Heavenly Eye of Minute Insight, Repaying Kindness

Chapter 20: Heavenly Eye of Minute Insight, Repaying Kindness

Late at night, when all was still, Yu Chen returned to Qingfeng Mausoleum.

Worth mentioning was that the Infernal Mask was truly wondrous. Not only could it burrow beneath Yu Chen's facial skin and flesh—

Even the blood that had splashed onto him during his battle with the tiger seemed to have been absorbed by the mask. In but a short while, not a trace remained.

And after absorbing the evil tiger's blood, the patterns on the mask seemed even more vivid, as though they might drip with color.

For the time being, however, Yu Chen had not noticed any more obvious changes, so he set it aside and paid it no mind.

Returning to the earthen hut and tightly shutting the doors and windows, Yu Chen took out the Scripture of Deliverance.

At the beginning of the scroll, Young Master Wang's final wish had vanished. Within the mist, Young Master Wang's ghost by the Yellow Springs River seemed to sense something. The resentment around him dissipated completely, and he crawled onto the river-crossing boat, vanishing at the end of the surging river.

Immediately afterward, golden light stirred across the scroll, and ash-gray words appeared amid the painting.

[Eighth-Grade Mortal Wish fulfilled, Eighth-Grade Mortal Soul delivered, bestowing treasure: "Heavenly Eye of Minute Insight"]

[The Heavenly Eye sees the minute and knows the whole; it sees all living beings and all things, leaving nothing able to hide.]

The gray words flashed past. Then, a beam of light shot forth from the scroll and shone upon Yu Chen's eyes.

At that moment, he felt a hazy current of warmth rise within his eyes, as though something had been ferried into them by that light.

After a fleeting instant of daze, everything returned to normal.

The glow of the Scripture of Deliverance dimmed, and it settled steadily into Yu Chen's hands.

Only, its descent was more than ten times slower than before!

Yu Chen raised his head and swept his gaze around. Everything seemed far clearer—the every hole in the earthen walls, every mark on the wooden door, even the insects lying dormant in the hole at the corner of the wall all came into view!

When Yu Chen had forged an Innate Realm body before, all five of his senses, including his sight, had been strengthened.

But they had never reached such a terrifying extent.

Yu Chen raised his hand. His gaze could even pierce through cloth and flesh, allowing him to "see" the Internal Force and blood qi flowing through his meridians! When he tried circulating the incomplete volume of Subduing the Dragon and Taming the Tiger, he could clearly see the path along which his Internal Force moved, with nothing concealed!

On a sudden whim,

Yu Chen pushed open the door and looked up.

To his eyes, the pitch-black night was like broad daylight. The quiet crows resting on the branches looked even more distinct, like clusters of "flames."

Yu Chen "saw" their blood qi and vitality.

For the larger ones, their blood qi was like fist-sized balls of light, shining brilliantly. For the old and frail ones, it was like fireflies, as though it might go out at any moment.

"Phew..."

Letting out a long breath of stale air, Yu Chen closed the door and lay down on the bed.

He had already learned some of the functions of the Heavenly Eye of Minute Insight—but certainly not all of them. Just like the Infernal Ghost Mask, he had only just discovered that absorbing the blood of that silver-white tiger would bring about some sort of change.

All in all, the Heavenly Eye of Minute Insight could slow the speed of all changes in Yu Chen's eyes, grant him the ability to see clearly in the dark, and detect changes in the blood qi and vitality of living creatures.

Those were the three functions Yu Chen had initially summarized.

Having thought it over, Yu Chen shook his head, blew out the lamp, narrowed his eyes, and fell asleep.

He would wait until dawn tomorrow, then head to the south of the city to collect his silver!

At daybreak, the light snow gradually abated.

Xie Qing, the brawny man in a short shirt, led a group of martial wanderers down the mountain. They loaded the tiger's corpse onto a flatbed cart that had long been waiting by the city gates, then marched grandly into the county seat.

