Chen Yuanwai

A few days earlier, Sun Bodyguard and an idle vagrant from the village had died at the Mountain Path Entrance.

They were suspected of having run into a ghost and been killed.

Though the Chen Family was a gentry household, they were merely a branch of the Linhe Chen Clan. Losing a martial artist came at no small cost.

To fill the gap in their fighting strength, the Chen Family had hired Hunter Gao as an instructor.

Who could have imagined that only two days later, Hunter Gao's home would burn to ruins, with neither man nor corpse to be found.

Their earlier investment had gone down the drain again!

What was more, with members of the Chen Family meeting with disaster one after another, their authority in the village had suffered a tremendous blow.

"What is going on?"

A youth of fourteen or fifteen in a fitted martial outfit growled, "Did someone run into a ghost again?"

The Weasel-faced Advisor beside him hunched his head down and did not dare speak.

For this youth was Chen Mingjie, the Chen Family's Young Master and the future head of the family.

Chen Yuanwai was not in the village, so he was the one in charge.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Chen Mingjie's spittle sprayed across the Weasel-faced Advisor's face.

This young master had an exceptionally violent temper, and he was also venting the terror in his heart.

He had always lived in the County Town, enjoying a pampered and privileged life.

Then, all of a sudden, his entire family had moved to this remote mountain village, far from the bustle and splendor of the town. He had long been stifled to the point of bursting.

Who would have thought that this sort of place would keep spawning one bizarre incident after another? In only a few days, several people had died.

Including two martial artists.

One could well imagine the pressure Chen Mingjie was under!

With a bitter face, the Weasel-faced Advisor answered, "Young Master, this subordinate has already sent someone to the County Town to report to Master. Please return to the ancestral residence and rest first. Leave matters here to this subordinate."

"Forget it."

Chen Mingjie irritably waved his hand.

He did not truly care much whether Hunter Gao was alive or dead. He simply could not save face in front of so many people.

The Chen Family's Young Master left in a rage with his two younger brothers.

"Disperse, all of you, disperse!"

The moment the three young masters left, the Weasel-faced Advisor had the household servants drive away the onlookers. "There's nothing to see!"

The villagers immediately scattered like a flock of startled birds.

Woof! Woof!

Just then, a Big Yellow Dog suddenly darted out from the nearby bushes and barked loudly at the Weasel-faced Advisor.

The Weasel-faced Advisor jumped in fright. "Where did this beast come from?"

A villager recognized it. "That's Hunter Gao's dog!"

"Da Hu!"

Zhang Yuan, who had been mingling in the crowd and watching the commotion, promptly called out, "Come here!"

He feared that if he did not speak up, Da Hu would be beaten to death by the Chen Family's servants.

That would have been such a pity.

Hearing Zhang Yuan's call, Da Hu immediately ran over to him, wagging its tail affectionately.

The surrounding villagers saw this, but none thought anything was amiss.

Everyone knew that Zhang Yuan had been helping Hunter Gao with work for the past few years, so of course he was familiar with this watchdog.

Now that Hunter Gao's home had been destroyed, there was a ninety percent chance that the man himself was gone as well.

If Da Hu did not follow Zhang Yuan, it would have no way to survive.

Once the Weasel-faced Advisor recovered his senses, he fixed Zhang Yuan with a sinister stare.

Then he gave a cold snort.

He truly had no mind at the moment to trouble Zhang Yuan. Once Chen Yuanwai returned to take charge, there would be plenty of time and chances to deal with a mere mud-legged peasant.

Zhang Yuan was thus able to bring Da Hu back to his home without incident.

When Zhang's Mother saw Zhang Yuan return with the Big Yellow Dog, she was quite surprised. "Yuan Baby, what happened?"

"Something happened to Master Gao."

Zhang Yuan had no choice but to explain, then said, "I raised Da Hu myself. Now it no longer has a home, so I brought it back to raise it. It'll be good for guarding the house and yard."

Zhang's Mother sighed. "I never expected something to happen to Master Gao too. He was a good man."

Zhang Yuan had always shared good news but not bad with his mother. In the past, whenever he suffered grievances at Hunter Gao's place, he never mentioned them after returning home.

And Hunter Gao had indeed taught him quite a few hunting skills.

Thus, Zhang's Mother was deeply grateful to Hunter Gao. "Then keep the dog."

"Mm."

Zhang Yuan took down a strip of smoked meat hanging beneath the eaves, cut off half, and threw it to Da Hu.

Da Hu wagged its head and tail, delighted beyond measure.

Zhang Yuan rubbed its furry head and said, "Mother, I plan to buy a house in the County Town. Let's leave the village and move into town."

Zhang's Mother was instantly stunned. "Move into town?"

She was not some ignorant, foolish village woman. She knew very well how difficult it was to buy a home and settle in the County Town, so she asked in disbelief, "Yuan Baby, how much silver would that cost?"

"I can earn the money."

Zhang Yuan said in a low voice, "Mother, the moment Chen Yuanwai's family moved here, our village began suffering one disaster after another. And the Chen Family is no kind-hearted lot. If we keep living here, I'm afraid..."

He did not say what he was afraid of, but his words easily stirred the fear buried in Zhang's Mother's heart.

Zhang's Mother did not care much about her own safety, but where Zhang Yuan was concerned, it was entirely different.

"Since you've made up your mind, Mother supports you."

She said resolutely, "But you must be careful. Never act recklessly."

Zhang Yuan smiled. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

He rubbed the Big Yellow Dog's head again as it wolfed down the meat. "I won't go deep into the mountains. Da Hu can help me hunt. As long as I spend more time at it, I'll definitely save enough silver to buy a house."

In truth, that was impossible, but Zhang's Mother did not understand such things. "That's good, then!"

Da Hu gave a woof.

Zhang Yuan patted its head, but his thoughts had already flown to Thousand Peak Mountain.

The silver he had saved so far was still far from enough for him to establish a household in the County Town.

If he wanted to earn more money, aside from bloodstained windfalls, he could only seek his fortune in the mountains.

Fortunately, Zhang Yuan had already blazed a trail before.

What he had not expected was this.

At noon that very day, Chen Deping, Chen Yuanwai, returned to the village and summoned the villagers from every household to the ancestral hall!

After receiving notice from the Village Chief, Zhang Yuan hurried over as the Zhang family's representative.

The Chen Family Village ancestral hall stood at the center of the village. It had been expanded from the ancestral shrine of the Linhe Chen Clan.

The two were inseparably bound together.

For the more than one hundred households of Chen Family Village, the ancestral hall was undoubtedly indispensable.

The villagers worshiped their ancestors and offered incense so that the ancestral hall would bless and protect them from the incursions of the strange and uncanny.

Here, Zhang Yuan saw Chen Deping for the first time.

This Yuanwai looked to be in his thirties or forties. He was well dressed, with a gloomy countenance, and his eyes narrowed from time to time.

He gave off the impression that his thoughts were impossible to fathom.

Beside Chen Yuanwai stood another man in fitted martial clothes, broad and sturdy in build, with a fierce and valiant air.

Zhang Yuan's heart tightened.

At a glance, he could tell that the other man was an Entry-Level Martial Artist not to be trifled with. The aura he displayed was no weaker than Sun Bodyguard's, and perhaps even stronger!

Without question, this was a helper Chen Yuanwai had brought from the County Town after receiving the news.

It also showed his determination to seize control of Chen Family Village.

To be honest, Zhang Yuan truly could not understand why this gentry master insisted on settling down and establishing his household in Chen Family Village.

Even at such a high cost, he would not be swayed!