Along the direction of the main road, a little boy could be seen running along it in fits and starts, crying out all the while. It was Gou'er.
"What happened?"
With their sleeves fluttering in the wind, Fang Xi and the other two had already surrounded Gou'er.
"Wuwu... Hurry and save Big Brother! Big Brother was entangled by a monster!" When Gou'er saw the three of them, it was as if he had seen his saviors, and he hurriedly threw himself toward them.
"What? Another monster?" Mu Canglong felt a headache coming on. "What kind of monster?"
"Wuwu... I... I don't know... It can't be seen at all, but Big Brother started bleeding. And Xiaoyun, Xiaoshu..."
Gou'er was crying so hard he could barely catch his breath.
"Could it be... another 'demon'?"
Mu Canglong's expression turned solemn.
"No! It definitely isn't a demon!" Fatty Han calmed down and analyzed the situation. "I once read an ancient text. It said, 'Two demons never meet,' meaning that only one demon can appear within a given region! Black Stone City already has the Yao Mo Tree, so what Zhang Junming encountered should be a rather special yao!"
"A yao?"
Fang Xi stroked his chin.
If Zhang Junming had encountered another demon, he would have turned around and left without another word.
But a yao was different.
He had already planned to hunt Yao Beasts and sell their meat!
His cultivation in the Evergreen Art had made no progress for quite some time. It seemed it was time to buy pills and rely on their power to cultivate.
And that required spirit stones—many, many spirit stones!
"Master Mu, take Gou'er back to the caravan. Fatty Han and I will go take a look!" Fang Xi thought it over and immediately made his decision.
"Why me?" Fatty Han looked somewhat depressed.
"Because your strength is higher now, naturally." Fang Xi laughed. Even if we run into danger, this Meat Mountain can block disasters, and he's a bigger target than I am. If I don't choose him, should I choose Mu Canglong?
Inside the dense forest.
Bloodstains covered the gnarled roots of an ancient tree.
Fang Xi's brows twitched as he tore a strip of cloth from a branch.
"This is what Zhang Junming was wearing!"
Fatty Han pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the oily sweat from his face. "Looks like Zhang Junming is a goner, Brother Fang. How about we leave first? This place gives me the creeps."
"Oh? An invisible yao. Interesting."
Fang Xi pondered. "Perhaps... after hunting its prey, it hasn't left yet?"
Thinking this, he secretly circulated the Evergreen Art, sending two threads of Wood Attribute magic power into his eyes.
This was a cultivator's Spiritual Eye Technique!
Of course, without special cultivation, the Spiritual Eye's usefulness in the Cultivation World was actually quite limited. It was mainly used in the mortal world to search for items containing Spiritual Energy.
But in Daliang?
Demon Meat and the like also counted as things relatively rich in Spiritual Energy.
A layer of green light flashed through Fang Xi's eyes as he swept his gaze across the surroundings.
Suddenly, his body jerked to a stop.
Between the ancient trees beside Fatty Han, a translucent monster was lying in wait!
It seemed to be made entirely of glass. It moved without a trace through the forest, and one of its tongues had already slowly drooped down beside Fatty Han, covered in mucus and stench.
"You vile beast!"
Fang Xi's voice cracked like spring thunder as he punched toward Fatty Han.
"Ah!"
Caught off guard, Fatty Han instinctively circulated the Sky Swallowing Skill with all his strength to defend himself. Then he felt an extremely long thing wrap around his waist, slick with mucus and reeking of foulness.
"Damn it, what is this thing?"
With a roar, all the fat on his body swelled outward like a balloon, forcibly stretching open the monster's tongue.
At the same time, Fang Xi's fist struck the monster, and Primordial Chaos Energy erupted!
Bang!
Several layers of force exploded in succession, sending green blood spraying through the air.
The sound of something heavy hitting the ground rang out.
Only then did Fatty Han discover a monster lying on the ground, seemingly made of colored glass, gradually recovering its dark-green hue...
The monster was over a zhang long—more than three meters. Its four limbs were sharp and covered in scales, while its bulging eyes rolled about with startling agility. Around its neck was a ring of umbrella-shaped skin, like a frill. From a distance, it looked extremely imposing.
"What a huge Chameleon Yao Beast!"
For some reason, when Fang Xi saw the skin around its neck resembling a ruff, he suddenly thought of a dog's protective collar and couldn't help wanting to laugh. "Hahahaha... Fatty Han, you nearly delivered yourself right to its door as a slab of meat!"
It had to be said that this fatty made a rather qualified meat shield.
In Fang Xi's sight, a huge bloody hole had been torn into the back of the Chameleon Yao, surrounded by scattered green scales.
"Damn it, I nearly bit the dust today."
Killing Intent filled Fatty Han's face. "Tonight, this old Han is going to eat this Yao Beast Meat!"
Amid his roar, his massive body suddenly leaped up and came crashing down like Mount Tai pressing down from above. "Devouring Heaven Palm!"
Fang Xi shook his head. "I'm afraid you won't be eating it!"
As he spoke, he joined Fatty Han in attacking.
This Yao Beast's actual strength was not particularly great. It was merely able to conceal its body and come and go without a trace, making it extremely troublesome.
But after Fang Xi broke its Invisibility Technique, it became ordinary.
Before long, it was lying on its back with its belly exposed, reduced to a corpse.
Fang Xi did not stand on ceremony. He took out a dagger, slit open the Yao Beast's belly, and found Zhang Junming's mutilated corpse.
"Er... Looks like it really can't be eaten..."
Fatty Han shook his head, somewhat regretful.
"Sigh... I never expected that saying goodbye this morning would be farewell forever! But we didn't see Xiaoyun's body. Perhaps she escaped?"
Fang Xi suddenly felt the impermanence of life.
