Chance Encounter

The twilight deepened.

At the southern exit of the Sky Fortune Tribe, Xian He had been waiting for nearly half a morning and a whole afternoon, but Grandma Chen still hadn't returned.

He couldn't help but suspect that Grandma Chen had been killed by those man-eating Greedy Wolves.

The Tianyun Plateau had a harsh environment with many ogres. Perhaps Grandma Chen had been...

"Why isn't she back yet?" Xian He muttered anxiously, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back.

Lunch had been a simple meal within the Mountain River Society Diagram, half a Crystal Pomegranate.

After more than a month together, Yun Ling had become close with the three maids, even calling Chen Jingjing "sister."

However, Xian He had discovered a problem: food.

Originally, a thousand Crystal Pomegranates would have been enough for Yun Ling for a year. But with three more mouths to feed, the number of Pomegranates had plummeted. In just over a month, the stock in the cold storage had significantly decreased.

Besides Crystal Pomegranates, there was no other food in the Mountain River Society Diagram. He and Yun Ling had already finished the wood powder months ago.

Therefore, the urgent priority was to get some food.

If Grandma Chen didn't return soon, he would go to her house himself to get the Muyang tree saplings. She had promised him the saplings that morning, so it wouldn't be stealing.

Just as Xian He was about to leave, he suddenly spotted Li Zhen and Xiao Yang, those two scoundrels, walking over from the end of the street.

"Uh oh, dogs! Retreat!" Xian He immediately summoned the Mountain River Society Diagram from his Soul Sea, rolled it into a staff, stuffed it into a crevice in a large roadside rock, quickly covered it with dirt, and burrowed inside.

Xian He had barely left when Li Zhen darted over.

Li Zhen glared with his beady little dog eyes, looking around fiercely and shouting, "Come out! I saw you!" He leaped onto the large rock, only to find that Xian He wasn't hiding behind it.

With the cultivation of that trash, Two-star Azure Obsidian, he shouldn't be able to run that fast. How did he disappear in the blink of an eye?

His face was swollen like a steamed bun, hurting so much that he hadn't eaten well at lunch or slept well at noon. He had been planning to catch that trash and beat him up, but unexpectedly, he had escaped.

Angered, Li Zhen's face hurt even more. He stomped down in fury, leaving a shallow footprint on the large rock.

"No need to look anymore. We have important business," Xiao Yang arrived shortly after.

"Yes, Boss Xiao Yang!" Li Zhen jumped off the large rock and followed behind Xiao Yang as they walked towards the depths of the forest.

On the way, Xiao Yang and Li Zhen discovered Grandma Chen.

Grandma Chen was covered in mud, her hair disheveled, lying on the ground with a tattered straw mat on her back. Her hands were completely mangled by sharp stones from digging.

"Grandma Chen, what's wrong? Why are you lying in the woods? Aren't you afraid of being eaten by insects?" Xiao Yang asked, pinching his nose in surprise.

If it were anyone else, he wouldn't even bother, but Grandma Chen had helped deliver his mother, assisting him in coming into this world. She had been kind to him.

Grandma Chen recounted the entire story.

She knew that Xiao Yang and Xian He were not on good terms, so she did not reveal anything about Xian He. She only spoke about going to ransom someone and her son being killed in retaliation.

Grandma Chen cried as she spoke, her tears all dried up, leaving only dry sobs.

Neither Xiao Yang nor Li Zhen were heartless, and they were deeply moved.

"Li Zhen, help Grandma Chen carry her son's body home. I'll go find those Greedy Wolf bastards and see if I can avenge Grandma Chen's son," Xiao Yang commanded through gritted teeth.

Of course, what he said was just politeness. He was planning to ask the Greedy Wolves for help in assassinating Xian He, so how could he fight them?

Grandma Chen seemed to have grasped a lifeline and immediately kowtowed and bowed, "Thank you! Thank you both! This old woman has nothing to repay you with. In my next life, I will be a beast of burden for you kind souls."

She didn't know why they were in the Black Oil Forest, nor did she want to. All she wanted now was to carry her son home, bury him in the ancestral grave, and let him rest in peace.

"Boss, can you manage alone?" Li Zhen asked worriedly, while glancing with disgust at the tattered straw mat on Grandma Chen's back. If he touched that thing, he didn't know how many times he'd have to wash to get rid of the bad luck.

He was a Four-star White Obsidian Martial Artist with over nine hundred pounds of strength in one arm. Transporting Grandma Chen and her son home was no problem.

The issue was that he disliked contact with the dead; it made him feel uneasy.

Xiao Yang pondered for a moment, then said gravely, "Then hurry back. I'll wait for you here, and we'll go help Grandma Chen get revenge together." After speaking, he gave Li Zhen a look.

Li Zhen nodded, understanding Xiao Yang's meaning.

"Leave it to me! Grandma Chen, let's go!" Li Zhen grabbed a corner of the tattered straw mat with one hand and Grandma Chen's sash with the other, then sprinted away.

Li Zhen ran at full speed, and in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he had dumped Grandma Chen and her son near the southern exit of the Sky Fortune Tribe.

"Grandma Chen, I'll only take you this far. You can call for help yourself. Boss Xiao Yang is still waiting for me!" Li Zhen said confidently, clapping his hands. "Don't worry, we will do our best to kill the murderers and avenge your son."