The night was silent, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Gu An, leaning against the wall, seethed in frustration—why was his heartbeat so fast?
For some reason, even though he couldn't hear any movement outside, he had an ominous feeling that the Demon of Greed and Wrath was drawing near to his house.
His gaze shifted back and forth between the door and the window. Moonlight seeped through the cracks of the door and window, brilliantly bright and terrifyingly so.
The White Spirit Rat in his chest shivered, causing an itch that made him want to throw it out, but he couldn't bear to do it.
Time passed slowly as Gu An held his breath in concentration.
Never before had Gu An longed for the day as he did now.
The Supreme Sect was not safe at all!
He would have to accumulate more life span in the future; while keeping a low profile, his strength must not cease to grow!
Lost in his chaotic thoughts, Gu An didn't know how much time had passed when his gaze suddenly fixed on the threshold of the door.
The door was to his left, less than a meter away, bathed in moonlight. A dark shadow appeared in the gap under the door, and in that moment, his scalp tingled.
The Demon of Greed and Wrath!
It was coming!
Gu An's heart raced to his throat, his body tensed up.
He even felt the urge to rush out!
Suddenly!
Gu An's body stiffened. He felt a wet hand press down on his head, sharp nails imprinting on his forehead, causing him to shiver.
His mind went blank. Cautiously, he looked up and saw a pale arm emerge from the darkness above him, resembling a woman's arm, the hand pressing on the top of his head, nails sharp as claws.
The owner of the arm emerged from the darkness, a terrifying, disheveled face squeezing out of the shadows. Her true face was unclear, but he could see her mouthful of bloody fangs.
She was smiling!
Damn!
Gu An was scared out of his mind, and he violently swung his arm at the Demon of Greed and Wrath's face.
Boom!
The roof of the house burst open, flesh and blood splattering inside, debris and sod from the eaves flew dozens of feet high, vanishing into the night.
The night sky was so dark; the mountains and forests around Medicine Valley seemed like demons and ghosts were standing erect.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Gu An gasped heavily, his right arm trembling, his palm covered in blood, the Demon of Greed and Wrath's blood splattered all over his face.
When everything quieted down, Gu An still couldn't calm himself.
Moonlight poured down, illuminating the inside of the house.
A huge blood flower bloomed on the wall, terrifying and dreadful, a pale severed arm lying at Gu An's feet.
After a dozen breaths, Gu An finally calmed down.
[You have successfully seized 52 years of life span from the Demon of Greed and Wrath (Tier Two)]
Looking at the prompt that appeared, he was still gasping heavily, but his expression had turned weird.
"That's it?"
Gu An felt it was absurd. Was he too strong, or were Chu Jingfeng and the others too weak?
Just as he was puzzled, he faintly heard the sound of a door opening. He immediately lay down, closed his eyes, and casually hung the Demon of Greed and Wrath's arm on his body.
Not stopping there, he raised his hand, pried open the palm of the Demon of Greed and Wrath, then grabbed his own neck. After doing all this, he spread his hands and pretended to faint.
...
As autumn approached, the weather was no longer so hot.
Gu An was picking Calm Heart Grass in the garden, while Li Ya and Meng Lang stood outside the wooden fence, watching him work.
Li Ya was wrapped in white cloth on half of his body, with two alarming scars on his face, nearly reaching his right eye, hard to imagine what he had gone through.
Meng Lang looked unharmed. He stared at Gu An, clicking his tongue in wonder, "This kid picks medicinal herbs and can still be so happy, as if he hasn't encountered the Demon of Greed and Wrath before."
Li Ya, expressionless, but the scars on his face added a fierce air. He calmly said, "Maybe he's finding joy in suffering. How can you know if he can keep a smile after closing the door?"
The night four days ago seemed like just last night, Li Ya recalled his clash with the Demon of Greed and Wrath, feeling a chill in his heart.
That he had survived was purely due to luck.
Chu Jingfeng was more injured than he, with an arm brutally torn off, while Cheng Xuan Pill, Zhang Chunqiu, and Meng Lang were unharmed.
That morning, the Supreme Sect sent several cultivators, all with higher cultivation levels than Chu Jingfeng, the highest reaching the 9th Floor of the Foundation Establishment Realm. They questioned Gu An about the specifics, and he pretended to be still shocked, knowing nothing. Ultimately, the cultivators concluded someone else had intervened, saving the menial disciples of Medicine Valley, because Gu An, devoid of any Spiritual Power, couldn't possibly be the one who killed the Demon of Greed and Wrath.
Afterward, Gu An even purposely changed rooms, and Zhang Chunqiu's attitude towards him improved, seemingly quite remorseful.
While Li Ya and Meng Lang discussed Gu An, he reveled in the joy of seizing life span from Tier Two Medicinal Herbs.
Tier Two Medicinal Herbs could extend his life span by two to five years. Helping Li Ya and the others pick them, this time he could harvest a total of sixty Tier Two Medicinal Herbs, incredibly exhilarating.
At the same time, he couldn't help but think of the Demon of Greed and Wrath.
Killing the Demon of Greed and Wrath had granted him fifty-two extra years of life. Did that not mean by slaying demons and eliminating evil, he could gain even more life?
However, the moment he thought about that terrifying experience and the injuries Chu Jingfeng and Li Ya had sustained, he immediately dismissed the idea.
It wasn't necessary!
He wasn't in a rush to become stronger, so why risk his life?
Hmm.
He couldn't be reckless; he needed to grow stealthily and steadily!
After a while,
Gu An finally finished picking sixty stalks of Calm Heart Grass and, carrying a bamboo basket, approached Meng Lang to hand them over.
