Heard You've Been Telling Everyone I'm Dead? Blood Ginseng!

Facing the two men's pincer attack, Su Haoran's eyes remained as still as an ancient well.

The Meditation Scripture kept his mind crystal-clear; no threat from the outside world could shake him in the slightest.

And the strength granted by Minor Accomplishment in the Arhat Fist gave him absolute confidence!

As Scarface's rusty blade came chopping down at his head, Su Haoran neither dodged nor retreated. He stomped forward with his left foot, making the ground seem to tremble. It was none other than the Arhat Fist technique, Arhat Bell Strike!

Using his shoulder as a hammer and his body as a bell, he crashed squarely into Scarface's chest.

Scarface's face immediately lit up at the sight. With a savage grin, he raised his blade and slashed down.

I'm cutting you with a blade, and you're charging me with your shoulder?

Isn't that just courting death?

Yet in Su Haoran's eyes, every one of Scarface's movements seemed to have slowed by more than half.

He easily evaded the blade, then rammed forward!

Scarface only felt a tremendous force surge into him, as though he had been struck by a stampeding wild bull. He could no longer hold his short blade; it flew from his hand. Qi and blood churned violently in his chest as he staggered backward.

At the same time, the short and stout refugee's wooden stick came whistling in, aimed straight for Su Haoran's side.

Su Haoran neither dodged nor retreated. He extended an arm and precisely blocked the wooden stick.

Thud!

After a dull impact, a stabbing pain shot through him. But Su Haoran did not so much as flinch. He tugged along the stick, seized the other man's wrist, and clenched his five fingers!

"Ah!"

The short and stout refugee let out a shrill scream, feeling as if his wrist had been caught in iron pincers and crushed to pulp in an instant!

Before the man could struggle, Su Haoran drove a knee viciously into his lower abdomen!

Bang!

The short and stout refugee's eyes bulged out. His body curled up like a shrimp, and he vomited up last night's meal before collapsing limply to the ground, completely losing his ability to fight.

In the blink of an eye, of the two Robbers, one was dead and the other heavily injured!

Clutching his agonizing chest, Scarface looked at Su Haoran, who seemed like a god of slaughter, and finally broke down completely.

He threw away the blade in his hand and dropped to his knees with a thud, tears and snot streaming down his face as he kowtowed and begged for mercy.

"Spare me, hero! Spare me, master! We were forced into this too—we were starving with no other choice! Please, spare my life! I'll never dare do it again!"

Su Haoran slowly walked up to him, his gaze icy and utterly devoid of pity.

"Being forced into it means you can rob and kill? When you were trying to kill me just now, did you ever think of sparing my life?"

"I..." Scarface was left speechless, the blood draining from his face.

Su Haoran wasted no more words. He knew that mercy toward Desperadoes like these was cruelty toward himself.

He raised his foot and cleanly snapped Scarface's neck beneath it.

"Death was what you deserved!"

The valley returned to silence, with only the thick stench of blood lingering in the air.

Su Haoran took several deep breaths, glanced at the bruise on his arm, found a water source to cool it, then got back to his feet and returned to where it had happened.

Looking at the three corpses on the ground, turmoil churned in his heart for a moment. Relying on the Meditation Scripture, however, he soon hardened his heart again.

In a Chaotic World, human lives were cheaper than dogs. If you did not kill others, others would kill you.

He quickly adjusted his mindset and began the final cleanup task—looting the bodies.

From the chest of the tall and thin man he had killed with one punch, he found several hard, dry black-flour buns.

As for Scarface and the short, stout man, he found only a dozen or so copper coins on them.

"Poor bastards." Su Haoran curled his lip and was just about to stand up.

Suddenly, an unusual, faint fragrance drifted into his nostrils.

The scent was exceptionally strange. It was neither floral nor fruity, yet it carried an indescribable allure that stirred the Qi and Blood within his body. A powerful craving rose from his stomach.

Good stuff!

