Chapter Ninety-Eight: Scavenging the Fallen, Fire Luoluo

Su Yang turned to look beside him. Chu You'er was wearing a thin white inner garment that perfectly accentuated her graceful figure. Though still in the bloom of youth, she had already blossomed in all the right places.

Her legs were particularly slender, and her small face wore a clingy expression as she asked, "Master, are you free right now?"

"Yes, I am."

Su Yang nodded and asked, "Is something the matter?"

"There are some characters in the Book of Hundred Demons that I don't recognize, and I wanted to ask for your guidance, Master," Chu You'er said, twisting her body bashfully.

"Let’s go to your room."

Su Yang nodded and accompanied Chu You'er to her quarters, where he patiently explained the characters she didn't recognize and the obscure, difficult techniques within the Book of Hundred Demons.

Inside the young girl's room, Chu You'er gazed at Su Yang with pure adoration, savoring every moment of his instruction. Since her grandfather's passing, she could only find a long-lost sense of security when she was by Su Yang's side.

Because of this, she followed him everywhere like a shadow. She knew it might annoy her master, so she tried her best to restrain herself.

To Su Yang, Chu You'er was still young. In his previous life, women typically married at twenty-four or twenty-five, so he decided she should focus on her martial arts for the next two years. If she were to become his concubine later, she likely wouldn't have the time to cultivate. After all, the passive talent he had triggered this time was truly formidable. However, that only applied to the first child; he wondered if the passive talent would still work for a second.

...

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, three more days had gone by. The inner walls of the Su estate were nearly finished. The number of laborers coming to work had increased significantly over the past two days, so the progress was expected to speed up.

In Yanggu County, many Rank-8 martial artists had come to answer the call, and Su Yang had kept five of them. He had also recruited some Rank-9 martial artists over the last two days, bringing their total to thirty.

His household's martial strength was still somewhat weak, and he needed to continue recruiting powerful masters. As long as he recruited five more Rank-8 masters, the new family objective would be complete. He had plenty of Rank-8 and Rank-9 ancient medicinal herbs on hand, but unfortunately, few martial artists were willing to show true loyalty—perhaps because they hadn't been pushed to the brink yet.

He needed to think of a way. Initially, many Rank-8 martial artists had come to be recruited, but the numbers would dwindle, making it increasingly difficult to find them.

Among them, a young Rank-9 martial artist named Hu Jiang had made rapid progress after using a Rank-9 ancient herb, showing signs of breaking into Rank-8. Su Yang gave him the second share of resources, and it was estimated he would reach Rank-8 within the next two days. He was a talent worth cultivating.

One day, the rebel army attacked the city again in the dead of night. Under the cover of the pitch-black darkness, a man dressed in black night-traveling gear appeared on the city walls, a cowhide bag slung over his shoulder, walking among the carnage of the battlefield.

He tossed the corpses of the black-furred rat demons one by one into the bag. The days of scavenging corpses were always joyous—a thrill akin to a bountiful harvest.

"Who goes there?" A soldier spotted Su Yang looting the demon corpses and immediately drew his sword, shouting in anger. He was a Rank-8 practitioner.

"Shut up." A cold glint flashed in Su Yang's eyes. He lunged forward and slammed his fist into the blade blocking his chest. The soldier was sent flying backward, his internal organs shattered by the force, dying on the spot.

Gone!

The night was safe and productive; Su Yang had a bountiful harvest, though there were far fewer black-furred rats than last time—they had likely all been killed off. However, many defending soldiers had perished as well.

Su Yang had a premonition that Yanggu County would not hold for long. He could take this opportunity to scheme and recruit more Rank-8 and Rank-9 martial artists. A devious plan began to take shape in his mind.

Two more days passed. Today was the day he had promised Zhao Wuji to sneak out and suppress the Yellow Weasel Demon. He had a free day, managed to scavenge some corpses, and gained quite a few benefits.

