Killing and Arson Bring Golden Belts! A Martial Monk Repays a Favor!

Crimson blood slid down the blade, dripping into the dust and spreading into a small, dark stain.

A deathly silence filled the courtyard, broken only by the heavy, suppressed breathing of the farmer couple.

Expressionless, Su Haoran drew the Hundred Refinements Military Saber from his waist and wiped it clean on the black-faced captain's clothes.

His calm gaze swept over the five bodies strewn across the courtyard, and not a single ripple stirred in his heart.

In a Chaotic World, human lives were like grass; if you did not kill, others would kill you.

Ever since he had fought and killed those three Refugees on the road back to the temple, Su Haoran had thoroughly understood this truth. Mercy toward one's enemies was cruelty toward oneself.

He ignored the couple still kneeling on the ground and walked straight to the corpses, beginning to strip them of their spoils.

His movements were swift and crisp, without the slightest hesitation.

Five Hundred Refinements Military Sabers of identical make lay there, their scabbards engraved with bronze deer-antler patterns. Their cold gleam was razor-sharp; they were clearly fine weapons.

Aside from the steel saber he had knocked flying with one punch, whose edge had curled somewhat, the rest were completely intact.

More valuable than the weapons were the cotton armors they wore.

Two sets had been torn apart by his brute strength during the fight and were severely damaged, but the other three were largely intact.

These standard-issue military cotton armors were stuffed with thick cotton and stitched with cowhide cords on the outside. They could withstand ordinary saber slashes and arrows to some degree, making them excellent life-saving items in these troubled times.

Su Haoran calculated quickly.

"A Hundred Refinements Military Saber could sell for at least a dozen taels of silver in the black market Down the Mountain..."

"A complete set of cotton armor is something money can scarcely buy. Its price would be several times higher, worth at least thirty or forty taels."

Five sabers, three good armors, two broken armors... all told, they were probably worth more than a hundred and fifty taels of silver!

"A hundred and fifty taels!"

That was enough to buy a decent two-courtyard residence in Qingshi City Down the Mountain!

Su Haoran's heartbeat quickened slightly, and his eyes lit up.

This was practically a windfall, enough to support his cultivation for a long while.

Whether he needed medicinal herbs to temper his Qi and Blood or wished to exchange for deeper martial arts, he needed money.

But then a new problem presented itself.

These things were far too conspicuous.

Especially the military sabers and cotton armors bearing the markings of the Great Western Army. If he openly carried them back to Prajna Temple, it would be no different from seeking his own death.

There were too many eyes in the Labor Courtyard. Once someone discovered them and reported him, he would not be able to explain himself even if he had a mouth all over his body.

A common man committed no crime, yet was guilty for possessing jade.

He had to hide them first.

Having made up his mind, Su Haoran swept his gaze around the courtyard.

He planned to carry these things out of the village first, then find a secluded cave or forest along the road back to the temple, dig a pit, and bury them.

When the opportunity arose later, he would use the black market Down the Mountain that Steward Cao Yi had mentioned in casual conversation and sell them off in batches.

Just as he was preparing to bundle up the spoils and leave, the farmer couple finally recovered from their immense shock.

The two exchanged a glance, then abruptly kowtowed heavily toward Su Haoran.

"Thank you, benefactor, for saving our lives! Thank you, benefactor!"

The man's voice was hoarse. His forehead struck the ground with a muffled thud.

His wife beside him was sobbing too hard to speak. She simply kept kowtowing, as if only this could express the boundless gratitude in her heart.

"Get up." Su Haoran's voice was flat.

He slung the bundled spoils over his shoulder and turned to leave.

"Benefactor, please wait!" Seeing this, the man hurriedly scrambled up and rushed into the house. A moment later, he ran back out holding a heavy cloth sack and a small clay jar, then knelt before Su Haoran again.

"Benefactor, this is... everything our family has." He opened the cloth sack, revealing half a sack of coarse grain. Then he opened the clay jar and poured out several dozen rusty copper coins and a small piece of silver fragments.

"I know these things are beneath your notice, benefactor, but they are a token from my wife and me. Please, you must accept them! You saved our lives as a couple, and you preserved my wife's purity. You are our reborn parents!"

As he spoke, the man's eyes reddened again. He raised the sack and clay jar high, looking at Su Haoran with stubborn insistence.

"My wife and I have discussed it. We can't stay in this place any longer. I have a son named Zeng Qiu. By sheer luck, a Martial Monk master from Prajna Temple took a liking to him and accepted him as a disciple. We plan to seek refuge with some distant relatives beyond the mountains. Once we settle down, we'll find a way to visit our son at the temple."

A Martial Monk from Prajna Temple?

Su Haoran's heart stirred. He had not expected this farmer's son to have such fortune.

He looked at the man's face, smeared with blood yet incomparably sincere, then at the half sack of grain that was almost all the food they had left. He sighed softly in his heart.

He had wanted to refuse, but seeing the look in their eyes that would brook no refusal, he knew that if he did not accept, the couple would likely be unable to eat or sleep in peace for the rest of their lives.

