Chapter 260: Great Harvest

The head fell to the ground, rolling around, the dark red blood plasma at the wound stained with dust, turning into black mud.

"Damn thing, what great strength!"

Xiang Fang Su put down his long knife, panting heavily. His right wrist trembled uncontrollably, the soreness reminding him of the days when he couldn't recite his books and was punished by the sect teacher to copy the scriptures a hundred times.

Ke Wenbin touched his lower back, pulled out a dagger, and poked the tip of the knife toward the head's teeth.

Click.

The head bit the tip of the knife tightly, the gray mist in its shriveled eyes completely an instinctive action.

Ke Wenbin used some effort to pull the dagger out again, greatly shocked.

"Truly rare, the head fell off, and it's still not dead?"

Xiang Fang Su wiped the black blood off the knife, didn't sheath it, but held it under his arm.

He bent down to pick up the broken arm holding the knife on the ground, shook it left and right, pulled off the wolf-headed big knife and threw it on the ground, finding that the five fingers of the broken arm still had reactions, constantly grasping in the air.

"It's just like an eel, still reacting even when dead."

"Fang Su, this hand has no reaction."

Ke Wenbin picked up the other broken hand; the skin on the knuckles was shriveled, bloodless, and there was no reaction when shaken.

The only difference from the hand that could move in Xiang Fang Su's hand was that it had a black arrow stuck in it, which was continuously forcing out black Qi, like a punctured water bag.

Xiang Fang Su stepped forward and pulled out the black arrow; the black Qi at the wound no longer dissipated.

Turning the arrow, the arrowhead flashed with black essence in the candlelight, like a polished obsidian.

"So only by completely expelling the evil Qi from the body can it be considered truly 'killing' this guy?"

"How did those two Grandmasters die?"

"By forcibly grinding it away with the Wu Sheng's will in the profound weapon?"

Xiang Fang Su gave a guess.

Wu Sheng profound weapons are where Martial Saints refine their own supernatural powers when they become saints, almost an extension of their hands and feet.

Even without practicing the warding technique, strangling evil Qi probably wouldn't be a problem.

Liang Qu looked at the corpse on the ground and thought of a question: "Grandmasters resurrecting from the dead, do they know martial arts?"

Xiang Fang Su and Ke Wenbin were stunned, then frowned.

If they didn't know martial arts, Xu Yuelong wouldn't have failed to mention such important news.

But recalling carefully, it seemed that throughout the whole process, Xu Yuelong only said that the "resurrected" Grandmasters' reaction ability would decrease and they would have no pain?

Xiang Fang Su guessed: "Could it be that the performance after resurrection is related to strength? The stronger the strength, the closer the performance is to when they were alive?"

"If it were a Wu Sheng..." Ke Wenbin thought halfway and denied it himself: "Unreasonable. If so, why would the Ghost Mother Sect hole up?"

"Let's go back first."

Liang Qu interrupted their discussion.

He really didn't want to stay in this ghost place. Fortunately, there were two people by his side; otherwise, if he came alone, it would truly be a midnight horror story.

Once this was said, the group no longer struggled.

Xiang Fang Su took off his coat, wrapped the head separately, and tied it to his waist. He looked at the tunnel they came from and shook his head: "Go to another exit."

There were two Great Martial Artists who died on the island.

The commotion they made earlier was too big.

Ke Wenbin disagreed: "Other passages might also lead to the residences of Great Martial Artists. After resurrection, these human corpses seem to wander in their residences following their memories from when they were alive? The probability of running into them is just as high."

"Vote."

Xiang Fang Su was concise.

The two looked at Liang Qu.

"I think we should leave from the exit of the third or fourth hall."

Liang Qu pondered for a moment and gave his reasons.

Earlier, when they explored the treasury, they found that each hall had an exit, exactly four, corresponding to the four-level configuration of two Grandmasters and two Great Martial Artists.

"The tunnels most likely all lead to the main residences of the high-level officials. I guess this is a way of power distribution in the Ghost Mother Sect.

The treasures in the first hall seem numerous and most valuable, but that's for us.

In the Ghost Mother Sect, there are no matching pill refiners or weapon refiners to use them; they are flashy but impractical, so the residence owner connected to the exit is a Great Martial Artist.

The second hall cultivates and domesticates Mountain Ghosts, which is very important externally, but internally it cannot grasp the rise and fall of the sect members, so it should be another Great Martial Artist in charge.