Su Haoran's spirits lifted. Following the source of the fragrance, he searched more carefully through the chest of the tall and thin man he had killed with one punch.

Before long, his fingers touched something warm, smooth, and slightly elastic.

He pulled it out and spread it across his palm.

It was something shaped like ginseng, pale yellow all over, with distinct roots that even vaguely outlined a human figure.

Only, there was a neat cut at the top of this "ginseng." Clearly, it was merely part of a complete plant, while the other half had vanished somewhere unknown.

Su Haoran did not recognize the natural treasures of this world, but he could clearly feel every cell in his body screaming madly, craving to devour this thing!

This seemed a hundred times more delicious than even the finest delicacies from his previous life!

"This is definitely a treasure!"

Su Haoran's heart began pounding violently beyond his control.

Su Haoran forcibly suppressed the tremor in his heart, carefully wrapped the half-section of human-shaped root in cloth, and tucked it close against his chest.

The exotic fragrance alone had brought a flush to his face and filled him with Qi and Blood, as though every cell in his body were cheering. It was absolutely good stuff!

Only after doing all this did he begin dealing with the scene.

Without tools, he could only use his hands. He dragged the three corpses one by one into the Dense forest deep within the gorge, then gathered dirt and fallen leaves to cover up the bloodstains.

A moment later, Su Haoran stood where he was and looked down at his hands, which were covered in mud and blood, feeling something strange stir within him.

Across two lifetimes, this was the first time he had personally killed someone.

There was none of the nausea and retching he had imagined, nor any so-called psychological trauma.

With the Meditation Scripture at Minor Accomplishment, his state of mind was as steadfast as a boulder. After the initial tremor passed, he quickly returned to calm.

If not for the strength and reactions granted by Minor Accomplishment in the Arhat Fist, and if not for the sharp senses and calmness under pressure brought by the Meditation Scripture, then he would have been the one to die today.

One against three—if he had hesitated or felt even the slightest fear, he would have been beaten to death with clubs, then stripped clean by those Desperadoes and left as a corpse in the wilderness.

This world was even more dangerous than Su Haoran had imagined.

Prajna Temple's protection was not omnipotent. Beyond the Mountain Gate lay a Chaotic World where Human Lives Like Grass.

To survive, and to live better, he could rely only on himself and on absolute strength!

"I have to become stronger! Stronger, faster!"

Su Haoran took a deep breath and involuntarily reached into his clothes, feeling the warm, smooth touch of the mysterious root through his coarse garment.

That strange, faint fragrance seeped out once more in delicate threads and drifted into his nostrils.

His stomach, empty after the fierce battle and gnawed by hunger, miraculously settled upon smelling the fragrance. It even produced a false sensation of fullness.

"Just its fragrance has such miraculous effects?" Su Haoran grew even more excited.

This thing would definitely send his martial cultivation soaring by leaps and bounds!

After reaching Minor Accomplishment in the Arhat Fist, he could feel his progress had become extremely slow, as if an invisible barrier stood before him.

He knew it was because he had not been eating enough. Without sufficient nutrition, no amount of training would help.

But this mysterious root was so rich in Qi and Blood. Such a great tonic had to be more useful than any meal!

"If I can cultivate the Arhat Fist to Major Accomplishment, my strength and physique will undergo another tremendous leap! By then, perhaps I can truly knock open the gates of martial arts and step into the first realm of the first martial threshold—Skin Tempering!"

The martial arts settings he had read about online in his previous life surfaced in Su Haoran's mind, faintly matching the cultivation realms passed around among the Labor Courtyard servants in this world.

The first martial threshold was the tempering of one's physical foundation, divided into four major realms.

The first realm: Skin Tempering! Train the skin membrane until it became as tough as cowhide, difficult for ordinary blades and swords to injure.

The second realm: Bone Tempering! Force penetrated the bones through countless temperings, making them tougher than refined steel.

