"Let's go there and take a look!"
Chu Hanfeng and Chu Hanxing frowned deeply and spoke in a serious tone.
"Yes!"
Chu Hancheng nodded, and the three Jindan cultivators soared into the sky, heading towards the Five Poisons Swamp.
Dacang Nation.
Jin Prefecture.
At the edge of Eagle Sorrow Cliff.
A female cultivator in a white, waist-cinched immortal dress, with a graceful figure, floated on her sword at the entrance of a cave. With a wave of her hand, the vines at the entrance were lifted, and the stones blocking the entrance were removed.
This female cultivator was Zhang Panpan!
Zhang Panpan, with a tense expression, silently appeared at the entrance of the cave.
She walked in slowly. The stone chamber was not large, consisting of two rooms. In the outer room, a white skeleton sat cross-legged against the wall, its eye sockets empty.
Zhang Panpan felt a surge of familiarity and a pang in her nose as she looked at the skeleton.
Suddenly, she noticed a faintly carved '◎' symbol on the stone wall behind the skeleton. Her body trembled; she remembered this was the secret communication symbol between her and Jiang Fan.
She reached out to touch it, and the stone block with the symbol flew out, revealing a hidden compartment within the stone wall.
Inside the compartment were several booklets and letters.
"Jiang Fan..."
Zhang Panpan took out a letter and, after reading it for a while, her body trembled, and tears streamed down her face.
These letters and booklets were ones she had written to Jiang Fan, and he had kept them like treasures.
"Jiang Fan... It's my fault. If it weren't for me... you wouldn't have died..."
Zhang Panpan put down the letter and looked at the familiar robe on the skeleton, tears filling her eyes.
That robe was a gift she had given Jiang Fan long ago. To her sorrow, he wore it even in death.
Zhang Panpan sat beside the skeleton, her tears falling like pearls.
She reached out to touch the skeleton, feeling a familiar aura emanating from it.
With a clear sound, the skeleton scattered to the ground.
"Ah!"
Zhang Panpan's heart trembled, her internal energy surged chaotically, and she spat out a mouthful of blood onto the skeleton.
"Love... rises with the wind; when the wind stops, the love cannot calm."
Zhang Panpan whispered softly, picking up the skull and holding it like a cherished treasure. "Did you know? I've never given up looking for you in these twenty years since you disappeared... The family pressured me to marry, and I couldn't resist. I knew the only way out was to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage... Why didn't you wait for me..."
Zhang Panpan murmured, her energy fluctuating uncontrollably, blood constantly dripping from the corners of her mouth.
Time passed.
Zhang Panpan had been sitting there for three days.
On the fourth morning, the golden rays of dawn shot into the cave, dust floating in the air.
On the ground of the cave.
A tiger skin was laid out, with a skeleton reassembled on it.
"Jiang Fan... You died for me. After I avenge you, we will find a place with blooming flowers to live out our days..."
Zhang Panpan took a deep look at the skeleton on the ground, carefully packed it up, and then put the letters and booklets into her storage pouch.
After packing everything, she sealed the entrance with stones and soared into the sky on her sword.
At that moment.
A pigeon egg-sized light slowly rose from the cave, heading towards the sky.
South Region.
Yue Nation.
Jinyang County, one of the top ten counties in Yue Nation, is rich in mineral veins and produces a lot of ore.
In the Tianji Mountain Range.
On this day, a spiritual energy vortex with a diameter of about six zhang suddenly appeared above a cliff.
Below the cliff, in a cave.
"It finally succeeded."
A young man in gray clothes looked at Zhang Fujang, who was sitting cross-legged with his aura surging, and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
Before long.
Zhang Fujang slowly opened his eyes, looked at Qin Wang in front of him, and immediately knelt down respectfully. "Thank you, Master, for bestowing the pill. Without Master, I wouldn't be where I am today! Zhang Fujang vows to follow Master through fire and water, without hesitation!"
At this moment.
Zhang Fujang's heart was filled with immense gratitude.
He had finally reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
In the cultivation world, many cultivators spend their entire lives stuck in the Qi Refining stage, unable to step into the Foundation Establishment stage, mostly because they cannot obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill!
He had reached Foundation Establishment all thanks to his master Qin Wang.
"Very good, as I said, serve me well, and when I reach the Jindan stage, I will not forget you!"
Qin Wang motioned for Zhang Fujang to rise and spoke slowly.
"Yes, Master!"
Zhang Fujang was very satisfied.
