Interlude

When Shen Mu arrived at the Firewood Gang headquarters' training grounds again, the difference from yesterday was that only about a hundred outer members remained, all engaged in intense body tempering.

Yesterday, one had to queue for the various tempering apparatuses, but today there was a slight surplus, enough for every outer member to have equipment to train with.

Shen Mu then remembered that Yuan Mulberry Hall had taken over two hundred people away yesterday to harvest yuan mulberries.

"Brother Shen."

Seeing Shen Mu approach, Luo Tao, who was in the middle of tempering, immediately stopped what he was doing and greeted him with a smile.

Shen Mu smiled back and quickly joined the training.

When the setting sun dipped below the mountain peaks, the day's tempering finally came to an end.

A long-lost sense of hunger once again assailed Shen Mu's heart.

Has the beast meat I consumed been completely digested?

Shen Mu felt a surge of joy, his consciousness sinking into his mind to observe the changes in the Martial Dao Tree.

One of the roots of the Martial Dao Tree had already been occupied by scarlet blood energy to the extent of one-tenth.

"Taozi, how much of the beast meat you consumed have you digested?"

Walking out of the Firewood Gang headquarters' main gate, Shen Mu looked at Luo Tao and asked.

"Probably about forty percent."

Luo Tao scratched his head and laughed with a simple, honest expression.

Forty percent?

Shen Mu was slightly stunned, but he immediately understood.

Luo Tao's physique was already different from the average person's, and after three days of tempering, his speed of digesting beast meat was likely a little faster.

At his rate of digestion, he should be able to fully digest the beast meat he consumed in another five days. Given that entering the first stage of Boiling Blood requires digesting ten catties of beast meat, he will need about eighty days.

And with the triple digestion speed I gain through the Martial Dao Tree, I should be able to step into the first stage of Boiling Blood in about a month.

Shen Mu already had a rough estimate in his mind.

The two walked and exchanged insights on body tempering before parting ways on the street.

Since his own house had been sold, Shen Mu headed straight toward the beast meat shop opened by the Firewood Gang in the city.

Now that the beast meat in his body was completely digested, he had to purchase more to continue increasing his blood energy.

Arriving at the meat shop, Shen Mu spent one tael of silver to buy one catty of Red-Armored Ox meat.

The Red-Armored Ox was an unranked, herbivorous beast weighing several thousand catties. Because its bulky frame made it poor at running, it could be easily captured using traps, and it had long held an important position on the martial artists' hunting list.

Shen Mu then found a nearby Cloud Sky Inn located in a secluded alley. After haggling with the innkeeper, he spent six mace of silver to book a room for a month at the rate of twenty copper coins per day.

Borrowing the inn's kitchen, Shen Mu simply blanched the Red-Armored Ox meat he had bought. Enduring the thick, bloody stench of the beast meat, he swallowed it down mouthful by mouthful.

"Hiccup~"

A strong sense of fullness returned, and Shen Mu couldn't help but let out a burp, the entire room filling with the smell of blood.

"Becoming a martial artist is truly no easy task."

Shen Mu sighed, pushed open the doors and windows to dilute the bloody odor in the room, and picked up a change of clothes to head downstairs to the bathhouse to wash off the sweat from his training.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

At the same time, the house Shen Mu had sold was being knocked on again by Shen Hong and his companion.

"Little Mu, Little Mu, it's Second Uncle, open up quickly!"

Seeing the candlelight inside the courtyard, Shen Hong shouted loudly.

"Is your method going to work?"

While waiting for Shen Mu to open the door, Shen Hong couldn't help but ask Li Ling beside him.

"Don't you worry, it will definitely work. You are a man of the yamen; would the yamen side with him instead of you? We are doing this for his own good, aren't we?"

Li Ling said with a certain, solemn expression.

After the two returned yesterday, Li Ling had thought of a new plan: to take the initiative and fabricate a pretext. Under the guise of acting in their nephew's best interest, they would forcibly seize the property deed from Shen Mu and then use connections at the yamen to complete the transfer, creating a fait accompli.

Shen Hong was now at the seventh stage of Boiling Blood; dealing with Shen Mu, who was just an ordinary person, would be as easy as turning over his hand.

Moreover, as a yamen runner, even if Shen Mu went to the yamen, what could he do?

They would simply claim they couldn't stand by and watch their nephew squander his inheritance, and the yamen would surely side with them.

That would leave them plenty of room to maneuver.

Shen Mu wasn't dead now, but that didn't mean he wouldn't die in the future, right?

As long as he met with an accident later, wouldn't this house become theirs?

Hadn't Lin Wan been dragged to her death as well?

Not only would they not have to pay back the sixty taels of silver, but they would also gain a steady job as a yamen runner.

Over the past ten years, Shen Hong had earned at least five hundred taels of silver serving as a constable at the yamen.

If one year wouldn't work, or two, then they would just drag it out for ten or twenty years!

Li Ling even felt a faint sense of regret; why hadn't she thought of such a brilliant idea last night?

Now she had to make an extra trip today!

