Lu Yan and Lu Qingshan discussed the issue of the invading outlaws and wanted to dig a larger underground cellar at their home.
If the outlaws ever raided, they could hide in the cellar.
Although Lu Yan had passed the second limit-breaking, he was unsure whether he could protect Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui if a large number of outlaws attacked.
Moreover, he could not be with them all the time.
Previously, because of Wu Chaofeng, Lu Qingshan had already dug a small cellar under a bed to store meat. Now, all they had to do was enlarge it.
Their three-member family immediately got to work, and in a few days, constructed a larger cellar. With the entrance beneath the bed and covered with wooden boards, it was not easy to detect.
"Things are getting less and less peaceful. A simple cellar won't be enough, we need to buy a house in the city quickly."
Lu Yan deliberated.
Changfeng City was guarded by feudal lords, and even if outlaws attacked, it would be as stable as Mount Tai.
But properties there were not cheap. Unless one was born into the city and already owned property, outsiders wanting to purchase a house would need hundreds of silver taels.
"Let's sell the tiger hide first, and then save money by hunting. If we can hunt a few more tigers, we'd quickly accumulate hundreds of silver taels."
The next day, Lu Yan rubbed some tree sap onto his face to make his skin look waxy yellow.
He then stuffed some clothes under his attire to make himself look somewhat stout.
With a simple disguise, Lu Yan, along with the tiger hide, headed towards Changfeng City.
There were two feudal lords in Changfeng City. The Liu Family dominated the north city and many villages outside it.
The Wu Family controlled the south city and the villages beyond it.
Lu Yan was heading towards the north city.
The streets were wide and lined with shops on both sides.
Rice shops, soy sauce shops, pharmacy, blacksmith, bun shops, taverns...they had everything.
Even though Lu Yan had visited before, he couldn't help but take in the sights.
He walked past a five-story building and detected an alluring aroma.
Wuke's House!
Allegedly, it was a tavern opened by the Liu Family. The first three floors served ordinary food while the fourth and fifth floors specially catered martial food.
Anyone with money could dine upstairs.
However, the prices deterred many.
"Let's save money for a house first. There will be plenty of opportunities to taste martial food later."
He swallowed his saliva and continued walking.
Lu Yan's destination was the Linglan Chamber of Commerce.
The Linglan Chamber of Commerce was run by the Wei Family of Jun City.
The Wei Family of Jun City was a feudal lord who held power over both the Liu and Wu Families.
Therefore, Linglan Chamber of Commerce was the top Chamber of Commerce in Changfeng City.
Lu Yan had sold cowhide and wolf hide to the Linglan Chamber of Commerce before.
He walked several blocks before reaching the entrance of Linglan Chamber of Commerce where a young woman greeted him.
"How may I assist you?"
The young lady asked. Unlike others who assessed based on appearance, she maintained a polite and pleasant demeanor, reflecting impressive professionalism.
"I want to sell a tiger hide."
Lu Yan said.
"Tiger hide? Is it complete? Is there any damage?"
The young lady asked.
"It's intact."
"A perfect tiger hide is worth a lot. Please wait a moment, I will get the manager to negotiate with you."
The young lady walked away briskly after speaking.
As it was worth hundreds of silver taels, she wouldn't dare make the decision by herself as she feared purchasing counterfeit goods. She would rather let a more experienced manager approve it.
Lu Yan took a look around.
Sheer size of the Linglan Chamber of Commerce made it impressive. With rows of goods on display and many customers being assisted by young female employees, the atmosphere was bustling.
After a short while, a middle-aged man with a goatee walked towards Lu Yan, asking, "Young man, you want to sell a tiger hide?"
"Yes, Manager."
Lu Yan nodded, opening the package on his back for the manager to examine the content.
The manager took the tiger hide, sniffed it, squeezed it, and after confirming its authenticity and intact condition, he complimented, "This is indeed genuine and fully intact. How about this, I'll buy it for a hundred and ten silver taels. What do you think?"
"Okay."
Lu Yan nodded. His bottom line was a hundred taels. Getting a hundred and ten was a surprise.
"Good deal, Young man. Looking forward to more dealings with you in the future."
The manager chuckled and beckoned his employee to get the money.
"I am under surveillance."
Lu Yan had a swift realization.
Since the moment he presented the tiger hide, a few pairs of eyes had been discreetly monitoring him. Still, they didn't escape Lu Yan's sharp sense of observation.
"How annoying. Indeed, wealth should not be too ostentatious."
Lu Yan frowned.
Quickly, an employee brought the silver taels. Lu Yan pocketed them and immediately left.
As Lu Yan exited, two figures followed him, but as they reached the entrance, they were blocked by four bulky figures.
"What, we can't leave without buying anything? The Linglan Chamber of Commerce is too overbearing."
One of the slender men raised an objection.
The others in the chamber turned their heads, expressing various reactions.
"Hmph!"
The manager walked over, his face stern, "If you want to tail someone for robbery, you should do it outside. I can't control that, but tailing inside my Linglan Chamber of Commerce? If this gets out, who would dare to trade with us?"
"You... don't slander us!"
The slender man's face turned ugly.
"I've travelled north and south, seen all kinds of things. You think you can fool me? Break their legs and throw them out."
The manager ordered sternly.
The two tailing men attempted to resist but stood no chance against the limit-breaking warriors of the Linglan Chamber of Commerce. Their terrified screams echoed as they were brutalized and thrown out.
"Good! The Linglan Chamber of Commerce is indeed deserving of being the Wei Family's, truly impressive."
"Exactly, this is how business should be done that gives peace of mind. I'm sticking with Linglan Chamber of Commerce from now on."
Many customers praised one after another.
In business, the most feared thing is highway robbery. Now that the Linglan Chamber of Commerce has taken these measures, they naturally earned the great approval of their customers.
