The Desire to Kill Was Rising!

What surprised Zou Feng slightly was that Yang Yanpeng had not made a move that very night.

Even by the next day, there was still no sign of activity.

But Zou Feng did not particularly mind for now. The longer this dragged on, the stronger his three evil arts would become.

And Yang Yanpeng would suffer more and more from being sheared clean.

As for that "Little Cui," she had not caused any trouble at Yang Estate for the time being.

Clearly, her mission was mainly to gather intelligence after infiltrating the estate and wait for an opportunity.

So there was no need for him to take enormous risks to expose her right now.

Everything could wait until he had refined Yang Yanpeng and seen his strength soar...

As he waited without hurry or impatience, another three days passed.

Worth mentioning was that over these three days, Xu Haoran truly had not revealed any obvious flaws amid the torment of waiting.

Under normal circumstances, he should have been unable to eat or drink, and hardly able to sleep at all.

It seemed that his improvement in strength had given him a measure of confidence.

Of course, another possibility could not be ruled out...

On the afternoon of the third day, Xu Haoran left Yang Estate with more than a dozen servants on business.

Yang Estate's businesses were spread throughout Yuan Guang County. Whenever one of the shops outside was too busy to cope, people would temporarily be sent from the estate to help out.

Zou Feng should originally have gone as well, but the kitchen was desperately short-handed, so Luo Yong forcibly kept him behind.

Yet with fewer people in the kitchen, things naturally became even busier, and Zou Feng was run completely off his feet.

Still, once he openly attained rank and cast off his lowly status, he would no longer have to live a life of laboring and cooking.

A ranked martial artist would never lack a good meal wherever they went, and could live without producing anything at all.

They remained busy until evening before master and disciple could finally rest.

"Master, once your disciple attains rank, you, Mistress, and Grandmaster should all leave Yang Estate with me."

Zou Feng was giving Luo Yong reassurance in advance, lest the man constantly worry that Zou Feng would forget those close to him after soaring to great heights.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Luo Yong first revealed a gratified smile, then shook his head. "This thoughtfulness of yours is enough to satisfy your master."

"But have you considered this? A ranked martial artist with no family fortune may certainly live well enough alone, but maintaining martial arts resources while supporting an entire household?"

"Throughout Yuan Guang County, ranked martial artists are neither especially numerous nor especially rare..."

"In short, attaining rank does not mean everything will be smooth sailing. It only means you have set foot on another path, with more opportunities that ordinary folk can scarcely hope to look up at!"

At this point, Luo Yong tapped his dry tobacco pipe before continuing, "That other path is a long one. It may even be harder to walk!"

"So you still need to keep working hard, kid. Don't rush to repay your master's kindness. Once you truly settle down in the future, there will be plenty of chances."

Luo Yong truly was thinking of Zou Feng, and his words also brimmed with the pride of a craftsman.

After all, with his cooking skills, he would never starve wherever he went. There was truly no need to rush into becoming a burden for his disciple.

Zou Feng was touched by the heartfelt advice, but there was something he found unbearable to keep bottled up inside.

He was not some ordinary ranked martial artist.

His poison arts were about to reach the state of "mastery," granting him an exceptionally high-quality advancement that most martial artists would not even dare dream of.

Advancing to the eighth rank in a short time was as certain as a nail driven into a board—there was no suspense whatsoever.

Unfortunately, as for evil arts, unless absolutely necessary, keeping them hidden was the best choice.

Luo Yong's encouragement continued, but Zou Feng suddenly froze.

The "mother gu" in the little bamboo cage inside his pocket suddenly reacted.

His expression changed at once, and he was overjoyed.

Yang Yanpeng had finally made his move against Xu Haoran?

Judging from the mother gu's reaction, Xu Haoran must have already crushed the child gu to death.

No wonder Yang Yanpeng had held himself back before. So he had been waiting for an opportunity for Xu Haoran to leave the estate?

He definitely could not let his family know that he cultivated poison arts. He had to practice in secret and arrange everything in the shadows.

And now, with experts from Heartfelt Martial Hall stationed within Yang Estate, it was obviously extremely inconvenient for him to "harvest the fruit" and such.

Fortunately, the opportunity had finally come today. Xu Haoran had gone with quite a few servants to one of Yang Estate's shops outside, serving as temporary helpers.

By the time, the servants acting as temporary helpers should also have been due to return to the estate.

So Yang Yanpeng must have struck while Xu Haoran was on his way back, taking him down...

"Master, your disciple just remembered something. I need to leave the estate first."

Whenever Zou Feng left the estate now, he simply asked Luo Yong for leave directly.

After all, temporarily purchasing all sorts of things was common business for the kitchen, and as a cook's apprentice, Zou Feng could theoretically leave the estate openly at any time.

This also let him skip the steward's procedures, making it most convenient.

Naturally unaware of the situation, Luo Yong said, "What are you rushing for? Drink the snow snake soup your Mistress brewed first. This is good stuff. Even the master relies on it to replenish his qi and blood."

Zou Feng hurriedly said, "No, no, I'll drink it when I get back. Your disciple really is in a hurry..."

"Hey, are you in such a rush to visit the pleasure quarter?"

Luo Yong did not make things difficult for him any further. Shaking his head helplessly, he said, "Go on, go on. You were fine just a moment ago, so why did you suddenly get that sort of itch..."

By then, Zou Feng had already turned and jogged away, looking truly impatient.

But what he craved was not the bodies of girls from the pleasure quarter. What he craved was Yang Yanpeng, who should already have ripened beyond ripeness!

Tonight would be the moment when the Five Poisons Skill reached "mastery."

After all, he had cultivated evil arts, and Zou Feng normally had to suppress himself bitterly.

The desire to kill was rising!

After leaving Yang Estate, the light rain gradually began to fall, and there were few pedestrians around. Zou Feng's expression abruptly changed.

Evil aura surged around him!

Within Yang Estate, he had worked hard to maintain the image of a pure-hearted young man.

Perhaps, in a moment, he could finally let it loose once...

Whether it was his master Luo Yong or everyone else around him, they were all wrong!

The relaxation he needed after martial training was neither listening to music in the pleasure quarter nor having maids warm his bed.

It was...

A wholehearted, blood-soaked slaughter!

Zou Feng was not worried about heading in the wrong direction.

With the mother gu, the closer he came to the child gu's corpse, the more intense its reaction would become.

Conversely, it would gradually settle down.

Thus, Zou Feng quickly discovered that Xu Haoran had left Yuan Guang County through the east gate.

Or rather, it was more likely that Yang Yanpeng had forcibly taken him away.

But just before leaving the city, Zou Feng suddenly turned into a narrow alley.

Only ten breaths later, he emerged once more, and his clothing had completely changed.

Gray fitted clothes, a wide-brimmed bamboo hat.

As he walked, he reached up and pulled the brim lower, concealing most of his face.

Because it was raining, neither his attire nor his hurried manner of travel drew attention.

After passing through the city gate, he continued east along the official road at a rapid pace.

The rain was falling harder and harder...