Chapter 19: A Fortuitous Encounter, the Disaster Was Diverted East

The old and young who discovered Yun Tianhe's corpse were obviously a father and daughter; the man was in his thirties, with a dark complexion, wearing thin cloth clothes; the little girl looked under ten, with two horn braids, her dirty little face full of fright, tightly clutching her father's arm.

Fang Xu did not know these two; they were likely villagers from other villages under Maple Forest Town.

Yun Wan said coldly, "Where did you two find the corpse?"

The man was nervous and dared not speak.

Clang!

Beside him, Huang Dechuan, seeing the situation, directly drew a saber from the waist of a registrar and placed it at his throat, shouting loudly, "Miss is asking you—answer quickly!"

The man, scared out of his wits, fell to his knees with a thud; the little girl was even more frightened, bursting into loud sobs.

"Don't kill my father, don't kill my father!"

"We found that old man in Gourd Valley."

Gourd Valley?

Yun Wan frowned slightly, looked at the man and asked again, "Why did you hesitate just now?"

The man hurriedly kowtowed, "I dare not conceal from Miss, that Gourd Valley is a medicinal field designated by the Wu family; while gathering firewood in the mountains, I unintentionally discovered a secret passage, and thus sneaked in to collect some herbs to sell…"

As a prominent clan of Maple Forest Town, the Wu family's influence even extended to Huang Prefecture; it was nothing unusual for them to designate a plot of land in Tilan Mountain as a medicinal field.

This father and daughter, using the secret passage to sneak into Gourd Valley to steal herbs, would likely lose their lives if the Wu family found out, which is why they dared not reveal where they found the corpse.

"When you saw the corpse, did you encounter anyone else or pick up anything else?" Yun Wan asked again, her tone slightly softened.

The man thought for a moment and shook his head: "No, when I saw that… that esteemed person, he had just breathed his last."

"I thought, having encountered him, I couldn't just let wild beasts in the mountains devour his remains, so I carried him to the town's charitable house."

As a Martial Master Ninth Level, Yun Wan could clearly sense the subtle changes in the man's demeanor, knowing he was not lying.

She waved at Huang Dechuan, signalling him to sheathe his blade, and Yun Wan said calmly, "Inform the Wu family not to make things difficult for this father and daughter."

The man was kind-hearted; having prevented the uncle's corpse from being devoured by beasts, he deserved some reward.

"Alright, send them back."

The person who found the corpse took nothing from the uncle's body, leaving only one possibility.

"Has anyone at the charitable house been found?" Yun Wan asked Huang Dechuan.

"This..." Huang Dechuan's expression shifted slightly; meeting Yun Wan's gaze, he slowly drew from his sleeve a piece of crystal-clear purple jade, trembling as he handed it forward, saying, "Li Tie Niu… he… died on the way to Clear River County."

"This was found in his mouth."

Looking at the purple jade ornament in Huang Dechuan's hand, Yun Wan instantly recognized it as her uncle's.

"Dead? How did he die?"

Huang Dechuan steeled himself and said, "There are signs of having been rummaged through; he must have run into bandits on the road."

Hearing this, Yun Wan's delicate brows furrowed slightly.

Could the items have fallen into the hands of those hateful bandits?

Now this is somewhat troublesome.

She lowered her head, deep in thought, silent; everyone present dared not even breathe.

"Let's go." After a while, Yun Wan lightly flicked her sleeve and slowly left the courtyard; Wang Erhu, seeing this, hurriedly bowed slightly to Madame Wang, then followed her steps and departed.

Huang Dechuan and the others also dispersed, leaving only Fang Xu and Madame Wang in the courtyard.

After everyone left, Madame Wang's legs suddenly gave way and she collapsed onto the ground; Fang Xu, seeing this, hurriedly helped her up.

"I was scared to death…" Madame Wang, still trembling from the ordeal, patted her chest, "I really thought Miss Yun would wave her hand and have us all cut down."

