Chapter 38: Your Friend Chu Li Has Died!

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Your Friend Chu Li Has Died!

On the streets of Fenglin Town, the group that had emerged from the wine shop continued to grow in number. Countless streams of fire rose and fell in rapid succession, temporarily suppressing the terrifying swarm of flying insects.

Many of the common people who hadn’t been severely bitten finally found the time to check on those with heavier injuries. In this moment, everyone in Fenglin Town displayed an unusual sense of solidarity and kindness.

Seeing that they were safe, Fang Xu settled the Wang Family down before heading to Zhiyuan Hall alone.

Although Lu Zhiyuan possessed the strength of the Third Realm of the Martial Master, even Yun Wan, who was at the Ninth Realm, had been helpless against these flying insects. Worried that Lu Zhiyuan and Lu Qingluo might have met with a mishap, Fang Xu hurried over to check on them.

Arriving outside Zhiyuan Hall, he could see from afar that the courtyard was illuminated by towering flames and billowing thick smoke.

Kicking the main doors open, Fang Xu rushed inside. In the Martial Arts Arena, he saw Lu Zhiyuan, his daughter, and Li Yushan gathered around a bonfire. They were waving their arms to drive away the insects, and all three appeared to be relatively unharmed.

Fang Xu let out a quiet sigh of relief. He blew out several streams of fire to incinerate the bugs gathered in the courtyard, then quickly walked over to Lu Zhiyuan. "Master, are you all right?"

Covering a large, red, and swollen welt on his forehead, Lu Zhiyuan shook his head. He clearly knew a great deal about these insects hidden in the mist as he spoke slowly.

"I got bitten once, but it’s nothing serious.

"These flying insects are called Qiang Mosquitoes. They originate from the Dusk Cloud Kingdom and normally survive by sucking the blood of livestock. They aren’t highly toxic.

"However, the ones attacking Fenglin Town must have been specially bred by someone. Getting bitten once or twice is fine, but suffering too many bites can still be fatal."

"Master, is this the work of a Shaman?" Fang Xu asked with a frown.

Lu Zhiyuan nodded. "The lineage of Shamans is extremely mysterious. Their methods mostly rely on manipulating venomous insects and fierce beasts. It is said that a small fraction of them even possess the ability to control plants. If you ever encounter one in the future, you must never lower your guard.

"They are a group of people capable of fighting and killing experts well above their own cultivation levels."

Hearing this, Fang Xu nodded solemnly. He then handed a wine jar he had brought along to Li Yushan. Standing in the courtyard, the two of them blew out stream after stream of fire, driving away the constantly attacking insects.

Time trickled by. It wasn’t until the eastern horizon turned a pale, fish-belly white—and both of their mouths had grown red and swollen—that the thick mist enveloping all of Fenglin Town finally began to dissipate. The flying insects also slowly retreated.

As the morning sun rose, the ground across Fenglin Town was covered in a thick layer of insect corpses. Countless common people lay on the streets with large, swollen welts all over their bodies, groaning in agony.

Fang Xu tossed aside the empty wine jar. Just as he was about to help Lu Zhiyuan up, a virtual light screen suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Your friend Chu Li has died. As his friend, you may randomly inherit one of his two legacies.]

Legacy One: [Red Legacy: Chu Li’s Secret Stash - Five hundred taels of silver.] Inheriting this carries a slight risk. As the Shopkeeper of the Wu Family’s Qinxiang House, Chu Li had skimmed quite a bit of profit over the years. The Wu Family was already aware of this money, but out of consideration for his many years of diligent service, they had not pursued the matter.

Legacy Two: [Golden Legacy: Chu Li’s Granddaughter - Chu Muyun (Special Constitution).] The risk of inheritance is unknown.

Huh?

Fang Xu wasn’t too surprised by Chu Li’s death. Just a few days ago, his Life Value on the friend’s list had already dropped to a mere six percent. With Fenglin Town suffering an inexplicable attack last night, it made perfect sense that Chu Li would perish in the chaos.

What confused him was Chu Li’s second legacy.

This was the first time he had ever seen a Golden Legacy. On top of that, the legacy was actually Chu Li’s granddaughter, Chu Muyun, and it was even tagged with a "Special Constitution."

Fang Xu had met Chu Muyun before. She was younger than him, likely only fifteen or sixteen years old now.