"Creeeak~"

As the courtyard gate opened, Shen Hong and Li Ling looked at Gu Cang inside, their expressions filled with confusion.

"Who are you? Where is my nephew?"

Shen Hong tilted his head to meet Gu Cang's gaze, asking with a look of wariness.

Possessing the strength of the Seventh Stage of Boiling Blood, he could naturally sense a strong aura of danger emanating from Gu Cang.

"He has already sold this residence to me for sixty taels of silver."

Gu Cang swept a glance over the two of them and spoke in a muffled voice.

"Sold it to you?"

Shen Hong and Li Ling exchanged a look, both of them stunned.

Only one night had passed, and Shen Mu had already sold the house?

A house worth a hundred taels of silver had been sold by Shen Mu for sixty taels in cash?

What a spendthrift.

Li Ling couldn't help but curse inwardly, then hurriedly asked, "Then where is he living now?"

Since the house had already been sold, their previous plans were naturally bankrupt.

However, since Shen Mu now had sixty taels of silver in his hands, if they could get their hands on that money, it would at least make up for some of their losses.

"I don't know."

Gu Cang glanced at the pair, his expression clearly growing impatient.

Li Ling's voice hitched: "You..."

"Leave at once, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Gu Cang looked at Shen Hong with a chilling gaze and spoke coldly.

"Let's go."

Li Ling wanted to say something more, but Shen Hong immediately pulled her back.

He could clearly perceive that he was absolutely no match for Gu Cang. Now that Shen Mu had already sold the house, there was no point in lingering here any longer.

"Shen Hong, you are a dignified yamen constable, why are you so spineless? Does he really dare to do anything to us?"

Once they had left Mist Glow Lane, Li Ling said with dissatisfaction.

"Fool!"

Shen Hong's temper flared, and he snapped, "That man is very likely an Entered-Grade martial artist. If he really wanted to kill us, we would already be dead!"

"An Entered-Grade martial artist?"

Li Ling's eyes widened in disbelief.

"There is no mistake about it."

Shen Hong's expression was grave, his tone incredibly certain.

Li Ling asked in confusion, "If he's an Entered-Grade martial artist, why would he buy a house like that to live in?"

Shen Hong shook his head and said, "How would I know that?"

Li Ling pondered for a moment, then changed the subject: "Since the house has been sold, that brat will definitely look for another place to rent. To rent a house in the city, he has to register at the county yamen. Tomorrow, you go to the yamen and see if you can find out where he is currently staying."

Shen Hong said discontentedly, "The house has already been sold by him; even if we find where he's staying, what's the use?"

"How did I end up marrying such a fool!"

Li Ling said indignantly, her tone filled with frustration: "As long as we can find him, we can just claim we are keeping the money for him to prevent him from squandering it. We're doing it for his own good, so what could outsiders possibly say?"

Shen Hong's eyes lit up, and he said happily, "Wife, you really have the best ideas. I'll go to the yamen first thing tomorrow morning to ask."

However, what Shen Hong and Li Ling did not know was that after they left Mist Glow Lane, Gu Cang had already been secretly tailing them.

"So they were planning to swindle that kid out of his inheritance?"

Watching their retreating figures as they hurried away, Gu Cang stood in a dim corner, a look of contemplation in his eyes.

"Forget it, since I've already followed them, I might as well give that kid a hand!"

Gu Cang shook his head and muttered to himself.

The next moment, Gu Cang raised his right hand; the air in his palm was compressed frantically, rippling with tremors.

He flicked his finger, and the compressed air shot out like an invisible ribbon, heading straight for Shen Hong.

Just as Shen Hong stepped forward with his left foot, he suddenly stumbled forward as if he had tripped over a step.

Just as he prepared to adjust his posture to stop his forward momentum, a gust of wind whipped up from behind him, causing his already unbalanced body to stumble and crash to the ground.

The projectile of energy slammed into his right ankle and detonated with a roar.

"Crack!"

A sound of bone fracturing suddenly rang out.

"Ouch!"

Immediately following, Shen Hong let out a shrill, miserable scream.

"What happened? What's wrong?"

Li Ling rushed forward, attempting to help him up.

"Hiss... don't... don't touch me, my right ankle is broken."

Shen Hong sucked in a sharp breath and spoke hurriedly.

His right foot was now twisted at an unnatural angle, revealing jagged white bone fragments, and blood was gushing steadily from the wound, causing Li Ling's face to turn deathly pale.

"How could you be so careless?"

"Hiss..."

Shen Hong's face was ashen, and he gasped for air in agony as he ordered, "I need a moment to recover; go get Ming and have him help me to the clinic..."

"Oh, right, don't move, I'll go find Ming."

Seeing the situation, Li Ling hurried toward their home with quick steps.

In a dim corner not far away, Gu Cang observed for a moment before melting back into the night.

Meanwhile, Shen Mu, staying at the Cloud Sky Inn, had fallen into a deep sleep after a full day of body tempering and a cold shower, completely unaware of the minor incident that had been sparked because of him.