Slapping Lei Jun in the Face, Ambushed on the Way Home

Inside the Medicine God Pavilion, the atmosphere was tinged with the scent of gunpowder.

"Hahaha!" The burly man with a face full of flab let out a mocking laugh. "I was wondering who it was. Turns out it's you bunch of bumpkins again! Can't buy medicine at Jisheng Pharmacy, so you're coming here to try your luck?"

"Oh, isn't this the young master of Leiming Martial Hall?" Qin Meng didn't even look at the man, glancing sideways at Lei Jun instead, his voice deliberately loud.

Lei Jun's face darkened, and he remained silent.

The accountant wore a cold expression. "How unlucky. Like a bad penny, they just won't go away."

"Young Master Lei, take your time in line. We'll be heading ahead." Qin Meng couldn't be bothered to waste more breath on them and led Li Tiezhu and Wang Tieniu away.

Seeing Qin Meng and his group bypassing the line, the burly man raised his voice intentionally. "Duobao Pavilion has rules! Even we from Leiming Martial Hall have to wait in line honestly to buy medicinal herbs! Do some people really think they can just cut in?"

The crowd in line turned to look, their eyes filled with disdain.

Qin Meng paid no mind to those gazes. He led Li Tiezhu and the other man straight past the queue toward the counter.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, he pulled the bronze vip token from his pocket and placed it gently on the counter.

The shop assistant behind the counter, who had been indifferent, saw the token and his expression changed instantly.

He held the token with both hands to inspect it carefully. When he looked up, his face was already filled with a respectful smile. "A distinguished guest has arrived. Please, follow me."

The shop assistant bowed and led the way, guiding Qin Meng and the other two through a side door toward the back. He left behind a hall full of stunned gazes and Lei Jun's suddenly darkened face.

Less than half an hour later, Qin Meng led his group back out.

Li Tiezhu and Wang Tieniu each carried several bundles of medicinal herbs. They were tightly wrapped in oil paper and labeled, emitting a faint, rich medicinal fragrance.

They were beaming with excitement, as the quality of these herbs was even better than what was sold at Jisheng Pharmacy—the potency was thirty percent higher, yet the price was nearly the same.

"Young Master Lei, we've got our medicine." Wang Tieniu shook the bundles in his hands toward Lei Jun and his group, his voice loud enough for half the hall to hear.

"Less talk." Li Tiezhu slapped Wang Tieniu on the head, though he couldn't hide the grin on his face. "We're just a bunch of bumpkins. Let Young Master Lei wait in line. He's a man who follows the rules, after all!"

The three of them laughed and joked as they followed Qin Meng out.

As they stepped out of the Duobao Pavilion, Qin Meng looked back coldly. Through the open doors, he saw Lei Jun standing in line, his chest heaving with rage from the provocation, his knuckles white as he clenched his fists.

Inside the hall, Lei Jun's eyes were as venomous as a snake, locked onto the backs of Qin Meng and his group. The burly man beside him understood the signal and quietly slipped away.

Outside Duobao Pavilion, the cold winter wind blew against their faces.

The smile on Qin Meng's face vanished instantly, his lips curling into a cold arc. The look in the young master lei's eyes clearly showed he had murderous intent.

Qin Meng even faintly looked forward to them making a move. If they committed violence in the town, he could use the opportunity to report them to the authorities; if they ambushed him on the road, he would simply kill them in return.

At the entrance of the alley next to Duobao Pavilion, Qin Xiaoshan was squatting on a sled. Seeing them emerge, he quickly stood up. "Brother Meng, did you get the medicine?"

"Got them. The quality is thirty percent better than what they have at Jisheng Pharmacy." Wang Tieniu patted the medicine parcel. "Ran into Lei Jun again, too. Finally got a bit of payback."

He then briefly recounted what had happened in the attic.

Qin Xiaoshan took his share of the medicine, his face unable to hide his joy.

"Let's go. We need to pick up some supplies," Qin Meng called out, taking the lead.

The group passed through the bustling East District, each using their remaining money to buy grain and salt, and stopping at a clothing store to pick up thick winter gear for their families.

Qin Xiaoshan touched his brand-new cotton-padded jacket, his eyes turning slightly red—in previous winters, his family had been so strapped for cash that they often had to survive the cold wearing single layers stuffed with straw.

When they stepped out of the last shop, Qin Meng weighed his shriveled coin purse. After paying for the medicine, every bit of their hunting earnings had been traded for supplies.

Li Tiezhu and the others carried the heavy bags and bundles as they turned back. Just as they cleared the market area, Qin Meng's footsteps faltered, almost imperceptibly.

