Chapter 30: 29. Fish Dies, Net Breaks

29. Fish Dies, Net Breaks

After finishing this matter, the Bamboo Leaf Gang cultivators soon departed.

But the scene remained filled with heated discussion.

Catching a mole from Black Iron Villa could exempt one from a month's rent, and catching one at the Qi Refining Late Stage could even exempt two months of rent.

This reward was simply exaggeratedly generous.

One must know, this was the Core Area, where the monthly rent reached as high as one Middle-grade Spirit Stone.

The Bamboo Leaf Gang was truly bleeding capital this time.

Many cultivators were eager to try, starting to think about how to catch a Black Iron Villa mole.

Some more sensitive cultivators had already begun observing everyone around them, trying hard to recall if these people had ever exhibited suspicious behavior before.

Even worse, some harbored malicious intentions, setting their sights on people who usually had poor character.

They thought that regardless of whether these people were actually moles for Black Iron Villa, they would turn them into moles, then eliminate them and take them to the Bamboo Leaf Gang to claim the reward.

Compared to these excited cultivators.

Chen An at this moment felt more worry and unease.

The Bamboo Leaf Gang suddenly bleeding capital to purge moles made him smell a hint that a great war between the two gangs was about to begin.

This current behavior of the Bamboo Leaf Gang gave one the feeling of "securing the interior before resisting the exterior."

Besides Chen An, quite a few cultivators in Green Willow Alley also realized this point.

A handsome male cultivator at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer specifically walked up and stopped in front of Wen Zhiyun, smiling as he said:

"Fellow Daoist Wen, I feel that the Bamboo Leaf Forest might fall into great chaos in the coming period. It is not very safe for a woman like you to be home alone; why don't I move into your house to protect you?"

"Heh, based on you?" Wen Zhiyun sneered with a look of contempt: "A mere weakling at only the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, I could crush you to death with one finger. Where do you get the face to say you want to protect me?"

That male cultivator thought Wen Zhiyun was attracted to looks and wanted to rely on his outstanding appearance to approach her, but he did not expect to be rejected so harshly in public. He immediately felt he had lost all face and slunk away.

Wen Zhiyun did not even glance at this male cultivator, turning instead to look at Song Huaying and Gu Xinyue, smiling as she said:

"Little Sister Ying, Little Sister Yue, there might be great chaos in the days to come. Why don't the two little sisters move in with Big Sister? Big Sister is much stronger than your husband and can better protect you."

The commotion Chen An made with Gu Xinyue every night was truly too great, often making Wen Zhiyun, who lived next door, unable to sleep.

Therefore, she was now attempting to abduct all of Chen An's wives and concubines to solve this problem at the source.

Unfortunately, the loyalty of Song Huaying and Gu Xinyue to Chen An far exceeded her imagination.

Seeing the two women not even think about it, they directly spoke to politely decline:

"Ying feels that Husband will certainly be able to protect Ying well from harm, so we will not trouble Big Sister Wen. Thank you for your kind intentions, Big Sister Wen."

"Yue feels the same."

Chen An listened from the side and felt extremely comfortable in his heart, thinking that he had not doted on these two precious wives and concubines in vain on ordinary days.

Seeing that neither woman had this idea, Wen Zhiyun did not force them and soon left.

After Wen Zhiyun left.

Chen An told his two wives and concubines to stay home properly, while he himself went out to the Market to buy self-defense items.

The Bamboo Leaf Forest might become very chaotic next.

As the head of the household, he had to take precautions at this time.

Preparing various self-defense items in advance.

Core Area, Market.

Chen An walked into the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and went straight to the shopkeeper to ask: "Shopkeeper, do you have anything for sale that can be used for self-defense?"

"Things for self-defense?" The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said: "That would be Talismans."

Talismans are a type of Dharma Spell Talisman Paper created by a Talisman Maker.

Various Dharma Spells are inscribed on the Talisman Paper.

As long as the user injects Spirit Power into the Talisman Paper, they can release the Dharma Spell inscribed upon it.

"I wonder what kind of Talismans are for sale here?"

"There are Fireball Talismans, Protection Talismans, Light Body Talismans, and all sorts of other Talismans. Anyway, whatever you can think of, I have it for sale here. Even if I don't, I can have it shipped in for you to buy that very day."

"Then Shopkeeper, give me a few of this kind, this kind, and this kind of Talisman."

After a simple understanding, Chen An bought a little of every type of Talisman.

Among them, he bought the most Protection Talismans.

Because the two wives and concubines at home had no self-preservation ability and had to rely on external objects for protection.

Besides Talisman Paper, Chen An later bought a Dharma Array similar to an alarm.

Before using it, one could record the aura of different people into the Dharma Array.

Afterward, when in use, once an unrecorded, strange aura entered the Dharma Array, the array would flash with various dazzling lights to alert the owner of the house that a stranger had intruded.

After buying things this way.

Chen An spent a total of nearly one Middle-grade Spirit Stone.

Walking out of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

He did not stay long in the Market.

Chen An soon returned to the Green Willow Alley side.

