Chapter 29: Life and Death

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After informing them of this matter, the Cultivators of the Bamboo Leaf Gang quickly left.

However, there was still a lot of discussion going on.

Capturing a spy from the Black Iron Manor could waive one month’s rent. Capturing an advance-stage Qi Refining Cultivator could even waive two months’ rent.

This reward was simply too generous.

One had to know that this was the core area. The monthly rent was as high as one mid-grade spirit stone.

The Bamboo Leaf Gang had really invested a lot this time.

Many Cultivators were eager to try. They began to think about how to catch the spies of the Dark Iron Manor.

Some sharper Cultivators had already begun to observe everyone around them, trying their best to recall if these people had done anything suspicious in the past.

There were even some who had bad ideas in their hearts and targeted some people with bad character.

Regardless of whether these people were spies of the Black Iron Manor or not, he had to turn them into spies and get rid of them before capturing them to the Bamboo Leaf Gang to receive the reward.

Compared to these excited Cultivators,

At this moment, Chen An was more worried and uneasy.

The Bamboo Leaf Gang had suddenly spent a lot of money to clean up the spies. He could smell that a war between the two gangs was about to begin.

The Bamboo Leaf Gang’s actions now gave people the feeling that they had to settle their internal affairs before dealing with external forces.

Besides Chen An, many Cultivators in Green Willow Alley had also noticed this.

A handsome male Cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining deliberately walked to Wen Zhiyun and stopped in front of her. He smiled and said:

“Fellow Cultivator Wen, I feel that the Bamboo Leaf Forest will be in chaos for a period of time. It’s not safe for a beauty like you to live alone. Why don’t I move into your house to protect you?”

“Heh, are you worthy?” Wen Zhiyun sneered disdainfully. “You’re just a weakling at the seventh level of Qi Refining. I can crush you to death with one finger. Where do you have the face to say that you want to protect me?”

The male Cultivator thought that Wen Zhiyun was obsessed with looks and wanted to use his outstanding looks to get close to her. He did not expect Wen Zhiyun to reject him so ruthlessly in public. He immediately felt embarrassed and left dejectedly.

Wen Zhiyun didn’t even look at the male Cultivator. She turned to look at Song Huaying and Gu Xinyue and smiled:

“Sister Ying’er, Sister Yue’er, there might be chaos in the coming days. Why don’t the two of you move in with me? I’m much stronger than your husband and can protect you better.”

Chen An and Gu Xinyue caused too much of a commotion every night. Wen Zhiyun, who lived next door, often found it difficult to fall asleep.

Therefore, she was now trying to abduct Chen An’s wife and concubine to solve the root of the problem.

Unfortunately, Song Huaying and Gu Xinyue’s loyalty to Chen An far exceeded her imagination.

Without hesitation, the two girls rejected her.

“Ying’er feels that Husband will definitely be able to protect Ying’er from harm, so I won’t trouble Sister Wen. Thank you Sister Wen for your good intentions.”

“Yue’er thinks so too.”

Chen An felt extremely comfortable listening from the side. He thought to himself that he had not doted on his precious wife and concubine for nothing.

Seeing that the two girls didn’t have such thoughts, Wen Zhiyun didn’t force them and quickly left.

After Wen Zhiyun left.

Chen An told his wife and concubine to stay at home while he went out to the market to buy self-defense items.

The Bamboo Leaf Forest could become very chaotic soon enough.

As the head of the family, he had to plan ahead.

He prepared all kinds of self-defense items in advance.

…

Core area, marketplace.

Chen An walked into the Treasures Pavilion and went straight to the shopkeeper. He asked, “Shopkeeper, do you have anything to sell here for self-defense?”

“Something for self-defense?” The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, “That should be a talisman.”

Talismans were a type of magic talisman made by a Talisman Craftsman.

There were all kinds of spells engraved on the talisman.

As long as the user injected spiritual energy into the talisman paper, they could release the spell engraved on it.

“I wonder what talismans are sold here?”

“There are Fireball Talismans, Amulets, Light Body Talismans, and other talismans. In any case, I sell everything you can think of. Even if I don’t have them, I can transfer the goods over to sell them on the same day.”

“Shopkeeper, give me a few of these, these, and these talismans.”

After a simple understanding, Chen An bought some of the various talismans.

Among them, he bought the protection amulets the most.

This was because the wife and concubine in the family did not have the ability to protect themselves. They had to rely on external items to protect themselves.

In addition to the talisman paper, Chen An also bought an array formation similar to an alarm.

Before using it, one could record the aura of different people into the array.

After that, when he used it, once an unfamiliar aura entered the array, the array would flash with all kinds of dazzling lights to remind the owner of the house that a stranger was invading.

He bought it just like that. Chen An had spent nearly a mid-grade spirit stone in total.

Walking out of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, he didn’t stay in the market for long.

Chen An quickly returned to Green Willow Alley.