In truth, if there hadn't been a Rank-6 demon corpse involved in this mission, he never would have come. He had plenty of Rank-8 and Rank-9 demon corpses, and even a few Rank-7s; there was no need to fool around with them. But the allure of a Rank-6 corpse was strong enough.

Over the past few days, Magistrate Zhou hadn't made any moves, but Su Yang felt he was brewing something. The longer one held in a fart, the worse it usually smelled.

Another thing kept Su Yang in high spirits: Chu You'er showed signs of breaking into Rank-9. He believed she would have the opportunity within these few days. She was a girl with great talent and would surely become his right-hand woman in the future. He also sighed inwardly for Zhang Qinshi; if she were to step into the world of martial arts, she would likely crush all other geniuses.

He needed to find a way.

The Black Market Martial Hall. The master was the husband of that alluring lady from the other day—Heishi! He was a Rank-7 martial artist. His hall was a tier lower than Bai Guan'guan's, as Bai was a middle-tier martial artist while Heishi was only a lower-tier one, despite the one-rank difference.

"Are you Master Su?"

"Follow me."

The disciple welcoming guests at the door led Su Yang inside and toward the backyard. Chairs were scattered about the courtyard where eleven people had already arrived. Including himself, there were twelve, so he wasn't the last to arrive.

"Master Su, please, have a seat. Once everyone is here, we will discuss the plan." Zhao Wuji, the leader, smiled faintly and hurriedly welcomed Su Yang to sit as they waited for the others.

Su Yang nodded and sat in a chair to the side.

"Master Su, how old are you?" Not long after he sat down, the alluring woman known as Lady Chun looked at Su Yang with a charming expression and asked.

"About twenty," Su Yang replied earnestly.

A sharp glint flashed in the beautiful lady's eyes. She covered her small mouth and chuckled, "Master Su, are you being serious? You aren't teasing me, are you?"

"Naturally."

"If you don't believe me, you can verify it."

Su Yang nodded solemnly. There was no reason to lie about this, nor could he.

"How does one verify age?" Heishi, the beautiful lady's husband, asked, looking at his wife with confusion.

"I have a method passed down from my ancestors that can verify it," the lady couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, can you measure my age, my dear?" Heishi felt a flicker of curiosity, then shook his head, "Wait, no, you already know my age."

"Using my ancestral testing method, I could measure you to be about eight years old. Perhaps the ancestral method isn't entirely accurate, so don't take it to heart, husband," the lady said.

"Oh, I see." The master of the Heishi Martial Hall nodded and said no more. Some of those around them understood, while others did not.

Not long after, the woman in red carrying a long red spear arrived. She was heroic and spirited—Huo Luoluo.

Su Yang had drunk too much water in the morning and felt the urge to relieve himself, so he asked where the restroom was and hurried off. The martial hall's backyard lacked a restroom, as it was usually used for storing equipment and supplies, so he had to go to the front courtyard.

After finishing, Su Yang let out a long sigh of relief. As he turned to leave, he felt a fragrance approach from behind, and a woman pressed herself against him.

Su Yang reflexively caught her, his brow furrowing slightly, only to find the woman who had fallen into his arms looking excited: "Young Master, I've really missed you so much...!"

"Lady Chun, please don't be reckless. This is your husband's territory," Su Yang said, startled. This was the Heishi Martial Hall; if they were seen, it would inevitably lead to trouble. Even if they were having an affair, couldn't she find a safer place?

"Fine, fine, I'll do as you say. You're such a coward...!" Lady Chun released Su Yang, her eyes smoldering with charm, "After this is over, I'll come find you at your place, how about that?"

"What will you come find me for?" Su Yang asked. "To trade techniques?"

"Giggle, Master Su, you are truly witty. It's a deal then...!" With that, Lady Chun wiggled her voluptuous body and left. She hadn't expected this young man to be so truthful.

After returning, they waited for the time of a cup of tea, and everyone had arrived.

