Chapter Ninety-Six: The Black-Furred Rat Demon’s Enterprise

At dawn, the laborers who had come to work lined up in a queue, registering one by one. By the look of things, by the end of the day the outermost high wall would be fully raised, and in a few more days the second inner wall would also be finished.

After that, the remaining tasks would naturally be to clear the interior, level the ground, and build rockeries, bamboo groves, a small lake, and other garden scenery.

Su Yang brought Chu Youer, neatly dressed and looking like a little noble lady, to the construction site. At a glance, he saw Hong, the boss of the Plum Blossom Sect, holding a long blade, with a large group of men behind him. They were all common people from within his jurisdiction, dragged over as laborers.

Besides Hong, there was also a minor leader among the ninth rank fighters.

Chu Youer looked over, her eyes filled with hatred and venom fixed tightly on Hong. If Su Yang had not held her back, she would have rushed forward and fought him to the death on the spot.

"Do you want to kill him?" Su Yang asked.

"Yes!"

"Right now, you are just a weak woman with no strength to speak of, while that man is broad-backed and strong, full of brute force. You are no match for him, and you cannot kill him."

"Unless you reach the ninth rank. Then you can kill him with your own hands."

The number of family descendants had also increased to four, and each day they could provide him with four points of incense. Those four were Peach Blossom, Plum Blossom, Spring-cherishing, and Jin Ping'er.

Another day passed.

On the panel, the incense value had risen to more than six hundred. In addition, a new family progress objective had appeared: recruit ten eighth rank martial masters. For him now, this was still a fairly easy task to complete.

Su Yang took all 130 ninth-rank black-furred rat demon corpses and all 10 eighth-rank black-furred rat demon corpses, used incense to remove the tumors from them, then disguised them a little before having the servants load them up, preparing to head to General Zhao Man Bow's military camp.

Su Yang reached out and took Chu Youer's hand. Feeling that boneless softness, he said, "Will you have the heart to kill him yourself?"

"My lord, I surely will reach the ninth rank as quickly as possible and kill him."

That evening, after dusk.

In the morning, he would go to the Li family to see Li Doukou.

After all, he now had resources in hand.

"As for Silver Lotus, she has already been pregnant for twenty days. She should be close now. Green Zither has also been pregnant for sixteen days."

"Sir, I will definitely enter the ninth rank as soon as possible and kill him."

Only then could he properly make it up to Peach Blossom, whose figure had already begun to show; once the dangerous first three months had passed, her compensation would come. That pale, petite body in his arms was as soft as water.

"You are a very capable preparer. If you run into any trouble in the city, you can come straight to the military camp and find me. This general still has some influence in Yanggu County."

"Besides him, there is also the Plum Blossom Sect's minor leader, the Plum Blossom Sect's hall master, and everyone in the Plum Blossom Sect deserves to die...!"

As for Bai Guan Guan's bone structure aptitude, Su Yang tested it and found it to be only grade C, not grade B. Yet she had reached the sixth rank by the age of thirty, which showed extremely high comprehension and made up for the weakness in her bones.

Of the ninth-rank demon corpses, Su Yang kept forty percent, a total of fifty-two.

Of the eighth-rank demon corpses, he kept sixty percent, six corpses.

Besides these, there was also some payment: one tenth of the successfully prepared demon corpses.

After these resources were kept aside, they would all become resources for recruiting martial masters. As for that sixth-rank black-furred rat demon corpse, it would be enough to save him a great deal of incense and let him take one more step on the road toward the fifth rank.

The county magistrate, Li, knew of this and said nothing. The better the Su family became, the more his own daughter would enjoy happiness after marrying in. How could that not be a good thing?

County Magistrate Zhou also said nothing after hearing of it. He was already searching for an opportunity to scheme against Su Yang. If he made trouble over this now, he might alert the enemy. So whatever Su Yang was doing, he would simply pretend not to see it.

Su Yang said with great confidence, "I will not disappoint you."

Peach Blossom had already begun to show signs of pregnancy. Once the first three months of danger were past, he would be able to properly make it up to her. Her small, fair body, lying in his arms, would be as tender as flowing water.

"You are a very good preparer. If anything happens in the city, come directly to the military camp to find me. This general still has some standing in Yanggu County."

"As for the one beside him, the Plum Blossom Sect's minor leader, the Plum Blossom Sect's hall master, and everyone in the Plum Blossom Sect, they should all die...!"

Su Yang had also tested Bai Guan Guan's bone structure aptitude. It was only grade C, not grade B, yet she had entered the sixth rank at thirty because of her exceptional comprehension, which compensated for the deficiency in her bones.

Of the ninth-rank demon corpse shipment, Su Yang withheld forty percent, taking fifty-two corpses.

Of the eighth-rank demon corpses, he withheld sixty percent, taking six corpses.

And there were also some additional rewards, namely one tenth of the number of demon corpses successfully prepared.

With these resources set aside, he would have ample means to recruit martial masters. As for the sixth-rank black-furred rat demon corpse, it would save him a vast amount of incense and help him take another step toward the fifth rank.

