Scented by Blood

Li Feng hesitated—or rather, he didn't quite dare.

After all, doing something like this was tantamount to tearing off all pretense with Steward Chen. If they returned to Black Stone County and Steward Chen wasn't severely punished, he'd be the one to suffer.

Han Zheng could see it too. Li Feng was the indecisive type, more of a technical specialist.

When it came to discussing medicinal bath pharmacology, he spoke with authority and confidence.

But when action was required, he started weighing pros and cons, unable to make up his mind.

With a personality like that, when the time came to truly contend for the Head Shopkeeper position, he'd never outmaneuver Chen Moshan's son.

Han Zheng had to stoke the fire a little more for Li Feng.

"Chen Moshan is blinded by greed and digging his own grave. I'm not about to die with him. Why risk my life for fifty taels of silver?

If he won't leave, I'll take my people and go. Worst case, I return the silver to the Head Shopkeeper and take a scolding from the Hall Master.

But Li Yaoshi, you're a refined man. Once the Demon comes, you might not even outrun those burly shop assistants."

Hearing that Han Zheng was about to leave, Li Feng panicked too.

He gritted his teeth. "Then let's do it! As long as you, Brother Han, can subdue Chen Moshan, I can command the Shenghe Hall assistants."

Chen Moshan was the steward, but Li Feng hadn't been idle all these years at Shenghe Hall either. His prestige was no weaker.

"Leave it to me. That old bastard won't stir up any trouble."

Once Li Feng was on board, the matter was almost settled.

Han Zheng called over Li Sancheng and laid out his plan to them.

Zhao Jinming and Wang Bao had no objections at all.

Ever since Han Zheng led them in killing the Pig Demon, their trust and respect for him had been at an all-time high. They followed his lead completely.

Li Sancheng rubbed his hands together excitedly. "I've been itching to take that old bastard down a peg! When do we move?"

"No time like the present. Right now."

Over at the Spiritual Field.

Steward Chen was lying back in a recliner, a pot of tea brewed, watching the Shenghe Hall assistants harvest Spiritual Medicine at his leisure.

Anyone who moved too slowly got a scolding from him.

"Quite the leisurely life you've got, Steward Chen."

Seeing Han Zheng and the others approaching with menace, Steward Chen's heart lurched. He stood up from the recliner.

"What are you doing here?"

Li Feng stepped out from behind Han Zheng and took a deep breath.

"Chen Moshan, it's fine if you want to line your own pockets and cook the books to embezzle Spiritual Medicine.

But you shouldn't be so blinded by greed that you gamble with everyone's lives!

The Pig Demon could catch up at any moment, and you're here stalling for time. What's your game?"

Steward Chen's face darkened instantly. "Li Feng, have you lost your mind? What kind of nonsense is that?"

Han Zheng said flatly, "Steward Chen, you're the one who's lost your mind. You still don't understand your situation, do you? Utterly clueless."

With that, Han Zheng waved his hand and strode straight toward Steward Chen with Li Sancheng and the others.

"Men! Stop them!"

Chen Moshan bellowed.

A few of the assistants he'd brought to the manor were his trusted confidants.

One of them, wielding a sickle, was the fastest. He charged right up to Han Zheng.

"How dare you! You're all hired guards paid by my Shenghe Hall. Are you rebelling?"

Han Zheng sneered and kicked the burly, muscular assistant flying.

This wasn't a figure of speech—the man really did fly several meters before crashing to the ground with a thud.

Han Zheng walked over, stepped on the assistant's head, and said coldly, "I didn't notice you had this much guts when we faced the Pig Demon earlier.

You cower before a Demon, but you dare draw a blade on me? Do you think I'm easier to bully than the Pig Demon? Or have you always been this brave? Hmm?"

As Han Zheng pressed down harder with his foot, the assistant's face twisted in terror.

He felt that if Han Zheng put any more force into it, his head would be crushed like an egg!

"Spare... spare me!"

The assistant spat bloody froth as he begged, his words slurred.

Han Zheng kicked him aside. The assistant's body twitched twice and then went still—whether dead or alive, no one could tell.

That scene terrified the rest of Chen Moshan's trusted men. None of them dared to move.

Only then did they remember the terrifying sight of Han Zheng yesterday, drenched in demon blood as he slew the Pig Demon.

If that hideous, ferocious, giant-like Pig Demon had been taken down by Han Zheng, what chance did they have stepping up? It would be suicide.

Besides, if things were really as Li Feng said and the Pig Demon could catch up at any moment, then Chen Moshan was indeed gambling with their lives.

You've lived seventy or eighty years—that's enough of a haul. But they haven't had their fill yet!

Han Zheng walked over, grabbed Steward Chen by the head, and slapped him across the face, sending his few remaining teeth flying.

"Old bastard, I've been putting up with you for way too long!"

Steward Chen tried to curse back, but Li Sancheng, out of nowhere, pulled out a filthy rag and stuffed it into his mouth, then tied him up and tossed him aside.

Dusting off his hands, Han Zheng shot Li Feng a look—problem solved.

Chen Moshan had either lived so long he'd gone senile, or he'd been a steward so long he was used to barking orders.

In this godforsaken wilderness, with no village or inn in sight, his title as steward was a joke.

Whoever had the stronger fist had the right to speak!

Li Feng said in a low voice to the workers: "Chen Moshan lined his own pockets and embezzled funds. He's been taken down now. When we get back to Black Stone County, we'll hand him over to the Head Shopkeeper.

