Great Harvest

The head fell to the ground, rolling around, the dark red blood from the wound stained with dust, turning black.

"Damn it, what incredible strength!"

Xiang Fangsu put down his long knife, panting heavily. His right wrist trembled uncontrollably, and the pain reminded him of the days when he couldn't memorize the text and was punished by the teacher to copy the scriptures a hundred times.

Ke Wenbin touched his lower back, pulled out a dagger, and used the tip of the blade to stab the man's teeth.

Click.

The man's head was clamped tightly on the tip of the knife, his withered eyes filled with a hazy gray mist; it was a completely subconscious action.

Ke Wenbin struggled to pull the dagger out again, and was greatly shocked.

"That's really strange, his head fell off and he's still not completely dead?"

Xiang Fangsu wiped the black blood off the knife, but instead of sheathing it, he held it under his arm.

He bent down, picked up the severed arm holding the knife from the ground, shook it from side to side, pulled out the wolf-headed broadsword and threw it on the ground. He found that the five fingers of the severed arm were still responsive, constantly making grasping motions.

"Just like eels, even the dead ones still react."

"Fang Su, this hand isn't responding."

Ke Wenbin picked up the other severed hand. The skin on the knuckles was wrinkled and bloodless, and there was no reaction when he shook it.

The only difference between it and the movable hand in Xiang Fangsu's hand is that it has a black arrow stuck in it, which is constantly dispersing black energy, as if it has punctured a water bag.

Xiang Fangsu stepped forward and pulled out the black arrow; the black energy at the wound no longer dissipated.

As the arrow spun, the arrowhead gleamed with a black light in the candlelight, like a polished obsidian.

"So only by completely expelling the Evil Qi from the body can we truly 'kill' this guy?"

"How did those two Grandmaster die?"

"To forcibly obliterate it using the Martial Saint's will within the Xuanbing?"

Xiang Fangsu offered a guess.

The Martial Saint Profound Weapon is a product of the Martial Saint Saint's own Divine Ability, refined into it upon achieving sainthood; it is almost an extension of his limbs.

Even without practicing Evil-Warding Method, it would probably be no problem to eliminate Evil Qi.

Looking at the man lying on the ground, Liang Qu thought of a question, "If Grandmaster were to come back to life, would he know martial arts?"

Xiang Fangsu and Ke Wenbin were taken aback, then frowned.

If he didn't know martial arts, Xu Yuelong wouldn't have left out such important news.

Upon careful recollection, it seems that throughout the entire process, Xu Yuelong only mentioned that the reaction speed of a "resurrected" Grandmaster would decrease and he would feel no pain.

Xiang Fangsu speculated. "Could it be that the performance after resurrection is related to strength? The stronger the strength, the closer the performance is to that before death?"

"If it were Martial Saint..." Ke Wenbin thought for a moment, then dismissed his own idea, "That doesn't make sense. If that were the case, why would the Ghost Mother Sect retreat into hiding?"

"Let's go back first."

Liang Qu interrupted their discussion.

He really didn't want to stay in this godforsaken place anymore. Luckily, he had two other people with him; otherwise, coming here alone would have been a real midnight nightmare.

Upon hearing this, everyone stopped arguing.

Xiang Fangsu took off his coat, wrapped the human head separately, and tied it around his waist. He looked at the passageway he had come from and shook his head. "Go to another exit."

Two Great Martial Master died on the island.

They had made too much of a commotion before.

Ke Wenbin disagreed. "Other passages may also lead to the residences of Great Martial Master. After being resurrected, these corpses seem to wander around the residences according to their memories from their previous lives? The probability of bumping into them is not small."

"Vote."

Xiang Fangsu.

The two looked towards Liang Qu.

"I think we should leave through the exit of the Third Great Hall or Fourth Great Hall."

After some thought, Liang Qu gave his reasons.

Previously, when they explored the Treasure Vault, they discovered that each hall had an exit, making a total of four, corresponding to the four high-level configurations of two Grandmaster and two Great Martial Master.

"The passageways most likely all lead to the main residences on the upper floors. I guess it's a way for the Ghost Mother Sect to distribute power."

The treasures in the first hall seem numerous and most valuable, but that's only in terms of our perspective.

There is no matching alchemy or weapon-refining master in the Ghost Mother Sect. It is flashy but impractical. Therefore, the owner of the house connected to the exit is Great Martial Master.