Though the morning in Weishui was bitterly cold, commoners and merchants heading to the early market had already begun filling the streets.

It looked like an ordinary morning, without the slightest ripple.

Until several martial wanderers from the Zhengqing Gang pulled a huge flatbed cart over the snow that had fallen through the night.

Foul-smelling blood followed the cart tracks, leaving two glaring crimson lines across the snow.

The people curiously followed the bloodstains upward. It would have been better had they not looked, for the moment they did, their hearts nearly leaped from their chests in fright!

Upon the cart lay the silver-white tiger's mountain-like body, limp and sprawled out. Its enormous head seemed to have been smashed apart by some terrifying force. Its two eyes had become bloody hollows, and red and white matter dripped from within, flowing down the cart.

Though dead, the beast's overwhelming ferocity had not diminished in the slightest!

Countless commoners and merchants stopped in their tracks, drawing in sharp breaths!

Beneath countless horrified gazes, the Zhengqing Gang's martial wanderers pulled the cart straight into the Wang Household estate.

When Old Master Wang saw the tiger's corpse, he immediately threw himself onto Young Master Wang's coffin and wailed to heaven and earth, crying, "Son, your father has avenged you!" It was enough to make all who heard it grieve and weep. Xie Qing could only offer a couple of perfunctory words of consolation, telling him to restrain his grief and accept fate.

Old Master Wang was also a straightforward man. Once he had cried enough, he wiped his eyes and immediately ordered someone to bring out the promised hundred taels of patterned silver for Xie Qing. He also promised that from then on, the Zhengqing Gang would receive a half-price discount on all medicinal herbs and ointments bought from Wang Household shops.

Xie Qing and the others stayed at the Wang Household estate for a meal. That afternoon, they left with the silver and returned to the old street in the south of the city.

Outside the Wang Household estate, just as they collected the reward, news of the Zhengqing Gang's campaign against the silver-white tiger spread throughout Weishui County Seat, causing no small stir.

On the way back, the martial wanderers basked in the admiring looks of the commoners, and for a time, completely forgot their terror of the tiger.

The moment they reached the loft, Xie Qing did not even have time to tidy up before immediately taking out the hundred taels of patterned silver Old Master Wang had given them and placing it into a wooden chest.

Then he looked at his brothers and instructed, "One-Eye, go to the bank and withdraw another hundred taels of silver. Put it in together."

The martial wanderers were all stunned when they heard this.

They naturally knew that the hundred taels of patterned silver in the chest were for the senior who had truly slain the tiger.

But why did their boss want to add another hundred taels?

They had made some money over the years, but most of it had been spent maintaining the gang and its businesses. They did not have much silver they could actually use, and a hundred taels was no small sum to them.

"Boss, what do you mean by this?" One-Eye asked.

"Are you all idiots?" Xie Qing glared at them and pointed at the hundred taels of patterned silver in the chest. "That tiger was dealt with by that senior. This is what he deserves."

Then he pointed at himself. "But he did not just deal with that tiger. He saved our lives, and he also gave us half-price discounts at the Wang Household shops. Doesn't that count for money?"

At those words, the martial wanderers finally understood. One-Eye took the banknotes and went to the bank to exchange them for silver.

It was not really their fault for failing to think of it. In their minds, would a senior capable of killing that tiger lack such a small amount of money?

Only Xie Qing thought that since the other party had specifically asked for the reward money, he must be in need of wealth. That was why he had decided to add another hundred taels.

"By rights, what that senior gave us is worth far more than a hundred taels of patterned silver. Unfortunately, the gang does not have much ready cash at present, so this can only be a token of our appreciation. I only hope that senior will not find it lacking."

Xie Qing shook his head and sighed.

Of course, how much of this was to repay kindness, and how much was to befriend a senior capable of easily killing that tiger, was impossible to say.

But as the saying went, judge deeds, not hearts. At the very least, when it came to repaying kindness, Xie Qing had done nothing wrong.

(End of Chapter)