Brothers for Life

Brothers for Life

After hearing all this, Fang Che finally understood.

He felt rather speechless. The matter was not complicated, really—just two Lineages scheming and plotting against each other.

Yet calling it simple would not be right either; it was full of twists and turns.

"Your Su Family's arrangements truly are... richly colorful. You advance with restraint and retreat with a backup plan. Admirable."

Fang Che praised them, then added, "If you hadn't run into me, you really might have succeeded. Ah, what a pity."

Then he asked about what interested him. "That One Heart Sect envoy, the fellow who used the Five Elements Spirit Gu—what was his name? What did he look like? What was his cultivation level?"

"Oh, Sun Yuan? Above Great Grandmaster level? White robes? Lean? Pointed face? A mole on his upper lip? Tsk, this fellow disguised himself quite well. He actually walked openly across the continent."

Fang Che snorted.

He knew very well that as a subordinate organization of the Sole True Sect, the things One Heart Sect did were bound to be things that could not see the light of day.

And for this Sun Yuan to walk openly across the continent, "Sun Yuan" had to be an extremely well-hidden false identity. He might even have possessed a positive public image.

Now that made things interesting.

"Brother Su."

Fang Che sighed, sounding regretful. "It is time for us to say goodbye."

"Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me..."

Tears streamed down Su Yue's face as he desperately begged.

"Brother Su. Go in peace. Do not worry about your Su Family's Fortune. As your best brother, I will help you take care of it all."

Fang Che drove a knife into Su Yue's chest, piercing his heart. His wrist moved, stirring twice, while he earnestly lectured as he stirred, "A true man must learn to let go. People are born only to die. What difference is there between dying early and dying late? You need to take it easy."

Su Yue's eyes bulged with rage as he stared fixedly at Fang Che. Bloody foam bubbled from his mouth as he struggled to say, "Even as a ghost, I will never..."

Before he could finish, he breathed his last.

"Become a ghost..."

Fang Che sighed. "Why do you dream so beautifully? Where would you get the chance to become a ghost?"

A milky-white shadow circled in the air.

It was the Golden Horned Flood Dragon's spirit.

It devoured the soul-energy particles of the Su Family members one by one.

Then it let out a satisfied burp.

This kind of soul power on the verge of dissipating could not be seized by humans, but for a peculiar spirit body like the Golden Horned Flood Dragon, it was a great tonic.

"They are all cleaned up, right?" Fang Che asked. "You are certain all one hundred and twenty-four are dead, right? This is important."

The Golden Horned Flood Dragon nodded obsequiously.

Its body was still trembling slightly.

The great demon king before it was someone who could crush it to death with one hand even at the height of its power! Seeing him today, he was indeed just as terrifying as before.

Without a sound, more than a hundred people had died just like that. Terrifying! "Check again. Especially Su Yue's soul—make sure it has completely vanished. After all, he still has to be my good brother for life."

Fang Che gave the order.

Then he began gathering the spoils. The Gold Notes and Silver Notes naturally went to one side, while the Demon Beast Cores were stored separately. As for the weapons... he found somewhere to bury them.

Those things were unlucky.

Anything that could prove their identities was buried together.

Then he dealt with the corpses.

"Fucking exhausting."

Fang Che shoveled in the final scoop of dirt and tamped it down with his foot.

Then he jumped on the grave mound a few times.

"Come to think of it, you people really should feel proud. I actually buried you myself. I have to say, this treatment is top-notch! What happiness! If I die one day, let alone having you come bury me, you probably could not even send a wreath. Thinking about it, I'm fucking losing out."

"Besides, your whole family is neatly together. That is a kind of happiness too."

"Come on, let's see what good things this Thousand Poisons Demon King left behind!"

With the Golden Horned Flood Dragon, the traitor on the inside, helping him, Fang Che thoroughly searched the Thousand Poison Devil Monarch's Treasure Cave.

"Quite a few treasures!"

There was a pile of Spirit Crystals for cultivation, a pile of all kinds of manuals, and another pile of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and strange metals.

"Unfortunately, aside from the lowest-grade Spirit Crystals, not much of this can be used at my current cultivation level."

Fang Che gave a bitter smile.

In truth, even the lowest-grade Spirit Crystals were still somewhat beyond his level to use right now.

But there were still pleasant surprises.

Inside the Thousand Poisons Demon King's cave dwelling, Fang Che discovered a pool of Spirit Spring water.

Though the Spirit Spring was not particularly high-grade, it was enough for now. The greatest surprise was that within it grew a Heavenly Vein Vermillion Fruit tree.

The Vermillion Fruits were already ripe, a purplish red.

They were even a little overripe. Fine lines had appeared on their surfaces.

"At least a thousand years old. This is the real good stuff I can use right now—washing the meridians and cleansing the marrow, improving my aptitude!"

