Departure

Da Hu stumbled back a few steps. Facing the now overbearing Hu Liena, he could only grit his teeth in resentment, not daring to utter a word of rebuttal.

Hu Liena retracted her gaze with disdain and held up a second finger. "Second, I want you to immediately abolish the unified management imposed on the villagers. I don't care what price you have to pay; I only want the result."

Er Hu's eyes trembled, and his fists clenched abruptly. "No, that is absolutely impossible. The unified management was discussed and agreed upon by several villages. Beast King Village cannot unilaterally break the contract; otherwise, the village will be a laughingstock to the world."

"Oh, you disagree?" A smile bloomed on Hu Liena's beautiful face. It was both hair-raising and possessed a unique charm.

Er Hu stared blankly, only snapping back to reality after pinching his thigh hard. Facing her gaze, even though his heart was trembling, he still gritted his teeth and shook his head.

If it were just compensation in gold coins, while it would hurt his wallet, it wouldn't be enough to damage their foundation.

But Hu Liena demanding they abolish the unified management was undoubtedly a death sentence for them. Even if the people from the neighboring villages spared his life, they would never let him live in peace! Therefore, this was the one thing he had to fight for.

"Heh."

Er Hu wanted to say more, but he saw the young man who had been standing behind Hu Liena suddenly step forward.

Seeing Qian Yun reach out toward him, Da Hu was terrified. He didn't care about his dignity anymore and retreated repeatedly. "Ah! Young hero, spare me! Young hero, spare me... Ah!"

Qian Yun gathered a bit of spirit power into his fist and then slammed it heavily into Da Hu's chest. With a miserable cry, Da Hu's bulky body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, then slammed onto the floor and fainted outright.

"Hmph." After doing all this, Qian Yun gave a disdainful cold snort and reached out to flick the dust off his shoulders.

With his current physical fitness, enhanced by spirit power, facing ordinary people like Da Hu who lacked spirit power was basically one punch per person, without exception.

"Dad!" Er Hu shouted, his eyes turning red instantly. He turned and lunged at Qian Yun. "I want you to die!"

A flash of light appeared in Er Hu's eyes. The muscles on his back bulged rapidly, and his palms grew nearly twice their size in just a few breaths. The muscles on his body stretched his originally loose clothing to the limit, while red, black, and green colors appeared on his face.

Most notably, his nose, which was originally broad and flat, had now elongated.

Two white Spirit Rings flickered beneath his feet as Er Hu crawled low and charged toward Qian Yun, claws bared.

Qian Yun narrowed his eyes, first waving his hand to stop the Martial Soul Hall members who wanted to rush up. At the same time, light flickered beneath his feet, and in an instant, yellow, yellow, purple! Three Spirit Rings shone brilliantly.

"!"

The instantaneous change was enough to wake Er Hu from his rage. Having already committed to the charge, Er Hu hurriedly twisted his body, trying to stop, but unfortunately, he couldn't halt his momentum.

In the critical moment, he had a flash of inspiration, turning his run into a slide on his knees, finally coming to a halt just as he reached the tips of Qian Yun's boots.

Just like that, the once aggressive Er Hu, the moment Qian Yun revealed his Spirit Rings, slid to a kneeling position at Qian Yun's feet. The fierce light in his eyes faded, leaving only clarity.

Qian Yun looked down at Er Hu and sneered, "You will agree, won't you?"

At this point, Er Hu dared not act out again. He nodded frantically, "Yes, this lowly one will definitely do it, definitely!"

But Qian Yun frowned, looking as if he were in a difficult position. "But, wouldn't doing this make the village a laughingstock to the world?"

Er Hu immediately straightened his back, patted his chest, and said with a sense of righteous indignation, "Then let this lowly one bear it. Let this lowly one bear the world's criticism alone."

After saying this, as if to prove his determination, he bent his body and reached out to hug Qian Yun's legs.

Qian Yun didn't want to be touched by him; he lifted his leg and swept it across his chest, blurting out, "You really are fucking shameless!"

"Cough, cough." Er Hu was kicked away, his Martial Soul Possession dissipating. After a long while, he clutched his chest and struggled to stand up.

Seeing that the timing was right, Hu Liena took a deep breath and said, "Third point, I will move the graves of Grandpa Village Chief and A-Qiang back to the village... When that time comes, I don't want anyone gossiping behind my back."

Er Hu looked at her with slight surprise, then nodded. Compared to Hu Liena's other conditions, this matter was undoubtedly much simpler.

"Fourth..." When Hu Liena said this, her face flushed slightly as she glanced at the composed Qian Yun.

"Fourth, you are never allowed to call me 'wife' again! Whether in the past, present, or future, I, Hu Liena, am just myself. I was never your wife. If you dare to call me that again, I will kill you." Hu Liena shouted in a low voice, the coldness in her eyes not feigned.

Qian Yun turned his head and looked at Hu Liena with some surprise, then looked at the dazed Er Hu and understood what was going on.

Er Hu's body trembled. Even though he was unwilling, he finally closed his eyes and nodded in agreement.

"Fifth." Hu Liena turned and beckoned to those behind her. Four members of Martial Soul Hall immediately carried over two baskets, struggled to put them down, and then silently retreated.

Hu Liena's nose twitched, and she frowned. After nearly half a month of travel, no matter how well the animal skins and bones in the baskets had been processed, the smell was still pungent.

Er Hu looked at the two baskets, confused.

Hu Liena reached out and fanned the air in front of her nose with disgust. "This is the culprit that caused the tragedy in the village: the Ghost Moth."

Er Hu's eyes widened. He truly hadn't expected that the two of them were so capable that they had even slaughtered the Ghost Moth, and had even skinned it and removed its bones to place before him.

