Chapter 82: Huge Harvest! Canglan Zhen Shui Yang Qi Fa!

“This… what is this thing…”

Zhou Laoguai stared at the crimson, flame-like insect with two pairs of mandibles, his eyes filled with terror.

It looked somewhat like a fire centipede.

But fire centipedes don’t have two pairs of mandibles.

Jiang Ye did not answer.

He simply placed Xiao Huo gently on Zhou Laoguai’s body and said calmly:

“Play around, don’t kill it yet.”

Sssss~~~

Xiao Huo wriggled excitedly, but its ink-black compound eyes locked onto the life-threatening scorpion clamped between Jiang Ye’s fingers—its gaze brimming with hunger, as if staring at a delicacy.

“Oh? You want to eat it?”

Jiang Ye understood its intent, a flicker of unusual interest passing through his aged eyes.

This little thing never ate its own kind, but it showed keen interest in other toxins.

He tossed it carelessly onto the ground—the scorpion, its stinger severed and barely clinging to life.

Jjii…

The moment the scorpion hit the ground, it sensed danger and frantically dug its six claws into the earth, trying to flee.

But it had barely crawled half a foot…

Shhh!

A streak of red lightning shot forward.

Xiao Huo opened its two pairs of scythe-like mandibles and snapped off the scorpion’s head, then began devouring it greedily.

Though small in size, its eating was brutally savage—the crunching sounds echoed sharply through the silent night.

In but a moment, the scorpion, as large as an adult’s palm, was reduced to scattered fragments, leaving only a pile of shattered shells.

“What kind of toxin is this? How could it have such crushing force…”

Zhou Laoguai’s scalp prickled, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.

He’d seen many toxins, but never before had he witnessed a centipede that could devour a scorpion.

Soon, Xiao Huo turned its attention to him.

Its black compound eyes fixed on Zhou Laoguai, its slender body coiling like a drawn bow.

Zhou Laoguai desperately tried to shrink back, but his severed right arm and chest wounds left him paralyzed.

He could only watch helplessly as the crimson insect slowly crawled onto his right foot.

Sssss!!

Xiao Huo bit down.

Its two pairs of mandibles plunged deep into flesh and muscle, tearing out a bloody, gaping wound from Zhou Laoguai’s foot.

“Aaaah—!!!”

Zhou Laoguai let out a shriek so horrific it sounded inhuman, echoing through the mountains and startling a flock of night birds.

But the scream soon changed tone.

A bandit who lived by the blade could endure flesh wounds, but the spreading fire toxin brought unbearable agony.

In an instant, massive fire boils erupted across his right foot—skin reddened, blackened, swollen, deformed.

His blood felt ignited, burning upward from his soles, each inch of flesh screaming as it passed.

“Aaaah!! Kill me!! Kill me now!!”

Zhou Laoguai rolled wildly on the ground, but the more he moved, the faster the fire poison spread.

He stared fixedly at Jiang Ye, eyes pleading—no trace left of the bandit chief’s former authority.

Jiang Ye looked down at him, his aged face utterly expressionless.

He crouched down, voice still calm: “I gave you a chance before. You weren’t cooperative. Now you want it quick?”

“I… I’ll tell you everything…”

Zhou Laoguai screamed with his last strength: “Just give me a quick death…”

Jiang Ye sneered, ignoring his plea.

Xiao Huo understood its master’s intent and bit another deep wound into Zhou Laoguai’s foot.

“Aaaah—!!!”

The piercing scream echoed through the night air.

About half a stick of incense later.

“Huh… huh…”

Zhou Laoguai lay limp on the ground like a pile of mud.

His mouth gaped wide, his chest rising and falling weakly, his breaths rattling like a leaking bellows—barely clinging to life.

The fire boils had spread over half his body, flesh curled and oozing pus and blood; he no longer had strength to scream, only occasional faint gurgles escaping his throat.

Jiang Ye stood in place, looking down at him, his aged face filled with dark amusement.

The interrogation had revealed two pieces of information.

Bad news: the silver Zhou Laoguai had stolen over the years was nearly spent.

Good news: he’d used that silver to buy a water-element true qi cultivation method from the black market in Huangxin Prefecture.