The second hall is important for cultivating and taming Mountain Ghost, but it cannot control the rise and fall of followers internally. It should be managed by another Great Martial Master.

Only the third and Fourth Great Hall contain Treasure Artifact and medicines, equivalent to the 'salt and iron' of Martial Master.

Therefore, I think those two exits are the most likely to be safe.

According to Brother Yue Long, the two Grandmaster faced the might of the Martial Saint twice and died; they could not possibly be resurrected.

"That makes sense."

Ke Wenbin initially intended to ignore the situation and leave through the previous exit, but after hearing the analysis, he immediately changed his mind.

With their disagreement resolved, the three headed to the Third Great Hall and left via a small path inside.

Before leaving, Liang Qu glanced at the Treasure Vault behind him and felt a little uneasy as he looked at the protruding edges of the wooden box on his back.

Are we going to eat it all by ourselves?

Xiang Fangsu and Ke Wenbin exchanged a glance, their expressions ambiguous.

"You're quite young. Let me ask you, what do you call it if you're only assigned to mentor Brother Yue Long and not anyone else?"

Liang Qu pondered for a moment.

"Sucking up to the boss?"

"Yes, that would change the nature of the situation. So you either have to eat all the spoils yourself or share them with everyone. But if you share them with everyone, how much are you prepared to take?"

Everyone else would have to take one item each, which would amount to twenty items. Besides, are you going to give some to your Master? What about your fellow disciples? Aren't they closer to you?

Yue Long gave us two items each as a limit. There were over two hundred precious medicines, and taking four was insignificant; nobody cared.

They can take dozens of items, and since they're all from our side, we'll get through it.

Wei Lin isn't one to sit idly by. When it comes to the treasure hunt, the three of us should be shameless and take the blame ourselves. What do you think the consequences will be?

"Would I be called shameless?"

Liang Qu thought about it and it seemed to be just that.

The relationship between these dozen or so people is not that of a typical superior and subordinate; rather, they are superiors and subordinates who grew up together.

This is especially important.

The three of them are eating alone right now, that's their skill. It's because others didn't think of this and didn't see the opportunity. At most, they'll be criticized at future gatherings, but they'll still eat when it's time to eat.

But if one favors one over the other, or if it becomes a factional issue, then the situation is completely different.

We must not allow misunderstandings to fester, and we must never bring petty theft into the open.

The relative importance of each is self-evident.

Ke Wenbin patted Liang Qu on the shoulder.

"My dad taught me from a young age that you have to be thick-skinned when it comes to eating. It's okay to shovel food from the communal pot; that means you can eat a lot. At worst, you'll get a few dirty looks."

If you scoop food into your bowl and take it home to share with others, they'll resent you, feeling that you've let outsiders eat your food.

"Understood."

Liang Qu stopped worrying about it.

If Xu Yuelong really wanted it, he wouldn't have left it unmentioned when he sent Ran Zhongshi to deliver the message.

He's still too thin-skinned.

The three of them fell silent and followed the passage to its end. The mechanisms were exactly the same, so they must have been designed by the same craftsman.

Xiang Fangsu took a step back and looked at Ke Wenbin: "You come here."

He was traumatized by his first time leading the way.

"Ah, me?"

"I'll do it."

"No, you're too weak."

"Okay, okay, I'll do it."

Ke Wenbin held the stone slab and quietly lifted a crack, revealing a vast expanse of starlight; the roof was completely invisible.

He pushed the roof open a little more and found that it wasn't that there was no roof at all, but that the entire roof had been torn open with a huge hole, and there was a deep pit on the ground next to it.

It's clear the homeowner didn't use the main entrance and jumped off the roof after being attacked.

"It's okay, nobody's here."

"Let's go, let's go."

"I'm outta here."

The three emerged from the hole, closed the stone slab, and traversed the entire chain of islands back to their previous landing site.

They encountered no further obstacles along the way and successfully found a small boat to return home.

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

The soldiers on night watch saw the returning small boat and hurriedly went up to greet it.

"Lord Xiang, Lord Ke, Lord Liang, how was the harvest last night?"

"It's you."

Xiang Fangsu recalled that the soldiers in front of him had brought them a bunch of fishing gear when they learned that they were going to go fishing.

He shook his empty fish basket, feigning disappointment. "Bad luck, didn't catch a single one."

That's a real shame.

The soldier sighed in regret.

As the three of them went upstairs, Liang Qu could faintly hear the soldiers' hushed discussions.

"So you're the same as Lord Xu."