We killed the Pig Demon on the way, but to keep its parents from tracking us down for revenge, we have to pick up the pace.

From now on, harvest the Spiritual Medicine at full speed. Once you finish one type, hand it straight to me for grading.

Don't worry—if anything goes wrong, I, Li Feng, will take the blame. It has nothing to do with you!"

Li Feng had worked at Shenghe Hall for over thirty years, climbing from apprentice to senior pharmacist, so he carried plenty of weight.

More importantly, Han Zheng's strength backed him up, and the Shenghe Hall workers didn't dare refuse.

Even Steward Chen's loyalists didn't try any tricks.

Everyone sped up. It didn't even take half a day—two hours later, the Spiritual Medicine was fully harvested and loaded onto the carts.

Just before they set off, Han Zheng stopped Li Feng.

"We can't take the same road back. If we run straight into the Pig Demon, we'll be screwed."

Li Feng thought it over. "The old road is the shortest. But if we switch, I know another route.

That one passes through a bunch of scattered villages, winding around—it's longer, about two hundred li more."

"Two hundred li is no big deal. Right now, with all these extra people and the Spiritual Medicine, safety comes first."

Li Feng nodded, feeling Han Zheng had a point.

Han Zheng might look young, but he handled things with steady, mature caution.

The two of them settled on the plan, and no one else objected.

The caravan set off. Han Zheng kept his guard up to the max the whole way, given the Pig Demon incident.

Luckily, nothing happened. The road was winding, but there were still signs of life—every one or two hundred li, a small village.

But every village was in shambles. The villagers were poor and numb, some not even able to scrape together a full set of clothes.

Han Zheng had thought the folks in Black Stone County's slums had it bad, but these people outside the county had it far worse.

Looking at the ragged villagers, Li Feng sighed. "In recent years, there've been plenty of disasters, both natural and man-made. On top of that, Shannan Dao is barren—mostly hills and mountains, no good for growing grain. The common folk are struggling more and more.

Even if they don't die in war or get eaten by Demons, plenty starve to death every year."

"The imperial court doesn't do anything?"

Li Feng sneered. "The imperial court? If they could do anything, would the Incense Cult be causing chaos?

Just look at our County Magistrate in Black Stone County. In three years on the job, he's held court twice.

On normal days, all he does is drink, write poetry, and live in a drunken stupor. What has he ever managed in the county?"

Hearing this, Han Zheng suddenly remembered Black Stone County did have a magistrate.

But that magistrate's presence was so faint it was laughable. The real power in the county belonged to the two families and three gangs.

"And our magistrate is actually one of the better ones," Li Feng added. "He's useless, sure, but at least he doesn't stir up trouble.

I hear Yongning County next door is a real mess.

Their magistrate is a corrupt official, in cahoots with the local gangs, squeezing the people dry. They'll ruin families and wipe them out at the drop of a hat.

Plenty of folks from Yongning County can't take it anymore and flee to Black Stone County to make a living."

Han Zheng shook his head lightly.

This was how it was at the end of a dynasty. In his past life, the history books were full of even more absurd and dark tales.

In the end, rise or fall, it was always the common people who suffered.

"Pharmacist Li, how much farther to Black Stone County?"

"About two hundred li. There's a village called Li Family Village about ten li ahead. We can rest when we pass through it."

With that, Li Yaoshi shouted to the caravan: "Pick up the pace, everyone! We'll rest once we get there."

On the way back, the carts were loaded with herbs, so their speed was unavoidably slower.

On rough stretches, the Shenghe Hall workers had to help push.

After half a day, everyone was tired, stopping to rest every three or four hours.

Half an hour later, a small village appeared ahead of the merchant caravan.

"Eh, why's that village giving off red smoke?"

Li Sancheng muttered in confusion from behind Han Zheng.

Han Zheng also felt something was off.

Most common folk ate only two meals a day—one in the morning, one in the evening.

Partly because food was scarce, partly because they begrudged the firewood.

It was high noon; almost no one in the village would be cooking. And even if they were, how could the smoke be red?

What's more, that red smoke was eerie—its color was as crimson as blood, and it rose straight into the sky, completely undisturbed by the breeze.

"Stop here."

Han Zheng raised a hand to halt the caravan, then walked to a slightly higher mound and took a closer look.

That red smoke in the village wasn't from cooking.

Instead, over a hundred villagers had gathered in an open space, cutting their own hands and letting blood drip onto incense sticks as thick as a thumb.

Once the blood-soaked incense was lit, the smoke—tinged with bloody red—shot straight up into the clouds.

And those villagers, though they were bleeding, wore expressions of pure bliss under that scarlet incense smoke.

Even those whose faces had gone pale from blood loss still looked as if they were floating on air.

Before the crowd, two men in white robes were leading the villagers in chanting scripture.

"Merciful Mother, ferry all beings.

Grasp the wondrous dharma, True Spirit Master.

We, her faithful, scent the incense with sincerity.

Fear neither life nor death, and thus attain release.

Enter our sect, and find the homeland of eternal life.

No birth, no death—the Nine Levels of Ultimate Bliss!"

The hundred-plus villagers chanted in ragged unison, their voices thick with slurred accents.

But woven into that sound was an indescribable fervor and intoxication, utterly sinister.

Li Feng walked up beside Han Zheng, his expression grim.

"Damn. It's the Incense Cult!

Weren't they supposed to be active only in Huainan Dao?

This is already Shannan Dao territory—less than two hundred li from Black Stone County. How did the Incense Cult end up here?"