“Not bad. For a mountain bandit chief, you actually managed to get a cultivation method.”

Jiang Ye glanced at the deathly pale Zhou Laoguai and couldn’t help murmuring in admiration.

“I… I already told you where the cultivation method is… please… give me a quick death…”

Half of Zhou Laoguai’s body was covered in boils; each word cost him his last ounce of strength.

His voice was faint, barely audible, yet the desperation in it was overwhelming.

Tortured beyond endurance by the fire poison, he now desired only death—every extra second was unimaginable agony.

Jiang Ye looked down at him, voice level:

“Why the rush? I’ll deal with you once I have the cultivation method.”

He grabbed Zhou Laoguai’s limp body and dragged him up the mountain like a dead dog.

According to Zhou Laoguai, the cultivation method was buried beneath a pine tree at the summit.

About a cup of tea later.

Jiang Ye dragged the half-dead Zhou Laoguai to the summit.

The wind howled atop the peak, rustling the pines in waves.

Moonlight spilled down, casting flickering shadows over the gnarled old pines.

“T… there… under that tree…”

With the last of his strength, Zhou Laoguai raised a trembling finger and pointed weakly at a nearby thick, ancient pine.

Jiang Ye walked over, drew his blood-red curved blade, and dug beneath the roots.

As soil turned, an oilcloth-wrapped bundle soon appeared.

He bent down, picked it up, brushed off the dirt, and opened it—

Inside lay an ancient, weathered book, its cover inscribed with seven characters: *Canglan Zhen Shui Yang Qi Fa*.

Beside it were several banknotes, totaling roughly sixty thousand taels.

“*Canglan Zhen Shui Yang Qi Fa*?!”

Jiang Ye’s eyes lit up as he quickly flipped through it.

This cultivation method could absorb a wide range of water qi—beginners could draw from ponds or streams, while advanced practitioners could cultivate the qi of vast rivers and lakes, granting endless, enduring true qi.

“Excellent. This method is perfect for prolonged battles.”

Jiang Ye nodded inwardly, a flicker of satisfaction glinting in his aged eyes.

He remembered the many cold ponds on Xuantian Sect’s Xianshui Peak, used by disciples to cultivate water qi.

Once back, he could sneak into Xianshui Peak under cover of night to practice this method.

In moments, Jiang Ye had already planned his cultivation strategy.

“Y… you’ve got the cultivation method now…”

Zhou Laoguai croaked with his final strength, voice thick with despair and hope: “P… please… give me a quick death…”

Jiang Ye slowly tucked away the cultivation method and banknotes, then smirked at the dying man: “I suspect you’re still hiding something.”

At this, Zhou Laoguai’s pupils shrank violently, his eyes blazing red as he glared at Jiang Ye.

This old bastard… is truly a monster.

He had nothing left—even the strength to curse was gone.

Another cup of tea passed.

“…”

Zhou Laoguai fell completely silent.

His face, thick with muscle, hung open, blood and saliva dripping from his lips onto the ground.

His breaths were now only guttural “huh-huh” sounds; his eyes dimmed, pupils dilated—he was moments from death.

“Sun Family’s second young master wants to marry Su Yan, the heir of the Su Family, and hired you to intercept her shipment…”

Jiang Ye’s lips curled into a cold, faint smile.

At the last moment, he pressed further—and uncovered a remarkably “interesting” piece of information from Zhou Laoguai’s lips.

He had thought Zhao Gang, Shi Lei, and those few Su family guards had simply been caught in a random ambush.

It turned out there was another reason.

“Wanna marry Su Yan, huh...”

Jiang Ye couldn’t help but laugh bitterly with anger.

The scorching, sunlike aura around him surged, and several nearby pine trees burst into flame without warning.

“Hah...”

Even as his consciousness faded, Zhou Laoguai’s face twisted into a smile worse than a sob.

He understood.

This old bastard seemed to have some connection to the Su family.

The Sun family had stirred up such a fearsome person...

They were surely finished.

Dying just as he dragged the Sun family down with him, he felt a twisted sense of satisfaction.

The next instant.

Shhhhh!!

A slash of blood-moon blade-light flashed past.

The last trace of life vanished from Zhou Laoguai’s face.