Chapter 48 - 47: River Woe, River Woe!

Chapter 48: Chapter 47: River Woe, River Woe!

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Xu Guang began cultivating the Returning Mountain Skill. Having cultivated it once before, his progress was remarkably fast.

The only downside was the consumption rate of his Essence Blood, which far exceeded what it had been when he practiced Skin Polishing with the Golden Willow Skill. This made sense. It was like a wall—the further inside, the smaller the surface area and the less material required. But now, he needed to reinforce a wall that was already quite thick, which naturally demanded more materials.

Xu Guang didn’t mind. He estimated that it would take dozens of drops of Essence Blood at most to elevate the Returning Mountain Skill’s Skin Polishing to the Realm of Great Perfection. He wondered how much his strength would increase by then.

After eating, Xu Guang left the Inner City and headed to the Immortal Institute. He entered the gates at almost the exact same time as Xu Sanduo.

Standing at the entrance was a senior disciple named Yang Zhuo. This senior brother was considered a veteran of the Immortal Institute. His attitude toward Xu Guang was lukewarm—or rather, he was lukewarm toward everyone. His martial arts training had gone awry in his early years; although he was in the Bone Forging stage, his progress was terrible.

However, this usually aloof senior brother now wore a strangely excited expression, uncharacteristically greeting the two of them. "You’re here. Something huge happened."

Xu Sanduo asked with a smile, not taking it seriously, "What huge thing could have happened? Don’t tell me Eldest Senior Brother is back?"

"It’s even more explosive than that," Yang Zhuo said with a mysterious look. "Master Cheng’s arrogant disciple, Pang Hong, was beaten to death on the streets on New Year’s Eve!" His tone was urgent, laced with gloating schadenfreude.

After all, Pang Hong had recently relied on his status as one of the Abnormal People to bully the disciples of their Immortal Institute.

While Xu Sanduo was still reeling in shock, Xu Guang cried out, "What? Pang Hong was actually beaten to death?!?" His tone was filled with thick horror.

Yang Zhuo thought nothing of his extreme reaction. After all, everyone knew that Pang Hong had ambushed Xu Guang at the end of the year and nearly beaten him to death. Xu Sanduo cast a strange glance at Xu Guang, finding his reaction a bit odd, but he never suspected that Xu Guang was the one who had killed Pang Hong.

"Does Senior Brother Yang know who beat him to death?" Xu Guang asked.

Hearing this, Yang Zhuo shook his head. "I don’t know. Master Cheng insists that Eldest Senior Brother sneaked back and beat Pang Hong to death. While our master was arguing with him, he actually uncovered some clues."

Xu Guang’s face registered shock. He remembered cleaning up the traces perfectly well, didn’t he?

"What clues?" Xu Sanduo asked impatiently.

Yang Zhuo wasn’t surprised by the eagerness. "I’m also curious which righteous hero killed Pang Hong. Unfortunately, the clues are incomplete. They only found three words on the sole of Pang Hong’s shoe: ’Three-Eyed’."

Three-Eyed?

Xu Sanduo was surprised to hear this and muttered to himself, "I haven’t heard of any expert with the title ’Three-Eyed’."

Xu Guang’s mouth twitched. He had still been too careless. To think that Pang Hong had managed to carve out a few words with his toes right before he died. Fortunately, he hadn’t been arrogant enough to show his face. He couldn’t help but sigh once more at his own caution and the sheer danger of being a Martial Artist. These people were too sinister. They were about to die, yet they still wanted to seek revenge. Didn’t they know the principle that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind?

The discussions in the courtyard were in full swing as everyone speculated about the person who had beaten Pang Hong to death. Xu Guang blended into the crowd, happily soaking up the gossip like a fly on the wall.

Xu Guang listened for a while. He had originally planned to pay his New Year’s respects to Master Zhao, but he hadn’t expected Master Zhao to be dragged off by Cheng Shan to hunt for Pang Hong’s killer. He let out a helpless sigh and left the Immortal Institute with a tinge of regret.

Over the past few days of the New Year, after all the slaughtering in the city, the Martial Artists seemed to have vented a whole year’s worth of resentment. The city’s order had actually improved somewhat, and people appeared to have grown a bit friendlier toward one another.

Xu Guang had experienced this phenomenon several times. People were indeed more agreeable during this period. In previous years, he would have taken the opportunity to enter the city and make a profit by selling fish, but there was no need for that this year.

However, he still cared about the fact that there were no corpses in the river. He had specifically made a few trips to the riverbank under the cover of night, but there were still no bodies!

He found Wang Ming waiting for him in a tavern in Ping’an Square. He had already been waiting for a long time.

"Erlang, is what you said about that thing true?"

Xu Guang nodded vigorously. "The source of the information is very reliable. That River Worry Beast can indeed widen a person’s meridians."

Wang Ming nodded. "Alright, I believe you. Come with me. I had someone help prepare some tools. We’ll head over right after we eat."

The River Worry Beast was a highly mystical creature that lived deep in frigid waters, yet its heart’s blood was incomparably scorching. Consuming it could widen one’s meridians. Xu Guang had originally intended to capture one earlier, but he had been delayed by various events. Now that the atmosphere in the city was relatively peaceful, it was the perfect time to bring Wang Ming and his two senior brothers out to hunt.

