Chapter 46: 45 Awakening, Part 1

Several days later….

Crash.

With a muffled sound, Shao Quanhua swept everything off the table onto the floor.

A few cyan cloud-patterned porcelain bottles shattered into pieces, with the delicate shards scattering everywhere.

Cough… cough…

Shao Quanhua breathed heavily, coughing. Her face flushed red again.

Husband, Chen He, and Old Ding have been missing for several days now.

She couldn’t reach them no matter what, neither in the city nor outside, and it was impossible to look further afield.

This made her suspect that the three might have run off with her money.

After all, Chen Zihan had never been that enthusiastic about revenge.

He was very angry about his son’s death, but he wasn’t willing to risk everything for revenge.

Inside the quiet Shao family mansion.

Except for a few loyal servants, everyone else had quietly fled.

The reputation of Mi Gang was declining, and the news had spread throughout the county.

At times like this, unless the Shao family was willing to cough up more money, no one wanted to risk their lives.

Looking at the increasingly bright sunlight outside, Shao Quanhua didn’t feel warm; instead, a chill rose from her heart.

“So…. everyone thinks I’m doomed?”

She chuckled softly.

“Those people hiding in the shadows wanting to bring down my Shao family, let me tell you! It’s not that easy!”

Even if the Mi Gang forces had greatly diminished, so what?

How did the Shao family rise up initially? Does anyone really think it was due to the not-so-brave Chen Zihan and the Chen family?

Bear in mind, it was after the Shao family rose to power that the Chen family voluntarily allied with her.

“Someone, prepare the carriage!”

Shao Quanhua suddenly shouted.

“Yes.”

Soon, a small carriage stopped in front of the Shao family residence.

Everyone who could run had run, not even a household servant or a guard left.

Shao Quanhua, in a gray-black cloak covering her face and body, slowly got onto the carriage with the support of the only remaining maidservant.

She had one last card to play.

How did the Shao family rise initially, with her being a woman of no strength? Why were so many experts willing to listen to her?

The reason was that she had someone behind her!

Years ago, she had accidentally saved a powerful man, and he promised her that within reasonable bounds, he could fulfill three requests for her.

The first two requests were used, leading to the Shao family’s current wealth.

Originally, she thought she might never need to use the last request.

But now…

Sitting inside the carriage.

Shao Quanhua’s hands gripped tighter and tighter.

“Zhang Xuan…. I’ve fallen to this point, and it’s all because of you… You killed my son, destroyed my family….”

Her face turned pale, and she shut her eyes tightly, her teeth clenched so hard they trembled.

“You think I have no way out? No!”

She had one last move….

That was to find the powerful man she had saved, that hidden expert on the blacklist….

The final request, the last deed.

After fulfilling it, he would leave Huaxin County and go far away.

That was his promise; if not for this last deed, such an expert would never have stayed here for so long….

After all…. being on the blacklist and not being captured for years, these are people who have gone through Ninth-Grade expert pursuits and could still live freely.

Such people are generally considered to be stronger than the Ninth-Grade level.

The territory of Great Spirit is so vast, and there are only thirty on the blacklist.

These people, at worst, are terrifying killing machines.

“Wait for it… Zhang Xuan… this time, I’m going to wipe out your entire family, without leaving a single chicken or dog alive!!” Shao Quanhua closed her eyes, clenched her fists, tighter and tighter.

The carriage traveled continuously towards the suburbs at noon.

There were fewer and fewer passersby on both sides, and most of the shops were closed.

Some houses and residences were even desolate, with broken windows occasionally hanging out, and no one living there at all.

A few crows cawed eerily from the rooftops.

Several dark creatures swiftly scurried past the wheels, whether they were rats or something else was unknown.

After a while.

The carriage stopped in front of a pharmacy.

The pharmacy had no name plaque and no wooden sign, only a lone wooden frame displayed in the open space outside the door.

The rack was hung with many semi-dry herbs, basking in the sun.

The shop was empty, with the door open, yet no one was in sight.

“Wait for me here.” Shao Quanhua pushed open the carriage door and slowly got out.

The maid wanted to assist her, but she was pushed away.

“Long’Er, you stay here too.”

“Yes.”

Shao Quanhua looked up at the sky, the sunlight glaringly bright.

She walked slowly, step by step, towards the pharmacy, standing in the shadow of the eaves at the door.

She coughed twice.

“I am Shao Quanhua, coming uninvited for the third time, kindly….”

Clang.

Suddenly, a light sound seemed to waft from a distance.

Shao Quanhua instinctively turned to look right at the sound.

In an instant, a dark shadow flashed, and a brilliant silver light bloomed like flowers before her eyes.

Slash!

Blood sprayed, and a head flew high.

The dark shadow flashed past Shao Quanhua like a giant python or venomous snake, then disappeared into the shadowy alley.

“I…” Shao Quanhua felt as if she were flying, everything around her quickly blurred and faded.

She opened her mouth to say something, but no strength remained.

