you can hide..."
Su Fan jumped out of the courtyard. He could no longer worry about so much. He cast Wind Walking Art and sprinted wildly through the alleys.
He reached a courtyard and silently leaped inside.
Without slowing at all, he smashed through the door and charged into the room.
"Who..."
Wang Zhi had been sleeping soundly with a young woman in his arms when the sound of the door breaking woke him.
He instinctively shouted, only to see a figure already standing before the bed.
Bare-chested, he reached for the Storage Bag at the head of the bed.
Buzz!!
His vision suddenly went black. It felt as though his head had been smashed by a huge hammer, and then he knew nothing more.
"Ah..."
The young woman beside him clutched the quilt over her body. When she saw Wang Zhi collapse, she had just begun to scream.
A flying needle pierced her eye socket, and she collapsed limply onto the bed.
Su Fan took out the Evil Ghost Banner, collected the female cultivator's soul, then put her corpse into the Storage Bag.
He picked up Wang Zhi and carried him outside the courtyard, throwing him into a water vat.
The shock of the cold water finally brought Wang Zhi back to his senses.
A flash of lightning crossed Su Fan's eyes, and the other man instantly seemed bewitched, answering whatever he was asked.
After questioning him for a while and finding nothing missing, Su Fan reached out and snapped his neck.
He extracted Wang Zhi's soul and cast Void Spirit Art.
Then his bones gave off a series of crisp cracking sounds, and his body shrank considerably.
The muscles on his face twisted, and his features became somewhat similar to Wang Zhi's.
Of course, anyone familiar with him would still be able to tell.
Su Fan changed into the other man's Daoist robe, put his corpse into the Storage Bag, then turned and left the room, leaping out of the small courtyard.
By then, the horizon had already begun to glow with the pale light of dawn, and the morning clouds gilded the earth with a faint layer of gold.
Su Fan wore a hood that concealed most of his face and hurried toward the market town.
He did not enter the market town. Instead, he went to an open area outside it—the docking point for True Demonic Sect's Bone Boats.
Earlier, he had learned a piece of news from Wang Zhi that delighted him.
Over the next few days, Wang Zhi was going to take a Bone Boat back to Liangzhou to handle a matter for his family.
Su Fan had originally planned to flee into the mountains, but without a second thought, he came straight here, preparing to borrow Wang Zhi's identity to leave Shaoyang Market.
When Su Fan arrived at the Bone Boat's docking point, several True Demonic Sect disciples were guarding the area.
He walked over, took out Wang Zhi's identity token and the token for boarding the Bone Boat, and entered openly.
Quite a few people were already waiting there. Su Fan found a crowded spot and sat cross-legged on the ground.
Su Fan had no idea where the next Bone Boat would be heading.
But how could he care about that now? He only wanted to leave this damned place as soon as possible.
After they had waited for quite a while, a massive Bone Flying Boat appeared in the distant sky.
Gu Qinghuan stood on the deck with her hands behind her back, coldly watching Shaoyang Market Town in the distance.
This chapter was posted a little late today because Old Bu failed to set up last night's scheduled release properly. Please forgive me. I sincerely thank Northwest Old Man's Wonderful Adventure, Xingyue Tongying, Suo Yisi, Vacation Coffee, I'm Your Sister, book friend 20200502130734027, and all the other great readers for your recommendation tickets. Old Bu is deeply grateful. Thank you all for your affection and support.
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