"This is what we ought to do," the shopkeeper said with a smile on his face. This was exactly what he wanted.
...
Lu Yan left the Chamber of Commerce, after turning seven corners and winding through four streets and eight lanes, ensuring that he wasn't being followed, he wiped the tree sap off his face, took the clothes stashed under his outfit and put them on. He hid his silvers carefully about his person, and only then did he head home.
His current strength may be commendable, but there were numerous experts in Changfeng City.
Although the Martial Artists who had broken their limits three times or more might not be enticed by a few hundred taels of silver, what if somebody was?
Better to be safe than sorry and discretion is the best part of valor.
Luckily, no one followed him, and he returned home safely.
Days went by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.
As usual, Lu Yan went hunting in the mountains in the morning and accumulated silver taels. He practiced fist techniques in the afternoon and evenings.
Now, Lu Yan went to the bamboo grove to practice his fist techniques at night as well. His current strength made him fearless even of fierce tigers. He wasn't afraid of wild beasts at night. If a fierce beast showed up, it only made for great prey.
However, after the second limit-breaking, the accrual speed of his Qi-blood greatly slowed down. Lu Yan estimated that without three to five years, it would be difficult to reach the state of overflowing Qi-blood.
This speed was only possible because his Iron Thread Fist technique had reached a transcendent state, otherwise, it would be even slower.
Lu Yan guessed there were two reasons.
First, the standard of martial art technique was too low. It was only Third-rate martial arts. As Lu Qingshan said, third-rate martial arts could at most achieve limit-breaking three times.
Secondly, it was a food issue. The effect of ordinary beast meat was getting weaker.
...
One clear morning, some shocking news exploded in the village.
Zhao Zhuang and his wife were dead, killed in their own home. Their deaths were extremely brutal.
The moment Lu Yan's family heard the news, they rushed over immediately. Even with his current mental strength, which was ten times stronger than when he first arrived in this world, Lu Yan still felt his hair stand on end and a chill run down his spine when he saw the bodies of Zhao Zhuang and his wife.
The couple was hung from their own cross beam, but it was definitely not suicide.
Because, their eyeballs were missing, leaving only two bloody holes. In addition, their hearts were missing as well.
No one could remove their own heart and eyeballs before committing suicide.
"Who... who could be so ruthless?"
"They were still so young and were planning to have another child."
In the surroundings, villagers were discussing in low voices, their voices trembling, filled with fear.
Zhao Zhuang and his wife were among the younger couples in the village. They were in their twenties and, like Lu Yan, they were refugees.
They had a son but he died of sickness during their migration. Now that they had settled down and their life was gradually improving, they were planning to have another child. But this tragedy happened.
"It's the vengeful ghost seeking revenge…"
Someone uttered a statement, and it sent a shudder down everyone's spine. Almost forgotten in their minds was a figure that resurfaced.
The insane village woman, Aunt Niu.
When they first came to Kaoshan Village, Aunt Niu warned them against entering, saying that anyone who enters will die because a vengeful ghost was seeking lives.
The day after, Aunt Niu's family disappeared.
In the beginning, everyone was a bit apprehensive, but since nothing had happened almost a whole year, they assumed Aunt Niu was talking nonsense and the matter was pushed to the back of their minds.
But now that the old matter was brought up again, everyone felt a chill down their spine.
"It's the monster, it's that monster. It's back again. No, didn't the Liu Family's Lord say that they killed that monster? How could this be? What is going on?"
Suddenly, an old man called out, his face pale and filled with intense fear.
Lu Yan recognized him. The old man had always been a villager of Kaoshan. Everyone called him Uncle Bao.
"Monster? What monster? Uncle Bao, what do you know? Quickly tell everyone."
People gathered around Uncle Bao.
Uncle Bao's face was pale and his body was trembling. He looked terrified to the extreme.
"Two years ago, a monster suddenly appeared near here. It feasted on human hearts and eyeballs. The original villagers of Kaoshan Village were all killed by the monster. There was no plague, absolutely none."
Uncle Bao stuttered out.
The original villagers of Kaoshan Village were also pale and showed deep fear.
What?
Everyone tremored inside.
"Why didn't you say something sooner? Why did you deceive us?"
Someone yelled in anger.
"The Lords of the Liu Family forbade us from talking about it. Moreover, the Liu Family's Lords informed us that the monster had been killed. We could live peaceful lives. We never thought that the monster would be back. The Liu Family's Lords lied to us. Why did they lie to us?"
One of the original villagers explained, his eyes full of confusion and doubt.
"What should we do? What do we do now?"
"Zhao Zhuang and his wife are dead. Who will be next? Maybe... Maybe we should leave?"
Everyone was in deep fright and unease.
"Leave... where can we go?" Someone sighed.
Everyone fell silent.
In this era, where could one run off to?
Leaving your own home and land only leads to a dead end. Many people who experienced migration once understood this fully.
If their hometown hadn't suffered a natural disaster, if living hadn't become an unbearable burden, who would have chosen to abandon their homes?
The majority of the refugees fell along the way.
Even if they had by chance escaped to another city, would the feudal lords take them in?
The young and robust, or those who possessed a skill, were slightly better off. The elderly, weak, women, and children had a high chance of not surviving.
"The village chief has reported to the Liu Family. The lords of the Liu Family will arrive soon. They have numerous powerful Martial Artists. They are sure to eliminate that monster."
Someone remarked.
"Right, the Liu Family has a military force."
"Yes, that's correct."
People seemed to have caught a life-saving straw and encouraged each other.
But Lu Yan wasn't so optimistic.
......
Hello everyone reading on QQ, can you come over to Qidian to read? The first publication of this book by Laomu is on Qidian, the new author urgently needs your support, thanks.