Chapter 23: Chapter 22: A Respectful Retreat
In the Cultivation Realm, everyone knew of the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array that covered the Mortal Territory of the Human Race.
The array was known as the Guardian Array of the Human Race, but all human Cultivators kept a respectful distance from it.
This land of human origin, enveloped by the array, held no Spirit Veins because of the array’s existence.
Cultivators could not practice their Cultivation, their descendants could not develop Spirit Roots, and no matter how much time passed, the vast land would never produce any cultivation resources.
If a Cultivator stayed within the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array for too long, their cultivation level would even drop.
No Cultivator would willingly approach this land unless they had no other choice.
To a Cultivator, being on this land where no Spiritual Qi could be felt was like being a fish out of water.
It was extremely uncomfortable.
If not for their clan’s rules, Wan Ziyuan and Wan Zifeng would never have come to a place like this.
They hadn’t even entered the range of the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array, yet the two of them already felt incredibly uncomfortable.
Right now, they just wanted to get the information they needed from Ding the Sixth as quickly as possible.
But Ding the Sixth didn’t know much. When asked about the relationship between Red Fox Town and the Da Xi imperial family, he was completely clueless.
No matter what they asked, Ding the Sixth either repeated the same few sentences or just answered that he didn’t know.
"Looks like he’s just a small fry who doesn’t know much. But this is enough. We don’t need to waste time going to Red Fox Town. We can go straight to the Da Xi imperial court and find that Ma Baoping."
"As an official of the Da Xi court, for him to send people to stir up trouble in Red Fox Town, he must have learned some kind of news!"
Wan Ziyuan said after a moment of contemplation.
It wasn’t that they had no other options; in truth, neither of them wanted to enter Red Fox Town.
They were under orders to investigate secretly. To get information from within Red Fox Town, they would inevitably have to resort to some extreme measures.
What if Venerable Red Fox valued Red Fox Town and had left some sort of contingency plan there?
A single misstep could mean they wouldn’t even leave a corpse behind.
Now that they had found this suspicious character, Ma Baoping, they could likely get the information they wanted by following his trail, possibly without ever needing to enter Red Fox Town.
"Let’s go!"
Wan Zifeng nodded, slapped his waist, and a Cyan Wood Ship, a Magical Artifact, appeared.
This was the Cyan Wood Ship their family had given them for travel. Even a Qi Cultivation stage Cultivator could pilot it. Its speed was average, but it was still more than twice as fast as traveling on foot.
The two soared into the sky and departed. After they left, Ding the Sixth collapsed to the ground, no longer breathing.
Mortals were like ants. Since the two were on a secret investigation and had already made a move against Ding the Sixth, they naturally wouldn’t let him live.
「 」
’This world really is too dangerous!’
Jiang Zuo watched from a distance as Ding the Sixth fell, a deep sense of crisis welling up in his heart once more.
He had finally encountered two Cultivators, but they turned out to be the type who would kill without batting an eye.
It was a good thing he always wore a green shirt and gray robes. When he was chasing Ding the Sixth earlier, he had been extremely cautious, moving only under the cover of branches and the forest.
This allowed him to spot the swiftly approaching Cyan Wood Ship in the sky from afar, rather than being seen first by the Cultivators on it.
Jiang Zuo immediately hid in the bushes, not daring to move, holding his breath as he secretly peeked out.
The two had already flown far away on their ship, but Jiang Zuo still didn’t dare to move.
He waited stiffly for over an hour. Seeing that there was still no movement in the area, Jiang Zuo finally crept quietly over to Ding the Sixth’s corpse.
Jiang Zuo had come over to search Ding the Sixth’s body, hoping to find some useful information.
But aside from over three hundred silver taels, there was nothing else of value.
Jiang Zuo didn’t linger. He left the corpse where it was and departed swiftly.
’Those two Cultivators can’t be the masterminds, and this Ding fellow didn’t have any other contacts in Red Fox Town.’
Jiang Zuo thought carefully as he walked back toward the mountain path where he had fought the five brothers.