After handing over the protective charms he had bought to his wife and concubine, he turned around and walked into the alchemy room. He began to refine various poisons to set up various poison traps in the courtyard.

He didn’t know if these poisonous traps, which had always worked in the cheap district, would still be effective in the core district where there were as many intermediate-stage Qi Refining Cultivators as dogs and advanced-stage Qi Refining Cultivators.

However, no matter what, it was better to set it up than not. At the very least, it would make him feel more secure.

After spending more than four hours setting up the poison trap, Chen An turned around and entered the pill refinement room.

However, he was not going in to refine pills. Instead, he was going to dig a tunnel in the alchemy room.

He thought that when the disaster came, he and his wife and concubine might be trapped in the house and unable to escape.

If there was an underground passage leading out of the house, there would be much more room to operate, and the safety of the residence would be greatly improved.

He purchased talismans. He refined poisons and set up traps. Now he’s digging a tunnel…

When Chen An finished doing all of this in succession, the sky outside had already completely darkened.

…

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.

Over the past few days, the situation in the Bamboo Leaf Forest had become much more chaotic as Chen An had imagined.

An undercover agent of the Black Iron Manor was discovered. Before he died, he struggled crazily and put up a life-and-death struggle.

Everywhere he went, houses collapsed and corpses littered the ground. Cultivators with high cultivation earned a lot.

As for the Cultivators with low cultivation levels, many of them suffered an undeserved calamity and died without knowing why. Chen An knew his cultivation level very well.

Ever since the elder of the Bamboo Leaf Gang came to say that he wanted to clean up the spies, he had been staying at home with his wife and concubine.

He was worried that with his low cultivation, he would easily die on the way if he went out and wandered around.

During this period, Wen Zhiyun, who used to visit almost every day, never came to the house as a guest again. No one knew what she was busy with.

Another few days passed.

On this day, Chen An was teaching his wife and concubine some basic knowledge about alchemy in the alchemy room. He wanted to nurture them into his future alchemy assistants.

As he was teaching, he suddenly felt his body become a little hot. It seemed like his cultivation realm was about to break through.

Chen An immediately asked his wife and concubine to leave. He locked himself in the alchemy room and cultivated in seclusion to break through.

Two days later, Chen An successfully broke through and became a Cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

[Name: Chen An]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Level 5]

[Alchemy Technique: Intermediate Level 1 (458/500)]

[Consciousness: Intermediate Level 1 (258/500)]

[Goldfinger: Proficient (196/500)]

[Spouses: Song Huaying, Gu Xinyue]

[Progeny: Pregnant (September)]

Chen An looked at the interface in front of him and could not help but reveal a gratified smile.

Compared to a year ago, the current him was like heaven and earth. He was much stronger than last year.

At this rate, he felt that he would be able to successfully build his foundation in 20 years.

If circumstances were more ideal, he might be able to achieve this goal in ten years. It might even be possible within five years.

All of this depended on whether he could become companions with Wen Zhiyun.

Chen An’s intuition told him that the reward for having sex with Wen Zhiyun must be related to improving his cultivation.

“Speaking of which, when Ying’er was pregnant, the system rewarded her with the Emotion Severing Pill’s recipe.”

“I wonder if there will be a reward when the child is born next month.”

Chen An was looking forward to this.

…

At the same time, in a certain house in the core area.

A few advance-stage Qi Refining Cultivators were sitting and drinking with worried expressions.

“Recently, the Bamboo Leaf Gang has been investigating more and more closely. We can’t go out, and it’s only a matter of time before we’re exposed.”

“Sigh, the leader of the Bamboo Leaf Gang is too ruthless. In order to catch us spies, he didn’t hesitate to offer a huge reward.”

“Damn it, we’re going to die anyway. Why don’t we just fight them to the death? If we die, their Bamboo Leaf Gang won’t have an easy time either!”

“Junior Brother Wu is right.”

“Senior Brother Huang, what do you think?”

“What else can we do? We can only use our lives to drag more people down with us.”

“Does Senior Brother Huang have a plan?”

“There’s no need for a plan. We just need to choose support professions to kill. For example, Alchemists, Talisman Craftsmen, Blacksmiths, and so on. These support professions are very useful to the Bamboo Leaf Gang, but their strength is weak. Killing them will yield twice the results with half the effort.”

“Senior Brother Huang is brilliant!”

“Senior Brother Huang, I heard that there’s a female Cultivator surnamed Wen in Green Willow Alley. She’s devastatingly beautiful and has a graceful figure. Moreover, she’s a virgin. Since she can’t escape death, we might as well enjoy it before our deaths.”

“Junior Brother Li is right.”

“Then let’s do it this way. The few of us will first go and rape that female Cultivator surnamed Wen in Green Willow Alley. Then, we will assassinate those supporting professions.”

After making this decision, the few of them immediately began to prepare their plans. They planned to taste Wen Zhiyun, the flower that had guarded her body for many years tonight.