Reentering the Land of Wu

It was the time of the full moon again.

Ripples spread beside the reed beds as a black-canopied boat drifted slowly along.

"There are more exotic beasts and treasure fish in the deep water, and the number of treasure fish in the shallows has increased several times over. Even here in my reed beds, people come by every day now."

"Hmm? Looks like I caught something."

Xu Fan hauled up his fishing net, and a flash of crimson could be seen struggling fiercely inside it.

He carefully pulled it aboard the black-canopied boat, took out the treasure fish, put it in a bamboo basket, and placed it in the water jar before covering it.

"This Scarlet Blood Perch must weigh at least seven or eight jin. The silver I get for it should be enough to last me a while."

"Last night I condensed the Chengming Wheel. I can afford to take greater risks now, but I wonder how I compare to a martial master?"

Nearly half a month had passed since his last visit to the fish market.

Over the course of a month, he had eaten nearly twenty treasure fish. Naturally, his cultivation had achieved twice the result with half the effort, and he had condensed the Chengming Wheel without a hitch.

Next, he only needed to condense the Circulation Wheel. Once Law Power circulated endlessly through his body, his strength would make a qualitative leap.

Unfortunately, he had seen too little in this life. He had only met two martial-artist supervisors.

He had never met the martial-master manager at the fish market.

"With my current strength, Qi and Blood martial artists can no longer threaten me, but it's still not enough."

Things worked out when handled slowly, and Xu Fan was in no hurry to come down from the mountain and take his revenge.

The fish market was just one of the Canal Gang's businesses in Wuling County, and the gang had plenty of martial masters. Killing those two supervisors would only cause unnecessary trouble.

Besides, he had no idea how strong a martial master was.

Acting rashly was not in his nature.

"I'll go to the Land of Wu and find out more first. It would be best if I could buy some spells to cultivate."

"As an immortal cultivator, fighting hand-to-hand doesn't suit my otherworldly bearing."

As he thought this, the Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram emerged deep in his eyes, turning slowly beneath the moonlight.

Before long, Xu Fan opened his eyes again and looked at the black-canopied boat heading toward his patch of reeds.

There were two people aboard, both tall and thin, wearing straw rain capes and looking to be in their twenties.

They were acquaintances he had met a few times in the past several days.

They were the brothers Li Dahe and Li Eryu, who had come to these reed beds several times because there were more treasure fish in the shallows.

"Little Xu, you made quite a commotion just now. Did you net a treasure fish?"

"It's all right if you didn't. Stick with us from now on, and we guarantee you'll live more comfortably than you do now."

As they spoke, the brothers stepped onto his black-canopied boat and, without asking, opened the bamboo basket in the water jar. Their eyes lit up at once.

"Well, well, lucky you. It's a Scarlet Blood Perch, and a big one at that."

"Even after the stall fee, this one Scarlet Blood Perch should fetch at least three or four taels, shouldn't it?"

"Big brother, with the one we caught, we've struck it rich this time!"

The brothers were so excited that they completely ignored Xu Fan beside them.

In their eyes, with his scrawny body, would Xu Fan dare resist?

"Heh heh, Xu Fan, consider this Scarlet Blood Perch your tribute for joining us."

"That's right, that's right."

"There are more treasure fish in the shallows now, so you won't lose out by sticking with us. No one else will dare bully you either."

"This Scarlet Blood Perch is too big. A fisherman like you, with your father and mother dead, would draw attention if you sold it yourself. We're doing this for your own good."

The brothers chattered back and forth, their faces alight with excitement, almost dancing for joy.

They had never expected that a night of fishing would bring them not only a Single-Horned Pomfret weighing three or four jin, but now a Scarlet Blood Perch as well.

Once they sold the treasure fish tomorrow, they would have at least five or six taels of silver in hand. With a little more saving, they would have enough to get wives for both of them!

"Finished?"

Xu Fan's gaze was icy, as though he were looking at dead men.