The last image in her mind was her son Chen Wuyou’s radiant smile.

“Mother, I’ve prepared a gift for your birthday.”

“What is it? Can you tell me in advance?”

“No way, if I tell you now, it won’t be a surprise. I put a lot of thought into this.”

“Wuyou…..”

Shao Quanhua’s mind was left with the blurry face as its final image.

Everything turned completely dark.

*

*

*

In the alley.

Zhang Rongfang gently flicked the bloodstains off the Wish Wheel, took a last look back towards the direction of the pharmacy, and quickly left.

From a distance, one could only see his figure clad in masked black clothing, and his sturdy silhouette quickly vanished into the shadows.

As if he had never been there.

*

*

*

Inside the nameless pharmacy.

Behind the originally empty counter, a man had unknowingly appeared.

He was a burly man with a bushy beard.

He looked just like any ordinary farmer from outside, with no distinctive features.

Even his eyes were the usual muddled yellow.

Ah!!!

The terrified screams of the servant girl and the coachman by the carriage only came at this moment.

The burly man’s expression remained calm as he walked out of the pharmacy, standing before Shao Quanhua’s headless corpse.

“It seems you will never have the chance to make your third request.”

“With that, I should leave too.”

A gentle breeze swept by.

In the blink of an eye, the burly man had vanished from in front of the corpse, leaving no trace.

*

*

*

Inside Qinghe Temple.

Under the majestic statue of the three-eyed god.

Zhang Rongfang knelt silently, chanting scriptures.

His eyes were slightly closed, hands placed in front of him, crossed, before bowing until his forehead touched his hands.

The tranquil sound of scriptures and the faint scent of incense in the temple helped calm his slightly fluctuating emotions.

One by one, the doubts in his heart were resolved in such tranquility.

’Why do people get hurt in this world?’

’Because there are those who harm others.’

’Why do those people want to harm me?’

’Because, in this world, there are people whose nature is inherently evil.’

’Evil brings harm. Harm breeds hatred, passing down through generations, entangled and unresolved.’

’Therefore.’

’To avoid being hurt, one must eradicate evil!’

“Eradicate evil completely!”

Zhang Rongfang slowly spoke.

“Only then can it be supreme.”

He took three sticks of incense, lit them, and gently placed them in the incense burner.

After paying respects and chanting scriptures,

his emotions calmed, he stood up.

At this moment, the temple was empty, with only him present. The others were either sleeping or had gone out to play.

Walking out of the shrine, Zhang Rongfang pondered his future goals.

How to create a place of absolute safety for himself?

Relying solely on himself would be difficult.

The world contained too much evil, and many things needed protection, often dividing one’s efforts.

’So the only way is to ascend higher!’

He suddenly began to understand his elder sister’s intention.

In such an era, their status as barbarian scholars without martial protection left them as mere fish on the chopping block, at the mercy of others.

Even now, his life was so arduous.

Let alone someone like Zhang Rongyu, a common weak woman.

In this society, with her beauty, she would suffer even more hardships and bitterness.

Even though he had no interaction or feelings for his predecessor’s sister,

the way of the scriptures gained through her and the money received before…

These were all gifts earned by his sister through her efforts.

’Since I’ve received such kindness, I must repay it someday,’ vowed Zhang Rongfang silently in his heart.

Returning to his room.

He immediately noticed the round Wheel of Departure hanging on the wall.

He actually knew nothing about wheel techniques, nor had he mastered the Wish Wheel Skill. Previously, he had simply utilized speed to sweep through.

Merely through high speed, driving the edges of the Wish Wheel, it was already an extremely cruel lethal weapon.

He had already experienced the sharpness of its blade.

’Next, it’s about patiently accumulating attributes and then… waiting for the evaluation to enter the Jixian Institute.’

For someone of his barbarian scholar status, the best way to ascend higher was naturally to use the scripture pathway, taking the route to Jixian Institute.

The Great Dao Teaching, being one of the two major Taoist sects in the world, was always suppressed by the Zhenyi Sect in the Jixian Institute.

In such circumstances, if he could display enough talent, he should quickly gain recognition.

’It’s a pity. Initially, I intended to bide my time slowly, but in this world, if one doesn’t hold power and ascend to a higher position, there will always be those who see you as weak, coming to insult and harm you…’

’Only by ascending to a higher position can one gain more resources… more protection.’

“In that case, set a small goal first, to consume all of Qinghe Palace’s resources before anything else.”

Zhang Rongfang always had an idea.

First, grasp all the contents of the Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual, then stack all the martial arts that he could cultivate.

He wondered how strong he could become.

At this moment, he calmed his thoughts and began practicing the Morning Energy Talisman move by move.

Several days later.

Mi Gang’s leader Shao Quanhua was killed in the street, and this brutal case was announced by the county office.

After a simple investigation, the matter was pressed down by Qinghe Palace.

The officials at various levels were busy seizing the Shao family’s properties under the pressure from Qinghe Palace, with no one truly investigating the case.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep