Chapter 36 You're Treating

Kou Yifang was frantic; the moment the communication cut off, he rushed to get to work.

This was a major issue.

As for owing Yin Shengong a favor, he was entirely sincere about it.

After all, if he were to be completely honest with himself, Kou Yifang knew very well that had he known the All-Hearts Sect was facing such trouble, he certainly would never have given a warning!

Yet Yin Shengong had taken the initiative to warn him.

Kou Yifang was filled with a myriad of emotions.

Though everyone usually referred to this fellow Yin Shengong as Old Sly, he never faltered when it mattered most.

This favor had to be acknowledged.

"Old Yin really has vision..."

Normally they tried to trick each other at every turn, but look at how Yin Shengong handled things at a critical juncture. He ought to reflect on himself as well.

Kou Yifang sighed.

He immediately began issuing orders.

He dispatched several elite experts: "Quickly, go clean it up!"

When an incident like this occurred, if it were up to the Guardians, the primary objective would naturally be to ensure the Ximen family could withdraw to a safe area.

Then came a prolonged standoff, searching for maneuverable space over time to ultimately achieve a win-win scenario.

However, when such a situation happened on the side of the Heavenly God Cult, there was only one outcome: a venomous snake bites its own hand, a brave warrior cuts off his wrist to survive!

Under no circumstances could the Ximen family be allowed to be captured and spill a trail of secrets that the Guardians could follow to uproot the entire network.

No matter how important the Ximen family was, they were merely a vassal clan, and a lowly ninth-rank one at that; they were entirely expendable.

Kou Yifang hadn't regarded them with any real value from the start: aside from generating a bit of wealth, they were useless.

That being the case, silencing them permanently was simply the most correct choice.

And so, the clan-eradication plan was immediately put on the agenda.

Three days later...

Many elite experts stationed in Xiangyun City were astonished to discover...

The entire Ximen family had been poisoned!

Every single member, young and old, had met a violent death.

Yet no one could figure out how the poison was administered, or who had carried out the deed.

The blockade had been so airtight that even a fly's sex could be distinguished as it flew in and out—so where had the poison come from?

Although subsequent searches of the Ximen estate indeed turned up evidence of collusion with the Heavenly God Cult, confirming the crime that "the Ximen family were indeed vassals of the Heavenly God Cult and traitors to the continent," there was none of the joy associated with "cracking a major case against the Heavenly God Cult."

Everyone felt that they had severely failed in their duties.

With such a great clue, such a fitting opportunity, they had actually just ended up wiping out a vassal clan?

Chen Ruhai roared with thunderous rage.

Gao Qingyu flew into a towering fury.

Both fiercely cursed their subordinates.

When Fang Che heard the news, he was somewhat dumbfounded as well.

They only chopped down the Ximen family?

What the heck... was this supposed to be a joke?

What on earth were you people doing?

He had already tipped them off: the people of the Heavenly God Cult were coming to silence witnesses. As long as they kept a close eye on the Ximen clan, it would be equivalent to laying siege to the city to lure in reinforcements—no matter what, they should have managed to catch something, right?

How could they have returned empty-handed?

In the evening, Sun Yuan arrived.

Fang Che shouted at the top of his lungs: "Ye Meng! My master has arrived, and you don't even know to serve tea?!"

He sent her half-tumbling with a kick.

Then, he attentively assisted Sun Yuan into the study.

Sun Yuan sighed: "I must say, you brat, you need to be gentler with young girls. Even if we are demonic cultivators, we can't act like this, can we? Who starts beating and kicking right off the bat?"

Fang Che rolled his eyes and said, "This girl's life was saved by me; what's wrong with a kick... Ye Meng, what do you say? Do you hate me?"

"This maid wouldn't dare."

"I figured you wouldn't dare. Go brew some good tea and serve properly here."

Ye Meng hurried to fetch the tea set and attended to them by the desk.

Fang Che and Sun Yuan sat on either side as wisps of fragrant tea curled upward.

Only then did Fang Che bring up the matter: "Master, is it true that the entire Ximen family is dead?"

"Indeed. Cleanly wiped out." Sun Yuan took the teacup from Ye Meng's hands and took a appreciative sip.

"If I do say so myself, our Demonic Cult is truly badass. The Guardians had the place guarded like an iron bucket, yet we still wiped out the witnesses without a sound."

Fang Che laughed heartily and also took a cup of tea from Ye Meng's hands. He frowned and said, "It's a bit hot." After taking a sip, he shoved it back into Ye Meng's hands: "Hold it."

"Yes." Ye Meng lowered her head and eyes, standing respectfully to the side.

Sun Yuan chuckled: "What's so strange about that? The Heavenly God Cult dispatched the Poison King and the Serpent King; the Poison King applied poison to the snakes, and the Serpent King controlled countless small snakes to enter the Ximen family through underground passages, infiltrating all the water sources. Then, the Poison King mixed other poisons onto the small snakes, which drifted into the air to work in tandem with the waterborne poison... The Ximen family was eradicated overnight."

