Pursuit

Zhou Li’s eyes widened in horror, just as he was about to struggle, a sharp pain came from his neck. The next moment, everything before his eyes turned pitch black.

“Ah!”

Seeing Zhou Li collapse on the ground, Zhou Shi screamed in fright. However, he’d only just started screaming when he found his mouth covered by a hand, and he couldn’t make any sound.

“It was you who was spying on me during the day, right!”

Sun Shu looked down at Zhou Shi, one hand covering his mouth, the other pinching Zhou Shi’s neck, and pulled him closer.

Zhou Shi’s eyes filled with tears instantly, and he kicked hard, but he couldn’t break free. He could only watch as Sun Shu’s face got closer and closer to his.

“There are consequences for every choice you make, do you understand? Hehehe!”

Sun Shu suddenly laughed inexplicably, and his hand around Zhou Shi’s neck tightened. Zhou Shi’s eyes bulged out involuntarily, and the next moment, a bloody mist filled the entire dilapidated courtyard.

“Consequences…Zhang family…”

Sun Shu muttered to himself, loosening his grip on Zhou Shi’s neck, and his body fell to the ground.

Outside the courtyard wall, a small figure was looking through a hole in the wall, witnessing everything that had happened before its eyes.

Zhao Qi tightly covered his mouth, not daring to make a sound.

Every day, Zhao Qi would look through this hole and watch what was happening next door. Sometimes the courtyard was empty, but Zhao Qi could still watch with great interest.

But today, Zhao Qi regretted doing so. He had witnessed a murder.

Zhao Qi’s teeth were chattering, but he didn’t dare to make any sound. He knew that if he made a sound, the killer would come and kill him too.

Zhao Qi’s eyes were fixed on Sun Shu as he left the courtyard.

Zhao Qi breathed a sigh of relief, loosening his grip on his mouth. He looked up and saw a pair of eyes staring back at him through the hole.

“Ah!”

Zhao Qi screamed in terror and scrambled backward.

“Oh, so there’s a little rat hiding here too…”

At the North City Medical Hall, inside the pill room, Chen Fei’s hand movements kept changing, and a fragrance of medicine spread from the pill furnace.

“Boom!”

There was a muffled sound, and the whole pill furnace shook. The fragrance of the medicine instantly turned into a burnt smell.

Chen Fei furrowed his brows slightly as he opened the lid of the furnace and looked at the charred residue inside. “I wonder which herb caused this blockage,” he muttered to himself as he cleaned the furnace and recalled the details of his previous alchemy process. Suddenly, he heard some commotion outside.

As he walked out, Liu Jun approached him and greeted him, “Stewart Chen.”

“What’s going on?” Chen Fei asked.

“The family of one of our servants was killed, and he is asking if the medical hall could advance some of his wages,” Liu Jun explained, pointing to a young and malnourished-looking man.

Chen Fei glanced at the man and took out a few silver pieces. “Give this to him on my tab,” he said before turning away. He knew that this was probably the most he could do to help the man, and giving him more money might not even ensure his survival.

Back in the alchemy room, Chen Fei continued his research on the Light Spirit Pill. After an hour, he massaged his temples and sighed, feeling frustrated at the lack of progress. However, he was also somewhat enjoying the challenge of reverse-engineering the pill from its finished form back to the herbs that composed it.

Chen Fei then picked up his sword and began practicing his swordsmanship, which he often did when he was not cultivating his inner energy or doing alchemy. This grueling schedule did not burn him out but rather energized him.

Days passed by, and the situation outside of Pingyin County became increasingly unstable. The Imperial army, tasked with suppressing the rebel forces, suffered a defeat and was gradually retreating. The rebels gained momentum and even took control of several other towns.

In Pingyin County, another member of the Zhang family was killed. However, the family’s control over Sun Shu’s movements became more precise. There was even one instance where they had a physical altercation, but Sun Shu managed to escape.

Chen Fei has integrated his swordsmanship into the fourth set.

[Cultivation Method: Fire Sword (Perfect 7124/10000)]

Compared to the Clear Mountain Sword, the Fire Sword was at least seventy percent more powerful now.

With this current swordsmanship, Chen Fei could now compete with Jian Liang. If the Fire Sword were elevated to Grand Completion, Chen Fei would be able to defeat Jian Liang.

With just one set of swordsmanship, Chen Fei could fight against those with higher cultivation levels. This just shows how outstanding this swordsmanship is. Compared to the inheritance of the noble families in Pingyin County, Chen Fei’s swordsmanship was by no means inferior.

Chen Fei was chatting with a physician about the properties of certain medicinal herbs in the main hall of the medical clinic. He has had no progress in his cultivation of the Light Spirit Pill and has been stuck in one spot for quite some time. Discussing the properties of herbs with the physician sometimes gave Chen Fei more ideas.

As they were having a good conversation, Zhang Yuezhen suddenly appeared in the clinic.

“All the guards, follow me. Chen Fei, you too!” Zhang Yuezhen shouted, seeing Chen Fei in the main hall. After a moment’s thought, she called him along. His cultivation level was higher than the other physicians, so he was of some assistance.

Most of the guards didn’t understand what was happening, but they all followed. Chen Fei ran in the middle and rear of the group. In a moment, they had left Pingyin County and arrived in a mountainous forest. A person was standing there, pacing anxiously. Seeing Zhang Yuezhen, he hurried over to greet her.

“Is Sun Shu still over there?” Zhang Yuezhen asked nervously.

“He’s still there, and he’s injured, but we need to move quickly, or others might come soon.” Zhang Qiang shook the money bag that Zhang Yuezhen handed him and laughed.

“He’s just one person, and I owe you a favor this time!”

“I’ll wait for your good news!” Zhang Qiang bowed and said.

Zhang Yuezhen laughed loudly and rushed ahead. The guards behind them realized that they had found Sun Shu. Zhang Yuezhen was trying to win the honor of her family by getting rid of the Zhang family’s recent troubles.