It had been a brief night.
Facing the morning sun, Fang Huai stretched, then climbed down the vines with the rescued woman, still fast asleep, slung over his shoulder.
The benefits of advancing his Body Forging Technique were plain to see. Not only had his physical strength and endurance become astonishing, but his leg had also nearly recovered.
It was hard to imagine that a broken leg could heal completely in less than a month.
The benefits of cultivation were truly terrifying.
No wonder billions of living beings, despite knowing the path to immortality was a slim hope, still charged headlong into it, refusing to turn back even when they hit a wall.
After hastily swallowing a few bites of raw wild greens, Fang Huai took his Sha-Gathering Bottle and set out. He had barely gone a few steps when his eyes narrowed.
Speak of the devil—Pei Long was walking straight toward him.
Pei Long's expression was a sight to behold: surprise, fear, disbelief, all flashing across his face in an instant.
But he had seen his share of the world. He quickly composed himself and greeted Fang Huai. "Brother Fang, it's been a few days. You've grown even more imposing. Looks like your Body Forging Technique has improved quite a bit."
"You're no slouch yourself." Fang Huai returned his smile.
Cultivators could sense, more or less, the gap between them. Pei Long's qi and blood were surging; clearly, he had made a start with the Body Forging Technique and had also practiced dual cultivation.
Hypocrite!
Fang Huai cursed inwardly, then pretended to greet Pei Long warmly.
They chatted as they walked. When they reached the entrance to Miasma Valley, they saw Liu Xiange and the others surrounded by three men.
Two of them had the Half-Step Body Forging status. The third looked very familiar—it was the Pei Family guard who had whipped Fang Huai beside the bun shop that day.
"Brother Pei, that man looks like a Pei Family guard. Why is he trailing after someone else?"
"His name is Pei Quan. He defected two days ago." Pei Long's veins bulged as he gritted his teeth. "It's all because my family failed to keep a tight rein on its people!"
Pei Quan blocked their way and said, "This entrance belongs to the Liu Brothers. Anyone entering the valley through here must hand over one Miasma-Clearing Pill."
He had to be out of his mind!
One Miasma-Clearing Pill might not sound like much, but at one a day, that came to thirty pills a month—worth a full ten Contribution Points.
Which servant could endure such a drain?
Pei Quan and the Liu Brothers were trying to cut off everyone else from using this entrance, so they could monopolize the resources here.
With Fang Huai's strength now, defeating the three of them wasn't impossible, but he didn't want trouble.
There were hundreds of entrances. He could simply use another one. He could find a Sha Source anywhere, so why insist on entering through this one?
But when he saw Liu Xiange and the other two bowing and pleading with Pei Quan's group to let them through, Fang Huai sighed and walked over, telling the three of them to leave.
"Wait. You look familiar," Pei Quan called after Fang Huai. "Damn it, are you that cripple who robbed me of my money pouch back then?"
Fang Huai's anger flared. Pei Quan had insulted him back in Sishui Town, and now, even after arriving at the Corpse Sha Sect, he still hadn't changed his ways.
"So what if I am?" Fang Huai replied with a faint smile.
"Go to hell!"
Pei Quan kicked at Fang Huai, but Fang Huai caught his foot with one hand.
With his other hand, Fang Huai drew his Stone Blade and chopped into Pei Quan's leg. "I don't think I'm the cripple here. Aren't you the one who's about to become one?"
"Crack!"
As the bone snapped, Pei Quan howled, "Senior Brothers, help me kill this beast!"
But the Liu Brothers didn't move. Their eyes were fixed on Fang Huai, filled with surprise.
"Liu Kui."
"Liu Wu."
"Fang Huai."
They introduced themselves one after another, then fell silent in unspoken understanding.
"You may enter through this entrance," Liu Kui said, breaking the deadlock.
"These three are my close friends. I'd be grateful if you could show some mercy and make an exception for them."
Fang Huai had expected a fight, but the Liu Brothers hadn't turned on him. So he seized the opportunity to bargain for Liu Xiange and the others.
Liu Kui and Liu Wu exchanged a glance. "All right."