At first, Ding the Sixth had indeed been fleeing in a panic, without a clear direction.
Later, he had gradually calmed down.
But he continued to move away from Red Fox Town.
’It’s clear he had no companions left in Red Fox Town, no one to rely on. Otherwise, he would have returned to Red Fox Town to discuss what to do next with his comrades.’
’If those two Cultivators hadn’t shown up out of nowhere, after I killed Ding the Sixth, everything probably would have been fine. I wouldn’t have had to worry about news of my considerable combat strength spreading.’
’The seven Ding Brothers hadn’t come to Red Fox Town for me initially. The only reason they targeted me was because of an unexpected incident along the way.’
’In the direction those two Cultivators went, there are several towns of various sizes. The most likely destination is the Imperial Capital. When that Ding fellow was being questioned, he also mentioned the Imperial Capital many times in his answers.’
’If they were going to Red Fox Town, at their speed, it would have taken them less than ten minutes to get there from here.’
’So, it’s unlikely they were headed to Red Fox Town.’
From such a great distance, Jiang Zuo naturally couldn’t hear what Ding the Sixth was saying.
However, Jiang Zuo could roughly guess from the shape of Ding the Sixth’s mouth.
In his past life, Jiang Zuo had skimmed a video analyzing the feasibility of lip-reading. The video was too long, so he hadn’t watched it carefully, but he remembered the conclusion at the end very clearly.
Simply put, it’s impossible to understand every single word someone is saying just by watching the shape of their mouth, like they do in novels.
However, based on the speaker’s identity, their environment, their state, and so on...
...even an ordinary person could guess one or several keywords by repeatedly mimicking the speaker’s more distinct mouth shapes and sounding out possible syllables.
Just now, when Ding the Sixth was being questioned, he repeated his answers many times.
Jiang Zuo watched this and, after a little experimentation, came up with two keywords.
One was "don’t know," and the other, combined with the direction the two Cultivators were headed, was very likely "imperial court."
’These six Ding Brothers probably weren’t just out to kill me for revenge. If they only wanted to kill me, it would have been much easier and simpler to do it when I was outside the town farming. They didn’t need to ambush me so far away.’
’They didn’t even cover their faces when they attacked, which means they wouldn’t have spared the other passengers on the carriage either.’
’What would they gain from killing all of us? Neither I nor the other passengers would have much money on us. They even asked me where my money was hidden, so they clearly had a good idea of that.’
’Lure the tiger from the mountain... draw Chief Lu out of town? Then they’d take the opportunity to break into the jail and rescue that Laoqi?’
’So, I just had bad luck?’
Jiang Zuo’s mind raced. After some analysis, he had figured out most of the Ding Brothers’ plan.
The situation wasn’t hard to figure out.
From beginning to end, he was never the core of the incident. If the Great Black dog he had sold hadn’t performed so well, he would never have been dragged into this at all.
’Forget it. A wise man doesn’t stand under a crumbling wall. I can’t afford to provoke them, but can’t I afford to hide from them?’
’No matter what the mastermind behind these brothers or those two Cultivators are planning, or what it has to do with Red Fox Town, I’ll just go hide for a few months to half a year. By then, this whole affair should be over one way or another.’
Jiang Zuo didn’t hesitate and made a firm decision.
He had analyzed a great deal, and based on his conclusions, he should be in the clear.
But it was still just an analysis. What if he was wrong?
Besides, it looked like something big was about to happen in Red Fox Town. No matter what, running far away was definitely the right move.
「 」
Before long, Jiang Zuo returned to the place where Ding Yi and his four brothers had died.
The bodies of the five brothers were still where he left them, though parts had been gnawed on by passing beasts.
Between Red Fox Town and Sifang County, a carriage made one round trip per day.
The carriage from Sifang County wouldn’t pass through here until around three in the afternoon.
The five brothers’ bodies probably hadn’t been discovered yet.
Jiang Zuo didn’t want anyone to know these brothers had died at his hands, so he hoisted up the corpses one by one and threw them into a distant mountain ravine.