The Heavenly Vein Vermillion Fruit was precisely something used to lay foundations and improve aptitude.

Presumably, the Thousand Poisons Demon King had prepared it for his descendants or successor.

"Killing you last time was truly the right choice, Thousand Poison. Otherwise, how could this thing have fallen to me now?"

Fang Che sighed.

He plucked three fruits directly.

One Heavenly Vein Vermillion Fruit could improve one's aptitude, but only when a powerful cultivator helped circulate the medicinal power.

Since no one was available now, Fang Che directly took the maximum limit: three fruits!

After three, eating more would be useless.

There were six fruits remaining on the Vermillion Fruit tree.

He circulated the Limitless True Scripture and ate.

After one fruit went down, his entire body began to itch as impurities started secreting from his body.

After two fruits, the secretions flowed like slurry.

After three fruits went down, he rubbed them into strips with his hand, and they stood proudly formed—thick as fingers and seven inches long.

The stench suddenly became remarkably authentic.

"Bleurgh!"

Fang Che sat cross-legged and absorbed the medicinal power.

A quarter of an hour later, Fang Che bathed in the pool outside the cave.

The Golden Horned Flood Dragon's spirit body looked at the layer of black strips lying at the bottom of the pool, its gaze complicated.

After finishing up, Fang Che was surprised to discover that his cultivation had risen one level. He was now a third-stage Warrior.

"The Heavenly Vein Vermillion Fruit clearly isn't something meant to raise cultivation..."

Fang Che sighed. His cultivation was too low; any little benefit was enough to trigger a breakthrough.

He was simply too weak.

But when he checked his aptitude, even he clicked his tongue in amazement.

The Limitless True Scripture, combined with the Heavenly Vein Vermillion Fruit, had brought out nearly several times the fruit's medicinal effect. At the very least, he himself could not find a single flaw.

"But with aptitude as exceptional as mine now, that Envoy Sun Yuan should be tempted, right? Tsk tsk, peerless aptitude, and having passed the Five Elements Spirit Gu's trial, surviving a great calamity... to One Heart Sect, I am practically a Seed Player bestowed upon them by heaven, one they have dreamed of finding."

Fang Che began disguising the Mountain Cave.

After all, it had been damaged by the Su Family.

And he simply could not carry so many spoils away.

"I really wish I had a Space Ring. Unfortunately, in this life, I do not have one."

Fang Che felt somewhat melancholy. "I didn't have one in my previous life either."

Seeing that Fang Che was about to leave, the Golden Horned Flood Dragon was somewhat reluctant.

Though Fang Che was the enemy who had beaten it to death, he was also the first human it had been able to communicate with since becoming a spirit body.

It had been lonely and desolate for far too long.

"It would be inconvenient for you to follow me now. If you enter the city, the Guardians will probably seize you quickly, because spirit bodies are considered heretical."

Fang Che comforted it. "Stay here and cultivate properly. Watch over our home while you are at it. Make good use of that spring to cultivate. When your cultivation succeeds and your soul becomes condensed enough to hide perfectly, I will find you a weapon or something to attach yourself to. Then you can follow me."

"Your soul body has already begun to condense. You must cultivate to the point of becoming formless as soon as possible."

Fang Che instructed it.

Soul-body cultivation first turned the insubstantial into the substantial, allowing one to take shape. But the next step was becoming formless; only after changing from visible form back into formlessness could one be considered to have entered the path.

A soul body that could take shape was too easily discovered and scattered. Only by returning to formlessness could it have even a little safety.

The Golden Horned Flood Dragon joyfully flipped up and down.

Wow, I have a master again!

And this one is even stronger than the last!

"Those poisonous insects and such—raise another batch to guard the house. The more, the better. We cannot let anyone raid our old nest."

The Golden Horned Flood Dragon nodded hurriedly.

Fang Che dragged a deer down the mountain.

The deer's innards had already been removed.

Its belly was stuffed full of this trip's gains: six Heavenly Vein Vermillion Fruits, a bag packed with thumbnail-sized low-grade Spirit Crystals, a bag of low-grade Demon Beast Cores, and Gold Notes and Silver Notes.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

There were high-grade and middle-grade Spirit Crystals in the cave, but it was not that he did not want to take them. First, there were too many. Second, before reaching the Innate Realm, his meridians could not withstand the Innate Spiritual Energy contained within the middle and high grades.

The same was true for Demon Beast Cores.

Taking these things home now would not only fail to make them wealth; they would instead become calamities.

It was best to leave them here. He could retrieve them anytime anyway.

He had always been open-minded about such worldly possessions—leaving them here, even if someone discovered and stole them, was far better than taking them back and inviting trouble for himself.

He made his way down the mountain.

Just as expected.

The horse was indeed nowhere to be seen.

"Good luck, horse. I wonder if you have been eaten."

Fang Che offered his sincere blessing, then found a suitable target. Well, he stole another horse.

