Chapter 217: The Greedy Huang Family (Begging for Monthly Passes)

Xu Yuan, wearing a mud mask, moved freely and unimpeded through the Little Yu Shan.

Not long after descending the cliff, he found traces and secretly followed Lady Fu Shuanghui's group.

The Shanhe Bureau team rested for a moment, then set out again, beginning to circle around the valley from one side.

Xu Yuan controlled his speed.

If the terrain was complex, he would follow closer, not exceeding one li.

If the ground was open and flat, he would stay farther away, beyond two li.

With his "Gaze at Fate," Xu Yuan was not overly worried about losing them.

He would find a high spot on a mountain peak, take a look, and determine their general position.

After walking seven or eight li, Xu Yuan was lying in ambush beneath an old tree.

Thick ancient vines, as thick as an arm, coiled around the old tree, and its bark was covered with thick moss, wet and slippery.

Beneath the tree, layers of humus had accumulated over countless years; stepping on it caused the entire foot to sink in, creating a somewhat nauseating sensation.

Suddenly, something stirred within the humus, sinking slightly before arching upward, and a small yellow figure emerged.

Glancing at Xu Yuan, it shot up the ancient tree with a "whoosh," looking around at the Shanhe Bureau group.

The weasel had mistaken Xu Yuan for an evil spirit.

It looked at the Shanhe Bureau group, then lowered its head to look at Xu Yuan below, its eyes filled with caution.

After a while, it couldn't help but ask, "Did you also accept Tian Da Wang's assignment? If Tian Da Wang does this, it's rather unscrupulous; does he not trust us of the Huang family?"

Xu Yuan's heart stirred, and he nodded, saying, "Yes."

He could not speak too much; speaking too much would easily reveal a flaw.

The weasel was very angry, baring its teeth, its whiskers trembling at the corners of its lips: "Do you intend to steal business from our Huang family?"

Xu Yuan said, "I dare not! I also thought I was the only one who accepted this assignment."

"Hmph!" The weasel waved its small paws to drive him away: "If you dare not, then get lost! If you dare offend our Huang family, we hundreds will tear you apart and eat you!"

Xu Yuan nodded and turned to leave.

He had only taken two steps when a piece of silver fell from his chest.

Xu Yuan quickly picked it up, acting as if he were terrified of being seen.

"Wait!" The weasel shouted, but Xu Yuan ran even faster.

The weasel leaped from the tree, transforming into a yellow shadow that landed in front of Xu Yuan; it waved its paw, and a yellow wind rose from the ground, slicing a deep trench in the earth before Xu Yuan's feet with a "chis" sound.

"Why run?" The weasel spoke with stern voice and angry expression: "Are you feeling guilty? Are you hiding something from me?"

Xu Yuan hurriedly shook his head and covered his chest, which was bulging, clearly hiding quite a bit of silver.

Suspicion rose greatly in the weasel: "How much money did Tian Da Wang give you?"

"Very little."

The weasel shot over with a "whoosh," opening both paws, their sharp edges gleaming with cold light: "Speak the truth!"

Xu Yuan displayed a look of fear: "F-five hundred taels of silver."

"What!?" The weasel shrieked: "On what grounds did you get so much! Our Huang family has been deceived!"

Xu Yuan thought to himself that they indeed had been deceived, but not by "Tian Da Wang."

"Hand over the silver!" The weasel raised its paw.

Xu Yuan clutched his chest tightly: "What kind of logic is this..."

Swish!

The weasel waved its paw, and several fierce yellow winds flew out; a tree branch as thick as a bowl, several zhang away, was severed and fell with a "crash."

"Hand it over!"

"How can your Huang family people simply rob openly!" Xu Yuan cried out in protest.

The weasel's eyes flickered, and it argued stubbornly: "This silver was meant to be ours; on what grounds should you earn it! Hand it over quickly, or you will suffer!"

Xu Yuan, looking aggrieved, took out the silver.

"Do you really want it?"

"If you dare to nag again, this Great Immortal will cut off your nose!"

Xu Yuan handed it over; the weasel's eyes gleamed: "Hahaha, mine, mine, all mine!"

Suddenly, it noticed something and became somewhat puzzled: "This silver... why is it different from my previous ones..."

Xu Yuan smiled slightly and began to ask: "Who exactly is this Tian Da Wang you mentioned?"

The weasel leaped up with a "zeng," shouting angrily: "You deceived me..."

But immediately afterward, it answered uncontrollably: "Tian Da Wang is a snake keeper; he is the wealthiest in our mountains. His seven abyss pits contain thousands of terrifying long worms.

If he didn't pay money, we of the Huang family would truly not want to go to his territory..."

The weasel did not understand why it was acting this way.

It stared with its two small bean-like eyes, covering its mouth with both front paws, yet the voice still involuntarily came out.

Then, a fierce light flashed in those small eyes; it raised its paw and unleashed several fierce yellow winds: "What have you done to this Great Immortal..."

Xu Yuan easily dodged the attack, then a beast-tendon rope shot out silently, wrapping around the weasel's four legs and hoisting it into the air.

"Squeak squeak squeak—"

The weasel screamed, its voice fierce but its spirit weak: "You dare provoke our Huang family; you truly have grown tired of living..."

Xu Yuan completely ignored its threat and continued to ask: "Is he a human or an evil spirit?"

"He is an ancient corpse, but he seems different from ordinary zombies. Anyway, his scent smells wrong to me.

Moreover, he often descends the mountain, seemingly possessing a method to disguise himself as a living human; the cultivators in the city have no way to deal with him."

Xu Yuan: "What kind of place is an abyss pit, and why does he raise snakes?"

A abyss pit is just an abyss pit—each one can swallow a whole Dashan, dark and cold inside; I don't like them.

As for why Tian Da Wang raises snakes, I heard from my little thirty-ninth that once, by accident, he saw Tian Da Wang kill his own snakes, fill several jars with their blood, and throw them into one of the abyss pits.

Oh, by the way, that abyss pit is the only one without snakes.

Xu Yuan nodded silently; this "abyss pit" might be a sky pit.

Tian Da Wang raises snakes to extract their blood… then what is in that one abyss pit that doesn't raise snakes?

Xu Yuan guessed: it's that jiao!

This Tian Da Wang is the jiao's accomplice.

Xu Yuan had long suspected the jiao had an accomplice.

The jiao doesn't kill or eat people—then how did the last group sent by Shanhe Si die? Naturally, someone else did it for it.

"What is Tian Da Wang's talent?"

"He makes money—especially good at making money! Our whole family admires him!"

Xu Yuan fell silent, but the weasel added: "Besides that, his greatest talent is shaping souls into all kinds of forms; they say he earns money by selling these souls—people in the city are willing to pay huge prices…"

"Spirit cultivator?" Xu Yuan thought silently.

A zombie spirit cultivator!

Xu Yuan had never seen one before.

This "Tian Da Wang," though already a malevolent spirit, differs from ordinary zombies.

His habits look no different from those of the living.

Xu Yuan couldn't help thinking of Aunt Wang.

"Could he have transformed into a zombie of his own accord?" Xu Yuan wondered silently.

A spirit cultivator… could indeed do this.

Xu Yuan wanted to ask more, but suddenly, a peculiar force struck him.

Xu Yuan felt a sharp pain in both eyes.

The weasel screamed in agony, blood streaming from its eyes, then collapsed unconscious.

(End of Chapter)