Zhao Wuji then shared his plan. The Rank-6 Yellow Weasel Demon usually stayed inside its residence and rarely came out. They needed to lure it away so they could strike the Rank-7, Rank-8, and Rank-9 weasels inside the courtyard.

Among the fourteen Rank-7 martial artists, one specialized in movement techniques and had speed comparable to a Rank-6. He would be the one to lure the Rank-6 weasel away. The escape route was already planned, with traps set along the way to ensure his safety as much as possible.

There were nine Rank-7 Yellow Weasel Demons in the courtyard, about twenty Rank-8s, and only a dozen or so Rank-9s. There should have been more, but the Rank-6 weasel likely deemed the city dangerous and left the weaker kin outside, bringing only the stronger ones.

With only fourteen Rank-7 martial artists present, and one needed to lure the boss, only thirteen remained. They would form four groups of three to hunt down the isolated Rank-7 weasels. They had to give it their all and be fast; as long as the three groups each killed one Rank-7 weasel, the rest of the battle would be manageable. They had about half an hour—the limit of the plan for the person luring the boss. They would move after dark.

Su Yang was grouped with the red-clad Huo Luoluo and a young man who carried himself with an air of elegance. He was an unfavored illegitimate son of the Wei family, even less significant than the Zhou family's illegitimate son, Zhou Bao, who at least had a butler and servant in tow. This young man was clearly not well-regarded.

"I am Wei Yan. If things get heated tonight, we must look out for one another," the Wei family scion said first.

"Naturally," Su Yang nodded.

"Mm!" Huo Luoluo also nodded. She wasn't as hot-tempered as Su Yang had imagined, and her voice was quite crisp.

"Hearing my name, you two must know who I am. I am the young master of the Wei family. I wonder, you two...!"

...

Su Yang soon realized that Wei Yan was only superficially polite; in secret, he was constantly trying to one-up others, especially regarding his status as a Wei scion, which he had already mentioned several times. Everyone has a competitive streak, it seems.

Huo Luoluo, dressed in red, sat to the side, ignoring Wei Yan's words entirely.

Night fell quickly. The group crept toward the Yellow Weasel Demon's lair. After exchanging glances, the martial artist tasked with luring the Rank-6 weasel entered the courtyard first. Less than half an incense stick of time later, a roar echoed out, and two figures sprinted out of the courtyard one after the other. Zhao Wuji signaled everyone to quickly enter the courtyard to deal with the isolated Rank-7 demons.

If the situation changed or if they needed help, they were to set off the signal at their waists.

Su Yang, Huo Luoluo, and Wei Yan quickly snuck in. Many weasels in the courtyard heard the commotion and emerged, looking confused. In a narrow alley ahead, a weasel appeared before their trio.

"There's a weasel ahead. Move!" Huo Luoluo's eyes flashed with cold light, and she prepared to strike with her long spear.

However, Wei Yan grabbed her arm, saying, "No, no. Your strength is the greatest, you should hold the line. We don't know the strength of this weasel, so we shouldn't alert it. Let's go by strength ranking. Brother Su is the weakest, so he should go first. If it's Rank-8 or Rank-9, he can just finish it off. If it's Rank-7, then Luoluo and I will step in."

"I know Brother Su has many doubts, but because you are the weakest, the weasel will realize you are low-ranked once you engage. It will stay to tangle with you, and you just need to keep it occupied. If Luoluo or I go, the Rank-7 weasel will sense our strength and bolt, ruining the plan."

"Brother Su, stop staring, hurry up. If it's Rank-9 or Rank-8, just kill it, and Luoluo and I won't have to intervene." Wei Yan patted Su Yang's shoulder.

"How do you know I'm the weakest?" Su Yang asked.

"Luoluo's strength is undoubtedly the highest. I am a Wei scion, fed with all sorts of precious herbs and secret manuals—how could my strength be lower than yours?" Wei Yan stated with great solemnity.