Only the third and fourth halls contain precious weapons and precious medicines, which are equivalent to the 'salt and iron' of martial artists.

So I think the possibility of those two exits being safe is the greatest.

According to Brother Yuelong, the two Grandmasters faced the might of a Wu Sheng and died twice; it's impossible for them to resurrect again."

"Makes sense."

Ke Wenbin originally wanted to hide under the lamp and leave from the previous exit, but after hearing the analysis, he immediately changed his mind.

The disagreement was resolved, and the three went to the third hall and left along the small path inside.

Before leaving, Liang Qu looked back at the treasury and felt the protruding edges of the wooden box on his back, feeling a bit guilty.

"Are we eating alone?"

Xiang Fang Su and Ke Wenbin exchanged a look, smiling but not smiling.

"You're still young. Let me ask you, bringing it for Brother Yuelong alone and not for others, what is that called?"

Liang Qu pondered slightly.

"Sucking up to a superior?"

"Right, then the nature changes. So you either eat alone or share the rain and dew. But if you share, how much are you prepared to take?

If you give one to everyone else, you have to take twenty items. Besides, are you going to give some to your master? What about your senior brothers? They are closer to you, right?

Yuelong letting us take two items each is a measure. Two hundred precious medicines, taking four is irrelevant; no one cares.

But taking dozens, and all taken by our side, the measure is crossed.

Wei Lin isn't a vegetarian. In the matter of looting treasures, the three of us are thick-skinned and eat for ourselves. What do you think the consequences will be?"

"Will we be scolded for being shameless?"

Liang Qu thought about it; it seemed it was just that.

The relationship between the dozen or so of them was different from ordinary superiors and subordinates; they were superiors and subordinates who grew up together.

This point was particularly important.

Right now, the three of them eating alone is their ability; who told others not to think of this, not to see the opportunity? At most, they'll be scolded a bit at future gatherings, and then they'll eat as usual.

But once there is favoritism, or it turns into a factional problem, it's completely different.

Rifts cannot be created, and petty theft cannot be brought to the table.

Which is lighter and which is heavier is self-evident.

Ke Wenbin patted Liang Qu on the shoulder.

"My father taught me since I was young: be thick-skinned when eating. It's fine to scrape some for yourself from the big pot; that's because you can eat, and at most you'll get some white eyes.

Scraping it into your bowl and bringing it back to share with others will make people resent you, feeling that you let outsiders eat their food."

"Understood."

Liang Qu no longer struggled.

If Xu Yuelong really wanted it, he wouldn't have failed to mention it when he sent Ran Zhongshi to pass the message.

He was still too thin-skinned.

The three said no more, ran to the end along the tunnel, the same mechanism; it must have been designed by the same craftsman.

Xiang Fang Su retreated a step and looked at Ke Wenbin: "You do it."

He had a shadow from opening the way for the first time.

"Ah, me?"

"I'll do it."

"Don't, your strength is weak."

"Fine, fine, I'll do it if I have to."

Ke Wenbin braced the stone slab and quietly lifted a gap. What came into view was a large expanse of starlight; he couldn't see the roof at all.

He pushed it open a bit more and found that it wasn't that there was no roof, but that the entire roof had been broken open into a big hole, and on the ground next to it was a deep pit.

Clearly, the owner of the house didn't use the front door and jumped out from the roof after being attacked.

"It's fine, no one."

"Go, go, go."

"Slip away, slip away."

The three crawled out from the underground hole, closed the stone slab, and passed through the entire island chain back to the landing site they had come from earlier.

They didn't encounter any obstacles along the way and successfully found the small boat to return all the way.

Dawn was already breaking.

The soldiers on night watch saw the returning boat and hurried forward to greet them.

"Lord Xiang, Lord Ke, Lord Liang, how was the harvest for the night?"

"It's you."

Xiang Fang Su recalled; the soldier in front of him learned they were going out to fish and had sent over a pile of fishing gear earlier.

He shook the empty fish basket and pretended to be disappointed: "Bad luck, didn't catch a single one."

"That's truly a pity."

The soldier sighed regretfully.

When the three went upstairs, Liang Qu faintly heard the soldiers' low-voiced discussion.

"So it's the same as Lord Xu." ===== CHAPTER 261 =====