The Fisherman

"Hiss!"

Sure enough, the moment the Flower Fox Ferret saw the Poison Dragon Grass, it let out a warning hiss. Its fur stood on end, and its back arched slightly, like a bow stretched to its limit.

"Sss!"

A moment later, Fang Yuan heard a response from among the white stones. A slender black line slithered out, raising half its body as it flicked a purplish-red tongue and struck a threatening pose.

"This is... a snake?"

He stared at the sudden appearance of the long snake and sucked in a breath.

The snake was about three feet long and as thick as a thumb. Its black scales gleamed, marked with vein-like patterns. Most strikingly, its tail was white, like a string of beads. Its fangs were bright and razor-sharp, and a huge fleshy growth crowned its head, round and full like a purple pearl, faintly glowing.

"A Pearl-tailed Snake?"

Fang Yuan immediately connected it to the several dangerous venomous creatures Heart-Questioning Hermit had mentioned lived on Qingling Mountain. "No... an ordinary Pearl-tailed Snake couldn't be this long and slender. And it shouldn't have a fleshy growth on its head... Mutated?"

He was certain that even if this Pearl-tailed Snake wasn't a Spiritual Beast, it was definitely far more vicious than an ordinary one.

"Hiss!"

The Flower Fox Ferret bared its teeth and claws, slowly stepping forward.

Seeing the Flower Fox Ferret's gleaming white fur, the Mutated Pearl-tailed Snake seemed extremely wary. It coiled into a loop, poised to strike.

"Right... the Flower Fox Ferret is a natural enemy of snakes. And now it's a Spiritual Beast, strengthened by my spirit tea. It should be able to take this one down..."

The Pearl-tailed Snake's venom was deadly. Fang Yuan had no confidence he could deal with it using only the hatchet and antidote in his hands. He hurriedly backed far away, then watched the fight tensely.

The two strange beasts stared each other down for a long while. Suddenly, the Flower Fox Ferret darted forward, lunging several steps.

"Sss!"

The Pearl-tailed Snake's scales flared open, and a translucent thread shot from its fangs like a Crossbow Bolt.

"Spitting poison?"

Fang Yuan watched from the sidelines, drenched in cold sweat. He knew that if he faced that attack, there was an eighty percent chance he wouldn't be able to dodge it.

Whoosh!

But the Flower Fox Ferret twisted lightly in midair, dodging the poison dart like a bolt of lightning. Its body became a white streak as it pounced into the Boulder Array in the blink of an eye. It pinned the Pearl-tailed Snake's neck firmly with its forepaws, even as the snake wrapped its tail around it, then opened its jaws, bared its sharp incisors, and sank its teeth in without hesitation.

Crack!

With a single bite, half the Pearl-tailed Snake's head disappeared.

"Good job!"

Fang Yuan was overjoyed and hurried over.

First, he examined the spot where the Pearl-tailed Snake's poison dart had landed. The soil had been scorched black, and even the stones were riddled with tiny, corroded pits. He couldn't help sucking in a breath.

"Flower Fox Ferret, you did great!"

Fang Yuan praised it repeatedly as he carefully put away the Poison Dragon Grass. "Mm, with this, along with the Three-Star Grass, a sprig of One-Leaf Herb, and this Pearl-tailed Snake... I've got all the ingredients for the 'King of Hell's Order' my master left behind!"

The name of the prescription sounded frightening, but it was actually a potent antidote that could neutralize a hundred poisons. Even if someone reached the gates of the underworld, it could bring them back to life as surely as an order from the King of Hell.

"Damn it! Don't eat so much. I still need this snake!"

Once he'd finished taking stock, Fang Yuan saw the Flower Fox Ferret clutching the Pearl-tailed Snake and gnawing through half of it like a sugarcane stalk. It had just dug out a purplish-green gallbladder and swallowed it.

"Luckily... the venom sac's still here..."

Fang Yuan went over and inspected it carefully before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that even a remarkable creature like the Flower Fox Ferret was wary of the Mutated Pearl-tailed Snake's deadly venom and wouldn't dare eat it recklessly.

"Though I didn't find any Spiritual Fertilizer on this trip into the mountains, I did gather all the ingredients for the King of Hell's Order. I can prepare it once I get back..."

On the way back, Fang Yuan was in a very good mood.

Though the King of Hell's Order had miraculous effects, it wasn't complicated to prepare. He only needed to mix and knead the ingredients together in the right proportions. The difficulty lay in finding such rare ingredients.

"With this, it'll be a little easier to travel around in the future..."

Fang Yuan was musing when his expression suddenly changed.

A broken tree stood in front of him. The ancient tree, as thick as a man's waist, had been snapped in half.

That alone wouldn't have been anything unusual, but an unmistakable palm print on the broken surface stood out sharply.

"Done by human strength—a Gate-Breaking Martial Artist?!"

Fang Yuan's expression turned solemn. He looked at the chaotic traces nearby. "Did they fight each other? They actually came this far into Qingling Mountain?"

"Hiss!"

The white Flower Fox Ferret stared at all this, its fur bristling as it grew tense.

"Come on, let's follow them and take a look. Just a peek!"

Fang Yuan was still a boy, after all. His curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't hold back. He spoke directly to the Flower Fox Ferret.

The Flower Fox Ferret sniffed the ground, quickly found a direction, and followed the trail.

Fang Yuan hurried after it and soon saw more scattered footprints and traces of blood.

