Chapter Twenty-Five: The Plot to Seize the Fu Family

Book of Skills:
Owner: Bai Li Feihong
Skill Points: 17 (Skills can be upgraded, combined, or evolved)
Skill 1: Culinary Arts, Proficient (Experience: 128/400)
Skill 2: Universal Fist Technique, Peak (Can be upgraded by consuming five skill points.)
Skill 3: Blood River Saber Technique (four incomplete moves), Masterful (Experience: 25,198/32,000)
Skill 4: Blood Essence Method, Initiate (Experience: 530/800)

“By slaying the Mountain Fiend, you have gained 3 skill points.”

“Blood River Saber Technique has gained three thousand experience!”

“Combat is the truest test and best practice for understanding a skill.”

Bai Li Feihong took out a piece of cloth, wiping the length of his Blood Sea Saber. The blade was exceptionally sharp, living up to the reputation of the city’s renowned swordsmith. Even a beast like the Mountain Fiend, whose body was as tough as iron or stone, could only meet its end beneath this saber. Of course, much depended on the hand wielding the weapon.

“The Mountain Fiend has been beheaded. Dealing with this massive corpse will be a troublesome task.”

“No wonder the mission specifically noted that the local constables must assist in transporting the corpse to the Demon Suppression Headquarters for proper handling.”

“If left to rot, and the Mountain Fiend’s body were devoured by other wild creatures, it would certainly breed more monsters in its wake.”

Bai Li Feihong seemed to understand why the Demon Suppression Bureau handled the bodies of monsters and demons with such extraordinary caution. He gazed at the enormous Mountain Fiend sprawled across the ground, its otherworldly blood pooling in a ghastly crimson. After some thought, recalling the training he received upon joining the bureau, he already had an idea on how to deal with it.

Searching around Huangxian Village, he found a wooden cart used for hauling goods. With no oxen or horses to pull it, he would have to serve as his own beast of burden. Being a former porter and laborer, Bai Li Feihong felt no aversion to this. He simply wanted to handle the aftermath, return to the city’s Demon Suppression Bureau, complete his mission, and collect his reward.

He bound the Mountain Fiend’s corpse to the cart with rope and covered it with several quilts he found. Then, gathering a hoe and spade from the village, he dug up the blood-soaked earth, gathered firewood, and set the tainted soil alight. The flames burned fiercely, their scarlet glow casting a strange and sinister light.

“The Mountain Fiend that plagued Huangxian Village has been slain. I must ensure that this monster’s tainted blood does not cause further trouble.”

“If anything else happens, no one will dare live in this village again.”

Under the rising moon, Bai Li Feihong pushed the cart briskly, his pace nearly matching that of a carriage on his journey there. If not for fear of the cart breaking apart, he could have moved even faster.

“Once I return, I’ll see if I can acquire a body movement technique. During the battle with the Mountain Fiend, I suffered due to my lack of speed. Fortunately, it was just a beast—simple-minded and direct—giving me ample room to dodge. If I were to face a martial artist of equal rank with such speed, I would surely lose.”

The lights of Fairness Town glimmered in the distance. Bai Li Feihong quickened his pace.

“The Young Master of the Fu family has finally agreed to sell his ancestral land.”

Captain Qian Yuduo of the Fairness Town Constabulary breathed a sigh of relief. The Fu family had deep roots and was not easily dealt with. When Old Master Fu was alive, his connections reached all the way to the imperial capital. Even after his death, his son could live a life of luxury without lifting a finger, thanks to the foundation laid by his father.

But that was not the real issue. What truly made Qian Yuduo wary was that many of Dongbin City’s upper echelons were Old Master Fu’s friends and business partners. Since his passing, those relationships had cooled, but if anything were to happen to the last scion of the Fu family, those people would still intervene in his defense.

Qian Yuduo understood that if he wanted to obtain the Fu family’s ancestral residence, he could not use force. Otherwise, he might acquire what he wanted but lose his life in the process.

Bringing a man to ruin is often a simple matter. Fu Junying had been spoiled by Old Master Fu since childhood—whatever he desired, he received. This had fostered a pampered and extravagant disposition. Moreover, Fu Junying’s lifelong habit of reckless spending left him with little concept of money.

