Chapter 237: Scraping Up Floating Wealth and Dividing the Spoils

"There is a secret technique within the Blood Sand Palm that involves refining a Blood God Leech into a hidden weapon, known as the Blood Breaking Awl."

"This item is extremely powerful after being refined for a long time; like a Blood Qi Divine Weapon, it is specifically designed to break a Martial Master's body, though unfortunately, it can only be used once."

After confirming that Jin Heshan had breathed his last, Jiang Hua began to explain to Zhou You.

He had emptied his savings to purchase two Blood God Leeches; one was used to hire Lu Zhigang, and the other was refined into the killing move, the Blood Breaking Awl, which finally proved effective.

With his great vengeance finally fulfilled, the heavy stone that had weighed on his heart for over twenty years fell away, and he felt incomparably relieved.

Zhou You noticed the gloom that had shrouded this Senior Brother's face dissipating as quickly as dark clouds.

He saw Jiang Hua pick up the gauntlets from the corpse, stroke them gently a few times, and tuck them into his bosom.

His father had died at the hands of Jin Heshan, suffering the fate of being skinned and de-tendoned, with his body made into these very gauntlets, leaving him no remains to bury.

Now, these gauntlets were the only memento left to pay his respects.

"Old thief, I have practiced the craft of skinning and de-tendoning for over ten years, and now I shall use it on you."

Still unable to vent his hatred, Jiang Hua kicked the stiff corpse fiercely, cursing through gritted teeth without stopping.

He did not forget Zhou You, either. "Junior Brother Zhou, I will share half of this old thief's skin and bones with you."

A Martial Master's body was of great value to them; it could provide the materials for them to craft a Blood Qi Divine Weapon of their own.

Zhou You had a skull on hand, and with half of Jin Heshan's corpse, he might truly succeed if his luck held.

Refining a Blood Qi Divine Weapon also involved wastage; the Martial Masters Jin Heshan had killed to create the pair of gauntlets on his hands were certainly not limited to just two.

These matters could be planned for the long term.

"Junior Brother Zhou, have you seen Cheng Xiaohe?"

Zhou You shook his head; Jin Heshan's only remaining disciple was still alive, just not in the immediate vicinity.

Just a moment ago, he had switched his projection to take the barely-breathing Cheng Xiaohe away and break into the empty town.

With Jin Heshan and his four great disciples all fallen, this land had become ownerless territory—simply a massive, undefended piece of fat.

The Heming Fist had entrenched itself here for many years, skimming off the top and taking cuts; who knew how much ill-gotten wealth they had scraped together.

"Damn it, I was still outmaneuvered by Lu Zhigang."

Jiang Hua realized this, slapped his forehead, and looked utterly frustrated.

He immediately grabbed Zhou You by the sleeve. "Hurry, let's go to the town and scrape up the floating wealth."

Scraping up floating wealth was the common term, usually also known as... ransacking a house.

Jiang Hua had been watching Jin Heshan for over a decade and knew his family coffers were deep; he had intended to take both the man's life and his wealth from the start.

Several columns of smoke swirled above the town; it looked like fires had just started, but they had been extinguished before growing large.

In the streets and alleys, a few corpses lay here and there, their eyes wide open in death, unable to close them in peace.

In broad daylight, there was not a single pedestrian on the road; every household kept their doors and windows shut, hiding behind them to observe the movement outside.

"Killed by a Poison Palm; it was Lu Zhigang who did it."

Jiang Hua saw at a glance that these were all hoodlums and scoundrels who had tried to loot the burning house, attempting to take advantage of the chaos after Jin Heshan's fall.

He hadn't expected Lu Zhigang to break into the town, ruthlessly killing these early birds and snuffing out the fires.

"Junior Brother Zhou, I see that Lu Zhigang has no small ambition; I fear he intends to entrench himself here."

Although this place was not as prosperous as Gongliang City, the location was good and the pickings were rich—enough to cover the expenses for Lu Zhigang to break through to Martial Master.

Jiang Hua did not mind; his ambitions did not lie here, and he only wanted the gold and jewelry that were easy to carry away.

Zhou You remained silent; he was currently a projection, while his true body was over at Lu Zhigang's side, collecting the wealth.

