Hehe, Brother, Buying Medicine?

Shen Xiu could not understand the hunter's final thoughts, nor could he know who exactly this He Lao Jiu was, the man the hunter had been thinking of until his dying breath.

Nor did he know that this hunter, known as Old Ghost Head, had once chatted merrily with an herb gatherer named He Lao Jiu in a tavern in Yang Family Town at the Foot of the mountain.

Still less did he know that the herb gatherer named He Lao Jiu had complained amid their cups and toasts with the hunter before him.

He said that recently, many outsiders had come up the mountain to gather herbs, pretending to belong to forces from elsewhere—the Crimson Fire Bandits, the Blood Sea Cult, disciples of the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School, and the like.

They used this to scare off herb gatherers like them and compete with them for medicinal herbs.

Such methods were truly vile beyond measure.

Thus, when he encountered Shen Xiu, he had hesitated, but greed ultimately overpowered reason.

He Lao Jiu's words, along with Shen Xiu's utterly ordinary gray shirt, gave him enough confidence—enough reason—to conclude that Shen Xiu was another fraud.

It would have been one thing if the other party had revealed his background, but that only made him believe Shen Xiu was fierce in appearance but weak at heart.

So he took a gamble, and the result was that he lost.

"Whew..."

Seeing the hunter become a cold corpse lying lifeless on the ground, Shen Xiu finally slowly loosened his grip on the Hundred-Refined Saber.

Without support, Old Ghost Head's body toppled sideways, while his head rolled away with a spin.

His body and head were separated. He was dead beyond any doubt.

Why bother?

Though this was his second time killing someone, Shen Xiu no longer felt much out of the ordinary.

Perhaps it was because of the memories he had retained from before, or perhaps because he had long grown used to this world where the strong devoured the weak.

Those who killed would eventually be killed.

After this incident, Shen Xiu felt the importance of strength more keenly than ever. In this world where strength was revered above all else, even living peacefully was no easy matter.

In that encounter just now, had he been weaker or slower to react, there naturally would have been no good outcome.

Glancing at the hunter by his feet, Shen Xiu pondered for a moment, then bent down and began searching him.

As everyone knew, looting corpses had been a tradition since ancient times. No matter how rich one was, one could not throw away the old craft.

Perhaps because he was merely a hunter out in the wild, the man did not carry much.

A few pieces of dry rations, over a dozen copper coins strung together, a small digging hoe, and a paper packet that seemed to repel insects—there was nothing else.

The only valuable thing on his whole body was probably that hard bow. It was indeed a fine bow, but unfortunately Shen Xiu had little use for it.

There was nothing else.

That hard bow was not bad either, but it was rather conspicuous.

If he brought it into town, Old Li Tou's family would likely come looking for him before the next day arrived. Shen Xiu hated trouble.

It was better not to keep something so troublesome.

After searching carefully and confirming there was nothing else, Shen Xiu grabbed one of the hunter's hands and dragged him to the edge of the cliff. After checking that no one was around, he kicked him down.

With a splash.

The corpse fell into the mountain ravine, leaving neither bones nor remains.

As for the other worthless odds and ends on the hunter's body, Shen Xiu gathered them all up and tossed them off the cliff, cleaning the scene spotless.

Even that hard bow was thrown down the cliff.

Although the hunter did not look like someone with much of a background, it was better to be cautious.

After disposing of the body, Shen Xiu turned his gaze back to the Face-Preserving Fruit.

At this moment, he discovered that during the delay just now, several more wisps of white mist had appeared around the Face-Preserving Fruit. Its surface was now wreathed in shifting mist, which slowly seeped into the fruit.

The Face-Preserving Fruit was gradually turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye. Clearly, it was truly about to ripen.

When the surrounding wisps of mist faded from dense to thin, from thin to nothing, and the last patch of green vanished from the fruit's surface, the entire Face-Preserving Fruit ripened at that very moment.

Seeing that it had ripened, Shen Xiu delayed no further. He decisively found a scrap of cloth on himself, wrapped the Face-Preserving Fruit layer upon layer, and tucked it into his clothes.

He left the stone forest and descended the mountain.

Before long, he stepped onto a gravel path leading to Yang Family Town, while the endless distant mountains gradually fell behind him.

"Say, do any of you know where Old Ghost Head went?"

He Lao Jiu sat in the tavern, feeling somewhat puzzled.

He had recently made a friend with whom he had hit it off well. After only a few meetings, they had already chatted most happily.

His friend, Old Ghost Head, came to this tavern every afternoon. They had even agreed to have a drink that evening—whoever fell first was a coward.

Yet the man had not shown up at all, not even a hair of him.

Just yesterday, the other man had kept talking about whether He Lao Jiu had gathered any good herbs lately.

He Lao Jiu had been stood up and felt thoroughly gloomy.

The rough men in the tavern burst into laughter.

"Haha, who knows about that dead ghost? Maybe he's lying up on the mountain today."

"There are so many monsters on the mountain. Maybe some fox spirit lured him away. With Old Ghost Head's build, how many days could he even last..."

"How can you all be so vicious? What if—what if he's crippled instead..."

"Hahaha..."

Amid the laughter, curses, and banter around the tavern, joking about matters of life and death, Shen Xiu, seated among them, inadvertently thought of that strong man who had tried to seize his medicine.

After drinking a pot of wine to warm himself, Shen Xiu left the tavern.

Not long after Shen Xiu left, a plump young man in the tavern also followed him out.

His tiny eyes, buried amid layers of flesh, darted around at Shen Xiu's figure on the street before he stealthily trailed after him.

This fat man's tracking methods were far from clever—one could even call them clumsy. He had followed Shen Xiu for less than half a street before Shen Xiu noticed the indistinct, furtive figure behind him.

Shen Xiu's brows knitted slightly, and his five fingers immediately settled over the Hundred-Refined Saber at his waist.

There truly were plenty of blind little thieves in this chaotic town. Last time he had driven away a pair, and now another had come. They were like chives in a field—cut down one crop, and another sprang up.

Unable to make out the identity of the person following him, Shen Xiu continued walking with an unchanged expression, as though he had noticed nothing.

From the corner of his eye.

He noted that it was a plump figure.

After walking for a while, Shen Xiu deliberately yet casually turned into a deserted alley, slowing his pace in a way that was difficult to notice.

The follower behind him never realized that the person ahead had already noticed the movement behind him. He continued trailing after Shen Xiu furtively.

Brimming with excitement.

He was utterly unaware that, as the figure ahead ventured deeper in, the lights had gradually dimmed and he had unknowingly entered a secluded alley beside the street.

Shen Xiu's steps grew slower and slower, while the distance between him and his follower steadily closed.

Only a few steps remained. As they passed a corner.

Shen Xiu's right hand had already secretly gripped the Hundred-Refined Saber at his waist. His strength gathered, coiling and building, ready to unleash a Thunderous Strike the next instant.

Yet at this moment.

The figure behind him quickly hurried forward several steps, then spoke first, his voice carrying a hint of sleaze.

"Hehe, brother, buying medicine?"