Tomorrow, he could have the household servants who handled recruitment add one eighth-rank position alongside the ninth-rank one. The pay would be the same, two pieces of eighth-rank old medicine. Once they came, he would tell them it was actually three pieces of eighth-rank old medicine.

This time.

Several soldiers each sampled a few demon corpses and found no problems at all. This delighted Zhao Man Bow. Compared with the concessions gained from lingering tumors, he would rather his soldiers all remain safe and sound.

He asked, "Do you dare guarantee that every last tumor has been removed?"

As for the renovation of the inner wall and the residence itself, that was another matter. He had already obtained a grand mansion, and that alone satisfied the family progress requirement.

Still in the same military camp.

"General, five seventh-rank demon corpses? Wasn't it one seventh-rank demon corpse?" Su Yang was slightly startled when he heard this and asked.

The military camp remained imposing and cold, the long spear radiating a chilling gleam.

This was also the fifth day.

"Now that another batch of demon corpses has arrived in my storeroom, are you interested?"

"Rest assured, General. All tumors on the black-furred rat demon corpses have been thoroughly prepared and removed. Please inspect them."

General Zhao Man Bow asked.

Moreover, in these past few days, some martial artists who had come because of his reputation had also sought him out. By now, he had over twenty ninth-rank martial artists under his employ, though no eighth-rank fighters had come to inquire, since he had not yet posted the conditions for eighth-rank recruitment.

Inside the military camp, many beautiful women still moved back and forth like shifting blossoms, yet none of them showed the slightest trace of displeasure. On the contrary, they seemed to enjoy this life immensely.

"Ambitious indeed."

Once the high wall was completed, the people in the household were visibly in much better spirits, especially his women, each of whom looked forward to strolling in the back garden.

"Also, put that sixth-rank demon corpse and the five seventh-rank demon corpses onto the cart for Su the Master as well, and take them back together for preparation."

During this period, the world had been calm, so calm that Su Yang had even grown somewhat unaccustomed to it. The demon tribe outside the city was indeed attacking more and more frequently, and it felt as though Yanggu County would not hold out much longer.

If the lingering tumors were eaten by martial artists, the consequences would be unimaginably terrifying.

These past few days, fewer ninth-rank demon corpses had died, while the number of eighth- and seventh-rank demon corpses had increased compared with before. This showed that the stock of black-furred rat demons with ninth-rank strength used as raw material had almost been exhausted, and stronger black-furred rat demons were now needed as material.

Family progress: everything is advancing smoothly. You already possess a grand mansion, but your household lacks somewhat in powerful martial masters. Please recruit ten eighth-rank martial masters to receive five hundred incense.

"Of the five, four were just killed recently, so I am handing them over to you for preparation together. I hope you will not disappoint this general. If you can successfully prepare even one of this sixth-rank corpse and these five seventh-rank corpses, it will count as a pass. We can continue our cooperation afterward."

"Master Su, I never expected you to prepare so many demon corpses in such a short time, and all of them met the standard."

Though these days they had killed many black-furred rat demons by relying on the advantage of the city walls, nearly half the brothers under his command had also been lost. He urgently needed a large supply of prepared demon corpses and medicinal supplements to restore his strength, so that he could hold Yanggu County at all costs and wait for reinforcements.

With Su Yang present, the success rate for preparing ninth-rank demon corpses rose by another layer. For example, if these 130 demon corpses had been handed to an ordinary preparer, the success rate would have been only fifty percent.

Zhao Man Bow knew that the stronger the demon, the more numerous and dense the tumors in its body. Even the preparer in Yanggu County had no great confidence in handling them. It would be better to leave them to Su Yang.

The first outer wall was finally completed. Outside the grand gate, two enormous stone lions stood on either side with majestic dignity. Su Yang had his men hang the plaque with the words "Su Residence" above the gate, and that counted as completing the family progress.

Su Yang had his foreman refuse the Plum Blossom Sect's minor leader. The group left in a fury. As for causing trouble, they did not dare. They had heard that the master of the Su family was a seventh-rank martial artist, not someone they could afford to provoke.

However, this sixth-rank black-furred rat demon corpse could not be used just yet. He would have to wait until this batch of demon corpses had all been delivered. Only after Zhao Man Bow no longer asked him to produce the failed corpse of the sixth-rank demon could he swallow it all for himself.

Zhao Man Bow waved a hand grandly and said with boundless generosity, "..."

The information about recruiting eighth-rank martial masters had already been posted in the markets of Zhou Family Market and Yanggu County Market. It was believed that people would begin applying today, though very few would ultimately remain.

As soon as Su Yang returned home and had all the black-furred rat demon corpses unloaded, Wang Han hurried over to say that a group of martial artists was waiting outside to see him. They all seemed to be seventh-rank fighters from Yanggu County.

He felt a bit weak today, perhaps because the rewards had been too generous. I owe one chapter and will make it up tomorrow. Early to bed, early to rise.

The end of this chapter.

Silkworm Heaven Bean.

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