Earlier, when he had manipulated Li Chonghe with the Blood Qi Gu, he had pried out a great deal of Jin Heshan's secrets, even obtaining the full text of the Heming Fist.

At this moment, ransacking Jin Heshan's villa was simply too easy.

"Lu Zhigang, you can't just eat like this; it's too unsightly." Jiang Hua stormed into the villa and confronted Lu Zhigang, "Do you still want the Blood God Leech?"

'Lu Zhigang' stopped what he was doing and gave him an evil smile. "The Blood God Leech is what I am owed, and this floating wealth is my hard-earned fee. I want it all."

"You have already taken a pair of gauntlets—a Blood Qi Divine Weapon! How precious is that?"

'Lu Zhigang' shook his head, dissatisfied. "You think a mere bug is enough to hire me?"

Jiang Hua estimated that if he and Zhou You joined forces and had a falling out with him, their chances of winning were not high.

He swallowed his anger. "Fine, the floating wealth belongs to us, and this town belongs to you!"

Before 'Lu Zhigang' could refuse, he analyzed, "As long as you occupy this place, within half a year, you will surely gain ten times the profit of this floating wealth. You must look at the long term."

"Hmm!"

'Lu Zhigang' put on a thoughtful expression, rubbing his chin. "That makes some sense."

He held up three fingers. "I will give you three hours to scrape up the floating wealth. During this time, whatever you can carry away is yours, but once the time limit is exceeded, I'm sorry, but everything left in the town belongs to me."

How tyrannical this condition was!

Yet Jiang Hua dared not fall out with him; the series of methods Lu Zhigang had used earlier were simply too ruthless and bizarre.

Li Chonghe was Jin Heshan's eldest disciple, valued more than his own son, yet under Lu Zhigang's control, he had turned around to launch a sneak attack, even using the tragic method of detonating his own Blood Qi.

And then there was the unfathomable Poison Palm!

A large part of the reason he and Zhou You were able to succeed was that the deadly poison had weakened Jin Heshan's strength.

Having such a formidable person as an ally was reassuring, but if they became enemies, it would be a massive headache.

"Fine, I agree."

Jiang Hua was terrified that Zhou You might lose his temper, so he pulled him away and turned to leave.

"Junior Brother Zhou, don't fall out with him. Even though it's only the floating wealth, I guarantee you'll net at least this much."

As he spoke, he spread out his palm. "Fifty thousand taels, all in cash."

"Once we go back, you can buy a house and land, become a wealthy man, and let your father and mother enjoy their later years in peace."

Zhou You sighed inwardly; in this world, having money didn't guarantee peace, and 50,000 taels wasn't even enough to buy a horse stable in Fucheng.

Jiang Hua took the lead in breaking into the residence of Golden Crane Mountain and several Disciples, smashing things and digging up the ground, unearthing a large amount of gold, silver, pearls, and jade.

No matter the time, these are always hard currency; it is often said that in chaotic times, food is more precious than gold, but if you think about it from another angle, even food that can save a person's life is so precious that it still needs to be measured by real gold and silver as an equivalent.

Three hours passed in a hurry...

"There must be more in other places, hidden deeper and of greater value."

But there was no time left.

When Jiang Hua and Zhou You arrived, they came with empty sleeves and stepped through the air, but when they left, they were very down-to-earth.

Each of them drove a horse-drawn carriage, piled with boxes four or five meters high, making the axles creak under the weight.

As the sturdy stallions pulled the trailers, the hot air snorted from their noses was as thick as clouds, and the veins in their ears were clearly swollen and red.

It was too heavy; although this trip had some regrets, they still returned with a full load.

Zhou You left the town and turned his head to look behind him; this action was interpreted by Jiang Hua as unwillingness.

"Forget it, even if we earned a little less, we didn't lose out."

"Let me tell you a secret: Golden Crane Mountain still has a few sworn brothers who call themselves the Five Birds."

"We killed the people and left, and since Lu Zhigang is occupying this place, it's perfect to leave him to attract fire and let those seeking revenge find him."

"Also, these riches are too eye-catching; don't take them into the city yet, find a place to Zang them well, and remember to mark it."

(End of this chapter)