Premeditation

After stowing away the beast crystal, Ren Yunzhao continued to strip the meat and scrape the bones.

In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a complete skeleton was laid bare before everyone's eyes.

"Soaking this tiger bone in wine should yield quite excellent results."

Ren Yunzhao then looked toward Lin Xiao and Kong Mingyuan, instructing, "The two of you performed meritoriously in assisting this Incense Master in surrounding and killing this tiger today; take five tiger bones and fifty catties of beast meat each."

"As for the deacons below, each may take one tiger bone and ten catties of beast meat!"

"Every Guardian within the valley may receive two catties of beast meat!"

"Have the remainder sent to the meat shops in the city for sale..."

"Register the names of those killed or injured in the valley due to the Dark Gold Red Tiger, and distribute the compensation funds set by the Firewood Gang accordingly; at the same time, arrange for someone to contact the families of the deceased..."

Hearing these words from Ren Yunzhao, the faces of everyone present were filled with undisguised joy.

The meat of a First-Rank demonic beast sold for at least five taels of silver per catty on the market.

For them, this was practically a month's salary handed to them for free.

Lin Xiao and Kong Mingyuan cupped their fists and said in unison, "Understood!"

"Very well, Incense Master Yao and I have urgent matters to attend to, so we shall return first. You two are responsible for handling the rest."

After dropping this statement, Ren Yunzhao left with Yao Jiheng without a moment's delay.

Watching the two of them depart in such a hurry, the expressions of those present were somewhat peculiar.

"You heard Incense Master Ren's orders just now: each deacon may receive ten catties of beast meat and one tiger bone, and each Guardian may receive two catties of beast meat."

Lin Xiao looked at the six deacons and instructed, "Hong Jingcheng, Chu Zhongxian, the six of you are responsible for the distribution."

"Have the rest sent to the city meat shops."

"Understood!"

Hong Jingcheng and the other five responded in unison.

The two Market Masters collected their own shares and left, looking quite pleased.

Next, the six deacons stepped forward to distribute the meat, and Shen Mu also received his two catties of Dark Gold Red Tiger meat.

Afterward, the six deacons ordered the others to send the remaining meat to the city, then took their own shares and headed back to soak them in wine.

Shen Mu and the others looked at each other; so the higher-ups just had to move their mouths to take the lion's share of the benefits, while all the cleanup work fell to them?

It really is better to be the boss; you just give the orders, and there are always lackeys to carry out the specifics...

Shen Mu shook his head inwardly.

By the time everyone had finished carrying the remaining Dark Gold Red Tiger meat to the meat shops opened by the Firewood Gang and returned to Emerald Cloud Valley, the horizon was already turning a pale white.

Because of the Dark Gold Red Tiger, everyone had been busy for the better part of the night before finally completing all the cleanup work, though they had all gained something in return.

It was not until dawn broke that this incident finally came to a complete end.

The subsequent casualty list had been tallied: one hundred thirty-seven lightly injured, eighty-nine seriously injured, and twelve Guardians and fifty-seven peripheral gang members had lost their lives in the incident.

Hearing these specific casualty figures, Shen Mu couldn't help but be startled; he hadn't expected the losses to be so heavy.

He estimated that most of the deceased had died simply because they were too close and were caught in the roar of the Dark Gold Red Tiger.

Shen Mu couldn't help but feel secretly relieved; fortunately, he had been far enough away, otherwise, he might have ended up dead as well.

Carrying his two catties of Dark Gold Red Tiger meat, Shen Mu walked toward his bamboo shed with a sense of trepidation.

The bamboo shed where he lived was only a mile from the scene of the incident, and it was highly likely to have been trampled by the Dark Gold Red Tiger.

However, when Shen Mu saw that his familiar bamboo shed was still standing, he let out a long sigh of relief; his "real estate" had been spared.

After simply curing the beast meat with salt, he lay down on his bed and fell into a deep sleep, exhausted from the night's turmoil.

"Brother Shen, Brother Shen."

It wasn't until noon that Shen Mu was startled awake by a knocking at his door.

"Who is it?"

Shen Mu asked.

"It's me, Zhang Bohan."

Zhang Bohan's voice came from outside.

"Creak."

Shen Mu pushed open the door with sleepy eyes and couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhang, what is the matter?"

