Chapter 648: Chapter 648: Fish That Escaped the Net
"How is that possible! Could you have remembered the wrong place?"
Yun Chan’s beautiful eyes widened, feeling as bewildered as Yang Cheng.
Yang Cheng squatted down and examined the marks on the ground. He found dried blood on the leaves and soil, and said gravely, "This is where I threw down Lai Zhongyao’s corpse. The withered grass around is the proof, and I am sure he is dead, no way he could be alive."
At that time, that knife had taken all his strength when he threw it, slit his throat, so much blood had flowed, even the Daluo Immortals couldn’t have saved him.
"You mean someone else appeared and took him away?"
Yun Chan furrowed her brow, full of confusion.
"But aside from Hidden Cloud Village, there’s no way outsiders would come to this deep mountain, and even if someone did, why take away Lai Zhongyao’s corpse?"
Yang Cheng remained silent and didn’t answer, contemplating these questions in his heart.
If indeed a few people appeared at that time, but because of his severe injuries, combined with a determination to descend the mountain, he might not have detected their presence.
Moreover, maybe Lai Zhongyao wasn’t the only one cultivating corpse poison; suppose there was a group, whose strength wasn’t strong, so they dare not show themselves, hidden in the dark, it would then make sense.
"Yun Chan, I suspect Lai Zhongyao has accomplices. From now on, we must be careful when ascending the mountain. Retrieve enough Purifying Spirit Spring in one go to reduce the number of climbs."
Yang Cheng grabbed Yun Chan’s hand, his sharp gaze surveying the surroundings, finding no foreign aura.
"I can avoid going up the mountain, but what about the villagers? They still need to go up to gather herbs and hunt; they can’t stay in the village forever."
Thinking Lai Zhongyao’s death would bring peace, unexpectedly there are others lurking in the dark, which brought up the heart Yun Chan had just set down.
"There’s no way around it. Don’t spread this news to the villagers, to prevent panic, and besides I guess those people won’t dare to openly show themselves for a while."
Yang Cheng lightly patted her shoulder, instructing, "In the future, let the villagers go up the mountain in groups, they must return to the village before dark, and as long as you’re not ambushed, I guess those people won’t be able to defeat you."
He had taught Yun Chan the Furong Palm, and with her Foundation Establishment Realm strength, ordinary people were no match for her.
Upon hearing this, Yun Chan finally breathed a sigh of relief. If necessary, she would accompany the villagers up the mountain, perhaps catching those few who slipped through the cracks.
"Yang Cheng, since we’re here, let’s gather some herbs from the Spirit Realm."
She pulled Yang Cheng towards the cave, seeing the scattered stones and signs of battle, understanding how fierce the fight with Lai Zhongyao was, nearly costing him his life.
As they reached the entrance of the Spirit Realm, Yang Cheng frowned deeply, saying in a low voice, "Something’s not right, the blood on the ground is gone too?"
Back then, he had slit Lai Zhongyao’s throat, the blood had gushed out, soaking the ground; it was exactly because the blood had flowed into the cave that there were only scattered traces in the bush.
He closed his eyes, consulted the Tome of the Ghost Doctor, his lips curled into a cold smile: "I get it now, they took Lai Zhongyao’s corpse not out of sentiment but for the corpse poison he accumulated."
"Even a drop of this corpse poison can kill an adult, and for those cultivating corpse poison, it’s precious: absorbing some can drastically improve their strength."
Seeing Yun Chan’s brow furrowed in tension, Yang Cheng quickly reassured, "Don’t worry, for them corpse poison is too valuable to harm ordinary people."
As they spoke, Yun Chan had already used the Peace Pendant to open the door, and once inside the Spirit Realm, they immediately started absorbing Spiritual Energy.
Her worries subsided a bit, then she bent down to help pick some older herbs.
As noon approached, they exited the Spirit Realm, Yang Cheng stood at the cave entrace, mentally activated the X-ray Vision, scanned the surroundings ensuring no one appeared, and then left with Yun Chan.
...
Meanwhile, at another side of the deep woods, in a small wooden house, three ragged men sat on a pile of straw, excitedly cutting open Lai Zhongyao’s corpse, capturing the thick black blood into a bottle.
"Now that he’s dead, what about our business?"
One of the men asked.
"Of course, it’s ours now, if an old guy could do it, why wouldn’t we?"
"If he hadn’t been oppressing us all these years, maybe our strength would have already surpassed the Foundation Establishment Realm, his death is a good thing, now we’re finally free."
With those words, the three chuckled darkly, then circulated True Qi to envelop the black blood, slowly absorbing the contained corpse poison.
"If you ask me, the old guy deserved to die, insisting on seizing the Purifying Spirit Spring, sacrificing his life for cultivation; we won’t be as greedy as him."
"Avoid that cave in the future, so we don’t get noticed, we can’t even stay at ease in these mountains."
As one finished speaking, the other two nodded in agreement.
They were all orphans raised by Lai Zhongyao, forced from a young age to cultivate corpse poison, facing beatings and verbal abuse regularly. Now free from his control, the three could enjoy more freedom in the mountains.
These happenings were unknown to Yang Cheng, who after returning to the village with Yun Chan, hurriedly drove Kong Lingwen to the city.
Upon reaching an area with signal, Kong Lingwen promptly dialed Kong Jingshan’s number.
The call was quickly answered, and a somewhat fatigued voice from Kong Jingshan came through: "Hello, Lin Wen."
"Dad, what’s wrong, are you ill?"
Kong Lingwen asked with a tremor in her heart.
"No, just some issues with the company lately, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep for several days."
Kong Jingshan sighed.
Always high and mighty, unyielding, yet now visibly worn, stirred an ache in Kong Lingwen’s heart.
"Did Cao Ruibin do something?"
"Yeah, after you left, the Cao Family allied with the Gao Family to target me. A few days ago, someone died at a hotel under the Kong Family, drowned in the rooftop pool, but there’s no surveillance around, the deceased’s family keeps causing trouble at the hotel."
"A project was about to finalize but Cao Ruibin used his connections, gave it to the Gao Family, and repeatedly sent people to cause trouble at various Kong Family companies."
Kong Jingshan briefly explained the recent events, and Kong Lingwen’s expression grew heavier as she listened.
"Forget it, let’s not talk about this, how have you and Yang Cheng been lately? When can you return?"
He anticipated their return; after all, he was getting older, lacking the energy for battles, and felt it was time to pass the company to Kong Lingwen.
However, her youth and gender would undoubtedly face resistance, thus someone was needed to clear obstacles on her behalf, and that person could only be Yang Cheng.
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