21: Chapter 21 Decisiveness

Based on past food consumption, he needed to spend four to five hundred just on eating every day.

And this was in Pushan Town, where the cost of living wasn't high; if it were elsewhere, it would only be higher.

"Four or five hundred a day, that's over ten thousand a month." Xu Yan did the math in his head. "Calculated this way, it's definitely more cost-effective to eat regular meat."

Don't let the large amount of groceries Xu Yan bought fool you; they would only last him two days at most. By the third day, he would have to wake up early to go to town to restock.

"It's just a bit troublesome. Not only do I have to restock regularly, but I also spend over an hour every day prepping ingredients and cooking."

After getting out of the car, Xu Yan carried the bags of groceries into the courtyard.

"If only someone could deliver food to me on time every day," Xu Yan thought unrealistically.

But the next moment, a flash of inspiration hit him.

"That's right, Zhou Heshun!"

"How could I have forgotten about him?"

Xu Yan thought of the owner of the buffet restaurant he had visited earlier. "These restaurant owners can definitely meet my needs."

Thinking of the man's tactful attitude at the time, Xu Yan made a plan.

However, there was no rush for this now. After all, he didn't have much money on hand at the moment. If he wanted the other party to deliver food to him every day, he couldn't just open his mouth and expect them to work for free, right?

Money definitely had to be paid. If the other party came once or twice because of his identity as a "Transcendent," that would be an attempt to befriend or curry favor with him.

But to have them deliver food every day without paying or offering other benefits—let alone whether the other party would be willing, even if they were, Xu Yan would have to weigh whether they were plotting something big against him.

A creature that only takes and never gives is a Pixiu; Xu Yan didn't want to bring trouble upon himself just for the sake of convenience.

"I'll wait until Director Luo sends news about Tian Feng, find a way to sell some exotic beast meat, and then contact Zhou Heshun."

Having figured this out, Xu Yan began processing the ingredients. As usual, he cooked a large pot at once; after all, he needed to practice his boxing to grind attributes in the afternoon, and he couldn't afford to be short on food.

...

On the other side, while Xu Yan was buying groceries, Shen Fei had already followed the traces left by Deng Fang to the intersection where they had parted ways.

"Quite cautious, knowing to split up."

Looking at the traces left at the three-way intersection, Shen Fei sneered, "Hmph! Neither of you is getting away!"

Although Shen Fei couldn't determine which of the other two tracks belonged to Tian Feng, he didn't care, because once targeted by him, no one could escape his eyes!

Choosing a direction at random, Shen Fei's figure flickered and instantly vanished.

Over an hour later, in a village on another mountain path, Shen Fei stopped in front of a courtyard. Smelling the faint scent of blood drifting in the air, his expression suddenly darkened.

He didn't linger, leaping several meters and jumping directly into the courtyard.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw a pool of dark brown blood on the ground extending toward the house. Almost subconsciously, Shen Fei simulated in his mind the scene of this household opening the door, being attacked, killed, and then dragged into the room.

"Brother Feng, Deng Fang's phone won't go through; it's been turned off."

Shen Fei's ears twitched as he heard a voice coming from inside the house.

"Alright, I understand. I will be careful."

The call ended, and Shen Fei saw a man carrying a black bag walk out of the room.

The man was stunned to see Shen Fei suddenly appear in the courtyard, his expression then changed drastically, and he immediately turned back into the house and ran toward the backyard.

Clearly, he understood that someone who could track him down alone was definitely not someone he could handle.

"Huo Chong, is it?" Shen Fei narrowed his eyes, seemingly unconcerned by Huo Chong's reaction. "You have a bit of bad luck."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Fei's figure vanished. When he reappeared, he was already in the backyard, one hand gripping Huo Chong's neck.

Huo Chong tried to struggle, but before he could raise his hand, he suddenly felt his neck tighten, and then he met Shen Fei's gaze, which was devoid of any emotion and filled with murderous intent.

Huo Chong had no doubt that if he dared to move even an inch, the Trench Coat Man in front of him would choke him to death without hesitation.

"Who... who exactly are you? You are definitely not from the Supernatural Management Bureau!"

Huo Chong was absolutely certain that the man in front of him was not from the Supernatural Management Bureau.

Because the people from the Supernatural Management Bureau only arrest, they don't kill.

But the man in front of him gave him the exact opposite feeling: he only killed, he didn't arrest.

"I ask, you answer!"

Shen Fei didn't want to waste words with Huo Chong and asked directly, "What is the cycle for your 'Gateway' to cross the 'barrier' of the Longji Mountain Range?"

"Wh...what?"

Huo Chong was clearly stunned.

He hadn't expected the other party to ask this question; he thought the other party would interrogate him about Tian Feng's whereabouts.

"I... I don't know."

Faced with the threat of death, Huo Chong appeared very compliant. "I... I've only been in once, I don't know..."

"Useless!"

Shen Fei applied force to his hand, crushing Huo Chong's neck directly.

"Hrk... you... hrk..."

Huo Chong's eyes widened, looking at Shen Fei in disbelief.

He couldn't imagine that just because he couldn't answer a single question, the other party would crush his neck without hesitation.

Even Tian Feng, who had slaughtered two villages, wouldn't be this decisive, right?

However, no matter how unwilling or incredulous he was, his consciousness was sinking into darkness bit by bit.

Shen Fei rummaged through Huo Chong's body and found a thumb-sized transparent crystal, the same as the piece of boundary stone in Xu Yan's home.

Then he opened the backpack on Huo Chong's back; as he expected, it was a full bag of exotic beast meat.

"It looks like that's how that kid gets his stuff."

Shen Fei tossed Huo Chong's corpse onto the ground like trash, then took out his phone to find Director Luo's number.

"Director Luo, I'm sending you a location. Bring some men over to handle this."

After sending the location to Director Luo, Shen Fei didn't take the exotic beast meat but pocketed the boundary stone fragment. Then, without lingering, he turned and dashed back into the mountains.

The subsequent matters were naturally left to Director Luo to handle.

As for the owners of this house?

Needless to say, they had long been killed by Huo Chong.

Shen Fei had known the moment he leaped over the courtyard wall.

A family of three—two elderly people and a six or seven-year-old child—had all died at the hands of Huo Chong.

And this was one of the reasons why he killed Huo Chong without hesitation.

As for the other reason, it was naturally to save time.

Compared to handing over an inconsequential Transcendent criminal, catching Tian Feng and getting the cycle of the Gateway was what mattered most!

...

Late at night, 137 Yingshan Road, Xu Family Village.

Xu Yan finished practicing his boxing and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Whew..."

He took out his phone and checked the time. "11 o'clock, that's about right."

He hadn't forgotten that he still had to move Deng Fang's body tonight.

"But before that, let me add the free attributes I accumulated today."