"Brother Shen, you were a bit too ruthless with your harvesting, weren't you? I brought people here to pick the Origin Mulberry Fruit, but look at this Origin Mulberry Tree—are there any Origin Mulberry Fruits left?"

Zhang Bohan said with a strange expression.

At the same time, a group of peripheral gang members stood in the field, staring at the bare Origin Mulberry Tree in bewilderment.

The Origin Silkworms had successfully spun their cocoons, and the peripheral gang members remaining in the valley were primarily responsible for picking the Origin Mulberry Fruit.

"Origin Mulberry Fruit?"

Shen Mu couldn't help but freeze, turning his head to look toward the Origin Mulberry Field. The Origin Mulberry Tree, which had been laden with fruit just yesterday, now showed no trace of any Origin Mulberry Fruit on its branches.

"What is this?"

Shen Mu's mouth twitched. He had only picked forty catties last night, which was merely a drop in the bucket compared to the ten acres of the Origin Mulberry Field.

But what on earth happened to these Origin Mulberry Trees?

"Brother Zhang, you don't think I could have picked all these Origin Mulberry Fruits by myself, do you?"

Meeting Zhang Bohan's strange gaze, Shen Mu gave a bitter smile.

It was common practice for Guardians to pick Origin Mulberry Fruit for winemaking within the valley; as long as they didn't go too far, the higher-ups would turn a blind eye. After all, the Emerald Cloud Valley had no shortage of these things.

"Then what is going on here?"

Seeing Shen Mu's bewildered expression, Zhang Bohan couldn't help but ask.

"Let's go, let's check the Origin Mulberry Fields of the other Guardians."

Shen Mu walked out of the Bamboo Shed and led Zhang Bohan toward the fields guarded by the others.

"Gone."

"Gone."

The two visited several Origin Mulberry Fields in succession, only to find the same result: the Origin Mulberry Fruit had vanished into thin air overnight.

"Could it be..."

Shen Mu's heart skipped a beat as he immediately realized something.

Last night, thieves must have taken advantage of the commotion caused by the Dark Gold Red Tiger to sneak into the valley and harvest the Origin Mulberry Fruit.

Shen Mu shared his speculation with Zhang Bohan, who immediately understood as well.

"Brother Shen, if that's the case, is it possible that the Dark Gold Red Tiger that appeared last night was intentionally lured to fall off the cliff?"

Zhang Bohan's eyes widened as he exclaimed.

He was primarily responsible for managing the peripheral gang members harvesting Origin Mulberry Leaves and had not been in the valley last night; everything he knew about the Dark Gold Red Tiger falling off the cliff had come from the peripheral members living in the valley.

Seeing how many people had died in last night's incident, Zhang Bohan couldn't help but feel a sense of relief—relief that he was not a Guardian...

Shen Mu nodded in deep agreement, his expression turning grim. It now seemed highly likely that this was the case.

"To steal Origin Mulberry Fruit, they caused so many people to die..."

"If I hadn't been so cautious, I might have been one of the people who died last night..."

A nameless fire ignited in Shen Mu's heart.

Just for the sake of stealing Origin Mulberry Fruit, sixty-nine people had lost their lives and over a hundred were injured; the Firewood Gang had suffered a massive loss this time.

"Brother Zhang, I need to report this to Deacon Hong. You take your men and find the fields that haven't been picked yet to harvest."

Shen Mu said quickly.

"Alright."

Zhang Bohan nodded and turned to leave.

Immediately, Shen Mu hurried toward the entrance of the valley.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Shen Mu arrived outside Hong Jingcheng's door and knocked.

"Who is it?"

Hong Jingcheng asked.

Shen Mu spoke quickly: "Brother Hong, it's me, Shen Mu. Something has happened."

"What is it?"

Shen Mu said: "It's about the Dark Gold Red Tiger from last night. The Origin Mulberry Fruit in many of the Guardians' fields was stolen overnight."

"I suspect that the Dark Gold Red Tiger falling off the cliff was likely a deliberate act by someone who lured it there to sneak into the valley and steal the fruit..."

"Creak!"

Hong Jingcheng pushed open the door and said sternly: "Is this true?!"

Shen Mu gave a bitter smile: "If Brother Hong doesn't believe me, you can go check the Origin Mulberry Fields yourself. Many of them have been picked clean."

Hong Jingcheng nodded: "I understand. I will investigate this matter and report it to the Market Master. You should head back for now."

"Yes."

Shen Mu said no more, bid him farewell, and left.