Chapter 36

Wu Family of Fenglin Town.

As a native family of Fenglin Town, the Wu Family originally relied on accumulated clan wealth, barely enough to be called a local landlord power.

But all of this changed due to an opportunity the Wu Family patriarch encountered in his youth.

It is said that, in his youth, the Wu Family patriarch saved a mysterious martial artist at the foot of Ti Lan Mountain; after the martial artist recovered, he took the patriarch as a nominal disciple and imparted martial arts and alchemy methods.

Although the Wu Family patriarch was of mediocre talent and only grasped a tenth or so of what the mysterious martial artist taught, in a small place like Fenglin Town it was already sufficient.

By refining Blood Qi Pills, the Wu Family quickly rose to become the most prominent clan in Fenglin Town.

In a large manor far from Fenglin Town, the white-haired Wu Family patriarch sat quietly in the hall, listening to a report from a black-clad martial artist before him.

"In that case, has Old Man Fang's grandson already broken through to Warrior Apprentice?"

The black-clad martial artist cupped his hands and said, "I am certain that three days ago he was still at the Organ Refinement Realm, but yesterday he had already broken through to Warrior Apprentice."

The Wu Family patriarch gently stroked the half‑rotten wooden staff in his hand that had changed his fate, pondered for a long time, then said: "Your Master once said that when a martial artist breaks through to Warrior Apprentice, at least one day is needed to shatter the aperture barriers, and then another roughly two days to replenish the expended qi and blood..."

"Lu Zhiyuan, Lu Zhiyuan… I, the old man, am increasingly unable to see through you."

"Go ahead, make preparations; tonight we'll go scout the Fang family brat's residence."

An ordinary person who had lain dormant for twenty years suddenly broke through to Warrior Apprentice in a short time; in the Wu Family patriarch's view, there must be something fishy about it.

Stuck at the Third Stage of Martial Master for nearly thirty years, as his age advances his qi and blood gradually wane and exhaust; the Wu Family patriarch dreams of making further progress.

At the Tenth Stage of Martial Master, each breakthrough allows one to draw vitality from the apertures, temporarily returning to one's peak.

If he could obtain a great opportunity in this period, take up his soon‑to‑be‑severed martial path, then breaking through to the Martial Master Realm and reaching higher levels in the future would not be impossible.

"Yes!"

The black‑clad martial artist accepted the order and withdrew.

……

Deep in Ti Lan Mountain.

Yun Wan again beheaded a bandit chieftain, and a hint of doubt appeared in her eyes.

During this time she personally led the troops, commanding three thousand prefecture soldiers in sweeping the outskirts of Ti Lan Mountain, destroying over forty bandit nests large and small; now the bandits within a three‑hundred‑miles radius of Qinghe County have been completely cleared out, yet she still has not found what she seeks.

Could it be that the guardian of the estate never actually received what her second uncle brought back?

As a Ninth-level Martial Master and the princess of the Yun clan, Yun Wan is certainly not a big-breasted, brainless woman; seeing no results so far, she immediately realized her approach was wrong.

If the person guarding the mausoleum didn't take away what the second uncle brought back, then someone else must have hidden it beforehand.

As for the claim that the items were swallowed by that great fire, Yun Wan simply does not believe it.

The Yun clan's lustrous gold-thread embroidery fears neither water nor fire; if the item retrieved from the ruins can withstand the erosion of time, how could it be destroyed by a mundane fire?

Let's go, back to Maple Forest Town!

After much thought, Yun Wan still decided to start over, using Maple Forest Town as the starting point to continue the investigation.

Of the three thousand government troops, more than half have been lost; there's no need to continue draining ourselves in Ti Lan Mountain.

Miss Yun, regarding the Wu... Seeing Yun Wan issue the retreat order, Lü Yuan respectfully clasped his hands and said.

They already knew that Wang Erhu and the others escorting the jewels back to Huangzhou had been ambushed and killed by the Wu.

During this time, sweeping through the mountains, on one hand to find bandits who might obtain the Divine Extension Canon, and on the other hand to carry out the extermination of the Wu.

When the Wu were mentioned, Yun Wan's delicate brows furrowed slightly.

Those elusive fellows are really hard to deal with; their methods are extremely bizarre, especially skilled at controlling poisonous insects and beasts, so encircling and annihilating them is certainly no easy task.

Captain Lü, have your men stay in the mountains; no need to trouble the bandits any further—focus entirely on finding those Wu.

