145: Altar Master
Han Yi scanned his comprehensive stats.
Originally, without a weapon, the value was '65~99', but now it had become '90~99'.
“This truly is an all-around development in attack and defense…”
Han Yi was a little surprised. This value was already infinitely close to the 100 mark of a Channel Opening Martial Master. He had not expected the Golden Muscle Jade Bone Skill to bring such a significant improvement.
He reached out and grabbed the Xuan Tie Sword again.
He took another look.
This time, his comprehensive stats became '115~124'.
“Whew…”
Han Yi let out a long breath. With his current strength, he felt somewhat at ease.
The autumn night wind, carrying the fresh scent of roadside sweet osmanthus, gently caressed Han Yi's cheeks and disheveled black hair. The clear moonlight and the myriad brilliant stars shone upon him, reflecting a young man with sword-like brows and star-like eyes, the entire scene as if stepping out of a painting.
Crack!
Pfft!
The sound of spitting out melon seed shells, however, ruined the beautiful scenery.
Han Yi was in a pleasant mood, leisurely lying on Bai Sanren's recliner. He held a handful of melon seeds, ate the kernels, and spat out the shells, the recliner creaking with his movements.
At this moment, his face was full of smiles, complementing the beautiful scenery before him.
After all, his gains during this one-week vacation were indeed bountiful!
But then, Han Yi's face immediately fell.
No other reason, tomorrow, it would be his turn to guard the Black Market.
Laborer, working spirit, working is being superior!
Han Yi could only comfort himself in this way. He looked up at the sky.
Clang…
“Close doors and windows, guard against theft and robbery…”
It was already Hai Shi (9-11 PM), and the sound of the night watchman's drum faintly echoed from the streets.
“It seems it’s time to rest…”
Han Yi was about to call Qian Xue back to sleep as usual, but then he shook his head and laughed out loud.
He was a bit too happy today and forgot that Qian Xue and Sanren Bai hadn't returned yet…
But surprisingly, the power of habit was truly terrifying. After only a few months of being with them, Han Yi felt a sense of home here. When the two of them weren't around, Han Yi felt a little unaccustomed.
“Perhaps, this is what warmth is called…”
He murmured a few words, returned to the house, and went to sleep early. Tomorrow, he still had to continue striving!
———————————————
Late night
Changning Ward
The sky was pitch black. At some unknown time, a dark cloud drifted from afar, vaguely shrouding the originally bright silver disk with a veil.
The ward was silent, without a trace of human activity. Filth casually piled by the roadside remained untouched, and one could vaguely smell the stench of mixed fermented waste and rotting things.
On a relatively clean street, there were a dozen identical houses. Although they were built with mud walls and broken tiles, and their exteriors were unpainted, looking extremely shabby, they were still much better than the dilapidated shacks in other parts of Changning Ward, almost like a palace in the slum.
At the entrance of each room, there were several burly men standing guard. These men wore black and white clothes, were large and thick-set, with fierce, fleshy faces, and did not look like good people.
Only the deepest, largest, widest, and best-preserved building had no guards at its entrance.
Hiss!
“Oh, my little darling, are you hungry?”
A person completely shrouded in a black robe threw a few golden mulberry leaves into the bronze cauldron before him.
Inside the bronze cauldron was a Gu worm the size of a fist.
This Gu worm had a golden body and two wings, thin as cicada wings, looking like a golden cicada ornament.
But despite having the lower body of a cicada, its head was that of a toad, and its two eyes were lifeless like those of a dead person, causing a sense of unease in those who saw them.
“What, what’s wrong with this…”
Seeing his little darling discard even its favorite golden mulberry leaves as if they were worthless, the Black-Clothed Man was clearly anxious. He paced around the room, rummaging through a cabinet nearby. The two hands extending from beneath his robe were aged and covered with patterns, as if burned by wax.
Creak!
The door was opened, and a bald man with only half a face, filled with rage, walked in. His eyes gleamed fiercely, and he walked with a strong stride, looking no different from a demon from the underworld.
“Danyang Zi, why is the supply of talisman water so scarce this time?!”
He spoke first, shouting as soon as he entered.
Behind the bald man was a refined-looking middle-aged man with a beard, dressed like a scholar. He gently tugged at the bald man's clothes, signaling him not to be so aggressive.
After all, Danyang Zi was sent by the Sect Leader, and furthermore, Danyang Zi's collection of venomous Gu worms was not to be trifled with!
“Hmph, Jiang Cheng, you speak to me with such a tone?” Danyang Zi snorted coldly, his back to Jiang Cheng, not even looking at him properly.
“You…”
“Hmph, Danyang Zi, no matter what, this batch of talisman water must be replenished. If this matter delays the Sect Leader's grand plan, you will have hell to pay!”