Meng Lang gave a fake cough and said, "This time, you give them to the eldest disciple."
Recalling his pathetic performance that night, he really had no face to steal Gu An's credit.
Gu An didn't refuse and smiled, "Alright."
He nodded politely to Li Ya and then walked towards Zhang Chunqiu's loft.
Li Ya didn't stay either, turning around and walking towards the distant forest, causing Meng Lang to awkwardly touch his nose.
Inside the hall,
Gu An handed over all the Calm Heart Grass to Zhang Chunqiu. Zhang Chunqiu did not immediately send him away but held onto him to ask how he had been sleeping lately, expressing his concern.
Every time Zhang Chunqiu thought about the image of the Demon of Greed and Wrath strangling Gu An, his heart was filled with guilt. As the eldest disciple, he couldn't protect his junior brother, which was truly disgraceful.
Gu An was usually so honest and obedient; if such a disciple died, honestly, it would deeply sadden him.
"Also, about the Demon of Greed and Wrath, don't mention it in the future. Today, I heard in the Outer Sect that the demon was raised by a senior in our Sect. This matter must not be spread. Just pretend it never happened," Zhang Chunqiu said seriously.
Gu An frowned upon hearing this.
So that was why the demon had been able to roam freely for so long.
Zhang Chunqiu, seeming worried, added, "Such seniors are beyond our reach. A single word from them could make our entire Medicine Valley disappear. You, coming from a humble background, should most understand the disparities that status brings. Surviving is all about hiding and biding time."
He then raised his hand and took out a secret manual from his chest, saying, "This is a secret technique Master prepared for you, exchanged with five years' worth of contributions from the Sect. After all, you did suffer unjustly."
Gu An immediately brightened up, taking the secret manual which had three words written on the cover.
Residual Wind Leg!
"Thank you, elder disciple brother, and thank you, Master!" Gu An immediately bowed deeply in gratitude.
Zhang Chunqiu blinked and smiled, "Practice more when you have time. Perhaps in the future, it might protect you. Don't give this secret manual to Meng Lang. As for Li Ya, who has shown extraordinary talents, Master has decided to help him break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Probably in no more than two years, he's going to leave Medicine Valley."
Gu An, upon hearing this, wasn't surprised; with Li Ya's cultivation level, staying in Medicine Valley truly was a waste.
Afterwards, Zhang Chunqiu exchanged a few more courteous words with Gu An before letting him leave.
Once Gu An closed the door, Zhang Chunqiu sighed softly, "Such an honest child; in the future, he will surely take care of Master for me, and then I can leave the mountain... Xiaolian, wait for me…"
Gu An's steps hesitated as he was going down the stairs, but then he continued walking.
…
Though the attack by the Demon of Greed and Wrath did not result in any deaths in Medicine Valley, it altered the ambiance from before. Li Ya became even more mysterious, hiding in the forest after finishing his daily chores, and even Meng Lang began to train diligently.
Gu An practiced with the Residual Wind Leg manual for a month and only barely managed to perform the technique, which discouraged him greatly. He gave up on further practice, planning to rely on future enhancements instead.
As the days and months passed, autumn leaves covered Medicine Valley.
Gu An's figure continuously appeared in various areas, becoming the busiest person in Medicine Valley. Zhang Chunqiu trusted him increasingly, no longer supervising his work. As for the Cheng Xuan Pills, he spent all his days inside, alchemizing; it was rare to see him even once a month.
As autumn turned to winter, the white snow blanketed Medicine Valley.
A new year arrived amidst the heavy snowfall.
Only when the winter snow began to melt did someone from outside the valley come to visit, specifically seeking Gu An.
Inside a house, Gu An closed the door then walked to the table to pour hot tea for the young man who had already seated himself.
The young man, dressed in a blue robe of the Outer Disciples from the Supreme Sect, surveyed the room and asked, "How has this past year and a half been?"
Among the five who followed Ji Xiaoyu to enter the Supreme Sect, only Gu An and the youth before him were house servants.
The young man, named Du Ye, had a four-tier Spiritual Root Qualification and, with the help of the Ji Family, was accepted into the Outer Sect of the Supreme Sect. A year and a half had passed, and his entire demeanor had changed.
"Not too bad," Gu An casually responded.
Du Ye looked at him, shook his head slightly, and said, "You, you, insisting on coming here. With the third young lady and the Ji Family's influence, getting you into the Outer Sect would have been easy. Why suffer here without any hope of cultivation?"
Gu An, looking at his less than a hundred and fifty years of lifespan then comparing it to his own nearly thousand years, laughed and said, "My talents are mediocre, and I fear both death and pain. A quiet place like this suits me better."
Du Ye shook his head with a smile, criticized him for a few more moments, then revealed the purpose of his visit, "Young Master Ji Lin is preparing to make a push for the third young lady in the Supreme Sect and gather connections. We must contribute as well. Collect medicinal herbs diligently; I'll come every six months to collect them. These herbs will serve as chips for Young Master Ji Lin to attract other disciples."
"Okay, no problem," Gu An agreed without hesitation, as the herbs were not very important to him anyway.
Seeing how agreeable Gu An was, Du Ye smiled.
After chatting for a while longer, Gu An escorted Du Ye to the valley entrance before turning back.
He had just returned to the courtyard when he saw Li Ya waiting for him.
Li Ya approached Gu An, pressing a manual of sword techniques against his chest, and said, "I'm getting ready to leave. Consider this manual a farewell gift, as thanks for what you've done for me over the past year and a half."