Under the fearful gazes of the onlookers, Fang Huai led the three toward the valley entrance. Before leaving, he crouched down, snatched Pei Quan's pouch, and said,
"Just to set the record straight: last time, I picked it up. This time, I'm robbing you."
After Fang Huai broke Pei Quan's leg, he kept howling in pain. Then he heard a few coughs and saw a familiar dark silhouette standing before him.
Pei Long!
"Master Pei, I..." Pei Quan trembled all over.
"Don't speak." Pei Long clapped a hand over his mouth, and the poison in his palm slipped into Pei Quan's mouth. "Listening to you makes me sick."
Fang Huai opened Pei Quan's pouch and pocketed the dozen or so Miasma-Clearing Pills inside.
As the saying went, even a horse grew fat on night grass.
The Corpse Sha Sect officially forbade its disciples from killing and robbing one another, and even had patrols to enforce the rules. But the restrictions were weak.
Servants were lowly consumables. Hundreds or even thousands of them dying every day was nothing unusual. Who would bother investigating how they had died?
It was thankless work, and if they happened to offend someone powerful, the patrols themselves would be in trouble.
So unless someone wiped out the entire Servant Valley, the patrols turned a blind eye.
When servants died, they could just go to their territory and capture another batch.
Fang Huai took out the Miasma-Clearing Pills and gave each of the three a few.
To win people over, one needed both kindness and authority.
They had already seen his authority just now. His kindness didn't need to be great, but it needed to be given often.
Miasma-Clearing Pills were cheap and practical. They were the perfect way to show kindness.
The three were overwhelmed and hurriedly thanked him. Liu Xiange was so excited that the little tuft atop her head stood straight up, prompting Little Red to poke its head out of her bun to see what was wrong.
The Liu Brothers controlled this entrance, so fewer people came here to harvest Sha. By the same token, Sha Sources were more plentiful.
A few days passed like this. One day, while the four were harvesting Sha, Shen Yuan cried out excitedly, "Everyone, I found a spirit herb!"
A spirit herb?
There were more servants than locusts in Miasma Valley, and they had combed the outer reaches again and again. How could there still be a spirit herb for her to find?
Fang Huai looked toward Shen Yuan. She really was holding a Clear Spirit Grass, though it had already dried up.
Could it have escaped the servants' searches because it had dried out and lost most of its spiritual energy?
Clear Spirit Grass was an ingredient used to make Miasma-Clearing Pills. Even dried up, it was worth ten Contribution Points—equivalent to three days of hard labor.
"There's another one up ahead!" Shen Yuan shouted, her voice trembling with excitement.
Something was wrong. One overlooked plant might be plausible, but two had to be a deliberate setup.
Fang Huai's thoughts raced. Sure enough, not far in front of Shen Yuan, the label [Human-Catching Trap] appeared.
"Don't go! It's dangerous!"
Fang Huai warned her at once, but Shen Yuan was too dazzled by the find to listen. She trotted over and reached for the dried Clear Spirit Grass.
"Bang!"
Yellow earth billowed up as a thorn-covered rope net shot from beneath Shen Yuan's feet and wrapped around her.
Shen Yuan was horrified. She struggled to get free, but the more she fought, the deeper the thorns sank into her skin and flesh. Within seconds, she was covered in blood and could only beg Fang Huai and the others for help:
"Senior Brother Fang, save me..."
Idiot!
Fang Huai cursed inwardly. She had been at the Corpse Sha Sect for over a month. How could she still be so simple-minded? He didn't know how she had survived this long.
Seeing their friend in such a predicament, Liu Xiange and Zhang Zhu moved to rescue her, but Fang Huai stopped them.
"Wait. If there's a trap, there must be someone lying in ambush. Don't act rashly."
The two nodded, but the thorns were poisonous. As time passed, Shen Yuan's lips gradually turned dark purple.
"Senior Brother Fang, Junior Sister Shen can't hold on much longer. Let me go save her." Zhang Zhu's voice trembled.
He had long been unable to hold back. His fists were clenched, and he had bitten his lips until they bled.
Seeing that Fang Huai neither nodded nor objected, he got up and rushed toward Shen Yuan.
Fang Huai's gaze was deep. "People have to learn the hard way before they can grow wise."
Before you continue