Human-Catching Trap

A short night.

Fang Huai stretched lazily toward the morning sun, carrying the still-sleeping rescued woman as he climbed down the vines.

The benefits from the Body Forging Technique's improvement were visible to the naked eye—not only had his physical strength and endurance soared, but his leg had also nearly fully recovered.

It was hard to imagine that from a broken leg bone to complete recovery had taken less than a month.

The advantages of cultivation were terrifyingly profound.

No wonder billions of living beings, knowing full well the slim hope of the path to immortality, would rather smash through a wall than turn back.

After hastily eating a few raw wild vegetables, Fang Huai picked up the Sha-Gathering Bottle and headed out. Before he had taken more than a few steps, his eyes narrowed.

Enemies truly met on a narrow road—Pei Long was walking straight toward him.

Pei Long's expression was quite colorful: surprise, panic, disbelief—a flurry of emotions flashed across his face.

But he had seen the world and quickly composed himself, greeting Fang Huai: "Brother Fang, haven't seen you in a few days—you look even more robust. It seems your Body Forging Technique has advanced considerably."

"You're not bad either." Fang Huai returned the smile with equal warmth.

Cultivators could roughly sense each other's strength. Pei Long's blood and qi were surging, clearly indicating he had also entered the gate of the Body Forging Technique and had engaged in some plundering.

Hypocrite!

Fang Huai cursed inwardly, pretending to be warm as he exchanged pleasantries with Pei Long.

As they walked and talked, they reached the entrance of Miasma Valley, only to see Liu Xiange and her group blocked by three men.

Two of them carried [Half-Step Body Forging], and the remaining one looked very familiar—it was the Pei Family guard who had whipped Fang Huai near the bun shop that day.

"Brother Pei, isn't that a Pei Family guard? Why is he following others around?"

"This man is named Pei Quan. He defected two days ago." Pei Long's veins bulged as he gritted his teeth. "It's all due to my lax discipline!"

Pei Quan blocked the group and spoke: "This entrance belongs to the Liu Brothers. Anyone entering the valley through here must hand over one Miasma-Clearing Pill."

This was sheer madness!

One Miasma-Clearing Pill didn't sound like much, but one per day meant thirty per month—worth a full ten contribution points.

Which menial laborer could withstand such a drain!

Pei Quan and the Liu Brothers' move was clearly to cut off everyone's access through this entrance, monopolizing the resources here.

With his current strength, Fang Huai could probably defeat the three, but he didn't want trouble.

There were hundreds of entrances—he could just switch to another. He could find Sha Sources anywhere; why insist on this one?

But seeing Liu Xiange and the other two bowing and pleading with Pei Quan to let them in, Fang Huai sighed, stepped forward, and called them away.

"Wait, you look familiar." Pei Quan stopped Fang Huai. "Damn it, aren't you that cripple who stole my money pouch!"

Rage surged in Fang Huai's heart. The man had insulted him back in Sishui Town, and now at the Corpse Sha Sect, he still hadn't changed his ways.

"So what if I am?" Fang Huai said with a half-smile.

"Go to hell!"

Pei Quan kicked at Fang Huai, but Fang Huai caught it with one hand.

His other hand drew the Stone Blade and slashed it across Pei Quan's leg, saying: "I think I'm not the cripple—you're the cripple, aren't you?"

"Crack"

Accompanied by the sound of bone breaking, Pei Quan wailed: "Senior brothers, help me kill this beast!"

The Liu brothers remained unmoved, their eyes fixed on Fang Huai with strange expressions.

"Liu Kui."

"Liu Wu."

"Fang Huai."

The three spoke in turn, then fell into a tacit silence.

"You may enter through this entrance." Liu Kui broke the deadlock.

"These three are my close friends. Please, gentlemen, show some leniency and let them through."

Fang Huai had expected a conflict, but he hadn't anticipated the Liu brothers backing down, so he seized the opportunity to bargain for Liu Xiange's group.

Liu Kui and Liu Wu exchanged a glance and said: "Agreed!"