Pick a hundred men to meet me at Maple Forest Town.

The Wu must be exterminated, otherwise it will affect the stability of Huangzhou Prefecture; the items the second uncle brought out must also be found, so Yun Wan can only choose to split the forces into two routes.

Yes!

Regarding Yun Wan's arrangements, Lü Yuan had no objections; he immediately picked a hundred astute government troops to follow her back to Maple Forest Town, while he himself led the remaining troops to search for traces of the Wu in these vast mountains.

Late at night.

Yun Wan led the hundred government troops, hurrying along, and finally emerged from Ti Lan Mountain.

After a brief rest, they were about to enter the town to rest when they suddenly noticed something amiss.

Behind them in Ti Lan Mountain, unknown when, strange white smoke began to rise.

These smokes slowly drifted toward their party, enveloping them, then swiftly drifted toward Maple Forest Town.

Hum!

Hummm!

In the thick fog where one cannot see their fingers, a low humming sounded, as if countless mosquitoes were vibrating their wings!

Yun Wan stood firm in the thick fog, brows furrowed, her hands tightly gripping the sword hilt!

It's Wu insects!

So many Wu insects!

Among the government troops surrounding Yun Wan, someone let out a cry of alarm, immediately followed by waves of miserable screams!

Clang!

Seeing this, Yun Wan drew her long sword and slashed a brilliant blade of light at the fog before her!

A Ninth-level Martial Master can easily project sword qi outward.

The sword qi, several zhang long, split the fog before them like tearing through rotten stalks, flying straight toward a nearby boulder!

Boom!

That boulder was directly cleaved by the sword qi, and a low, miserable cry came through the fog!

Playing at mysticism!

Having succeeded with one strike, Yun Wan immediately leapt up, landing like a startled swan behind the boulder, seeing the severely injured hemp-clad figure before her and the strange copper vessel nearby emitting fog; she lifted her sword, overturned the vessel, then pointed her sword at the hemp-clad figure and said coldly:

"Where are your accomplices?"

The figure in hemp clothing pressed the wound on their chest, which continuously oozed fresh blood; in the eyes hidden beneath the bronze mask was nothing but the resolute determination to face death.

Seeing this look, Yun Wan knew it was impossible to get any useful information from the opponent's mouth.

Swish!

A cold gleam flashed, instantly slaying the person before them!

"Miss Yun, so much fog!"

Yun Wan had just slain that witch when she heard the prefectural troops behind her exclaim; she immediately turned to look toward the not‑far Maple Forest Town, only to discover the whole town was already shrouded in thick fog.

Faintly, one could still hear the cries and wails of the townspeople within the town.

"Follow me!"

The situation was critical; she immediately led all the prefectural troops charging toward Maple Forest Town.

Fortunately, these flying insects hidden in the thick fog were not the terrifying entities that had attacked Wang Erhu and company earlier; those bitten by the insects only suffered severe swelling, with no immediate threat to their lives.

Maple Forest Town.

Inside the small courtyard, a fierce battle was underway.

Fang Xu, wielding a strange wooden staff, was currently fighting three black‑clad masked martial artists!

Their cultivation levels were around the sixth stage of Martial Disciple; in Maple Forest Town, aside from Lu Zhiyuan and the Wu Family Old Ancestor—both Martial Masters—their strength counted as top‑tier.

Fang Xu also did not know what these three wanted; after sneaking secretly into his home, they actually tried to overpower him and take him away.

Fortunately, having detected them early, the two sides then engaged in battle.

The three were not strong individually, but together they were roughly on par with Lu Qingluo.

Relying on the newly learned Nine Monkeys Staff, Fang Xu could thrust left and block right, managing to hold out for a short time.

But just then, one of the masked martial artists seized the moment and slashed directly at Fang Xu's hand gripping the staff!

As he prepared to withdraw and defend, another masked martial artist seized the opportunity to grab the staff!

Fang Xu had no choice but to retract his hand to avoid danger, barely dodging the blow.

Thus, the staff in his hand was completely taken away.

The three exchanged a glance, the corners of their eyes slightly crinkling, obviously showing a smile.

But Fang Xu showed no panic; perhaps these thieves didn't realize his forte wasn't staff technique.

The previous chapter was reviewed; I don't know if it can be released. Everyone, please wait patiently—after being revised twice it got locked in the small black room, and when released there might be duplicate chapters; just skip them if they appear.

(End of chapter)