"I will conceal your cultivation. As long as you don't use your powers, your true cultivation won't be revealed. Let's go to the market and find a place to hide for a while."
After speaking, Qin Wang used the Spiritual Locking Concealment Technique to hide Zhang Fujang's cultivation to the first level of the Qi Refining stage and also concealed his own cultivation to the first level. Then, they headed towards the Menghu Market not far away.
To avoid the Tianchu Immortal Dynasty's search, hiding in a market for a while was the best choice.
Menghu Market.
Located a hundred miles from the Tianji Mountain Range, with a population of about twenty thousand.
Qin Wang and Zhang Fujang hurried towards Menghu Market. When they were three miles away, Zhang Fujang suddenly stopped and said to Qin Wang, "Master, look, it's almost dark, and that child is crying on a grave?"
"Hmm?"
Qin Wang looked over and saw a boy about eleven or twelve years old lying on a grave, crying softly.
"Let's go and see."
Qin Wang's eyes flashed, and he waved to Zhang Fujang, and they walked towards the boy.
At this time.
The weather was still cold.
The boy was wearing thin clothes, with holes at the knees and elbows, and a pair of straw sandals on his feet. He was very dirty and extremely thin.
"Mother, I miss you..."
The boy did not notice Qin Wang and Zhang Fujang approaching, but continued to lay on the grave, talking to himself. His eyes were red and full of tears.
After a while.
The boy stopped crying and looked up to find Qin Wang and Zhang Fujang. His eyes immediately showed a look of vigilance.
"Boy, it's getting dark. Why are you lying here and not going home?"
Qin Wang looked at the boy, his expression kind as he spoke.
"I... I... Waaaa..."
Before the boy could speak, he burst into tears, rubbing his eyes and choking on his words.
"Are you alright?"
Qin Wang looked at the boy with sympathy. He had heard the boy calling out to his mother on the grave.
Hearing Qin Wang's question, the boy cried even harder.
From his fragmented words, Qin Wang learned that the boy's name was Shi San. His mother had died, his stepmother wouldn't feed him, and his father beat him. He had run away with nowhere to go, finding solace at his mother's grave.
"Shi San, take us to find a place to stay, and I'll buy you some food, alright?"
Qin Wang looked at the boy and suddenly remembered his own childhood. His parents divorced, and he lived with his grandmother. After she passed away, both his parents had remarried, and he felt like an outsider wherever he went. He grew up with much hardship and could deeply empathize with Shi San's situation.
Though he was hiding from the Chu family's search, he was still willing to help the boy within his means.
"Okay, thank you, uncle!"
Hearing Qin Wang's words, the boy's eyes showed a look of longing, and he bowed respectfully to Qin Wang. He had been hungry for three meals, almost to the point of fainting.
Qin Wang bought some food for the boy at the Menghu Market, and the boy devoured it hungrily.
"Uncle, if you don't mind, you can stay at my place in the east of the market."
Shi San felt much better after eating a bowl of soup noodles and a meat bun.
"Alright."
Qin Wang nodded.
He followed Shi San to his home.
"Shi San, is this where you live?"
After a short walk, they arrived at Shi San's home, and Qin Wang was stunned.
The house in front of them was a dilapidated old house with mud walls. Moonlight shone through the roof tiles, indicating that when it rained, it rained both outside and inside the house.
Inside, there was only a wooden table, a wooden board bed with straw, and a broken bed sheet and quilt.
"Yes, my stepmother said I stink and made me live here. Before, there were leftovers to eat, but recently... even the leftovers are gone... She accused me of stealing money, but I didn't steal any money!"
Shi San said, lowering his head and twisting his clothes, his eyes showing stubbornness.
"Uncle, you can sleep here tonight."
Shi San pointed to the wooden bed and said.
"Where will you sleep?"
Qin Wang looked at the wooden bed, clearly Shi San's only bed.
"I'll get some straw and make another bed."
Shi San said clearly.
"Alright."
Qin Wang nodded, not saying more.
Shi San went to get straw to make another bed, while Qin Wang and Zhang Fujang cultivated inside the house.
Time passed.
[Daily Intelligence Refresh!]
[Today's Intelligence!]
[1: Yesterday, you met a boy named Shi San. Feeling sorry for him, you gave him food and stayed at his 'home' with the intention of hiding among the common people to gather intelligence. Shi San has extraordinary comprehension and will have great opportunities in the future. He will become a powerful ally for you.]