He had long been prepared for something like this, which was also why he had always been so cautious.

The lake was unlike the fish market, where there were rules of a sort.

Peach Blossom Spring Lake was vast, and killing a few people would largely go unnoticed.

Even if someone did find out, would the petty officials at the fish market seek justice? At most, they would use it to squeeze out some more money.

"Judging by that look, are you planning to fight us brothers to the death?"

The Li brothers were no fools, but they were not the least bit afraid either.

They exchanged a knowing glance and prepared to make their move.

They had originally wanted to keep the boy around to do their bidding, but now it seemed that was out of the question.

Crack!

Before Li Dahe could react, he saw that his younger brother's neck had been snapped. He slumped to the floor without a sound.

"You, you..."

Li Dahe's eyes widened, filled with terror. He breathed rapidly, unable even to get a complete sentence out.

Another crack rang out, and two corpses lay at Xu Fan's feet.

"Nothing special about it."

Xu Fan shook his head slightly, entirely calm inside.

He had long expected that the day would come when he would have to kill.

Alone on Peach Blossom Spring Lake, he was an easy target for bullying.

"Paupers!"

He searched the corpses and failed to find a single copper coin, making him so angry that he gave them a kick.

He stepped across to the other black-canopied boat and lifted a bamboo basket out of its water jar. Inside, a fish with a single horn on its head was struggling.

He put it in the water jar on his own boat, then tossed the two corpses onto the other one.

He poled his black-canopied boat through the reeds, towing the brothers' boat toward the waters near the deep-water zone.

He smashed a hole in the bottom of their boat, tied the two men up tightly, and watched them slowly sink.

"Something in the distance has been drawn over here."

Since entering unfamiliar waters, Xu Fan had kept Law Power flowing through his eyes, keeping watch on his surroundings.

As soon as he noticed something amiss, he poled the boat around and headed straight back to the reeds without lingering for a moment.

"That must have been some kind of exotic fish beast in the water."

According to the old fishermen, a treasure fish could transform into an exotic beast once it became strong enough.

Exotic beasts were not limited to fish, but included birds and land animals as well.

The Yin Mountains, stretching three thousand li across from Peach Blossom Spring Lake, held countless exotic beasts and treasure plants.

Treasure fish in the water and treasure plants in the mountains posed no threat, and even ordinary people could catch or gather them. Exotic beasts, however, required a martial master to subdue.

"I can take the treasure fish to the Land of Wu and see if I can barter them for something."

After glancing at the two treasure fish in the bamboo baskets in the water jar, Xu Fan sat cross-legged again and activated the Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram to absorb the moonlight.

Treasure fish were a great help to his cultivation, so presumably the immortal cultivators in the Land of Wu would need them too.

That way, he could trade for spells to cultivate and make up for his shortcomings.

A shichen passed quickly.

Xu Fan stood up, picked up the two bamboo baskets, and with a thought, his figure vanished.

On Shushui Peak.

Xu Fan appeared once more beside the stone table in the same courtyard.

"I'll need to find a secluded place to return next time."

"Why is it so noisy outside?"

It was not the sound of people merely talking; it sounded as though they were arguing and fighting over something.

"The Lu Household was wiped out?"

"The Purple Mansion immortal clans and Foundation Establishment Aristocratic Clans of Linhai Commandery didn't send anyone, but the nearby Rogue Cultivators heard the news and came in to loot the place without fear of death?"

"And cultivators from Qi Refinement lineages have slipped in among them?"

Xu Fan was stunned, but after thinking carefully about the conversation between the Lu father and son, he realized it really was possible.

"Could the Red Pine Sect be a demonic sect? How could they wipe out an entire household the moment they made a move?"

Xu Fan's heart tightened. What kind of godforsaken place was this?

"But I won't really die in this world. At worst, I can return early."

A barefoot man had nothing to fear from someone wearing shoes. Carrying the bamboo baskets, he pushed the door open and went out.

"Hmm? Fellow Daoist, when did you enter this courtyard?"