Chapter 19: 18. It Can Be Finished in One Night

18. It Can Be Finished in One Night

Upon hearing from a fellow sect member beside him that there was an Alchemist ahead, the bearded male cultivator from Black Iron Villa immediately followed his junior brother's gaze, and then saw Chen An, who was carrying a medicine chest on his back and about to leave the Market.

Then, he immediately shouted in a commanding tone: "You with the medicine chest in front, stop right there!"

Chen An acted as if he hadn't heard; not only did he not stop, but he even quickened his pace a little.

"Are you deaf, you son of a bitch? Didn't you hear me calling you!"

The bearded male cultivator was shamed into anger and, with the eight people behind him, quickly walked toward Chen An.

Seeing this, others in the Market immediately distanced themselves from Chen An, fearing they would be implicated.

Soon, Chen An's path was blocked by the bearded male cultivator, and the remaining eight people surrounded him tightly.

"Fellow Daoists, is there something you need?"

Chen An played dumb, wearing a friendly expression, but the fingers under his sleeves were already glowing with a layer of Gold Light, prepared to strike at any moment.

The bearded male cultivator didn't waste words, drawing the large machete from his back and saying with a ferocious look: "Either leave all the money you have on you, or leave your life behind!"

Chen An narrowed his eyes, wanting to strike.

The bearded man was a Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator, and he was also a Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator.

With the support of his Gold Light Dharma Spell and a sneak attack, he was confident he could capture the leader first, and then defeat the remaining eight one by one.

But just at the moment he was about to strike, he thought of his wives and concubines at home, and thought of the child in his young wife's belly.

After thinking it over, he decided against it.

He would be moving to the Core Area in a few days, so there was no need to cause trouble during this time.

Anyway, he only had about 3 Low-grade Spirit Stones on him; if they were gone, they were gone.

He would just remember the appearance of these nine people for now, and when he was strong enough one day, he would come back to settle the score and make them pay back a hundredfold.

Chen An consoled himself this way, making the decision to lose money to avoid disaster.

But just at this moment, one of the Black Iron Villa cultivators suddenly had his eyes light up and said:

"Senior Brother Zhang, I've been thinking, rather than robbing this Alchemist of his money, it would be better to just drag him back to Black Iron Villa and have him refine pills for us day and night."

"Good idea, why didn't I think of that?"

The bearded male cultivator nodded, feeling that his junior brother's words made sense, so he said to Chen An in a commanding tone: "Kid, come back with us to refine pills, otherwise don't think about leaving here alive tod—"

"…Puff!"

Before the bearded male cultivator could finish his sentence, he was suddenly interrupted by a dull sound.

The next second, the bearded male cultivator fell to his knees with a thud, clutching his left knee tightly with both hands and screaming in agony:

"Ahhh, my leg!!!"

The other eight Black Iron Villa cultivators were all stunned.

They had no idea what had just happened.

They only knew that they had just seen a flash of Gold Light, and then their senior brother had fallen to his knees screaming heart-rendingly, his left knee, which he was clutching tightly with both hands, bleeding continuously until the ground was covered in it.

"It's… it's this Alchemist, he used a hidden weapon to injure me, quick… quick, help me catch him!"

The bearded male cultivator endured the excruciating pain to make the sound.

Upon hearing this, the eight people immediately reached for the large machetes behind them, intending to attack Chen An.

However—

"Puff… puff… puff!"

Just as these several sounds rang out in succession, the eight people who had been drawing their blades a moment ago all ended up just like the bearded male cultivator in front, suddenly falling to their knees on the ground, clutching their knees with both hands, and letting out pig-like screams from their mouths.

"Ahhhhhhh—"

The sound echoed throughout the entire Market.

Some people were shocked, some were panicked, some were completely confused; many did not know what had just happened.

It was simply because things happened too fast, and everything ended in the blink of an eye.

There was simply no time to react.

Chen An walked expressionlessly to the front of the bearded male cultivator and stopped, looking down at him from above, slowly raising a glowing Gold Finger and aiming it at the center of his brow.

"Don't… don't kill me!"

"My father is an Elder of Black Iron Villa, I am my father's only son, if you kill me you will have big trouble, it's not worth it, Fellow Daoist!"

"Fellow Daoist, please let me go, I promise that from now on we will mind our own business, I will never look for trouble with you again!"

The bearded male cultivator begged frantically, fearing that Chen An would take his life.

After hearing this, Chen An withdrew his finger, and just as the bearded male cultivator breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly raised his leg and kicked him hard.

"Bang!"

The bearded male cultivator flew backward in response, rolling several times on the ground before stopping, completely knocked unconscious.

It was a pity that there were so many eyes watching, otherwise Chen An would definitely have killed all nine of them without leaving a single one.

After venting this anger, Chen An turned and left.

People along the way retreated three steps back when they saw him.