"They were definitely chasing each other, and this damage..."

Fang Yuan's expression was grave. When he heard a sound up ahead, he slowed his steps to a crawl.

"Han Shou... traitor..."

Faintly, carried on the mountain breeze, a voice reached him.

Fang Yuan didn't dare approach rashly. He looked around, then had an idea. Climbing a tree, he concealed himself completely beneath its thick canopy and peered ahead.

He was lucky. Beyond the tree was a grassy patch where two figures, one dressed in black and one in white, faced off. Neither seemed to have noticed him watching.

"Senior Brother... I was wrong. Spare me..."

Fang Yuan had arrived at the wrong time. The fight was clearly nearing its end. The man in black had been defeated, struck squarely in the chest by a palm. He coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood, then dropped to his knees and kowtowed, begging for mercy.

Watching this, Fang Yuan felt half his admiration for martial arts experts vanish at once.

"Heh... I guess being an expert doesn't mean you have good character. He was fighting so fiercely before, but as soon as things turned against him, he surrendered in the blink of an eye..."

He sat safely on the sidelines, thinking to himself without considering things from the martial artists' point of view at all.

With the man in black kneeling before him, the man in white seemed hesitant. His raised right palm lingered without coming down. Instead, his face flushed red, and he shouted furiously.

Fang Yuan could only make out a few words, such as "betray the sect" and "treasure," but he couldn't hear them clearly.

Just as he thought the show was over and was about to leave, a sudden change broke out in the clearing!

The man in black lunged forward, driving his fist viciously into the man in white's chest!

Crack!

Even from where he was, Fang Yuan heard the piercing sound of bones breaking. But the man in white's dying counterattack was formidable too. The man in black was struck by a palm as well, worsening his injuries. Still, he spat blood and laughed triumphantly.

"Tsk, tsk... what a vicious man!"

Fang Yuan watched in astonishment. "A last-minute reversal—a complete turnaround!"

The man in black staggered forward, apparently trying to search the fallen man in white for something. Then his body swayed, and he collapsed.

"Hm? They both suffered fatal injuries? Looks like the man in white was still a bit stronger. Even his dying counterattack was that powerful!"

Fang Yuan nimbly climbed down the tree and approached the edge of the battlefield, but he still didn't dare get close.

He had to admit, the two men's earlier fight and the destructive aftershocks had frightened him. He didn't dare approach them casually.

Especially the man in black, who had survived. He was far too crafty. What if he'd noticed Fang Yuan watching from nearby and was trying to lure him over so he could kill him? Wouldn't going to search the bodies then be walking right into a trap?

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan immediately picked up a stone and threw it at the man in black.

Thud!

No reaction.

He picked up another and threw it!

Thud!

Still no reaction.

Fang Yuan remained suspicious. At last, he chose the biggest stone he could find, put all his strength into it, and hurled it over.

Crack!

A bone broke...

"Still no reaction? Was he really that badly injured?"

Fang Yuan glanced at the purplish-red pool of blood on the ground. It was almost big enough to form a stream.

"Flower Fox Ferret, go over and bite his neck. Be careful not to bite too hard!"

After gesturing for a long while, Fang Yuan got the Flower Fox Ferret to go over and restrain the man in black. Only then did he stroll over to take a look.

The man in white had already become a corpse. He had an honest, simple-looking face and seemed to be around thirty.

The man in black looked decent enough, though his chin was a little sharp, giving him a sinister air. His face was now as pale as paper. His chest was caved in, who knew how many ribs were broken, and one of his thighs had been smashed. Misfortune had truly piled upon misfortune.

"He's a vicious man... but he can still be of some use..."

Covering his hands with his clothes, Fang Yuan quickly searched both men from head to toe. The man in black had nothing on him, and Fang Yuan cursed him as a penniless wretch. But in the man in white's pouch, he found a fire striker, Gold Leaves, and two bottles of excellent wound medicine. The man in black had probably been trying to search for those, but his injuries had been so severe that he'd passed out.

"This medicine's good. It must be famous outside, but... I don't recognize it."

After searching them and failing to find the martial arts manual he wanted most, Fang Yuan glanced at the surviving man in black, who was nothing but trouble, and hesitated.

Then he gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He hastily dug a grave, buried the man in white, and turned to look at the man in black, his expression complicated.

"No... don't come any closer!"

In his dream, his senior brother was covered in blood, coming to claim his life.

Han Shou cried out and woke up.

Beneath him was a hard plank bed with the faintest hint of softness. The surrounding wooden furniture looked rather crude.

But after being hunted for so long, it felt like heaven to him.

"What happened? Wasn't I..."

Han Shou jolted and tried to struggle upright, only to realize how badly injured he was. His chest and even his thigh were in excruciating pain, which puzzled him.

He clearly remembered his eldest senior brother striking his chest with the Mountain-Breaking Palm, but when had his leg been so badly injured too?

And how had he ended up here? Where was this place?

"You're finally awake?"

With a creak, the door opened. An ordinary-looking boy came in carrying a bowl of medicine. He seemed to breathe a long sigh of relief. "That day, I was gathering herbs when I saw how badly you were hurt. You gave me a real fright. Thank heavens you made it..."

He helped Han Shou sit up, apparently intending to feed him the medicine.

Han Shou managed to sit up and saw that his clothes were completely untouched, especially the boot on his right foot. Only then did he finally breathe a long sigh of relief.