His wild instinct talent sent a faint ripple through his mind—like a small stone dropped into a pond. It wasn't intense, but it was persistent.

Someone was following them.

Qin Meng kept his expression neutral and continued walking, his gaze sweeping over street corners and alleyways.

The followers were cautious, keeping a constant distance, and there was more than one of them.

"Turn in up ahead," Qin Meng said suddenly, leading the group into a quiet alley.

The alley ended at a dead wall; it was a cul-de-sac.

Li Tiezhu was stunned. "Mengzi, did we take a wrong turn?"

"We didn't." Qin Meng set his belongings down and began unbuttoning his new cotton jacket. "Move quickly. Everyone, change back into your old clothes."

"Why?" Wang Tieniu asked, confused.

Li Tiezhu and Qin Xiaoshan had already caught on; they swiftly stripped off their new clothes, revealing the patched, blood-stained old jackets underneath.

Seeing this, Wang Tieniu, though still puzzled, followed suit.

A moment later, the group looked like poor hunters once again, standing in stark contrast to the brand-new supplies in their hands.

"Stay alert once we leave the town," Qin Meng warned, his words concise. He had finished checking his gear: his bow and arrows were slung on his back, adjusted for instant access; his zhanma dao was in his hand, its cold blade glinting.

The expressions of Li Tiezhu, Wang Tieniu, and the others shifted.

Having grown up on the frontier, they had heard too many stories of hunters who returned with a full haul only to never make it home. Alien infiltration, roving bandits, or even jealous peers—the dangers outside the mountain forests were sometimes more lethal than the beasts themselves.

No one asked further questions. They silently checked their bows and blades. Quivers were filled, and blades were sharpened. The relaxed air from their shopping trip vanished, replaced by sharp, focused gazes.

They left the small town and stepped onto the dirt road leading back to the village. The winter fields were desolate, and the cold wind whipped up the withered grass.

The number of travelers gradually thinned, and the old pine forest along the road grew increasingly dense. Intertwined branches blotted out the sky, obscuring the sun.

Qin Meng walked at the very front, his eyes narrowed slightly.

His transformed vision proved incredibly effective at this moment—the pine forest, which appeared dim to the eyes of an ordinary person, revealed mottled outlines of heat sources to him.

The trees were a cold green, but several humanoid red silhouettes were lurking deep within the woods, adjusting their positions as they moved.

Five, six... eleven.

"Get down!" Qin Meng suddenly roared, throwing himself forward at the same time.

At almost the exact same instant, the sound of bowstrings vibrating echoed from the woods, followed by the sudden whistle of projectiles cutting through the air!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Seven or eight arrows shot out from the forest, grazing the tops of their heads before embedding themselves into the dirt road, their fletching still trembling.

Li Tiezhu reacted a split second too late; an arrow grazed his shoulder, tearing his old jacket and leaving an immediate trail of blood.

"There are people in the woods!" Wang Tieniu bellowed.

Qin Meng had already rolled to his feet, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow in one fluid motion. He didn't need to aim—the heat sources in his vision were the perfect bullseyes.

The bowstring hummed, and the arrow flew like a shooting star.

"Ah—" A scream rang out from the woods, and one of the red heat sources suddenly dimmed.

Li Tiezhu and Wang Tieniu also snapped into action, quickly drawing their bows to retaliate. Though their archery wasn't as precise as Qin Meng's, they locked onto the direction from which the arrows had come.

After a barrage of wild shooting, two more screams followed.

"Damn it, charge out and finish them!" a roar erupted from the forest.

Seven or eight men rushed out from their hiding spots. Each was masked and brandishing a steel blade, their eyes filled with murderous intent as they swarmed forward.

"We are liangshan heroes. Leave the money and the prey, and we'll spare your dog lives," the leading bandit howled, pointing his blade directly at Qin Meng.

"Damn your mother, you're looking for death." Qin Meng's face turned dark as night. He gripped his zhanma dao with both hands, the blade gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"You stinking shrimp think you're liangshan heroes? You want our things?" He took a step forward, dust rising slightly from the ground.

"Take them with your lives."

Before the words had even faded, Qin Meng kicked off the ground with both legs, leaving deep craters in the earth.

His blood shadow talent activated in an instant, making his short-distance sprint as fast as a ghost. The others felt their vision blur, and Qin Meng was already in front of the lead bandit.

The bandit's pupils constricted, and just as he went to raise his blade—

Qin Meng was faster. The zhanma dao sliced through the air, creating a sharp whistle. A flash of blade light, and a head the size of a peck soared into the sky!

Blood sprayed like a fountain, and the headless corpse swayed before crashing to the ground.

[life source +4.5%]