The third realm: Energy Refining! Integrate the strength of the entire body and cultivate Internal Force. With every punch and kick, split steles and shatter stones.

The fourth realm: Muscle and Marrow Cleansing! Reforge the body, cleanse the sinews and marrow, and from then on step into the realm beyond humanity, becoming a true powerhouse!

And right now, he had not even touched the threshold of the first realm, Skin Tempering.

But with the Blood Ginseng in his chest, everything would change!

Su Haoran's heart surged with excitement, as if he could already see a broad road stretching ahead.

He delayed no longer. He slung the lighter bundles containing money and mountain goods back over his shoulders, then took a deep breath and heaved the heaviest sack, filled with grain, onto one shoulder.

The seventy or eighty pounds had made Su Haoran's shoulders ache all the way here, but now it felt as light as a swan's feather.

Wind seemed to rise beneath his feet as he raced along the rugged Mountain Road toward Prajna Temple.

Meanwhile, at the Labor Courtyard of Prajna Temple.

Night had fully fallen. Several dim oil lamps had been lit in the courtyard, stretching everyone's shadows long across the ground.

Most of the servants had already finished their work and were gathering in twos and threes, preparing to collect their evening meal from the main dining hall.

Yet a fine show was unfolding in the middle of the courtyard.

Li Gui dropped to his knees with a thud, clinging to the leg of Cao Yi, the Labor Courtyard steward, and weeping so hard that tears and snot ran together.

"Uncle-Master Cao! You have to uphold justice for me! That Su Haoran... Su Haoran isn't human! He... he pushed me toward the Robbers just so he could escape, and he lost all the temple's Land Rent!"

"We were walking along perfectly well when three Robbers carrying sharp weapons suddenly rushed out!

"I wanted to fight them to the death, but Su Haoran... he... he was the first to throw down his things and run! He even shouted that everything was on me, drawing all the Robbers' attention over to my side!

"I... I nearly didn't make it back, Uncle-Master Cao!"

Li Gui cried and wailed, while the servants around him formed a circle, all wearing expressions of people watching a good show.

"I told you, a Lucrative Task like collecting rent was never going to be easy."

"Down the Mountain is a complete mess now. Refugees who can no longer survive are everywhere, like mad dogs that bite anyone they see."

"Su Haoran always looked pretty honest. Who would have thought he was so vicious? He'd even sell out a fellow disciple just to save himself?"

"You can know a person's face but not their heart. What a pity about the Land Rent—now it's all gone. Uncle-Master Cao will probably be punished too."

Cao Yi's face darkened. After considering for a moment, he shoved Li Gui away from his leg and asked in a deep voice, "Is what you said true? Did Su Haoran really abandon you and flee alone?"

For some reason, Cao Yi felt that something was off.

Based on his observations over this period, Su Haoran might have been quiet, but his temperament was steady and his will firm. He was absolutely not some cowardly scoundrel who clung to life and feared death.

On the contrary, Li Gui had never had much of a reputation, and could he really have escaped the pursuit of three Refugees alone?

But the fact remained that Li Gui was the only one who had returned.

Cao Yi frowned, unable to make a decision.

He had long heard about the Refugees wreaking havoc Down the Mountain.

No matter how talented Su Haoran was, he was still only a servant who had practiced the basic Arhat Fist for a short time. Faced with three Desperadoes, choosing to run away seemed... understandable.

At the thought that Su Haoran might already have met with misfortune, Cao Yi felt some regret.

He had finally found a promising seedling, only for him to die like this...

Seeing Cao Yi's expression soften somewhat, Li Gui felt even more delighted.

Good if he's dead! Su Haoran had better already be dead in the mountains, with no proof left behind!

Even if he isn't dead, he lost the Land Rent and fled in the heat of battle. He definitely won't meet a good end!

And I can use this chance to escape punishment!

"Heard you've been telling everyone I'm dead?"

Just as Li Gui's words fell, a cold voice suddenly rang out from the courtyard gate without warning.