Before long, the two of them met up with Xu Sanduo and Zhao Yong. Xu Sanduo had even managed to procure a simple carriage—the kind that commoners like Xu Guang and Zhao Yong could ride openly and legally, which sped up their journey significantly.

As they traveled south along the official road, they occasionally ran into soldiers blocking the way and demanding tolls. Wang Ming took out his waist token and sent them packing one by one.

"Brother Wang, it’s a good thing we have you."

Wang Ming looked utterly smug. "It’s a trivial matter. To think a bunch of brats dared to block my way. When we get back to the city, I’ll definitely have their boss treat me to a drink."

Sitting off to the side, Xu Guang listened to Wang Ming bragging and shook his head helplessly. Wang Ming’s habit of talking big would never change.

Around late afternoon, their carriage finally stopped amidst some low hills. From here, they could clearly hear the roaring, endless rush of the Wei River.

"Senior brothers, Wang Ming. The River Woe prefers the cold. The sun is still blazing right now, so we’ll have to wait a bit. Let’s go scout ahead first and familiarize ourselves with the terrain."

The three of them nodded without a word. After all, they didn’t even know what a River Woe was.

The area where the River Woe appeared was a section of the river flanked by low hills on both sides. The water level was nearly ten meters below the ground. Normally, no one would come here to fish, so naturally, no one was stationed to collect a fishing tax.

The four of them stood on the bank, peering down at the turbulent, surging currents.

Xu Guang’s expression turned solemn. He had previously asked Wang Ming to borrow a map of Feiyun City’s surroundings from the Government Office. He only knew there were no treacherous mountains in this area, nor had he heard of any powerful Alien Species roaming the hills. Yet, he hadn’t expected the geographical environment alone to be this harsh.

Fortunately, they had come prepared. The four of them took out their ropes and tied them securely to a massive boulder nearby.

Wang Ming kept boasting, "Don’t worry, I’ll go down and scout the waters first tonight. I guarantee I’ll catch enough River Woes for all of us brothers to use."

Xu Guang quickly stopped him. "Hold on. Let me observe the situation first."

The Searcher had an image function, which was how he could recognize a River Woe. However, the Searcher also had a flaw: the current location it displayed would only last for two hours, whether it was for a person or an animal. Furthermore, once that animal or person moved, he would need to run the search all over again. Fortunately, River Woes had specific requirements for their living environment, so the local population wasn’t likely to migrate on such short notice.

Wang Ming hunted a few small animals in the surrounding hills to serve as their dinner. He boasted triumphantly, "Did you see that? I chased them from the East Mountain all the way to the West Mountain without even blinking, and I bagged all of this."

Xu Sanduo and Zhao Yong were left speechless.

Xu Guang suddenly interjected, "If you don’t blink, won’t your eyes get dry?"

Wang Ming was exasperated. "Am I talking about whether my eyes get dry or not?!"

...

After joking around, the group finally got down to business.

Xu Guang naturally took the lead, tying the rope around his waist. He then had the others lower a bamboo basket. "Later, when you see me surface, throw the basket down. I’ll place the River Woes inside, and you guys can pull them up."

Wang Ming had already learned about Xu Guang awakening his bloodline from Xu Sanduo and Zhao Yong, so he didn’t try to stop him.

With everything ready, Xu Guang took a deep breath as he stared down the ten-meter-high cliff. From this height, even a Martial Artist with Skin Grinding Mastery would probably have a hard time surviving the jump unharmed.

SPLASH!

Water sprayed everywhere, shooting up a full four or five meters into the air.

The moment he hit the water, Xu Guang felt an extreme, biting cold that was entirely different from the river water in his memories. After all, the Wei River was highly turbulent—even more violent than the Yellow River from his previous life. With such a rapid flow, the underwater temperature shouldn’t have been freezing. He never expected it to actually be this cold here.

He circulated the vitality and blood in his body, slowly letting himself sink deeper into the water. After taking a moment to adapt, he swam toward the riverbed.

It was even easier than he had anticipated. Soon, he spotted the Exotic Beasts resembling seahorses with aquatic plants growing from their heads, which the Searcher identified as River Woes. The River Woes weren’t large, each roughly the size of a goat. Xu Guang kicked his legs wildly like propellers, causing his body to shoot forward a great distance through the water. He swiftly grabbed one of the River Woes in a bear hug.

Startled, the River Woe immediately began to struggle violently. Its strength was surprisingly formidable, but in the face of Xu Guang’s five thousand catties of pure power, it was nothing. He knocked the River Woe unconscious with a single punch, then controlled his body to float upward. He signaled to the three men on the riverbank to hoist this first catch up. Then, his body sank back down to continue capturing River Woes.

After catching four more, the number of River Woes began to thin out. Xu Guang had no choice but to dive even deeper. However, as he descended, the water grew increasingly frigid—so cold that it was enough to sluggishly hinder his body’s movements.

But then he witnessed an unbelievable sight. Near the bottom of the river, there was a dense cluster of over a hundred River Woes, gathered as though holding a grand assembly!

Surrounded by them in the center was a pitch-black cave, continuously spewing out piercingly icy water. The River Woes looked as if they were yearning to enter the mouth of that subterranean river, yet they also seemed to be worshipping it.

What shocked Xu Guang even more was a rock at the cave’s entrance that remained firmly anchored despite the rushing currents. Caught upon it were dozens of enormous black scales!

He had seen these black scales before—back in that ancient well within Feiyun City!