After all, they had known each other, at least. He and Fatty Han buried Zhang Junming's corpse together, then sent Fatty Han away first.
After confirming that Fatty Han had left, Fang Xi patted his storage pouch and took out the Ghost Head Saber. A hint of excitement appeared on his face. "The hide of this Yao Beast should be usable to make some special magical artifacts... And there's the meat and bones. Excellent, excellent. I can sell them for some spirit stones."
At that moment, he once again thanked the treasure-delivering boy.
Without the storage pouch sponsored by that old pal, hiding the corpse of this Chameleon Yao Beast would truly have been troublesome.
The caravan.
"Don't worry... Senior Brother is a Martial Master-level expert with extraordinary Martial Arts. He'll definitely bring your Big Brother back."
Mu Piaomiao was comforting Gou'er.
Suddenly, a Meat Mountain slowly flew over from the distance and landed in front of Gou'er.
"Where's my Big Brother?" Gou'er immediately asked.
"Dead."
Fatty Han sighed and handed Gou'er a bloodstained piece of clothing.
Gou'er immediately cried until he fainted.
"That's how life is. Try to take it easy..." Fatty Han shook his head and returned to his carriage to enjoy himself.
After making room in one carriage, he had called all his concubines into his own carriage, leaving everyone unable to help admiring the fine horse pulling it. It was practically a divine steed!
"Master's back!"
The moment Fatty Han returned to the carriage, several tender arms wrapped around him.
"Heh heh..."
He casually took a bottle of fine wine from beneath the carriage seat and took a swig. "Mm... I'm back."
His eyes narrowed contentedly until only a slit remained.
That Fang Xi definitely has secrets, but they have nothing to do with this old Han.
Living carefree and enjoying life is the way to preserve one's health and longevity... I'm not greedy, I'm not greedy. As long as I have beautiful wives and concubines every day, eat my fill, drink my fill, and stay happy, that's enough. That's enough...
Before long, Fang Xi also returned to the caravan.
"Set out. Keep moving!"
He looked over the people in the caravan and issued an order.
The caravan slowly moved forward. Fang Xi came to Gou'er's side. "Do you have anywhere else to go?"
"No..."
Gou'er's eyes were dull as he gazed into the distance.
"Then come with us to Sanyuan City. I'll recommend that you join the White Cloud Martial Arts School. At least you'll have a way to make a living!"
Fang Xi prepared to dump the burden onto Mu Piaomiao without the slightest guilt.
After all, once Mu Canglong reached Sanyuan City, he would most likely still be forced by livelihood to open a martial arts school.
"By the way, do you have a name?"
"No!" Gou'er answered.
"Then I'll give you one. Since you'll follow Zhang Junming, take Zhang as your surname... As for your given name? 'Amid laughter, emperors' ambitions are discussed; nothing beats a drunken life.' How about Zhang Zui... No, Zhang Mingding!"
"Zhang?" Gou'er thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "My name will be Zhang Mingding!"
"Mm, excellent!"
Fang Xi nodded. Suddenly, he felt that Zhang Junming had gained a little more continuation in this world.
That was precisely what the ancients had pursued.
Heh heh... Unfortunately, this sort of continuation is merely false!
What Lineage, bloodline, spiritual continuation, having one's name recorded in history... None of it can compare to living until I become history myself!
I must achieve Foundation Establishment and enjoy eternal life!
Fang Xi's eyes were deep and shadowy, but his determination had grown even firmer.
Several days later.
Green Bamboo Mountain Market.
Fang Xi returned to the shantytown with an unchanged expression.
The Three-Day Incense had long since dissipated, and along the way he had not noticed any signs of panic or alarm.
After all, people died frequently outside the market. Everyone was used to it.
As long as the dead person was not important, they would soon be forgotten.
Besides... if Hundred Skills Tower wants to search, it's searching for a fierce and menacing man who sells Taisui Meat. What does that have to do with a little spirit farmer like me?
Fang Xi made a round of inquiries and secretly relaxed.
However, Chen Ping from next door was absent. He was probably either in seclusion or pestering Fellow Daoist Lu.
Fang Xi ignored him and, after thinking for a moment, went straight to Di Qi.
"What? Fellow Daoist Fang, you actually killed a Yao Beast?"
Di Qi looked Fang Xi up and down, as if he needed to get to know this spirit farmer all over again.
"I was merely lucky. It just so happened that this Yao Beast wasn't very strong..."
Fang Xi revealed a bashful smile. "The corpse is all at my home. I'll take you to have a look..."
He naturally would not expose his storage pouch in front of Di Qi, so he had directly placed the dismembered Yao Beast Meat at home.
Di Qi came to Fang Xi's wooden hut. Upon seeing the chunks of beast meat and the stark white bones, he finally believed him. "You really are lucky, Fellow Daoist... Are you planning to... sell them?"
"That's right!"
Fang Xi rubbed his hands, appearing somewhat embarrassed. "There are all sorts of schemes and struggles in this market, so I don't dare show off by selling it openly. That leaves me no choice but to trouble you with handling it for me, Fellow Daoist. If you're willing, I can give you ten percent of the proceeds!"
This is a good deal!
Di Qi's eyes immediately lit up. His Lineage happened to have a need for this sort of thing, and taking it back could even count toward a minor contribution.
The key was... he could get paid from both sides!
He immediately perked up. "What grade is this Yao Beast? How many pounds does it weigh?"
"Roughly First-grade Low-rank... There are three or four hundred pounds of meat, and the bones are counted separately... As for the hide, I kept it."
Fang Xi answered frankly.
Even for a spirit farmer, it was quite reasonable to get lucky and bring down a Yao Beast.
After all, who could say for certain when it came to luck?
In any case, he did not intend to sell a second Yao Beast through Di Qi.
Before you continue