"I'll take half the grain. Keep the copper coins yourselves; you'll need them on the road." Su Haoran finally relented.

He took a small portion of the grain and the piece of silver fragments, then pushed the copper coins back.

"Enough, it's enough already!" The man was so excited that his words became incoherent as he thanked him again and again.

Su Haoran said nothing more. He nodded, shouldered the seized weapons and armor, and walked out of the courtyard thick with the stench of blood, soon vanishing into the deep night.

The next day, dawn had barely broken.

In the Labor Courtyard, Su Haoran had already completed a round of Arhat Fist.

Qi and Blood surged through his body. Fine crackling sounds came from his muscles and bones, and his whole body was like a furnace heated red-hot, radiating scorching heat.

Last night's gains had put him in an excellent mood.

That windfall was temporarily buried in an extremely hidden crevice in the back mountain, while the grain and silver fragments given by the couple had eased his pressing need.

"At least until the money from selling the sabers and armor comes in, I won't have to worry about food anymore."

At the thought, a faint smile appeared on Su Haoran's face. The heat around him slowly withdrew into his body, and he soon returned to that tranquil stillness, like an ancient well without a ripple.

Just then, a faint commotion rose from the entrance to the Labor Courtyard.

The Sweeping Monks sweeping the yard and chopping firewood all stopped what they were doing and looked toward the gate, scarcely daring to breathe.

Even Steward Cao Yi came out from the meditation hall, a trace of surprise on his face.

Three people entered through the courtyard gate.

The leader was a tall young monk with a stern face.

He wore a clean, neat gray Monk Robe, but its material and tailoring were clearly far superior to the coarse linen clothes worn by the laborers.

More importantly, his aura was as deep and still as a mountain. Light flashed from his eyes when they opened and closed, and his temples bulged slightly. One glance showed that he was an expert with formidable martial arts.

This was a Martial Monk!

At Prajna Temple, monks too were divided into ranks.

Sweeping Monks like them were at the very bottom. Above them were the Scripture Monks responsible for chanting sutras and conducting rituals, and above those were the highly respected Martial Monks, who guarded the temple and carried on its martial arts.

Martial Monks and laborers were as different as clouds and mud.

Normally, these lofty Martial Monks would never set foot in the Labor Courtyard, a place full of sweat stink and dust.

What was going on today?

All the labor monks lowered their heads, afraid that this Martial Monk with Baleful Intent would set his sights on them and bring disaster down upon their heads.

Steward Cao Yi's heart tightened as well. He hurried forward, pressed his palms together, and bowed. "May I ask why senior brother has honored us with his presence?"

Yet the Martial Monk did not even glance at him. His sharp eyes swept directly across the courtyard, as though searching for someone.

Su Haoran had stopped cultivating as well. Leaning against the wall of the woodshed, he calmly studied this unexpected visitor.

When his gaze met that of the Martial Monk, a strange sensation abruptly arose in his heart.

Such powerful Qi and Blood!

The other man's body likewise contained a solid, heavy force. His strength was gathered but not released, his steps steady as he walked, his lower body incomparably firm.

This was definitely a Martial Artist who had entered the Skin Tempering Realm! Moreover, his strength was likely no weaker than Su Haoran's own!

What was this man here for?

Thoughts raced through Su Haoran's mind, but his expression remained unchanged.

Just then, the two people following behind the Martial Monk hurried forward. Su Haoran focused his eyes and recognized them at once—they were the farmer couple from Li Family Hollow last night.

They had changed into clean clothes. Though still covered in patches, they looked far more spirited.

The man stepped forward and whispered a few words into the Martial Monk's ear while pointing toward Su Haoran in the corner.

In an instant, everyone present turned their eyes toward Su Haoran.

Steward Cao Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly thought that something was wrong.

Su Haoran had only gone Down the Mountain to Collect Rent yesterday, yet a Martial Monk had come looking for him today. Could he have caused some trouble Down the Mountain?

Quite a few of the other Sweeping Monks appeared concerned, but inwardly, they also felt a measure of gloating satisfaction.

As fellow laborers, they had long been somewhat envious and jealous of Su Haoran's treatment. This fellow usually kept quiet, yet he always received Steward Cao Yi's favor. Now that he had provoked a Martial Monk, they wanted to see how he would deal with it!

Following the direction indicated by the father, the stern Martial Monk saw Su Haoran standing by the wall.

His eyes first widened in surprise, as though he could hardly believe that the benefactor who had saved his parents was such a young Sweeping Monk from the Labor Courtyard.

But he did not hesitate in the slightest.

The next moment, before Cao Yi and all the Sweeping Monks' utterly shocked eyes,

this imposing Martial Monk strode up to Su Haoran.

Then...

With a thud!

His knees bent, and he dropped straight to the ground!

What followed made everyone's minds buzz.

The Martial Monk faced Su Haoran without the slightest hesitation or affectation and solemnly performed the grand rite of three bows and nine kowtows!