After handing the purchased Protection Talismans to his wives and concubines, he turned and walked into the Alchemy Room to begin refining various poisons, used for setting up various poison traps inside and around the courtyard later.

He did not know if these poison traps, which were foolproof back in the Cheap Area, could still be effective in this Core Area where Qi Refining Mid-Stage cultivators were as common as dogs and Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators were everywhere.

But regardless, setting them up was better than not setting them up.

At the very least, it could give him a bit more sense of security.

After spending over two hours setting up poison traps, Chen An turned around and ducked back into the Alchemy Room.

However, he didn't go in to practice alchemy, but to dig a tunnel inside the Alchemy Room.

He thought that when disaster struck, he and his wives might be trapped in the house with no way to escape.

If there were an underground passage leading outside from the house, the room for maneuver would be much greater, and the safety of the residence would be greatly improved.

Purchasing Talismans.

Refining poison to set traps.

Digging a tunnel...

By the time Chen An finished these tasks one by one, the sky outside had turned completely dark.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed.

During these days, the situation in the Bamboo Leaf Forest became much more chaotic, just as Chen An had imagined.

Some undercover agents from the Black Iron Villa were discovered, and before they died, they struggled frantically, staging one scene after another of mutual destruction.

Wherever they went, houses collapsed and corpses littered the fields.

Cultivators with high cultivation levels earned a fortune.

Meanwhile, many cultivators with low cultivation levels suffered unprovoked disasters and died in confusion.

Chen An knew his own cultivation level well.

Ever since the Elder of the Bamboo Leaf Gang came over to say they were clearing out undercover agents, he had been staying at home with his two wives, keeping the doors closed.

He worried that with his low cultivation level, if he went out wandering, he would easily die on the road.

During this period, Wen Zhiyun, who used to come over to visit almost every day, had not come to the house as a guest again, and he did not know what she was busy with.

Another few days passed.

This day, Chen An was in the Alchemy Room teaching his two wives some basic knowledge about alchemy, wanting to train them to be his future alchemy assistants.

While teaching, he suddenly felt his body becoming somewhat feverish.

It seemed as if his cultivation realm was about to break through.

Chen An immediately had his two wives go out and locked himself in the Alchemy Room to go into seclusion and break through.

Two days later.

Chen An succeeded in his breakthrough and became a Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator.

【Name: Chen An】

【Cultivation: Qi Refining Fifth Layer】

【Alchemy: First-tier Intermediate (458/500)】

【Divine Sense: First-tier Intermediate (258/500)】

【Golden Finger: Proficient (196/500)】

【Spouses: Song Huaying, Gu Xinyue】

【Offspring: Gestating (9 months)】

Looking at the panel before him, a gratified smile could not help but appear on Chen An's face.

Compared to a year ago, he was truly like heaven and earth now.

His strength was far greater than last year.

At this rate, he felt he could succeed in Foundation Establishment within twenty years.

If he were more optimistic, perhaps he could achieve this goal within ten years.

It was even possible within five years.

And all of this depended on whether he could become a Dao companion with Wen Zhiyun.

Chen An's intuition told him that the reward for engaging in intimacy with Wen Zhiyun would definitely be related to increasing his cultivation.

"Speaking of which, when Ying was pregnant before, the system rewarded a Severing Emotion Pill Prescription."

"I wonder if there will be a reward when the child is born next month."

Chen An felt very expectant about this in his heart.

At the same time.

Inside a room in the Core Area.

Several cultivators with cultivation levels as high as the Qi Refining Late Stage were sitting and drinking with worried expressions.

"The Bamboo Leaf Gang has been investigating more and more tightly lately; we can't get out, and it's only a matter of time before we're exposed."

"Sigh, the Gang Leader of the Bamboo Leaf Gang is too ruthless; in order to ferret out us undercover agents, he didn't hesitate to offer a heavy bounty."

"Damn it, we're going to die anyway, so we might as well go down fighting; if we're going to die, the Bamboo Leaf Gang shouldn't expect to have it easy either!"

"Junior Brother Wu is right."

"Senior Brother Huang, what do you think?"

"What else is there to think about? We can only take more people with us to the grave with our lives."

"Does Senior Brother Huang have a plan?"

"No plan needed; we just need to pick auxiliary professionals to kill, such as Alchemists, Talisman Makers, Artifact Refiners, etc. These auxiliary professionals are very useful to the Bamboo Leaf Gang, but their own strength is weak. Killing them will yield twice the result with half the effort."

"Senior Brother Zhang is brilliant!"

"Senior Brother Zhang, I heard there is a female cultivator surnamed Wen in Green Willow Alley who is stunningly beautiful, has a graceful figure, and is still a maiden. Since we're going to die anyway, we might as well have some fun before we go."

"Junior Brother Li is right."

"Then it's settled; we brothers will first go and take that female cultivator surnamed Wen in Green Willow Alley, and then go to assassinate those auxiliary professionals."

After the few of them made this decision, they immediately set off for Wen Zhiyun's residence, unable to wait to taste this high-mountain flower that had kept herself pure for many years.

……

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