She had been born with a congenital disability and couldn’t walk. When Fang Xu’s grandfather was still alive, Fang Xu had taught him how to build a wooden wheelchair. Chu Li had brought his granddaughter over back then to custom-order one.

The young girl was pretty, and because she had been unable to walk year-round, she carried a trace of frail, delicate beauty.

But the point was, how could a person be considered a legacy?

What use would a crippled young girl be to him?

After a moment of hesitation, Fang Xu symbolically tapped to inherit.

The two legacies rapidly cycled on the screen before gradually coming to a stop.

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining Legacy Two: Chu Li’s Granddaughter, Chu Muyun.]

[System enhancement applied. Chu Muyun’s trust level in the host has increased to 80%. Please accept with caution!]

What the...

Looking at the text on the light screen, Fang Xu couldn’t help but want to curse!

This damn system really had to dump a burden on him!

Chu Muyun’s parents had once been gold-panners in the Wu Family’s herb-gathering squad, but they had died in an accident deep within Tilan Mountain. Now that Chu Li was dead too, the young girl was left with no one to rely on.

The Wu Family wasn’t exactly known for their charity. They absolutely wouldn’t waste resources raising a crippled burden.

Fang Xu felt that if he didn’t accept this legacy, Chu Muyun’s fate would likely be grim.

But...

He sighed inwardly, his gaze shifting back to the words "Special Constitution."

"Whatever, I’ll just accept her," he thought. The system probably wouldn’t completely screw him over. Given her special constitution, he would just treat this as an investment for the future.

"Master, I’m going to take a walk around and see if anyone needs help." Having made up his mind, Fang Xu immediately prepared to visit Chu Li’s home.

With the Qiang Mosquitoes causing such a ferocious uproar last night, a young girl with limited mobility like Chu Muyun had likely suffered terribly.

Walking through the streets of Fenglin Town, Fang Xu’s heart trembled slightly at the sight of the absolute devastation around him and the countless common people wailing in pain everywhere.

He didn’t know why those accursed Shamans would attack a small place like Fenglin Town.

Nor did he know how many common people had lost their lives in this assault.

Human lives were as cheap as grass!

Suppressing his heavy emotions, he soon arrived in front of Chu Li’s small courtyard. Seeing the gates tightly shut, Fang Xu initially planned to knock. However, considering that Chu Li was already dead and there was no telling how badly Chu Muyun was injured, she probably wouldn’t be able to answer the door anyway.

Thus, he simply pushed the gates open and walked inside.

The courtyard was dead silent. Fang Xu looked around in slight confusion before stepping up to the main room and calling out, "Mu Yun?"

RUMBLE!

The sound of a wooden wheelchair rolling forward echoed out as Chu Muyun wheeled herself over and opened the door.

Her slightly pale little face glowed faintly in the light of the morning sun. Her jet-black hair was gently tied behind her head, with a few stray strands fluttering in the breeze across her forehead. A milky-white embroidered jacket wrapped around her frail frame, and a long skirt draped gracefully over her knees.

"Fang Xu."

Seeing him, Chu Muyun smiled faintly. Under the warm morning sun, her expression was incredibly soothing.

Fang Xu stared blankly at her smile for a moment before looking the young girl up and down. "Mu Yun, you’re not hurt, are you?"

Chu Muyun shook her head slightly and asked in confusion, "Fang Xu, what happened outside last night?

"I only heard endless screams from inside my room, and occasionally, I could see flashes of firelight."

Fang Xu was genuinely curious. "Mu Yun, you weren’t attacked by the flying insects last night?"

Chu Muyun looked bewildered. "Flying insects? What flying insects?"

All right.

It seemed that even though the Qiang Mosquitoes had caused such catastrophic havoc last night, they had completely spared Chu Muyun. He realized this must be the special constitution the system had mentioned.

"Fang Xu, could you take me to Qinxiang House?" she asked. "Grandpa was on duty at the shop last night. I’m worried about him..."

Although she hadn’t witnessed the terrifying scenes of the previous night with her own eyes, just listening to an entire night of agonizing screams and wails had left Chu Muyun incredibly anxious about her grandfather’s safety.

Fang Xu desperately wanted to tell her that Chu Li was already dead.

However, unable to find the right words, he decided it would be better to just let her see for herself.

Just as he began pushing Chu Muyun’s wheelchair toward the door, the virtual panel popped up in front of him once more.