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:

"Let me clarify—last time, that was picking up. This time, this is stealing."

Pei Quan, his leg broken by Fang Huai, wailed incessantly when he suddenly heard a few coughs and found a familiar shadow standing before him.

Pei Long!

"Master Pei, I..." Pei Quan trembled all over.

"Don't speak," Pei Long covered his mouth, letting the poison in his palm slip into Pei Quan's throat. "It makes me sick to hear you."

Fang Huai opened Pei Quan's pouch and pocketed the dozen or so Miasma-Clearing Pills inside.

Truly, a horse never fattens without night feed.

Although the Corpse Sha Sect openly forbade killing and robbing among disciples and stationed patrols, the restrictions were extremely weak.

Servants were low-grade consumables; it was normal for hundreds or even thousands to die each day. Who would bother investigating their causes of death?

It would be thankless work, and if they happened to offend some formidable existence, even the patrols themselves wouldn't be able to escape unscathed.

So as long as the entire Servant Valley wasn't massacred, the patrols turned a blind eye.

When servants died, they simply grabbed another batch from the jurisdiction.

Fang Huai took out the Miasma-Clearing Pills and distributed a few to each of the three.

Winning people over required both kindness and authority.

As for authority, the three had already seen it. Kindness didn't need to be great, but it needed to be frequent.

Miasma-Clearing Pills—cheap and practical—were the best form of kindness.

The three were flattered and quickly thanked him. Liu Xiange was so excited that even the little bun on her head perked up, causing Little Red inside her hair to poke out and check for anything unusual.

The entrance here was controlled by the Liu Brothers, so fewer people came to harvest Sha, and correspondingly, there were more Sha Sources.

Several days passed like this. One day, while the four were harvesting Sha, Shen Yuan shouted excitedly, "Everyone, I found a spirit herb!"

A spirit herb?

There were more servants in the valley than locusts; they had already sifted through the outer areas over and over. How could there be a spirit herb left for her to pick up?

Fang Huai looked toward Shen Yuan. She was indeed holding a Clear Spirit Grass in her hand, though it had already withered.

Could it be that because the Clear Spirit Grass had withered and lost most of its spiritual energy, it had luckily escaped the servants' searches?

Clear Spirit Grass was the raw material for making Miasma-Clearing Pills. Even withered, it was worth ten contribution points, equivalent to three days of hard labor.

"There's more ahead!" Shen Yuan shouted, her voice trembling with excitement.

No. Missing one could be explained, but two was definitely a setup.

Fang Huai's mind turned. Sure enough, not far ahead of Shen Yuan, a [Human-Catching Trap] label appeared.

"Don't go, there's danger!"

Fang Huai immediately warned, but Shen Yuan, bewitched by greed, couldn't hear him. She trotted over and reached for the withered Clear Spirit Grass.

"Boom!"

Yellow dust flew into the air. A thorn-covered rope net shot up from beneath Shen Yuan's feet, wrapping around her.

Shen Yuan was terrified and struggled to get out, but the more she struggled, the deeper the thorns pierced her skin and flesh. In just a few breaths, she was covered in blood and could only cry for help to Fang Huai and the others:

"Brother Fang, save me..."

Idiot!

Fang Huai cursed inwardly. She had already been in the Corpse Sha Sect for over a month—how could her mind still be so simple? He didn't know how she had survived this long.

Liu Xiange and Zhang Zhu saw their friend in such dire straits and were about to rescue her, but Fang Huai stopped them:

"Wait. If there's a trap, there must be an ambusher. Don't act rashly."

The two nodded, but the thorns were poisonous. As time passed, Shen Yuan's lips gradually turned black and purple.

"Brother Fang, Junior Sister Shen can't hold on. Let me go save her." Zhang Zhu's voice trembled.

He had long been unable to contain himself, his fists clenched tightly, his lips bitten bloody.

Seeing that Fang Huai neither nodded nor denied, he stood up and rushed toward Shen Yuan.

Fang Huai's gaze was deep. "Ah, people always have to take a fall before they learn a lesson."