Sun Yuan was full of praise for this feat: "The methods of the Heavenly God Cult are truly a model for our generation. To act so silently that a family of several hundred people just vanishes like that—they deserve high praise! Our Sect Leader is also studying this kind of method. If our All-Hearts Sect encounters such a situation in the future, we can execute it using the exact same approach. It saves an immense amount of effort."

Fang Che could only sigh; so that was how it was.

Such methods were truly impossible to guard against.

You couldn't blame their army for being incompetent; the enemy was simply too crafty.

Ye Meng stood to the side, her head lowered, not moving an inch.

Sun Yuan finished his tea and smiled faintly: "However, it seems you've grown a bit more trusting of this girl now."

Fang Che understood instantly.

Previously, Sun Yuan arrived without Ye Meng being allowed to serve nearby, but now Sun Yuan was clearly making light of the situation.

"Master is not an outsider. This girl is a bit slow, but she's alright to boss around. It's still much easier than running around doing everything myself."

Fang Che laughed heartily and said, "It's just like a new bride—right after the wedding, when guests come over, she hides in the inner room. But once the relatives all get familiar with each other, she can join in the conversation too. Haha, am I right?"

As he spoke, he gave Ye Meng's smooth, tender cheek a rather frivolous pinch: "Tsk tsk, the little girl isn't bad after all."

Ye Meng instantly blushed.

That same night.

After Sun Yuan left.

Ye Meng was busy tidying up the tea table and wiping things clean.

Fang Che looked thoroughly pleased with himself.

"Hehe, what's the use of countless experts setting up copper walls and iron ramparts? The Heavenly God Cult wiped out the Ximen family just like that, effortlessly! This whole affair, hahaha, is utterly hilarious to me."

Ye Meng looked at Fang Che with a blank, uncomprehending expression, feigning total cluelessness.

Why on earth were you so happy that the Ximen family was wiped out?

One had to admit that this girl's chubby baby face paired with her large eyes made her look utterly authentic when making such a blank expression.

She looked an absolute natural-born innocent sweet-talker without any disguise.

"Idiot!"

Seeing Ye Meng's bewildered gaze, Fang Che scolded, "The Ximen family's legitimate son died at my hands; if their whole family didn't die out completely, wouldn't they have come back to take revenge on me sooner or later? You can't even figure that out? Now that their entire clan has been wiped out, hasn't it saved me a lot of trouble?"

"You wooden-headed fool! When will you ever get a bit of sense? What level of martial artist are you now? Why aren't you going to practice? Staring with those big eyes every day and understanding nothing!"

Annoyed, Fang Che extended a finger and poked Ye Meng's smooth forehead, scolding, "Good for nothing. I'll sell you to a brothel one of these days!"

He applied a bit of force with his finger.

Ye Meng tumbled backward, landing flat on her back like a silver ingot.

Splayed out and looking utterly wretched.

...

In the small hours of the morning.

The people who received the message passed down by Ye Meng all thought: "Ah... so that was it!"

"No wonder, no wonder..."

"Wait, if that's the case, doesn't it mean the Poison King and Serpent King of the Heavenly God Cult are right in this vicinity??"

"Catch them!"

...

Fang Che had already begun his classes.

For the time being, he needed to start his martial academy life; after all, having accomplished so much, he needed to keep a low profile for a while.

Otherwise, both friends and foes would begin to suspect something.

It was worth mentioning that on the very first day of class, leaders from the academy specifically came to his classroom to commend Fang Che.

For averting a potential stain on the martial academy's record and saving the citizens of Xiangyun City from potential persecution, he was awarded twenty contribution credits for each achievement.

Consequently, Fang Che's credits reached a horrifying total of one hundred and seventy-six!

Among the freshmen of White Cloud Martial Academy, this amount of credits was a first in millions of years!

Even among the fifth-year madmen who were obsessed with cultivation and undertaking missions, those with more credits than Fang Che numbered fewer than two thousand!

A single credit allowed a student to spend ten days eating ordinary food infused with spiritual energy, without demanding high spiritual density or top-tier provisions.

If they also required medicinal pills to assist in cultivation, a single credit would sustain them for three days of both food and pills, which also included the right to rent a starlight spiritual cultivation room for one hour.

This made Mo Ganyun green with envy.

His own credits were already considered quite numerous compared to other freshmen, but compared to Fang Che, they didn't even amount to a fraction of a percent.

Not to mention that Fang Che also held a gold plaque.

And the newly delivered award plaque from the Guardian Hall, the gratitude gold plaque from Xiangyun City, and yet another medal of merit from White Cloud Martial Academy.

