"Did you kill him?"
Not waiting for Luo Chen to answer, Wang Yuan nodded to himself.
"Apparently, you did."
Under Luo Chen's tense backward gaze, he walked to the charred corpse and swung his big blade down.
The head, burned beyond recognition, was casually cut off.
Wang Yuan caught a glimpse of the anxious Luo Chen and the storage bag in his hands, his eyes complex.
The cool breeze at night made the blood-stained torso feel even colder.
Luo Chen forced out a grim smile, "Brother Wang, I haven't finished reading the book."
As if something dawned on him, Wang Yuan's complex eyes gradually folded back, his eyelids drooping again.
"Better go home early. The Great River District can be dangerous at night."
"Okay."
Luo Chen turned and left, but hesitated. He walked over and arduously slung the snake-skin pouch full of medicinal herbs on his back.
That was everything he had.
Watching Luo Chen's retreating figure nearly exit the alley, Wang Yuan inexplicably let out a sigh.
"Take this as a reward for that head."
A black nail as long as a chopstick fell to Luo Chen's feet. The nail was smeared with fresh blood, even with a bit of flesh here and there.
"Brother Wang, thank you."
"Get going, take the small path through the woods, don't use the main road."
"Okay."
Nodding heavily, Luo Chen darted into the woods without looking back.
In the alley, Wang Yuan held three human heads, stood there for a while, then gradually disappeared into the darkness.
...
"Whew...."
Ding!
"Huff!"
Luo Chen leaned against the foot of the bed like a dead fish, drenched in sweat, even his underwear soaked through.
On the ground in front of his bed was another Soul Breaking Nail that was shot into his waist.
Bearing the intense pain, Luo Chen grabbed a bottle next to him and poured it into the wound.
It was a homemade healing medicine, used to deal with the dangers of pill refinement process. It had helped a lot in the past.
Today, it had an even more significant use!
As soon as the medicine entered his body, a cool sensation surged followed by a stinging pain.
"Damn! Damn damn damn..."
Low, growl-like curses echoed occasionally.
Never before had Luo Chen been as furious as he was now.
He was not abhorred by the harm inflicted by his enemy but by his own weakness.
If he were as powerful as Wang Yuan, he would not have ended up like this today.
Only after he finished binding his wound with a bandage, Luo Chen finally let out a sigh of relief.
Enduring the pain, he walked into the living room, opened the snake-skinned bag, and began sorting the different types of herbs onto various shelves.
These lower-grade medicinal herbs and spirit materials could not be mixed for long; otherwise, their efficacy would be greatly reduced.
The shaky steps, under the tiny oil lamp, looked pitiful.
Luo Chen even felt this scene was very much like his previous life when he had to work after surgery.
"No matter where, I cannot escape this hard life. No wonder, in my previous life, my lifespan was only seventy-five."
After all the work, he finally had time to lay down on the bed.
A constant pain from his waist made him too tired but unable to sleep.
Out of options, he tried to find something else to distract his attention.
"Let's see if that guy, who had a shorter life than mine, left anything valuable."
The storage bag of a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator isn't guarded because they don't have spirit consciousness, so naturally, they can't set up prohibitions.
After the owner's death, the imprint of qi power on it was naturally dissipated.
Luo Chen activated the little remaining spirit power and opened the storage bag.
A heap of stuff immediately filled his wooden bed.
"Today was market day, this guy sure bought lots of stuff."
A lower-grade robe, a box of calming incense, five bottles of Fasting Elixir, a bottle of Qi Nurturing Pill, a bottle of Gold Treasury Pill, a bundle of talismans,
There was also a heap of dried spirit grass, which occupied about half of his bed.
Apart from these, Luo Chen's most interested in were the spirit stones.
"Ninety-two lower-grade spirit stones, damn, he was a pauper!"
Luo Chen let out a curse, then gleefully started putting things back one by one.
The spirit stones were indeed few, unworthy of the Fifth Level Qi refinement stage.
However, the value of other items far exceeded these ninety-two lower-grade spirit stones.
Not to mention the lower-grade robe, although it's a little worn and must have been worn by the ill-fated soul, it's worth at least a hundred spirit stones when sold.
The activation speed of this thing is even faster than that of talismans.
That's why Luo Chen was able to quickly activate it before, and the first time the short-lived fool was hit in the face with the Fireball Technique, he also stimulated the defense light shield intrinsic to his robe.
If it had been a complete Medium Grade Robe, it could've withstood six or seven fireballs. Unfortunately, it had been damaged by Wang Yuan before.