In the past two years, Qian Yuduo had schemed relentlessly for that ancestral house, creating numerous opportunities to lure Fu Junying into gambling dens and opium houses. The proprietor behind the opium den had his eyes set on the Fu family’s considerable wealth as well. If Fu Junying became addicted to “Fortune Paste,” even the vast fortune left by Old Master Fu would eventually fall into their hands.

But opium’s reputation was already foul in Fairness Town. To ensnare Fu Junying required the right opportunity. After losing three loved ones in quick succession—his grandmother’s passing and his childhood fiancée’s death at the hands of a monster—Fu Junying, under the influence of a scheming servant, finally succumbed to the lure of “Fortune Paste.”

Luo Yaoyang asked, “Captain, the Fu family’s leased land isn’t very large, and their ancestral residence is quite dilapidated. After selling their mansion, that old place shouldn’t be worth much. Why have they held onto it for so long?”

A chill passed through Qian Yuduo’s heart, but he replied evenly, “The Fu family’s ancestral home is the most auspicious spot in Fairness Town. Old Master Fu rose from a humble sailor to oversee a fleet of dozens of ships at the family’s height. If it hadn’t been for the pirates of the Farra Empire and the terrible losses they inflicted, no amount of wastefulness from Fu Junying could have squandered the family fortune in ten lifetimes.”

It was the battle in the Devil’s Strait that hastened Old Master Fu’s illness and ultimately brought down this legendary merchant of Fairness Town and Dongbin City.

But Qian Yuduo’s true motives were not something he would share, even with Luo Yaoyang, his trusted confidant.

“Captain, now that Fu Junying has fallen so low, shouldn’t we try to bargain him down?” Luo Yaoyang whispered.

Qian Yuduo shook his head. “No, we mustn’t. In fact, we should offer a high price. Otherwise, some of the bigwigs once connected to the Fu family will take offense, and I’ll be the one in trouble. The ancestral home of the Fu family carries great significance.”

At the constabulary, Qian Yuduo stubbed out his cigar. He never touched opium, but the cigars imported from overseas had become his preferred indulgence. In Dongbin City’s upper circles, smoking cigars had become a status symbol.

“Are any of the constables on duty tonight?” he called out into the courtyard, his voice interrupting the secretive conversation within.

“Who’s that? Don’t they know the rules? I’ve told everyone—no visitors this late at night!” Qian Yuduo frowned in annoyance.

Luo Yaoyang quickly interrupted, “Captain, that’s the voice of the apprentice from the Demon Suppression Bureau.”

“Hmm?!” Qian Yuduo shot to his feet, a smile instantly plastered on his face as he rushed out of the office with the speed of the wind, Luo Yaoyang following close behind.

In the courtyard sat a wooden cart, covered with quilts, with a peculiar metallic scent wafting from beneath the covers. Qian Yuduo’s heart trembled. This could only be the corpse of the Mountain Fiend. Was the Demon Suppression apprentice truly this powerful?

He thought of his own years training in martial arts, yet he had only reached the third level of the Blood Stage.

“Captain Qian Yuduo of the Fairness Town Constabulary pays his respects to the Lord Demon Suppressor,” he announced.

Qian Yuduo? The middle-aged man before him was tall and powerfully built, exuding the aura of a third-tier martial artist.

“Captain Qian, I am no Demon Suppressor—just a newly inducted apprentice at the bureau. Please, there’s no need for such formality,” Bai Li Feihong said, waving his hand to correct Qian Yuduo’s address.

“You are too modest, lord apprentice. ‘Apprentice’ is merely a title. With your strength, slaying the Mountain Fiend so easily, it’s only a matter of time before you become a true Demon Suppressor.” Qian Yuduo was no fool. He could sense Bai Li Feihong’s dissatisfaction. He also realized the man’s keen interest in the local businesses of Fairness Town.

But that was not the main issue. What mattered was the strength Bai Li Feihong possessed. When the Mountain Fiend appeared, Qian Yuduo had mobilized all his constables and even requisitioned firearms, yet the beast slipped through their grasp, costing him two men.

If Bai Li Feihong bore him ill will, Qian Yuduo had no means to resist.

Soon, the Fu family’s ancestral residence would be in his hands...