This meant Fang Che had already caught the attention of the higher-ups.

With reddened eyes, Mo Ganyun tracked down Fang Che right after class: "Treat me to a meal! For two whole months!"

"On what grounds?"

Fang Che frowned.

"You have so many credits, can you possibly spend them all?"

Mo Ganyun raged: "Treat me to a meal!"

Fang Che shook his head and sighed: "Old Mo, you know what? Jealousy has made your current appearance rather ugly!"

Mo Ganyun declared: "As long as you treat me to a meal, I don't mind being ugly."

Fang Che let out a gloomy sigh: "As one of the few friends I have in White Cloud Martial Academy, I thought you'd want to throw a celebration feast for me. Because you know what I've been through. Given your family background, you should understand and be able to imagine the kind of danger I experienced."

Hearing this, Mo Ganyun calmed down.

True enough, thinking about these events made it all clear.

Merits were never so easily earned.

How much more so when several came at once?

Were the monsters of the Demonic Cult really that easy to kill?

You must be joking!

Just thinking about the dangers Fang Che had faced made one realize how terrifying they were. He had literally been playing with his head on the line.

Fang Che patted Mo Ganyun's shoulder and said with deep emotion: "Truly, that night, I thought I wouldn't make it back. It wasn't until dawn, when I walked into the classroom and saw your face, that I suddenly felt moved—turns out, I survived."

"And furthermore, I saw my best brother again!"

He heavily patted Mo Ganyun's shoulder: "Old Mo, good brother."

Mo Ganyun was moved, sighing emotionally: "Yeah, it really wasn't easy."

"I still feel a lingering fear to this day. Remembering the Mighty Bear Paws in our academy cafeteria, I almost thought I wouldn't get to eat them again in this lifetime. Old Mo, do you remember those Mighty Bear Paws you treated me to last time?"

Fang Che wore an expression of deep sentimental attachment.

Mo Ganyun sighed softly, patted Fang Che's shoulder, and said solemnly: "Good brother, say no more! This morning, I'll treat you to Mighty Bear Paws! I'll let you eat your fill until you're completely satisfied!"

"As expected of my good brother!"

Fang Che was so moved that tears were practically about to flow from the corners of his mouth: "Thank you!"

At noon.

Mo Ganyun watched Fang Che eating opposite him until his mouth was gleaming with oil. A surge of emotion stirred in his heart: This is my good brother; after going through a life-or-death crisis, the very first person he thought of was me.

It wasn't until Fang Che finished eating and Mo Ganyun went to settle the bill that he suddenly scratched his head.

A puzzled expression appeared on his face.

He turned his head to look at Fang Che's oily face and mouth.

Then he turned back to look at his own identity jade token, which he had already handed in to deduct the credits, and a lingering sense that something wasn't quite right washed over him.

Eh?

Fang Che had already left.

Along the way, people kept greeting him: "Fang Che, finished eating?"

"Finished. My best brother treated me."

"Oh? Mo Ganyun?"

"Of course!"

"I envy your friendship."

"Thanks."

Mo Ganyun suddenly felt a sense of relief.

He's my brother; do we really care who pays for a meal?

He didn't see the complex looks in the eyes of those who greeted him.

He only saw the look of envy in their eyes whenever they looked at him and Fang Che.

Mo Ganyun grew even prouder.

He thought others were envious of his brotherly bond, unaware that what those people were actually envious of was... that Fang Che had such a complete sucker for a brother, allowing him to get away with a free meal indefinitely...

Ah, if only we had such a brother among us when we run out of credits, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Of course, Mo Ganyun's expenditures weren't without return.

During this period, Mo Ganyun had actually gained even more.

He and Fang Che sparred every day, and although he was beaten black and blue by Fang Che like a sandbag day after day, returning home bruised and swollen each time...

What he learned from Fang Che was far greater!

Even all the treasured archives of the Mo family could not compare to it.

That was Fang Che's absolute orthodox foundation!

It included even the way he stood.

The posture of his walk.

Not to mention how he threw punches.

Never underestimate a simple standing posture; anyone could stand. But when standing, the coordination of the entire body, the distance between the feet, the hanging of the hands—how to make it more scientific and execute a faster blade, punch, or sword strike.

The stance of the legs: how to react fastest to an enemy from any direction while remaining in the most relaxed and restful state.

The center of gravity underfoot, which toe on the forefoot bore the most weight, which toe remained relaxed and ready to spring up for a counter-attack... and so on.

These were all profound arts.

Moreover, after mastering the most basic standing posture, how to build upon it to mobilize every muscle in the body at any moment, and how to make those muscles respond with maximum speed...

The coordination between the waist, abdomen, legs, and upper body!

These were all subjects of study.

Every single subtle detail had the potential to save one's life on a fierce and perilous battlefield!

This was the true capital upon which a martial artist stood!