Hu Liena looked at Er Hu and shook her head. "I originally wanted to turn this beast into a specimen to pay tribute to the souls of the departed in the village, but I didn't expect that you, this beast, are even more of a beast than the beast itself... Sigh, the Ghost Moth's skin and bones are valuable things. Find a way to sell them and build a public cemetery for those in the village who died because of it."

Hearing about selling them for money, Er Hu's eyes flickered, but soon, the budding greed was suppressed by his reason.

"Yes, I will handle it as soon as possible."

The matter was settled, and there was no need for them to stay long. Hu Liena took two steps back and looked at him deeply. "Er Hu, I hope you cherish your life and don't do anything stupid again. That is all."

Qian Yun turned around, glanced at Er Hu one last time, and then walked out the door without a word.

Hu Liena looked up, one hand shielding her eyes from the sunlight. At this point, the shadow that had been hanging over her heart for these years finally dissipated, and her heart welcomed an unprecedented peace.

She asked herself, the outcome of this matter was indeed not perfect, but she had done everything she could within her power, and she felt she had a clear conscience.

She tilted her head to look at Qian Yun, who was standing side-by-side with her, and stretched with a bright smile. "Refreshing, truly refreshing!"

Qian Yun nodded with deep feeling; he knew how difficult the path Hu Liena had walked over these years had been. "Congratulations, Xiao Na."

Hu Liena tilted her head with a silly smile. "Congratulations for what? I meant it's been a long time since I've had such a good time scolding someone."

Qian Yun was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but chuckle. Earlier, Hu Liena had been firing on all cylinders, berating the others until they were utterly speechless. Even before he had stepped through the door, he could feel her soaring rage.

The two walked side by side along the country path. Hu Liena held her hands behind her back, sneaking a glance at Qian Yun, wanting to say something but hesitating.

In the end, she couldn't suppress the curiosity in her heart, leaning her shoulder over to nudge Qian Yun gently. "Hey, why aren't you asking?"

"Asking what?"

Hu Liena's heart pounded. She turned her head away, pretending to be indifferent as she said, "You know... about what Er Hu called me. Aren't you even a little curious?"

"Oh." Qian Yun realized. "Then why did he call you, uh... call you that?"

Hearing this, Hu Liena twirled a lock of hair by her ear with her finger and said softly, "It's actually nothing. It's just that when I was little, Er Hu was one of the only two Spirit Masters in the village. He loved to bully me back then and even spread rumors that Grandpa had already betrothed me to him. Of course, I wouldn't have it. So, whenever he saw anyone, he would call me that, and he wouldn't let anyone play with me. As time went on, no one wanted to play with me anymore."

By the time she finished, Hu Liena's voice couldn't hide her dejection. It was clear she wasn't as carefree as she tried to appear.

Qian Yun clenched his fists tightly and turned around, ready to storm back to Er Hu's house.

"Hey." Hu Liena hurriedly grabbed him. "What are you doing?"

Qian Yun said earnestly, "I'm going back to chop Er Hu up and feed him to the dogs."

Hu Liena was left between laughter and tears. While she found it amusing, she also felt a hint of sweetness. She leaned into him and reached out to gently stroke his back. "Alright, calm down. I don't care about the past anymore. And no matter how foul his mouth was, I never admitted to it even once."

Hearing Hu Liena say this, even though Qian Yun was still unwilling, he had no choice but to let it go. "Fine, consider it him getting lucky and keeping his life."

"Hehe, such a good boy."

The two leaned on each other until they left Beast King Village. Hu Liena looked up at the plaque once more, a sudden sense of melancholy rising in her heart.

The matter had come to a temporary end, but that didn't mean it was completely over.

Naturally, she wouldn't trust Er Hu too much, so while putting pressure on him, they had also requested Duomeng to supervise them in advance, ensuring that every one of their measures could be implemented.

"Sigh, in a little while, there probably won't be many people left in this Beast King Village, right?" Hu Liena sighed. She could already imagine what the village would look like later.

Why would people be willing to stay in a small, dilapidated village, unwilling to leave even when oppressed like this?

Why not go to the city to live in a big house and enjoy life?

Is it because they don't want to? Or is it that they like this life of working from dawn till dusk?

The answer is: they have no choice. If they don't work, they don't eat. It's as simple as that.

After Hu Liena distributed the compensation, one could imagine that once the villagers of Beast King Village suddenly had money and the capital to live a better life, who would still be willing to stay here?

Therefore, the village in the future would definitely never return to its former vibrant state; it never would again.

Even Hu Liena herself would leave. Perhaps she would occasionally come back to take a look in her spare time, but this Beast King Village would exist in her memory more as a symbol to be reminisced upon.

Qian Yun pulled back his thoughts. They had done everything they could; the subsequent follow-up work could be left to Duomeng. Now, it was time for their own affairs.

They had two main tasks for this trip: one was to hunt for a Spirit Ring for Qian Yun, and the other was to help Hu Liena complete her grade-skipping assessment.

Qian Yun had already learned everything about the so-called grade-skipping assessment from Hu Liena. It involved relying solely on their own strength to survive in the Lost Valley while finding a way to obtain the "treasure" located on the outskirts of the valley within a forty-day time limit.

Considering the dangerous and complex situation in the Lost Valley, Bibi Dong had already made it clear to them that there would be strong experts following them to provide protection. They could order these experts to do things, but if the experts intervened, it would mean the assessment had failed.

In other words, Qian Yun and Hu Liena could order them to act, and they could not refuse, but if they intervened in the assessment—even if it was just to point out the way or block the wind for them—it would be considered a failure of the assessment.