To Fang Che's temperament, so long as the true goal was right, minor flaws in the process did not matter.

Still, he left behind a hundred-tael Silver Note and a note.

"Borrowing your horse."

When he returned before Azure Wave City, it was afternoon again.

Fang Che rode in through the city gate with the deer slung over his horse, brazenly and openly.

"Young Master Fang has returned from hunting deer? Which mountain did this deer come from? It is so fat."

The gate officer, round and fat as a ball, clearly knew this Young Master Cousin of the Fang Clan and greeted him with a smile.

"Fat?"

Fang Che thoughtfully looked at the man's belly.

The City Gate Official paused, then no longer wished to say a word.

With a dark face, he said, "Let him through!"

Watching Fang Che ride off into the distance, the City Gate Official spat bitterly. "This bastard is fucking annoying!"

The people beside him: ...Who told you to say the word fat?

You brought humiliation upon yourself, yet you blame someone else.

Fang Che returned home and entered the Fang Family estate, heading all the way toward his own small courtyard.

"Young Master Cousin caught a deer? Looks like everyone will have a feast tonight."

The Fang Family guard martial artist wore a beaming smile. "We have not seen you these past few days. Where did you go..."

Before he could finish, Fang Che had already turned to look at him. "I caught the deer, so why do you get a feast? Did I say I was giving you any?"

The guard had said "everyone," but Fang Che had singled out "you."

It was because whenever this fellow was around, Su Yue could enter without anyone noticing.

The previous owner had been quite grateful to have someone like him and had deliberately indulged him. But the current Fang Che wanted nothing more than to drive a knife straight through the fellow's heart.

The guard had originally wanted to ask where Fang Che had gone these past two days, how worried the family had been, and so on... while also making reports to both sides.

But that one sentence made his face flush red. He could not say anything at all, merely stammering, "Th-this... this..."

Fang Che snorted. "All you think about all day is eating and drinking for free. At your age, can't you have a little shame?!"

Dragging the deer, he strode away and entered the small courtyard.

Bang.

The door shut.

The guard stood outside, gasping for breath, feeling as though his stomach would burst from rage.

Yet Fang Che felt quite pleased instead. Yes, people with bad tempers had this advantage.

Whenever there was something he did not want to explain, he could simply lose his temper.

He entered the courtyard.

Fang Che moved swiftly, immediately transferring everything to his own room.

He stuffed the Silver Notes and Gold Notes directly beneath his pillow, casually tossed the Spirit Crystals onto the shoe cabinet, and found the Vermillion Fruits, packed in six small jade boxes, rather troublesome to deal with. So he placed them beneath the fruit tray on the table.

He buried them under a pile of apples and pears.

As for the Demon Beast Cores, he put them in the cupboard. They could be used to complete the Guardian Hall's family mission; he could take them out when the opportunity arose.

Anyway, don't ask.

If you asked, he would lose his temper.

Then he changed clothes and began dealing with the Deer Meat, hanging it up in the courtyard and slicing off strips to make barbecue.

After all, he had brought it back. Even if it was only for show, he had to eat some.

As he worked, he sighed.

"Having to do it myself too... what a sin!"

As a relative by marriage of the Fang Family, and also the Young Lady's child, Fang Che naturally had people to wait on him.

It was just that both Maids belonged to the Old Lady. The Old Lady had gone out on a mission, and the original owner could not stand the two Maids' cautious, ingratiating yet probing lectures.

He had directly sent them both home on leave.

"Come back when my mother returns. If you come back early, I'll break your legs!"

But to the two Maids, this was an enormous benefit: they could go home and stay for a few days.

So the two Maids went straight home.

Even now, the Old Lady had not returned, and neither had the Maids.

Thus, Fang Che could only do the work himself.

Just then.

A voice suddenly spoke with a smile. "Would you like this old man to lend you a hand?"

Fang Che turned to look.

Oh?

White robes? Thin build? Pointed face? A mole above his upper lip? A middle-aged man in his forties or fifties?

Wasn't this... the envoy from the One Heart Sect Su Yue had mentioned?

Could I ask for monthly votes?

Thank you, brothers, for your support. Thank you, Big Ash, for the Silver League; thank you, old bookworm brothers, Piaoping, Grammar, Hu Le, Moshang, Fishbone, Haihai, Dong Qi, Seventh Sister, Island Master, Doctor, Xuefeng, Qianchou, Xixi, Maomao, Sunshine, Xiao Rui, Xue'er, Bubble, Yiyun, Garfield, Shenshen, Yi Yi, Da Mao, and all the other brothers who became League Leaders. Thank you, Big Knife, for your support; thank you, Amnesiac Purple Fan, Bingbing, and all the other brothers and sisters for everything you have given.

It was the first day of the new book. I hoped everyone would enjoy it and have a happy read.