It didn't even withstand the third fireball.
Three breaths' time was too short for the severely injured Chen Xiao to take additional measures.
The five bottles of Fasting Elixir weren't worth much, and the quality wasn't as good as ones Luo Chen refined himself, but they were still worth one Spirit Stone.
As for the rest, they were very valuable.
Calming Incense is one of the best external aids for Lower Order Cultivators.
One stalk of Calming Incense a day allows a cultivator to cultivate their Natal Qi Technique five extra times, it is said to be able to restore the fragile soul of a Lower Order Cultivator.
One box contains twelve stalks, worth one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones.
Not to mention the Qi Nurturing Pills, the floral pattern symbol on top reveals their origin from the Spirit Medicine Hall.
Fixed price, one hundred Spirit Stones a bottle!
Great stuff, swallowing and refining them increases spirit power.
As for the stack of talismans, according to Luo Chen's experience, they should also be worth around fifty to sixty Spirit Stones.
He didn't recognize the withered Spirit Grass that covered the bed, but since there was such a large amount of it specifically purchased in the storage bag, it must be useful.
By this calculation, the total value has added up to four hundred Spirit Stones!
Windfall!
Indeed, as the saying goes, a horse gets fat without night grass, and a man gets rich without a windfall.
In just a short while tonight, Luo Chen's wealth had quadrupled.
But his greatest gain was not these objects.
It was the storage bag itself!
The storage volume isn't large, just a cubic foot, which is the smallest and cheapest type of storage bag.
Yet it is worth ten thousand in Wanbao Pavilion!
It is unknown whether the short-lived fool bought it or snatched it from someone else, but he definitely couldn't afford it.
Or rather, the vast majority of Lower Order Cultivators couldn't afford even the smallest storage bag.
This kind of thing is a standard accessory for Inner disciples of a Great Sect, and External Sect disciples are not worthy of having them!
"I struck it rich, I struck it rich!"
"Killing people for their treasures is indeed a classic plot in online literature, it has a presence in every genre."
"But the risk is too great, and if you're not careful, it can go horribly wrong and waste a lifetime of hard work."
Tonight, there were two instances of killing for treasure occurring right in front of Luo Chen's eyes.
Li Zixiong of the Great Lake Gang, gathered three men to kill Wang Yuan, and it ended in a disaster!
A doomed man in the Fifth Level Qi Refinement Stage, who intended to kill Luo Chen instantly, also ended in a disaster!
"Such a dangerous task is better left to the professionals. I can't handle these shocks."
Luo Chen thought for a moment, picked up the last jade bottle that hadn't been packed into the storage bag.
The Gold Treasury Pill, one of the signature elixirs from Spirit Medicine Hall.
It has an excellent healing effect on any damage from gold-attribute magic tools, and the price is just ten Spirit Stones.
Quality goods at reasonable prices, always highly favored by the Rogue Cultivators of The Great River District.
He sniffed it. The smell was right, it wasn't some kind of poison.
And also, nobody would store poison in their storage bag, especially not in a Healing Pill bottle.
If you're severely wounded and your mind is confused, and you take the wrong medicine, the results could be hilarious.
It's just a little troubling to have to undo the bandages that had been tied up so neatly.
Sighing, Luo Chen had to get to work.
...
At noon the next day, Luo Chen woke up in a daze.
This was his rare opportunity to sleep in.
Late into the night, he finally couldn't withstand the weakness and fell asleep.
Opening his eyes and lying blankly on the bed for a while, Luo Chen clenched his teeth and forced himself to get up.
No matter how hard or difficult it is, it's no reason to just lie down and admit defeat.
He went to the living room, grabbed a handful of Spirit Grass and spread it out on the winnowing basket, preparing to take it out for drying.
As he opened the door, the midday sun made him squint for a moment. When his eyes adjusted, he was surprised to find Wang Yuan standing outside.
With a casual toss, an object fell into the winnowing basket full of Spirit Grass.
"Here, you're a member of the Broken Mountain Gang now."
"If anyone gives you trouble, just say you're under my, Wang Yuan's protection."
Luo Chen stared at the iron token in the winnowing basket, his gaze somewhat stupefied.
"Thanks, Brother Wang."
Wang Yuan waved his hand, "What are you thanking me for? When I was at my lowest point, you extended credit to me for a few bottles of Fasting Elixir, and I never said thank you."
"Alright, I've delivered the goods, I'll go back first. The Outer City area might be a bit unstable in the future, so be careful coming and going."
After saying that, he turned around and left without a trace of hesitation.