Chen An knew that even if he let the bearded male cultivator go, the other party would definitely retaliate later.

But he had no choice; he needed to consider his family.

If he were to kill them now, once the other party's Elder father received the information, he would definitely spare no cost to come and demand the culprit.

At that time, the higher-ups of the Bamboo Leaf Gang, in order not to escalate the conflict prematurely, would definitely hand him over.

But by only injuring the other party now, it wouldn't be so easy for them to retaliate against him.

After all, when it came down to it, the Bamboo Leaf Gang and Black Iron Villa were currently at odds; they might even take the opportunity to bite back, condemning the other side for crossing boundaries to cause trouble, and demanding an explanation.

"When there is an opportunity in the future, I must kill that bearded male cultivator, and along with him, destroy his father and the entire Black Iron Villa, cutting the weeds and eliminating the roots to prevent future trouble!"

Chen An's thoughts suddenly became extreme, and he lost some of his composure.

He did not like to hold grudges against people; he preferred to settle scores on the spot.

If he could not settle them now, he would still have to settle accounts later once he had the strength, so as to eliminate any future worries.

After leaving the Market, Chen An did not go home immediately.

Instead, he walked straight toward the office area where Manager Zhang was located in the Cheap Area to consult him about his desire to move to the Core Area.

Soon, Chen An arrived at his destination.

He was lucky; he happened to catch Manager Zhang while he was in the office area and did not have a wasted trip.

"Yo, Alchemist Chen, a rare guest! What brings you here?"

"Manager Zhang, I would like to move into the Core Area to live first thing tomorrow morning."

"Hmm?"

Manager Zhang was stunned for a moment.

After reacting, he said to Chen An, "Alchemist Chen, the rent in the Core Area is 100 Low-grade Spirit Stones per month. Are you sure you want to move there?"

Chen An: "I am sure."

Manager Zhang: "Moving is possible, but the earliest you can move in is the day after tomorrow, because I still have to take you to see the house, and after that, we still have to process the relevant paperwork."

"I see, I understand."

Chen An nodded, thinking to himself that the Core Area was indeed different, as it even provided houses.

Manager Zhang: "Then how about this, Alchemist Chen: bring 100 Low-grade Spirit Stones to find me tomorrow morning. If we see a suitable house then, I will process the paperwork for you on the spot."

"Good, then I will come back tomorrow morning. I will have to trouble you then, Manager Zhang."

After reaching this simple agreement, Chen An did not stay any longer and turned to walk toward his home.

When he walked into the front yard of his home, he saw his wife and concubine sitting one on each side in front of the door chatting, seemingly chatting while waiting for him to return.

The two women were chatting very intently and had no idea that their husband had already returned home and was standing right in front of them.

Chen An did not disturb them and just stood to the side listening to them chat.

They were not talking about marital affairs with their husband.

They were just talking about pregnancy.

Mostly, it was Song Huaying talking non-stop and sharing her experience, while Gu Xinyue listened very earnestly.

When the topic of pregnancy came up, Gu Xinyue would reach out from time to time to touch her own flat lower abdomen; it was hard for her to imagine that hers would one day be like Song Huaying's belly, sticking straight out and becoming as round as a ball.

Seeing her bewildered expression, Song Huaying somehow found it quite funny.

She immediately laughed and asked her to reach out and touch her big belly, letting her feel the child that had yet to be born inside.

Gu Xinyue touched it cautiously, and during the process, she was kicked by the child inside through the belly skin; she was immediately startled and hurriedly pulled her hand back.

This reaction of hers amused Song Huaying, who was standing to the side, and she hurriedly explained this phenomenon to her.

Gu Xinyue felt it was quite magical as she listened.

Chen An was also listening from the side.

Seeing that his wife and concubine still hadn't noticed him after such a long time, he could only helplessly cough lightly to let them know that the husband they were thinking of had returned.

The wife and concubine were startled by the sudden coughing sound.

But when they saw that it was their husband who had returned, they immediately stood up and very virtuously asked after his well-being.

Song Huaying was responsible for the warmth, and Gu Xinyue was responsible for the cold.

After dinner.

Chen An took his wife and concubine for a walk in the courtyard.

During this time, he told them about going to the Core Area to see a house tomorrow.

After walking for a while.

Chen An felt the time was about right, so he let Song Huaying go back to her room to sleep and properly nourish the fetus.

After all, the child in her belly would be born in three months at most.

It had to be well taken care of.

After Song Huaying fell asleep.

Chen An immediately took Gu Xinyue into the woodshed to diligently increase the strength of his Divine Sense.

He set a small goal for himself: to break through his Divine Sense realm to First-tier Intermediate tonight.

It was an easily achievable goal, as he was only about 10 points of progress away from breaking through now.

It would only take one night to easily complete the task.

PS: Setting out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!