Fang Xu said nothing.

At this moment he had just put his hanging heart back into his belly; this feeling of life and death being controlled by others is truly aggravating!

Yun Wan came to investigate the fire at the charitable house and also questioned that father and daughter about the details of finding the corpse; it was obvious she knew the corpse wearing the flashy gold-embroidered boots had been sent to the charitable house.

Thinking of this, Fang Xu glanced at Madame Wang with some gratitude.

If she hadn't imagined the cause of that fire, voluntarily gone to the prefecture office to confess and take the blame for the blaze, this matter would truly not be easy to resolve.

At the same time, Fang Xu silently thanked Li Tie Niu, the guard of the charitable house, who, motivated by greed, took the jade ornament from the corpse intending to sell it in Clear River County, which led Yun Wan to mistakenly believe that the Divine Extension Canon had also been taken by Li Tie Niu.

Now the trouble has been diverted to those mountain bandits; the crisis is, for the time being, over.

Fang Xu felt that if the owner of those flashy gold-embroidered boots informed the Yun family of the importance of the Divine Extension Canon, the Yun family would likely send many martial practitioners to suppress the bandits in Clear River County.

This, too, could be considered an indirect blessing secured for the common folk of Clear River County.

"Elder sister, go slow." After helping Madame Wang onto the bedroom couch, Fang Xu turned to leave, but she suddenly rose from behind and embraced him.

"Fang Xiaoge…"

Two soft masses pressed tightly against Fang Xu's back as Madame Wang buried her entire head in his back.

Having gone through a fright, she now greatly needs some comfort.

Fang Xu stood stiffly in place, not daring to move.

After a while, Madame Wang loosened her arms, lowered her head and whispered softly, "Fang Xiaoge, you must quickly break through to Martial Apprentice; I… I will wait for you."

Hearing this, Fang Xu let out a slight sigh, then hastily bowed and fled the temptation of this tender haven.

Leaving Madame Wang's courtyard, the time had already passed noon.

Back home, Fang Xu continued to stew the blood food, then began his daily cultivation.

During the day he dared not use the Divine Extension Canon, especially now that Yun Wan knew of the corpse's existence, requiring him to be even more cautious.

On the street of Maple Forest Town, in front of the former Zhang family's blood food shop.

Lu Zhiyuan was watching some artisans renovate the blood food shop when Li Yunshan hurried over, leaning close to Lu Zhiyuan's ear and whispering, "Master Lu, I've inquired clearly: the Wu family indeed intends to intervene in the blood food trade; the invitation I sent was not accepted by them."

Lu Zhiyuan chuckled, stroked his chin, pondered a moment, and said, "No problem; I also want to see who exactly stands behind the Wu family."

"Take care of the shop's renovation, Qingluo…" he shouted to the red-clad girl nearby, then Lu Zhiyuan said, "Follow Father into the mountains."

"Master Lu is going himself…" Li Yunshan heard this, startled; he had thought Lu Zhiyuan's earlier announcement of personally entering the mountains was to attract some martial artists, never expecting he truly intended to go himself.

"Ten days later when we open for business, we'll need something impressive to show." Lu Zhiyuan gave a light smile, then took Lu Qingluo and headed toward Lift Blue Mountain.

"By the way, don't forget to send an invitation to that Fang family boy as well." Lu Zhiyuan, having walked a few steps, suddenly turned and shouted at Li Yunshan.

Beside him, Lu Qingluo, dressed all in red, slightly pursed her lips: "Father, is that boy really worth your sending him an invitation?"

Lu Zhiyuan gave a faint smile: "Qingluo, Father has told you before, don't look down on anyone, and don't forget why we came to Maple Forest Town."

Lu Qingluo's expression changed slightly; she followed silently behind her father, saying nothing more.

Thanks for the readers' support; at month's end, readers who have tickets, please show your support—deeply grateful!

(End of chapter)