He also carefully cleaned up all the bloodstains and traces of the fight on the path.
It was no longer possible to walk to Sifang County today, and Jiang Zuo had no intention of trying.
He still needed to invent an excuse about escaping and getting lost. It would be best to arrive in Sifang County tomorrow morning.
Walking alone on the mountain path, Jiang Zuo finally had the time to carefully examine the changes to his attributes and panel.
Facing the Ding Brothers’ siege, Jiang Zuo had played it safe and spent 500 Reputation at once to add 50 points to his strength!
In terms of combat experience and skill, Jiang Zuo knew he was no match for these men.
He couldn’t let the Ding Brothers get close, or he might be the one to die.
So, Jiang Zuo had unhesitatingly nearly doubled his strength, relying on pure, overwhelming force.
With his strength nearly doubled, he didn’t believe that crappy Chain Armor could block his arrows without taking damage.
The 50 points in strength had a clear effect. Under the crushing pressure of his raw power, not a single one of the Ding Brothers could withstand a single blow.
At Jiang Zuo’s mental command, lines of text appeared on his attribute panel.
Name: Jiang Zuo
Profession: Novice Beast Tamer (56/100)
Race: Human Mortal (Holds one chance to change race)
Lifespan: 16/104
Beast Taming Reputation: 342
Attributes: Strength 115.7; Physique 24.9; Agility 25.1
Beast Taming Talent: Learning LV1 (52/100)
Skills: Beast Pattern Engraving LV1 (0/100), Beast Pattern Drawing LV1 (0/100)
Cultivation Beast Cage (0/1): None
Obsession Relic: None
Beast Soul Power: 120
Held Beast Pattern: Porcupine Roar
Active Quest: 1. Successfully cause one Pet Beast to undergo a Mutation.
...
’My strength attribute is over a hundred, but there are no other changes to the panel. Ugh, adding so much strength at once... I’m afraid my build is going to get bulkier again. I’m not going to turn into some kind of mountain of muscle, am I?’
The surge in strength once again gave Jiang Zuo a palpable feeling of having grown stronger.
Seeing the rocks and trees by the roadside, Jiang Zuo couldn’t resist punching them.
The tree trunk shattered and crashed to the ground. A less sturdy rock exploded as if it had been blown up by dynamite.
At the same time, his appetite had soared. He had to eat all of the dozens of meat buns the Ding Brothers had been carrying just to feel less famished.
What vexed Jiang Zuo the most was the impending change to his physique.
The last time he added 30 strength points at once, the change in his build was already quite noticeable.
He had added 10 strength points the day before yesterday, and today he added another 50 at once. That was a total of 60 points in three days.
Jiang Zuo couldn’t imagine how his body would change.
’Good thing I’m already planning to lie low for a few months. Even if the changes are significant, I’ll be able to explain it away!’
Jiang Zuo gave himself a pat on the back for his decision to flee.
’Also, the gap between my Physique and strength is too large. My body is almost at its limit. I’m afraid that once the attributes differ by more than a hundred points, my body won’t be able to take it, even without doing anything.’
Besides his worries about his body shape, another hidden danger had emerged after he had recklessly dumped so many points into strength.
Strength was ultimately built on a physical foundation. A frail body could not exert immense power.
Only because he was adding points to his attributes could he create such a huge gap between his strength and Physique. Normally, to train one’s strength to such a degree, one’s physique wouldn’t lag so far behind.
When he fought the Ding Brothers just now, Jiang Zuo had only gone all-out for a few seconds, but afterward, he had vaguely felt his muscles straining under the load.
He had been a little suspicious at first, but punching the rock just now gave him the same feeling again.
After a moment’s thought, Jiang Zuo knew the problem was that his Physique Attribute was too low.
Therefore, he couldn’t add any more points to strength until he raised his Physique.
Even now, he could only exert his full strength for short bursts; otherwise, his body wouldn’t be able to handle it.
But since this was a problem he could solve by adding points to Physique, Jiang Zuo wasn’t in a hurry for now.
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