Jiang Cheng roared in anger. He was a crude man who believed in meeting force with greater force.
“Hehehehe!”
Danyang Zi laughed chillingly, then said, “Altar Lord Jiang, you don’t need to worry about this matter. I can naturally replenish this batch of talisman water…”
“Instead, you should worry more about yourself…” He changed his tone and continued, “I heard that the newly established outpost in Changle Ward was uprooted after only a few days. Tsk tsk tsk, the Disciple who returned said that only a few charred bones were left of the incense master and the Disciples there… Altar Lord Jiang, you truly are wise and mighty, with excellent leadership…”
“Danyang Zi!!”
Jiang Cheng's face turned ashen, and he roared, as if about to launch an attack.
“Altar Lord, Altar Lord!”
Fortunately, the strategist behind Jiang Cheng quickly pulled him back.
“Hmph!”
Jiang Cheng turned his face away, flicked his sleeves, and left, with the strategist following closely behind him.
“Wait a moment…”
Danyang Zi said unhurriedly.
“What else do you want…”
Bang!
Before Jiang Cheng could finish speaking, the strange cicada with a toad's head in the bronze cauldron leaped like a bullet from a gun, flashing onto the strategist's head.
Rip!
Its steel-like tongue pierced into the strategist's eye socket, and white brain matter flowed out as the tongue twisted. The strategist didn't even let out a scream before he fell to the ground with a thud.
“Old Sun!
“Danyang Zi!!”
Jiang Cheng roared, his clothes fluttering wildly, and a roaring sound like a surging river emanated from his body—that was his extremely boiling Qi and blood.
His rage was intense. Sun Chengmo was an unranked scholar, considered the most quick-witted in his team, and an old subordinate who had followed him for a long time. Now, he had died in the mouth of an insect, serving as its food. How could he not be furious!
But Jiang Cheng's body did not move, looking at Danyang Zi with apprehension, as well as the several strangely shaped Gu worms behind him.
Bang!
After finishing its “meal,” the strange cicada with a toad's head bounced off the ground with a thud and returned to the bronze cauldron.
“Hahaha, Altar Lord Jiang, don’t be angry. If my little darling wasn’t hungry, how could there be a shortage of talisman water!
“I’ve long heard that Sun Chengmo is a scholar, with a clever mind, and must be a great tonic. Altar Lord Jiang, rest assured, after this meal, I will give you an extra thirty percent of the next talisman water supply!”
Danyang Zi laughed sinisterly. He picked up the strange cicada and gently stroked it as if it were a lover.
Then, from the cicada's toad mouth, it spat out a white insect egg the size of a grain of rice, which was the Materials for making talisman water.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Cheng's anger couldn't help but subside by a third. He wasn't as quick-witted as Sun Chengmo, but he wasn't a fool either.
He knew that in the Gushen Sect, Danyang Zi was indispensable. Moreover, Danyang Zi's status and strength were superior to his.
Not to mention, there were even rumors that Danyang Zi had connections with the mysterious Sect Leader!
Jiang Cheng said nothing more, leaving with a gloomy face, leaving only Danyang Zi busy working inside the room…
The hands of time kept turning, and life continued as usual.
Han Yi, as usual, was on duty in the Black Market, but this week, he was on the night shift.
The Black Market's duty was divided into day and night. Cai Yu and Han Yi were in one group, while Lin Ping and Wang Dong were in another, rotating every seven days.
Han Yi sat alone in the duty room. He was the only one in this room.
As usual, he checked some registered ledgers, but inexplicably felt a chill wind blow through, and the longer he sat, the colder his spine felt.
Han Yi looked up, scanning the room alertly.
The room was not large, but it was exquisitely arranged and well-equipped.
The front part was a hall that occupied most of the room's area.
The furnishings were simple: a table by the window, a stack of registration ledgers that needed to be checked by Inner Sect Disciples, a weapon rack against the wall, a stove, and some easily preserved food like sausages, pickles, and dried biscuits next to it.
This was essentially an office for an Inner Sect Disciple.
In the middle part, there was a screen, separating the front and back parts of the room.
Han Yi got up, walked around the screen, and entered the back hall.
In the back hall, there was a small bed and a cabinet. On the cabinet, files were arranged according to a specific order.
He walked over and flipped through them. The files recorded the recent circulation of goods from the Crimson Flame Sect in the market.
These files needed to be sent to the Sect's Inner Affairs Hall periodically for their review.
Han Yi casually glanced at them and stopped flipping through.
After that, there was the bed.
The bedding and duvet cover were neat and clean, with a faint scent of sweet osmanthus, suggesting that the miscellaneous workers had specifically changed them, knowing a new Disciple was on duty.
Han Yi came to the bed. For some reason, he suddenly had a whim to bend down and look under the bed…